Urban Livelihood Mission: State govt engages several self-help-groups in various activities
Kolkata: Under the West Bengal State Urban Livelihood Mission (WBSULM), christened as ‘Swayamsiddha’, a substantial number of Self-Help Groups (SHG) have been engaged to enhance livelihoods of urban poor communities through various activities.
As of now, a total of 89,650 SHGs have been established, encompassing 1,156,348 members. They are engaged in activities such as school dress making, mid day meal, dengue survey, ICDS programme, urban housing survey, solid waste management (SWM) etc.
As per State Urban Development Agency (SUDA), under the state Urban Development and Municipal Affairs department which is implementing the programme, the highest number of SHGs are presently involved in dengue survey under National Urban Health Mission (NUHM). About 18,239 SHGs comprising 36,145 women are engaged in this work.
In school uniform making 6,994 SHGs with 27,502 members are involved; in MHA (Mahila Arogya Samitis) under NUHM, 15,034 SHGs with 1,05,992 members are engaged; 3,211 SHGs with 4,520 members are involved in Nirmal Sathi, an SWM scheme; 1,869 SHGs with 3,500 members are part of Prakolpo Bandhu under Housing for All scheme.
The Maa canteen programme involves 844 SHGs with 3,239 members, mid day meal has 8,327 SHGs with 24,050 members, ICDS has 3,239 SHGs with 1,809 members, among many other SHGs involved in other activities.
WBSULM, rolled out in April 2014, is being implemented under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) that aims to reduce poverty and vulnerability by enabling the urban poor to access gainful self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunities.
These SHGs are organised under 2,948 Area Level Federations (ALFs) and 132 City Level Federations (CLFs), fostering community cohesion and collective growth.
“WBSULM continues to work towards expanding its reach and impact, with a focus on capacity building, financial inclusion, and sustainable livelihood opportunities. Through the mission, we are committed to empowering urban poor communities, enabling them to lead dignified lives and contribute to the socio-economic development of the state,” said a SUDA official.
