Remember the first time you held your own money? That moment of pride, that sense of control?
Now imagine never having that feeling. Ever.

This is reality for 80% of rural Indian women. The same women who wake before dawn, who tend to farms, raise children, and keep homes running – yet can’t make a single decision about money without permission. But in 1993, in a small corner of Maharashtra, Dr. Sudha Kothari asked a simple question: “What if change started with just ₹1?”
Not a donation. Not charity. Just ₹1 saved each day.

It sounds almost too simple, doesn’t it? But here’s what happened when women started taking control of their own rupees:

• Villages saw ₹21 crore in savings emerge from seemingly nowhere.
• 12,165 self-help groups formed, turning individual struggles into collective strength.
• 43 federations rose up, tackling everything from children’s education to healthcare.

But numbers don’t tell the real story.

The real story is Lakshmi, who started saving ₹1 daily and now runs her own small business. The real story is about Meena, who funded her daughter’s college education with her SHG savings. The real story is about thousands of women who no longer need to ask permission to buy medicine for their sick child.

This isn’t just about money in the bank. It’s about dignity. About choice. About women walking into gram panchayat meetings not as observers, but as leaders. When a woman controls her own money, she controls her own destiny. And when women rise, communities transform. Dr. Kothari started with ₹1 and a dream. Today, 1,25,000+ women are turning that dream into reality.

The question is: What role will you play in this revolution?