17-Sep-2022: PM addresses Women Self Help Groups Conference in Karahal, Madhya Pradesh

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi participated in the Self Help Group Sammelan organised at Karahal, Sheopur, Madhya Pradesh. On the occasion, the Prime Minister also inaugurated four Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) skilling centres under PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana. The Prime Minister also handed over Bank Loan Sanction letters to SHG members and Kits under the Jal Jeevan Mission were also handed over by him. About one lakh women who are members of SHGs were present on the occasion and about 43 lakh women were connected from various centres.

Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister said that if time permits, he tries to take blessings from his mother on his birthday. Today, though he could not go to meet his mother, he said, his mother would be happy that he is getting blessings of the lakhs of the tribal mothers. He said `India's daughters and mothers are my ‘raksha kawach’ (protective shield)’. He said that such a big conference of Self Help Groups on Vishwakarma Jayanti is very special in itself and also greeted on the occasion of Vishwakarma Pooja.

The Prime Minister expressed great pride and happiness upon the return of cheetahs to India after seventy-five years. He recalled, “Before coming here, I had the privilege of releasing cheetahs in Kuno National Park.” He requested and received standing applause for the Cheetahs, whom he called the honoured guests,  from everyone present at the venue. “Cheetahs have been given in your custody because there is faith in you. I have confidence that you will face all the adversity but will not allow any harm to come to Cheetahs. That is why, today, I have come to hand over the responsibility of these eight cheetahs to you.”, he told the people of the region. Noting the plantation of 10 lakh saplings by SHGs today, the Prime Minister said that this will give new energy to the environment protection efforts of India.

Highlighting the growing representation of women in India, the Prime Minister said that women power has become the differentiating factor between the India of the last century and the new India of this century. “In today's new India, the flag of women’s power is flying from Panchayat Bhawan to Rashtrapati Bhavan”, Shri Modi added. He noted that in the recent Panchayat election 17 thousand women got elected to Panchayat bodies. This is a sign of a big change, he said.

The Prime Minister recalled the contribution of women in the freedom struggle and security of the nation. He lauded the role of women and SHGs in the recent Har Ghar Tiranga campaign and their efforts during the corona period. He said over time ‘Self Help Groups’ turn into ‘Nation help Groups’. The Prime Minister remarked that the success of any sector is directly linked with the increase in the representation of women. A fine example of this model is the success of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, a women-led initiative. Similarly, 7 crore households have got piped water connections in India during the last three years and out of which 40 lakh families are from Madhya Pradesh. The Prime Minister credited the women of India for this success.

The Prime Minister highlighted that in the last 8 years, the government has taken numerous steps to empower the Self Help Groups. “Today more than 8 crore sisters across the country are associated with this campaign. Our goal is that at least one sister from every rural family should join this campaign”, Shri Modi remarked.

Throwing light on the 'One District, One Product' initiative, the Prime Minister said that it is an effort to take the local products from every district to the big markets. Shri Modi said that the government is working continuously to create new possibilities for women entrepreneurs in the village economy. He informed that SHGs have sold products worth 500 crores in the markets created especially for their products. The benefits of PM Van Dhan Yojna and PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana are also reaching women. He also informed about ‘Saras’ space for the product of SHG on the GeM portal.

The Prime Minister highlighted that India has made tremendous efforts to reach out to the United Nations and thereby declare the year 2023 as the year of coarse cereals which is to be celebrated internationally. The Prime Minister also recalled that the month of September is being celebrated as Nutrition Month in the country.  The Prime Minister informed that he ensures that at least one item prepared with coarse cereals should be part of the menu for visiting foreign dignitaries.

Recalling the efforts of the government since 2014, the Prime Minister said that the country has continuously worked towards enhancing the dignity of women and solving the challenges faced by them on a daily basis. Shri Modi recalled how women faced extreme difficulty with issues related to the absence of toilets and the troubles caused by the smoke coming from the wood in the kitchen. The Prime Minister expressed delight that their lives have been made easier with the construction of more than 11 crore toilets in the country, providing gas connections to more than 9 crore families and providing water from the tap to crores of families in the remotest parts of India.  He informed that under the Matru Vandana Yojana, 11000 crore rupees have been directly transferred to the accounts of expecting mothers. Mothers in Madhya Pradesh also got 1300 crore rupees under the scheme. He also noted the growing role of women in the financial decision-making of households.

