DAY NRLM: Next Phase of Rural Women’s Empowerment

Syllabus: GS2/Government Policy & Intervention

Context

• The Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana–National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY NRLM) is transitioning into a new phase, often referred to as NRLM 2.0, and prepares for the next five-year cycle (2026–27 to 2030–31).

About DAY NRLM

• It is a flagship poverty alleviation and women empowerment programme, launched in 2011 by the Union Ministry of Rural Development.
• It aims to reduce rural poverty by enabling poor households, especially women to access sustainable livelihoods through strong, community-based institutions.

Core Objective of DAY NRLM

• The central goal of DAY NRLM is to organise rural poor women into Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and build their capacities so they can:
  • access affordable credit;
  • start and expand livelihood activities;
  • improve incomes and social status;
  • participate actively in local governance and decision-making.

Institutional Structure

• Self-Help Groups (SHGs): Small groups (10–20 women) that promote savings, internal lending, and collective action.
• Village Organisations (VOs): Federations of SHGs at the village level that coordinate activities, resolve issues, and implement schemes.
• Cluster-Level Federations (CLFs): Sub-block level, formally registered bodies that anchor livelihoods, financial services, social action, and convergence with government programmes.

Scale and Reach of DAY NRLM

• DAY NRLM has mobilised nearly 10 crore rural households into about 91 lakh Self-Help Groups (SHGs), federated further into 5.35 lakh Village Organisations (VOs) and 33,558 Cluster-Level Federations (CLFs).
• These SHGs have leveraged over ₹11 lakh crore in bank credit, maintaining an impressively low NPA of around 1.7%.
• The impact on incomes is equally striking, with the number of ‘Lakhpati Didis’, women earning over ₹1 lakh annually crossing two crore.

Key Interventions: Why Does DAY NRLM Matter?

• Political and Social Empowerment: Several States are now routing unattached Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) schemes directly to women, such as Ladli Laxmi (Madhya Pradesh), Maiya Samman (Jharkhand), Ladki Bahin (Maharashtra), and the recent ₹10,000 transfer to over one crore women in Bihar under the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rozgar Yojana.
• Financial Inclusion: SHG–Bank linkage, revolving funds, community investment funds.
• Livelihood Promotion: Farm and non-farm enterprises, livestock, fisheries, food processing, services.
• Skill Development: Capacity building, entrepreneurship training, business planning.
• Social Empowerment: Leadership development, gender equity, health, nutrition, and education.
• Convergence: Alignment with schemes of agriculture, animal husbandry, food processing, and social protection.
• Cluster-Level Federations: Successful models like Kudumbashree (Kerala) and Jeevika (Bihar) offer replicable lessons for other States.

Looking Ahead

• DAY NRLM is a community-led development model. By placing women at the centre, it has:
  • shifted rural households from subsistence to entrepreneurship;
  • strengthened grassroots democracy;
  • built financially credible community institutions;
  • enabled direct benefit transfers and policy trust in women collectives.
• As the programme enters its next appraisal cycle (2026–31), the focus is expected to move towards:
  • Stronger and more autonomous CLFs;
  • Higher-order entrepreneurship and scale-up finance;
  • Better market access and branding for SHG products;
  • Deeper institutional convergence and professional support.
• DAY NRLM represents one of the largest and most impactful women-led development initiatives in the world, with the potential to redefine rural livelihoods in India.
• DAY NRLM needs to evolve beyond debt financing. Equity, venture capital, and blended finance models need exploration through partnerships with SIDBI, NBFCs, neo-banks, and other financial institutions.

Source: TH