Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana

Swarna Jayanthi Shahari Rozgar Yojana was launched as a replacement of three other schemes that addressed poverty alleviation, namely Nehru Rozgar Yojana (NRY), Urban Basic Services for the Poor (UBSP), and Prime Minister’s Integrated Urban Poverty Eradication Program (PMIUPEP). The scheme was later refurbished in the year 2009 with revised guidelines. This article seeks to provide awareness of this welfare initiative.

Funding Pattern

The scheme will be funded on a ratio of 75:25, wherein the Central Government contributes the majority and the state governments the least. The ratio of funding differs for special category states, where the same has been affixed as 90:10 in a similar proportion between the Central and State Governments. The states classified as special category includes:

Arunachal Pradesh
Assam
Manipur
Meghalaya
Mizoram
Nagaland
Sikkim
Tripura
Jammu & Kashmir
Himachal Pradesh
Uttarakhand

Objectives

The scheme is primarily aimed at providing profitable employment to the urban unemployed and the underemployed poor by encouraging the setting up of self-employment ventures or provision of wage employment. Its other objectives include:

Promotion of skill development and training programs so as to provide the urban poor with access to employment opportunities opened up by the market to undertake self-employment.
The Empowerment of the community to address the issues of urban poverty through suitable self-managed community structures like Neighborhood Groups (NHGs), Neighborhood Committees (NHC), Community Development Society (CDS), etc.

Target Population

The scheme caters to the urban poor who belong to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) segment. The task of classifying families under this category is vested with the Planning Commission of India.

Components of the Scheme

The scheme consists of five major components, which are:

Urban Self-Employment Program (USEP)
Urban Women Self-Help Program (UWSP)
Skill Training for Employment Promotion amongst Urban Poor (STEP-UP)
Urban Wage Employment Program (UWEP)
Urban Community Development Network (UCDN)

Apart from these, a special component program known as the Urban Programme for Poverty reduction among SCs and STs (UPPS) will form a part of USEP and STEP-UP. The rest of the article explores these components in detail.

Urban Self-Employment Program

This component is further classified into two sub-components, which includes:

Assistance to individual urban poor beneficiaries for setting up profitable self-employment ventures (loan and subsidy).
Technology/marketing/infrastructure/knowledge and other support provided to the urban poor for setting up their enterprises as well as marketing their products (technology, marketing and other support).

Target Groups

The benefits of USEP are extended to the BPL (Below the Poverty Line) segment of the urban population. The program lays special emphasis on women, people associated with the Scheduled Castes (SC)/Scheduled Tribes (ST), different-abled people and such other categories as may be indicated by the Government from time-to-time.

Identification of Beneficiaries

The beneficiaries will be spotted through a house-to-house survey, with a focus on slums and low-income settlements. Model Formats for executing slum survey, household survey and livelihoods survey will be laid out by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation. Community strictures such as Neighborhood Groups, Neighborhood Committees and Community Development Societies are entrusted with the task of identifying the beneficiaries through the assistance of the City/Town Urban Poverty Alleviation Cell (UPA Cell). Assistance for this purpose could also be sought from NGOs or other identified bodies.

Cluster Approach

The scheme must be identifiably approached on the basis of clusters, and all adults in such clusters must be rendered with the benefits of skill development, self-employment or wage employment to ensure that no urban poor household is ill-equipped with the means of earning income.

Focus Sectors

For the purpose of self-employment, the focus areas include the production sector, the services sector, and the business sector.

Financing Pattern

Listed below are the particulars of financing pattern under the program:

Maximum allowable subsidy – 25% of the Project Cost subject to a maximum of Rs. 50,000.
Margin – 5% of the project cost.
Collaterals – Nil
Permitted Financial Support to Micro Business Centres – up to Rs. 80 lakhs per MBC (efforts must for the gradual self-sustenance of these MBCs).

Urban Women Self-Help Program (UWSP)

This particular component proposes the following:

Assistance to groups of urban poor women for setting up profitable self-employment ventures –UWSP (Loan & Subsidy).
Revolving Funds for Self-Help Groups (SHGs)/Thrift and Credit Societies (T&CSs) formed by the urban poor women – UWSP (Revolving Fund).

Urban Women Self-Help Group Programme (Loan & Subsidy)

This program envisages the provision of a special incentive for the urban poor women who are on the pursuit of self-employment ventures in a group as opposed to individual effort. Groups of urban poor women may adopt an economic activity in accordance with their skill, training, aptitude, and local conditions. Apart from income generation, this group strategy entails the empowerment of the urban poor women by making them independent and providing a conducive atmosphere for self-employment. The UWSP group will be entitled to a subsidy of Rs. 3,00,000/35% of the cost of project/Rs. 60,000 per Member of the Group (the lower of the three). The remaining sum will be mobilized as Bank Loan and Margin.

Urban Women Self-Help Program (Revolving Fund)

While the UWSP group sets itself as a Self-Help Group (SHG)/Thrift and Credit Society (T&CS), they shall also be entitled to a lump sum grant of Rs. 25,000 as revolving fund at the rate of Rs. 2000 (at the max) per member. Such funds are also extended to a simple Self-Help Group/Thrift and Credit Society. Revolving funds are meant for the use of SHG/T&CS for purposes such as:

Procurement of raw material and marketing.
Infrastructure support (for income generation and other group activities).
Expenses within the range of Rs. 500 (to meet the travel costs of group members for visits to bank, town UPA Cell, etc).

Skill Training for Employment Promotion amongst Urban Poor (Step-Up)

This component deals with the provision of assistance for skill formation/development of the urban poor so as to enhance their capacity to be self-employed or settle for improved salaried employment. The initiative is aimed at imparting training to the urban poor in various service, business and manufacturing activities, in addition to local skills and crafts. This enables them to set up self-employment ventures or secure salaried employment with enhanced remuneration. Other training modules pertaining to this program includes guidance on vital components of the service sector such as construction trade and allied services such as carpentry, plumbing, electrical and the manufacture of building materials.

Urban Wage Employment Program (UWEP)

This program is aimed at providing wage employment to beneficiaries living below the poverty line within the jurisdiction of urban local bodies. It works by utilizing their labour for construction of socially and economically useful public assets. Assets of such description could be community centres, storm water drains, roads, night shelters, and other community requirements. It may be noted that this particular program is only applicable to towns/cities with a population of not more than Rs. 5 lakhs, as computed under the 1991 Census.

Urban Community Development Network (UCDN)

Community development and empowerment form an integral part of this scheme, given that its roadmap entails the establishment and development of community organizations and structures that pave the way for sustained urban poverty alleviation. To cater to this purpose, community organizations like Neighborhood Groups (NHGs), Neighborhood Committees (NHCs), and Community Development Societies (CDSs) will be set up in the targeted locales.