Union Cabinet approves Rs 520 crore for J&K and Ladakh under DAY-NRLM

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a special package worth Rs. 520 crore for the UTs of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), informed Union Minister Prakash Javadekar.

The Union Minister stated that due to technical reasons, the program was not widely applicable in the two UTs for the longest time, and very few women were identified for the program from the region. However, the criteria has now been specially modified for both Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh with the program covering 2/3rd of the rural families in the UTs. Prakash Javadekar also added that 10.58 lakh women would benefit from the Rs 520 crore package for the next five years.

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"The program would be carried out on a demand driven basis without linking allocation with poverty ratio during this extended period. This will ensure sufficient funds under the Mission, as per need to the UTs and is also in line with Government of India's aim to universalize all centrally sponsored beneficiary-oriented schemes in the UTs of J&K and Ladakh in a time bound manner," said an official release of the Union Cabinet. 

Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) is a centrally sponsored programme that aims at eliminating rural poverty through the promotion of multiple livelihoods for rural poor households across the country. DAY-NRLM has been implemented in J&K by the Jammu and Kashmir State Rural Livelihoods Mission (JKSRLM) as "Umeed" programme. The Special Package had been approved in May 2013, and subsequently, extended by a year to up to 2018-19. 

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