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(India's. Journal of rural dev~lopme~t)

,Annual Number'Vol. XXXI No.1October 1, 1982 .

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CONTENT

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LET THE PEOPLE BUILD THEIR OWN DESTINY

. . . S. K. Rau ,

SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EQUITY WILL ENSURE PARTICIPATION

B. Sivaram

DRDA'S AND BANKS CAN ENSURE PARTICIPATIO

A. R. Patel

PEOPLE'S PARTICIPATION AND VOLUNTARY ACTION

. M. V. Rajasekharan:

PARTICIPATION: SOME RAMBLING THOUGHTS \

V. Krishnamurti_

SOCIO-ECONOMIC STRUCTURE SHOULD CHANGE FIRST.

Balraj Mehta '

..... ' .. THEY SHOW THE WAY. '. R.Hmi

PEOPLE'S PARTICIPATION: THE COMMUNICATION FACTORf . N. L. Chowla J ;

THE IMPERATIVE OF PARTlCIPATllON

J. D. Sethi •..

REVIVE LOCAL INSTITUTIONS TO ENSURE PARTICIPATION, .

P. R. Dubhaski,

. PROPER IMPLEMENTATION WOULD ENSURE PARTICIlI'ATIONG. P.laiJ" .

MAl'o'POWER UTILISATION ASPECT OF PEOPLE'S PARTICIPATION M. C. Verma

LET'S LEAVE IT TO PEOPLE'S BETTER JUDGEMENT'Surinder Sud I

PEOPLE;S PARTICIPATION: DO WE MEAN BUSINESS?. .

. Bunker Ray. .' ~.

ONLY A GOOD RAPPORT WILL ENSURE PARTICIPATI0l'il. H. T. Khuma

THE 'WAY' AND THE 'HOW' OF PEOPLE'S PARTICIPATlOri,". :.~ . • G. Trivedi

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EDITOR .13

RATNA JUNEJA 20

ASSIT. EDITOR

N. N. SHARMA 24SUB.EDITOR

PARAMJEETG. S.NGH

'.~9Cover by Jivall Adalja 32

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\H u r u k s h e l r u

EditOrial Office :Krisbi

Bhavan, New Delhl.llOOOl

felephones: 38U88 & 382406

Editor's Residence: 615920

BUSINESS MANAGER

S. L"Jaiswaf

• ASSIT. DIRECTOR

(PROD.)

K. R. Krishnan

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It would be ironical to talk of peopie's participation after the country, is free '..,I<••

for'more than tbree decades, has been through more than five Five Year Plans :::'

devoted to overall development of lhe people, particularly rural, and tens of:~

developmeut programmesconce\'UiUg almost every population group, area or•••

,regiou, that needed help to bolster itself economically. But the reality of

the sihIation ,istoo clear to be missed or wished away. And the reality is that in

spite of all these exercises by the Government and others concerned with-

development, a major portion of our rural people still remain unapproached, .lin-

affected and unpenneated by the caUto change. The winds of cbange did ,flow

but the rural poor conld not fully benefit by these becanse of lack of awareness,

their own snperstitution, or sheer hesitation. Honestly, they were unfamiliar with,

the phenomenon. The rich and the edncated in the rural areas understood this phenomenon better, took it by its forelock and became richer and richer. The

same result accrued when the green revolution, new farm technOlogy,credit

support facilities etc. wereexlended to the rural areas. These too ,were largely

grabbed by the rich who already Ijad, and in the proportion of what they,already

had. Those ,who missed the bus were people,who were not.aware of these pro-

, grammes, the services and facilities offered under'them and the ways and means,

to avail of them. These people were the landless poor, small farmers, artisans,

and agricultural labourers.

It is a matter of ,common agreement that participation by ,people at large in

'a Government' programme can be possible only when people know what these

programmesare about, what they have to offer and how these,programmes aregoing to benefit them. Only then will they be motivated to participate in lhem!People who are ,unaware of ,these details or have not been told about these can

hardly be expected ,to participate in them and contribute their 'mite.. ..- .~

With this in view we chose the subject of people's participation in rural

development programmesa. the theme of onr AnnuallNumber this year. If -is

heartwarming to note 'that aonmber of policy-makers, inedin meo, ~ocial

scientist. as also those who are managing the reins of various development pro-

grammes in the country have come forward with their views on the snbject with

suggestions of' bow this conld be done best and with hest results. Weare snre

that their views as contained in ,this Annual Number wi!l:generate a purposeful

debate on this issue which is so 'central to any developmental programme.

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~.

- -accrued. The participation is 'oy members' for iliilir

DlUtuaFbenefitand a participatory. econon:Pcdemo-

crali" ftame has been, provided. It would,be absolu-

telycynicalao say that the system has failed; it

could have 'done more and in all places. The main

weakness' has 'been inadequate managerial capacity to

run an organisation as also to facilitate the full parti-

'Integrated rural., development' programme is for' indivi"

dualised, participation 0 o. The ooly worry here is whetber

the entire process of selection oftbe beneficiary, ascertaining

his 'prefere'neeand making the r-elevantscheme available' is

iii o t ' .~eiting' stYlised, if not indifferently rootiilised j with a n

e y e on 'target. ornumbers and quantum of expenditure."

d p ~ ti( jb .'of all lhe members; or the cornering of the'

ruiirung of the society by a few individuals from

wlierever the weight might have accrued. ' The parti~

cifiatibll of all Iiiembers, particularly the weaker

sections is extemeriily inadequate.

I.R.D. programme

THE. RECENT ATTEMPT in this direction, i.e. the'

Integrated Rural Development Programme (LR.D.P.)

is' for 'iildividualised participation. Those below the

poverty line reCeive specific attention 'under _ this

scheme; _Their level of income is sought -to be raised

by,'providing' them with an earning opportunity whe"

ther.it b,dn agriculture, allied sec.tors, or industries,

bu'siness'and, services areas. -The advocation oppor-

tunity is 'provided within the framework of a micro-

plan' for ,the adequate utilisation of the local resourceendowment. The income earning 'possibility' is

devised in' consultation; with the beneficiary; his

aptitude" the, local resource potential and the techno-

logy available are sought to be matched. The striking

attempt is that the person concerned is given the

opportunity to decide on the profession he would

choose, External assistance i~ only to facilitate or

fructify this choice, in the supply of inputs and

arranging the market. When it works at its peak

vigour and idealogy the LR.D:P. "could give the,

people 'the choice of their economic endeavour. A, part of the participatory process is this element. The

other aspects are in availing fully the possibilities of

the, schemes chosen, The only worry here is whe-

ther'the entire process of selection of the beneficiary,

ascertaining his preference and making the relevant

scheme available is not getting stylised, if not in-

differently routinised, with an eye on target of num-

bersanil quantum of expenditure.

,The attempt ,at self-propelled organisations, with

scant dependence on Govermnent is also made by a

c6inbiilation .of ~ co~perative stnicture, economic. interdependence .ahd high motivation. Those as in,

Anand'Daiiy'scheme are sheathed in the local culture

too. The psychcilogicalmotivations are sought to 'be ,

6

understood abd, units. responding to'-thesefactorsare'

encourl!ged jn.afIorestation; in agricultW;alunits, in'

village"industries' and .the sugar cooperatives. In'

adillt-education"schemes; such efforts 'have not Yield

ed much unison. Several 'psychOlogical strands an~d

be~avioural .patterns are sought to be st~died and

actIvltIes that are ill tune WIth these are illtroduced'.-

A "graduated' process of transformation of the mind:,

and. attitudesisexpecte"d to be achieved.-' The~••

nleasures ha've. often' proved to be overpowered b),

traditionalisin, fatalism and ,apathy. '-The Sarvodaya,

movemenLin.places and'the whole village reconstruc-

tion programme have this type of impact. Often

nostalgia fdt the "iiidigerious" has ,proved fo befatalistic, to the savants' ,that organised the, move- .

ment and unpalatable to the recipients. j

The somewhat cursory glance, at the several ex-

periences brings to focus the divergence in the'

participative process frofu' tiine ..to tinte. The partiCi-

pation at Iiational level as in the plan policy

. fdrmulatiliiFis..difletehHibtil.;that. at' other levels; ,as

one- ttavels Ibwerdown', iildiviclilal"iriitiative ahd

mvblvement hecotiieS'ITlOrepertinent. It, would be

sweeping:to defi.iJ.etlieirigredients of participation, for

all times;' Voice in, the selection of theprograIilDle,

role in implementing, it, and enjoying the full

benefits of the project are ideal concepts. But it

,,!~nld bemisleading)o,pOstniate that the • absence

of one ,of these as a, total negation o[ participa-

tion. Further, all persons cannot participate in

all the ,activities.- Th.e sets of persQns and'the'

projects are' i;Uportant. .Responsiveness to ,govern-ment ,schemes, indirect self-governance" entrepreneur-

ship nO)lfishiIJg'"in. ,governmental infrastructure;'

achieving, th~; ben.~fits out. of schemes designed for

a .targeLgroup, ,are all vadants that flow' with situa-

tions. Pa~icip,ation is ,also calibrated to political

,~ituations: .' The eircumstances. that impinge on the

participatory,,process are .also signi1icant. '

, Constraints of poverty

,T he.poorer .sections find it far more 'difficult' ,to"contribute," ,if that, element ,is . regarded as an

essential element 10 ,participate. They can atbest

implement the 'scheme but with governmental technical

assistance ,only. The ,benefits, however, meagre they

,-'~ftenoooslalgia'"for~tbe" "iildigeilous," bas proved' t o b e&taJistic to 0the savants' that orga-riisecI-the _m ov em el it~ a n d

unpalatable, to the -recipients. '"

may be, ate Iiaturiilly eIijoyed' by them. The poor

are.enervatedmore psychologically .thaneven physi-

callY.' 'The 'land' holding system, elitist influence,ignorance and social stratification add to their,

travan~; The 'experience of- LT.D,P. is that;

theltribals naturally 'expect the benefits to be con-

KURUKSHETRA OC,!oberl; 1982

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erred on them, in the initial stages. Partly they vary.

ho animal husbandry, agricultural and forestry

tschcmGs hayc a gestation period which they can hardly

withstand with sub-marginal living patterns. Attempts

to organise them somewhat protectively though, and

~~'cducate~' them have b~en ma~le by many voluntaryr .

~~gencles and by government. But the process has

'It would he sweeping to define the ingredients of-participation

for all time. Voice in the selection of the programme, rolein implementing it, and enjoying the full benefits of the'

project are ideal concepts. But it would be misleading to poS-

tulate the absence of one of these as a total n~gation 'Of

participation. l"urther, all persons cannot participate

f in all the activities. The sets of persons and the projects

. are important.'

Ii

een slow, and often tends to ask for more, of some

et projects of the organisers. The participation

rocess is on fringes in creating awareness and i~

whetting palate.

The situatioi1 in more developed areas is a different

artnership. The Governmental infrastructure, the

acility of easy and timely supply of inputs and techno-

ogy cover are the material aspects. An amount ~f

ntrepreneorship and volition grow. The people

radually get used to ask for' their requirements.

Demand organisations arise. Numerous suggestions

or such organisations for better participation are

made: When the benefits of coll~ctive action tnrough

hese are noticed, the process will be one where

overnment partnership lies in the responsiveness to

hem. A "delivery' system" by governmentmachinery turns into a participative process with the

eople.

Castigating bureaucracy

hiS is regarded as ideal and go;'ernmental systcm

often blamed "for "its absence. The comments

re caustic on bureaucracy: In most, this is a "niind-

et". A dichotomy between people and the instru-

ments of people's/government is attributed to colonial

aditions, the knowledgeable and elitist government

fficials' exploiting the people,' or to rank self-interest

f the officialdom .. The more cha,ritable are inclined"

o 'perceive that in "the procedural" formalities the

cheme geits dehydrated and the set up for its imple-

entation distended. Government organisation has

eit proved. to be the required chimge-agent. - While

uch commen{s could be. t'rue at one time> or other,

nd at places, the alternatives to a streamlined

overnmental machinery are as yet ~cerebraL The

overnment machinery has till now covered the

rgest part of activities, with results. They have

ied to encourage participatory contributions, incul-lte the feeling of' self-help or arrange for what the ,"

overnment can provide. They havc definiteiy', tried

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URl.:lKSHETRA Octo.ber I, 1982

---within the precincts of 'their manouvrability. They can-

not do all. That is admitted. But where the poorer

sections, the trib<11sor the indegent areas are concern-

ed they have done much in implementing a policy but

without people's partkipation. I these areas, his

phenomenon' could be faint and thc capabilities of thc

machinery' limited too, in t his direc"tion. But it

would appear from thcir expericnce that the bure1iu-

cratic effort, perceptive of the people's reactions but nooveremphasising participation of a "contributory" kind

has set a foot an activity ..in the economic develop-

mentnl direction. I ~

It is also pointed out that thc motivation of people

is not adequately understood and built up. This is

relevant hypothesis and possibly true. But the

Government officials are not attuned to the psycho-

logists antennae. They could only see thc economic

motivation. In a large measure this has proved to

encourage people to participate in government pro-

grammes. The immediate-gains have encouraged

farmers to accept high yielding varieties of seeds, see

the efficacy of chemical fertilisers in Punjab, or the

possibilities of wheat in West Bengal. , The ,participa-

tion in"carrying out the programme was on the percep-

tion of e conomic advantages. In most places the

farmer is still a "medley of the simple and tlie astute,

the timid and the, tenacious.' In hi';' the, economic

advantage gains acceptance, as also ascendency in

society. The economic motivation has still guided the

officials to enlist the participation of th~ people. "

Towards block level planning

P ARTIC;IPATION as relevant at t~e project level is a

very' sound approach. Country-wide assuniptions or

programmes applied allover the country present the'

diaphanous texture more often than well-knit. So do"

participative levels. Increasing emphasis is being

placed on projects suited to the terrain" and relevant

to the socio-ecnomic situations. The projects will then

take root 'and that will generate the interests of peOple.

