Shimla : The World Bank today approved US $ 1 billion credit for the National Rural Livelihoods Project(NRLP) aimed at strengthening the implementation of the Indian government’s newly launched National Rural Livelihoods Mission(NRLM), a spokesman of the bank said.
The NRLM is one of the world’s largest poverty reduction initiatives of about US $ 7.7 billion to reach 350 million people which is almost a quarter of India’s population.
“The success of NRLM is expected to serve as a backbone for pulling together all other poverty reduction efforts under one umbrella and will help India move closer to some of the key MDGs in the near futureâ€, said Venu Rajamony, joint secretary in the department of economic affairs.
Under the aegis of NRLM the project will now support additional investments in 12 states with high number of poor, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.These house 85 per cent of India’s poor.
“Rural India will continue to play a significant role in the coming decades and programmes such as these will help shape the country’s future human capital which lives in villages,†said Roberto Zagha, World Bank Country Director for India.
In a 20 year career published widely. He has worked for the BBC, AFP, The Statesman, IANS and the Business Standard . Known for his hard hitting writing and occasional off-beat stories. He lives in Shimla.