Talking about the Jan Dhan bank accounts, the Prime Minister said that it has become a huge medium of women empowerment in the country. The Prime Minister was quick to recall that during the corona period, it was the power of the Jan Dhan bank accounts that enabled the government to safely and directly transfer the money into the bank accounts of women.  “Today, the names of women are attached in the houses received under PM Awas Yojana. Our government has enabled more than 2 crore women in the country to become house owners. Under the Mudra scheme, till now a loan of Rs 19 lakh crore has been given to small businesses and businesses across the country. About 70 per cent of this money has been received by women entrepreneurs. I am happy that due to such efforts of the government, the role of women in the economic decisions of the household is increasing today”, he said.

The Prime Minister remarked, “The economic empowerment of women empowers them equally in society.” Underlining how the daughters of India are now enrolling in Sainik Schools, becoming Police Commandos and joining the Army, the Prime Minister credited the government for opening up closed doors and creating new opportunities for them. Drawing everyone’s attention to the noticeable changes in every field in the last 8 years, the Prime Minister expressed great pride in informing everyone that the number of women in the police force across the country has doubled from 1 lakh to more than 2 lakhs. The Prime Minister also highlighted that more than 35 thousand of our daughters are now part of the  Central Forces and battling out against the enemies of the country. “This number is almost double what it was 8 years ago”, the Prime Minister added, “I have full faith in your strength. With Sabka Prayas, we will surely be successful in making a better society and a strong nation.”

Governor of Madhya Pradesh, Shri Mangubhai Patel, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shri Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Union Ministers Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia and Dr Virendra Kumar, and Union Ministers of State, Shri Faggan Singh Kulaste and Shri Prahlad Patel were those present on the occasion.

Background

The Sammelan is witness to the attendance of thousands of women Self Help Group (SHG) members/community resource persons that are being promoted under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM).

During the programme, Prime Minister also inaugurated four Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) skilling centres under PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana.

DAY-NRLM aims to mobilise rural poor households into SHGs in a phased manner and provide them long-term support to diversify their livelihoods and improve their incomes and quality of life. The Mission is also working towards empowering the women SHG members through awareness generation and behaviour change communication on issues like domestic violence, women’s education and other gender-related concerns, nutrition, sanitation, health etc.

20-Jul-2022: Schemes for Women through Self Help Groups

The Government is implementing Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY – NRLM) across the country in a mission mode with the objective of organizing the rural poor women into Self Help Groups (SHGs) and continuously nurturing and supporting them till they attain appreciable increase in incomes over a period of time and improve their quality of life and come out of abject poverty. The programme is being implemented in all the States (including Punjab) and Union Territories, except Delhi and Chandigarh. As on 30th June, 2022, about 8.39 crore rural poor women have been mobilized into more than 76.94 lakh SHGs. In Punjab over 3.4 lakh rural poor women have been mobilized into over 33,500 SHGs.

DAY-NRLM is working on the universal access of the affordable cost-effective reliable financial services to the rural poor SHGs and has now expanded the outreach of interest subvention scheme to all the blocks of the country, which will ease SHG women in accessing credit. From FY 2013-14 an amount of Rs. 5.20 lakh crore bank credit has been accessed by SHGs under DAY-NRLM.

Under the livelihoods component of DAY-NRLM the Ministry is implementing the Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP) and Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP), as sub-schemes under DAY-NRLM. The objective of SVEP is to help the SHG members to set-up enterprises at the village level in non-farm sectors. About 2.08 lakh enterprises have been formed across 29 States/UTs and 1750 enterprises have been formed under SVEP in Punjab so far. MKSP has the primary objective of empowering women in agriculture by making systematic investments to enhance their participation and productivity, as also create and sustain their agriculture-based livelihoods. About 1.77 crore women farmers have been covered under Farm interventions and in Punjab more than 47,000 women farmers have been covered under these interventions.

The Mission is also working on the social development front among the rural poor creating greater awareness on issues like nutrition, health, sanitation and gender etc. and is also facilitating them to access their entitlements available to them from various Government programmes/schemes.

