Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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Ministry of Rural Development Backgrounder
National Rural Livelihood Mission(NLRM) A fresh lease of life for the rural people living below the poverty line (BPL)
New Delhi: September 7, 2009
The Ministry of Rural Development has decided to re-design and re-structure the on going Swarnjayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY) into National Livelihood Mission (NRLM). The idea has been conceived as a cornerstone of national poverty reduction strategy.
The objective of the Mission is to reduce poverty among rural BPL by promoting diversified and gainful self-employment and wage employment opportunities which would lead to an appreciable increase in income on sustainable basis. In the long run, it will ensure broad based inclusive growth and reduce disparities by spreading out the benefits from the islands of growth across the regions, sectors and communities.
The Mission has been designed to achieve the following 'Outputs' and 'Outcomes' by 2016-17.
Output and Outcome Targets for the NRLM : 2016-17
In Lakh
| S. No. | Output/ Outcome Indicator
| Target for remaining period of 11th Plan | Tentative target for 12th Plan | Total target by 2016- 17
| Number of BPL families
|
| I | Outputs* |
|
|
|
|
| 1 | Total number of new BPL SHGs to be formed | 12.25 | 15.75** | 28 | 280 |
| 2 | No. of SHGs to be provided Revolving Fund support | 12.25 | 15.75 | 28
| 280 |
| 3 | No. of SHGs to be provided Capital Subsidy | 5.25 | 10.75 | 16 | 160 |
| 4 | No. of SHGs to be provided Interest Subsidy | 10 | 12 | 22 | 220 |
| 5 | No. of rural BPL youth to be provided Skill Development Training | 15
| 60 | 75 | 75 |
| II | Outcomes* |
|
|
|
|
| 1 | No of SHGs to be entering at Micro enterprise level | 5.25
| 10.75 | 16 | 160 |
| 2 | No. of rural BPL youth to be provided placement support | 15 | 60 | 75 | 75 |
Note- Each SHG having on an average 10 members (one from each family).
* Subject to availability of resources and cooperation from other stakeholders.
The Rural Livelihoods Mission is proposed to have a three-tier interdependent structure. At the apex of the structure will be the National Rural Livelihoods Mission, under the Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. Of India. At the State level, there will be an umbrella organization under the State Department of Rural Development/ Department which is responsible for implementing self-employment/rural livelihoods promotion programs. The State level Mission with dedicated professionals and domain experts under the State department of Rural Department will be guided financially, technically and supported by the NRLM on need basis. The National and the State Mission will have a symbiotic relationship. They will have mutual access to the knowledge and services in the area of rural livelihoods.
The NRLM will be set up in the Rural Development Ministry under the overall supervision of Joint Secretary in-charge of existing SGSY Division. It is proposed to have a Governing Council (GC) and an Executive Committee (EC). A GC will be constituted under the chairmanship of the Minister for Rural Development, GOI. The Minister and Secretary of Agriculture, Women and Child Development , Labour , State Minister of Rural Development ( 4 on rotation basis), Adviser (RD), Planning, Land Resources(LR), Panchayati Raj Institutions(PRI), Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation(DW&S), Tribal Affair Commission, DG Indian Council Of Agriculture Research (ICAR), CMD NABARD, Financial Service, DG National Institute Of Rural Development (NIRD) and DG (CAPART), Representative of Self Help Group (SHG) Federation, (3) Experts (RD)/ NGO's (5) will be the member of the Governing Council of the Mission while Secretary (RD) will be the Convener and the Mission Director (JS) will be the Co-Convener of GC.
The Governing Council will be the policy making body setting overall vision and direction to the Mission, consistent with the national objectives. It will lay down priorities and review overall progress and development of the Mission. The GC will be empowered to lay down and amend operational guidelines. However, the subsidy norms of the NRLM as approved by the Government shall in no circumstances be changed or exceeded for any of the Mission components. It will meet at least twice a year.
