In his study, People's planning in Kerala: a case study of two village panchayats, N. D. Gopinathan Nair has attempted to examine (i) the making of the Plan, its size and dimensions, programme contents and programme quality; (ii) the actual implementation of the Plans and related issues such as selection of beneficiaries, utilisation of funds, and generation of additional income; and (iii) assessment of the role of party politics in panchayat level planning, and the extent of public participation. The study was carried out in Vithura and Nanniyode panchayats in Thiruvananthapuram district. Both these panchayats have more or less comparable socio-economic and agro-ecological setting. The study has used a combination of methodologies for data collection including questionnaire surveys, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and participant observation. All the secondary data available with the panchayats relating to various dimensions of planning were collected. The study covered the fiscal years of 1997-'98 and 1998-'99. On the whole, the study is very positive about the achievements of Plan implementation in both the selected panchayats; however, a few shortcomings are indicated to enable rectification. The major findings are summarised below.
(i) People of the panchayats were not, in general, aware of the exact nature and content of People's Planning. Among the sample non-beneficiaries, the proportion of those who were aware ranged between 30 and 46 per cent in Vithura and 40 and 53 per cent in Nanniyode.
(ii) In terms of the programme mix and quality, relevance and local specificity of the individual programmes, the annual plans of the two panchayats were not distinctly different from the earlier plans and programmes. Almost all the programmes were mere replications of the various rural development programmes implemented earlier, the only difference being that the programmes had been implemented by line departments during the earlier years.
(iii) Infrastructure development continues to take place in a lopsided manner, as had been the case under the earlier top-down planning. For example, since local level, rather than higher level, requirements receive priority, panchayat level feeder tracks are kept in sound repair; while, highways that pass through the panchayat and have heavier traffic on them, remain dilapidated.
(iv) Though the functions of the three-tiers of the Panchayat Raj Institutions are clearly laid down, encroachments by each tier on others' territory caused in most cases by narrow personal or sectarian interests are not uncommon. Due to the over-enthusiasm to distribute favours among own supporters and constituencies, elected representatives often flout functional jurisdictions and allocation principles.
(v) Plan benefits - common as well as individual - are distributed among all the wards of the panchayats more or less equally. No evidence exists of the practice of any political discrimination or parochial consideration. But this system of 'equal sharing of funds by members', which had been the pattern followed even earlier has led to spatially inequitable distribution of Plan funds and inefficient allocation of resources on non-priority and non-essential projects.
(vi) About 15 per cent of the sample beneficiaries (of the 1997-'98 schemes) of individual beneficiary programmes of Vithura and 28 per cent of those in Nanniyode misused the funds.
(vii) More than a quarter of the funds/assets distributed under individual beneficiary programmes in the production sector in 1997-'98 has turned out to be unproductive. Eighty-five per cent of the beneficiaries of production sector schemes in Vithura and 84 per cent of those in Nanniyode do not get any additional income from the schemes. This finding casts doubt on the efficacy of People's Planning in energising the near-stagnant production sector of the State's economy.
(viii) The organisational set-up for the conduct of Plan activities is highly politicised in both the panchayats, more conspicuously in Vithura. But, there is no evidence of any significantly disproportionate political discrimination being practised in the distribution of benefits under the individual beneficiaries' schemes.
(ix) Bulk of the benefits under individual beneficiary programmes have gone to the poor; 84 per cent of the beneficiaries in Vithura and 81 per cent of those in Nanniyode were in the income bracket of below Rs 500 per month.
(x) Distribution of multiple benefits to the same person was more rampant in Vithura; 14 per cent of the beneficiaries of the panchayat received benefits from more than one scheme as against only 7 per cent in Nanniyode.
(xi) The quality of more than half the assets/materials distributed under the individual beneficiary programmes was bad or poor in both the panchayats.
(xii) Ward members of the panchayats have acted as effective disseminators of information about the Plan programmes among the people.
(xiii) The majority of the sample beneficiaries of both the panchayats are of the view that People's Planing is a better system than the earlier one.
(xiv) The majority of the beneficiaries were poor women in both the panchayats - 51 per cent in Vithura and 61 per cent in Nanniyode - because of the preference given to widows and destitutes.