Towards this design, micro-level planning in the shape

of block level.planning has been advocated. But there

is a tendency to dilute it to cluster-approach, 'adhoc

schemes that are feasible etc. These may be expedient

'The government machinery h as tiII now covered the largest

part of activiti~ with results. They hal-'e tried to en"

courage participatory coutributions. inculcate the feeling

of self-help or.arrange for what the Gm'c.rnment can provide.'

but may not be able to obtain the, necessary coordina-

tion of inputs and assurance of the needed infrastruc-

ture. But projects prepared at lower levels. but by

higher levels of expertise have shown the strains of

volition, active implementation and accTua'l of the benefits, however meagre they may be dircctly to the

, (Con/d. on page 19)

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Social justice and equitywill ensure participation:

'i'l,r

._-----------The author is sad at programme-farmers' ,obsession

with numbers and not men. Says he, f t U; rf or t unat elv

both programmes were not il~lplemente{1if~ the sal11~

area. As a result there was 110 universal coverage of

either area potenti"l or the .population capacity to deve-

lop. The two programmes, thereiore, led fda numbers

ga l 11e . 'where the beneficiaries w ere enumerated and

benefited individu"lly, whilst. the overail development

of the area and people which only can "l.limately give

full value for investment was neglected", and adds,

"It is obvious that the field of rural development is

a highly explitoed system with strong' vested intereslS

which are asserting thel11.~elves against an)' in r~ads'into

1heir cOl1(rol of the usufruct. Today no individual

h?wever afJfu ent can survive in the econimic.jungle of

the world, wNhout a strong infrastrllcture and suppori

of the leaders that be. Much more so "themillions of

disa~vantaged in ,this country who are seeking hare

survIval." ... Therefore, there is a p res E i l l g n eed to

"develop the necessary supports".

SHRJ R SIYARAMAN, J.CS. (Reid.) had been Member

Planning Commission.and tiiI recently Chairman National

Committee on .Development of Backward Area, ,.

8

B. SlYARAMAN

I ' N SP IT E OF THE VARlOUS CLAIMS of gr.eat rural

development from time to time, there is~ a general

feeling that the nation is not getting the .results ex-

pected in the direction that has been planned. Growth

there is no doubt; but not consonant with the energy

spent and the investments made, nor leading to the

basic concept of social justice, which the nation has

decided as an imperative for the health of the. demo-

cracy. 'Vherc " a r e V{C failing? One view is that

peoples' participation in the process of growth ha's not'

been wide enough and sufficient This gap has

somehow to be crossed. The !rite saying that you can

lead a horse to the water but you cannot make it

drink is apt Not that We have not tried. The Com-

munity Development Programnie started in .1952 cul-

minating in the Panchayati Raj structure in 1955, was

a major attempt for a country of our size. In spite

_ of many failings, and many vicissitudes, this was the

base on which the Green Revolution \vas launched.The struclureof 'the National Extension Service.

which was and stin is, the executing machinery for

rural development, is a major'organisational concept indevelopment administration. The response of thefanners to the Green Revolution. has been spectacular.

The country achieved a miracle in reaching food self-

sufficiency in a decade's time. Individual far~er's

response to the technology which gave him: a ' quantum ~

jump in his production, was wide-spread and a pheno-

menon which took the sociologists of the world by

surp,ise. Yet in 1970, the nation felt that we are not

achieving social 'justice and a special thrust was

necessary. _It. is in this venture that ,ve have come.

across var.ious facets of' ou r socio-economic structure

which need correction before .we can pass on from.'"

individual response of the elite to the capacity.of the

under-privileged to translate his willingness to r/s:

.. - f K ~ 1 /9 8 .2:\, , .. _.. URUKSHETRA October 1,

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'Technological inf;astructure organisational and financial

structure which may have answered the needs of the Green

Re\'olufion arc found wanting against tbe comprehensive

dc\'elopment strategy that we are seeking to .implement,

frolll the Shan dies. This led to the extreme case ob-

served in a Tamil Nadu village by the Planning Com-

mission of a poor . man having bee~saddled with amilch buffalo giving half a litre of milk, on which

he had to pay baCKRs. 1600 with interest. Whilst

'Where ace we ailing? One "iew is that people's parti-

cipation in the process of growth has not bccn wide cRougll

and sufficient. This gap has somehow to be crossed. The

trite saying that you can lead a horse to the water but you

cannot make jt drink, is apt. Not that we have not tried.

The Community .Dc\'elopmcnt Programme started in 1952"

culminating in the Panchayafi Raj structure in 1955 was a

major aUem~t for a countc)' of our size.,

nto this field has thrown up further socia-economicproblems, which need an answer. Technological ilifra-

structural, organisational and financial structures

which may have answered the needs of the Green

Revolution are found wanting against the compre-

hensive development strategy that we are sceking tomplement.

pOhd, to' actual achievement. When we talk of peoples'

participation, we arc postulating an already weIl-

thought~out programme of development, where the

other parts of the' structure have been enumerated and

the ingredients made available. Whilst the ilifrastruc-

ture was reasonably satisfactory for the Green Revolu-'

tion, based on irrigation and high yielding varieties of

crops, we have not yet paid suf1i.cient attention to the

capacity of the structure to support the idea of an

integrated rural' development using all the potentialavailable--in land, water, finanee and skills. Our essays

What present programmes leave out

N 1970 THE NATION ACCEPTED the postulate of

Growth with Social Justice', for rural development. Asfirst essay towards this objective, simultaneously the

Small Fa.rmers' Dcvelopment Programme was l'aunch-

d. Tl~eprogramme envisaged agricultural development

using mainly irrigated agriculture as the strategy.

Whilst developing all land in the area selected, whether

of b ig , medium or srnaH farmers, special attention was

aid to ensure that the small and marginal farmers .got

special capital subsidy and close technological and

nfrastructural support including credit, so that they

an benefit fully by the programllle. As this kept out

he non-farmer population, another programme \vas

aunched to deal with the agricultural labour popula-ion and the marginal farmers who could not get

ufficient income by their agriculture alone. For

hem an animal husbandry programme was put

lfough, based mainly 011 rearing milch cattle, sheep

nd poultry. Pigs were tTied in nreas where pig meat

ad a market. Unfortunately both the programmes

ere not implemented in the same area. As a result

here was no universal coverage of either area pote~-

al or the population capacity to develop. The two

rogrammes therefore, led to a Numbers Game ,,,,here

e beneficiaries were enumerated and benefited in-

vidually, whilst the overall development of the area

nd people which olily calhultimately give full value

........,...------~----------------__c. ~ ...~.

. . .{'

for investmen~ was neglected. 1n 1976 the National:

Commission On Agriculture pointed out this gap and.. ~

as a result. both programmes were merged; but by

sheer' inertia the Numbers Game continued. Wl~rithe Integrated Rural Development Programme was

launched in the Fifth Plan, the Planning Commis#<'lJ]

drew special attention to t)1isand po~tulated that \Vhat

had to be achieved ln the comprehensive progriin,rrie

was overall development of the area utili:sing:.ailthe

manpower, cntreprclicurship and potential willi snit-

able infra structural and institutional support, .whilst the'

disadvantaged in the area were .to be given.~special

incentives like subsidies and special credit' te) enable

them to take full advantage of tbe Area Pfogramme

of development. At the same time in order to give

concrete targets of achievement in the field 'of SocialJustice, it was suggested that each year in the area of

opera,tion which was a Block, a. certam •number of

disadvantaged were to be specially attended to and

given suitable progranrrnes of development within the

overall frame, to enable them to get out of the chitc-hes of poverty in a short time-frame. The executive in

translating the postulate into. the integrated Rural

Development, accepted the second part of the postu-

late and stuck to the Numbers Game and forgot the

problem of overall area development using all poten-

tial. To add to this confusion, Rajasthan started the

Antycdaya Programme to pull five families per village

every year above the poverty iine. Between Ant yo-

daya and Integration, the Numbers Game took the

lead and development strategy ~took a back seat. No

doubt the Numbers Game did lead to some results.

But ;nueh of it had to be ephemeral because no atten-

tion was paid to the ilifrastnfcture and the institu-

tion building which aloue could give lasting benefit

ou!- of the new technology. SUPP.ly of a milch cow

had a m_~rginaJ be~efit unless there was a fodder. supply support at reasonable prices, a health cover

and a market for the milk at fair priees. In 1971

the N~tional COIlllllission on Agricultnr~ had drawnattention to the need for a comprehensive infrastrue-

ture for milk programmes and also advised basing

the prograinme on crossbreeding, with exotic stock,

the scrub cows in the rural areas. By failing to ob-serve this economic principle !tbe milk progrull_illlc

depended on purch~se of nlilch c?ttle for the poor

URUKSHETRA October 1, 19829

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• the.NuiJ)bets Gaille of the speciai prograninies follow-

ed :its own. course the main infrastructure development

prograI';mes of the pran for rural development follow-

ed their own. There was very little meeting point, and

programmes of the Plan for rural development (allow-

ed .their own. This was very little meeting point, and

sometimes even no inclination to meet. The first

essential therefore is to en'sure that the postulate of

the" Planning Commission of overall development withSocial Justice laid down in the Fifth Plan is meticu-

lously' followed. Then ouly poverty programmes and

area 'programmes will g~t together lea<iilig to lasting

'Then only poyerty programmes and programmes ,,,' i l l get-

together-feading to lasting benefit to the poor and also ex-

ploiting the full potential for gro""th in the country. This

basic conf..ocptual gap in action has to be crossed. People's

. participations in half-baked programme can only'be luke-

warm.'

benefits' to the poor and als.o exploiting the full poten-.tial for growth in the eonntry. This basic concep-

tual gap in action has to be crossed. People's partici-

pation in half baked prograrmne can only be. luke-

warm.

A GRICULTURE IS the traditional base of the rural

economy in the country. Even now it caters to the

welfare of 70 percent of the populatiOin, in!some areas

as much as 80 percent. The technology of the high

yielding varieties gave the first_indication 6f a possi-

ble revolution in the rural ?r~as, where automaticallyquite a uum"er of small. far,!!er,; can be helped abovethe poverty line. A two-acre .irrigated farm which.

grew a paddy crop followed by a wheat crop could

give returns to the tiIlcr which was more than suffi-

cient to escape poverty, prdvided the tiller owned

the la,{d. Similarly one an.4.lt hili acres of a double

paddy crop area could be equally. productive. When

possibly even a five-ac.rc irrigat~~'farm was a bare

subsistence economy, the technological rriiracle enabl-

ed the planners to provide a way for vast numbers

of the tillers to go above' the poverty line, provided the. .

tiller owned the land. The l;'ational Commission on

'Agriculture had analysed the situation and in 1976

advised that the future of Indian Agriculture depended

on peasant farming of ~mall holdings adopted the

strategy of mixed f?rming to get the maximum return

out of the small holdings, utilising animals, money and

skills' to add to the crop income. If the tiller h~d to

pay the traditional rent to an owner-all legislative

meaSures notwithstanding this was the ground truth-

there was not enough for either the' tiller or thc

owner, let alone funds for irlVesting on the land to

enable introduction of the new techuology. Thus theland reforms became the keystone of rural de,'elop-

1Jlent based. on agriculture. In spite of many brave

declarations; and hopeful statistics,. the general imp-

10

ression is that in the'oid iamindarlilreas of-the coun-

try' straddling over 'the-potentially rich Gangetic

plains, land reforms is a dead letter. Consequently an

area which has the potential for multiplying the agri-

cultural output two .and three fold using the :lew

technology, is lying donnant, creati!,g communities of

owners and tillers, both poor, hating each other. If

the Land Reform gap can g,e crossed in this region

and rent laws reasonably modified to allow for ~in-

vestment in modernisation of the agriculture as is

the case in Thailand and the Philippines, there should

be enough for everybody.' Meanwhile the hatred is

simmering making the request for people's participa-

tion a mockery. Can we bridge tbe gap? Is there a po-

. litical will and an administrative competence available

for the purpose. -' 'Making reform measures meaningful

.T H~ MARGINAL FARMERS AND ~GRICULTURAL LA-

BOURERS PROGRAMME gave a hope to the agricul-tural labour to ply animal husbandry profitaoly during

the spare time of the members of the family. Leaving

aside the tying up of the infrastructure and the 'pro-

grailll)1e, for _ a labouring family to maintain anim_als

or. birds they require a fum homestead with sufficient

space to keep the fauna. The' nation decided that a

homestead had to be the ba,e minimum laj1d a labou-

rer's family should hold .. But for plying the new

.animal. husbandry technology a. bare housesite was

uot sufficient. There had to be adjoining yard to

hold the animals or birds in a sanitary environment:'A:large number o f agricultural laboui)n the courltry.did

not own their hol11 esteads and few' could boast of a

yard. Laws were passed to give them 9wnership over

their bomestead. How far the passing of laws have

led to improvement is a inoot point; but even where

.effective, it did not give the necessary appurtenant yard

fllr plying a subsidiary occupation. In areas of

almost bondage of labour as in the Gangetic plains of

the country, the land owners linked the' temporary

permission to occupy a Iwmestead with the .liability

to render labour on their lands on generally low

'If the lalid reform g~pcan be ,cr,ossed '.. , and

rent laws reasonably modified to. allow for investment in

modernisation of the agriculture as is .!he case in Thailand

and the Philippines, there should be enough for everybody.

Meanwhile the hatted is simmering making the for people's

participation a mockery. Can we bridge the gap? Is there.

a.political will ~ndan administrative competence ayailable

for the purpose.'

wages. The law is generally a dead letter, .statistics

notwithstanding. The class of exploiters have deci-

ded not to takl' the law lying down. The tragedies 'of

the Gangetic plains. where the labour families have

been butchered ;s one small part of the hatred and

willingness to hurt. In'this atmosphere to talk. of a

KURUKSHETRA October 1, 1982

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Help for rural artisans

A W fl SANS OF T HE RURAL AREAS. plying various

,illage and' cottage industries, are the backbone .of a

large traditional industrial system which has a large .

. clientele. They are also generally poor and highly

exploited. TIle co-operative. system has been tried

subsidiary animal liusbandry programme for the agri-

cultural labour and fair wages for labour is a pipe

dream. Surely we do not expect any peoples partici-

pation in such areas of discord and they are va~t. HO.w C 1

do we get ovcr tillS hurdle? ' ~..~.

Irrigation is the key to the Green Revolution and

controlled irrigation is the base. The technology is

theoretically neutral to scale. Many writers including

'people's power for destruction is immense, for dc\'elopmentwith social justice it is an illusion. The Sooner we realise

this,' the earlier we shall take the correct path for dc,,:elop-

mWL' .

the present have pofuted out that the ground truth is .

that the small holder rarely gets his fair share of the

water from any irrigation system and he can rarely

control the inflUxand the efllux of water. into or from

his land. Such control alone can give him the due re-

turn from the high investment in fertilisers and pesti-

cides. Tn get the maximum return from irrigation a

Command Area Development approach is necessary.

