NULM - National Urban Livelihood Mission [Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana]

DAY-NULM stands for Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Urban Livelihood Mission. It is a scheme under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs that focuses on reducing poverty and vulnerability of the urban poor households. 

This article will discuss the facts related to DAY-NULM. Aspirants of various Government exams must go through the article carefully and upkeep themselves for the general awareness sections of these exams.

National Urban Livelihood Mission is also important for the IAS Exam from GS-II and current affairs perspectives.

NULM – National Urban Livelihood Mission – Overview

1. National Urban Livelihoods Mission scheme was launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Government of India on September 24th, 2013.
2. NULM replaced the existing Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) and is known as Rashtriya Shahri Aajeevika Mission in Hindi.
3. It focuses on organising urban poor in their strong grassroots level institutions by enhancing sustainable livelihood opportunities through skill development. It aims at leading poor to market-based employment and helping them to set up self-employment ventures by ensuring easy access to credit. 
4. Mission will be implemented in all District Headquarter Towns and all other cities with a population of 1,00,000 or more as per 2011 census.
5.  The target of DAY-NULM is the urban population identified as below the poverty line population in urban areas by the States and Union Territories. Its intended beneficiaries are urban poor (street vendors, slum dwellers, homeless, rag pickers), unemployed and differently-abled.
6. DAY-NULM has been conferred the prestigious SKOCH Governance Gold Award.
7. NULM comprises the following sub-scheme to uplift urban poor-
   • Social Mobilization and Institution Development – SM&ID
   • Employment through Skills Training and Placement – EST&P
   • Capacity Building and Training – CBT
   • Self-Employment Programme – SEP
   • Scheme of Shelter for Urban Homeless – SUH
   • Support to Urban Street Vendors – SUSV
   • Innovative and Special project – ISP

Why is the National Urban Livelihoods Mission Required?

Economic development and urbanisation are closely related to each other. As such cities are now the rising economic growth for the country as it contributes more than 60% of the total GDP. As per the 2011 Census of India, the urban population is now 377 million, a remarkable 31% increase compared to 2001.

The Report on Conditions of Work and Promotion of Livelihoods in the Unorganized Sector by the National Commission on Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector brought out in August 2007 (NCEUS, 2007) reveals that in 2004-05, out of India’s total workforce, 92 percent worked in the informal economy.

The informal sector consists of a large part of the unorganized non-agriculture sector. Coupled with low levels of education and skill in the sector, the workers lack the ability to make use of the opportunities offered by emerging markets.

Since most of the poor are involved in the informal sectors, there is a constant danger of eviction, confiscation of goods, harassment, and non-existent social security cover. Even though there is no lack of income, these segments of the urban population will face a lack of access to sanitary conditions, with their well being being hampered by social exclusion, crime and violence and hazardous environmental conditions.

The dimensions of urban poverty can be broadly divided into three categories:

1. Residential vulnerability (access to land, shelter, basic services, etc.)
2. Social vulnerability (deprivations related to factors like gender, age and social stratification, lack of social protection, inadequate voice and participation in governance structures, etc.)
3. Occupational vulnerability (precarious livelihoods, dependence on informal sector for employment and earnings, lack of job security, poor working conditions, etc.). These vulnerabilities are inter-related. Amongst the urban poor, there are sections subject to greater vulnerability in terms of the above classification; these include women, children, and the aged, SCs, STs, minorities and differently-abled persons who deserve attention on a priority basis.

Candidates can know about various other schemes focusing on the development of Urban livelihood.

A similar scheme, DAY-NRLM National Rural Livelihood Mission is run for the rural development and livelihood by the Ministry of Rural Development. Know in detail about the DAY-NRLM on the linked page. 

NULM Scheme – Mission

1. Reducing poverty and vulnerability of the urban poor households by enabling them
2. Providing access to self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunities.
3. Improving the livelihoods of urban poor on a sustainable basis, through building strong grassroots level institutions of the poor. 
4. The mission of NULM scheme also aims at providing shelter equipped with essential services to the urban homeless in a phased manner.
5. Addressing livelihood concerns of the urban street vendors by facilitating access to suitable spaces, institutional credit, social security, and skills to the urban street vendors for accessing emerging market opportunities.

Read about, National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF).

National Urban Livelihood Mission- Objectives

• To build the capacity of the urban poor, their institutions and the machinery involved in the implementation of livelihoods development and poverty alleviation programmes through handholding support
• To enhance and expand existing livelihoods options of the urban poor
• To build skills to enable access to growing market-based job opportunities offered by emerging urban economies
• To train for and support to the establishment of micro-enterprises by the urban poor individuals and groups
• To ensure availability and access for the urban homeless population to permanent 24-hour shelters including the basic infrastructural facilities like water supply, sanitation, safety and security
• To cater to the needs of especially vulnerable segments of the urban homeless like the dependent children, aged, disabled, mentally ill, and recovering patients etc. by creating special sections within homeless shelters and provisioning special service linkages for them
• To establish strong rights-based linkages with other programmes which cover the right of the urban homeless to food, healthcare, education, etc.
• To ensure access for homeless populations to various entitlements, including to social security pensions, PDS, ICDS, feeding programmes, drinking water, sanitation, identity, financial inclusion, school admission, etc., and to affordable housing. 