(xv) Sudden flooding of the panchayats with Plan funds to be spent within a short span of time in the first year of the Ninth Plan and the rigid sectoral pattern of allocation prescribed from above, were the two underlying factors that abetted misuse and wastage of Plan funds.
(xvi) Approximately two-thirds of the beneficiaries of individual beneficiary schemes were given the assistance in the form of cash. Cash assistance is found to have been more susceptible to misuse than assistance in kind.
(xvii) A large majority of the beneficiaries (82 per cent in Vithura and 96 per cent in Nanniyode) did not experience any difficulty in receiving the benefit from the concerned implementing authorities. This is definitely a vast improvement over the delivery system of the earlier periods.
(xviii) Under People's Planning, the magnitude of corruption in the delivery system has come down. Only 0.2 per cent of the beneficiaries in Vithura and 4.4 per cent in Nanniyode reported that they had, on some occasion, to bribe the functionaries for getting possession of the benefits. The corresponding level of corruption in the past under IRDP in Kerala had been estimated at 5.4 per cent.
(xix) People who actively participated in the programme are mostly those owing allegiance to the parties in command in the panchayats concerned. They have participated in organising and conducting the Plan programmes, but more conspicuously so in Vithura.
Participation of the local people in Grama Sabha meetings was by and large passive and motivated primarily by their self-interest in beneficiary-oriented programmes. The recent trend in the level of participation in Grama Sabhas has been one of decline.
(xx) Voluntary services (including donations from the public) have remained one of the weakest links in the execution chain of common/public works projects, belying the State Planning Board's expectation that it would be around 25 per cent of the Plan grants of the panchayats. But for two of the 10 construction projects in Vithura and one out of the 35 such projects in Nanniyode, no voluntary services from the local people were received.
(xxi) Seventy-three per cent of the beneficiaries in Vithura and 38 per cent in Nanniyode did not incur any expenditure from their own sources to implement the schemes for which they were given financial assistance by the panchayat.
(xxii) The quality of the programmes included in the current year's (1999-2000) annual Plans of both the panchayats has remarkably improved in terms of local relevance and development orientation. Priority is now given to housing, sanitation, irrigation for homestead cultivation, calf-rearing, supply of cattle feed, manufacturing, etc. However, individual beneficiary programmes still dominate with a share of 68 per cent in Vithura and 73 per cent in Nanniyode, of the Plan funds.
(xxiii) Co-operatives remain the principal route of distribution of individual benefits in Vithura. In the politically overcharged scenario of the co-operatives in the State, this conduit carries a potential danger of further politicisation of the People's Planning programmes and squandering of public funds by the party/front ruling the panchayat, through their pocket co-operatives.
Another study conducted in the context of People's Planning in Kerala is about Working of anganwadi centres in selected panchayats by T. N. Seema. The Integrated Child Development Scheme is a scheme of the Government of India implemented through the State Governments to meet the health, nutritional, and educational needs of the poor, poor infants, and pre-schoolchildren, and women in their child-bearing years. The scheme seeks to meet these basic objectives by delivering an appropriate combination of basic services namely, supplementary nutrition and health education, immunisation, health check up, referral services, and non-formal pre-school education.
Seema attempts (i) an assessment of the existing infrastructure and services of Anganwadis; (ii) examination of the ongoing decentralised planning process in the State with reference to the women and childcare sector; and (iii) formulation of model Anganwadi project that could be adopted by the local self-governments. Apart from utilising the secondary data from various sources, the researcher also used data collected through a survey of Anganwadi centres in 15 selected panchayats (two from Thiruvananthapuram and one each from other districts). The field investigation consisted of an institutional enquiry of all Anganwadis and a socio-economic survey of Anganwadi workers. The study adopted a participatory approach to evaluate the mother and childcare sectors under decentralised planning and to draw up experimental model projects. It has come up with the following findings.
Inadequate infrastructural facilities is the major constraint to effective functioning of Anganwadis. The building facilities in terms of space and nature of construction are unsatisfactory by Kerala norms. Only 27.8 per cent of the Anganwadis has own buildings; 25 per cent does not have a single spacious airy room. Only 11 per cent has electricity connection and 28 per cent has open space for children's recreation. Only 30 per cent has latrine facilities. Only around 3 per cent has tap water facility. Around one-third has protected vessels for storing drinking water.