The NRLM has been envisaged to perform the following functions:
(i) facilitate establishment of state level umbrella agencies by the state governments for providing institutional support for poverty elimination programs; (ii) support state level umbrella organizations in the design and implementation of pro-poor programs;(iii) provide professional and technical support an guidance to the state agencies by seeking out and disseminating pro-poor technologies and institutional innovations through research and development and forging linkages between the state agencies and the national centers of excellence; (iv) liaise with other Missions/departments to explore areas for convergent action and facilitate such convergence to enhance the capabilities and facilitate access to other entitlements such as wage employment, food security, education, health, etc and ; (v) explore and facilitate partnerships between National/State Rural Livelihood Missions and public, private, NGO and Co-operative sector partners, for diversifying and sustaining the livelihoods of the poor; (vi) undertake/commission studies to assess emerging self employment/skill based employment opportunities and disseminate the information to the State agencies; (vii) study best practices in self-employment/ micro enterprise activities across the country and support their replication in other parts of the country through workshops, cross-learning visits and exchange programs; (viii) develop capacity building and training modules for functionaries of the peoples institutions as well as the state agencies and district units, and other stakeholders participating in the poverty elimination programs; (ix) facilitate analysis and dissemination of the impact of changing economic policies on the poor and play policy advocacy role; (x) act as information warehouse on rural poverty statistics by accessing information from multiple sources; (xi) identify shortcomings in program design and implementation and facilitate debates/discussions thereof by experts for finding innovative & workable solutions and their dissemination to the state agencies. (xii) promote institution of comprehensive monitoring and learning systems at the state agencies and district units, including web enabled MIS and community monitoring systems; and (xiii) identify high quality institutions in livelihoods education and training and facilitate linkage of the state organizations with missions with such institutions for capacity building of professionals.
The need for restructuring the SGSY has arisen on account of feedback provided and recommendations made by various studies including those conducted by National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD), Hyderabad, Bankers Institute of Rural Development (BIRD), Lucknow, Centre for Management Development, Thiruvananthapuram etc. and reports of the Steering Committee constituted by the Planning Commission for the 11th Plan Further, the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Government of India (GoI) has accepted the recommendation of the Committee on Credit Related Issues under SGSY (Prof.Radhakrishna Committee) to create a National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) to provide greater focus and momentum for poverty reduction to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) by 2015 through rapid increase in the coverage of rural poor households under self-employment.
In addition to provide self employment to the rural folks, the Mission will also help in enhancing their capabilities and facilitate access to other entitlements such as wage employment and food security and benefits of Indira Awas Yojana (IAY), drinking water, land improvement, education, and health and risk mitigation through convergence and coordination mechanism. The decision follows three major developments that have taken place in the recent years and had major impact on the rural economy especially the rural poor i.e (i) the economy experienced a robust growth (ii) National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) emerged as a major program to provide additional income to the rural poor and (iii) various initiatives taken under the National Skill Development Mission (NSDM).Taking these developments into account and in order to achieve the objective of the 11th Plan of broad based inclusive growth in this perspective, the strategy paper of Ministry envisages a four pronged strategy to attack rural poverty comprising (i) generation of self employment in credit linked micro enterprises and salaried employment through demand driven skill development (ii) wage employment under National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (iii) payment of pension to elderly and vulnerable sections under National Social Assistance Program (iv) income generation and social security programs of other Ministries of Government of India.
NRLM programs is proposed to be implemented in all rural districts of different states excluding the districts in Delhi and Chandigarh. However, the Governing Council of the Mission based on the latest available data is empowered to include or exclude the districts for the implementation of various components of the Mission.
It is envisaged that the State Governments will transit into the NRLM mode only in a phased manner. Till such time the States do not transit into NRLM mode, the SGSY activities will continue to be implemented as per current guidelines/norms and fund releases will be made to DRDAs as per existing procedures. The revised norms of SGSY will be applicable to the States having the commitment to fulfill the following within the stipulated time period:
i. State level agencies and the district level units are set up
ii. Full complement of professional staff has been trained and placed
iii. State level poverty reduction strategy has been formulated
Funds for implementing the Mission's programs are proposed to be directly released separately to the state level agency and the DRDAs on the basis of the detailed district wise annual action plans submitted by the state agencies and approved by the EC of the National Mission, but within the overall allocation indicated for each state on the basis of the poverty ratio. The funds to state level agencies will be transferred to meet expenditure on: (i) establishing and running the dedicated state /district/sub-district level agency; (ii) organizing state level skill development and placement services (covering more than one district); and (iii) other activities such as technical services, concurrent evaluation and such other activities.
The funds to DRDAs will be transferred to the meet expenditures on: (i) subsidy to SHGs; (ii) infrastructure and marketing (district level and sub-district level); (iii) corpus for federations; (iv) interest subsidy; (v) training and capacity building of all stakeholders and (vi) engagement of NGO facilitators. The funds to district units will be released where full complement of professional staff has been placed and district poverty reduction plans have been formulated. In other case the exiting procedure of fund release will be followed.
