This initiative seeks to address the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in accessing finance, credit, and marketing opportunities.
In a bold move to bolster rural economies and promote gender equality, the Tamil Nadu government has unveiled TN-RISE (Tamil Nadu – Rural Incubator and Start-Up Enabler), a comprehensive platform aimed at empowering women entrepreneurs in rural areas. The initiative, supported by the World Bank, was launched by Udhayanidhi Stalin, the state’s Minister for Youth Welfare and Programme Implementation.
RELEVANT SUSTAINABLE GOALS
TN-RISE (Tamil Nadu Rural Incubator and Startup Enabler)
TN-RISE promises to address the multifaceted challenges faced by women entrepreneurs, offering a suite of services including market linkages, financing options, and operational advice. The program has already garnered support from major corporations, with memorandums of understanding signed with industry giants like Flipkart and HP to provide guidance and training.
“Women entrepreneurs face numerous challenges in advancing their business ideas, as well as in accessing finance, credit and marketing opportunities,” Minister Stalin noted at the launch event. “TN-RISE aims at eliminating these obstacles by offering customized market linkages, financing and operational advice.”
The initiative is set to provide high-end business incubation services to women-led rural enterprises, with plans to assist 126 individual entrepreneurs and 80 women enterprise groups in its initial phase. “Hundreds of women entrepreneurs and women enterprise groups will benefit through TN-RISE every year,” the minister added, highlighting the program’s ambitious scope.
Gagandeep Singh Bedi, Additional Chief Secretary for Rural Development, Panchayats and Panchayat Union, emphasized the state government’s vision to rapidly increase the number of startups. “It is an ambitious project of the state government. Guidance such as government subsidies and schemes and availing capital from financial institutions would be offered,” Bedi explained.
The World Bank’s involvement lends international credibility to the initiative. Samik Sundar Das, Task Team Leader at the World Bank, expressed confidence in the program’s potential impact. “We are sure that known the track record of government of Tamil Nadu and Tamil Nadu, this will sustain and present for a long time of outcomes that will be seen in the world as example,” Das stated.
"Women entrepreneurs face numerous challenges in advancing their business ideas, as well as in accessing finance, credit and marketing opportunities, TN-RISE aims at eliminating these obstacles by offering customized market linkages, financing and operational advice."
Minister Stalin framed the initiative within the broader context of Tamil Nadu’s political philosophy, noting, “This initiative aligns with the principles of the Dravidian movement, which continues to guide the current state government’s efforts.” He also pointed out the dual challenges faced by women, asserting that they are “enslaved in two domains: material domain and the cultural domain.”
As TN-RISE takes its first steps, all eyes will be on Tamil Nadu to see if this innovative approach can indeed break down barriers and create a new generation of successful rural women entrepreneurs. The success of this program could potentially serve as a model for other states in India and beyond, addressing both economic development and gender equality in one ambitious stroke.
