Tamil Nadu: Udayanidhi Stalin launches "TN-RISE" to empower rural women entrepreneurs

NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu Minister Udayanidhi Stalin announced the launch of a new initiative aimed at empowering rural women entrepreneurs if the state. The Tamil Nadu Women Development Corporation, with financial support from the World Bank, unveiled a special platform named TN-RISE. This initiative seeks to address the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in accessing finance, credit, and marketing opportunities.

"Based on the announcement of our honourable Chief Minister in TN Legislative Assembly, Tamil Nadu Women Development Corporation is launching a special platform called TN-RISE with the Financial assistance of World Bank. The main focus of this initiative is to bring more women entrepreneurs from the rural areas of Tamil Nadu," Stalin said. Stalin emphasized that the TN-RISE initiative aligns with the progressive principles of the Dravidian movement, which continues to guide the current state government's efforts. "This reflects the progressive tradition of our Dravidian movement, which is represented in the current government of Tamil Nadu. We refer to it as the Dravidian Model government," Stalin added. Stalin highlighted that women are "enslaved in two domains: the material domain and the cultural domain." He said that while organizations like the World Bank work to empower women in the material domain, the Dravidian movement strives to free women from cultural constraints. He expressed pride in the Dravidian Model government's collaboration with the World Bank to advance women's empowerment in the material domain as well.

"There are organizations like The World Bank working to liberate women in the material domain. Likewise, our Dravidian movement, strives hard to liberate women from enslavement in the cultural domain. Now, our Dravidian Model government is proud to join hands with The World Bank in empowering women in the material domain as well," the minister said. "Women entrepreneurs face numerous challenges in advancing their business ideas, as well as in accessing finance, credit, and marketing opportunities. TN RISE aims to eliminate these obstacles by offering customized market linkages, financing, and operational advice. Also, it will provide high-end business incubation services to women-led rural enterprises," he added. Minister Stalin also announced that TN-RISE has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with multinational companies such as Flipkart and HP to offer guidance and training to emerging women entrepreneurs "I am proud to say that TN-RISE had signed MoUs with various multinational companies like Flipkart, HP to provide guidance and training for our budding women entrepreneurs," Stalin said. "I would like to invite industries, entrepreneurs to join hands with our government for the noble cause of making more women entrepreneurs from our State of Tamil Nadu," he added. The launch of TN-RISE marks a significant step in supporting and elevating women-led startups across the state. The launch event gathered key stakeholders from the government, industry leaders, investors, and aspiring women entrepreneurs, setting the stage for TN-RISE to drive growth and success for women-led rural enterprises. The Tamil Nadu Government also announced the establishment of an exclusive "Start-up Mission" dedicated to assisting women entrepreneurs with finance, credit, and marketing challenges. Through TN-RISE, the government aims to build on existing platforms and address gaps in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, creating a robust infrastructure and providing professional expertise to support women-led rural businesses.