PATNA, March 27 -- The Bihar government is targeting to promote 500,000 to 1,000,000 women-run business enterprises, individually or in groups, under the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana (MMRY) across the state, officials in the rural development department have said. The plan, according to officials, is to push 50-100 women in each panchayat to avail the government grant up to Rs.2 lakh to take forward their businesses which they set up with seed money - Rs.10,000 each, granted in instalments earlier. There are 8,040 panchayats across the state. In Bihar, a total of 18.1 million women were given business aid of Rs.10,000 each as part of the rural poor empowerment programme run by the Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society, locally known as JEEViKA. It's an ambitious plan aided by the World Bank. Out of these women, says JEEViKA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Himanshu Sharma, 16.7 million are being surveyed to determine their business model and sustainability. Based on how women have used the Rs.10,000 amount for their businesses, the next phase of aid disbursement will commence. The survey will end on March 31 and the next phase may roll out from the first week of April, said an officer. Sharma said the second disbursement will be of varied amounts starting at Rs.20,000 to over one lakh and even more (up to Rs.2 lakh) and it would be given to selected beneficiaries based on their business plans and how they want to expand their businesses. "The ongoing survey of women entrepreneurs will give us a fair idea of how many beneficiaries have actually utilised the first phase grant allocated to them. Once we get the idea, we will give them training to run their businesses with sound fiscal management, marketing strategy, etc.," said Sharma. According to Sharma, most of the beneficiaries are located in rural areas. The beneficiaries are being asked three questions: one, whether they have started any business with the first rollout of Rs.10,000 assistance to start an enterprise; second, whether they have gained any income or what is the business model of their new enterprise; and thirdly, whether they need any training or not. Officials said the aim of the second phase implementation of the scheme, which was kicked off from September 1, 2025 just ahead of the state assembly polls in October-November, is to make women entrepreneurs more self-sufficient by financing them individually or in groups through enterprises in sectors like dairy, agriculture, tailoring or sewing units and spice manufacturing. "The target is creating 50-100 women entrepreneurs in each panchayat, thus creating 500,000 to 1,000,000 job opportunities for women. It will see a big volume of employment generation. It will also increase enterprise density across sectors such as bee keeping, manufacturing of masalas, mushroom growing, running food carts, and so on. All these sectors are quite viable and growth-oriented in the state," the JEEViKA CEO said. He said that the roadmap of the scheme has been set for the next five years. Officials said that in order to help beneficiary women develop business models, JEEViKA is in talks with Bihar State Milk Co-operative Federation Ltd (COMFED) so that women could be trained in opening milk booths in rural areas and vocations like goat rearing. Overall, JEEViKA officials said, around 10 million will be assisted as part of the rural poor empowerment programme....