Urban Affairs Ministry to organise fortnight-long programme for poorest of poor

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The Housing and Urban Affairs ministry will extend outreach of its flagship project Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana among the poorest of poor in the country through a series of events in the coming month.

The 'Shehri Samridhi Utsav', focusing on urban livelihoods, will be held from February 1 to 15, showcasing initiatives of the Deen Dayal Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihood Mission (DAY-NULM), Union Housing and Urban Affairs minister Hardeep Singh Puri said at a press conference here.

The Mission has made "significant progress" in the last five years, organising 34 lakh urban poor women into self-help groups, besides providing subsidised loans to over 8.5 lakh individuals and groups, the minister said.

"Over 8.9 lakh candidates have been skill trained and certified. Over 4.6 lakh have been placed," Puri said.

Among other achievements under the mission, 16 lakh street vendors have been identified through a survey and half of them have been given identity cards. More than 1,000 permanent shelters have been set up, creating space for more than 60,000 urban homeless, he said.

A survey named safety net survey' is being conducted to identify eligible SHG members who are not covered by government programmes, he told reporters.

The minister said a new platform called 'Shehri Sahabhagita Manch' has been proposed for regular meetings of the officials of urban local bodies with SHG federations for easy resolution of local issues and identifying gaps in extending basic services in urban poor settlements.

Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra said various activities will be organised in the city, state and at the national level as part of the 'Shehri Samridhi Utsav'.

A national exhibition will be held in New Delhi from February 8 to 17 along with a national street food festival which will start on February 14, he said. A national conference on street vending will also be held to discuss issues and seek a way forward to support livelihoods of hawkers.

National-level workshop on sanitation and a conference on street vending will also be part of the planned programmes. Further, rally by SHGs, job melas, loan camps, identity cards for street vendors and other activities will be organised.