To give a' fak share of water to all the ryots in the

ayacut, legislative control to enforce Osrabandi and

Warabandi as in the Northern India Irrigation Act, and

a machinery to enforce it as in the old Punjab area, is

imperative. Whilst pilot schemes under the World Bank

pragramme have proved the effectiveness of this stra-

tegy, it is strange that the elite hold on the distribution'

of.water in their favour .has not been broken in many

parts of the country. The small and the marginal

farmers remain the poor relatio'ns waiting for the milJi-

neum. Certainly people's participation is not ~eanswer in such situations. I

Promoting initiative

IT IS NOW R~ALlSED that in spite of the aggressive

rrigation programme nearly 80 _per cent of the

arable land .has to depend on' the rainfall for produc-

tivity. Dr.y farming is therefore to receive special

attention. Though quite. a breakthrough has .been:

made in black. soils with more than 30 inches of

avernge .rainfall: the transfer of techriolo~y has not.

yet started in ernest. Areas with less rainfall, the red soil areas and the drought prone and desert areas

are large :"nd the technology Ilas ,ye.! to ddvelop.Vatershetl managemelit, moisture conservation tech-

riiques, cl10ice. of flora, mixed farming of crops, trees

and pasture are a multitude of variables to be synthe-

sised on a location speCificframe by multi-disciplinary

scientists and translatcd into the field by similar multi-

disciplinary teams including administra'tors, "extension

workers, institutional experts and so on. The full

dimendons of this vast field yet to be organised has

been brought out excellently in the Report on Deve--

Jopment of Drought Prone and Desert Areas by the

National Committee on .Development of Backward

KURUKSHETRA Octoper 1,1982 -',

Areas. In addition to 'thc infrastructural support

mentioned above, Watershed management requires

full 'people's participation in the programme

and technology~that the experts advise them. Luckilythcse -are'the ''ii'oorer and backward areas of the

country. Rich are few. The general standard is

subsistence farming, In such a situation the class

conflicts of the irrigated areas have had no soil to

'proM. People's participation can be' secured pro-

vided the extension technique is suitably streamlined.The Banbasi Seva Ashram in the drought prone

Tahsil of Dudhi in the District of Mirzapur in Utmr

Pradesh; under the inspired leadership of Prem Bhai

and his doctor 'wife have done Whole Village Deve-

lopment .of many villages involving all and achieved

spectacular results. As the programmes have profits

for all, big and. small and without the co-operation

results will not be commensurate to elIort, village by

village has learn"t the truth of unity in action. Such

pilot schemes all over the disadvantaged areas under,.

proper leadership is needed before the theory can

be n'lade to give results. We are a long way off. 'This

is by far the most challenging task for the leadership.

The traditional approach to waterlogged lands has

been to somehow raise a crop, mainly paddy.

Whether the water is fresh or brackish, paddy culti-

vation under serious disabilities has led to a subsist-

ancc economy. Technology has made a' 'Il'.assive

breakthrough in the ntilisation of such land' for

composite culture of major crops or in brackish

water prawn culture, Both are very profitable. The

technology is now known. The infrastructure of

extension, supplies, technolo.cical suppo'rt and credit

.have yet to be organised. The dimensions of this

has been clearly ,pelt out in the Report on a Deve-

lopment of Coastal' Saline Areas submitted by the

National Committee on Development of Backward

Areas to the Pianning Commission last November.

'There bas to be a technology and delivery system for

the development. This is a multi-disciplinary effort there

has to be an extension service which can conveyed the message

to the smallest man in the vmage.~

It is obvious this gap in. development will.tnke quite

a time to fructify. The fishermen are an exploited

lot. Whilst the poor fisherman may be willing to

co-operate, the exploiting system is too powerful' for ~m. ' .

11

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in Handloom Industry and such llke but as pain led

out in thc Handloom Committee Report of 1974,

is not yet very successful. Million ply these indus-

tries sometimes whole lime, mostly seasonal or port-

time. Rural development must include this vast

structure of production and employment. The

National Committee on Development . of Backward

..Arens has analysed the problems of this sector in

'There has to be coordinated decision~making structure at theproject level, "itb sufficient autonomy in administrative

and financial matters to get quick results.'

detail in its Report on the Development of Village,

'Cottage and Small Industries, delivered to the

Planning Commission a year ago. As a first step .

towards this develo'pment, this sector has been includ-

ed 'in the New 20-Point Programme. The Com-

mittee has pointed out that the development of this

sector requires a continuously updated intermediate,

technology removing drudgery from many operationswhere return for time spent is vei)' litt1e,an infrastruC"

.ture of supply of raw materials in time at fair prices

and a marketing system to get the best price for the

production. Technological support' and extension

ba's to be ubiquitious and, if possible, through utilis-

ing trained 1\1aster Artisans. There are at present

only rudiments of this. available in a (ew industries.

As a result, the Committee has pointed out the slow

deterioration of these industries and artisans over

thue, in spite o(brave assertions to help them.

Need for pragmatic approach

A GAINST ~IlE BACKGROUND of what has been ex-

plained above, it is, obvious that the field of

rural .development is. a highly exploited system with

strong vested interests which are. asserting themselve~

against any inroads into their control of the usufruct'.

Peoples' power for deslruction is immense; for deve"

lopment with social justice' it is an iIlnsion. The

sooner we realise this, the earlier we shall take the

correct patll for development. Today no individual

however amuent can survive in the economic jungleof the world, without a strong infrastructure and

support' of the leaders that he. Much more 'so the

inillions of disadvantaged in this country who are

seeking bare survival. The National Committee OIi

Devel~pment of Backward Areas has ana(ysed the

structural support necessary for rural development iti

. their ,Report 'Olf 'Organisational and Financial Struc-

lure for Development of Backward Areas' submitted

. j 2

t o the Planning Commission in November 1980 and

circulated to the States. Thc imporlancc ,0 E this

Report has not yet been realised, what with slogan"

mongering and seekhlg immediate miracles of deve-

lopment. There has to be a technology and delivery

system for the technology. This is a multi-disciplin-

ary effort. There has to' be an extension servi~e),

which can carry ,the message to the smallest man 10

the village. This as has been explained in detail

required' ,a lot of modification of the system laid 0\1for the Grcen Revolution. The Village and Cottage

industries require their own det~iled support systems.

There has to be a law and order involvement to see

that the elite of the rural areas do not break the law

with impunity and ride roughshod over the dis-

advantaged. There has to be a coordinated decision-

making structure at the project level, with sufficient :

autonomy in administrative and financial matters to

get quick results. The financial structure needs a

development banking approach as has been explained

ill the report CRAFICARD to the Reserve }lank in_

January 1981.'

It may well be asked how these suggestions are

relevant for the advanced areas of the country.' In

backward areas which are vast, they are certainly

relevant . Such areas are forward where people are

expectecl to know the. ropes and take a lead in dev~

Jopmen! without much spoonfeeding by the State.-

But in our forward areas as .has already been. pointed

.out, development by people's effort is halted by the.

deep cleavage in society between the haves and. the,

have-nots ... In such a situation, the structure of the'State becomes' all the more relevant to get a move-

ment. Pr']gress in .the backward areas may be

achievable. by a guided and aided system laid down

by the National Committee. on Development .of

Backward Areas. Unfortunately the leadership in .the

'The readership which comes mainly from the forward areas

. bas become suspect amongst sociologist of the world in

whether they are for the status quo of really.want progress.

Where t~endo we go l'

corridors of power has few representatives of the

backward areas. So a'n urge to develop the neces-

sary supports is small. The leadership which comeS

mainly from the' forward areas has. become suspect,

amongst 'sociologists of the world in whether they'

.are for the status quo or really wan! progres~. Where.

then do we go?

KURl:JKSHETRA Octob<r I, 1982

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DRDAs and banks canensure participation

A. R. PATEL

f -,

According . to the author, DRDAs and the banks

can play (i very ,,:ery important role in enlisting as

well as ensuring participation by .{jcopie in pro-

grammes of dev.elopment. These institutions, are-'well .....

eq,;ipped by way of -"their expertise and locational

advantag~ have a unique role to play ill' evoking

people's participation mobilising rural folk for deve-

opment, setting lJ.P people's institutions jar develop-

ment, Inaking them effective ill their work QHd plalI.-

ding- c~ercise."

And adds: "To enable millions oj, families to find heir place in the developmeni process is a task of

awesome enormity. Port/Uel departmc11tal functioHing

with directions coming from State capital would be

uilworkable. The Slate Government can best pro-

vide g~idQl1ce ~and exercise supervision. It cannot

lan work to be .done 110r undertake implementation

f myriad projects. The locus of that responsibility

has to be brought 'to levels that are close to the people.

That is rationale of administrative decentralisation".

The ORDAs alld b anks who have now iden,tified

he.mselves witlz the rural people and ar e national

bodies with potentiil! for building up adequate exper-

ise ill the sphere of rural developmem are the best

medium. to spearhead the progra;nmej' . of people's

articijJQtivll, he affirms.

SHRJ A. R. P ATEL, M. Sc., (AgeL), is working in the

Agricultural Credit Wing of the Bank of. Baroda, Centra"!

Offi~e. Bombay.


'G'ANDHIJI WANTED TO PROMOTE health and vigour

of India's villages and wanted to develop them as

village system.' Several progranunes, were undertaken,

new innovatious were introduced and pilot projects

were launched in the' past to achieve the objectives of

rural' development. Important progranun~s among

them were (i) the emergence of Sriniketan and

, Marthandam projects as centre;; of rural reconstruction

during 192Q.-..c-30,(li) Rural reconstruction project in

Baroda (1932), (iii) Firka development scheme in

Madras (1946), (iv) Etawa pilot project inUltar

Pradesh (1948) and (v) -the grow more food cam-

paign and the Gurgaon project are some other projects

of rural reconstruction which shaped the nation"wide

~omm';nity development progranune. While these and

other progranimes initiated in sixties' 'and seventies have

indeed achieved appreciable progre", they have suffer-

ed from many handicaps-most important has been the'

,non-involvement of the people.in the process of plan-

ning, ,implementing and monitoring the projects meant

for them, This ha', to be properly taken care of during

the implementation of Integrated Rural Development

Programme (IRDP) in all the 5011 blocks of theconntry as a nation-wide poverty-alleviation pro-

granune, National Rural Employment Progranune

(NREP) and Training of Rural Youth for 'Self-'

Employment (TRYSEM) which have been accorded

highest, priority in the Sixth Plan as also in the New

20-Point Progranune announced by the Prime Minis.:ter, Smt. Indira Gandhi. '

Role DRDAs and banks can play

WHILE TidE GOVERNMENT has already set' up

District Rural Development Agency in each dis-trict for effective implementation of IRDP, NREP;

TRYSEM and coordinating with various agencies, the

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Lead Bank has been entrusted the task of preparing

the District Credit pian for the p~riod 1983-85 and

Annual Action Plan for each year, formulating location-

specific credit schemes, modifying the lending policy/

procedure to suit the changing needs. The role of both

these institutions-DRDA and Banking system .be-

'comes very crucial now in relation to ensuring pe.ople's

participation in the rural development programme. Be-

sides, very recently the Union Government has an-nounced specific enabling measures with regard to

'The DRDAs and banks because of their expertise and !{jca-

tional advantage have unique role to play in evoking people's _

participation, mobil is ing rural force for development, setting

up people's institutions f~r dcyclopment, making them

effective in their working and planning exe~cise.,

smooth/uninterrupted flow of credit under JRDp viz.

(i) setting up National Bank for Agriculture and Rural

Development (NABARD) to pay undivided attention

to the problems of flow of credit to this sector; (ii)fixing targets for various important segments and pri-

ority ,sectors,to be achieved. by the end of Sixth Plan

and (iii) simplifying the lending procedure under

JRDP. Thus, it is very essential that these two institu-

tions should now appreciate the concept of people's

participation in the rural development programmes

and ensure that it is achieved in letter and spirit. It is

against this background an attempt is made here to

discuss 'the relevant.aspects of people's participation in

the rural development programme and involvement of

DRDA and Banking system in ensuring this importantcomponent in the programme which have so far not

been paid attention it deserved. Experiences so far

have revealed that lack of appreciation of this50ncept

at grass-root level has often been the main factor res-

ponsible for such state of affairs. The DRDAs and

banks, because of their expertise and locational 'ad-

vantage have unique role to play in evoking people's

partiCipation mobilising rural force for development,

setting up people's institutions for development, mak-

ing 'them effective in their working and planning exer-

cise. I

Ensuring people's participation

DEVELOPMENT h~s now come to be recog~

nised as a sine qua non for' national development

and social welfare. The problem is not merely one' of

,development of rural areas but' of the development of

the rural communities of which our nation comprises;

to dispel ignorance and poverty and assist the process

ol'creating a' self-reliant and self-sustaining modem

little communities. Thus, rural development can no

longer be identified with mere increase in GNP or even per capita nation income. The increased income is ex-

pected to be so distributed as to result in significant

'diminution of inequalities of income and wealth. In

14

short, every rural family should h~ve its reasonable

share in the generation of GNP lind increasing per

capita income. The major objective has been to deve-

lop and reconstruct the rural economy such that in-

come flowing from the ownership of productive assets,

skills and labour would be automatically distributed

cquitably.

Rura'] developmen\ is, there[or~, essential to develop-

ment of rural people, particularly of those belonging tothe vulnerable sections. The rural development pro"

grammes implemented in many of the third world

countries have repeatedly demonstra!ed a very impor-

, tant factor which contributes to the success or failure

of these programmes namely, the participation of the

people in the programme. Many a rural development

programme has floundered for want of active involve-'

mcnt of the people for whom it was intcnded. 'The

success of any rural development programme depends

on the acceptance of the programme by the people.

For this purpose, it is necessary th~t the people are

involved in the programme right from the stage of

pianning. ,When the peopie realise that it is their own

programme intended to improvc their living conditions,

they will participate in it enthusiastically and guard

against failure of the programme. .I.n this context, the

local organisation of the rural people have a very sig-

nificant role to play. These organisations can promote

active involvement of the people in the rural develop-

ment programmes sponsored by v;uious agencies.

. International Labour Organisation' (ILO) Conven-

tion No. 141 relating to organisation 'of runil workers'

also intended that all categories of the rural poor should

be organised. It should be the objective of national

pOlicyconcerning rural development to facilitate the

organisation of the rural poor, on a voluntary basis so

that they participate in socio-economic development

and avail of the benefits resulting therefrom. Recent

reports of the Working Group on Block Level Planning

has emphasised the need for structural and institutional

changes to strengthen the organisation of rural poor.

'In short, every rural f:ynily should have its reasonable share

in the generation of GNP and increasing per capita income.The major objective has been to develop and reconstrnct

the rural "economy such that 'income fio,",ing from-the owner-

ship of productive assets, skills and labour would be auto~

matically distributed equitably.-, .

Similarly, the World Conference on Agrarian Reforms

and Rural Development held in Rome in July, 1979also stressed the need for 'organising the rural poor.

Our Sixth Five Year Plan has, therefore, V'eryaptly

emphasised the nee,! for promoting people's organisa-. tions. The planning process in the country can acquire

fuller meaning and depth if the people not ,::>nlyasso-

ciate themselves in planning for their development but


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help ill crcdit, refinement in'skills, supporting services

including rnarketing, rural poor could' find gainful

employment. But this would' reqnire detailed almostintricate micro-planlling and alSo a, elosely interlOCk-

ing' administration:

, Another distortion was that overlapping program-

mes and agenCies emerged just' when the new thnist

of development demanded more effective coordinationin administi'ation at the gro'und levei. With proper.

