Patna: Community-level federations under the Bihar government’s flagship livelihood programme, Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society, have secured more than Rs 67 crore in income tax relief this year, offering a significant financial boost to women-led rural enterprises. The exemption is expected to strengthen employment generation and expand income-earning opportunities for lakhs of women known locally as Jeevika Didis.
Officials said the relief will be distributed among 1,684 cluster-level federations (CLFs) functioning across the state, with three federations operating in each block. On average, each CLF will receive around Rs 5.45 lakh in additional financial support, amounting to nearly Rs 16 lakh per block. These federations run producer companies, operate agricultural credit activities and provide capital to self-help groups for livelihood initiatives.
The Jeevika network spans more than 11 lakh self-help groups linked to over 1.4 crore families. In urban areas alone, 41,477 self-help groups have been formed, alongside 73,515 village organisations. The tax exemption is expected to indirectly benefit all families connected to the federations by improving access to credit and expanding economic activities at the grassroots level.
More than 1,000 CLFs have been registered under the Cooperative Act and received tax benefits under Section 80 P of the Income Tax Act, 1961, which allows deductions for cooperative societies. Officials attributed the success in securing the exemption to timely filing of income tax returns and improved financial documentation practices among the federations.
With strengthened working capital, CLFs are expected to ease loan disbursal to women’s groups and support new ventures in dairy production, vegetable cultivation, food processing and handicrafts. The additional funds are likely to help small rural enterprises scale up operations, furthering women’s financial independence and reinforcing the state’s community-driven development model.