Weighing machine for children is an essential instrument if the growth charts are to be prepared and the health of the children is to be monitored. Surprisingly, 22 per cent of the Anganwadis reported that they do not have weighing instruments for children. On an average, an Anganwadi had three benches and a table each. But nearly one-fourth of them did not have a chair for the teacher. Only half had black boards.
The coverage of services in terms of actual beneficiaries as a percentage of enrolled beneficiaries falls short of target. The quality of services is far from satisfactory. Feeding takes place only during half the number of days in a month. Most of the panchayat development reports criticise the quality of diet. However, the data on nutritional status points out that nearly 60 per cent of the children has normal nutritional status. Medical camps for pregnant women are not being held regularly.
Anganwadi workers are women with matriculation or higher qualifications. Most of them are middle-aged and possess on the average 10 years of experience. The workload of the Anganwadi staff was fairly heavy if their house visits are also included. Around 77 per cent of the Anganwadi teachers are married. The salary from the Anganwadi is the only source of personal income for 94 per cent of them. The monthly honorarium of Anganwadi teachers is Rs. 763 per month. The monthly family income of 75 per cent of the Anganwadi teachers is below Rs. 1,000. Economic status of helpers is even worse with almost all of them earning less than Rs. 500 per month. Community participation in Anganwadis is only formal.
In 1996-'97, the first year of the People's Planning Campaign, the outlay on Anganwadis formed only less than 0.1 per cent of the total amount of funds transferred by the State Government to local bodies by way of grants. Attention has not gone into improving the quality of infrastructure or strengthening the nutrition projects by suitable supplementary diet. The funds are almost entirely spent on dolls, toys, and teaching aids. It is observed that adequate capability for planning mother and childcare services are yet to be created at the grassroots-level and these services have remained isolated from the rest of the planning process. Using the findings from the project as input, the Principal Investigator of the project organised a State-level faculty training and produced a Planning Guide for Mother and Child Development Sector. Consequently, in 1998-'99, the outlay on Anganwadis increased to more than two per cent.
Jose Chathukulam and his team at Centre for Rural Management, Kottayam in their study on Participation of rural poor in rural development programmes and social welfare schemes made a case study in a selected village panchayat to examine (i) the process of identification of the rural poor for selecting beneficiaries of various development and welfare schemes; (ii) whether the assistance received have had sustainable impact on the levels of living of the beneficiaries; and (iii) the administrative and organisational efficiency of the local level institutions for programme implementation.
The study came out with the following findings: (i) the poor in the panchayat were identified based on the below poverty line list prepared by Block Panchayats; (ii) most of the beneficiaries belonged to very low income categories; (iii) IRDP which constituted the major scheme of development at the micro level and 34 per cent of the beneficiaries of which was poor, has helped some of the beneficiaries to move upwards to above the poverty line; (iv) in more than 75 per cent of the cases, repayment was prompt, particularly so, in the case of women beneficiaries; (v) credit-absorption capacity was higher in the case of artisanal schemes and relatively low for cottage industry schemes; (vi) the rural poor do not participate actively in decision-making in the Grama Sabhas; and (vii) the role of contractors continues to be strong in the implementation of panchayat level projects; fudging of accounts is not uncommon.
Several agencies, both public and private, have been active in the State housing sector: in financing projects, preparing sites and services, evolving cost-effective designs, and monitoring implementation. To what extent have such schemes helped the rural poor in improving the housing situation of the poor? In his study, G. Gopikuttan has attempted to examine this issue in three panchayats in Pathanamthitta district. The specific objectives of his study are to examine (i) the nature of housing demand for different groups of the rural poor and the mismatch between supply (in terms of public provision) and demand; (ii) whether the public provision has helped to achieve the desired goals; (iii) the extent to which ongoing housing schemes make use of the capabilities of the rural poor, locally available resources, and cost-effective technologies; (iv) the share of gross investment in public scheme houses as a proportion of gross residential construction in selected panchayats; (v) the changes in rural housing quality taking place over the time; and (vi) the scope for integrating the public housing schemes with the ongoing local level planning process. Primary data were collected through a household survey and by applying PRA tools. A five-stage stratified random sample technique was adopted to identify households. House quality, condition, needs, preferences, building process, investment, source of funds, and several other aspects of beneficiary households were compared with those of control groups.
Rich households have managed to construct luxury houses with all built-in facilities and amenities. Poor households on the other hand could not put up even their traditional type huts. Provision of public house does seem to have enhanced their relative position. Scheme houses are in general of the semi-pucca type. Ten per cent of them lives in unserviceable kutcha houses. Only a little more than one-third of beneficiary households had sanitary latrine; 40 per cent had no latrine at all.
The average annual investment in the residential construction sector investment per panchayat during the five year period from 1993 to 1998 was Rs 2.5 crore. Half the amount was spent on new construction and the rest on replacement, repair, and renovation. The share of the value of the public-assisted houses was only 8.4 per cent of the gross investment in housing during this period.
Because of the penetration of market forces in all spheres of building processes, the poorer sections had to spend more than three times their annual household income for house construction. Public assistance that provided them partial financial support was found inadequate. The share of own funds (including grants, subsidies, own savings, sales value of assets, and imputed value of family labour) met only less than 50 per cent of the total cost of construction. That means they had to borrow heavily from various sources to finance construction.
Many of them find it difficult to repay from their income and savings. Despite the heavy debt burden, the quality of their houses remains extremely poor and was not better than those of their counterparts, who did not avail of the benefits of public schemes.
The mean size of scheme houses was small. Despite public assistance, more than one-third of the households in the lowest group did not have even basic amenities. Penetration of the formal sector and elements of urban lifestyle into rural areas have changed aspirations of all sections in rural areas. All the people now prefer factory-produced modern materials and modern technology for their houses. These materials and technology are, however, beyond the affordability of the poor. Both beneficiary and non-beneficiary households spend two-to-three times their annual household income for the construction of relatively small houses. The poor people expect from government full support in the form of grants.
The beneficiary households entrust house construction with contractors. Besides, very few households contribute family labour towards house construction.
Wide differences in the proportion of own funds in total cost are found as between the beneficiary and the non-beneficiary households. While non-beneficiary households raise 78 per cent from own sources the beneficiaries manage only 40 per cent. The family members of non-beneficiary households contribute more to house construction in the form of self-help labour. While non-beneficiaries have 22 per cent of the cost of construction raised from loans, the corresponding percentage among beneficiaries is 60 per cent.
The maximum financial support per beneficiary granted under the public housing schemes is Rs 35,000, which is grossly inadequate to construct a core-house (with the essential minimum facilities). The process for getting public assistance is unduly cumbersome, tedious, and time-consuming. All the indigenous building materials have now become priced materials.
The beneficiaries find the financial support of the public agencies insufficient to enable them to purchase materials and skilled labour from the market at the current prices. Public support in terms of partial finance is therefore insufficient to ensure autonomy in decisions regarding house construction.
The task of Plan preparation and execution requires detailed socio-economic, organisational, and institutional inputs at various levels. Information related to resource availability and resource use as well as on constraints and potentials has to be generated for preparing viable plans. Panchayat Level Participatory Resource Mapping (PRM) developed by the Centre for Earth Science Studies (CESS) in collaboration with the State Land Use Board and KSSP in the early 1990's has emerged as an important component of the panchayat level planning in the State. Srikumar Chattopadhyay and his team have attempted to make an assessment of the PRM methodology with the objectives of (i) assessing the technical and organisational aspects of PRM; (ii) comparing the action plans of panchayats covered by PRM with those not covered by PRM; (iii) studying how PRM is being translated into planning at the panchayat level; and (iv) analysing the scope of integrating PRM with other activities of the panchayat. Information for the study was generated through interviews and questionnaire survey at the panchayat, district, and State levels. Detailed discussion with elected members and the local public in the panchayat provided the supplementary material for the analysis.