, ,

. 'The. structuring p f the programmes; a l o n g those ' l in e s may

seem a rather inocuou~ way ,of dealing with' the problems.

In reality, however, it has a great potential, particularly for

making poor aware of their own problems,'for.giving them the

the strength to organise. themselves and finally for enabling

t~.eir. pa,rticipation in th~ devel0J:t",Jc~t pr~cess.,

the poor be organiscd. Decentralisation of the politiciil

and administrative power in. this. prDcess assuIDes

great-e~ significance. . i

. The principJe' of decentrali;ation has been ';'dopted

by several developing countries as a basis of the

strategy of socio-eeonomic development. It has been

found particularly appropriate in the field of rural

development and this for many reasons. First in the

very 'nature of the case, rural development has

to bc 'spread over a large number of dispersed 'rGral

corl1munitjc:~' and it: is oilly 'through 'a decentraIised.

appro;,eh" th'il't it would be possjDle' to' reach them.

Secondly, while a centralised approach reflects,' the

priorities of the planners, it is deeentralised ~pproach

which enables the reflections of the local needs and

'ptibrltic's 'and the felt-needs of the pepple. Thirdly, it

allows the participatiOll of th'e pcople at the village

level and the mobilisation of the local resources for the

task of development. Fourthly, it builds up local insti-

tutions, ,,,hich providc.'all enduring base.'of national de-

velopment: Finally, it builds up leadership and enter-'prenei.l'rship in the rural communities"by working a s a

school of education, in the art of decision making'and

administration. In India, it has led to the establish-

ment of the three-tier set up Of Panchayati Raj insti-tutions.

IMMEDIATELY after' the attainment of Indepen-

dence, attempts, were made' to establish popularly

elected village ,panchayats, The reform began in

Uttar Pradesh and spread to other states. Allover the

c6l~ntry, there' are' now ,some 2,28,593 GramPanchayats. Their powers, however, remain limited

in 'practice and' resources' available to them are

JIlCagre.' To be effective the panchayats,have to be

larger in size; in resources. and in power. The

Panch~yat 'institutions have so f~r neither shared res-

ponsibility for the new schemes and programmes nor

re.~a.ined con"trol 9ver much of the earlier activities

and staff.

also participate consciously in their implementation.

Apart from decentralisation.- of - the administrative

machinery and provision of" adequate coordinating

'.The planning ~rocess in the couotf)' ca~' acquire fuller

meaning and depth if the people not only associate them~

selres in planning for their dc\'eloprncnt but also participate

consciousl)' in .their" implcmcnhltion.,

mechanism at thc local level, it will be necessary toensure that at every stage of planning and implemen-

tation there is full participation and involvement of the

people.

Nt<edJor organisation

PROGRAMMES OF RURAL i:>EVEi~PMENT and ameli-

oration of the poor can .and .shQuld be 50 structured

,"io"make ti,e beneficiillies them'~clvcs responsible for

operating the programmes and giving them a chance,to

o[.ganise themselves to optimise !he.. ben~fits under the

progral~lmc. ~n ot~er words: a s~l~cessful~tructuring

of. the programme through the peopI~ ~ould b.ccome

an indirect Instrument for building prcsurcs from be-

ow for the deccntralisation of power. It is also possi-

ble that the cooperative movenlent wh,ich has so far

been biased in favour of the rich may be used by the

poor as well,becanse they would get a chance to .orga-

nise themselves into cooperatives fqr carrying out the

ocial and economic, programmes given to them to run

he' structuring of the programmes along thosc lines

may seem a rather in.ocuous way.of dealing with the

problem, ,Iil reality, however, it has a great potential,particularly for making the poor aware of their own

roblems, for giving them the strcngth to organise

hemsclves aud finally for cnabi,ing their participation

n the developmcnt process,

.In India, about two"thirds of.,the rural households

onsist of (i) fann workers, (ii) small and marginal

aoners, (iii) poor artisans, and, (iv) the unemployed,

All these categories put together constitute about two-

hirds of the rural households ,but their-total ownership

f land is between 15 and '20 per cent only. Most of

he people living below the' poverty line come from

hese classes. In fact, the ratio of 'those living below

he' poverty Jineand the ratio . o f the ho;,seholds ",en-

ioned above 'in these' four .categDries'come ..very near

o one another, If these. two:tliirds of (he mrdl house-

olds a r e organised around I cooperative' or communal" . ' . . . : ; . o J ' - 'f,' 't., ,,,, If .,,' •. ..• .:

arrnmg of their 20 per cent land, III,additIOn to a

arge scale expansion'" of, non-agricultural occupations

oth within the villages and in smail towns nearest to

hes, villagcs, the whole structure of the rural society

will change and this might form, the basis for the multi:

licity of activities in Which the riJra)"pbor would' 'get

rganised. When once this fact' is recognised by thelanners and' administrators, one' should natufal1)i

earch for the 'tnechanisrn 1 by which and level at which

• ,! • , :. . . • . • . '

KURUKSHETRA October I, 1982 :15

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}, T 0 ENABLEMILLIONSOF FAMILJES to find their

place in the development process is a task of'

awesome enormity. Parallel departmcnlal functioning

with directions coming from state capital would be

unworkable. The State Government can best provide

. guidance and exercise supervision. It cannot plan

the work to be done nor undertake implementation

"Vith proper help in credit, refinement in skills, supporting

services including marketing, rural poor could find gainful

e~ployment. But this would require detailed almost intri-

cate micro planning and also a closely interlocking admi~s.

tration.' .

of mydad projects. The locus of that responsibility

has to be brought to levels that .are close to the peo.

pie. That is the rationale of administrative decentra.

lisation. '

To gai~ full advantage of modem technology, it isnecessary to .have a number of subject-malleI' specia.

lists. ThebfficiaIs and experts involved in the work

will have to' function below the district level. The

blocks that have been in .existence for a long time,'

have become too large, too remote from families to

. be helped. Oii the other hand a village by itself is

too small, incapable o f bearing the weight of expertise

or of providing varied facilities needed. The appro-

priate level would be a. cluster of villages, with a popu-

lation of 15,000 to 20,000-three to four thousand

families under a mandaI panchayat where plan's .would

be formulated, implemented and familywise contacts

built up. TileY could also become convenient centres

for credit, storage. ana marketing facilities as well as

for input supplies. Pun-jab has in fact embarked upon

I this reform. The two "democratic Iiers that need to

be built up are thus at 'the mandaI level and district

level. One has to' view the work in the context of

future development. The advance in agricultural tech.

nology has placed heavy demand on expanding com-

munity based activities such as community nurseries

.in. rice, social forestry, iJ).tegrated pest control, inte-

grated post-harvest technology covering harvesting,threshing, drying, storage' and' marketing. These will

be belleI' organised- by demociatic institutions at the

mandaI level. . Thus, mandaI level would be appro.

priate for the DRDAs and banks to evoke people's

. participation in the process of rur~1 development.

Today, agricultural science can, using meteorolo-

gical data and analysis of soil and evaporation data

"and the prevailing season, .select crops and varieties

which will be most profitable and most productive for

various zones of the country. This theoretical work

can generally be done very accurately.: An effectiveorganisation, by suitable adaptive research can also

establish the utility, the profitability ~nd productivity

of alternatives to existing cropping pariern. The crux

. .16

of the problem hoviever, arises when_such results have

to be translated for adoption on a large scale by the

farmcrs as an accepted programme. The problem gets

further complicated when one thinks of reacting, com.

municating' with over 30 million farmers with holdings

below one .hectare. It is, therefore, this very vit'ally

important area which calls for the urgency and need\J

fer people's institutions ~ndvoluntary associations to. I

evoke people's participation in an integrated manner.The role cf other agencies has to be appreciably ex-

panded to mect the growing demand of the dryland

farmers when the results of science and technology

have. to be transferred 'to them .. Besides, individual

involvement of the farmers,.strategy based on water-

shed approach would jlield' rich dividends under ex-

treme climatic conditions. - 1

Active involvement a must I

A CTIVEINVOLVEMENTAND PARTICIPATIONof the

people is the only solution to the problem of poverty, drought, floods etc. and for sustaining econo.

my in the watershed areas. The question is how €hould

they be involved in the programme. After pro.

per identification of potential water sheds and fixing

priorities, with the consent of local bodies e.g. District

Development Agencies and Local Panchayats and

Voluntary organisations, watershed management socic.

ties could be established for each watershed in which

besides representatives of weaker .sections including

backward classes. local panchayat members and offi. :cials, i.e. village 'teachers, patwari, V.L.W. could

also be represented in the society" It is observed that

local officials in the villages have greater influence on

the village community. People's participation would

be forthcoming once the objectives of the watershed

management programme are. made clear to the mem-

bers of the society. Members would act as a mouth.

piece for mobilising public support for the program.

me, Such societies whether formal or informa~ are

of great help where every person in the watershed

area has to agree to get his land treated so tha! the

'To enable ~illion~of .families to find the~r place in tl;te.

de,'eloprnentprocess is a task of awesome enormity. Parallel

~ departmental functioning with directions corning from state

capital would be unworkable. The state government can

provide guidance and exercise superl'ision. It cannot. plan

the work to be done nor undertake implementation of myriad

projects., The locus of the responsibility has to be broll~ht

to ICl'clsthat are close to the people.'

full benefit of the work is achieved. Such an informal

committee can meet periodically with the soil conser.vation. land development staff during the execution of

work and discuss the work being done, then participa-

tion and local acceptability for the work increases .


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,.,

People's participation in the p~ogrammes is very

crucial for the maintenance and upkeep of works on

community lands, Watershed works sometimes in-

clude large chunks of pasture lands which could be

developed with appropriatc practices and maintenance

part could be entrusted to the villagers, .

'An effective organisation, .by s~itable adaptiyc research can

also establish the utility, the" profitability and producHrity of

alternatives to existing cropping pattern. The crux of the

problem, however, arises wben such results ha\'c to be trans-

lated for adoption on a large scale b)' the farmers as accepted

p r og r aI D m e . .. It is therefore this vitally important area

",hich calls for urgency and need for people's institutions and

\'oluntary associations to ~vokc_ people's participation in 3n

integrated manner. ,

A few of thc .areas where people's participation is

of crucial significance are: (i) optimal utilisation of

and development of rcnewable sources of energy in-

cluding forestry through the formation of renewableenergy associations at the block level; (ti) family

welfare, health and nutrition education and relevant

community programmes in this field; (iii) health for

all programmes; (i"v) water management and soil COll-'

servation; (v) social wilfare programme fOf, weaker

sections; (vi) implementation of minimum needs pro-

gramme; 'and (vii) disaster preparedness and manage-

ment. While these are the broad are'lS where DRDAs

and banks (branches of cooperatives, commercial and

regional rural banks which are very close to the peo-

ple) can. be instrumental in ensuring people's pa,:!ici-

pation, it is neccssary for them to identify the institu-

ions of the people, for the people and by the people

with which large number of rural poor can ",ork/

participate in the rural development programme. Be-

sides, it would be easy for the DRDAs ~nd banks to

coordinate with these institutions fOf achieving the

desired goal/objective of the programme.

What people's organisations can' achieve

PANCHAYATIRAJ INSTITUTIONSat various. levelsparticularly at the grass-root level have a very

significantrole to play in the proccss of plaiming, im-

lementing, monitoring and evalu~ting the iRDP,.

NREP and TRYSEM being implemented throughouthe country.. These institutions can also play an ap-

reciable role in block level planning and in the plan-

Ttingof minimum needs programme in their areas of

peration. Besides, they can play significant role in

he ,!reas viz. (i) Agriculture lUld animal husbandry,

isheries, forestry by popularising improved/HYV

eeds, implements, improved methods. of cultivation

tc. and (ii) organising services and supplies relating

o agricultural and animal hunbandry development. It

ncludes establishment and maintenance of seed mul-

KURUKSHETRA Octobcr 1, 1982

tiplication farms, .artificial insemination centres, veteri-

nary dispensaries. It. 'alSo . includes .. purchase,

manufacture and distribution of improved implements,

". supply of irisecticides etc. (iii) development of thrift

by promoting varions forms of cooperative societies

which provides .credit and other faCilities, (iv) deve-

lopment bf cottage a.od small scal~ industries and

maintenance of production-cum-tr~ning centres, im-

provement of skills of the artisans, (v) education by

opening and running of schools for social and adult

education,. (vi) health-it includes vaccination, con-

trol of epide~cs, j}rovision of .protected drinking

water, .family welfare services, (vii) soci~1welfare-

strengthening of the voluntary organisations working

in the field of Social welfare, (viii) emergency relief

in case of fire, flood, drought, epidemics or other natll-.ral calamities.

THE COOPERAT1VEmovement in India is the I~rgest

.one in the world. We have over three 1a,khsof coope'rative societies of different types' with a membership

of over 11.2 crores. The movement covers 98 per cent

of villages and' 50 per cent of rural population .. The

movement has a wor~g capital of Rs. 17,000 crores

and its tnrnover in agricultural sphere alone was ,more

than Rs. 2,500 croies in 1977-78. The cooperative

sector has provided the employment opportunities to

more than 12 lakh people. The Jndian Cooperative

Movement though traditionally ,an agri,cultural move-,

ment has spread to other sectors of the Indian eco-

nomy. In the agricultur~ sector, the moveme.nt has

undertaken all th« economic activities io.help the far-

mers. Today, the cooperatives are the main institu-

tional agencies which undertake the functions of the.

supply of credit, marketing,. processing of agricultural

co=odities l1lldthe supply of other 'inputs. The co-.

operatives, h,!ve als~ played a significant role in c~rry-

ing science arid technology to. the farmers by way of "

organising agro-service centres. The movement has

helped the fanners by. creating other non-faim based

activities on the cooperative basis viz. poultry, fishery,

dairy to improve his living standards. Besides; 228593 .

Gram Panehayats, 4478 Block P'J'nchay:itSamitis, 252Zila Parishads which liTe expected to encourage

people's particip~tion there are 55,000 :i\1ahila Manc. .

