Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana (DAY): Implementation and Progress

August 29, 2016

Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana (DAY) – Background

Skills development and employment generation has been at the core of the NDA government’s agenda. A number of programmes such as the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojna, USTAD, Skill India have been launched to meet this objective. The Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana is one such scheme; aimed at developing the skills of rural and urban youth in order to make them self reliant and capable of earning meaningful livelihoods.

The National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM), implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, and the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development were two programmes that had been launched by previous governments to aid the poor masses of the country to set up entrepreneurial ventures and earn a living that will bring them out of the poverty net. Generation of sustainable livelihood and creating meaningful jobs were its core objectives. This end is achievable only by tapping into the skills and capabilities of the people themselves.

The NDA government launched the Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana (DAY) – an integration of the existing National Urban Livelihood Mission and National Rural Livelihood Mission to bring the scheme more clarity, definition, and focus.

The urban and rural components of the DAY have been renamed thus –

Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana (NULM), for urban regions, implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation; and
Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana, for rural regions, implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development.

Why Is DAY In Focus?

The two urban livelihood schemes that existed had become lukewarm and had not succeeded in creating massive employment opportunities and growth avenues. PM Modi’s flagship Make in India campaign is based on the tenet that the developed nations of the world are headed towards a sharp shortage in skilled workers. Reports say that by 2020, these nations shall require a workforce of about 57 million to meet their demands. India makes for the perfect manufacturing hub. The Make In India campaign is aimed at providing a major boost to India’s manufacturing industry. For this dream to be realized, it is important that the country have a great pool of skilled labour available. This is where the DAY comes in.

The DAY scheme for urban regions has been launched to extend across all 4041 cities and towns. This means that the DAY now covers almost the entire urban population of the country, while all previous urban poverty alleviating programmes managed to cover only some 790 towns and cities.

Highlights Of The DAY

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana

The rural component of the DAY was rolled out in 2014. The target of this programme is to train about 10 lakh youth from India’s villages within three years (2014-2017) and impart skills that shall enable them to engage in fruitful employment. For the purpose of this scheme, youth is defined as anyone of age 15 and above. The skills training will be undertaken in special centres set up by the government in rural areas.

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Antyodaya Yojana

The target of the urban component of the DAY is to train 5 lakh urban poor each year in City Livelihood Centers set up by the government. The government will shoulder a cost of about INR 15,000 (INR 18,000 in the north eastern states and jammu & Kashmir) per person in these training programmes. A major component of this training will be imparting market oriented skills. The formation of Self Help Groups (SHG) will go to create a supportive environment for the trained members. Each group shall be given an initial sum of INR 10,000 to start with. Apart from this INR 50.000 assistance shall be provided to registered federations on an area level.

Subsidy To Urban Poor

Imparting skills to the urban poor is not adequate without creation of employment opportunities. The government also has launched an interest subsidy for the trained youth to set up their own enterprises. An interest subsidy of 5 percent on loan (of up to INR 2 lakh) is available for those interested in setting up individual enterprises while an interest subsidy of 7 percent is available on a loan (of up to INR 10 lakh) for group enterprises. Street vendors shall also be able to avail of skills development to improve their own businesses and offerings.

Work and employment are only possible with eradication of household worried. To facilitate this objective, the government has promised to construct shelters for the country’s urban homeless.

Implementation And Progress

For the implementation of the DAY, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation has signed a pact with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). The NSDC will now be responsible for identification of beneficiaries, define the syllabus and standards of the training sessions, and issue the certification for the trained members. To ensure that the training remains market relevant, the NSDC will take the help of its Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) which are market-led groups.

According to recent news reports, about 4.54 lakh urban poor have received skills training between 2014 and 2016 under this scheme. About 22 percent of those who received training found employment – many with the government and some started their own ventures. A report in the Economic Times says the total loan amount disbursed to 73,476 beneficiaries (for setting up individual micro-enterprises) in this period came up to about INR 551 crore. Apart from this another INR 54 crore was spent on setting up 2527 group enterprises.Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana seem to have led in the implementation of the scheme, the report added.

Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana (DAY) – Background

Why Is DAY In Focus?

Highlights Of The DAY

Subsidy To Urban Poor

Implementation And Progress

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