The State Government has set a target to provide credit linkage to one lakh self-help groups (SHGs) under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) and National Rural Livelihood Project (NRLP) during the current financial year.
As per the annual action plan (2013-14) approved by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), it has been planned to extend credit to the tune of Rs 1000 crore to eligible SHGs to undertake productive livelihood enhancing initiatives through micro-economic activities.
Meanwhile, the Ministry has changed the funding pattern under NRLM by withdrawing capital subsidy on credit to beneficiaries following detection of large scale misuse. Instead of capital subsidy, the beneficiaries will be supported through interest subsidy.
The State Government has also adopted a new strategy to roll out NRLM. Intensive approach will be adopted in blocks having high incidence of poverty while other blocks will have a non-intensive approach, a senior officer of the Panchayati Raj department said.
The Centre has identified 400 blocks of 100 districts in 12 States including Odisha where the poverty is very high. The State Government has identified 40 blocks in 10 districts as “intensive”. Out of them, 28 blocks in seven districts of Deogarh, Gajpati, Mayurbhanj, Koraput, Malkangiri, Rayagada and Sambalpur will be covered under NRLP while the remaining blocks of Ganjam, Kandhammal and Sundergarh districts will be supported under NRLM, the sources said.
Under the existing implementation framework, only rural households included in the official BPL list could be included in the NRLM. Now the BPL requirement has been done away with and membership of the women SHGs to be formed under the NRLM will be determined through a transparent and equitable process of participatory identification of the poor.
The list will be prepared by gram sabha and approved by the gram panchayat. The process will also have a set of automatic exclusion and inclusion criteria and deprivation indicators for giving priority to rural women to be enrolled as members.
Each SHG formed under the new framework will be provided a revolving fund of Rs 15,000 to meet the consumption and production needs of the group members.