JKSRLM: A mission for promoting Self-Employment among Rural people

Srinagar : National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), a poverty alleviation project implemented by Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India is focusing on promoting self-employment and organization of rural people especially poor. The basic idea behind this program is to organize the poor into Self Help Groups (SHGs) and make them capable for self-employment.
In Jammu and Kashmir this programme is being operated as the Jammu-Kashmir State Rural livelihood Mission (JKSRLM).
The SRLM aims to reduce poverty in the J&K by building strong grassroots institutions of the poor, engage them into gainful livelihood interventions and ensure appreciable improvement in their income on a sustainable basis. This programme also aims to enable poor to think positively about himself and his family and reap all the benefits of government schemes which ultimately helps him to live a life full of contentment, happiness, and dignity.
JKSRLM’s mandate is to reach out to 66% of the rural population across the125 blocks of Jammu and Kashmir and to provide them sustainable livelihood opportunities and nurture them so that they come out of poverty and appreciate a honourable quality of life. The core values which guide all the activities under JKSRLM are inclusion of the poorest and substantial role of the poorest in all the process, transparency and accountability of all processes and institutions, proprietorship and key role of the poor and their institutions in all the stages – planning, implementation and monitoring and lastly community self-reliance and self-dependence.
In J&K, there are number of projects running under JKSRLM in which Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP) and Start-Up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP) are making remarkable progress.
MKSP is a sub-component of Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-NRLM (DAY-NRLM), with an aim to empower women in agriculture. Its objective is to strengthen small agriculturists through promotion of sustainable agriculture practices like Community Managed Sustainable Agriculture (CSMA), Non-Pesticide Management (NPM), Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF), Pashu-Sakhi Model for doorstep Animal Care Services and Sustainable Regeneration and Harvesting of Non-Timber Forest Produce.
Additionally, the focus of MKSP is on capacitating the smallholders to adopt sustainable climate change resilient agro- ecology, eventually creating a pool of skilled community professionals.
Under CMSA of MKSP a pilot project was initiated in two blocks, Chenani and Bishnah in which 1200 Mahila Kisans were Involved 1060 Mahila Kisans were registered on PGS portal.
Under Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP),another sub-scheme under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) has the objective of assisting rural households including women to set-up enterprises that aid them in their financial upliftment.
Moreover, building support is provided to all the entrepreneurs backed under Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme through Community Resource Persons for Enterprise Promotion (CRPEP).
JKSRLM (Umeed) under (DAY-NRLM) has a vision for reaching out to approximately 9 lakhs rural women. Most of the households in rural areas are engaged in agriculture, livestock activity and NTFP as their primary source of income. DAY-NRLM being a livelihoods promotion program will support each family with multiple livelihoods. MKSP would engage with these poor households and help them to adopt sustainable practices in agriculture, livestock practices and NTFP making them viable livelihoods for the poor households.
The J&K Government has made remarkable achievements under SRLM and has provided training as well as financial support to various SHGs and made them self sufficient.
Through the SRLM programme of J&K Government, Smt. Pammi Devi along with other SHG members from Block Bishnah, undertook a 30 Days long training and acquired the skills of making Jams, Pickles, sauces, chutneys and concentrates. The training was a part of JKRLM’s vision of making the rural women self-reliant and thus enabling them to start a lucrative livelihood for themselves. Seeing her zest for making her life meaningful and becoming an earning hand for her family, the Mission motivated and facilitated her to start a food processing and preservation unit in Rehal in convergence with the Department of Horticulture.
Similarly, Chinta Devi, a Self Help Group member of Sai Ram group living in remote Village Beaulian of Block Pouni, District Reasi is a happy fish farmer who is earning a respectable livelihood out of fish farming. She received assistance from JKSRLM, established the fish farming unit and is currently earning handsomely which improved the economic condition of her family.
Moreover, through JKSRLM, Cultivation of Medicinal Plants and installation of Distillation Unit in Panchari Block of District Udhampur has been initiated in convergence with Integrative Institute of Indian Medicines (IIM), Jammu. The institute distributed Marigold medicinal plants free of Cost under IIIM Aroma Mission among 150 SHG members/Farmers to start their farm livelihood activities. The cultivation has started and till date 472.5 Kgs. of Medicinal Plant seeds have been sold to IIIM, Jammu. The institute also installed a distillation unit for the extraction of Oil from Aroma seeds/ crop.
In brief, SRLM is emerging as the hope for rural women as the programme has brought self sufficiency among them. The women have not only come out of poverty but their status has also been raised within their own families by this mission. The mission is extensively based on capacity building and strengthening of community based institutions by empowering rural women at different levels.