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empowerment of women in the farm   occupations, adding another income   22,179 women beneficiaries on best
 and non-farm sectors.   source, and convergence with   practices.
          government schemes, based on two
 LEAP aims to achieve various   fundamental pillars: cluster planning   Building Dreams, Floor by
 objectives over four years, including   and a market-led approach. LEAP   Floor: Three-Tier Vertical
 increasing the real income of direct   has made significant progress at the   Livelihood Structure Model
 beneficiaries by 40%, benefiting   district and state levels in terms of   Ajay Kumar lives in Gondey,
 over 500,000 women farmers and   outcomes, income increase, building   Pratapgarh, in Uttar Pradesh,
 artisans spread over 120 clusters,   stronger institutions, enabling   with his parents and two younger
 leveraging new investments,   convergence, and ensuring the   brothers. He is physically challenged
 including government schemes   creditworthiness of the borrowers.   and comes from a landless family.
 and private-sector investments,   The project has extensive backing   His daily wages are his only
 and enabling partnerships at the   from government departments, and   source of income. He abandoned
 national, state and local level.   financial institutions have partnered   studies to support his family. He is
          with POs to offer credit and financial   discriminated due to his disability.
 LEAP’s three-pronged income   support for input and forward   The bank created a three-tier
 enhancement strategy includes   linkages.  vertical livelihood structure model
 improving income from existing             to provide a stable source of income
          The LEAP programme is being       for him. HRDP Pratapgarh built
          implemented in 24 districts in    two vertical livelihood structures
          Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand,   (as a prototype) for three livelihood
          Odisha, Punjab and West Bengal.   activities simultaneously. 1)
          The team has been receiving       Fisheries 2) Poultry; 3) Goats.
          tremendous support from           The structure has three floors to
          respective state governments      breed fish on the ground floor,
 in Tuticorin and Coimbatore in   conveyed its interest to extend the   and their departments, such as   poultry on the first floor, and goats
 August 2022. The project aimed   project to further develop and scale   the Department of Agriculture,   on the second floor. The chickens
 to be sustainable and scalable   it. In addition to the Industries &   Horticulture, Rural Development,   eat goat waste, and fish eat chicken
 by training ten people from each   Commerce Ministry, the District   and Planning. A unique feature   and goat waste. Additionally, chick
 village in Thoothukudi district to   Collector of Thoothukudi district   of this project is digital literacy,   and fish feeds are also given to   clusters.
 produce commercially viable water   intends to extend the project to six   transparency, and equipping rural   boost their growth and reduce risk
 hyacinth handicraft products.   neighbouring villages, expanding its   women with greater digital know-  from diseases.  In conclusion, one can see the
 The government is planning to   impact.  how and capabilities, enabling       transformative impact of all three
 develop the model as a full-fledged   them to function independently in   This livelihood structure   initiatives--Water hyacinth projects,
 program by forming a cooperative   LEAPing Towards Economic   the long run without any external   demonstrates other village   LEAP and the three-tier livelihood
 where skilled artisans would work   Activation: Local Economic   support.  households to choose a model   model. The Bank customised
 and promote the Water Hyacinth   Activation Project (LEAP)  for a substantial revenue. Once   solutions leveraging locally available
 Handicraft.  LEAP is empowering rural women   LEAP’s impact so far includes   developed, this structure will last   resources, markets and stakeholders.
 through the creation of efficient,   the mobilization of 35,117   at least 30 years for a one-time   This helped persuading government
 The project weaver groups shared   transparent and income-generating   women beneficiaries into POs,   investment. This model could be   and agencies to support the projects
 sample products with IKEA through   entrepreneurial platforms that   the registration of 95 POs, INR   shared with Uttar Pradesh State   and create long-term impact. All
 Ramesh Flower Company. However,   facilitate sustainable livelihood   35 million share capital by PO   Rural Livelihood Mission for a state   the three projects also influenced
 the shortage of skilled weavers   enhancement. LEAP is taking the   members, and 11 sanctioned   level team for large-scale adoption   cultural perspectives about women
 presents a challenge in meeting   Self-Help-Group (SHG) movement   Common Facility Centers. LEAP has   as a group enterprise with the most   and people with disabilities. HDFC
 demand. Director of Industries   to the next level by aggregating   leveraged approximately INR 260   vulnerable/marginalized families.   Bank Parivartan is committed
 & Commerce visited the project   them in clusters for enterprises/  million, sanctioned INR 10.05 million   By lowering investment costs   to help India achieve SDG goals
 villages and recognized the potential   income generation activities. The   in credit, recorded 9,273 digital   with landless families/people with   through its robust rural development
 of water hyacinth products and the   project was launched in 2022, and it   transactions, availed 23,716 central   physical disabilities, this model   focus, and take all stakeholders
 skilled weavers. The department   aspires to accelerate the economic   and state schemes, and trained   can be expanded up in new HRDP   together in its stride.


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