What is the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana?

The Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana is a scheme designed by the Indian government for the welfare of the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families. This scheme enables them to form self-help groups (SHGs) and these are funded through bank loans and government funds.

The objective of the scheme

The main aim of this scheme is to help SHGs elevate themselves above the poverty line and do well for themselves economically through hard work and consistent effort.

Quite often, SHGs, for all their hard work and effort and creativity are not rewarded well enough, leading to despair and dismay and a lack of trust in the functioning of the government.

The Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana essentially aims to target such SHGs and reach out to help groups and individuals as well.

Funding and training

The Groups formed under this scheme will be maintained, educated and trained by concerned NGOs, philanthropists, banks and even District Land Development Agencies (DRDAs).

Training for these groups and individuals involves fundamentals of bookkeeping, market knowledge, identification and appraisal, acquaintance with product costing, product keeping, familiarization with project financing by banks as well as basic skills pertaining to activities that will help these SHGs

Added benefits

1. Disposal of revolving funds:
   SHGs are in existence for a period of six months and have demonstrated the potential group qualifies for receipt of cash credits from DRDA and other banks. Such funds are known as revolving funds and help groups enhance their group corpus
2. Insurance cover:
   Insurance will be provided to SHGs and is provided to assets, livestock that are bought of loans. Even the Swarozgaris are covered under the group insurance scheme.

In order to implement the scheme well, the following groups are made:

1. Group Creation: this group involves processes like enquiring and judging the skills, categorising them on the basis of their skills and competencies and assigning to groups where they would perform well
2. Capital creation: a rotating fund system is created to generate funding
3. Implementation: abilities and group skills are created and processed further.

Self-help groups are formed as an aftereffect of group formation. The BPL inventory is acquired from the Gram sabha directories and them are assimilated into blocks focussing on the particular individual’s capabilities and are allowed to work with funding received from banks, philantrophists, Panchayati organisation funds, etc.

To make matters immersive, regular festivals and melas are organised by the government to enable Self-help groups to sell their output and/or their goods to a larger bunch of audiences from all over the nation.

Summing it up

While running a business without a capital may seem hard, the government of India through the implementation of the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar yojana is aiming to enable enterprises to do well for themselves. Self-reliance is a skill that fetches for itself. In the long run, it contributes to employment, economic gains and several other productive outcomes that boost the development of a nation. A country is only as rich as its rural population is and through the implementation of this scheme, the government ensures strengthening the finances of the rural populace – through skill development and by providing opportunities as well.