Following is an excerpt from a report in Times of India.

The Ministry of Rural Development plans to set up 500 RSETIs in the country, one in each district, as part of its rural poverty alleviation programme.

The ministry has approved setting up of RSETIs in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal, an official said.

Nearly Rs 15 crore of Central funds have been released for setting up 32 such institutes in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Uttarakhand.

These institutes aim at providing "dedicated" training to the people belonging to below poverty line (BPL), in an effort to bring more BPL households in the network of swarojgari (self-employed) groups, official said.

He said RSETIs would play a key role in the implementation of ‘National Rural Livelihood Mission’ (NRLM), which was being finalised by the ministry.

The proposed NRLM aims at reducing poverty in rural areas through promotion of diversified and gainful self-employment and wage employment opportunities.