Integrated efforts are being made to benefit rural poor through livelihood activities for their economic uplift. Besides, various Government welfare schemes and social security programmes will also be extended to them. These important suggestions were put up at a one-day State-level livelihoods workshop under the aegis of State Rural livelihoods Mission here on Tuesday.
Additional Chief Secretary Panchayats and Rural Development Aruna Sharma said that planned efforts are necessary for economic upliftment of landless labourers and rural people with marginal landholding. Intensive campaigns should be launched to associate such people with livelihoods activities and imparting job-oriented training.
Sharma said that eight shops will now be constructed in every panchayat under Mukhyamantri Haat-Bazaar Yojana. These shops will be allotted to rural youths after imparting them proper training. She said that through this, the youths will become self-reliant in various businesses. She said that over 76,000 women’s self-help groups are linked with Mid-Day meal scheme. These groups should also be linked with various livelihoods activities to provide them extra income. For this, they can be benefited by linking them with production and distribution of Vindhya Valley spices, milk and sale network of Hindustan lever.
CEO lK Belwal threw light on the workshop’s objectives and expressed hoped that this programme would help district-level staff understand rural employment programmes being implemented by various Government departments and enable them to implement the programmes in a better way. Commissioner MNREGA Ravindra Pastor threw light on livelihoods activities through MNREGA. SD Pateriya spoke on livelihoods through silk and tusser production, UK Sadbuddhi on fisheries and RR Okhandiyar on livelihood augmentation through small forest produce collection.
On the occasion, representatives of voluntary oganisations Asha, Pradan, Card, Basics and Aga Khan Foundation share success in livelihood activities. Questions raised by district project managers of State Rural livelihoods Mission and District Poverty Initiative Project were answered by experts. Programme was conducted by Director State Project AK Tiwari.