Govt. to empower women via entrepreneurship with ‘home shops’ project

The Government this week took a key step towards empowering women via entrepreneurship with the Cabinet of Ministers approving the ‘home shops’ initiative in all 14,025 Grama Sevaka divisions. The Government said it intends to establish ‘one woman entrepreneur to one village’, to inculcate entrepreneurship skills. The beneficiary women will be supported with the initial capital, infrastructure and guidance. It is a 2022 Budget proposal where Rs. 15 billion has been allocated under the household economic development national program.

The initiative will identify women who are keen on entrepreneurship in rural family units. Necessary guidance to identify entrepreneurs will be conducted by the Divisional Secretaries as per the directions of the Regional Development Committee subject to the guidance of the Poverty Eradication Task Force.

“The women entrepreneurs who are able to reserve a space of 200 to 400 sq ft building space either from their home or renovating a building can establish the ‘home shop’.”

The network will be connected through a digital system and the necessary equipment will be provided by the Government.

“The Rs. 2,000 relief package announced yesterday could also be obtained via ‘home shops’ with the dedicated digital card provided to low income families in each Grama Sevaka division,” said Trade Minister Bandula Gunawardena who proposed the project to the Cabinet on Monday.

The entrepreneurs could obtain support from the National Housing Development Authority (NHDA) or the Road Development Authority (RDA) to construct the home shop.