SRINAGAR: J&K Government has established an encouraging and conducive environment for promoting women’s entrepreneurship culture across the Union Territory through Jammu and Kashmir Rural Livelihoods Mission (JKRLM).
Jammu and Kashmir has made remarkable progress under RLM by providing training as well as financial support to various SHGs and making them self-sufficient.
JKRLM’s mandate is to reach out to 66 per cent of the rural population across the 125 blocks of Jammu and Kashmir. The core values which guide all the activities under JKSRLM are the inclusion of the poorest and substantial role of the poorest in all the processes, transparency and accountability of all processes and institutions, proprietorship and the key role of the poor and their institutions in all the stages – planning, implementation and monitoring and lastly community self-reliance and self-dependence.
National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM), implemented by the Union Ministry of Rural Development, is focusing on promoting self-employment and organisation of rural people, especially the poor. The project aims to reduce poverty in the Union Territory by building strong grassroots institutions for the poor, engaging them in gainful livelihood interventions, and ensuring appreciable improvement in their income on a sustainable basis.
This programme also aims to enable the poor to think positively about themselves and their family and reap all benefits of government schemes, which ultimately helps them live a life of contentment, happiness, and dignity.
In Jammu and Kashmir, a number of projects are running under JKRLM, of which Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP) and the Start-Up Village Entrepreneurship Programme are making remarkable progress. MKSP is a sub-component of Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-NRLM and aims to empower women in agriculture.
The objective is to strengthen small agriculturists through the promotion of sustainable agriculture practices such as Community Managed Sustainable Agriculture, Non-Pesticide Management, Zero Budget Natural Farming, Pashu-Sakhi Model for doorstep Animal Care Services, and Sustainable Regeneration and Harvesting of Non-Timber Forest Produce.
Additionally, the focus of MKSP is on capacitating the smallholders to adopt sustainable climate change resilient agroecology, eventually creating a pool of skilled community professionals.
The Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP) also envisages assisting rural households, including women, to set up enterprises that aid them in their financial upliftment. Moreover, building support is provided to all the entrepreneurs backed under the SVEP through Community Resource Persons for Enterprise Promotion.
The enthused businesswomen of the UT are climbing the ladder of success with support from the UT administration in the form of numerous lucrative incentives under different schemes, thus achieving the highest echelons in the world of enterprise.
The key initiatives launched by the administration for supporting women entrepreneurs, commensurate with their educational background and experience are proving tangible results. The government ensures that women rise as a beacon of enlightenment and become vital drivers in the developmental journey of Jammu and Kashmir.
