Context: Recently, the Ministry of Rural Development signed a MoU with Reliance Retail’s JioMart, to onboard  Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM’s) SHGs.

News:

The Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with JioMart, a venture of Reliance Retail, as part of its initiatives to expand the reach of products from Self-Help Groups (SHGs) affiliated with the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), thereby empowering artisans in rural SHGs.

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

• Launch Date: June 2011.
• Ministry: Ministry of Rural Development.
• Objective: Reduce poverty by providing self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunities to poor households, leading to sustainable and diversified livelihood options.
• Mission Target: Reach around 10 Crore rural poor households by 2022-23, impacting their livelihoods significantly.

Historical Background:

• Launched in 2011, DAY-NRLM replaced the Swarnajayanti Grameen Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY).
• The redesign drew insights from successful community-based projects in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.
• Renamed Deendayal Antayodaya Yojana (DAY-NRLM) in November 2015.

Salient Features:

• A flagship poverty alleviation program, DAY-NRLM is the world’s largest initiative to improve rural poor livelihoods.
• Core Values: Inclusion, transparency, accountability, community self-reliance, and self-dependence.

Components of the Mission:

Social Mobilization and Community Institution Strengthening:

• Objective: Establish self-managed, financially sustainable community institutions among the rural poor.
• Time-bound inclusion of at least one woman member from each household into Self Help Groups (SHGs).

Financial Inclusion of the Rural Poor:

• Addresses both demand and supply sides of financial inclusion.
• Promotes financial literacy and provides catalytic capital to SHGs and their federations.

Sustainable Livelihoods:

• Focuses on stabilizing and enhancing the existing livelihoods of the poor.
• Three pillars: vulnerability reduction, livelihood enhancement, and employment.

Social Inclusion, Social Development, and Convergence:

• Emphasizes convergence with other programs of the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) and other Central Ministries.