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Every day, thousands of government and non-government employees enter the Bihar secretariat in Patna. A large number of them use the public canteen, run entirely by a group of women popularly known as Jeevika Didis. From cooking and serving food to managing daily accounts and deciding the menu, every aspect of the enterprise is handled by women. This canteen has emerged as a symbol of women-led enterprise in Bihar. 

This model has become a compelling example of women’s entrepreneurship. More importantly, the public discourse around women-led enterprises in Bihar is no longer confined to the corridors of power. It has begun to expand into villages, kasbas, and semi-urban spaces across the state.

The reason for this shift is both simple and significant. Recently, the Bihar government announced the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana, which proposes a base grant of Rs 10,000 for women from rural households, with additional assistance of up to Rs 2 lakh linked to enterprise performance. The scheme aims to lower entry barriers and improve the long-term viability of women-led enterprises.

The backbone of the scheme is around a leading social institution of the government of Bihar which is known as Jeevika. Jeevika has mobilised more than 12 million women across Bihar into Self-Help Groups (SHGs), creating one of the largest women’s collectives in the world. These groups pool savings, access bank credit and, crucially, provide social and institutional support to women who would otherwise remain excluded from formal economic systems. 

The enterprises themselves reflect a pragmatic........

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