Govt reaching out to NGOs, religious bodies to bring welfare schemes to people

NEW DELHI: The government is trying to upscale its engagements with NGOs, knowledge partners, religious organisations for better implementation of its schemes so that benefits reach those that need them the most, a senior official with the Social Justice and Empowerment ministry said.

Secretary Amit Yadav was speaking at a seminar organised on ‘Economic Inclusion for Vulnerable Populations’ in collaboration with the World Bank.

“Our Department delivers its mandate through its various schemes and programmes that are targeted at the most destitute segments of society. Alongside, our Department seeks to gain a better understanding of these segments of population,” he said.

The seminar is part of a series of consultations intended to integrate international best practices into India’s social service frameworks.

The collaboration operates under a non-lending technical assistance agreement with the World Bank.

Swati Sharma, Joint Secretary of MoRD, discussed the transformative effects of the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) on rural economic resilience, while Shalini Pandey, Director at the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), detailed the role of the SvaNidhi Scheme in supporting urban street vendors.

Adding a global perspective, World Bank experts Dalal Moosa, Muderis Abdulahi Mohammed, and Aneeka Rahman presented strategies for bolstering India’s social safety nets through international cooperation.

Parikrama Chowdhry from J-PAL South Asia emphasised the power of combining global and local insights to achieve robust economic inclusion. (PTI)