The National Rural Livelihood Mission is a flagship programme of the Government of India launched in 2011 with the objective of reducing rural poverty by enabling poor households to access sustainable livelihood opportunities. It is implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development and is based on the core belief that the poor have innate capabilities and can come out of poverty if provided with appropriate institutional platforms, access to credit, skills, and markets. The mission adopts a demand-driven, participatory, and inclusive approach, focusing primarily on mobilizing rural poor households into self-managed institutions such as Self Help Groups, village organizations, and cluster-level federations. It seeks to cover all rural poor households, with special emphasis on women, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, minorities, persons with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups. Women form the backbone of the National Rural Livelihood Mission, as the programme recognizes that empowering women is central to achieving sustainable rural development. Under NRLM, women are mobilized into Self Help Groups, typically consisting of 10 to 15 members, which serve as platforms for collective savings, internal lending, and mutual support. These groups build financial discipline, confidence, and solidarity among women, many of whom come from economically and socially marginalized backgrounds. Participation in SHGs enables women to gain control over savings and credit, reducing their dependence on informal moneylenders and enhancing their economic security. This financial inclusion is a crucial first step toward empowerment, as it strengthens women’s decision-making power within households and communities. NRLM plays a significant role in women empowerment by promoting access to institutional credit through