Centre's UMEED Scheme Empowers Rural Kashmir Women amidst Pandemic

By: WE Staff | Thursday, 27 May 2021

Despite the COVID-19 lockdown, the Jammu and Kashmir Rural Livelihoods Mission, known as 'UMEED,' has given several rural women a new lease on life by providing them with a platform for Self Help Groups (SHG).

“UMEED” A Programme under National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) Implemented by the Jammu & Kashmir State Rural Livelihoods Society. The State Rural Livelihood Mission (SRLM) – Jammu and Kashmir wishes to assemble a committed and professional team to oversee the implementation of NRLM in the state.

The SHG ventured into branding and marketing sanitizers, bathroom cleaners, and other disinfectants this year. The SHG women have begun to eke out a living in the midst of the pandemic.

Over 20 impoverished women from Ladhoo Pampore village in Pulwama district in South Kashmir have formed a SHG to brand and market cleaning reagents in order to combat COVID-19 and generate income.

Under the National Rural Livelihood Mission's (NRLM) UMEED scheme, the Centre reaches out to rural women to empower them through SHGs. Each woman is encouraged to make a monthly deposit of Rs 100.

If necessary, women can later borrow against this deposit to start a small business and repay it in manageable monthly instalments.

This scheme has not only given women financial independence, but it has also helped to keep the community safe in the midst of the pandemic.

The primary goal of a women's SHG, also known as Saffron Cleaning Reagents, is to eradicate poverty in the community.

A member of the group, Nelofar Jan said, "The scheme aims at providing livelihood to women so that they do not have to depend on anyone, and become Self[1]dependent".

According to the Program Manager of NRLM Pulwama, Arshid Hussain, "Amid the pandemic, we thought of starting some livelihood program so that our community gets the economic benefit and remains clean in the process."

He also stated that there are currently around 20 women in this SHG, and that they began by making cleaning reagents and selling them in markets.

"By doing this, they are taking care of themselves and their surroundings. In the present time, everyone is using hand wash and sanitisers to keep the community clean and safe from coronavirus", he added.

Another member of the group, Asiya Maqbool added, "These products are being used by everyone these days. We have hand wash, sanitizers, and other cleaning reagents. Anyone who needs them contacts us directly. This scheme has helped us a lot".