In order to address the multi-dimensional aspects of social development, the SHGs under DAY-NRLM are intensively involved in awareness generation, behavioural changes and demand generation for services in food, nutrition and sanitation, activities of Poshan Maah, Poshan Pakhwada. All the SHGs are involved in developing the Village poverty reduction Plan to be integrated in Gram Panchayat Development Plan. Further, Gender sensitisation has been undertaken for SHG members in selected blocks in the states and action and intervention on gender issues like child marriages, retention of children in schools, gender based violence etc. has also been initiated. In addition, other departments/schemes of Government of India and State Governments are also utilizing the community based organizations created under DAY-NRLM for last mile delivery of services.

29-Mar-2022: Strengthening of SHGs

The Ministry under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) receives Annual Action Plans (AAPs) from States/UTs which includes physical targets for mobilization of rural poor women into Self Help Groups (SHGs). The Annual Action Plans are approved by the Empowered Committee set up in the Ministry under the Chairmanship of Secretary (RD) for each financial year. The ultimate aim of DAY-NRLM is to cover at least one woman member from each rural poor household (about 9-10 crore) under the fold of Self Help Groups (SHGs). All households with at least one deprivation as per the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) database and identified through the process of Participatory Identification of Poor (PIP) and vetted by the respective Gram Sabhas, are the potential target for coverage under DAY-NRLM. In the current Financial Year, up to 28th February, 2022, against the target of 7.80 lakh SHGs, 5.43 lakh SHGs have been formed and cumulatively, 74.80 lakh SHGs have been formed across the country (except Delhi and Chandigarh) under DAY-NRLM.

Under the DAY-NRLM interest subvention is already being provided on loans taken by women Self Help Groups from Banks. In 250 backward districts, referred to as Category-I districts, all women SHGs are eligible to get bank loans up to Rs. 3.00 lakh at an interest rate of 7% per annum. An additional Interest Subvention of 3% per annum is provided to women SHGs maintaining prompt repayment, reducing the effective rate of interest to 4%. This part of the scheme is implemented directly by Ministry of Rural Development and funded entirely out of the central component under DAY-NRLM.

In the remaining districts of the country referred to as Category-II districts, women SHGs under DAY-NRLM availing loans upto Rs. 3.00 lakh from Banks, Interest Subvention is given to the extent of the difference between Bank’s lending rate and 7% subject to the maximum ceiling of 5.50% per annum. This part of the scheme is implemented by respective State Governments and is funded out of the allocation provided to each State under DAY-NRLM which includes State share as per norms.

The Government has now approved an uniform interest subvention scheme for women SHGs across all districts in the country from next year i.e. 2022-23. Under the uniform interest subvention scheme, women SHGs will be eligible for loans upto Rs 3 lakhs at interest rate of 7% per annum. Further women SHGs can avail loans above Rs 3 lakhs and upto Rs 5 lakhs at interest rate equivalent 1-year MCLR (Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rate) of respective lending banks. As on Mar 2022, 1 year MCLR of major Public Sector Banks ranges between 7% to 7.5%.

DAY-NRLM has a provision for providing Revolving Fund (RF) at the rate of Rs.10,000-15,000 per SHG and Community Investment Support Fund (CISF) to the extent of Rs. 2,50,000 per SHG. These funds remain with the SHGs and their federations in perpetuity and are utilized to provide loans to their members to undertake socio-economic activities as per their micro-credit/investment plans. As on 28th February, 2022, a total of Rs. 17,342 crore of Capitalization Support (Revolving Funds and Community Investment Support Funds) has been provided to SHGs and their federations by the Mission.

The Government is taking regular steps to strengthen the SHGs by promoting SHG federations such as Village Organisations (VOs) and Cluster Level Federations (CLFs) which provides handholding support. SHGs have been provided Revolving Fund and Community Investment Support Fund towards credit support and to leverage high doses of credits from banks. Regular training programmes have been conducted for the SHG members on SHG management, financial literacy, livelihoods related technologies etc.

8-Feb-2022: Self-help groups for women in Dairy sector

This Department is implementing National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD) and Dairy Processing and Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF) for Cooperatives, Milk Producer Companies (MPC), Self Help Groups SHG and Farmer Producer’s Organization (FPO). The SHGs are eligible to be supported irrespective of gender. However, the Ministry of Rural Development is implementing Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods mission (DAY-NRLM) through SHG network.

