Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana (National Urban Livelihoods Mission)

Introduction

• Economic development and urbanisation are closely linked. Cities in India are emerging as the country’s engines of economic growth, with a contribution of more than 60 per cent to GDP. As per Census of India, 2011, India’s urban population is now 377 million which shows a 31 percent increase from 2001. The Report on Conditions of Work and Promotion of Livelihoods in the Unorganized Sector by the National Commission on Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector brought out in August 2007 (NCEUS, 2007) reveals that in 2004-05, out of India’s total workforce, 92 percent worked in the informal economy. The urban informal sector comprises a large part of the unorganized non-agriculture sector. Low levels of education and skill in the unorganized sector workers have resulted in their inability to access the opportunities offered by emerging markets. This underscores the criticality of skills up-gradation for better livelihoods opportunities in urban areas.
• Most of the poor are involved in informal sector activities where there is a constant threat of eviction, removal, confiscation of goods and almost non-existent social security cover. Even when segments of the urban population are not income-poor, they face deprivation in terms of lack of access to sanitary living conditions and their well-being is hampered by discrimination, social exclusion, crime, and violence, insecurity of tenure, hazardous environmental conditions and lack of voice in governance.
• The dimensions of urban poverty can be broadly divided into three categories: (i) residential vulnerability (access to land, shelter, basic services, etc.); (ii) social vulnerability (deprivations related to factors like gender, age and social stratification, lack of social protection, inadequate voice and participation in governance structures, etc.) and (iii) occupational vulnerability (precarious livelihoods, dependence on informal sector for employment and earnings, lack of job security, poor working conditions, etc.). These vulnerabilities are inter-related. Amongst the urban poor, there are sections subject to greater vulnerability in terms of the above classification; these include women, children, and the aged, SCs, STs, minorities and differently-abled persons who deserve attention on a priority basis.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation had been implementing a Centrally Sponsored Scheme Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) since 1997 which has been restructured as Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Urban Livelihoods Mission since September, 2013. The NULM has been under implementation w.e.f. September 24, 2013 in all district headquarters (irrespective of population) and all the cities with population of 1 lakh or more.

NULM Mission

To reduce poverty and vulnerability of the urban poor households by enabling them to access gainful self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunities, resulting in an appreciable improvement in their livelihoods on a sustainable basis, through building strong grassroots level institutions of the poor. The mission would aim at providing shelter equipped with essential services to the urban homeless in a phased manner. In addition, the Mission would also address livelihood concerns of the urban street vendors by facilitating access to suitable spaces, institutional credit, social security and skills to the urban street vendors for accessing emerging market opportunities.

Guiding Principles

• The core belief of National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) is that the poor are entrepreneurial and have innate desire to come out of poverty. The challenge is to unleash their capabilities to generate meaningful and sustainable livelihoods. The first step in this process is motivating the urban poor to form their own institutions. They and their institutions need to be provided sufficient capacity so that they can manage the external environment, access finance, expand their skills, enterprises and assets. This requires continuous and carefully designed handholding support. An external, dedicated and sensitive support structure, from the national level to the city and community levels, is required to induce social mobilisation, institution building and livelihood promotion.
• NULM believes that any livelihood promotion programme can be scaled up in a time- bound manner only if driven by the poor and their institutions. Such strong institutional platforms support the poor in building up their own human, social, financial, and other assets. This in turn, enables them access to rights, entitlements, opportunities and services from the public and private sectors, while enhancing their solidarity, voice and bargaining power.
• As per the Constitution (74thAmendment) Act, 1992, urban poverty alleviation is a legitimate function of the Urban Local Bodies (ULB). Therefore, ULBs would need to undertake a lead role for all issues and programmes concerning the urban poor in cities/towns, including skills and livelihoods.
• NULM would aim at universal coverage of the urban poor for skill development and credit facilities. It will strive for skills training of the urban poor for market-based jobs and self- employment, facilitating easy access to credit.
• Street vendors constitute an important segment of the urban population at the bottom of the pyramid. Street vending provides a source of self-employment, and thus acts as a measure of urban poverty alleviation without major Government intervention. They have a prominent place in the urban supply chain and are an integral part of the economic growth process within urban areas. NULM would aim at facilitating access to suitable spaces, institutional credit, social security and skills to the urban street vendors for accessing emerging market opportunities.
• Urban homeless persons who live without shelter or social security/ protection are the most vulnerable class, even while they contribute towards sustaining cities with their cheap labour. Life on the streets involves surviving continuously at the edge, in a physically brutalized and challenging environment. There is a need for appropriate policy intervention to address the challenges faced by homeless people, with regard to shelter, social housing and social protection. Accordingly, NULM would aim at providing shelter equipped with essential services to the urban homeless in a phased manner.
• NULM would place a very high emphasis on convergence with schemes/programmes of the relevant line Ministries/Departments and programmes of state governments dealing with skills, livelihoods, entrepreneurship development, health, education, social assistance, etc. An alliance strategy will be sought with all concerned departments to promote skills training of rural-urban migrants as a bridge between the livelihoods of the rural and urban poor.
• NULM would aim at partnership with the private sector in providing skill training, employment and operation of shelter for homeless. It will strive for active participation of private and civil society sectors in providing shelter to the urban homeless, skill training and placement of the urban poor and also in facilitating technological, marketing and handholding support for the urban poor entrepreneurs who want to be self-employed and set up their own small businesses or manufacturing units.

Values

The mission will espouse the following values:

• Ownership and productive involvement of the urban poor and their institutions in all processes
• Transparency in programme design and implementation, including institution - building and capacity strengthening
• Accountability of government functionaries and the community
• Partnerships with industry and other stakeholders and
• Community self-reliance, self-dependence, self-help and mutual-help

Strategy

NULM will adopt the following strategy:

• Building capacity of the urban poor, their institutions and the machinery involved in the implementation of livelihoods development and poverty alleviation programmes through handholding support
• Enhancing and expanding existing livelihoods options of the urban poor
• Building skills to enable access to growing market-based job opportunities offered by emerging urban economies
• Training for and support to the establishment of micro-enterprises by the urban poor – self and group
• Ensure availability and access for the urban homeless population to permanent 24- hour shelters including the basic infrastructural facilities like water supply, sanitation, safety and security
• Cater to the needs of especially vulnerable segments of the urban homeless like the dependent children, aged, disabled, mentally ill, and recovering patients etc., by creating special sections within homeless shelters and provisioning special service linkages for them
• To establish strong rights-based linkages with other programmes which cover the right of the urban homeless to food, healthcare, education, etc. and ensure access for homeless populations to various entitlements, including to social security pensions, PDS, ICDS, feeding programmes, drinking water, sanitation, identity, financial inclusion, school admission etc., and to affordable housing
• To address livelihood concerns of the urban street vendors by facilitating access to suitable spaces, institutional credit, social security and skills to the urban street vendors for accessing emerging market opportunities.

For More Information: NULM mission document

Source : Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation