Chief minister Naveen Patnaik with panchayti raj minister Prafulla Samal at an event to launch National Rural Livelihood Mission in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, April 18: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik today launched the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM). The NRLM is the restructured version of the Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana, an integrated programme for self-employment of the rural poor.

Under the programme, the government aims to reach 80 lakh families of Orissa. The families will be encouraged to include themselves in the self-help group and involve themselves in various income generation programmes. Under the scheme, the government would help the beneficiaries to take up small business so that they could supplement their income.

Naveen said: “In the first phase, the programme will be launched in the 38 districts of the state. All villages will be covered under the programme by 2017.”

NRLM will adopt a multi-pronged strategy to reduce poverty by enabling the poor households to access gainful self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunities. Panchayati raj minister Prafulla Samal said: “The state government is trying to take up various welfare steps for the overall development of Orissa. But there are many people who are trying to create hurdles on the path of progress.”

Samal said there was no corruption in execution of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Scheme (MNREGS). “All the district collectors and project director should maintain transparency while executing various welfare programmes, including the MNREGS. There may be some irregularities while executing the work. We are prepared to go to jail if any corruption is found in implementation of the scheme,” he said.

Panchayati raj secretary S.N. Tripathy said it was responsibility of both the Orissa government as well as the Centre to see that the rate of poverty ratio is reduced. The self-help group will be promoted and re-designed as Mission Shakti Groups.

“Services of the trained Shakti Sahayikas will be utilised in the NRML. Under the programme, the state will engage Mission Shakti Sahyikas, otherwise known as community resources persons, to provide handholding support to the SHGs and their federations,” officials said.

The women who attended the conference said they were happy with launching of the programme. One Sujani Senpati (49) said: “Now, I am able to earn Rs 5,000 per annum by cultivating the sun flower. We have formed the women self-help group comprising 13 members. Each member is able to earn Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 per annum. Now, my income slab can be enhanced.”