Fostering women's economic independence is the crucial primary entry point upon which RGMVP helps women begin to break out of traditional gender roles and move forward out of poverty and subjugation. Economic independence helps women to garner bargaining power in their households, thus granting them the ability to prioritise things such as toilets, children's school fees, sanitary pads for menstruation, and nutritious foods, which are often neglected when the man controls the family income. As women reach economic independence, their confidence grows, their families become more economically stable, and they challenge gender norms by participating in the financial sphere which was previously dominated by men.
Apart from the financial inclusion strategy and enhancing livelihoods through agriculture, RGMVP also facilitates the following livelihood activities:
Women are encouraged to use their SHG savings and bank loans to invest in cow and buffalo rearing. RGMVP then provides them with training on modern diary management practices to improve milk yield. Once milk procurement begins, women have the option of selling any milk they do not use in their households to Mother Dairy, which has set up 88 Bulk Milk Coolers in UP. SHG members also undertook activities such as goat and pig rearing and poultry farming.
RGMVP has been supporting goat rearing as a livelihood by promoting women selected from SHGs as lead farmers or social entrepreneurs. These women have been supported to set up model goat rearing units that serve as training and exposure units for other farmers interesting in taking up goat rearing. Exposure visits were organised for these entrepreneurs to PRADAN, Jharkhand, and The Goat Trust, Lucknow, for orientation and training.
RGMVP is collaborating with USHA International Ltd. (UIL) to help women entrepreneurs identified from SHGs to set up tailoring schools in villages. These village level schools teach sewing to village women and young girls so that they can become economically independent and also train to create economic opportunities for others.
RGMVP runs a Vocational Training Centre and Common Facility Centre, which provides skill development programmes on a variety of handicrafts such as knitting, candle making, tailoring, and vegetable tending. These programmes are supported by the Government of India's Development Commissioner Handicrafts of the Ministry of Textiles.