In a bid to empower women in remote areas of Budhal block in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district, the Ministry of Rural Development is providing them skill training and promoting self-employment through the formation of Self Help Groups (SHGs).
The programme, being run under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), is the flagship programme of the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Government of India, aimed at reducing poverty through building strong institutions of the poor, particularly women, and enabling these institutions to access a range of financial services.
Speaking to ANI, Block Programme Manager, NRLM Kamran Hanif said, "We help them to avail social security schemes in the form of pensions, insurance and others. Apart from that, we also provide loans and help them to connect with banks. We also promote their livelihoods to increase their income."
Hanif informed there are six clusters in the Budhal block and a total 760 SHGs in the block. "5,500 women are associated with us as the members of SHGs. They are trained in various skills like cutting, tailoring and embroidery" he added.
DAY-NRLM adopts a demand-driven approach, enabling the states to formulate their own state-specific poverty reduction action plans. The components of DAY-NRLM are implemented through the State Rural Livelihoods Missions (SRLMs) or partner institutions or NGOs and SHGs are promoted to encourage self-employment.
Women SHGs under DAY-NRLM consist of 10-20 persons. Special SHGs are also formed for disabled persons, elders, transgender, and people from remote tribal areas are also included.
For financial assistance to SHGs, MoRD provides Revolving Fund (RF). SHGs need to follow the norms including 'Panchasutra' - regular meetings, regular savings, regular internal lending, regular recoveries and maintenance of proper books of accounts.
Further, there is the provision of the Community Investment Support Fund (CIF) for the SHGs promoted under DAY-NRLM. The CIF is routed through the village level and cluster level federations to advance loans to the SHGs or to undertake the common and collective socio-economic activities.
In case an SHG needs more capital for economic activities, it will be linked with banks and provided loans from Rs 1 lakh to 20 Lakhs without any collateral security.
( With inputs from ANI )
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