Cabinet nod to plan to reduce urban poverty

Aiming to reduce poverty and vulnerability of urban poor, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs Tuesday approved restructuring of the Swarna Jayanti Shahri Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) as the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) in the 12th Five Year Plan at a cost of Rs.6,405 crore, an official statement said.

According to the statement, NULM aims to reduce poverty and vulnerability of the urban poor households by enabling them to access gainful self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunities.

The mission would also aim at providing shelter equipped with essential services to the urban homeless in a phased manner.

The mission would also address livelihood concerns of the urban street vendors by facilitating access to suitable spaces, institutional credit, social security and skills.

Under the mission, City Livelihood Centres (CLCs) will be established in cities to provide a platform whereby the urban poor can market their services and access information on self-employment, skill training and other benefits.

For every one lakh urban population, provisions will be made for permanent community shelters for a minimum of hundred persons, said the statement.