The Tamil Nadu Corporation for Development of Women (TNCDW) was established in 1983 by the Government of Tamil Nadu with an aim to enhance the status of women through education, employment, economic development and self-reliance.

TNCDW spearheads the Self Help Group (SHG) movement in Tamil Nadu and is dedicated to the empowerment of women through series of training and capacity building activities, forming Community Based Organisations (CBOs) in the form of Panchayat Level Federations (PLFs), Block Level Federations (BLFs), etc., facilitating financial linkages, creating employment opportunities for and enterprise promotion through various poverty alleviation programmes.

TNCDW is registered as a Corporation with the Principal Secretary Rural Development and Panchayat Raj as the Chairperson of the Board. The Managing Director steers the organization as the functional head and is assisted by the Executive Director, Additional Directors as head of the thematic verticals, Joint Directors, Assistant Project Officers ably supported by other Corporation and Project staff at the state Head Quarters office. Consultants are engaged to render subject knowledge expertise in areas of financial inclusion, agriculture and enterprise promotion.

A Joint Director of the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department is the head of the District Project Implementation Unit (PIU) and is designated as Project Director TNSRLM. The PIU has Assistant Project Officers for the thematic areas, who coordinate all the field activities in the districts.

At the Block level there is Block Mission Management Unit headed by the Block Mission Manager. Block Co-ordinators look after specific functional areas of scheme implementation. In the urban areas, one Community Organizer (CO) for every 3000 target poor is made responsible for monitoring the implementation of the livelihood programmes.

Schemes implemented by TNCDW

TNCDW is implementing the following important projects

• Tamil Nadu State Rural Livelihood Mission (TNSRLM)
• National Rural Economic Transformation Project (NRETP)
• Tamil Nadu Urban Livelihood Mission (TNULM)
• Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDUGKY)