1. Using Rural Development programs:

 

�         I refer to programs like EGS (Maharashtra)-1975, IRDP-1981, its component- TRYSEM, JRY-1993, DPAP-1980, RMK-1995, Sampoorna Gramin Rojgar Yojana-2000,

�         They addressed to rural poverty and unemployment, providing capital assistance, and partially to lack of vocational skills.

�         Their success was limited because of (one reason) lack of coordination among various agencies and lack of proper dovetailing/interfacing of available programs. Hence, a larger % of beneficiaries could not get benefit or income generation in a sustained way.

�         Coordination lacked at 3 levels- horizontally, among the secretaries of different departments, which hampered the speed of decision making (maximum bottleneck), vertically among the officers of same department, and horizontally among the district level officers. However, I was successful in overcoming them in our devdasi rehabilitation project (details below)

�         In rural areas lot of traditional skills are becoming redundant making life difficult for artisans, nomadic tribes and many others. There is no scheme in formal System of education to either provide for up-gradation or alternative skills.

�         The EGS was meant for giving unskilled work to hundreds of people at one work site, (immediately after 3 successive drought years 1972-73-74), as a first step and also upgrading their skill levels to subsequently go for skilled employment, (hopefully self-employment). IRDP in 1981 provided an excellent dove- tailing opportunity which was lost for want of this skill among bureaucracy. JRY went the same way. Now is the chance with Sampoorn Gramin Rojgar Yojana.

�         Any loan scheme as in IRDP or training scheme as in TRYSEM needs backward and forward linkages. It is possible to organize these provided that right kind of motivation, authority, freedom and flexibilities are given at the district and taluka levels in an �area- planning� approach and gelling of these schemes with each other is facilitated at that level.

�         At GoI level, a system needs to be built up for a dialogue with district level implementation machinery, which is not in the nature of target- monitoring alone (though monitoring is extremely essential) but for discussing problems and achieving results (as distinguished from targets), facilitating dovetailing of schemes.

�         For example, if more milch cattle are given under IRDP, then milk collection roots and dairy cooperative societies need also be promoted in that same area. The CEO or Collector will need more authority to deal with this.

�         There is need to look into our human resource, that is, officers who have practical experience of these schemes, and learning from them. Appropriate level presentation, group discussions, and training modules can be worked out and carried through.

 

 

2. Using SHG or IRDP with Supplementary nutritional program:

 

Using SHG, IRDP, ICDS, SNP, Anganwadi etc together:

• Consider a typical example of a village and 25 women who have formed a self-help group. They have collected Rs. 5000. They want a scheme through which to take up a productive activity that has a reasonably assured market, and good financial returns by way of wage earning as well as profits.
• They can take up making laddu or chiki made of jaggary, besan, refined oil etc. (for the supplementary nutrition program) and sell the product to a group of 10 neighbouring schools (nearly 1000 children)@ Rs. 0.50 per laddu, thus having a turn over of Rs. 500 per day. This has 4 components: raw material cost, other costs, wages and profits. How are these linked? How to do resource allocation? A training is needed for them.
• This comes to an yearly business of Rs. 1 lakh per group. A district budget for ICDS is around Rs. 5 crores(though budget is often used centrally for the whole state and not given to district level officers.) It is possible to allow CEO or Collector to use 10% budget for promoting suitable SH groups by giving them business. Some more budget will be needed for training not merely in laddu making (which is a technical skill) but also in managerial and entrepreneurial skills.
• District level officers need to be encouraged to suggest similar training-cum-production schemes that will depend on the typical socio-geographical situation in the district.
• Will such a scheme be viable? What is the minimum size of order? How is a project report prepared for 1 group? What can be the risk to viability? The BDO level officers need training.
• If one such village -program is to be approved while the rest of the supplementary nutrition program is managed by contracting to suppliers (some states contract it to Women Development Corporations, who in turn subcontract it to suppliers), what are the policy implications? Who will see it through to success? Who will replicate it? What are the techniques/control points in replication? This training is needed for district and policy level officers.
• Who measures success? Who guides the program to success? Who takes care of bottlenecks? What criteria or measuring tape do we apply?

 

These are the type of questions that need to be handled in Rural Dev. Dept. at the JS level.

 

3. Using IRDP:� a case

Here is a brief report of how I used the IRDP for economic rehabilitation of Devdasis

• 1984-88, my posts as collector Sangli, later MD of WMDC-a regional industrial development corporation.
• A taluka place Jat had the tradition of offering young girls as devdasis in the age-old Renukadevi temple on similar lines as in Soundatti in karnatak (nearly 8-10 thousand girls are given away in Soundatti in1 year)
• They are not allowed to marry, become either keeps of village bigwigs or get dragged into prostitution
• Jat has a population of approx. 500 devdasis whereas Gadhinglaj � another taluka in Kolhapur district has nearly 5000.

Towards economic rehabilitation:

�         I Stopped these offerings forever at Jat temple.

�         We Started training under TRYSEM in woolen knitwear. This was thwarted with many problems that a normal officer is not supposed to go into. They gave me an inkling as to where IRDP can go wrong in future and also how it can be used for downtrodden and BPL families.

�         MSFC bank gave machine loans under IRDP.

�         WMDC gave advances for working capital, (I was transferred to WMDC by then)

�         WMDC also gave support for backward and forward linkages- something missing in IRDP. Backward linkage meant training in innumerable aspects from literacy onward, getting land grants, working capital, a platform for themselves, setting up their cooperative society and giving initial managerial support. Forward linkages meant finding market, and training for diversification.

�         I Facilitated a voluntary organization to start a chidren hostel for their children.

�         We used� housing scheme for their houses.

�         I alloted land for work sheds and working women�s hostel for them.

�         RCF funded these constructions.

�         Involved Central Silk Board for their silk reeling training.

�         Promoted them as trainers in various activites undertaken by other voluntary agencies.

�         Conducted personality development programs.�

And so on�����

 

More details can be seen at

• Ch. 11 �The IRDP for Women: What more can be done? A case study from India-Leena Mehendale� in the book �Women, Development and� Survival in third world countries� by Longman Publication, UK, 1991.
• Same article is on my website at www.geocities.com/leenameh
• An article by Wimla Patil in Femina and Illustrated Weekly in June 1990, that is used extensively for training in RIPA, Jaipur