Resham Sakhi Scheme | 24 Apr 2025

Why in News? 

The Uttar Pradesh government launched the Resham Sakhi Yojana with the aim of economically empowering rural women. 

Key Points 

  • About the Scheme: 
    • Under this scheme, women will be able  to earn income from sericulture at home. 
    • This scheme is being implemented with the joint efforts of State Rural Livelihood Mission and Silk Department . 
    • Under this scheme , women of rural areas will be given training in silkworm rearing so that they can produce mulberry silk and tussar silk at their homes. 
      • Training on mulberry silk rearing will be given in Mysore, Karnataka and  tassar silk rearing in Ranchi, Jharkhand. 
    • The scheme aims to connect 50,000 women in the next 5 years . In the first phase, 7500 women from 15 districts will be connected by the year 2025-26. 
  • Importance: 
    • The rural economy will improve as women will be able to earn income from local resources. 
    • Women empowerment will be promoted, which will help in reducing social inequalities. 
    • The silk industry will expand and diversify, which will give a new dimension to the economic growth of the state. 
    • Urban migration will decrease as women will be able to get employment in their own villages. 

 Silk Production 

  • This is an agriculture based industry. In this industry, silkworms are reared for the production of raw silk. 
  • The main activities of silk production include cultivation of food plants for the diet of silkworms and extraction of silk fibres from the cocoons woven by the insects, its processing and weaving etc. 
    • The rearing of silkworms to produce raw silk is called sericulture or silkworm rearing . 
    • Domesticated silkworms (Bombyx mori) are raised for the purpose of sericulture. 
  • Silk Production in India: 
    • There are five major types of silk of commercial importance obtained from different species of silkworms. 
    • These are - Mulberry, Oak Tasar, Tropical Tasar, Muga and Eri. 
    • Apart from mulberry, other varieties of silk are wild types, commonly called 'Vanya'.  
    • All these commercial varieties of silk are produced in India. 
    • South India is the major silk producing region of the country and this region is also quite famous for weaving Kanchipuram, Dharmavaram, Aarni etc.