National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) National Awards are intended to provide public recognition to the outstanding performance of the community institutions- Self-Help Groups and Village Organizations promoted under DAY-NRLM. This year, the awards event to confer the National Awards upon the best performing Community Based Organizations was organized on the 8th of March’21 with an intention to celebrate the achievements and success of community members on the International Women’s Day.
The Minister of State for Rural Development, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti inaugurated the event that was chaired by dignitaries- Shri Nagendra Nath Sinha, Secretary-Rural Development, Smt. Alka Upadhyaya, Additional Secretary-Rural Development, Shri V.L.V.S.S. Subbarao, Principal Economic Advisor-Rural Development, Shri Charanjit Singh, Joint Secretary-Rural Livelihoods, Smt. Leena Johri, Joint Secretary-Rural Skills and Smt. Nita Kejrewal, Joint Secretary-Rural Livelihoods from Ministry of Rural Development.
The Minister of State for Rural Development, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti stressed on women’s self-dependence by undertaking livelihoods interventions being offered through the DAY-NRLM platform. She also exhorted the women SHG members to have confidence in themselves and never give in before adverse circumstances. Perseverence will always bring success.
Secretary, Rural Development emphasized the need for connecting all households under DAY-NRLM with at least one livelihood interventions for their social and economic upliftment. He lauded the efforts of SHG women in fighting against the pandemic by undertaking innovative solutions such as mask and sanitizer production, community meals system etc. He further added that the CBOs which have been awarded should help in cross learning and sharing of their success stories with other CBOs and members.
Additional Secretary and Mission Director, Rural Development stated that DAY-NRLM covers more than 7.3 crore women who have been organised into their institutions and supported for crdit linkage and livelihoods activities. She also lauded the SHGs for the exemplary work done during the Covid-19 pandemic.
30 SHGs and 10 VOs from different states were shortlisted for the awards. However, keeping in view the current situation arisen due to the pandemic, the event was primarily a virtual event in which the states were connected with the program online through internet. SHG women from more than 650 locations across various states in the country were reported to be connected during the live streaming of the program. A select number of awards (4 SHGs and 2 VOs) were given away to the awardees who could physically attend the program. The awardees SHG and VO members who came to collect the awards at the event were.
- Smt. Rinku, Smt. Reena and Smt. Deepika from Jiwan Jyoti SHG, Mashobra, Himachal Pradesh
- Ms. Sangeeta and Ms. Mamta Saini from Nari Shakti SHG, Bijnore, Uttar Pradesh
- Ms. Jharna Dhariya, Ms. Antee Kharat, Ms. Sayari Dawar from Navdurga SHG, Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh
- Smt. Gheesi and Smt. Mani from Kalyan SHG, Rajasthan
- Smt. Savita Sunil Meda, Smt. Ganga Meda and Smt. Mala Ram Meda from Unnai VO, Madhya Pradesh
- Smt. Sunitha and Smt. Raj Bai from Nari Shakti VO, Rajasthan
The event witnessed the launch of 4 e-books showcasing thematic collection of success stories and case studies. A brief about the e-books that were launched are mentioned below-
- A compendium of Livelihood Best Practices
- A compendium of FNHW case studies
- Covid-19 response by Women SHG warriors
- Culinary Wonders from Grameen Bharat
Select community resource persons (CRPs)(4) and Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETI)trained candidates (4) shared their experience of being on the platforms of DAY-NRLM and RESTI and coming out of their abject poverty by utilizing the knowledge and resources provided over to them. Following were the speakers at the event-
- Maneka Barik (Sakra, Muzaffarpur, Bihar): Working as FNHW-CRP
- Divya Devi (Bharno Block, Gumla, Jharkhand):Working as BC Sakhi
- Ranjan Kanwar (Rajsamand, Rajasthan): Working as Farm Livelihood CRP
- Rabbo Begum (Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh):Working as CRP-EP under SVEP
- Radhika Devi: Tailoring Entrepreneur after being trained at RSETI, Varanasi, UP
- U. Harini:sustainable and hygienic sanitary pad manufacturing after receiving EDP training at RSETI Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu
- Rajani Devi (Hazaribagh, Jharkhand): Pashu Mitra, trained at RSETI Bokaro
- Saranya: A trainer at RSETI Karur in Tamil Nadu
