State ready with two schemes for urban poverty alleviation

Come July, the State will witness the launch of two programmes on urban poverty alleviation, from providing identity cards and social security to street vendors to the launch of certified courses in skills development for the urban poor.

The Centrally sponsored National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM) will be launched in 35 cities in the State with a population of more than one lakh. In 181 smaller towns, the government will launch a new scheme – Chief Minister’s Urban Poverty Alleviation Programme – to address the needs of the urban poor.

“The guidelines and components of the two programmes are being prepared. We will also set the target for the two schemes for the current year,” Urban Development Department Secretary (Municipalities and Urban Development Authorities) T K Anil Kumar told Deccan Herald.

The NULM in 35 cities will be funded by grants under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM).

Anil Kumar pointed out that the State decided to launch a separate scheme for smaller towns, as JnNURM was not applicable for urban areas with a population below one lakh.

The State government has set aside Rs 25 crore for implementing the Chief Minister’s Urban Poverty Alleviation Programme.

A major component of the two schemes would be providing certified skill based courses to improve the employability of the urban poor. To start with, certified courses on skills required by the industry besides soft skills courses like basic communication skills (both in English and local language), computer operations and professional etiquettes will be imparted with the help of government and private agencies. 

The courses will be for duration of three months with minimal fee structure. The candidates will also be given orientation on financial literacy, awareness on savings, credit, subsidy, remittance, insurance and pensions, officials said.

Another component would be to address the livelihood concerns of the urban street vendors by facilitating access to suitable spaces, bank loans and social security. To start with, a survey of street vendors in city corporations in the State would be completed within the next three months.

Following the completion of the survey, the street vendors would be issued identity cards by the government. City Street Vending Plan will also be chalked out for all towns and cities which will contain  profile of street vending trades and activities and earmarking of areas for vending zones, officials said.