Promotion of Sustainable Rural Livelihood: The Case of Indian Women

The concept of ‗Sustainable Rural livelihood‘ is increasingly central to the debate about rural development, poverty reduction and environmental management. But exactly what does this new entry into the development lexicon actually mean? A livelihood comprises the capabilities, assets (including both material and social resources) and activities required for a means of living. A livelihood is sustainable when it can cope with and recover from stress and shocks maintain or enhance its capabilities and assets, while not undermining the natural resource base. This paper attempts to draw together some of the definitional issues surrounding the concept. The livelihood opportunities are identified considering the existing socio-cultural practices of the target communities. The skill building measures are planned to improve the effectiveness of existing livelihood practices. The paper will significantly analyze the lives of SHG members in their income generation activities, livelihood security and self-employability. The paper also aims to find out whether sustainable livelihood programmes strengthen the target communities‘ income generation activities through tools and capacity building support. It will explore women‘s participation in varied sustainable rural livelihood activities across the country.