The Government has reiterated that it is implementing National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) in a mission mode in a phased manner for targeted and time bound delivery of results. In a reply to a question in the Lok Sabha recently, the Minister of State for Rural Development Shri Pradeep Jain said that it is the mandate of NRLM to ensure that at least one member from each identified rural poor household, preferably a woman, be brought under the Self Help Group (SHG) network in a time-bound manner, the ultimate target being full coverage of BPL families. Shri Jain also clarified that the provisions in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) are effected through Schemes formulated by States under Section 4(1) of the Act. Schedule-I of MGNREGA, as amended from time to time, lists the category of works that any Scheme prepared by a State Government under Section 4(1) of MGNREG Act shall focus upon. Creation of durable assets and strengthening the livelihood resource base of the rural poor is also an important objective of the Act. Based on the suggestions and feedback received from various stakeholders including State Governments, changes and modifications to the Schedule and guidelines are carried out from time to time and this is a continuous process.
As per the information provided by the States, out of 42,76,911 SHGs formed in the country, 28,36,677 SHGs are women SHGs and it is known that under NRLM, the target group is BPL households. The Minister informed that a proposal has already been moved for finalising the target group based on the participatory identification of the poor process.
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