The core belief of NRLM is that the poor have innate capabilities and a strong desire to come out of poverty. This intrinsic capability of the poor is unleashed only when they are organized into institutions which are truly owned by them, provided sufficient capacity building and handholding support. A sensitive support structure from national level to sub district level is required to induce such a social mobilization process. A strong institutional architecture owned by the poor, enables them to: access institutional credit for various purposes, pursue livelihoods based on their resources, skills and preferences, access other services and entitlements, both from the public and private sector. On the basis of large scale experience it has been observed that even the poorest of the poor family can come out of abject poverty in a period of six to eight years. NRLM also believes that the programme can be up scaled in a time bound manner only if it is driven by the institutions of the poor.
 

Mission Statement, Values and Strategy

NRLM Mission : "To reduce poverty through building strong grassroots institutions of the poor. These institutions enable the poor households to access gainful self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunities, resulting in appreciable increase in their incomes, on a sustainable basis".

Guiding Principles of NRLM :

• Poor have a strong desire to come out of poverty, and, have innate capabilities
• Social mobilization and building strong institutions of the poor is critical for unleashing their capabilities
• An external dedicated and sensitive support structure is required to induce social mobilization

Values : The core values which will guide all the activities under NRLM are as follows :

• Inclusion of the Poorest
• Transparency
• Accountability
• Equity – to the disadvantaged, esp. women and vulnerable groups
• Partnerships; and
• Ownership and key role of the poor in all stages – planning, implementation, and, monitoring

Mission Mode approach :

The implementation of NRLM in a Mission mode is essential as it will enable (a) focus on targets, outcomes and time bound delivery (b) shift from the present allocation based strategy to a demand driven strategy enabling the states to formulate their own poverty reduction action plans, and (c) monitoring against targets of poverty outcomes.