Srinagar, Sept. 17 -- In the valleys and hills of Jammu and Kashmir, a quiet revolution is taking place-and this time, women are not waiting for someone else to write their future. What began as modest Self-Help Groups (SHGs) under the Jammu and Kashmir Rural Livelihoods Mission (JKRLM), popularly known as UMEED, has evolved into a powerful grassroots movement of women who are saving, borrowing, investing, producing, selling and increasingly making decisions for themselves. The transformation is no longer confined to financial inclusion. It is challenging old ideas of dependence and changing the economic and social position of women within Kashmiri households.

Official data from early 2026 indicate that 96,274 active Self-Help Groups are...