Wokha’s NSRLM reviews work progress

[caption id="attachment_239845" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Personnel of mission management units of Wokha district’s Nagaland State Rural Livelihood Mission.[/caption] Dimapur, March 21 (EMN): A “program monitoring meeting” of mission management units of Wokha district’s Nagaland State Rural Livelihood Mission (NSRLM) was conducted on March 20. The meeting was conducted in the conference hall of the deputy commissioner’s office. The organisers issued a press release to the media on Thursday stating the event. The NSRLM is a livelihood projects that aims to reach out to ‘poorest of the poor’ households across 11 districts, 74 blocks, and 1151 villages in the state. The scheme is to stay engaged with them till they cross the Rubicon (threshold) of poverty, the NSRLM states on its website. Currently, Tuensang and Peren districts are part of the North East Rural Livelihoods Project (NERLP). In the financial year 2013-14, nine blocks across nine districts of Nagaland will be covered as ‘intensive resource blocks.’ The rest of the blocks will be under non-intensive blocks, the website states. In her keynote address to the programme, the additional secretary for Rural Development, Athel O Lotha encouraged the members and personnel of the mission team to be a model for others. They can do so by putting their best foot forward, she said. Lotha, also the mission director for the NSRLM, was said to have highlighted the magnitude of “deepening livelihoods intervention” for rural households in Wokha district. The idea was to prepare to ‘scale up’ start-up village entrepreneurship projects (SVEP). She iterated the importance of providing access to bank linkage for self-help groups too, the updates stated. The chief operating officer for NSRLM, M Rollan Lotha reviewed the performance of the district and block mission management units across all components of the mission. Likewise, its’ achievements against annual objectives and the targets were examined. The updates stated the developing model cluster level federations as a financial intermediary was one of the mission’s key thrust areas. Rollan Lotha ‘appreciated the commendable articulations of Wokha CLF members on their lucid 5 year visioning and goals in the identified key dimensions of promotion of sustainable livelihoods for self-help groups, health, education and empowerment,’ the press release stated. They were stated to be ‘collectively working to bring about the desired change in the lives of the women, their families and the communities.’ While also appreciating the gradual shift of the self help groups in venturing into “multiple baskets of livelihoods,” Rollan encouraged the mission management units to explore and develop innovative systems to ‘reduce vulnerability in the villages.’ Further, Zubeni Odyou, secretary of a group called Englan Yingsung Federation (CLF) in Wokha district spoke about the organisation’s key priorities and their vision to enable women empowerment. Its objectives are to collectively address the issues of poverty, access to their rights and entitlements, strengthening livelihoods, and enhancing skills and capabilities of women. This is to ultimately improve the lives of its members, family and the community as a whole, the updates stated. Workers of the mission team for Wokha district, NSRLM attended the meeting. Reports concerning the performance of the district were presented by members representing the blocks. The blocks are Wokha, Chukitong, Sanis, Champang and Bhandari, the press release added.