The principal findings of the study are the following: (i) PRM has given confidence to people to participate in scientific and technical activities and the information generated by them are found to be useful. (ii) This is a big step towards empowerment. Literacy empowers the individual but resource mapping empowers the society. (iii) However, as technical skills are involved, adequate preparatory work on the part of the panchayat is essential. (iv) A technical support group, preferably in the vicinity of Krishi Bhavan, needs to be formed to conduct not only PRM but the planning exercise as well. (v) PRM data are not adequate for total Plan preparation; a comprehensive data bank may be developed at the panchayat level. (vi) Voluntary agencies should help the process at the initial stages; but over the time, their role should become progressively small. (vii) Development programmes may be worked out on the basis of micro watershed. The panchayat boundaries have to be ultimately approximated to the natural boundaries of watersheds.
The feasibility and effectiveness of participatory approach, methods, and tools in the decentralised development process of the Panchayat Raj Institutions is the focus of the study by M. J. Joseph and his team from Shreyas, a voluntary organisation working in Wayanad district. The main objectives of the study are the following:
(i) The participatory approach facilitates the evolution of sustainable people's structures and systems at the grama sabha and panchayat levels which enable local population to become creative partners of the development process;
(ii) It makes the target population capable of adopting and using appropriate participatory methods and tools in a systematic and scientific manner throughout the development process;
(iii) It facilitates the evolution and application of participatory methods and tools which are specific to each component of the development process; and
(iv) It ensures people's participation at a higher level of intensity in the ongoing panchayat level learning, planning, and action process thereby designing people-centred action plans and projects for the panchayat.
This phase of the action research was focused on a situational study of the Nenmeni grama panchayat in Wayanad district. It was aimed at creation of database through the application of participatory tools. The panchayat was divided into 14 wards (grama sabhas) which comprised the institutional structure for processing and consolidating data. On an average, each grama sabha consists of 595 families. Since this is not a viable structure to conduct participatory studies, the neighbourhood groups (NHGs) were identified as the most viable structures to undertake this process. The total number of households was divided into 128 NHGs based on geographical boundaries and each NHG is known by the respective place name.
As a preliminary step, the research team with the help of the members of the panchayat board selected two chief volunteers from each Grama Sabha to facilitate this process. Apart from this, the conveners of each NHG were also invited to join the research activities. The list of tools used includes (i) social and resource mapping; (ii) seasonality analysis; (iii) time line; (iv) form profile; (v) inflow and outflow analysis; (vi) socio-economic dimension ranking; (vii) transect walk; and (viii) watershed maps. The main findings and learnings from the application of these tools are given in Box 3.2. The future activities of the project include (i) institution building of the micro level structures such as NHGs and SHGs; (ii) panchayat level perspective and strategic plan formulation; (iii) developing, designing, and application of participatory methods and tools for data analysis, micro planning, monitoring, and evaluation; and (iv) developing mechanisms for periodic upgradation of data base.
The overall impact of the inputs of the project in the panchayat has contributed to the effective organisation of the self-help groups, better functioning of the grama sabhas, and effective mobilisation of people in the preparation and implementation of the planning process.
B. Ramesh, in his project located at Kalady grama panchayat in Ernakulam district, has attempted to utilise participatory research methods for data collection with the objective of (i) preparing a master plan for the panchayat, and (ii) getting the involvement of the panchayat in Plan implementation in a limited way. The project has completed resource-mapping, socio-economic analysis, and sector-specific studies and on that basis a draft master plan for the panchayat has been prepared. Attempts have also been made to develop low-cost techniques for the large-scale application of tissue culture in ornamental and medicinal plants and technological upgradation of handicrafts. Unlike in Nenmeni panchayat, in Kalady the attitude of political parties towards the project has been discouraging. There has been instability in the administration of the panchayat because of the shift of political power from LDF to UDF. Because of this, the inputs supplied by the project could not be utilised in the planning, as the entire planning process in the panchayat is at a very low key.
There are two studies that look at the methodology and integration of Plans at different levels. At grama panchayat, block panchayat, and district panchayat levels, the convergence of resources for co-ordination and integration of development efforts has been envisaged. The preparation of local level development Plans has become mandatory and these Plans aim at inter and intra-sectoral integration and convergence within each level and among the three levels of the Panchayat Raj institutions (PRIs). Joseph Abraham, in his study on Block level planning: the case of a block panchayat in Kerala, has attempted to examine the following: (i) block level development objectives, priorities, and problems; (ii) the methodology of Plan preparation; (iii) the integration, co-ordination, and convergence of resources and services at the block panchayat level; (iv) the establishment of inter and infrastructural linkages at the level of, each department and among different departments, projects and beneficiaries; and (v) integration of the bottom level grama panchayat Plan with plans at the upper levels - district and State. The study is done for Ettumanoor block panchayat in Kottayam district.