As per information received from National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), the Ministry of Finance, Government of India has set up a “Women Self Help Group Development Fund” to implement a ‘Scheme for promotion of Women SHGs in Left Wing Extremism Affected and Backward districts of India’ including dairy scheme. As on 31 December 2021, the cumulative funds released by NABARD towards grant assistance, training, capacity building and other initiatives, out of this fund, stood at ₹ 150.02 crore.

This Department provides assistance under Dairy Development schemes for creation/ strengthening /modernization of infrastructure for procurement, processing and marketing of milk & milk products for benefit of dairy farmers including women. The women member associated in dairy sector also gets benefit under these schemes.

As, on date, no proposal from SHGs under above said schemes has been received in the Department. As per information received from MoRD, as of now, more than 81,000 women farmers are being supported under dairy value chain development interventions of DAY-NRLM scheme with support of National Dairy Development Board (Dairy Services). This is a demand driven scheme and no proposal was received from Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra under this scheme.

1. NPDD and DIDF Schemes have been recently restructured to include SHGs.
2. Apart from above, NABARD has informed to make following efforts for development of SHGs:
   1. NABARD has been extending grant support to partner agencies for promotion and nurturing of SHGs, for training and capacity building of SHG members and other stake holders, beside initiating special programme for backward regions. The domain of SHGs consist of 87.75 percent women groups. SHGs work both in Farm and Non-Farm Sector, which includes dairy.
   2. Micro Enterprise Development Programme (MEDP): NABARD has been supporting skill and entrepreneurship training to SHG members through MEDP since March 2006. Cumulatively, around 5.22 lakh SHG members, mostly women, have received training through 18,434 MEDPs as on 31 March 2021.
   3. Livelihood and Enterprise Development Programme (LEDPs): Livelihood and Enterprise Development Programme (LEDP) was initiated by NABARD on a pilot basis in December 2015 with a view to create sustainable livelihoods among SHG members, mostly women and to obtain optimum benefit from skill upgradation. LEDP envisages conduct of livelihood promotion in both farm and off-farm activities under project mode in clusters in contiguous villages. There is a provision for intensive training for skill building, refresher training, backward-forward linkages, handholding and escort support for credit linkage. Cumulatively 1,36,098 SHG members have been supported through 1,284 LEDP programmes up to 31 March 2021.

23-Oct-2021: Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General, World Trade Organization interacts with SHG members and officials of MoRD

During the on-going visit of Her Excellency Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General (DG), World Trade Organization (WTO) to India, she interacted with the officials of Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Government of India and women of Self-Help Group (SHG) promoted under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana- National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), MoRD on 22nd October, 2021.

Shri Charanjit Singh, Joint Secretary, MoRD led the discussions and Sh. Raghvendra Pratap Singh, Director, MoRD and a team of thematic experts from the National Mission Management Unit, DAY-NRLM, MoRD attended the meeting. Sh. Brajendra Navnit, Ambassador & Permanent Representative of India to the WTO Geneva, Switzerland and Mr. Abhimanyu Sharma, DOC, Ministry of Commerce participated in the meeting.

Shri Charanjit Singh presented an overview of DAY-NRLM components and activities conducted by the SHGs during the COVID-19 outbreak. DG, WTO also interacted virtually with Ms. Rambeti Sen, Master Krishi Sakhi of Vishwanath SHG from Madhya Pradesh, Ms.  Sushma Devi, BC Sakhi of Durga SHG from Bihar, Ms. Jamuna, President of Krishna Bhagwan CLF and Jai Chamunda SHG from Madhya Pradesh, Ms. Sujatha Unnikrishnan Secretary of Vismaya SHG from Kerala and Ms. Nandini Devi, Entrepreneur of Ma Gayatri SHG from Jharkhand.

She enquired SHG members about their areas of work, experience of joining SHG, how it has impacted them economically and socially and how SHGs addressed challenges imposed by the disease outbreak.

