Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Poverty-Free Village Scheme

The Rajasthan government launched a new scheme on July 4, 2025, named the “Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Poverty-Free Village Scheme.” In the first phase, it will provide relief to families below the poverty line in 5,000 villages through financial assistance. The scheme aims to alleviate poverty by empowering people to earn more income through self-employment and jobs.

Assistance to Poor Families to Become Self-dependent

The scheme is focused on the families living below the poverty line (BPL) and allows each selected family to earn the maximum assistance of up to Rs 1 lakh from the scheme if they want to start work or a small business. Also, the women in self-help groups (SHGs) can receive Rs 15,000 per family for the purpose of increasing their earnings and employment. The scheme is uniquely designed to facilitate livelihoods, so that people can stand on their own again.

Incentive to Families Who Have Overcome Poverty

For families that have worked hard and behaved responsibly and now live above the poverty line, the government will support their efforts with an incentive of Rs 21,000. The government will directly transfer the incentive amount of Rs 21,000 into their verified bank accounts. At present, the task of validating bank accounts has been carried out for 17,891 out of 22,400 eligible families. It’s also noteworthy that families who mobilized to meet the above-poverty line require an ‘Atmanirbhar Parivar Card’ which states they have moved ahead into becoming self-sufficient.

Identifying Poor Families and Arrangement Plans

In identifying deserving families, the government had previously noted 30,631 BPL families in 5,002 villages using old BPL records received in 2002 and new surveys. Additionally, more than 61,000 applications for assistance have been received from families that are struggling or continue to live in poverty. Now, the administration is developing a specifically tailored Arrangement Plan for each village. These plans will connect each person, as needed, with existing government schemes for skill in learning, vocational training and employment support for financial assistance.