M. N. Sudhakaran attempts to develop a methodology for integrating Plans at the district level. More specifically, he plans to conduct a critical study of Plans at the local level to understand the inter-relationship, inter-dependence, and complementarity for identifying gaps in planning. The study is done for Puzhakara block panchayat in Thrissur district.
Local Finance
In the context of decentralised planning in Kerala, two significant issues have emerged in relation to the financing of development plans of the local bodies. The first is regarding the potential of the local bodies to mobilise their own financial resources, and the second issue is about the role of the banking system. The banks and the other financial institutions are identified as an important source of funds to support the plans. However, it is generally found that the banking institutions are not very enthusiastic about financing the plans. According to them, the projects prepared by the local bodies are not technically sound and financially unviable to provide financial support. The programme has initiated a few studies to examine these issues. R. P. Nair aims at examining the potentials and feasibilities for mobilisation of resources by panchayats. The objectives of the study are (i) to estimate the fiscal potential of village panchayats; (ii) to compare the fiscal potential with actual efforts made during the past few years; and (iii) to identify the constraints faced by the village panchayats in resource mobilisation. To achieve the above objectives, information is gathered primarily at three levels viz. panchayats, units engaged in non-agricultural activities, and households. Separate questionnaires have been designed for each unit of study taking into account the data requirements for improving the resource base of the panchayats.
The main survey is conducted in six panchayats distributed equally in Travancore, Cochin, and Malabar regions; within each region, three panchayats are selected purposively, one based on the proximity to urban areas, the second on the basis of typical agriculture-dominated area, and the third predominantly based on backward community population and dominated by SCs and STs.
Classification of panchayats based on their income has lost its significance since majority of them fall under the special grade. Before collecting information at the panchayat level, particular attention was given to prepare a ward-wise list of non-agricultural enterprises working in each of the selected panchayats and it was arranged according to broad industry groups. Information is gathered from 100 such units of various industry groups according to the proportion of the total number of each industry group. Similarly for collecting information from households, ward-wise list of exempted households available in the panchayat is made use of. From each panchayat ward, 10 households from the exempted category are chosen at random for detailed investigation. In addition, two households from non-exempted category were selected purposively. The survey is currently in progress.
Efficient utilisation of bank credit in priority sectors and credit planning at grassroots-level are matters of serious concern. It is in this context that the service area approach was initiated in India. T. K. Devarajan and his associates in their project Service area approach and utilisation of bank credit in the development of Kerala: a case study of Kannur district, attempt to make an assessment of the operation of the service area approach and the mutual compatibility between credit plans and local plans. The purpose is to identify the main constraints on rural lending based on these assessments. The methodology consists of collecting primary and secondary data relating to deposits and advances, with special emphasis on lending to the priority sectors (component-wise) and examining the performance of banks group-wise (i.e., public, private, gramin, and co-operative). This would be compared with the performance of the implementation of various government-sponsored schemes. The methodology of preparation of service area plan and its constraints will be explored and this will be assessed against the real credit needs of the panchayats as reflected in their development plans.
In a related study, N. K. Sasidharan Pillai and his associate investigate the Possibilities of evolving a locally appropriate and integrated credit plan for banks in financing the development plans of panchayats. The objectives of the project include (i) assessment of the role of financial institutions in their local level development programmes; (ii) evaluation of the existing credit planning process and study of its limitations; and (iii) a study of the methodology and approach for evolving a locally appropriate credit plan, and integrating it with the perspective development plan of the grama panchayats. The study is carried out for Akathethara panchayat in Palakkad district.
