India, Feb. 19 -- Union Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday directed officials to work on a "war footing" to achieve a revised target of creating six crores 'Lakhpati Didis' under the rural livelihoods mission. He also instructed them to prepare a time-bound plan to link 10 crore women with financial inclusion initiatives.

Chairing a review meeting of the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), Chouhan expressed satisfaction over the mission's progress but stressed that a focused strategy is required to meet the expanded goals.

He said achieving the target would require expanding bank linkages, credit access, insurance coverage and financial literacy among women. He maintaine...