Sonia seeks quick implementation of rural livelihood scheme

Buoyed by the response to UPA's rural livelihood scheme, Congress President Sonia Gandhi today sought quick implementation of Aajivika mission across the nation especially its central and eastern parts.
Gandhi's thrust on the scheme comes at a time when Congress is bracing for Lok Sabha elections due next year and assembly elections in five states including BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh this year.
Giving a thrust to poverty alleviation in her address at the second anniversary of the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) here, Gandhi said that the empowerment of weaker sections and women has been the main pillar of our UPA government.

The Congress President also chose the occasion to announce that a special package is being prepared for North Eastern states and hilly states like Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh to give a fillip to such measures.
She said that in the next ten years, 7 crore BPL families have to be freed from poverty, which is not an easy job.
"But by adopting the Aajivika Mission, many states have proved that through women SHGs, economical and social changes can be brought in the rural areas.

"Seeing this success, it seems that now the Aajivika Mission will have to be implemented fast across the country especially in central and eastern India," Gandhi said.

Aajeevika was launched by Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) in June 2011. It aims at creating efficient and effective institutional platforms of the rural poor enabling them to increase household income through sustainable livelihood enhancements and improved access to financial services.
NRLM has set out with an agenda to cover 7 Crore BPL households, across 600 districts, 6000 blocks, 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats and 6 lakh villages through self-managed Self Help Groups (SHGs) and support them for livelihood collectives in a period of 8-10 years.