The Government realises that employment generation is the only sustainable measure for poverty alleviation and empowering of youth and their families to lead better lives. Towards this, intensive efforts are being made for capacity building of the employable youth.

Rajasthan Mission on Livelihoods (RMoL)
Rajasthan Mission on Livelihoods (RMoL) was set up in 2004 to formulate appropriate and innovative strategies to promote livelihoods in the State. BASIX was appointed as Technical Assistance Unit to the Mission, while UNDP supports the Technical Assistance Unit of the Mission.

Since then the Mission is involved in conceiving, developing and consolidating effective and viable livelihood strategies through conducting studies, arranging consultative meetings and organizing workshops that can have a long lasting bearing on the lives and livelihoods of the vulnerable sections of the society. To maximize employment opportunities, industry, NGOs and police are being partnered with.

Hasina Bano, 50, is the mother of 4 sons and 3 daughters. She lives in Kaithoon, a small town in the Kota district. She weaves sarees in kota doria, a fine woven fabric containing a check pattern. When she was a child, she learnt it from her mother, who very likely learnt it from her mother. Not much had changed in Kota doria over decades, maybe even centuries. She had been weaving the plain sarees that her ancestors had produced since time immemorial. The demand was dwindling and so were the incomes and hopes of about 2,000 weavers engaged in the work. The age-old art needed to reorient to the changing consumer needs. The Chief Minister personally intervened and invited Bibi Russel, the renowned fashion designer, to help revive the art. Bibi started working with selected weavers, who made some sarees as per the designs given by her. She organised a series of fashion shows and the art started getting noticed at international level. It also got geographical indication (GI) mark registration. Things have changed. Hasina and the entire town have their hands full with orders. Bano is now the President of Kota Women Bunkar Sansthan, Kaithoon. “I’m financially independent now and both, my children and my art have a bright future”, she says with pride.

• Livelihood Consultation Platform : Undertook 25 studies and had 25 consultations on livelihoods with around 500 stakeholders representing industry, banking, NGOs, community, technical institutions, research institutions, Government department at the state and national levels. Around 12000 youths have been trained so far in various vocations catering to the urban and rural market needs by RMoL. This training has been imparted by around 250 institutions comprising NGOs, ITIs, Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), educational institutions and private technical institutions. Of the total candidates trained, through a preliminary survey done, it was found that 60% of them have set up their own enterprises.

• During 2007-08, 20,000 individuals would be trained by RMoL through 800 courses.
  
• For having better market acceptability of trained youths, accreditations of the training institutions and the courses is being done by the Kota Open University.
  
• Its other Programmes are Dairy development, Goatery, Backyard poultry, Horticulture, Wasteland Development, Corporate Placements, Information Technology.
  
• Integrated Village Livelihood Scheme has been launched for raising incomes of rural families through convergence of technologies.
  
• Livelihood Security Project of Rs.18 crore got sanctioned for 4 backward districts of South Rajasthan under National Agriculture Innovation project. This would double the income of 14,000 rural families in 5 years.
  Incentives are being given to Training institutions for arranging corporate placement after skill training.
  

Skill Upgradation
In order to mitigate the problem of unemployment, skill-base training is being imparted to the youth in the State. A Programme is being run for skill upgradation and training to 100,000 youths in 2007-08 jointly through RMoL and programmes like DPIP, PMRY, WCD, SCP and TAD and SGSY. Occupation specific strategies are being adopted for traditional jobs. In order to finance this activity, a provision of Rs.20 crore has been made for Skill upgradation and training. Entrepreneurial Development and Financial module have been introduced in training courses for facilitating self employment.

Self employment and micro-enterprises are being promoted through an Entrepreneurship Development Programme organized under the aegis of the Rural Development and Self Employment Training Institute (RUDSETI), being set up in all major regions of the State. This envisages skill and entrepreneurial training, free of cost, to unemployed youth from rural and semi urban backgrounds. The institutes are run by the banks which also provide credit and hand holding guidance for 2-3 years.


Fashion for Development
Fashion for Development is an initiative of the Government of Rajasthan to support millions of families involved in the traditional khadi, handloom and handicraft occupations through "fashion". This initiative was launched in 2005 to link artisans, weavers and craftspeople to the fashion industry. This includes Kota doria handloom in villages around Kota district and cotton and woolen khadi in Jaipur and Bikaner districts.

Ms Bibi Russell, a renowned fashion designer, has joined hands with the Government of Rajasthan to promote 'Fashion for Development'. The aim of the project is to improve the quality of handlooms and khadi of Rajasthan and bring them back into the limelight. In the process, the weavers are assured a sustainable income and much-needed socio-economic development.


Akshat Yojana
In 2007-08, the Government has declared Unemployment Allowance for unemployed graduate youths, whose family annual income is less than one lakh. The youth availing this allowance are required to attend training programmes to make them employable.