Local institutions
The project implemented by P. G. Padmanabhan under the title A study of ayalkoottoms (Neighbourhood groups) in participatory planning and grassroots-level democracy in Kumarakom panchayat and scope of replication with the following objectives: (i) tracing the evolution of NHGs; (2) examining the structural, operational, socio-political, and cultural dimensions of NHGs; (3) studying the role of NHGs in evolving participatory and appropriate grassroots-level plans, strengthening grama sabhas, resolving local issues, problems, and conflicts; (4) exploring the possibilities of developing NHGs as the grassroots-level institutional arrangement for effective governance in rural polity and replicating the experiences of the NHGs in other rural areas of the State.Besides secondary information obtained from registers, records, minutes, account books, and other documents of the NHGs, primary data are proposed to be collected from households and women's groups through questionnaire, participant observation, focus group discussions, and case studies.
It is expected that the study may come up with a model or models for participatory and sustainable development at the local level. The traditional 'top-down' credit delivery system has failed to provide credit to needy poor women. Self-help Group is an institution developed to counter this problem. Small size (around 20 women), group awareness (of their strength, needs, and problems), transparency, regular serving, flexibility, responsiveness, democratic functioning, group decision, and meeting the credit needs (consumption, production, trade, etc.) of the poor, particularly of women, are some of the main features of the SHGs. Apart from its merits such as simple procedure, mutual confidence, and minimum external intervention, the important purpose of SHGs is empowerment of women.
Jaya S. Anand studies the empowerment of women. Her project on Self-help groups in empowering women - a study of selected SHGs and NHGs in Kerala intends (i) to identify the factors responsible for the successful functioning of groups; (ii) to examine whether they achieved their goals; and (iii) to find out their strengths and weaknesses; (iv) their role in empowering women and eradicating poverty; (v) their impact on consumption pattern; (vi) factors that would promote a sustainable micro-credit programme in Kerala.
Secondary data needed for the study are collected from reports of NABARD, the publications of Urban Poverty Alleviation Cell (UPA), and Malappuram Community Development Society (CDS) reports. The primary data are collected by attending the weekly meetings of NHGS and SHGs, and observing their discussions.
Information on the impact of micro-credit on the beneficiaries and the extent to which the members are economically, socially, and politically empowered will be collected through household level interviews. Data are collected from the functionaries of CDS, Community Organisers, bank officials etc.
It is hoped that the study will provide valuable information about the working of women groups of the CDS and SHGs types, the role of micro-credit in empowering women, and uplifting them to above the poverty line.
In order to investigate the determinants of sustainability of SHGs, V. C. V. Retnam has undertaken a study titled Self-help Groups - a case study of two districts - Thiruvananthapuram and Kanyakumari.
The broad objective of this study is to assess the changes caused by SHGs members and their households.
The specific objectives are: (i) to evaluate the performance of SHGs and identify the factors; (ii) to bring to light the determinants of sustainability of SHGs; (iii) to compare the two types of SHGs - those sponsored by voluntary organisations and those sponsored by local government institutions; (iv) to assess the performance of SHGs in raising the demand for government service and realising the same; and (v) to understand the role of SHGs as an instrument to mobilise people particularly women leading to greater participation in local government.
From the two districts selected - Kanyakumari and Thiruvananthapuram - one voluntary organisation and one local body or municipality are chosen. Thus the voluntary organisation, 'Dale View' and the Nedumangadu Municipality (from Thiruvananthapuram) and 'Malar' voluntary organisation and the Nagercoil Municipality (from Kanyakumari) are selected. From the selected organisations, wards are selected; from them, based on certain indicators of success two SHGs - one with good and the other with bad performance are chosen.
In addition, one newly formed group (control group) is also included from each organisation. Thus the total number of groups selected are 12 and the total number of households, 300. It is expected that this exercise will provide insights into the performance of these groups and lessons to make them effective and sustainable.
Jacob Thomas, in his Study on the deprivations experienced by people in Neighbourhood Groups and other organisations of the poor and the empowerment systems for poverty reduction aims at (i) studying and categorising the types of deprivations experienced by the people in neighbourhood groups and other organisations of the poor; (ii) understanding the relationship between power, poverty, and deprivation; and (iii) facilitating the development of group studies by stimulating and ensuring participation of the poor.
The methodology will focus on participatory action research (PAR) so that while data is being accessed, positive change will be effected in the groups studied. Six organisations of the poor at different stages of development and groups in each category of organisation will be studied in-depth using PAR methodology. The districts covered are Ernakulam and Alappuzha.
