PayNearby to Onboard 50,000 Rural Women Through Digital Naari Program in Maharashtra The initiative focuses on enabling new income opportunities for women by supporting them to deliver essential financial and digital services at the grassroots level.
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Women in India's smaller towns and villages are increasingly playing a central role in expanding access to digital and financial services. Many who were earlier limited to household responsibilities are now emerging as local service providers and income earners within their communities. Maharashtra has been a key driver of this shift, with 22.69 lakh women achieving Lakhpati Didi status and building sustainable livelihoods.
Building on this momentum, PayNearby has announced a plan to onboard 50,000 rural women entrepreneurs from Maharashtra over the next 6 months through its Digital Naari program.
The initiative focuses on enabling new income opportunities for women by supporting them to deliver essential financial and digital services at the grassroots level.
The Digital Naari program aligns with national efforts such as the Lakhpati Didi initiative, which seeks to help women earn more than INR 1 lakh annually and become economic leaders in their communities. Under the model, women known as banker didis operate either from their homes or small shops. They provide services including banking, payments, insurance, credit, mutual funds, bill payments and mobile recharges. Each transaction earns a commission, helping create a regular source of income while ensuring that nearby communities have consistent access to services.
Jayatri Dasgupta, CMO PayNearby and Program Director of Digital Naari, said, "The Digital Naari model is built for independence from the outset. The model scales because it is phygital and demand driven, with women delivering essential services that households need throughout the year."
According to the company, Digital Naaris on the platform collectively facilitate over INR 10,000 crore in annual transactions, with more than 60 percent being first time entrepreneurs earning an average of INR 3,500 to INR 5,000 per month.
Over the next three years, PayNearby aims to support self employment for at least 1 million women across India and extend access to financial and digital services to more than 100 million households through this women led network.
