Q.) Examine the role of the Jeevika program of Bihar in the social and economic strengthening of rural areas of the state.

Ans– Jeevika is a Bihar rural livelihood project that was announced on 2nd Oct. 2007, it is helped by World Bank it intends to enable the provincial poor by making independent local area Institutions and improving financial condition through practical business.

Under Jeevika, self-help groups (SHGs) and their alliances at the town level and group levels are created as a solid foundation for country rural areas.

Role of Jeevika program in social and economic empowerment of rural poor–

1. Program implementation.
2. Skill development.
3. Financial inclusion.
4. Agriculture.
5. Non-farm activities.

Program implementation– Throughout the long term these local area-based establishments have arisen as a successful mode for execution of different Central and state-run schemes straightforwardly helping the rural areas.

1. Sanitary program– Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
2. Environmental– Jal Jeevan Hariyali scheme
3. Health and nutrition– Poshan maah.
4. Social Issues– liquor prohibition, Abolition of dowry, and child marriage. Financial inclusion– Jeevika provides introductory help to SHGs with starting capitalization assets and settling assets to meet their underlying monetary requirements to make a Corpus asset of the SHGs.
5. To promote financial transactions in rural areas Jeevika collaborated with major banks for the opening of customer service point CSP by bank sakhis, an SHG member. This improves banking penetration in rural areas.
6. It started Satat Jivikoparjan Yojana in August 2018 to provide sustainable livelihood to 1 lakh ultra-poo households.
7. Jeevika likewise gives protection inclusion to SHG individuals in form of insurance, which helped in the migration of lamentable state of families that suffer due to sudden death or accident of SHG member.

Agriculture– To promote mechanization and reduce the tendency of women farmers. Jeevika established community hearing centers in Association with Agriculture Department. farm activities aimed at improving the productivity of crops, technical assistance, training, capacity building, and improving marketing skills to SHG members.

Non-farm activities– under this rural retail marks and Didi ki Rasoi, a community kitchen intervention have been started in recent years.

Skill training– the ability to prepare an arrangement of youth is one more significant topic of Jeevika which gives vocation amazing open doors through expertise preparing and position offices for rural youths. Women empowerment has also been one of the key centers of Jeevika. they trained women in different activities like sewing and handicraft etc.

Jeevika has tried to resolve the neural issues through its various component but yet it is not free from limitations–

1. Some groups continued to be left out as the structure of Institutions in his age did may not meet the needs of most poor and excluded groups.
2. Coordination between the departments has some time decreased which led to its implementation.
3. Funding issues– many times they are not provided with ample funds and are delayed for it.
4. The illiteracy of the rural population hides its growth.

Overall, Jeevika has evolved some key institutional mechanisms to address the economic empowerment and social inclusion of the rural population of the state.

The Government of Bihar, through the Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society (BRLPS), an independent body under the Department of Rural Development, is initiating the World Bank supported Bihar Rural Livelihoods Project (BRLP), privately known as Jeevika with the target of social and financial strengthening of the provincial poor. Along these lines, the Livelihoods Restoration and Enhancement part of the Bihar Kosi Flood Recovery Project (BKFRP) was likewise taken under Jeevika.

Addressing the mentioned challenges, the program has the potential to carry forward rural development, a key feature of Gandhian principles which is also mentioned in the directive principle of State Policy (DPSP)in the constitution.