Micro-credit new mantra of livelihood in Rajasthan

Micro-credit is the new mantra of livelihood generation and rural development in Rajasthan with the desert State emerging as a hub of projects promising to improve financial condition of villagers. Three ambitious livelihood programmes launched by the Rajasthan Gramin Ajeevika Vikas Parishad (RGAVP) are serving the rural poor in a meaningful way.

A three-day orientation-cum-training workshop organised by the RGAVP began at Indira Gandhi Panchayati Raj Sansthan here on Tuesday with emphasis on creating the community’s ownership of the self-help groups (SHGs) supported and co-opted by the livelihood projects. Project managers from 16 districts attended the workshop.

Inaugurating the workshop, Additional Chief Secretary (Rural Development & Panchayati Raj) C. S. Rajan said the Chief Minister’s Rural Employment Scheme would start this year for providing employment in the organised sector to the rural youths after imparting short-term training to them. One lakh unemployed youths would be provided employment every year under the flagship scheme, he said.

Mr. Rajan said the scheme’s emphasis would be on finding jobs for the youths rather than leaving them to look for self-employment. The training will equip the youngsters to compete successfully in the job market and their progress would be tracked for a year.

Project managers and members of the State Project Management Unit made presentations on their respective areas while the main speakers at the workshop were State Mission Director (RGAVP) P.C. Kishan, Joint Secretary in Union Rural Development Ministry T. Vijay Kumar and Swarna Jayanti Swarozgar Yojana Project Director Rashmi Sharma.

Mr. Rajan pointed out that though the livelihood projects sponsored by the World Bank and run by the Union Government were operative in several States, a unique project – Mitigating Poverty in Western Rajasthan (MPOWER) – was functional only in Rajasthan. He said a single action plan would be adopted for implementation of all schemes relating to livelihood for the poor.

The first set of targets in the livelihood projects would be completed by October this year and the second by Mach next year. In the initial phase, women SHGs in the villages would be associated with the projects rather than establishing new SHGs. The workshop was informed that the governing council of the National Rural Livelihood Mission has been appointed with Chief Minister as Ashok Gehlot as its chairman.

Mr. Kishan said the three livelihood generation projects are the World Bank-funded Rajasthan Rural Livelihood Project, International Fund for Agricultural Development-funded Mitigating Poverty in Western Rajasthan Project and the Centrally-sponsored National Rural Livelihood Project.

The projects are to be implemented in all the 248 blocks in different phases, while 170 blocks will be covered in the first phase.

“We will devise our plan of action in keeping with the spirit of the projects to serve the rural poor,” he said while terming the shift from subsidy-driven schemes to the micro-credit-based projects as the harbinger for bringing true democracy at the grassroots. He called upon the project managers to ensure implementation as a mission.