The SHG members shared their experience of working with SHG and informed that their economic and social situation has improved and now they are able to take care of their families, children and themselves better. They informed about their work i.e. disbursement of money at the door step during the COVID-19, supporting SHG households in setting up of the Agri-Nutrition Garden, promoting Agro-Ecological practices, setting up of enterprises like soap, sanitizer making, spices etc., awareness generation on COVID-19 appropriate behaviours, addressing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the community, distribution of free dry rations and cooked food to the vulnerable etc.

DG, WTO congratulated SHG members for their efforts in making a positive difference in their lives and community. She specially appreciated initiatives taken by the SHG members during the pandemic and wished them well in their future endeavours.

6-Aug-2021: More than Rs. 14 thousand crore of Community Investment Support Funds have been provided to SHGs and their federations

Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), one of the flagship programmes of the Union Government, has a provision for providing Community Investment Support Fund (CISF) to the Self Help Groups (SHGs) in the form of Revolving Fund (RF) at the rate of Rs.10,000-15,000 and Community Investment Fund (CIF) to the extent of Rs.2,50,000 per SHG. Till 30th June 2021, 7.63 crore rural households have been mobilised into 69.92 lakh women Self Help Groups (SHGs) under the mission. As on 30th June, 2021, a total of Rs.14,071.02 crore of Community Investment Support Funds have been provided to SHGs and their federations. These funds remain with the SHGs and their federations in perpetuity and are utilized to provide loans to their members to undertake socio-economic activities as per micro-credit/investment plans and also to use it as leverage for credit from the bank.

DAY-NRLM has adopted an online fund disbursement module to track the disbursal of Community Investment Support Funds to SHGs and their federations. As the funds have been provided to the community institutions, the monitoring of disbursal, utilisation and repayment of community funds is done by the community institutions themselves. For this purpose the community institutions are trained on community fund management and accounting system by the concerned State Rural Livelihoods Missions (SRLMs) and they maintain books of accounts for their financial transactions.  

9-Sep-2020: Self Help Groups across the country being geared up to prepare the Village Poverty Reduction Plan for integration with the Gram Panchayat Development Plans

The Article 243G of the Constitution intended to empower the Gram Panchayats (GPs) by enabling the State Governments to devolve powers and authority in respect of all 29 Subjects listed in the Eleventh Schedule for local planning and implementation of schemes for economic development and social justice. The local bodies (GPs) play a significant role in the effective implementation of flagship schemes on subjects of national importance, for transformation of rural India. In 2015, the Fourteenth Finance Commission grants were devolved to GPs that provided them with an enormous opportunity to plan for their development themselves. Since then, local bodies, across the country are expected to prepare context specific, need based Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDP).

Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) brings together both the citizens and their elected representatives in the decentralized planning processes. GPDP is expected to reflect the development issues, perceived needs and priorities of the community, including that of the marginalized sections. Apart from the demand related to basic infrastructure and services, resource development and convergence of departmental schemes, GPDP has potential to address the social issues. GPDP is conducted from 2nd October to 31st December, every year across the country, under the People’s Plan Campaign (PPC).

Since last two years, the PPC guidelines and the joint advisory issued by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and Ministry of Rural Development, has mandated Self Help Groups and their federations under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) to participate in the annual GPDP planning process and prepare the Village Poverty Reduction Plan (VPRP). VPRP is a comprehensive demand plan prepared by the Self Help Group (SHG) network and their federations for projecting their demands and local area development which needs to be integrated with the Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP). The VPRP is presented in the Gram Sabha meetings from Oct. to Dec. every year.

This planning exercise is an integral component of the convergence effort between the DAY-NRLM and the Local Self-Government Institutions (Panchayati Raj Institutions). Circulars/advisories have been issued by MoPR and MoRD in 2018-19 and 2019-20 on the preparation of VPRP and its integration into GPGP. The process allows poor families, who are members of SHGs formed under DAY-NRLM, to raise their demands in a participatory method and submit the final plan to the Gram Panchayats for consideration. It starts with plans prepared by the SHGs, consolidated by the VOs and finally a comprehensive plan prepared at the level of the Gram Panchayat. The final VPRP would be submitted in the Gram Sabhas held for GPDP.

