Patna: The Centre is adapting the Graduation Approach under Samaveshi Aajeevika Yojana in more than 12 states with the model developed in Bihar being taken forward nationally.The Satat Jeevikoparjan Yojana (SJY), launched in 2018, has reached 2.1 lakh households across all 38 districts in Bihar with 1.83 lakh graduating by April 2026.An impact evaluation by the Bihar govt, Jeevika and J-PAL South Asia found that SJY doubled monthly household income to Rs 10,701 and increased bank savings 11-fold to Rs 3,486 among extremely vulnerable households.Beneficiaries recorded monthly business revenue of Rs 6,558, nearly eight times the Rs 858 among comparable non-participant households. Their SHG savings were 36% higher at Rs 595.Per capita consumption rose 27% with food consumption up 14% and non-food spending 43% higher.Jyoti Mukhopadhyay, principal investigator and associate professor at Krea University, said the gains persisted a year later. Additional chief secretary, cabinet secretariat department, Arvind Kumar Chaudhary, said community ownership was central to implementation.J-PAL co-founder Esther Duflo said Bihar had shown the approach could be implemented at scale.