'A unified agency at the distri~tle~'elwould ~e able to pro'yide

better supervision and bring'in coordinated effort in the gene~

ration of emplo;yment opportunities. Coordination in the

.r:riOparationof programmes should -invariably follow coordi-

nation in implementation.'-

dais, 80,000 Yuvaj<' Mandals .and arOund 10,000

volulitary agencies' reported to stimulai~. voluntary'

action at the village leyeL These agencies can assist

in. the implementation "<;If the programme in the nian-

ner, viz. (i) Assistance in fonnniation of black plan

.•

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Coordination ,and monitoringof'impacf

'The obj~til'e ~ould be a grad~al transfer of;lanning 'pr~l.~~'"

t o the peo'ple' .theriiScJ~'.es, "t o 'the IOCality~ The' govc~. I

ment should' Dot continue indefinitely to 'administer' ru ra lde,,"clopmcnt, tlie local people should be placed i n ' a position"'

in which they can manage their own affairs.,

agencies can .also assist significantly in monitoring the

'iniplementation"l!nd tryingpetiodicalverification of

tbe utilisation, of ,assets by beneficiaries, (v) setting up

,of traiJling centres under TRYSEM, and (vi) pro.-

viding traming to, beneficiaries by employing master

craftsmen and. availiIig oftbe 'assistance under

TRYSEM.

Conclusion'I dJ

IN ~'HE HIERARCHrC~LANDlNEQUITABLESTRUCTUR

of Indian rural "ociety, the Central Government. has

been a major defender of the poor and there is. a

danger that decentralisation of authority, might weaken

the.:poor ..Tather than facilitate their democratic partici-

pation. .Yet:, genuine development, Ie,quires decentra~

lised administr..ation and local 1control over resources.It js essentia! .therefore, to, create conditions. conduclve

!o the !TIopilisation and organisation of the rural poor,

any scheme of dece'nt.ralisation must iuclude iustitu-

portunities. ,Coordination. 'in the prepanttion of plans

should invariably Jollow coordination in implementa-

tion. The developmmit programmes of panchnyat

.and other development departments have to be coordi-

nated, aLthe village level. The DRDAs and banks

have now identified themselves with the rural people '

and they are professional bodies with. potemial for

building tip ade'luate experties in thc spIJere qf rural

dcvelopment.: They arc theteforc, in a much, better position to (i) discuss with the rural people the con-

c~pt, 'objective a 'n d , implications of the socio-ecol1?mic

~deveiopment p ro g riII lllT Ic s initiated by the Gov'ernI11ent/

ot,hc;: agenc'ies,".sh~re 't-h ~ !r exPeriences, idcl;'tify their

felt needs; (ii) evoke their participation and motivate

them to participate in building pc-oplc's organisations;

(iii) assist them in the exercising of planning the~;

schemes/projects withi'n the broad framework provid-

. ed by the Governmcnt; (Iv) mobili~~ their labour and

resources in the implementation of these .projeets; (v)

seek ,their he;p in formulating b,inkable/viilble credit

scheme, modify' the procedures for lending throughsecuring eontinuous feedback; (vi) involve their iusti,

tutions in preparing .bloek levcl credit pla'ns; (vii)

ensure that various forward 'and backward linkages

for -suce-essful)mplcmcntation of projec!s arc properly

established; (viii) ctIc.ctivcly coordinate- with 'other

institutions engaged lin the task of development; (ix)

make them aware ,of the role and funetious of all the

institutions,set up for ,bringing development; (x) ,eek

cooperation of, higher authorities 10 expand/modify

the .role and. functions ,of the agencies/organisations/

offices set up for ,development in the light of changingneeds of the specific' area;. (xi) assist t.hem in moni-

toring the \~orking of)hesc age'ne-i~s;(xiD seek as'sis-

tanee of lndustl'ial/Business/Commercial houses for

their participation in this task of development through

various ,-ineans;, and ..(xiii) assist panchayats to aug':

ment their, fin,!ncial resources through undertaking rc-

m'unerati"vc' enterprises viz, raising. fodder, f~elwood,

fruits etc. 0'11 w<,!steland; community irrigation works,

s c :n Y l ~ ? J 1 } r , ) £ L o - g ~ ~ \J p}~l!1~s},l!~t.. ~n;ig,)~~o:::}ys~:..Il}.:•,Itmay be pointed that these. arc ~ot academie exercises

but these have been done in SOBle states which can-Ec

emulated with advantage by other panchayats. .•.

i• • •

, t."

-~ :;.-;

and designing !he format, project .formulation, identi-

.fication. of economically viable activities. and benefi-

ciaries, (ii) since IRDP is now being implemented on

.a cluster basis, based on avail~bility of infrastructure

the area of operation of voluntary agencies could' be

one of the criteria in the selection of clusters. Alter-

natively, the cluster -selected for IRD could be adopted

by the voluntary agency, (iii) voluntary agencies can

assist in>'training, survey, identification of potential,'providing linkages witb supply of .raw materials, mar-

.keting arid salelof the finished products, (iv) voluntary

NO.OJ>.GA~JSAnON CANAT1'AIN,its goal without

adequate' coordination among, units and their fun~-

. tionaries: Coordination is an administrative process/

mechanisll1 which~eeks to bring '~bout unity, of pur-

'poSe in 'o;der to aChievc.commonobj9ctiv,es. Etf.9~tjve

co'ordinati~I;: is ,th~refore neccss;ry bctwCeb diIIereptuhits .u;{dcr the same organisation and between 'diflc-

rent agencics \~orking,for thc common end. The pur-

pose oLcoordinatio~ is ,to achiev~s~ootl~ andefgf'ient

functioiling, remove bottlenecks lmd avoid wastage due

to.ovcriappi;lg, and dupli(,,;tion. Coordination also

ensures beltcr relationship between different function-

aries and institutions. Besi&s some sort of checks

and' balances arc 'aiso n~eded in order to achieve ,the. l I " 0'" l. " - f'

objectives of coordination. The neccssity for chccks

and balances in any system is well recognised. The

efforts of' the. local administrative organisation a ~ dot~~r )nsti~u.tions . a.re '~ q t ~ell coor4inaied .. 'It' is

necessary to bring the. whole rural development pro-

gramme under one integrated authority. Such an

authority will bring togethcr all ~he elements of, the

programme right from i,nputsupply to marketing of

finished products includirig pl~nnillg. and' e~lerisjon,.•. ';;'.. ,!~"." ' .,..' , , ~I " • ,

service. A unified agency a.t ihe district level would

be able"to provide beudr supervision a'nd bririg i~ co-, >, ",., r.,.oJ '.' . - .

ordinated effort in the generation of employment op-0] , , ,.... J '~ ' " _ '

18 KURUKSHETRA October 1,.1987

~ ~'

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tional devices to ,trengthen political and material base

of the poor.

The objective should be a gradual transfer of plan-

ning process to' the people themselves, to the locality. '

The Goverrunent should noLcontinue indefinitely to

'administer' rural development, the local people should

be placed in' a position in which they can manage'

their own affairs. This will require the provision of

appropriate training at the ,local level, first to enable

the poor to formulate and articulate their needs and

second;, to undertake the 'planning necessary to fulfil

them.

Greater coordination among departments at the dis-

trict level should be encouraged. Perhaps local plan-

ning should begin at the district level and later move

to the block level. In the ultimate analysis, the pro-

fessional hodies very close to the people viz., DRDAs

and hanks can playa very signifieat\t role in fulfillingthe above task and thereby ensure effective participa-

tion of the' people in' the Herculea~ task of rural deve-

, lopmen!.

\, .

{•

(Contd. frqm p. 7)

,,

farmer. It i s these local aspects that need greater

att.~ntion, so that the ideas of participation in projects-

'can be definitive. The divergencies ' and locatione

specific interests need to be studied in greater depth

as part of the nticro-planningprocess:

PARTICIPATION in. government programmes is the

anxiety . now.' This is very urgent in developing

ycon0t1?-ies. Organisations that can receive or c1;1im the

benefits are also becoming essential. But it should be

noted that the poorer sections cannot participate other

than in tardily implementing the projects, with consi-

derable assistance from governm"ental" sources. More

governmental activity is i.nevitable .in su~h situations.

Tn 'some cases, building up of the infr.astructu~e and

supply of inputs has generated entrepreneurship and

scif-help. In some other cases, the functional groUps

or interested demand organisations have developed the

capacity to choose their schemes and the wli~rewithals

to implementing them. Each area, society, time seems

to determine the nature and level of participation. But

it is tIiese diversities and the relative, emphasis that

makes for the total relevance.

..Alady approached Henri Matisse and mentioned

, that he made the hand of t he girl at the Piimo too

ltmg. , Matisse 'replied '.'Madame, it,is not' a glrl;'-it'a

pi;:ture," So is ,participation.

'A . lady ~pproaChed Henri Matisse and menti:ned that he

.made the liand _ofthe girl 'at the 'piano too long. Matisse

replied "Madame, it is not a girl j it is picture." So is

participation. ,

AUTHORS NOTE: The thoughts- here are "all in the "Facets

of Rural Development" (1982), National

~ ", Institute of rural' development; "Rural deve-

lopment participation", John M. Cohen and

No~mal T. Uphoff, Cornell (l977); "Parti-

Cipation" occasional paper of U.N. Institute

of Social Development (1980); and the

writings of Prof. Guy' Hunter, G.D.I.

London. The misreading: of _these and. th~

flagrant impressions are, of. course. author's

own ..

-----_._----------------------

I

DRDAs AND BDOs PLEASE NOTE

A /l the DRDAs and BDOs should from now onwards pay subscriptioll at normal rates (for getting issues 'oj

'Kutukshetra'). A grace period of two'mollths i.e. upto 22nd October may be givell for this. ' Director IRD

l-vJIlissue necessary office memorandum to the D~DAs and BDOs to t~is effect.

(Ministry of Rural Development

Government of India's cin;ular

No. J-12012/1/82"P &

Cdated 19th August, 1982 refers) '..

KURUKSHETRA October I, 1982

I.

'19

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People's participation and-voluntary action

M.V.RAJASEKHARAN

'.

Assigning a high place to voluntary actioll, the author says that "development is an integrated process. It canllot be achieved except through. committed cOOrdi-lIation betweell all the Ilation-building agellcies all theone hand, and the people as represented by their organisations and their institutions olz the other. JVhere

Government sponsored programmes are concerned coordination among o ffi c ial agencies which is very'im-

portant cannot be achieved except through control bydemocratically elected representatives of the people.This logic has to be followed right down to the grass-root level .... 1t is at this level that developmel1/ need,of the people can be expressed in order to formulate

schemes to suit their needs. .... Simultdneol!sly heemphasises the need of building up awareness and' . capability to organise themselves for their own sake

and throws a word of caution that the most of the ins-titutions have proved ineffective. "because they suc-cumbed to the pressures'of the rural elite who captured power in tlieir managing and gove:rning bodies."

Alld adds : "People's participatio;l in the developm,,;t process can come only through volulltary action. Volun-wry actioll is all important vehicle of rural development.The ultimate aim of all activity should be to help people to help themselves. This is the onl}i way to secure people's participation and achieve improvement in.

the quality of life of the rural poor."

SHRI M. V. RAJASEKHARAN

is the Executive Trustee and

Co-ordinator of Asian Institutefor Rural- Development, Basa-

vanagudi, Bangalore.

20

DEVELOPMENT IS AN integrated process. It cannot be achieved. except .through committed coordi-

nation between all the nation-building agencies on the

one hand, and the people as represented, by their or-'

ganisations and institutions on the other. Where Go-

vernment sponsored programmes for development are

concerned, coordination among official agencies which

is very important. cannot be achieved except through

control by democratically elected representatives of

the people. This logic has to be followed right down

to the grass-root level, the level of Panchayati Raj

Institutions. It is at this level that development needs

of the people can be expressed in order to formulate

schemes to suit their needs. This is the way to achieve

people's participation. If people through their orga-

uisations at grass-root level do not have any voice,

development work gets concentrated in a few hands

who with the connivance of the officials will ride

roughshod over the people"and impose on them pro"

jects or programmes which may not have any relevance,

to their needs. This is where the snag lies, because

imposition becomes counter-productive. In such a

situation, people cannot be expected to participate.

You can drag the horse to the water, but canuot makeit drink, unless the horse itself is in ueed of water..

This is the crux of the problem. One cim be reason.

ably sure of people's participation only' when a project

is based on their expressed needs. . If a development.

programme is need-based, people will, 00 their own

volition, particiPate in. implementing it because they

know it is in their interest.

There is no denying that in the past three decades,.

. crores of rupees have been spent by the Central and

State' Governments in India on schemes for rural

development. It is not as if no progreSs has beenachieved: But what has been achieved, is not com-

mensurate with the magnitude of investment. It is an .


,

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itony that with so much of massive expenditure, . the

percentage of people below the poverty line has, over

the years, increased instead of decreasing.

The right emphasis : voluntary action

OBVIOUSLY, THE GOVERNMENTMAC:~NERYalone

cannot sucCessfully implement development pro-

grammes, specially ~at grass~root level. It requireswholehearted cooperation from the people. Securing

'IT people' thr~ugh t h ek> organisations at grass~root level

d o Dot have any voice, development ", 'ork gets concentrated

in a few hands'who with connivance of tile officials will ride

roughsbod over the people and impose on them projects or

programmes which may not have any relevance to their needs.,. . - ~

such cooper;tion is possible only through voluntary

action. Realising this, the Sixth Plan documen:t. has

rightly laid emphasis on the iInportauce of voluntaryaction to secure people's participation. It says that

supplemental action by voluntary agencies in promot-

ing activities for the upliftment of the rural poor will

be of invaluable help in optimising the results of the

plan programmes by enhancing the effectiveness and

efficiency of the services provided by Governmental

functionaries, and by mOtivating the concerned benefi-

ciaries and rendering suitable guidelines to them in the'

formulation of viable projects arid sources of funding.

The need for voluntary actfun was the raison d'etre of

the Panchayati Raj .system. likeWise, emphasi,

through the plans on building up cooperatives was .tostrengthen people's involvement in' the management

of their economic development. beconding to the plan

document, these were creatures of the Government.

WhaCis of. equal importance, it. says, is the promotion

of purely non-governmental org,!nisations, formal or

nformal in nature, which could motivate and mobilise

people in specific or general development tasks.

To quote the Sixth Plan Document : "Involvement

of rural workers' organisations is relevant not only

for the better implementation of the minimum wage

provisions, but also for generally ensuring the bene-fits intended;for rural workers under the various deve-

opment programmes. The problem in the case of

rural workers is .further aggravated due. to their low

evel of awareness and other disabilities. It may also

be noted that' the .Government of India has already

atified .ILO Convention No. 141 whicn enjoins that

t shall be ,an objective of the national policy con-

erning rural development to facilitate the establish-

ment' and growth of strong and -independent

organisations of rurnl workers including agricultural

abourers, artisans, share-croppers, tenants and small

armers so that they get their due share in the benefits

f ellOnomic and social' development".

