Deen Dayal Upadhyay Antyodaya Yojana (DAY) is an ambitious scheme of the Central government, which aims to uplift the urban and rural poor by enhancing sustainable livelihood opportunities through skill development. The Government of India launched the Deendayal Upadhyaya Antyodaya Yojana for the urban and rural poor on 25 September 2014. The objective of the scheme is to reduce urban and rural poverty by increasing livelihood opportunities through skill development and other measures. Deendayal Upadhyaya Antyodaya Yojana has two components – one for urban India and the other for rural India. The urban component is implemented by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, while the rural component, named Deen Dayal Upadhyay Rural Skills Scheme, is implemented by the Union Ministry of Rural Development. It should be remembered that the initial scheme to this effect “Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana” (SGSY) was launched in 1999. At the same time, in 2011 its name was changed to National Rural Livelihood Mission. Eventually, they were merged into DDU-AY.
Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana was launched under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA). The Government of India has made a provision of Rs 500 crore for this scheme. The scheme is an integration of the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) and the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM).
National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) has been renamed as Deen Dayal Upadhyay Antyodaya Yojana (DAY-NULM), which is translated as National Urban Livelihoods Mission in Hindi. Under this scheme, an effort has been made to cover the urban area i.e. all 4041 statutory cities and towns, which covers almost the entire urban population. Initially, all urban poverty alleviation programs covered only 790 towns and cities.
Mission of DAY-NULM
The scheme aims to reduce the poverty and vulnerability of urban poor households by enabling them to access gainful self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunities, resulting in appreciable improvement in their livelihoods on a sustainable basis through strong grassroots building. At the same time, the aim of this mission will also be to provide shelter equipped with essential services to the urban homeless in a phased manner. The scheme also addresses the livelihood concerns of urban street vendors by providing them access to suitable space, institutional credit social security and skills to access emerging market opportunities.
Components of DAY-NULM
This scheme has two components, one for urban India and the other for rural India. The urban component called Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Antyodaya Yojana is implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, while the rural component called Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana is implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development. The Mission seeks to achieve its objective through investment in four main components, (a) social mobilization and promotion and strengthening of self-managed and financially sustainable community institutions of rural poor women; (b) financial inclusion; (c) sustainable livelihoods; and (d) social inclusion.
More about the DAY-NULM scheme
First, an expenditure of Rs 15,000 per person is allowed for training of the urban poor for employment through skill training and placement, while an expenditure of Rs 18,000 per person is allowed for training of the urban poor in North-East and Jammu and Kashmir. Furthermore, the aim is to train the urban poor by providing them with market-oriented skills through Urban Livelihood Centers to meet the huge demand of urban citizens.
Secondly, Self Help Groups (SHGs) will be formed to provide training and support to the members through the Institute of Social Mobility and Development, through which an initial support of Rs 10,000 is given for each group. Whereas, Rs 50,000 is provided to registered area-level associations.
Third, as part of the subsidy to the urban poor, incentives are provided for setting up individual micro-enterprises with loans up to Rs 2 lakh and interest subsidies of 5%-7% for group enterprises with loan limits up to Rs 10 lakh.
Fourth, the cost of construction of shelters for the urban homeless is fully funded under the scheme, aiming to provide shelter for the urban homeless.
Fifth, another instrument is the development of vendor markets and promotion of skills for vendors through setting up of infrastructure and special projects for waste pickers and disabled etc.
The concerned Ministry has developed an online web-based Management Information System (MIS) for real-time and regular progress monitoring of the scheme. MIS was launched on 20 January 2015. MIS enables stakeholders like training providers, certification agencies, banks, and resource organizations to directly provide the necessary information, which can be accessed by urban local bodies, states and HUPA Ministry for monitoring and other purposes. To track progress. Further, the DAY-NULM Directorate regularly organizes review meetings and video conferences with the State/UTs for effective monitoring of the implementation of the scheme.
