Saras Aajeevika Mela

About Saras Aajeevika Mela

• It is an initiative by the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) of Ministry of Rural Development.
• Aim: To bring the rural women Self Help Group members under one platform to showcase their skills, sell their products and help them build linkages with potential market players.
• It is organised by the Ministry of Rural Development and National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR)

Key facts about DAY-NRLM

• It is a flagship rural poverty alleviation program of the Government of India.
• It addresses multiple dimensions of poverty, the programme aims to reach out to 10 Crore rural poor households and organize one woman member from each rural household into affinity-based women SHGs.
• These SHGs provide close, long-term handholding support to their members, enabling them to access financial services from banks, diversify and stabilize their livelihoods, and effectively access their entitlements with ease.
• Objective: To ensure that each family is able to achieve household food security and have more than one stabilized livelihood source.
• The Mission seeks to achieve its objective through investing in four core components viz.,
  • Social mobilization, promotion and strengthening of self-managed and financially sustainable community institutions of the rural poor.
  • Financial inclusion of the rural poor
  • Sustainable livelihoods; and
  • Social inclusion, social development, and convergence

Q1) What is a Self-Help Group?

It is a small, informal association of individuals who come together to address common goals or challenges. These groups are typically formed to promote self-reliance and to support members in achieving financial independence. Self-Help Groups often engage in collective savings, microcredit activities, and skills development.

Source: MoS Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti inaugurates popular SARAS Mela at Gurugram today