Union Minister inaugurates “Saras Aajeevika Mela 2021”

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Union Minister for Rural Development has inaugurated Saras Aajeevika Mela 2021.

Saras Aajeevika Mela:

• Nodal Ministry: It is an initiative of the Ministry of Rural Development. This initiative is a part of the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM).
• Organized by: Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology (CAPART).
  • CAPART: It is an autonomous body. It was established in 1986 by the Ministry of Rural Development. CAPART co-coordinates the partnership between Voluntary Organizations and the Government for sustainable development of rural areas.
• Objective: Mela will bring the rural women Self Help Groups(SHGs) under one platform. By that, SHGs will be able to showcase their skills and sell their products.
• Moreover, these rural SHG women will get vital national-level exposure to understand the demand and taste of urban customers.

Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana -National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM)

• Type: Centrally Sponsored Scheme
• Launched in: It was launched by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) in 2011 as a restructured version of Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojna(SGSY).
  • In 2015, the program was renamed as Deendayal Antayodaya Yojana(DAY-NRLM).
• Objective: It looks to create efficient and effective institutional platforms for the rural poor. It will enable SHGs to increase household income through sustainable livelihood enhancements and improved access to financial services.
• World Bank Support: The mission is aided in part through investment support by the World Bank.
• Target: The mission has set out an agenda to cover 7 Crore rural poor households through self-managed Self Help Groups(SHGs) and federated institutions. It will support them for livelihoods collectives in a period of 8-10 years.

Features of DAY-NRLM:

• Social Mobilization: It will bring at least one woman member from each identified rural poor household, under the Self Help Group (SHG) network in a time-bound manner. Special emphasis is, particularly on vulnerable communities.
• Community Institutions: The Mission involves working with community institutions through community professionals to promote self-help.
• Financial Inclusion – The mission works on both the demand and supply sides of financial inclusion. On the demand side, it promotes financial literacy among the poor and provides capital to the SHGs. On the supply side, it coordinates with the financial sector to encourage the use of financial technologies.
• Convergence: The mission places a high emphasis on convergence with other programs of the MoRD and other Central Ministries. Convergence is also sought with programs of state governments for developing synergies directly or indirectly with institutions of the poor.

Source: PIB

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