MGNREGS to be the anchor programme for employment and livelihood guarantee

In bureaucratic chronicles, poverty was always understood in amorphous terms. The results of the Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 (SECC) published in July 2015 changed that. The census classified poverty in terms of seven major deprivations—such as homelessness, landlessness and lacking a working age adult— and physically counted the number of households in the country that were deprived on one or more of the parameters. There were 8.69 crore with at least one deprivation.

Based on the SECC data, the ministry began participatory planning under Mission Antyodaya beginning with the Gram Sabhas or village committees as the basic unit. So far, the plans for all 2,569 blocks have been completed. About 15 states’ rural development plans have been approved and the rest would be done by the end of March. The participatory planning process begins at the village panchayat level which feed into the block level plans which then enrich district level plans.

The biggest demand in the plans is for diversified livelihood activities such as rearing goats and poultry. Many state government have ordered that self-help groups be given priority for such plans, a top ministry official told ET.

The target of Mission Antyodaya is to address multi-dimensional poverty in lock-step with objectives of four major programmes—National Rural Livelihood Mission, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana, National Social Assistance Programme and the Indira Awaas Yojana, the framework document says. The anchor scheme for the mission is MGNREGS to provide basic employment and livelihood and then help the labourers acquire professional skills which could be utilised in asset creation.