I would like to see NRLM prioritised

I hope to see a Budgetary increase for the rural development ministry. Going by the trend, the ministry has been receiving increased Budgetary allocations and that is because it is very crucial, representing 70 per cent of the country’s population. We got Rs 80,000 crore last year. We hope that figure will increase exponentially this year and that it is prioritised.

This year, the ministry will push forth the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM or Aajeevika), which is mainly a restructuring of the existing Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY) scheme but in a new avatar. There would be need for substantial allocations for this revamped NRLM. What the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) has been to ministry till now, NRLM will be in the times ahead. In fact, we will focus more on creating livelihoods than wage employment.

 

While NREGS is intended to be a safety net programme, NRLM is a programme with a longer-term vision. Therefore, I would like see NRLM prioritised in the Budget.

The ministry’s Aajeevika or NRLM has the flexibility component built into it with a beneficiary having the option to choose a livelihood that is more suitable for him, whether that be sustainable agriculture, organic farming, dairy production or making microfinance available to self-help groups and women.

So far as my home state, Meghalaya, is concerned, it has had three chief ministers in the past four years. It is important to ensure stability for Central schemes and Central funds to be best utilised there.

Last year, sustainability of water was included as a 20 per cent component in Budget allocation. I am trying to take Central schemes to my state and other northeastern states. There is lot of scope for such schemes there, but it needs to be holistically integrated in the existing set-up.

Agatha Sangma
Minister of State for Rural Development