Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah Thursday said that core benefits of UMEED scheme need to be ensured both in terms of economic upliftment of the poor rural women and awareness regarding various rights women are entitled in the society.“While financial help is of significant importance to generate livelihood opportunities for the targeted 9 lakh women in the 22 districts of the State in next five years under UMEED, the importance to make them aware of their rights, generate confidence in them and give power to their voices are also of equal weight”, he said and added that this aspect needs to be kept in focus while organizing Self-Help Groups (SHGs) under the scheme.
Reviewing the achievements of the scheme and the measures in the pipeline to make UMEED holistic, the Chief Minister said that the dedication and machinery zest is imperative to ensure benefits of the scheme to the targeted groups of poor women in all the villages of the State.Omar Abdullah said that UMEED aims at reaching out to all poor and vulnerable families, building institutions of poor, focusing on women SHGs and their federations, enhancing their access to financial and marketing services. He said the scheme is also an initiative for building capacity and skills and linking them with sustainable livelihood opportunities in the rural areas. He said this mission needs to be addressed with a commitment till the poor women are nurtured and pulled out of the poverty.
The meeting was attended by Minister for Rural Development, Ali Mohammad Sagar, Minister of State for Rural Development, Viqar Rasool, Chief Secretary, Mohammad Iqbal Khandey, Principal Secretary Planning and Development, B. R. Sharma, Principal Secretary Finance, B. B. Vyas, Commissioner Secretary Rural Development, Farooq Ahmad Pir, various Commissioner Secretaries, senior officers and representatives of RBI and various other banks.The meeting was told that an amount of over Rs. 750 crore are being spent on the poverty alleviation of poor rural families and their comprehensive development under UMEED scheme in the State during the next five years. It was stated that the scheme is presently operational in eight districts of the State and 14 districts are being brought under its ambit during the next year. As many as 576 habitations have been covered under the scheme so far while as the target for the next year is 2160.The meeting was informed that Budhal, Mandi, Bishnah, Gagwal, Kishtwar, Ramsoo, Rajwara, Wagoora, Kakpora, Shopian, Kokernag and rural Srinagar Blocks are being covered as Resource Blocks under the UMEED programme during the next financial year.