The centre's flagship rural self-employment programme will be launched as a national mission on Friday allowing states to formulate their own poverty reduction action plans dovetailing local issues.

Taking the Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) to the next level, the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) will be introduced in a restructured format, rural development minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said on Wednesday.

The NRLM will be launched by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi at Banswara in Rajasthan.

The new programme will have special focus on the poorest household who are currently dependent on MGNREGA, and these families will be supported to broaden their livelihood through asset and skill acquisition.

Strengthening the SHG (self-help group) movement, the NRLM proposes universal social mobilisation through such institutions and forming SHG federations at the level of villages, cluster of villages, blocks and districts.

The other feature will be greater involvement of states in taking forward the NRLM.

While the role of the centre will be to provide technical support, the states will have the flexibility to develop their own action plans based on their local requirement and availability of resources, Deshmukh said.

He indicated that there are plans for a dedicated SHG bank to extend credit, while sources said talks are already underway with the finance ministry in this regard.

Deshmukh said they are aiming towards "total integration among groups working towards poverty reduction action plan" under NRLM unlike today where groups are working independently at individual levels.