Objectives of VPRP are three-fold

1. Prepare a comprehensive and an inclusive demand plan of the community for local development
2. Facilitate an interface between the SHG federation and Panchayati Raj institutions for development of demand plan
3. Strengthen the community based organisations and their leadership for active participation in poverty reduction activities

Components of VPRP

Demands under VPRP are categorized into five major components:

1. Social inclusion - plan for inclusion of vulnerable people/household into SHGs under NRLM
2. Entitlement - demand for various schemes such as MGNREGS, SBM, NSAP, PMAY, Ujjwala, Ration card etc.
3. Livelihoods - specific demand for enhancing livelihood through developing agriculture, animal husbandry, production and service enterprises and skilled training for placement etc.
4. Public Goods and Services - demand for necessary basic infrastructure, for renovation of the existing infrastructure and for better service delivery
5. Resource Development - demand for protection and development of natural resources like land, water, forest and other locally available resources
6. Social Development - plans prepared for addressing specific social development issues of a village under the low cost no cost component of GPDP

Training on VPRP for State Missions

With the current Covid-19 situation, DAY-NRLM designed an online training program to train all State Missions across the country on VPRP, in partnership with Kudumbashree (National Resource Organisation), National Institute of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR), Hyderabad and Ministry of Panchayati Raj.

A set of ready to use tools, training modules, audio/videos and experience sharing videos etc. were developed as resource materials for the online VPRP training, based on the Kudumbashree NRO’s experience in preparation of village poverty reduction plans in 5 states namely – Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh where pilot projects on PRI-CBO convergence have been implemented with their support. Resource material was shared with the states, which were amended as per the states needs and translate in the local language. A web-based application to monitor the progress of trainings by State Missions has also been developed.

The trainings were conducted in two phases for the staff and other resource persons from 34 states and UTs. State Institutes of Rural Development (SIRD) and other partner agencies had also participated in the virtual training. The first phase of training was conducted from 13th to 25th August 2020, where 11,687 participants were trained. The first phase of the training focused on building understanding on VPRP and GPDP concepts as well as the process for preparation each component, final plan consolidation and submission in Gram Sabha and role of State Missions. Despite the inherent limitations of virtual trainings, the overall response from participants was positive and encouraging. After completion of the Phase 1, the participants had conducted a small pilot exercise on the process, with a small sample of SHGs and one Village Organisation (VO) to learn the process.

The second phase of the training (one day each for each State) was conducted from 3rd to 5th of September, 2020 for the State Missions, where 10,583 participants were trained. Phase 2 was focused on sharing the action plans for rolling out VPRP including a session on monitoring the roll out of the VPRP through MIS developed.

These trained Resource Persons will in-turn impart training to the Community Resource Persons and they will be facilitating the SHGs and VOs in preparing the VPRPs, which will then be consolidated and presented by VOs at Gram Sabha meetings for integration with GPDP.

8-Aug-2022: National child labour project scheme

The objective of National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme was to rescue and rehabilitate the child labourers.  Under the NCLP Scheme, the working children in the age group of 9-14 years are rescued/withdrawn from work and enrolled in the NCLP Special Training Centres, where they are provided with bridge education, vocational training, mid-day meal, stipend, health care, etc. before being mainstreamed into formal education system.

National Child Labour Project (NCLP) scheme was approved for continuation up to 31.03.2021 and since then has been subsumed / merged with Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) Scheme of Ministry of Education. A total of 254 number of  Special Training Centre (STC), which had been approved by the Ministry of Labour & Employment prior to 31.03.2021, and which have not yet completed two years as per NCLP Scheme guidelines, are operational in the States of Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Assam and West Bengal only as on 31.07.2022. NCLP scheme is not operational in any district of the State of Maharashtra currently.

NCLP Scheme has been appraised for its continuation beyond 31st March 2021 in terms of relevant instructions of Ministry of Finance and  it has been decided to subsume / merge the scheme with Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) Scheme in phased manner as under:-

1. Project Society, currently operational, to be allowed to continue till enrolled children are mainstreamed in formal education system.
2. The pending/committed liability for grant in aid and stipend to be cleared.
3. No permission to be given for opening of new Special Training Centre (STC) under NCLP Scheme.
4. No fresh enrolment of children in STC under NCLP.
5. The survey report, received in the Ministry of Labour & Employment, to be forwarded to Department of School Education and Literacy for enrolment of children in the concerned STC.