**Executive Summary**
This document presents the response by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Rural Development to Unstarred Question No. 2650 concerning rural poverty in Assam, answered on December 16, 2025. It addresses the identification of districts with high poverty rates, livelihood diversification projects, beneficiaries of skill-linked employment schemes, and income generation results. It clarifies Assam’s rural development initiatives under the ASRLM, PMAY-G, RMT and DDU-GKY.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Identification of Districts:**
* The State of Assam has not identified any districts with high rural poverty or unemployment rates.
* NITI Aayog has identified seven districts (Baksa, Barpeta, Darrang, Dhubri, Goalpara, Hailakandi, and Udalguri) as Aspirational Districts due to underperformance in socio-economic indicators.
* **Livelihood Diversification Measures:**
* The Assam State Rural Livelihoods Mission (ASRLM) is implementing livelihood diversification measures across Assam.
* These measures cover agriculture, livestock, fisheries, organic cultivation, value chain development, formation of producer groups, and promotion of women-led enterprises.
* These initiatives have benefited a large number of women Self Help Group (SHG) members.
* **Skill-linked Rural Employment Schemes:**
* The Rural Mason Training (RMT) program, rolled out under PMAY-G with assistance from NSDC, aims to train masons.
* As of 09.12.2025, 3,81,986 candidates have been enrolled and 3,08,330 certified nationally under RMT. In Assam, 12,914 candidates have been enrolled, out of which 11,819 have been certified.
* A parallel RMT initiative has been introduced from FY 2025-26 through Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs) under DeenDayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY).
* As of 30.11.2025, 8,048 candidates have been certified nationally and 207 in Assam through this initiative.
* Under DDU-GKY, 86118 rural youth have been trained and 53288 have been placed while under RSETI, 189061 rural youth have been trained and 123587 have been settled since inception till Oct 2025 in the State of Assam.
* **Employment Generation under PMAY-G:**
* The SECC 2011 list and the finalised Awaas+ 2018 list have been saturated under PMAY-G.
* Interventions focused on three core areas namely, provision of PMAY-G houses, mason skill training including training through RSETIs, and employment generation linked to PMAY-G.
* Construction of a house under PMAY-G generates approximately 201 person-days of direct employment (56 skilled, 34 semi-skilled, 111 unskilled).
**Impact Analysis**
**State of Assam (Department of Panchayat and Rural Development)**
*Impact:* The department is responsible for implementing and reporting on rural development initiatives, including livelihood diversification and skill-linked employment schemes. The information provided by the State forms the basis of the answer to the question.
*Action Required:* Continue implementing and monitoring the various livelihood diversification and skill-linked employment schemes.
**Women Self Help Group (SHG) members statewide**
*Impact:* Benefit from the livelihood diversification measures implemented by the Assam State Rural Livelihoods Mission (ASRLM)
*Action Required:* Participate in the livelihood diversification measures, such as agriculture, livestock, fisheries, organic cultivation, value chain development, formation of producer groups, and promotion of women-led enterprises.
**Rural Youth in Assam**
*Impact:* Provided with training and employment opportunities through the Rural Mason Training (RMT) program and Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs) under DeenDayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) and PMAY-G
*Action Required:* Participate in the Rural Mason Training (RMT) program and Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs) under DeenDayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY).
Key Entities Referenced
Assam: Indian state, focus of the rural poverty question.
Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G): A scheme aimed at providing affordable housing and also used for rural mason training.
DeenDayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY): Scheme that broadens outreach and strengthens livelihood opportunities through Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs).
NITI Aayog: Identified seven districts in Assam as Aspirational Districts.
Assam State Rural Livelihoods Mission (ASRLM): Organization implementing livelihood diversification measures across Assam.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2650
ANSWERED ON 16/12/2025
RURAL POVERTY IN ASSAM
2650. Md. Rakibul Hussain:
Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government has identified any districts in Assam
with high rural poverty or unemployment rates, district-wise;
(b) whether special projects have been implemented for livelihood
diversification in such districts, if so, the details thereof;
(c) the number of beneficiaries covered under skill-linked rural
employment schemes; and
(d) the results achieved in terms of income generation and self-
employment?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
(SHRI KAMLESH PASWAN)
(a) & (b): As per information provided by the State of Assam, the
Department of Panchayat and Rural Development has not identified
any district in Assam with high rural poverty or unemployment rates.
However, seven (7) districts have been identified as Aspirational
Districts by NITI Aayog, namely Baksa, Barpeta, Darrang, Dhubri,
Goalpara, Hailakandi, and Udalguri, based on underperformance in
key socio-economic indicators.
The Assam State Rural Livelihoods Mission (ASRLM) under the
Department of Panchayat and Rural Development is implementing
various livelihood diversification measures across the entire State,
covering agriculture, livestock, fisheries, organic cultivation, value
chain development, formation of producer groups and promotion of
women-led enterprises. These interventions have benefited a large
number of women Self Help Group (SHG) members statewide.
Page 1 of 2Special value chain projects and enterprise development
initiatives are also being implemented in selected areas of the State,
along with support for producer groups, integrated farming clusters,
Farmer Producer Organizations, village-level entrepreneurs and food
processing units under convergence with relevant schemes.
(c) & (d): Under the skill-linked rural employment schemes of this
Ministry, the Rural Mason Training (RMT) programme has been rolled
out in assistance from the National Skill Development Corporation
(NSDC) under Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) with a
set target to train adequate number of masons. As of 09.12.2025,
under the RMT program, 3,81,986 candidates have been enrolled, of
which 3,08,330 have been certified. In the State of Assam, 12,914
candidates have been enrolled, out of which 11,819 have been
certified.
In addition to the on-site training model, a parallel RMT initiative
has been introduced from Financial Year 2025-26 through the Rural
Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs) operating under the
DeenDayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) to
broaden outreach and strengthen livelihood opportunities. As on
30.11.2025, a total of 8,048 candidates have been certified through
this initiative at national level and 207 candidates have been certified
in the State of Assam.
Further, under DDU-GKY, 86118 rural youth have been trained
and 53288 have been placed while under RSETI, 189061 rural youth
have been trained and 123587 have been settled since inception till
Oct 2025 in the State of Assam.
The SECC 2011 list and the finalised Awaas+ 2018 list have
been saturated in the State under PMAY-G, with interventions
focused on three core areas, namely provision of PMAY-G houses,
mason skill training including training through RSETIs, and
employment generation linked to PMAY-G. Further, under PMAY-
G, the construction of a house generates direct employment of
approximately 201 person-days, which includes 56 skilled, 34 Semi-
skilled, and 111 unskilled person-days.
*****
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