National Rural Livelihood Promotion Society (NRLPS), MoRD signed an MoU with BRAC International for economic inclusion and social protection for the poorest of the poor women

National Rural Livelihood Promotion Society (NRLPS), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) signed an MOU with BRAC International, a Global South-led organisation with a mission to empower people and communities. The MoU has been signed for the inclusion of the poorest of the poor under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), a flagship programme under MoRD. The MoU was formalised by Additional Secretary and CEO of NRLPS, Shri Charanjit Singh and Country lead for India, BRAC International, Ms Shweta S Banerjee in the presence of Joint Secretary (RL-1), DAY-NRLM, Smt Smriti Sharan, Director, DAY-NRLM, Mr Raman Wadhwa and Executive Director, BRAC International Mr Shameran Abed.

In his address, Shri Charanjit Singh remarked, “The DAY-NRLM mission has reached a stage where more than 100 million women members have been mobilised into community institutions.” He emphasised the role of partnerships and leveraging BRAC’s global experience in reaching those furthest behind.

Smt Smriti Sharan conveyed, “This partnership is taking shape at a crucial juncture for DAY-NRLM, which has been steadfastly dedicated to universal and inclusive mobilisation. With 100 million rural poor households mobilised already, our focus now shifts to uplifting ‘lakhpati didis’ through Samaveshi Aajeevika, an inclusive livelihood programme, while also ensuring the inclusion of the most marginalised in the SHG movement.”

Mr Shameran Abed extended his gratitude to both DAY-NRLM and BRAC India teams for their dedication in recognising their respective strengths and coming to an agreement to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). He expressed BRAC’s readiness to collaborate with the Ministry in facilitating Samaveshi Aajeevika with the government taking the lead.

Samaveshi Aajeevika aims to build self-confidence, social inclusion, and prosperity via inclusive livelihoods at the last mile. The programme will introduce holistic productive inclusion strategies to improve the lives of excluded populations. It will adapt a globally tested and proven “Graduation approach” to the DAY-NRLM programme to reach those households that are presently having difficulty benefiting from the SHG net.

Founded in Bangladesh in 1972, BRAC now works in 17 countries and has partnered with over 100 million people, delivering cost-effective, evidence-based interventions. One such intervention is the globally recognised “Graduation approach” that has been taken up by private organisations and governments and evaluated extensively with positive results.

Disclaimer: This is an official press release by Pib.