Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana

Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY) is an initiative launched by the Government of India to provide sustainable income to poorest poor people living in rural & urban areas of the country. The scheme was launched on April 1, 1999.

The SGSY(Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana) aims at providing self-employment to villagers through the establishment of self-help groups. Activity clusters are established based on the aptitude and skill of the people which are nurtured to their maximum potential. Funds are provided by NGOs, banks and financial institutions.

Since its inception, over 2.25 million Self-help groups have been established with an investment of ₹14,403 crore (US$2.1 billion), profiting over 6.697 million people.

The Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY) was launched as an integrated programme for self-employment of the rural poor with effect from April 1, 1999.

Working of the scheme

The SGSY was somewhat intended to provide self-employment to millions of villagers. Poor families living below the poverty line were organised into Self-help groups (SHG)s established with a mixture of government subsidy and credit from investment banks.^[1] The main aim of these SHGs was to bring these poor families above the poverty line and concentrate on income generation through combined effort.^[1][2][3] The scheme recommended the establishment of activity clusters or clusters of villagers grouped together based on their skills and abilities. Each of these activity clusters worked on a specific activity chosen based on the aptitude and skill of the people, availability of resources and market potentiality.

The SHGs are aided, supported and trained by NGOs, CBOs, individuals, banks and self-help promoting institutions. Government-run District Level Development Agencies (DRDA) and the respective State governments also provided training and financial aid. The programme focuses on establishing microenterprises in rural areas.

The SHGs created may have a varying number of members based on the terrain and physical abilities of the members. It goes through three stages of creation:

• Group formation
• Capital formation through the revolving fund and skill development and
• Taking up of economic activity for skill generation.

The SHGs are usually created by selecting individuals from the Below poverty-line (BPL) list provided by the Gram sabha. The SHGs are divided into various blocks and each of these blocks concentrated on 4-5 key activities. The SGSY is mainly run through government-run DRDAs with support from local private institutions, banks and Panchayati raj institutions.

The Government also assists villagers in marketing their products by organizing melas or fairs, exhibitions,, etc.

The Swarna Jayanti Swarozgar Yojna (SGSY) has been renamed as National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM).With this the scheme will be made universal, more focussed and time bound for poverty alleviation by 2014:^[4]

Funding

Government provide funds as per individual is 30% of the total capital investment if the total investment is less than Rs. 7,500 and 50% of the investment for SC/STs if the investment is less than Rs.10,000. For self-help groups, the government offers a subsidy of 50% if the total investment is less than Rs. 1.25 lakhs. There are no monetary ceilings on subsidy in the case of irrigation projects.

The SGSY concentrates on the marginalized sections of society. Accordingly, SC/STs comprise 50 percent, women 40% and the physically challenged make up 3% of the total beneficiaries from the scheme.

Government funding for the scheme is divided between the Center and State on a 75-25 basis.

Results

Since its inception in 1999, around 2.252 million SHGs have been established comprising 3.554 million people. Apart from SHGs, the scheme has also benefitted 3.143 million self-employed individuals. The total investment provided for the cause has been calculated at Rs. 14,403.73 crores including Rs. 1,200 crores provided by the Government of India for the calendar year 2006-07. Of the beneficiaries, 45.54 percent have been SC/STs and 47.85 percent, women.

Notes

References

• Research, Reference and Training Division (2008). India 2008. New Delhi: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. pp. 712–713. ISBN 81-230-1488-0. 
• "Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana, 2001" (PDF). Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India. Retrieved 2009-02-12.