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New Delhi : Deepak Khandekar, Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, and N N Sinha, Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, signed a Joint Communication on August 18, 2020, to propel the rural economy and jointly promote sustainable livelihood opportunities among tribal women Self Help Groups (SHGs) under National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM).
The occasion was graced by Arjun Munda, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs (MoTA), Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister for Rural Development (MoRD), Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Union Minister for Food Processing Industries (MoFPI), Renuka Singh Saruta, Minister of State for Tribal Affairs (MoTA), Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Minister of State for Rural Development (MoRD), and several senior officers.
The activities by Ministry of Rural Development will include: identification and mapping of tribal women SHG members and their individual livelihood assets; mapping of common tribal community assets; development of comprehensive proposal for the economic development of PVTGs through the strengthening of their traditional livelihood and occupations; assistance of SHGs to identify tribal households for enrolment under Van Dhan Yojana; and capacity building and credit access support to tribal communities through SHGs, according to a PIB release.
The activities by Ministry of Tribal Affairs will include: planning support to State Rural Livelihood Mission (SRLM) to finalise the State Annual Action Plan and inclusion of the plan in its Livelihood Annual Action Plan; promotion of livelihood opportunities among women identified by SRLM through avenues such as Mess Management,Outsourcing works of EMRS schools like housekeeping, cleaning and other activities in the EMRSs and Ashram Schools; augmenting the creation of individual as well as common livelihood assets as per beneficiaries identified by SRLM; and providing marketing support to produces fromSHGs and PGs through its marketing network.
Addressing on the occasion, Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda congratulated both the Ministries and lauded the new chapter being started for growth of the rural economy. He stated, “This joint endeavour will enable us to realise the Prime Minister’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat, bringing all of closer to each other where we can learn from one another and leverage each other’s strengths.”
Union Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) has facilitated the creation of a network of 66 lakh SHGs covering 7.14 crore rural women.