The union cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval for expanding benefits of interest subvention under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) to 100 more districts.
The cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also approved flexibility in allocation to the Himayat programme and the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushal Yojana.
An official release said the cabinet also approved easing existing criteria for allocation of funds to make adequate provision for the northeastern states, other than Assam, to cover under NRLM all vulnerable rural households -- estimated at two thirds of all the rural households -- by the year 2023-24.
Changes in the implementation framework of NRLM include planning for targeted reduction of poverty using the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) database and convergence with other social sector interventions.
"The use of SECC data would enable the government targeted intervention in poverty reduction in rural area programmes. The NRLM will use SECC data to undertake planning for poverty-free panchayats involving panchayati raj institutions and self-help groups (SHGs)," the release said.
The changes in the NRLM framework also include extending interest subvention in 100 more districts.
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"The interest subvention to all women SHGs to avail loans up to Rs.3 lakh from banks at the interest rate of 7 percent per annum and also an additional subvention of 3 percent for prompt repayment, bringing the effective rate of interest to 4 percent is being extended to 100 more districts from the current financial year," the release said.
It said all new districts declared as Integrated Action Plan (IAP) districts ,which were not covered in the earlier list of 150 districts, will be included in the list.
The remaining districts will be allocated to the states on a pro-rata basis in proportion to the total number of districts in the state/UT.
"The states will identify the eligible districts from among the IAP districts of NRLM. They have been granted flexibility to have only a single allocation under NRLM based on poverty ratio," the release said.
Referring to the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameem Koushal Yojana, the release said the cabinet has approved removal of existing restriction which limits the allocation of DDUGKY to 25 percent of NRLM allocation.
It said the move will enable covering training courses of longer duration for placements in foreign jobs, captive jobs, industry internships, training by accredited institutes and champion employers, and re-skilling and up-skilling of rural poor youth.
The cabinet also approved enhancement in the existing ceiling for professional management cost (administrative expenses) to six percent of NRLM allocation.
On the Himayat programme being implemented in Jammu and Kashmir, the cabinet approved move to replace existing cap of Rs.235.3 crore on the total outlay with a demand-based allocation and target within the overall budget provision of NRLM.
The scheme will be funded entirely by the central government.
Himayat was launched by the central government in 2011 in Jammu and Kashmir to train and give jobs to over one lakh youth from poor families over five years.