KURUKSHETRA 'Octoberl, '1982

The rationale

VOLU~TAltY .ACTIONIN INDIAis not a new pheno-

menon. There are, as many as 2000 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) or groups in

India working for rural development. There are also

quite a few coalitions or formulations of voluntary

groups. Originally, voluntary rural welfare work

st'frted as a mission with certain limited goals based on charity concepts. But over the decades, the whole

concept and methodology have changed. Con-

cepts like people's participation, self-reliance, aware-

ness building, etc. have assumed importance. The

NGOs working today in th.e field of rural development

have built up their activities On tlie basis of a rationale

which has three principles to 'support it. They are-'--

(1) Charitable action, while bringing immediate and

utilitarian help, are powerless by themselves to make

a dent in.poverty; (2) the development work neces-.

sarily implies total involvement of rural animators inthe socio-economic spheres; and (3) no development.

strategy can be successful unless it is supported by the

various social. groupings that make up the target popu- .

lation. These' principles have been evolved on the

basis of long years of experience.

As in other fields of social and economic activity,

in the sphere of rural development also, the problem

of rural poverty is beset with increasing complexities

and- has assumed. colossal dimensions. In our coun-

try, there is no 'dearth of organisations engaged in

voluntary action for rural development. The question

today is' not whether voluntary action is necess'!fy or'

not. It has already been noted that voluntary action

is not. only necessary, but inevitable to supplement'

governmental action. But. the question is how to uti_

lise \'oluntary iriitiatives or how to chaunelise them for

achieving the objectives of rural development: The

ingerent limitations of the Governmental machinery

have necessitated ail increasing role for voluntary

agencies in accelerating the pace of!1'ral development

It is wrong to presume that the role of voluntary

agencies begins' where the role of official agencies ends.

'It is wrong to presume that the role of voluntary agencies

begins where the role .of official agencies ends~ What is

really needed is simultaneous and mutually complementary-

ac~OD.,'

What .is really needed is simultaneous and mutually

complementary actioB. There shonld be a. happy

blen~ of voluntary efforts and appropriate government

inputs. ' Excessive dependence' on the. State for eco-

nomic development has to be avoided. It is in this

area that the voluntary agencies can playa signifi.cant

role. For this purpose, it is necessary that they shonld have well organised and dedicated' clidres coveringevery part: of the. cOlintry..

i

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"

if Nabs have to be successful in securing peopie;s

participation, they have to fulfil some esseniial pre-

re'Iuisites. Firstly, they themselves should be people's. . .

organisati0':ls or set up with full participation or sup-

port of the people. Secondly, they should help in the

development of local graBs-root level' organisations to

become self-reliant through sustained efforts of local

'While it is important to achieve development by utilising

local resources, local talents and strengthening all that is good. and;utilisation in the local lore and tradition, it is equally

important to achieve development through implementation. of

progressive ideas relating to appropriate tecl)nology and.Dew

v a l u es . ~

leadership. Thirdly, they should not attempt to ope-

rate. projects directly but do so through local people

who 'Should only be. guided by the cadres. Fourthly,

the' NGOs should be able to create motivation and

oppOrtunities for self-employment among people. This

means that they should create conditions which will,

cause self-emplOyinentaild not create. parasitic jobs.Fifthly, NGOs should study the national development

polici~s and promote among people thinking trends on

the lit)es of those policies so as to enable the people

to reap the. benefits of schemes and pmjects meant for

them. Sixthly, and as a corollary to the preceding

• prerequisite, the governnients should recognise the

NGOs as an essential third force for economic and

social development. (The Government and the people

are the two other forces). Lastly, the NGOs or the

voluntary organisations should keep constant liaison

with other voluntary organisations with a view to

avoiding duplication of 'efforts and wastage. Proper

co?r(lln.ation among NGOs will result in greater bene-

fits.

Building awareness

W IfILE< IT IS important to achieve development 'b ~utilising local re,ouIces, local talents and by

strengthening' aU that is good and utilitarian in the

local lore and tradition, it is equally important to

achieve development through implementation of pro-

gressive ideas relating to appropriate technology and new values. The rural people must he persuaded, to

learn new production tecJiniques for attaining better

standard or.'living. This can be done only by bringing

about attitudinal changes in the rural people and by

creating in them. an orientation towards achieving

better quality of life individually and collectively.' It.

is futile to argue on the question whether development

is the cause"of mass aware:ness and mass action, or

it is the consequence. What is really needed is that

efforts should be'made to build up the ~dequate degree

of awareness; awakening and organisalion in the rural

population, particularly the rural poor. It is at. leasta necessary corollary if not a pre:condition for any

worthwhile effort towards poverty alleviation.

One of. the Key factors for buiidmg awareness' I i'the role of' mass, media and mass cont~ct. At the

- ".' '

Sixth Plan document hils stated: "past experience sug1

gests that many of the programmes- intended for - the

poor do not reach them partly because of the lack of

awareness on the part of the potential beueficiaries of

the opportunities that are being made available for

them. People's participation in the planning proCess

as well as in the effective implementation of program-

mes can be greatly helped by the expansion .of com"munications .as .well as through information. media".

Barring the Press and the feature side of the cellu"

loid medium, the other agencies of mass media in

India are government owned. The Press, specially

the Indian language Press, has a vital role, to play in

building awareness. Though it is a fact that literacy

rate imposes certain limitations on the reach of . the

Press, particularly. in rural areas, its impact and

importance cannot be ignored because whether one

likes -it_or not, what appears in print has a certain

value attached to it and the opinion-leaders in ruralareas who read newsPllpers shape the opinions and

views of others in the villages. By and large, the_

most effective means of COil1illUnicationis the word of

mouth and persuasion. this is where the NGOs have

to play a significant role in bnilding awareness. The

cadres of NGOs while working with the. rural people

and dealing with the local leadership must attempt in

the course of their conversation, to create the needed

orientation towards workiJig for self-reliance and pro-

gress. This is. !he oilly way' to persuade and secure

people's cooperation and participation in development programmes.

Education and moiivation of the rural poor is the

primary task for involving them in development efforts.'.

The rural poor have to be brought out of their age-

old helplessness and powerlessness., They should be

enabled ,to perceive development as their own aspira-

tion and to think that the goals of development are

worth pursuing. It has to be. an education based on

'If people's participation i~ to be eff~~tive, there should be

. really independent, autonomous and demOcratic organisations

ofthe rural poor, organised by themselves for their O.W D bene~a , .

the realities around them. By sharpening their percep-

tions and by raising their critical consciousness, strong

fouudation can be laid to build up conscious and awa-kened masses. '

Organisations of the rural poor

oNE ~ESCAPABLE.CONCLUSIO~ Which,Gov~rn~~n~s;

alld the other con~erned i~sr-itutions. ~n India and in:.other developing countries have 'come to is the fact

tlmt without people's! participation, no programmes.

Z2• KURUKSHETRA October 1, 1982

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for the poor can succeed. If people's participation

is to be effective, there should be really" independent,

autonomous and democratic organisntions of the rural

poor, organised by the poor themselves for thcir own

benefit. There are some lessons to be learnt from pastexperiences. Firstly, the organisations should he. com-

posed of persons, by -and large, belonging to -"the.

'The ultimate aim of 'all acth'ity .should be to ~help people

to help themselves' .. This is the only.way to secure people's

participation and achie,'C"improvement ill the qualil)' of life

of Ihe rural poor,'

same social and economic gronp or class. Secondly,attempts should be made as far as possible to unite

effectively' all the rural poor into feder.ating institu-

tions at least on regional basis.' Thirdly, the orlOanis"a-

tions should be autonomous, independent and demo- .

cratic in the-ir functioning. Lastly, the various organi-

sations of the rural poor should combine 'not only to

provide servicing "facilities, but also, and this is moreimportant, to .exert the p~cssurc upwards to secure

thc benefits from the authorities.

If the Panchayati Raj institutions, community deve.

lopment efforts and to a great extent, even coopera.

tives did not make much headway, " i t was obviously

because, they succumbed to the pressures of the mral'elite who captured power in their ma"nagingor Govern-

ing bodies. The organisations of the rural pear should a t all costs avoid the rural el.ite and remain as organi-

sations of the poor, 'namely, the marginal- farmers,

landless "labourers, tenants, share-croppers, artisans,and service castes .ek They should alSo c~mbinein resisting the tremendous 'powers of -the rural elite.

An important aspect is that the rural organisations

should have suitable linkages witli non-political NGOs

and welfare agencies. Such linkages will help them

in becoming more effective and in achieving their

aims and' objectives more adequateiy.' Only on the

basis of the consciousness of the rural poor and their

unflinching faith in organised efforts, people's partici-

payon would become a growth promoting impulse.

. One point that should b e clearly understood is thatparticipation. is not. equivalent to m arginal representa-'-

tion or ornamental appendage in some official bodies.

Participation means that'the local people's orgimisa-

tions ate involved in the planning, implementation and

monitoring of developmelit. projects/efforts in which

the governmental agencies are only partners, not mas-

ters. Such a participation of conscious people's or-

ganisation~s can be built _lip" by voluntary organisations".

since they can overtly take sid~swith the rural poor.

I'T. WOULD BE RELEVANT h~re to c;te an example of aile of the ways in which people's participation could

be sought in rural. development programmes. 'The

KURUKSHETRA October 1; 1982

Asian 'Tnstitute for Rural Development (AIRD) es-

tablished in ] 976 in Bangalorc .is 'a public charitable

lrustregislcred under the Indian Trust Act, .1882. Itis a NGO which is autonomous, non-political, non~

. sectarian, non-denominational and non-commercial or-

ganisation. It is a voluntary alliance of NGOs of the

.dev~loping countir~s of Asia whiCh aims at -strengthen-

ing and promoting in a practical way voluntary action

for rural development in Asian~ countries. Its Board

of Tmstees comprises 13 trustees-from eight Asian

countrie-s and f rom 1\\70 countries .outsid~ the region.

ARSC experiment

O N E OF ITS MA.TOR ACTIVITIES is development of

human resources for rural uplift. For this plirpose,

it trains rural animators who, in turn, motivate the

people for participation in development work. Its

training programme. for' rural animators is called the

Asian Rural Service Corps (ARSC) and has a dura:-

tion of three months. Of the 12 to 13 weeks of the.course, only about 4 weeks are utilised for theoretical

inputs and about 9 weeks for project placements. The

talks delivered during' theoretical sessions lay. em-

phasis on the organisation of rural workers such as

landless labourers, small tenants and small and- mar- .

ginal farmers.

During project placement, the animators arc expo~-I

cd to rural development -,,,ark by different organisa-

tions with widely differing approaches so that they

have the option to choose the one that suits the situa-

tion in their areas. In short, ARSC training providesa learning sitnation for analysing the various models

of development. The trainees who are rural animators

are, by and large; deplited to undergo the course by

NGOs in Asian countries, such as Bangladesh,Malay-

asia, Mauritius, ~Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka: and India ..' Since its inception, AIRD has so far conducted five ARSC courses. . .

Organising workshops in cooperation witb other,

voluntary .bodies engaged in rural development work

is another major activity of AIRD. In September-

October'1977, it organised in a village near Banga-

.lore, a meet called "Regional Workshop on Integrat-

ed Rural Development with Social Justice". One

of its objcctives was to attempt-a critical analysis of

.the problems and needs of rnra] areas and formulate

specific fypes of action programmes withi~ the frame-

work of . integrated rural . development. Similarly,

ATRD organised the '~'National NGO-workshop on the

follow-up of World Conference on Agrarian Reformand Rural Development (WCA.RRD) for Southern

Region" in September . .1980 at Bangalore. This was

done in cooperation with the FAO's Regional Office

, in Bangkok. The aim \vas to explore the areas where NGOs cou.1d play a meaningfnl role in motivating

(Contd,to p. 28)

23

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• ._ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -"It is paradoxical'~, says the author, "that the very

people who are producing the things which we need

most should get the least return fron1 the society .•.

"The growing rural pauperisatioH co uld oilly mea n

.that development and developmental efforts of the

government and voluntary agencies. have not affected

.this unfortunate category of people, as they should."

He adds: "The" entil-c process simmers- down to

evolving an effective strategy to educate and thus

'motivate the people /0 participate in [Jrogramme.~a.nd_ schemes formulated and implemented to red,y,ss the

iniserable economic and social conditions of the low-

liest and the lost. A knowledge of what the programme

is, how to derive its benefits and the constraints-

inherent and system-generated-that stalld. in the' way

is to be shared with them."

SHRI V. KRISHNAMURTHI'is the Secretary, GandhigramTrust, Gandhigr:am.

Participation : somerambling thoughts

V. KRISHNAMURTHI

T HE TWENTIETH CENTURY had witnessed it unique

phenomenon unparallelled in the history of the

world, of the t.riumph of non-violence over violence in

overthrowing an oppressive colonial rule from India."

Mahatma Gandhi, the giant of India's history, with

iio sanctions except the sanctions of his conscience,

with no power except the power he derived from the

people and with no authority except the moral autho-

rity, generated such a mightymomentuffi in the coun-

try that" awakened the people and led them'to freedom.

The elite and the masses, the educated and the illite-

rate, the villager and the city-dweller, all flocked inmillions responding. to every call of the Master and.

joined him spontaneously in the freedom struggle,

sacrificing and leavi~g behind their comforts, wealth,

kith and kin. That was participation of the Indian

people for their liberation.

After Independence, the people of India evolved for

themselves a Constitution for a government Of their own. Adult franchise was enshrined in the constitu-

tion. Every .adult in India, according to the Consti-

'tulion, was given' a right to nile the country through

his elected representative in the Legislatures at theState level and in Parliament at the national level.

So, to eledt Members' to Parliament and .Members to

the Legislative Assemblies, the Indian people in droves

exercised their votes, That was participation of the

Indian people to form their own Government for the

governance of the country.

Five years after Independence, realising the need

to improve the lot of the 80 percent of the popu1a-

tion living in--rural India, the Government of India

launched the mighty programme 'of community deve-

lopment. The programme did generate some interest

and certain awareness not ouly amongst the rural

people,' but to certain extent amongst the bureaucracy

as well. In rural areas wbere the Community Deve-


: J

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I

tributioll of labour and .some resources, their- was

never real partlcipation. The act of .participation in-

stead of becoming a learniug situation dwindled intoone of drudgery and even resentment.

lopment Project was in operation there was a tremen-. dous enthusiasm and brisk .activity to improve agri-

culture, devise minor irrigation facilities, upgrade' the

indigenous cattle, construct school buildings; build

roads, provide drinking water facilities etc, in order

to develop the rural communities. The main empha-

sis was on the. participation of the. people in every

activity initiated under the programme. It was pro-

claimed as people's. programme "to help the people

to help themselves". That was also. participation. of the people for their economic development. .

But the findings of the nation-wide survey conduct-

ed by the then N.I.C.D. in 1966 revealed that people

saw community development as a task-oriented pro-

gramme, as opposed to a process-oriented programme.