As the focus of the study is deprivation, poverty, and power, variables such as low income, malnutrition, and low consumption expenditure are taken as deprivation and poverty indicators. Certainty of one's capacity to influence others, number of times a person influences the decision of others, number of times the resistance on the part of other persons to accept a decision is removed, etc., are some of the power-related variables. Deprivations experienced by the poor are listed and categorised as social, physical, credit-related, gender-related, cultural, economic, and ecological.
The Loyola Extension Services (LES), Thiruvananthapuram, the official training institute of the Urban Poverty Abolition (UPA) programme in the State, adopted the Pattom-Kesavadasapuram Area Development Society (PKADS) as their field laboratory and made efforts to reduce poverty through various innovative methods. Fr James Joy conducted a study of the same under the title The impact of urban poverty alleviation programmes in Pattom and Kesavadasapuram wards of Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation.
The main findings are reported in the ensuing section. Urban Community Development, promoting people's initiative in one form or other to alter the environment, started functioning under different names during the past decades. Urban Basic Services (UBS), Urban Basic Services for the Poor (UBSP), Environmental Improvement of Urban Slums (UIUS), Nehru Rozgar Yojana (NRY), and Prime Minister's Urban Poverty Eradication Programme for class II towns are some of the Centrally-sponsored schemes for the poor.
After identifying the poor by using risk factors such as illiteracy, not having two meals a day, households with an alcoholic etc., NHGs were formed at the ward level under the name Area Development Society (ADS); all ADS within an urban local body federated to form Community Development Society (CDS).
Based on the 'Felt-need Resurvey' at the NHG level, micro-plans were made to eliminate the risk factors; the NHG plans are consolidated at the ADS level called 'Mini Plan'; all the Mini Plans were finally integrated into the 'CDS Action Plan' at the CDS level.
Pattom-Kesavadasapuram ADS was started in 1995 in the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation together with other 30 ADS, covering 50 wards, keeping CDS as the basic structure and adopting 'enabling and empowerment strategy', instead of a time-bound project with physical output targets. In May 1995, LES identified the poor households, organised NHGs, formed PKADS, gave training to the groups with the help of a community organiser, conducted 'Felt-need Survey' and prepared the 'Mini Plan' based on identified needs and problems.
The survey showed the poverty and deprivation levels of the urban poor, illiteracy, unemployment, high morbidity, alcoholism, lack of space for waste water and garbage disposal, and lack of electricity. More than half of their households had taken loans from money lenders at exorbitant rates of interest, around 40 per cent of the people did not read newspapers and 30 per cent of them had affiliation to political parties.
Owing to the tireless effort of the LES, the main objective of the programme, empowerment of the poor women, was achieved while the dream of 'self-reliance' remains unaccomplished. Since total self-help is not possible, aided self-help is attempted.
Household with an alcoholic is one of the indicators of poverty. There are very poor households, in which the earner spends most of his daily wage on liquor, aggravating problems of ill health and domestic violence. Among the steps taken by the people in different places it has emerged in one specific locality into a people's anti-liquor movement. V.Resalayyan, a leader of this anti-liquor movement documents the genesis, evolution, and the present position of the movement systematically under the title Anti-liquor movement in Pannimala - a case study.
Pannimala used to be a notorious centre for illicit liquor brewing and terrorism. During the 1980s and the first half of the 1990s, nearly 500 families, almost three-fourths of the total population in Pannimala was fully involved in the anti-social activity; and they were sending out daily more than 100 taxi cars and jeeps loaded with liquor cans. Neither the police nor the Excise Department could check the illicit liquor. Criminal cases including rape and murder continued to rise day by day and normal peaceful life became impossible.
Having no alternative, the poor but peace-loving natives, mostly women, formed an Action Council to do away with the evils of illicit-brewing. They organised rallies, conducted awareness-building campaigns, led police-station marches and conducted joint raids with the help of police for liberation of the area. The main objectives of the study are: (i) to trace the origin and development of anti-liquor movement in Pannimala; (ii) to investigate into the evolution of the concerted social action movement; and (iii) to identify the factors, which presently contribute to the sustainability of the movement.