Get details on various pension schemes by the government-

• To address livelihood concerns of the urban street vendors by facilitating access to suitable spaces, institutional credit, social security and skills to the urban street vendors for accessing emerging market opportunities.

Aspirants preparing for any government exams can visit the link provided to prepare even better for the examination-

1. Free Online Quiz for Government Exams
2. Government Exams Free Mock Test Series
3. Government Exam Previous Year Question Papers with Solution PDFs

DAY NULM Component

The NULM scheme has two components one for urban India and other for rural India .i.e. 

1. The urban component is named Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana which will be implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.
2. The rural component named Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana will be implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development. 

Also, read about PM Garib Kalyan Yojana on the given link. 

Sub-Schemes Under NULM

Social Mobilization and Institution Development – SM&ID

1. DAY-NULM envisages universal social mobilisation of urban poor into Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and their federations. 
2. This focuses on the mobilisation of vulnerable sections of the urban population such as SCs, STs, minorities, female-headed households, persons with disabilities, the destitute, migrant labourers, and especially vulnerable occupational groups such as street vendors, rag pickers, domestic workers, beggars, construction workers, etc.

Employment through Skills Training and Placement – EST&P

1. This component focuses on providing assistance for the development and upgrading of the skills of the urban poor by providing training and enhancing their capacity for self-employment and salaried employment.

Know about the National Skill Development Mission on the given link. 

1.  ESTP intends to provide training to the urban poor as per the skill demand from the market and targets the urban poor subjected to occupational vulnerability.

Read about Skill India Mission on the linked page. 

Capacity Building and Training – CBT

1. The main objective is to transform the role of the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs and State Agencies in charge of urban poverty alleviation into providers of high quality technical assistance in the fields of urban livelihoods promotion and urban poverty alleviation
2. Aims to provide technical and financial support at National, State, and City Levels.

Self-Employment Programme – SEP

1. This focuses on financial assistance to individuals and groups of urban poor for setting up gainful self-employment ventures and micro-enterprises, suited to their skills, training, aptitude, and local conditions.

Scheme of Shelter for Urban Homeless – SUH

1. The main objective of the Scheme of Shelter for Urban Homeless (SUH) is to provide shelter and all other essential services to the poorest of the poor segment of urban societies.
2. The shelters should be permanent all-weather 24 x 7 shelters with basic common facilities such as water, sanitation, electricity, kitchen, common recreation space. Also, linkage with Anganwadi, PHC, childcare facilities, and other social assistance programmes, etc. may be ensured.

Support to Urban Street Vendors – SUSV

1. This component of DAY-NULM aims at skilling street vendors, supporting micro-enterprise development, credit enablement, and pro-vending urban planning along with supporting social security options for vulnerable groups such as women, SCs/STs, and minorities.

Innovative and Special Project – ISP

1. This component will focus on the promotion of novel initiatives in the form of innovative projects. These initiatives may be in the nature of pioneering efforts, aimed at catalysing sustainable approaches to urban livelihoods through Public, Private, Community Partnership, demonstrating a promising methodology or making a distinct impact on the urban poverty situation through scalable initiatives. 

Benefits of NULM – National Urban Livelihood Mission 

The benefit that will accrue to urban poor folks with the NULM scheme are as follow:

1. Self Employment Programme – The urban poor who wish to set up their own self-employment ventures or micro-enterprises can avail bank loan at 7% rate of interest. An individual can be given bank loans for projects up to INR 2 lakh for setting up of individual micro-enterprises and for a group of the urban poor, a bank loan is available for projects up to INR 10 lakh. Read about Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). 
2. Self Help groups – All the SHGs of the urban poor can avail bank loan at 7% rate of interest. An additional 3 percent interest subvention will be provided to all women SHGs who repay their loan in time. Thus, in the case of timely repayment, the effective interest rate would be only 4%. Read in details about the Self Help Groups on the given link.
3. Urban Street Vendors- National Urban Livelihood Mission aims at upskilling the street vendors. It supports the development of vendor market, vending zone & informal sector markets with infrastructure/civic facilities such as paving, water supply, solid waste disposal facility, lighting, storage space etc.
4. NULM also supports micro-enterprises in development and their credit enablement.
5. Under the Scheme of shelter for Urban Homeless, Day-NULM provides financial support to State Governments and Urban Local Bodies for construction as well as operation & management of permanent shelter for urban homeless. The shelters constructed must be equipped with all other essential services so that the urban homeless in our cities live a dignified life.

Other related schemes by Government of India –

Know about various other Government Schemes launched for the welfare and development of the country.

Aspirants preparing for the UPSC exam can check the links given below –

1. IAS 2023
2. UPSC Calendar 2023
3. UPSC Syllabus
4. Analysis of the Press Information Bureau

You can also check out the preparation strategies for competitive exams to fine-tune your exam prep.