Previous Year Question
“Swavalambini”, a women entrepreneurship programme for the North-East is launched by which of the following ministries?
Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship
Ministry of Women and Child Development
Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
Select the correct answer from the code given below:
1 and 2
Only 3
2 and 3
Only 1
Correct Answer: D
Detailed Solution
Statement 1 is correct. The ‘Swavalambini’ Women Entrepreneurship Programme was launched by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) in collaboration with NITI Aayog. Its North-East rollout was launched on 7 February 2025 in Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram.
The programme aims to develop an entrepreneurial mindset among female students in Higher Education Institutions and connect them with training, mentorship, financial and market-linkage support needed to build enterprises. In its initial North-East phase, provision was made to train 600 female students through the Entrepreneurship Awareness Programme (EAP) and 300 selected students through the Women Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP).
The programme is implemented through autonomous institutions of MSDE such as the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE), Guwahati, and, in its subsequent expansion, the National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD), Noida. Therefore, merely because the programme concerns women entrepreneurship does not make it a scheme of the Ministry of Women and Child Development or the Ministry of MSME.
Statement 2 is incorrect. The Ministry of Women and Child Development is not the launching ministry of this programme.
Statement 3 is also incorrect. The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises did not launch Swavalambini. Its nodal/launching ministry is MSDE.
Current Status (2026): According to the Government's February 2026 update, Swavalambini remains in the pilot phase across Higher Education Institutions in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana. The programme is monitored and evaluated by MSDE in collaboration with NITI Aayog.