About NRLM:
The National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) in India, launched in 2011, aims to alleviate poverty by empowering rural communities, especially women and marginalized groups, through sustainable livelihood opportunities. NRLM focuses on forming and strengthening self-help groups (SHGs), providing financial services and credit linkages, promoting skill development, and facilitating access to markets and technology. With over 90 million SHGs formed nationwide, NRLM has empowered rural households, enhanced income opportunities, and fostered entrepreneurship. By promoting convergence with other government programs and schemes, NRLM maximizes impact and sustainability. Since its inception, NRLM has significantly contributed to rural development, fostering inclusive growth and advancing the vision of a poverty-free India.
NRLM in Jabalpur:
The Madhya Pradesh State Rural Livelihoods Mission (MP SRLM) is a key initiative launched to address poverty and promote sustainable livelihoods in rural areas of Madhya Pradesh, India. Established with a focus on empowering marginalized communities, particularly women, MP SRLM works towards fostering social and economic empowerment through various interventions. These include the formation and strengthening of self-help groups (SHGs), providing access to financial services, skill development, and facilitating market linkages. MP SRLM aims to enhance the livelihood opportunities of rural households while promoting inclusive growth and reducing disparities. Through strategic partnerships and convergence with other development programs, MP SRLM maximizes its impact and ensures sustainable rural development. Since its inception, MP SRLM has made significant strides in empowering rural communities, fostering entrepreneurship, and improving livelihoods across the state.
My Initial Visits:
I first heard about the work of NRLM in Jabalpur in November of 2022, having interacted with an on-ground officer working in the program. In July 2023, I visited Jabalpur to meet and speak with the DPM (Ms Shweta) and the DM (Mr Shukla), along with their Legal Head Mr Badhoria, discussing the structure and initiation of government Self Help Groups for women, and what help would they need. During my time there, I also visited several villages like Baghrai and Bandhi where I saw production processes of several items such as marble items, sanitary pads, and agricultural produce. During these visits, I sat in on one of the monthly Baithaks of the women, visited the sillai centre, parlour and school (Aanganwadi) and interacted with the SHG women part of them. Apart from that, I also interacted with many women from the SHGs, understanding their lives, problems and what help they need.
The Documentary:
I returned to brainstorm possible ideas of how I could contribute to the cause of the work happening in Jabalpur. In August 2023, I created a proposal to shoot a documentary to bring out the stories of the women of SHGs in rural Jabalpur, to increase the demand for their products and to establish strong forward and backward linkages for their existing businesses. After getting the approval, I wrote the script and the screenplay for the documentary, along with creating a questionnaire for the women and the cinematographical specifications.
In September 2023, over the course of 4 days, I shot all over rural Jabalpur as lead director, screenwriter and producer, focusing on the villages of Baghrai, Beechi and Panagar and their respective products of marble, spices and clothes. Interviewed 30+ women for the documentary and government officials such as DPM, DM, CEO Zilla Panchayat and on-ground officers. This resulted in the production of the documentary ‘Door Nahi Sahil.’ So far, we have levied Door Nahi Sahil to collect 2.5 Lakhs in crowdfunding and corporate orders, which the State Government is currently using to create worksheds for the women and bring on more machines to ease and enhance the production process of the women. Additionally, the documentary has been posted on the YouTube page of MP SRLM, with over 1K views and several likes and comments. It has over 200 shares and views on LinkedIn and Facebook. The documentary has also won and been screened at film festivals such as the Caravan Internation Film Festival, with over 50 people in the audience
