JHARKHAND: In the socio-economic ladder, there’s a striving, hurt, and a dare. The people and the government have a common stake in moving up the economic path – up close with extreme poverty, starting from scratch. Step number one: ultra-poverty, the lowest rung where people are most vulnerable under extreme poverty.
The Jharkhand State Livelihoods Promotion Society (JSLPS), a Jharkhand government wing, has launched a special project: Ultra Poor Graduation Approach in Jharkhand (UPAJ) under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojna-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM). Under the special project, around 4,000 ultra-poor families from four blocks in three districts have been identified using specific criteria to be a part of the project for a period of three years to graduate from ultra-poverty.
The families living in ultra-poverty are tied to unpredictable availability of wages, they have little or no productive assets, have limited skills, and are socially, economically, and geographically isolated.
Officials say the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) and Ultra Poor Development Domain of Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS) is the nodal domain to implement the project. This non-financial partnership is also receiving technical, managerial and human resource support from The/Nudge Institute for better implementation of initiatives targeting the ultra-poor, including the PVTGs, they said.
State Nodal Officer (Communications), Hem Raj says this is the first pilot project under DAY-NRLM in India implemented by JSLPS under which we have targeted 4,000 ultra-poor households for a period of 36 months in four blocks in three districts -- Sundarpahari block of Godda, Dumaria block of East Singhbhum and Bishrampur Block & Nawadih Block of Palamu.
“This is the first pilot project under DAY-NRLM in the country under which we will work continuously at least for a period of 3 years so with an objective to bring them out with from the condition of ultra-poverty. The approach intends to graduate the ultra-poor to a less extreme form of poverty and put them on a path out of poverty altogether,” said Hem Raj.
In the first phase, JSLPS identified about 180 SHG women and provided training to them at the state level, he added. “Then different teams with three women in each of them were formed, who were assigned to different villages in their areas to identify the ultra-poor families by spending at least five days in one village through various levels of identification technique developed for the same which we call ‘Poverty Assessment Tool (PAT)’. After identifying the ultra-poor households, approval of the villagers was taken and then final a call was given by the Village Organisation (VO),” said state programme manager (PVTG and Utra-Poor Development) JSLPS Subhakant Nayak.
Then identified 100 ultra-poor change makers and each was assigned 40-45 households to look after them, he added. According to Subhakant, they were properly trained and a baseline survey was conducted to assess their actual condition like their life, financial condition, education status and health condition.
“On the basis of that survey, we help them in making their Aadhaar cards, opening their bank accounts, getting job cards; provide assistance to them for starting livelihood activities like chicken farming, goat farming, starting kitchen gardening as per their choice, besides connecting them with welfare schemes of the state and central government,” said the state programme manager. In addition to that, they also provide five-month consumption support of Rs 5,000 to each of the households, he said.
Overall, they will be investing Rs 20,000 for each of the households for livelihood activities based on their own traditional knowledge, interest and capacity, said the programme manager. According to an Ultra-poor change maker Phoolpati Kumari, an SHG woman, associated with this project in Palamu, said she has already identified 42 such households who are working under ultra-poor living conditions.
“In the first phase, we helped them in making their Aadhaar cards, opening their bank accounts, getting job cards; providing assistance for starting livelihood activities like chicken and goat farming, starting kitchen gardening as per their choice, besides connecting them with welfare schemes of the state and central government,” said Phoolpati Kumari. In the next phase they will be provided financial assistance connecting them with livelihood activities of their own choice, she added.