Vijayawada: The state government on Monday officially launched the Digi-Lakshmi Scheme, establishing 9,034 Common Service Centres (CSCs) to be operated by eligible women from self-help groups (SHGs) across all urban local bodies in the state.
This initiative aligns directly with the state government’s vision of ‘One Family, One Entrepreneur’ (OF-OE), aimed at developing ‘SHG to SME’ by enhancing income-generation opportunities, said S Suresh Kumar, principal secretary to government, municipal administration and urban development.
The department issued GO No.117 granting permission to the mission director, MEPMA, to implement the scheme. It involves a revision of the existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with CSC e-Governance Services India Limited, to reflect the operation of these new CSCs through designated SHG members, who will be known as ‘Digi-Lakshmi’.
Under the scheme, a total of 9,034 CSCs will be set up across Andhra Pradesh. These centres will maintain a uniform prototype, known as ‘ATOM Kiosk’ centres, ensuring consistency in service delivery statewide.
The scheme specifically targets SHG women to operate these centres, reinforcing the ‘SHG to SME’ transformation. To ensure effective operation, identified SHG members must meet specific criteria. Minimum of three years of active SHG membership, must be married and settled in the operational area of their respective Slum Level Federation (SLF), age between 21 and 40 years, minimum educational qualification of graduation, possession of a smartphone with adequate technical knowledge. Identified SHG women will receive comprehensive training on CSC operations and login procedures directly from CSC e-Governance Services India Limited.
MEPMA will facilitate financial linkages and support through SLF corpus or bank linkage to help these women set up their units.
SHG women are expected to take a loan of approximately Rs 2 to 2.5 lakh from SLF/banks to cover the costs of setting up the kiosk and procuring necessary hardware and software.
Digi-Lakshmis will work under the direct control and supervision of CSC, delivering about 250 kinds of various services offered by CSC to the public. Furthermore, they will act as digital champions for MEPMA-related activities, supporting other resource persons (RPs) and SHG women with digital tasks.
