Vijayawada: The Mission for Elimination of Poverty in Municipal Areas has been conferred with the 9 SKOCH Platinum Awards for its contributions to Urban Poverty Alleviation.
Mission director N Tej Bharath said the prestigious honour recognised MEPMA’s innovative and impactful initiatives, which have transformed the lives of urban communities across AP and have set a benchmark for other states to emulate.
The award would be presented to MEPMA at a grand awards ceremony in New Delhi as part of the SKOCH summit on Sept 2025.
Tej Bharath stated that nine out of 14 projects submitted by MEPMA have received the award after a multi-stage scrutiny process. One of these was Nivasam, a web & app-based IT platform for providing safe and secure housing for the urban homeless.
The second was Livelihood Tracker for leveraging technology for monitoring and enhancing livelihoods. The third was the Bank Linkage Scheme, strengthening financial inclusion through SHG-bank linkages. The fourth was ‘empowering SHG Women through E-Commerce: facilitating online market access for SHG women entrepreneurs’.
The fifth was ‘empowering urban SHGs via skill and the Gig economy for bridging SHGs with the gig economy for skill enhancement and employment opportunities’.
The sixth was ‘SHG-led enterprises and urban job creation: enabling SHGs to drive entrepreneurship and employment’. The seventh was Prerana Sakhis, for recognizing and promoting exemplary SHG women entrepreneurs.
The eight was a street vendors management programme for supporting livelihoods and welfare for street vendors through the vendor connect module. The ninth was ‘vulnerable occupational groups formation’ under which AP state is leading in the country in formation of vulnerable occupational groups. Organising and empowering workers in vulnerable occupations.
Tej Bharath said this recognition reinforced MEPMA’s resolve to continue its mission of eradicating urban poverty and building resilient communities. “The SKOCH Platinum Award serves as a proud moment for AP and highlights the state’s leadership in implementing innovative solutions for urban development and poverty alleviation,” he said.