Funds will be released in two installments based on the progress report and submission of utilization certificates by the district units under intimation to the state level agency. The State level agency will compile and consolidate expenditure details, physical progress and other details and submit to National Mission periodically. MoRD will release 75% of the approved amount to the State Government/DRDA and the State government will release the balance amount of 25%. In respect of north-eastern states, J&K, Himachal Pradesh & Uttrakhand, the GOI and state share will be in the proportion of 90:10, respectively.
As far as possible, e-banking will be used for transfer of funds to the state level agencies and to the districts. The state level agency will maintain a separate budget and prescribed accounting system for the Mission activities both at the state and district level. The district units will adhere to the accounting system and financial guidelines prescribed by the state agencies. The block units will be directed by the district units to follow similar systems and guidelines to ensure transparency and accountability.
The National Livelihood Mission will have a strong mechanism of Monitoring and Evaluation with the involvement of the state level agency and dedicated district level units. The Monitoring and Learning (M&L) specialists at the Mission and state agency levels will coordinate concurrent monitoring of the Mission activities. At the district level, the Monitoring and Learning specialist will undertake monitoring of the physical and financial targets of various Mission interventions, adopting the formats designed by the National Mission for this purpose. In addition, the district level M&L specialist will be responsible for instituting community monitoring systems including a system of self monitoring by the SHGs and their federations.
Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) will be actively involved in the following activities of the Mission:
(i) identification and mobilization of BPL households into SHGs, with priority being given to the SC and ST households especially primitive tribal groups, poorest of the poor households, women headed households and households engaged in declining occupations;(ii) facilitating federation of SHGs at the village/gram panchay at level/ block level and providing basic facilities for the effective functioning of such federations in terms of providing accommodation for federation office and such other basic facilities;(iii) giving priority to the demands of the SHGs and their federations in the annual plans/activities of the PRIs by making suitable financial allocations;(iv) entrusting execution of panchayat activities including civil works to SHGs and their federations on a priority basis; (v) leasing out panchayat resources such as fishing ponds/tanks, common property resources, market yards, buildings and other properties to the SHGs and their federations for proper management and maintenance;(vi) entrusting responsibility for collection of panchayat revenues including house property tax to the SHGs for a small fee; and(vii) entrusting management and maintenance of select civic amenities to the SHGs.(viii) any other activity which could be taken up by the members of the SHGs or their federations.
NRLM will have multi pronged approach to strengthen livelihoods of the rural poor by promoting SHGs, improving existing occupations, providing skill development & placement and other activities thereof.. The training and capacity building, deployment of multidisciplinary experts and other initiatives will enhance the credit worthiness of the rural poor. The services of craft persons, community resource persons etc will be utilized as TOT to for capacity building and training under NRLM. The periodic interaction of Mission with Public Sector Banks and other financial institutions to enhance the reach of rural poor to the un-banked areas will ensure their financial inclusion. Further, poor have multiple livelihoods and they need multi pronged approach to strengthen it. The existing strategy of social mobilization of poor, their organization into SHGs, training & capacity building, credit linkage for micro enterprise for self employment will continued to be one of the main components of NRLM. Emphasis will be on convergence with various schemes of Rural Development along with other line departments/ministries to strengthen the exiting occupations of the rural poor, ensure their participation as beneficiary of emerging opportunities as a result of various schemes for sustainable livelihood and also introducing newer technologies in their enterprises. The multidisciplinary domain experts at various levels will coordinate with all the stakeholders for benefiting the poor in risk mitigation, food security, training and capacity building, micro financing, infrastructure development and better marketing linkages for getting appropriate prices for their products. People owned & people centered organization by federating SHGs will act as facilitators for strengthening the SHGs and thereby benefiting the rural poor. In addition skill development & placement will be the subset of the redesigned program for deploying the rural BPL poor in the sun-rising sectors of the economy. The Mission will make concerted efforts to train rural BPL to provide last tier implementation personnel as service providers, lok sevaks, etc to local bodies to implement to programs efficiently and effectively.
akt/st/sak/dk/kol/12:15 hrs.
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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Prime Minister's Office
PM inaugurates State Welfare Ministers Conference
New Delhi: September 7, 2009
The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, inaugurated State Welfare Ministers' conference in New Delhi today. Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Singh stressed upon the need to step up monitoring and implementation of key welfare schemes which target the weaker sections. The Prime Minister urged the National Institute of Design to encourage the design of everyday appliances and instruments that cater to the needs of people with various disabilities. He 'Central and State Governments and the corporate sector need to work hand in hand so that persons with disabilities get employment opportunities,' the Prime Minister added.