Although the people werc involved through their con-

'The cconomicaUy weaker sections "'have aslittle voice in the affairs of the paD~hayats"

yet

in the a!faiis of the panch.ayats". Today we see the

deplorable situation in some States where even the. .

elections for Panchayats have not been h~ld for years.

However, 1l1eseevents and instances lead us on toa generalisation that the expression .'participation'

would denote. the involvement of a significant number

of. persons in situations or actions which would en-

hance their w.ell-being, their self-respect, security and

income. Such. involvement of the people may bevoluntary or coerced. When we think of 50 percent

of our population consigned to a position below what

is called the 'poverty line' the significance of partici-

pation of people in developmental activities as,umes

a meaning and . dimension beyond what is usually

understood. The growing rural pauperisation could

ouly mean that development and developmental efforts

of the governments and voluntary 'agencies have not

affected this 'unfortunate category of people, as they

should. Evidently participation is either meagre or

abs~nt as is the case in all t0I>-down programmes.

Even so, we think of participation of ouly rural people

in pragrammes and projects formulated to bring pro-.

sperity to our country. .,',

Devolution of power

THEREFORE, THE COMMtTTEEon Plan Projects-

more familiarly known as Bahvantrai Mehta COin-

. mittee-which probed and investigated thoroughly into

the a!fairs of the Community Development Programme

made th" far-reaching recommendation. that "thereshould be devolution of power and decentralisation

of machinery and such power should be. exercise<land

such machinery controlled .and directed by popular re-

presentatives of the local areas". In effect rnral deve-

lopment was linked up with. local governments at

village level, to determine realistically . local needs

which could be reflected in the plans of development.The Panchayati Raj was expected to work at the

grassroot.level .involving the people of the village in

-plannip.g and executing programmes to meet their felt

needs. That was again considered as .participation of

the people at the grass-root level for improving thesituation of their village communities and themselves.

But even within the limited achievements of the

working of the Panchayats, the masses of the people

had been found to be generally ignored. There was

no real awakening nor public enthusiasm created to

educate thc peoplc to participate: It is unfortunate

that the traditional rural leadership crept into the

Panchayats at the eJeCtions. The Fifth Evaluation r,,-

port says that cormnittees were usually dominated by

the conservative upper class and prosperous elements .

in the village. Balwantrai Mehta team felt that theeconomically weaker sections "have as yet little voice


Paradox of denial of reward

I T 1SPARADOxtCALthat the very people who are pro-

ducing the things which we need most should get the

least return -from the society.' People referred to here

are the small and marginal farmers, landless agricul-tural labourers, rural artisans 'and the rest of their

tribe who produce the food we all need and eat, and

'yho give us the materials for our daily use. To pro-vide them with basic amenities like drinking water,

health care, a link road, elementary schooling, etc.,

we want their whole-hearted and voluntary participa-

tiOl}.None of us would dare ask the residents of the

Greeh Park area in Delhi nor the residents of Ashok nagar in Madras to come out of their homes with

spades and crowbars to lay a road for their benefit.

But we want the villagers to participate contributing a

day's labour (thus losing a day's wage and going hun-gry) in laying an approach road for their village: We

are willing to spend crores on equipping a city or a big-

'The - growing rurul pauperisation could ()nl~ meanthat deyclopmcnt and developmental efforts of. thegonrnment and voluntary agencies have not affectedthis .llnfo~nate category of people. as they. should'

town with the most modern sewage system complete

with recycling arrangements (often with foreign tech-nical collaboration and expertise) ..Yet we would

25

,

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wapt our villager> to dig a pit and fill it up with

brickbats to such ill the cffiucnt water from their huts.

We wallt the U.G.c. to give us grants to construct

fabulous multi-storeyed buildings with all modern in.

stallations, e~quipJUentand furniture in a city, for a

'college or a university, but for constructing a village

~

It is paradoXical that the very _people \vbo are pro-

ducing the things which we need most should get theleaNt return from the society;"

'school house we do not hesitate to coerce the villagers

to cohtribv-ie money, or material, or. manpower, or all,

to enable their children have primary education.

Examples could be multiplied. The basic contradic-

tion in our approach attitude and action towards 'par-

ticipation' becomes obvious, when we see such invi-

dious distinction established between the rural aud

urban arc.as in sati.sfying those needs whch are patent-

ly com'JUon to both. One wonders whether one hasany moral right to expect or cperce the village people

alone to shed their sweat or part with their me-agre

resources to 'participate' in a community devel?prrwnt'

activity, when such a participation canno~ even. be.

d~eamt of from those in cities. The argument trotted

out may be that citizens in th~etropolis pay many

taxes for' these amenities,' but does not, the villager

also pay taxes-taxes for the kerosene he uses, the

match box hc buys, the cloth he wears' etc. etc. Said

Gandhiji : "The contrast between the palaces of New

Delhi and the miserable hovels of the poor labouringclass cannot last one day in a Free India in which

tho poor will enjoy 'the same power as the rich in

the 13'nd". But 'that day is,yet to dawn.

Neverthclcs~ conscious probably of this patent dis-

criminatory reality, we have initiated the Minimum

Needs Programme, Revised Minimum Ne<:dsProgram-

me and the Block Self-sufficiency ~Programme specially

to be;"efit the' rural communities. These programmes

aim at providing basic needs like protected drinking

water supply, link roads and other basic amenitiesto the village communities. All these facilities are -

provided by the Governmental agencies and could

well be rccognised as welfare measures. Participation

of the people here, like those in cities and towns,

could o[lly be in putting these facilities to right use,

and maintaining them.

I N ORDER TO GENERATE EMPLOYMENT and cre~te,

durable community assets in -rural aI.eas, we have the

National Rural Employment Programme. Six hundred

famiiies of thc weaker sections are .identified and

chosen each y~ar in selected h locks l' under Inte:gratcd

26

Rural Development Programme, to lift them ahove

thc poverty line by providing credit and subsidies to

augment agricultural production, to take up' village

and cottage industries and run petty trades and small

shops to generate some income. The Rural Youth is

givcn an opportunity through TRYSEM to learn a

trade or a craft to become individual entrepreneurs

and thus make out a living. All thesc programmes

are aimed at cradication of ~poverty and specially

planned for tile rural poor. Allocation of funds for these schemes run to seve nil crores of rupees. It is

often reported that the benefits of these scheme, have

not fully reached the destination. Experiences of such'

promotional-programmes and researches conducted on

their impact on the target group show that program-

mes of public snbsidies of this kind have an immanent

bias towards the wealthy strata, Several reasons are

found for this situation :

1Pressure on extension workers to show success

or reach target which compels them to approach

t):le most influential and powerful in the village.

2 The very 'profcssional training and the social

origin of the extension workers.

3 Cleverness on the part of the rural elite in gain-

ing access to public funds and the advantage

they have in obtaining better and quick infor-

.mation.

4 The capacity of the affluent in the, village to in-

fluence the administrators.

A PART FROM thc above inhibiting factors, in obtain-ing the precisc information of the schemcs, ~in getting

the assistance offercd through the schemes and evcn

in profiting from the schemes, the rural poor meet

with fornlidable social and economic constraints from

within the ,community. Their colossal ignorance, eco-

nomic backwardness, and low social status in the

community are all exploited to the hilt to deny them

the opportunities to have access to these schemes. The.influential and the knowledgeable at a definitely higher

social and economic strata mop off the benefits of

~

The coutr.l!li between the palaces of New DelW andthe miserable kovels of the poor labouring: classescannot Isst one da)' in a free India. in- which the poo:rwill enjoy the same power as the rich in the land.,

these schemes for their own advancement thus widen-

ing and broadening the already existing social and

economic inequality.in the community. Certainly

these were not the intentions of the planners. Even

in small initiatives intended to bring some Wile bene-

f it to the comn1ll11ity as a V.lllo1e, OIlC could discern


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munity.

L AY1~R OVER '"AYER .of sediment deposited by ;.ain

and mflow of water into a"tan_k in a village made it

shalI~w over a period of years, reducing its storage

capacity. TIle tank went dry for threc to four months

,

T~\cillOLle~tial and the knowledgeable at a definite~..L

lugller social and economic strata mop off the benefitso~ th~se schemes for their Own. advancement thuswldemng an~ b!oad~ni.ng.the already existing socialand economic meqtl3ht.y in the community . .,

But, what had happened behind .the scenes is inte-

resting and significant. The three rich landlords who

olIercd frec food and tractors for transporting the dug.out silt had between them about' 40 acres of land that

had remained fallow and uncultivated for years .. The

silt from the tank bed which is full of humous and

which is a rich manure dug out -by the sweating poor

villagers was transported and spread over these forty

acres of land to a thickness of abou.t a foot. Just

in a month's time. forty acres of fallow and llncultiv-

able land of the rich wcre turned arable through the

community effort and participation. in desilting a tank

of t he village. What is more, for the next 3 to 5 years

crop production would be abundant without adding a

basket of manure or a kilogram of fertilizer. With'

the ostensible purpose of deepening the tank for the

Role of voluntary agencies, ,

good of 'the village, the dch Jandlordsmanipulaled .the

proce~~ to appropriate tlie best out of iiii~ "community

actIon ,to profit and ennch themselves .. The ;poor.did

partJcipate but for what and for whom? The non-

intended results of the project far out-reached the

good intentions with which it was'started. The instance

cited above is not solitary" but repeats' itself in.~ubtle

forn]s .in almost all-.development. projects. Ho;" to

make, people aware of such lateilt,' , components of exploitation indevelopmen.t efforts ' 1 ",I,. ,I >

, .. .

People's participa'tionis the people's. initiative toassert ~hemselve,s' as human beings with digniQ. andself.rcspect... people discover the extent of theirawareness to the situations they are ,in and . realisetheir own identity as they work for II transfonnationof thei~ life situution.'

G ..

, AN'DHIJI'S APP_ROACI~, to rural development -was to

"realise tl]e latent creative capacity . .of the people and

to harness it for .their own development". If we want ;;

these schemes ~o reach t h e .- mute and the passive poor ..-

the ..'latent creative capacity' 'i n them is to be awaken-

ed through a process of education familiar to them

and in keeping with their cultural and social tradition~.

By awakening this latent creative capacity only any

conscious participation is possible. People's partici-

pation i.s a social phenomenon. It has to do with

pebple's action to shape their own si"tuation and .fu:-

ture. It is directed' towards. achievement of justice

and .equality. -Tn other \vords, people's. participation

is the people's ,initiative to assert themselves as human

beings with dignity and s c 'lf -re s p ec 't. The aim- is rather

for the exploited and neglected to gain power so that

they can control their lives U!1d economy creating. just

and participatory structures in' their own communities';

In that scnse people's participation is both the meansand an end. It finds expression at all levels, local, ..

national,. international and .in. all s.ocieties. In the

process people disc-over the extent of their awarencss

t o t he s it uat io ns t hey ar e iIi and- re;lise their ow n .•...

identity. as they work for a transformation 0f thc'i~tf_

l ife situation. ","It is marked by .the acqtllsi~'ibn ..o r' :n ew {. , - ' , ., .. , -,., . -

knowledge by the people-the poor and the destitute.

Whcre docs all ttlis lead to ?

T H E ENTIRE PROCESS SIMMERS down to evolving

an"effective strategy to educate. and. thus .moti~ateth~

people to participate in programmes and schemes for-mulated and implemented to redress the miserable

forces to obtaininterplay of economic and social

most from i t . for themselves.

the

the

in a year. This affected the water level in the irrilla-

tion wells ',iround. Cattle of the ;;ilIage also haC!Cto

go without water during summer mQn....ths since the

tank becamc dry. A voluntary agency working with

the people in the village discussed the situation withthe villagers. Since this affccted. e'vervoodv in thc

\: iHagc, the poor vi llager s decided to c~ntri1~mte their

labour to deepen the tank by removing the deposit-

ed silt. Astonishingly the landed gentry in the village

also stepped in and offered to feed the poor villagers

who worked in thc desilting operation. They ~lso

.arranged for the removal of the dug ont silt from thc.

site. There was a great deal of enthusiasm, and . the

hectic activity went on for nearly a month, the men

and women gettIng a free meal, and the silt being re-

moved promptly by the tractors of the rich landlotds.

The tank was deepened to a depth of about five feet

all around., Now the tank could hold five times the

qu~ntity of 'water it stored before. Everyone was.happy of this achievement. It was acclaimed as the

best example- of real participation sfnce the ricb and

the poor joined hands in 'completing thc oroicct that

fulfilled a Ion" felt need of the entire ~j]];ge com-M w, -

KURUKSHETRA .October I, 1982 27

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economic and social conditions of the lowliest and the

lost. A knowledge of what the programme is, how to

derive its benefits and tho constraints-inherent and'

system-generated-that stand in the way is to be

shared with'them. Voluntary efforts in many parts

'The entir-e process ~hnmers down to evolvjng aneffective strategy to educate and tbus motivate thepeople to participate. in programmes and schemes for-

mulated and implemented to redress tbe miserableeconomic and social conditions of the lo,,'lie~"t andthe losl.,

of India have earned n reputation ofheing nearest

and closest to the people with whom they work. The

dedication and commitment which the ,vorkers in

many voluntary ,agencies have brought -into their work

have been largely responsible for the confidence and

trust which people have reposed in them, Trust and

(Col1/d. from p. 23)

people and furthering rural development in the light

of the recommendations of the WCARRD held at

Rome.

The purposc of citing the abovc activities of AIRD

is to explain how efforts are being made to securc

pe'ople's participation in development by training rural

animators who motivate the people, and by organis-ing workshops of NGOs who in turn work with the

people and involve them in devclopmental activities.

Conclusion

PEOPLE'S PARTICIPATION in the development pro-

cess can come only through voluntary action. Volun-

understanding form the very base of any process of

people's edu~atio;,.1t would be easy fOl' the people

to shar~ their thoughts, ideas, ambitions~ and aspira-

tions with those. famj)jar workers and such initiatives

rather than with impersonal. offiCials or functionaries.

It would, therefore, be only appropriate and to the

advantage of the people and the planners that in all "

poverty-oriented programmes, voluntary agencies arc

associated in an increasingly positive way and their

experiences and kno.w.1~dge- utilised unreservedly in.obtaining a meaningful and rewarding _participation of

the beneficiaries in. project implementation. This.

would greatly facilitate and direct the resources and

benefits intended for the poor to reach, them, A pur-

poseful coIlaboration of Governmental efforts and

voluntary efforts, not merely at the leadership level

for attending seminars, conferences and consultations,

but right at the very grass-roo,t level, could offer chal-

lenging possibilities.

tary action is an important vehicle of rural develop-

ment. The ultimate aim of all activity should be to

help people to help themselves) This is the only way

to secure people's partiCipation and achieve improve-

ment in the quality of life of the rural poor. As Presi-

dent Julius Nyerere of Tanzania has said: "while it

is. possible for an outsider to build a man's house, an

outsider cannot give the man pride and self-confidencein himself as a human being. Those things a man

has to' create in himself by his own actions. He dcye-

lops himself by making his own decisions, by increas-

ing his understanding of what he is doing, and by

increasing his own knowledge and ability, and by his

own full participation-as an equal-in the life of the

community he lives in".

