The National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), also known as Aajeevika, is a flagship program of the Government of India launched in 2011 under the Ministry of Rural Development. Its primary objective is to eliminate rural poverty by promoting sustainable livelihood opportunities for the rural poor, particularly women. It seeks to build strong grassroots institutions of the poor, such as self-help groups (SHGs) and federations, to enable them to access financial, technical, and social services for improving their quality of life. The mission replaced the earlier Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) and marked a shift from individual-centered to group-centered strategies for poverty alleviation. It is designed to mobilize poor households into community-based institutions, enhance their skills, and facilitate their integration into markets to ensure sustainable income generation. NRLM operates on the core belief that the poor have innate capabilities and potential, which can be unleashed through appropriate capacity building, access to finance, and supportive institutional platforms. It follows a demand-driven and participatory approach, focusing on social inclusion, women’s empowerment, and financial literacy. The mission’s implementation is decentralized, with the states having flexibility in designing their livelihood strategies under the overall framework provided by the central government. The key components of NRLM include social mobilization, institution building, financial