Following is the text of the Prime Minister's opening remarks on the occasion:-
"I am very happy to be here today to inaugurate this very important Conference of State Ministers of Welfare and Ministers of Social Justice. There can be no progress unless and until the pace of progress is also linked with the achievement of empowerment of the marginalized sections and our country moving towards a constitutional imperative of social justice. I therefore thank my colleague, Shri Mukul Wasnik, for having convened this very important Conference to discuss a subject of critical national importance. As I said, it is our constitutional, social and moral duty to give high priority to the needs and concerns of the Scheduled Castes, Other Backward Classes, Persons with Disabilities and our Senior Citizens. I hope that through your deliberations today, both the Centre and the States will work out effective strategies to ensure greater security, greater dignity, greater equality and more non-discriminatory treatment to the vulnerable sections of our population.
Unfortunately, it cannot be said that we have shown adequate sensitivity and understanding that are required to deal with the special problems of these disadvantaged groups. Progress has been made but this progress falls far below expectations and far below the needs of our country. They are and should be considered as equal partners in our development processes. Development processes must lead to that imperative necessity. We should therefore reflect on how to harness the largely untapped potential of people of disadvantage to become equal productive citizens of our great Republic.
The root of the problem of exclusion from the national mainstream lies in social prejudices and associated discrimination. What can we do to become a more humane and socially progressive society and thereby a more developed society? It appears to me we can begin by changing a mindset that sees people of disadvantage not as a productive national resource that they are but as a marginal section of society at the fringes of our policy establishment. I urge you to carry out a concerted awareness programme that makes creative use of media, educational institutions and civil societies and places the well being of these marginalized section at the centre of the development agenda for our nation.
Our first task is to provide physical security. Reports of atrocities against SCs, STs and senior citizens unfortunately continue to appear all over the country with disturbing regularity. I have in fact written to the Chief Ministers of all the States recently to enforce vigorously the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. I also had benefit of a separate meeting with Chief Ministers on the subject. It is shocking that the conviction rate for cases of atrocities against SC/STs is less than 30% against the average of 42% for all cognizable offences under the IPC. The State Governments therefore need to give more attention to this important issue. Meetings of State and district Vigilance and Monitoring Committees should be held more regularly. Court cases should be pursued diligently and on priority basis.
This year many parts of our country have reported drought like situation. The experience has been that weaker sections tend to be the worst affected by such natural calamities. We therefore need to step up monitoring and implementation of key welfare schemes like NREG programme, "Annapurna" programme, Old Age Pension Scheme which target the weaker sections and it is our duty to ensure that these sections receive their proportionate share of these benefits.
This year, we propose to take up a new scheme on a pilot basis, called "Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana" (PMAGY) for integrated development of 1,000 villages, each having more than 50% SC population. This scheme aims at convergent implementation of various development schemes in these villages, with an additionality of Rs. 10 lakh per village to meet such of its basic requirements as cannot be met from the existing schemes. If the pilot scheme is successful we hope to be able to expand it.
I have in the past few months been meeting groups representing persons with disabilities. I found in each one of them a desire and even a determination to live productive lives and also to make their own individual contributions to society. We should give them every possible opportunity to do so. They need equal opportunities as equal citizens with special needs. Our country has signed and ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) that came into force in May 2008. This Convention casts certain obligations on all the signatories towards enforcement of various rights of persons with disabilities. We propose therefore to comprehensively amend the Persons with Disabilities Act, in consultation with the State Governments and all stakeholders, so as to bring it in line with our obligations under the UN Convention.
Accessibility is a major issue for persons with disabilities. I would urge that our educational and healthcare institutions, our government offices, our banks and other places with public dealings ought to be made more user friendly and accessible to the disadvantaged persons. Small steps like building ramps or designating officers to facilitate their work can go a long way in this direction.
The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology needs to promote development of accessibility software in all Indian languages. Our websites need to be more user-friendly for disabled persons and I am very happy that the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment under the leadership of my distinguished colleague Mukul Wasnik has made a beginning in this regard. I congratulate Shri Mukul Wasnik for this initiative. The National Institute of Design should similarly be urged to encourage the design of everyday appliances and instruments that cater to the needs of people with various disabilities. These are the kinds of institutions that should in my opinion take the lead in building social consciousness in support of the legitimate aspirations of people with disabilities.
The Finance Minister, in the budget speech for 2007-08, had announced an Incentive Scheme to promote employment of persons with disabilities in the private sector. This scheme has been in operation since 1st April, 2008. However, it is regrettable that it has unfortunately not made much headway in the last one and half years. This may partly have been due to the economic slowdown of 2008-09. But as our economy is now emerging from its slowdown phase, I would urge the corporate sector to respond handsomely in the implementation of the Scheme. Central and State Governments and the corporate sector need to work hand in hand so that persons with disabilities get employment opportunities in the private sector through this scheme in large numbers. This is an important part of the social obligation of corporate enterprises.
