Staff Reporter
Panaji
Over 50,000 women in the state have been included in Self Help Groups (SHGs) under the Deendayal AntyodayaYojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) scheme of the Centre.
“The scheme is a flagship poverty alleviation programme of the Government of India and is one of the world’s largest initiatives to improve the livelihoods of the poor,” said Union Minister of State for Rural Development Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani in a reply in Lok Sabha.
The reply said that the Mission seeks to achieve its objective by investing in four key features – social mobilisation, promotion and strengthening of self-managed and financially sustainable community institutions of the rural poor; financial inclusion of the rural poor; sustainable livelihoods; and social inclusion, social development and convergence.
“Through these features, it seeks to improve the living standards of rural population, particularly women, by fostering sustainable livelihood opportunities through capacity building, financial inclusion, and social empowerment. It plays a critical role in transforming rural communities into self-reliant and economically vibrant units,”
it said.
DAY-NRLM adopts a saturation approach where efforts are made to bring all eligible poor households under the fold of SHGs, link them to finance and promote diversified and sustainable livelihoods.
Social inclusion is one of the key focus areas where the most vulnerable population including persons with disabilities, transgenders and marginalised communities are mobilised under DAY-NRLM.
“In addition to economic empowerment, attempts have also been made to address the issues of social and political empowerment at the grass-root level. This includes social and behavioural change communication strategies for improving awareness around food, nutrition, health and gender issues,” the reply said.
“Continuous efforts are made to forge convergence of the SHGs and their federation with the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) so that these poor households have access to rights and entitlements and are a part of decentralised planning process,” the reply added.
