Working Papers

As a new generation development programme, the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) has sought to promote collectives of the poor as the corner-stone of its strategy for livelihood promotion. The livelihood enhancement is meant to be actualised through a multidimensional strategy of livelihood protection and promotion. The paper examines the extent to which the SHG-based collectives have been able to emerge as livelihood promoting institutions given the thrust of NRLM. The paper hypothesises that despite their avowed goal, the collectives are bound to face enormous challenges in livelihood promotion in the absence of an integrated approach. Also, that their intervention has a stronger likelihood of ending up as a minimalist microfinance exercise with inherent limitations regarding poverty alleviation. The findings of the paper corroborate the hypothesis to a great extent. Sustained support to build the capacities of the fledging collectives, a reversal of the top-down elements of their multi-tier structure, and the strong need to ensure greater role clarity for each tier are some of the policy suggestions.