Current Affairs - State - Discussion

Telangana introduced a ₹12.66 crore Challenge Fund to promote rural entrepreneurship, particularly among women and youth at the grassroots level. The initiative is implemented through the Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) in collaboration with TBIS BITS Pilani Hyderabad, T-Hub, and WE Hub, with support from the Ministry of Rural Development. It aims to transition about 65 lakh Self-Help Group (SHG) women from microfinance participation to formal entrepreneurship and scalable ventures. Around 300 selected entrepreneurs will receive mentoring, enterprise diagnostics, branding support, market access, and help in accessing finance. The programme will be implemented across all 33 districts through a decentralised outreach model.