The estimated population of our senior citizens is projected to more than double by 2026 to 17.3 crore. India has a longstanding tradition of respect and service to elders. But with growing urbanization and nuclearisation of the family, we should reflect on the role of the community and the State in looking after the aged and the elderly persons. Our senior citizens must feel secure, valued and honoured.
Our Parliament has enacted a very important legislation - viz. the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act - in December 2007. But individual State Governments have to bring the Act into force, notify rules under it, and establish and activate Maintenance Tribunals. Five States have yet to notify the Act. Even the States which have brought the Act into force have been slow in taking follow up action, which they need to do on high priority.
What I have outlined are only a few of the many tasks that you have on your agenda. Since the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment was set up, I think a lot of good work has been done. Mukul Wasnik has brought a new sense of purpose and dynamism to this Ministry. There is much more that can and needs to be done both at the central and state levels. I am sure, under his leadership, this Ministry will rise to the occasion. I am told that more than half the identified beneficiaries under the "Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers", which is an important scheme of the Ministry, are yet to be rehabilitated. We have to undertake this task on a top priority basis. State Governments need to be more pro-active in implementing the scholarships and hostel schemes for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes. Issue of disability certificates should be expedited, preferably within a month of the date of application.
In conclusion, I sincerely hope that the deliberations of this very important conference will be guided by a sense of compassion, by principles of social justice and by an obligation to care and provide for all our disadvantaged sections. I wish the Conference all success."
akt/hs/lv/vk/dk/kol/12:15 hrs.
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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Ministry of Commerce & Industry
FDI into SSI/ MSE and in Industrial undertaking manufacturing items reserved for SSI/MSE – Clarification
New Delhi: September 7, 2009
1.0 FDI into SSI/MSE
1.1 A Small Scale industrial undertaking (SSI) was defined in terms of: (i) investment in fixed assets in plant and machinery and (ii) equity participation (both domestic and foreign) in the SSI, by other industrial undertakings prior to 2006.
1.2 Vide Press Note 18 (1997), it was further notified that, for cases of foreign collaborations, since the maximum equity participation allowed for in small scale units was 4%, proposals for induction of foreign equity more than 24% would be subject to the condition that: (i) the company would get itself de-registered as a small scale unit and (ii) obtain industrial licence or file Industrial Entrepreneur Memorandum with SIA, as per prescribed policy and procedure.
1.3 With the promulgation of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (MSMED) Act, 2006, the ceiling for equity participation (both domestic and foreign) in the micro and small enterprises, by other enterprises, was removed and Micro and Small Enterprises (MSE) (earlier small scale industries) were defined solely on the basis of investment in plant & machinery (for micro and small enterprise engaged in manufacturing) and equipment (for micro and small enterprise engaged in providing or rendering of services). Accordingly, this change was notified by Notification No. S.O. 563(E) dated 27th February 2009 of Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
1.4 Thus the present policy on FDI in MSE permits FDI subject only to the sectoral equity caps, entry routes and other relevant sectoral regulations.
1.5 Press Note 18 (1997 series) stands modified to the above extent. Page 1 of2
2.0 FDI in Industrial Undertaking manufacturing items reserved for SSI/MSE
2.1 Vide Press Note 14 (1997), it was notified that Industrial Undertakings manufacturing items reserved for small scale sector were not eligible for automatic approval for induction of foreign investment.
2.2 Accordingly, the FDI policy notified vide Press Note 2 (2000) prescribed prior approval of Government where foreign investment was more than 24% in the equity capital of units manufacturing items reserved for small scale industries. This was reiterated in the Annex to Press Note 4 (2006) and at Para III (ii) of Annex to Press Note 7 (2008).
2.3 Thus, any industrial undertaking, with or without FDI, which is not a MSE, manufacturing items reserved for manufacture in the MSE sector (presently 21 items) as per the Industrial Policy, would require an Industrial License under the Industries (Development & Regulation) Act, 1951, for such manufacture. The issue of the Industrial Licence will be subject to a few general conditions and the specific condition that the undertaking shall undertake to 'export a minimum of 50% of the new or additional annual production of the MSE reserved items to be achieved within a maximum period of three years. The export obligation would be applicable from the date of commencement of commercial production'. Such an industrial undertaking would also require prior approval of the Government (FIPB) where foreign investment is more than 24% in the equity capital.
rj/mrs/dk/kol/12:16 hrs.
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