Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM)-An Initiative for Economic Empowerment of Women: An Analysis

Women constitute nearly half of the population, yet empirical data consistently reveal persistent inequalities in their access to opportunities across social, economic, and political domains. Consequently, gender disparities exist in employment, wages, asset ownership, education, and other areas. Such inequalities lead to broader patterns of deprivation and exclusion. The government at the Union level, as well as at the State level, formulates policies and programs to address these inequalities. The governments of India have consistently focused on multiple strategies to reduce poverty and work on sustainable livelihood strategies. DAY-NRLM was introduced to abolish rural poverty by enhancing self-employment and skilled-wage employment opportunities for vulnerable people. DAY-NRLM is a Centrally-sponsored scheme. The allocation of funds under the scheme has been shared between the Centre and the States. Secondary data analysis clearly depicts that the credit accessibility of rural women through SHGs covered under DAY-NRLM has increased. It has been noticed from the allocation pattern that financial allocations in the budget are not proposed as per the country’s requirement. There is a continuous reduction offunds in revised estimates, and this must have negatively affected the targets to be achieved under this program.