JOIN USCongress president Sonia Gandhi said here on Monday that a special package was being prepared for North-East and hilly states like Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh for effective implementation of the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM).
Speaking at the second anniversary of the NRLM here, she said in the next 10 years, seven crore BPL families should be freed from poverty by effective implementation of the scheme.
She also said that the NRLM, also called Aajivika, would be implemented across the country stage-by-stage.
Sonia’s emphasis on the scheme comes at a time when the Congress is bracing for Lok Sabha elections due next year and Assembly elections in five states, including the BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
The scheme was launched by the Ministry of Rural Development in June 2011. It aims at creating efficient and effective institutional platforms for the rural poor enabling them to increase household income through sustainable livelihood enhancements and improved access to financial services.
The NRLM has set out with an agenda to cover seven crore BPL households, across 600 districts, 6,000 blocks, 2.5 lakh gram panchayats and 6 lakh villages through self-help groups and support them for livelihood collectives for a period of 8-10 years.