The Joy of giving.....

The joy of giving….

The Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India has initiated many programmes for the welfare of the rural people. The National Rural Livelihoods Mission-NRLM is one such programme which facilitates sustainable development by establishing community institutions of the poor. The strength of the programme lies in creation of a community cadre which lead the programme and this makes it different from all the other programmes like the Integrated Rural Development Programme –IRDP or the Suvarnajayanti Gram Rozgaar Yojana SGSY.

Social inclusion, Financial Inclusion, Economic Inclusion and Sustainable Livelihoods are the four pillars of NRLM. The mission begins it work in villages by creation of self-help groups of women which typically is a group of 10 to 12 women. The SHGs later congregate into village organisations and cluster level federations. Their foundations are based on following the ten principles of Dashasutri which include, regular meetings, savings, internal lending, and repayment of loans and writing books of accounts which together are the Dhan Vyavahar or the financial codes of business. Added to these are the Mana Vyavahar or social codes of supporting health, nutrition and sanitation, education, participating in Panchayat Raj Institutions, taking benefit of all government schemes and promoting sustainable livelihoods. The goal of the mission is to ensure that every family is able to earn at least one lakh of rupees from two or three modes of livelihood.

The mission uses three effective methods to support sustainable livelihoods- 1) Enhancing productivity in agriculture by providing technological support to the community and by creation of a cadre 2) Supporting them with establishment of additional livelihoods supporting agriculture like goatery, poultry, fish-farming, vegetable cultivation etc.3) providing skills for alternate employment to at least one member of the family so that he or she is able to get employed or self-employed and support the family.

The skilling of individuals is done under the Deendayal Upadhyaay Grameen Kaushalya Yojana. Maharashtra also implements the scheme with the help of Programme Implementation Agencies – PIAs which has trained and placed over 6000 students till date.

Sonu Mandhre is one student. I happened to meet her during my recent visit to Wardha. Smartly attired, beaming and confident. She has been trained by Dhatri Foundation, an award winning PIA in Nagpur. 

Sonu was in the first year of BA when she was selected to do the three month course in BPO. She hails from a village near Butibori in Nagpur district. She has parents, four sisters and one brother. She says that her parents were always at the receiving end with people enquiring and almost commiserating about having four daughters. This used to bother her a lot. When the PIA came for mobilisation in her village, she was motivated and decided to do the course. She felt that through this she would achieve something and prove herself to the world.  She can converse in Hindi, Marathi and English. She completed the course with dedication and secured a placement in Megus Dialogue at Hyderabad, which is a BPO for Tata Sky. Her confidence is reflected in her willingness to go and work at Hyderabad, miles away from her home in Nagpur. Initially, she was given a salary of Rs.7, 000/- plus incentives. Within six months due her hard work her salary increased to Rs.10, 000/- plus incentives. She manages to earn Rs.20, 000/- and above now.

Her grit and determination are evident from the fact that she has taken a month’s leave to complete her graduation. She will be appearing for her B.A exams. Her employers have given her an offer to return despite the break.

On asking what does she do with her salary she said that she has saved money in the bank after supporting her parents. Her humaneness is reflected in the fact that she bought a motorbike for her brother.  Her sense of belonging and pride was evident on her face as she shared that her brother had always wanted a bike and she decided to give him a surprise by buying him a Bajaj Splendour Plus. Everything around felt like a big plus...plus plus....I was overwhelmed by her sweet gesture. A small little girl from a village, making an effort to study, successfully completing her course, getting employed to prove a point and caring so much for her family. I asked her why you didn’t buy anything for yourself. She said I wanted to make my brother happy. Two of her sisters are married. Another is also thinking of doing a course through DDUGKY.

As I watched her interacting with the current batch of students with joy and confidence I felt blessed to be a part of implementation of a scheme which can not only transform so many lives but also imbibe the spirit of selflessness and the joy of giving. Sonu filled my heart with joy. Surely giving is simply joyful.....