SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir has emerged as a significant beneficiary of India’s flagship poverty alleviation scheme, the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), as new data tabled in the Lok Sabha today reveals steady progress in both self-employment and wage-based livelihood outcomes.
According to figures shared in response to a question, the NRLM’s impact in Jammu and Kashmir spans across Self Help Groups (SHGs), youth training initiatives, and enterprise-led support models.
Under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY), which focuses on skill development for rural youth, 71,307 candidates from Jammu and Kashmir have been trained since the programme’s inception in 2014. Of these, 44,870 have secured placements in various sectors, indicating a placement ratio of over 62 percent. This puts Jammu and Kashmir well above many other Himalayan and northeastern states in terms of both outreach and conversion into jobs.
Additionally, the Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs), which help youth build entrepreneurial skills and start their own ventures, have trained 114,813 candidates in Jammu and Kashmir. Of them, 84,097 individuals have been successfully “settled”, meaning they have either established businesses or found employment post-training. The Union Territory’s settlement rate under RSETI is nearly 73 percent, making it one of the stronger performers among hilly and border regions.
Neighbouring Ladakh, which was carved out as a separate Union Territory in 2019, has also seen progress under RSETI. A total of 5,432 candidates were trained there, and 3,564 were settled, with a settlement rate of over 65 percent — modest but noteworthy for a sparsely populated and logistically challenging area.
Nationwide, over 1.75 million candidates have been trained under DDU-GKY, with 11.48 lakh securing placements, and 5.67 million trained under RSETI, with 4.10 million settled.
Beyond individual training schemes, the larger NRLM framework has covered 7,145 blocks across the country. As of June 2025, 90.9 lakh SHGs have been promoted, mobilising over 10 crore rural households. These groups have received a total of Rs 58,714.44 crore as capitalization support, and accessed Rs 10.89 lakh crore in bank credit — underscoring the scale of financial inclusion fostered under the scheme.
Under special interventions for women farmers, 4.62 crore Mahila Kisans have been brought under agro-ecological practices, while 3.74 lakh rural enterprises have been supported through the Startup Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP). Notably, 1.48 crore “Lakhpati Didis”, or rural women earning over Rs 1 lakh annually, have emerged from the NRLM ecosystem — a figure the government has repeatedly highlighted as a marker of rural transformation.
Jammu and Kashmir’s achievements under NRLM align with its broader rural development strategy, where women-led initiatives and youth skilling have become central policy pillars, especially in post-conflict areas and among economically marginalised groups. The state’s State Rural Livelihoods Mission (JKSRLM), locally known as ‘UMEED’, has been instrumental in expanding SHGs, improving credit linkage, and integrating rural livelihoods with markets
