Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, June 9: The Executive Committee of the Jammu and Kashmir State Rural Livelihood Society headed by Chief Secretary, Mohammad Iqbal Khandey today reviewed the progress achieved under programme ‘UMEED in a meeting held here.
The programme ‘UMEED’ reaches out to all the poor families, links them to sustainable livelihood opportunities and nurtures them till they come out of poverty and enjoy a decent quality of life.
State Mission Director, ‘UMEED’ Farooq Ahmed Peer, presented a detailed overview of the progress achieved in the State under the programme.
He said that in the 7 blocks of the State- Khan Sahib, Lar, Chenani, Bhasoli, Ghagwal, Bishna and Gundna, as many as 2908 SHGs and 203 Village Organisations (VOs) have been formed. The eligible SHGs have already received funds to the tune of Rs 8.5 cr. The Average fund availability per SHG is Rs 50,000 and per VO is Rs 4.25 lakh approximately, he added.
Jammu and Kashmir State Rural Livelihood Society under ‘UMEED’ has a mandate to organise, federate and handhold 9 lakh women into creating their own institutions as a strategy to bring all these poor and vulnerable households out of poverty. A phased implementation approach has been adopted to reach out to all the gram panchayats in the state, where in 22 blocks, one in each district will be covered by end of 2014-15 Plan.
Mission Director said that in a short span of time, under ‘UMEED’, women have displayed immense understanding of its basic philosophy and operational aspects. He added that 3 more blocks- Singhpora, Kupwara and Sumbal in Kashmir valley have been taken up this year besides another 4 blocks- Bhaderwah, Sunderbani, Pattan and Bandipora have also been identified for coverage under various components of ‘UMEED’.
While appreciating the progress achieved so far under ‘UMEED’ on ground, Chief Secretary underscored the need to scale up the programme, so that its benefits accrue to the target population enabling in alleviating poverty and instilling a sense of confidence in women through self-employment.
The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary, Planning and Development, B.R. Sharma, Administrative Secretaries, representative of Union Ministry Rural Development, Additional Mission Director, and Officers from J&K Bank, SBI, RBI, NABARD and other officers.
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