The Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) is a flagship poverty alleviation scheme of the Government of India, implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD). It was originally launched in June 2011 as the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM), which was a restructured version of the earlier Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY). The scheme was renamed DAY-NRLM with effect from March 29, 2016, to honor Deendayal Antyodaya.
The core problem it addresses is rural poverty by creating "strong grassroots institutions of the poor" to enable them to access gainful self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunities. The mission's mechanism is centered on mobilizing at least one member, preferably a woman, from each rural poor household into Self Help Groups (SHGs). These SHGs, typically consisting of 10-20 members, are then federated into Village Organisations (VOs) and Cluster Level Federations (CLFs).
DAY-NRLM works on four key pillars: Social Mobilization and Institution Building, Financial Inclusion, Sustainable Livelihoods, and Social Inclusion. Key provisions include providing financial assistance such as a Revolving Fund (RF), Community Investment Support Fund (CIF), and an Interest Subvention scheme. Under the interest subvention, women SHGs can avail loans up to ₹3,00,000 at an effective interest rate of 7%, with an additional 3% subvention for prompt repayment in 250 identified districts, reducing the effective rate to 4%.
The scheme connects to other government initiatives, such as the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) for skill training and the Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs). The program is a centrally sponsored scheme, jointly funded by the Central and State governments. Recently, the mission has been preparing for its next phase, often referred to as NRLM 2.0, with a focus on scaling rural women entrepreneurship and strengthening the Cluster Level Federations for the 2026-27 to 2030-31 cycle.