The story of a quiet revolution – one that begins in villages, echoes through women’s voices, and reaches the very sky.
Across the diverse landscapes of India, millions of women have unshackled themselves in both domestic and public spaces and stepped into new roles as decision-makers, entrepreneurs, and community leaders. This is the story of the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) – one of the world’s largest poverty alleviation programs – told through voices from the ground and the corridors of policy.
Blending human stories with institutional insight, Claiming Our Skies: The Story of National Rural Livelihoods Mission charts how rural communities, particularly women, came together to build themselves and their institutions – transforming not just their livelihoods, but their confidence, choices, and futures.
This book brings together firsthand accounts, case studies, and reflective essays from practitioners, policymakers, and leaders who helped shape and implement NRLM.
Claiming Our Skies is both a narrative of progress and a blueprint of possibility – for India, and for the world.
About the editors:
Nagendra Nath Sinha is a retired IAS officer from Jharkhand, trained in engineering and public health. Over the course of his career, he has been deeply committed to uplifting rural communities and advancing inclusive growth. He strongly believes in the transformative power of grassroots collectives and local self-governance. Sinha has worked tirelessly to strengthen these institutions by building capacities and fostering collaboration among diverse stakeholders. He has played a pivotal role in conceptualizing, incubating, and scaling several innovative programmes and campaigns, including Mission Lakhpati Didi, Mission Amrit Sarovar, Yojana Banao Abhiyan, Garib Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyaan, and Birsa Harit Gram Yojana. Passionate about nurturing ideas and leveraging technology for social good, he focuses on creating opportunities that promote dignity and empowerment for all. An avid reader and lifelong learner, Sinha enjoys engaging with communities and continuously seeking knowledge.
Neelima Khetan is the Managing Partner of Nous Consultants. Khetan has over four decades of experience of working on developmental and social challenges. She studied at the Shri Ram College of Commerce and the Institute of Rural Management Anand. She has worked extensively with civil society organisations, notably Seva Mandir in Rajasthan, where she worked for 25 years, and led its work for over a decade. She has also worked with large corporations handling their corporate social responsibility portfolios and currently serves on the boards of several foundations and not-for-profit organisations. Khetan’s first publication was a co-edited book titled Anchoring Change – Seventy-five years of grassroots interventions that made a difference published by Harper Collins India.
SECTION I THE IDEA, ARCHITECTURE AND NATIONAL IMAGINATION OF NRLM Foreword Preface Acknowledgements Contributors
PART I: THE IDEA AND EVOLUTION OF NRLM 1. National Rural Livelihoods Mission: Retrospective & Prospective Nagendra Nath Sinha 2. The NRLM Model: Pathways to Resilient Rural Prosperity Samik Sundar Das 3. From Andhra to India: Innovations that Transformed Rural Livelihoods T. Vijay Kumar
PART II: DESIGNING THE INSTITUTIONAL ARCHITECTURE 4. Integrating People and Professionals: Analysing the Design of National Rural Livelihoods Mission H.S. Shylendra 5. A Dedicated Support Structure – Keystone to the NRLM’s Success Nita Kejrewal and Smita Jacob 6. Strengthening Community Resource Persons for Rural Transformation Usha Rani and Gayatri Rao 7. Towards Sustainability of Cluster Level Federations under the DAY-NRLM Madhu Khetan and Gayatri Rao
PART III: CONVERGENCE AND DECENTRALISED GOVERNANCE 8. Convergence – A Force Multiplier Charanjit Singh and Smita Jacob 9. PRIs and CBOs: Convergence at the Last-Mile Sonali Srivastava SECTION II STATE JOURNEYS, INCLUSION, AND TRANSFORMATIONS
PART IV: STATE INNOVATIONS AND ADAPTATIONS 10. Agency Through Consolidation – Kudumbashree’s Trajectory of Change Sarada Muraleedharan 11. Tamil Nadu: A Trendsetter in Women’s Empowerment and Enterprise Development S. Divyadharshini and Arshia Gupta 12. JEEViKA: Paving the Way for Women’s Empowerment and Livelihoods in Bihar Arvind Kumar Chaudhary and Mukesh Chandra Sharan 13. Journey of the Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society Paritosh Upadhyay and Deepak Upadhyay
PART V: GENDERING THE MISSION 14. Plugging the Leaking Bucket: Reimagining Gender Within India’s DAY-NRLM Lakshmi Lingam 15. Making Women’s Voices Count: Reflections on the Engendering Process Within the National Rural Livelihoods Mission Suneeta Dhar and Sejal Dand 16. Making Women’s Groups the Preferred Customers of Financial Institutions Girija Srinivasan
PART VI: INCLUSION, NUTRITION AND ECONOMIC PATHWAYS 17. Policies, Strategies and Programmes that Ensured Social Inclusion – Learnings from Kerala’s Kudumbashree Harikishore S. 18. No One Left Behind: JEEViKA’s Journey of Social Inclusion in Bihar Balamurugan 19. Self-help Group Platforms and Pathways to Improved Nutrition Kalyani Raghunathan, Neha Kumar, Agnes Quisumbing, Tinni Sawhney 20. Brewing Livelihoods: Collectives and Beyond Anish Kumar
PART VII: SYNTHESIS AND WAY FORWARD 21. Claiming Our Skies: Pathways, Challenges, and Possibilities Neelima Khetan and Nagendra Nath Sinha