Bihar Rural Livelihoods Project (BRLP) is an independent society set up by the Government of Bihar designed to address rural poverty in Bihar through the collaboration of the poor, the Government of Bihar and the World Bank. The BRLPS is implementing JEEViKA with the objective of enhancing the social and economic empowerment of the rural poor in Bihar.
JEEViKA aims to skill rural youth who are poor and provide them with jobs having regular monthly wages at or above the minimum wages. It is one a cluster of initiatives of the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India (MoRD) that seeks to promote rural livelihoods. It is a part of the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) – the Mission for poverty reduction.
The programme’s focus is on skilling and placement in the formal sector for rural youth who are poor. Besides helping to reduce poverty, it rides on the hopes and aspirations for a better quality of life in large sections of the rural poor. This has greater significance in the current context, where 430 million people in our country are in the age group 15-34 and constitute 35% of the population (Census 2011). This age group is projected to increase to 464 million by 2021. This can result in a “demographic dividend” for India if the capabilities of the youth are also developed.