United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi talks with rural women in New Delhi yesterday.
IANS/New Delhi
India should take 70mn families out of poverty in the next 10 years, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said yesterday while announcing that the government was preparing a special package for the northeast and hill states like Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
“In the next 10 years we have to bring seven crore families out of poverty. This is not an easy job,” Gandhi said on the second anniversary of Ajeevika Mission, or the National Rural Livelihoods Mission.
About 30% of people in India were below the poverty line in 2009-10 - based on the monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE) of Rs673 for rural areas and Rs860 for urban areas, according to information given to parliament by the government this year.
Gandhi said: “...by adopting the Ajeevika Mission, many states have proved that through women SHGs (self help groups), economical and social changes can be brought in the rural areas.
“Seeing this success, it seems that now the Ajeevika Mission will have to be implemented fast across the country especially in central and eastern India.
“Today everybody has proved that this programme can free women from the curse of poverty. Such emancipation is based on stable and self-made employment and not on the mercy and kindness of anybody. Our purpose is clear. We have to strengthen the women SHGs and their instruments financially,” she said.
Gandhi said Ajeevika had proved that social and economic changes could be brought about through women’s SHGs in villages.
“This shows that the Ajeevika mission needs to be implemented across the country with special focus on central and northern parts,” she said.
She said a special package was being prepared for the northeast and hill states like Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.