Meaning of Livelihood:

According to Chambers and Conway (1992) “Livelihood comprises the capabilities, assets and activities required for means of living. Livelihood is sustainable when it can cope with and recover from stresses and shocks and maintain or enhance its capabilities and assets both now and in the future, while not undermining the natural resource base.”

Need for Livelihood:

One of the biggest challenges facing development practitioners and policy-makers in the world today is how they can assist large number of people in the developing world to have a meaningful livelihood which sustains them and ensures they can live with dignity. In our country (India) around 22-23 crore people are living below the poverty line (BPL). It is a challenging task for the nation to fight against poverty and also ensure that people lead a good and humane life. This calls in for intervention of livelihood promotion activities.

Role of the Department:

The role of the Department of Livelihood Promotion (DLP) is to act as a Resource Centre for livelihood promotion activities. It acts as a nodal center for carrying out implementation, training, and research activities. It plays an active role in developing networking and linkages with other institutions with similar ideology. Through its intervention the department aims at: -

1. Providing Security of Food, Health Shelter, Education, Employment;

2. Ensuring Social Security;

3. Striving towards Economic Security;

4. Working for Environment Security;

5. Solidarity for Cultural Security;

6. Imparting Knowledge and Skills; and

7. Empowerment of Community.

Thematic Areas of Intervention:

The following are the thematic areas of intervention:

Micro Finance and Self Help Groups;
Self-Employment and Income Generation Activities;
Social Entrepreneurship and Skills Training;
Rural Enterprise and Rural marketing (E – Marketing);
Water and Land Management;
Agriculture and Livestock;
Organic Farming – Vermin Compost – Natural Waste Management;
Community Development and Cooperatives; and
Social Engineering.