NATIONAL RURAL EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMME

PROVIDES JOB OPPORTUNITIES

IN AND NEAR YOUR VILLAGE

,;.-.-------------------c-..~


,

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Socia-economic structureshould. change. first

- - - - - - - - - - - - _ . ' . .

Advocating the need to first eHeet

changes ill

thesOclo-ecoflomic structure) the author lamcnts that

"wishful talk or e;;pcctalion of 'pal'licipalion' of Ihe

peDpfe in the rlU'at development programmes ir~deed is

irrelevant in the present scheme of things", and opines:

«People have to. have a -stake in any .programme in

which (hey au called upon or expected to participate." .

And adds: "For any section of people to havea stake

ll a development programme) the first pre-requisite is

that il shouUl have assets to protect and upgrade under

t as ({ res.tllt oj the implementation oj the programme.

Or, ill Ihe altemalive, Ihe labour of ihose withoUl

assets which goes into its execution should have the

irst clahn to rightful rew(lNi. The s.~w.ting point to allY

meaningful rural del'elopmentprogra1J1l11e and t o be

herefore, land reforms resulting liz radicai lalld redis~

ributiol1 system which would have widened the social

base of rural development by enlarging "that segment

f population in rural society with assets ana a stake

n development ..... Unless the structlfre changes and

he social base of rural development widens, there

annot be meaningful participatiofl of the people ill the

ural development programmes."

SHRI BALRAJ MEHTA is an •

eminent freelance journalist,

based at New Delhi.

URuxmETRA 0 " , 0 , " " " " "

BALRAJ MEHTA

'KURUKSHETRA' editurs must be complimented for

picking up themes for its a'nnual numbers year after

year focus'sing on critical issues concerning rural deve..,

Jopment. The emphasis has always been on dmwing

the mass of the people into the development eHort and

making it a part of their life.itself, . This is precisely,

however, what has been missing, if not in the COJ1Cep-

tio.n, ,most> ceriainly in the execution Q f the variety of

rural development programmes launched smcc Inde-

pendence, Putting such an important issue like

'Ensuring people's participation in rural development

programmes'. to open debate appears all the more desir-

ab:e and necessary since widespread cynicism prevailsat present aboul. any special. effort or special pro-

grammes to safeguard the interests of the most dis-

advantaged sections in the overall economic and deve-"

lopment proeess,

It would' be' readily admitted that ensuring pariiclpa-

tion of peop'le in rural development pro~ammes in

any genuine sense requires a"definition of rural deve-

lopme'nt itself, What exactly Is the overall design of

development of the whole economy and how does

rural devc:opmcnt fit into it ? With the shift in empha-

sis to growth and what is called productive and profit-able investment for increasing production, the thrust

for equity in the development process is tending to be

blunted. This is true as much about rural develop-

ment f.i'nd its aims. "

Reliance on viable farmers wrong

IT ~OULDsimply not. do to '~h'ut eyes to the fact of

the growing scale and power of commercial agriculture

in rural cconOl'!1Y' Reliance on the 50-called viable

farhler and economic. holdings and concentration of available inputs ill production for the market rather

than the co'nsumption needs of the mass of people,

29

/

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both in rural and nrbal; arens, has ,ts 6Wn ,mplica-

tions. The primary purpose of rural development

which should be removal of llmss unemployment and

illass poverty has thus been lost in the growth of com-

mercial agriculture. It is not fortuitous th3t the pro-

gress of the so-called Green Revolution is associated

'What stakes the landless agricuHural I~bour and rural poot

have o r

can h av e

in land de\.clopmcnt . .. prob'TummCS\~'hcri the).' arc iosing their tenanc)' tights and ownership of

small parceis of I.and ... ,

# " t t f .~11- "',~r . t-' ':" '.••.•.w,jth' gi-owing d i:p u ,'iti C 1 ! 'in 'iilcomes and assetsi'n rural

_!~~[~(~slal1(t,}.l1.prc.and :n~orc- people;, both, re[ative~y and

"':Jbsolutc1y,'smkmg below the poverty Ime subsIstcuce

level. ,.\ r ~.' .

MVCH STRESS has. lately been laid on what is

called an integrated view of rural development. It is

.argued that a mere project or sectoral approach to

)ilra1. development is not right or adequate and often

proves to be wasteful: Further, even well-conceived

. projects fail to yield the desired resulis or make the.

expected impact on the target groups because enough

is not don" to overcome the weaknesses of these pro-

jects in. respect of their forward and backward link-

ages. Such a Hne of reasoning is regarded good

enough for the neglect. and even abandonment of spe-

ciaL schemes for helping 'and uplifting specific target

~'fOUpswhich need them-all in the name oflntegrated .

development and preventing wasteful. expenditure and

leakage' of resources to others than the target groups

for which the resources might have been originally al-

located.' This re~soning has indeed been effeCtively

used recently for a slow down of the food-for-)"ork

programme. The same happened to' special pro-

grammes for r ural pOor in the past which were

launched from time to time with much fanfare but

wer~ grad~aliy allowed to peter out in 'implementation.

Th'is is. not .meant 'to suggest, of .course, that special pi~ogr-a~llncs of 'any kind can ofler any more than limit-

ed 'relief.to selecied groups of. beneficiaries at some

point of time. They can'not rcsu'lt in and do not even

tOllte:mplatcthe removal of basic caUses which stand

in the way of the mass of the poor and disadvantaged

frOtH partaki.ng of the g ai ns o f the clevelopment pro-

cess. 'rhey are necessarily con~ived as a:n adden-

"dum to or as moderating influences on a development

strategy which, i'a the first instance, relies on only the

so-called "viab~e" classes to the .economy as the

sources and agenl's of economic growth and moderni-

sation of the ccorlomy and, therefore actively promotes

tlieir.,.rale "and -pl~cc .as central to the design of deve-

lopn.,ent itse1l.

Hazards of 'trickle down' theory

IN SUCH A PROCESS 0" DEVELOPMENT.' "trickle

down" theory or philosophy must liold p,;imacy and

must prevail as against the philosophy of "direct

assatllt" on poverty which was once ~alked about more,

as populist gimmickery thail a serious commitmcil1.'

There can bz n o doubt, of course, that jf there is

steady econo,mic growth and increase in production for the market to satisfy effective demand, some gains

from growth arid higher production will trickle down

to the intermediate artd ~ower ]~vels of society as

well....:...-allin due coursc and in the most skewed

manner. But at the start of this process of growth, by

its very logic and character, its gains nllist be almost

entirely; monopolised by a thin upper stratum at the

top :in order to con~oJidate the economic power of this

stratum before .it is willing and even able to let others,

the weaker sections, partake of the gains of develop-

ment to some extend.' This i,s part of the historical

experience and is an observed fact of economic and

social development during the la~t three de-eades in

India.

In such a process of development, active participa-

tion of the mass of the people does not arise at all. On

the contrary, there is widening gulf between those

who engineer such a process of development and ruth-

lessly monopolise its gains and the rest of the people.

'Unless the structure changes and the social base of rura;

de,'elopment widens, th~re cannot be meaningful participation_ ~f the people in the rural development programmes. This

truth has c,'idently not rece~,'ed at_tention or recognition ~.. ,

Dividing lines botween the elite and the people only

harden and sharpen and there is alienatiOIl of the peo-

ple from such a process of development and those

who. revel in it and profit from it. There is no parti-

cipation of and- often resistance from the broad masses

which calls for counter-measures to "discipline" people

and dragon them into giving of their labour to make

a success of such a dcve:opmcnt programme. All

this is being witnessed in lndian society at present.

The growing social.unrest, the so-called atrocities

against Harijans and the landless, the break-down of

1m\' and order, the sharpening clash of sectional aild

class inlcre~ts are not at aU surprising and are part .of

the very process of development from the top'down-

wards which is being attempted.

Need for realistic programmes

WISHFU~ TALK OR EXPECTATION of llparticipa-

tion" of the people in rural development programmes

indeed is irrelevant in the prcvailing.scllcme of things.

People have to have it slake in a'oy programme in


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Skirtiug af the second stage in land refoints which

wauld have resulted in radical land redifthbutian,

hawever, has meant that the base, af the sa-called

green "revolution must necessarily remain narrow and

nat result in a resurgence of Indian agricnlture. On

the cantrary, the develapment af commercial agricul-

ture during the seventies has sharpened social division

and contradictians in rural saciety and' alienated the

.'Even well conceived _projects fail t~yield the desked re~lts .or make- the expected impact on the target groups because

enough is not done to overcome. tbe weaknesses of these

projects in respect of their fOI:wardand, backward linkages.,,

mass af the rural papulatian fram rural develapment

programmes. The, so-called participation af the pea-

ple in rural develapment and the green revalutian has

indeed ,been perverted in the process, ironically, this

finds expressian af sarts in the migratian af large num-

bers af landless warkers in search wark-largely sea-

sanal"'-in agricultural operati0IlS of affluent snrplns

farmers in Pnnjab and Haryana at depressed wages.

IT IS OFTEN SU~GESTED tha:t it is the delivery system

in the bureaucratic administratian which is at f~ult

far the paar iJ!lplementation or nan-implementatian

af rural development pragrammes launched from time

to.time for the benefit of weaker sectians in rural areas,

But the fault of the delivery system and the large

leakages af resaurces allocated for rural develapment

to.the affluent upper crust af saciety ~d its hangers-an,

inclnding the bureancracy at an levels at wark, is

inherent in the averall sacial-ecanamic structure in" , vast masses af the peaple are withaut assets and withant

arganisatian to claim even due reward for their labanr.

Unless"the structure changes and,the sadar' base of

rural ,development widens, there cannat be meaningful

_participation af the' people in the rural develapment

pragrammes; This truth has 'evidently not received

attentian or recagnitian in the palitical-pcwer estab-

lishment. On the cantrary, even the earlier pretences

in favour af sacia_ecanamic refarms and structural

'changes in society are being given up in the anxiety

to preserve the existing syStemand safeguard arid pra-

,mote the interests of small nnmbers who. presently

have assets and' stake in it. .

'It is not fortui~ous that the progress ~f 't~e s~-calle(i Green

Revolution is associated witbgrowihg disparities in incomes

and'.'assets in r u r a l ~areas-and more' a'nd more pe~ple, both

relatively and ab~olutely sinking below the poverty line sub-

sistence Jevel.,

Far any sectian ,o.f people to. have a' stake.in a

development programme, the first pre-req~isite is thatit shauJd have assets to. pratect and upgrade'under it

as' a result afthe implementatian af the pragramme,

Or, in the alternative, labaur.of thase with(lut assets

~hich gaes' ;;'ta 'its executian. shauld have the first'e)aim to. a rightful reward. The starting point af any

meaningful'rural develapment programme had to. be,

th~refare, land refarms resulting in radical land redis-

tributian which wauld have widened the sadal 'baseof

ruml develapment by eularging that segment af papu-latian in rural saci,ty wjth assets and a stake in deve-

lapment. The end af the zamindari system which was

the anly genuine first stage af a land refarm pio-

,gramme paid dividends to. the extent is established a

base farcammercial',agrieulture. to. make same head-

.w~Y.~n,some parts once the beneficiaries of zamindari

abalitian were also.,given incentive and o.ther farms af

snppart far increasing pr~ductian far the market,

, which.they arc called upon ar expected to. participate.

'What stakes ,the laJidless agricultural labaur and rural

'.poor have aLcan',have in land develapment, 'subsidised'

,supply af inputs' and credits far introduCtian af mecha-

nised farming' ar 'extractian af marketable surpluses

which will. be procured at "~.n~ntive: prices" even

while wages af warkers remain depressed",unemplay-

ment graws 'and, the-Iandl,sspoor have to.,buy, grain "

far their cansumptian at exharbitant prices during lean

,seasans fram' surPlus farmers and traders? Whatstakes can paar farmers have' in' develapment pra-

, grammes when they are 'losing their tenancy rights

and awnership ,af their small parcels af land even, as

landawners "resume for, persanal ,cultivatian" land

under ,the.land ceiling laws and Convert their erstwhile,

tenants into. landless agricultural worker~ witha~t any

rights to land on which, they wark ar the crops that 'they gro.won it. '

I--------~~-----------------'-:----, "

PLAN YOUR FAMIL~

DELAY THE FIRST SP ACE THE SECOND

STOP THE.THIRD, ,

,

KURUKSHETRA' Octaber 1, 1982

'31

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show

Th e y

There is hardly an. argument over the fact that dedi-

cation and,.zeal .to put in hard work can achieve any-

thing, And' one achievement inspires and .shows the

)1'ay to others!

PEOPLES' PARTICIPATION in "development pro-

grammes" is a usage which has gained very wide

currency during the post-Independence period in India.

The great concept, evolved by our late Prime. Minister ..J JawaharlalNehru, was widely acclaimed as one of our

strongest pillars built up to accelerate the tempo of ' . 1

development programmes. But several critics have

, given highly sarcastic discourses and writings high-

lighting',the' said performance of 'certain progranimes.

But the saddest part of the siory is that many of them

sitting in the airconditioned chambers and living in

highly westernised urban environs have failed to see

thot the above concept has already started to pay rich

diVidendi; in' several areas to the toilillg millions 'in our

vast country. Most of these' new development springs

have taken place tind are progressing unfortunately in - Ithe reJrWte rural sector. Even here,' these activities

are made colourless 'before the scand"l stories. The

attention of the above mentioned writers and critics

nlainly move to those sectors of mismanagement and 'in their competition to 'attract public attention they

fail' to see the bright "spots. These stories are high-

lighted and projected often packed with sensationalism, .

which creates hatred and contempt among the readers

to the novel and noble concept of peoples' participation

in rural development. . .

India is a land of different religions, languages,

political ideologies, culture and sub-cultures, where

people, of different levels of social and economic

accomplishment live in peace. But in the midst of thi,

vast diversity one will find ever-shining examples of unique oneness. This helps us to learn, understand

and experiment different designs aimed for develop-

ment and in this ,attempt one must also ~nderstand

that the most effective fuel for generating the energy

required for ruraldevelopment is again peoples'

participation in the real sense.

Participation is the core

CONCENTRATED EFFORTS are needed to spread the

success achieved in one part of the country to

. ihe different'regions so {hat others can carry them withsuitable local modifications. This'must form the core

for all our information program/nes aimed for mobilis-

ing peoples' participation for development activities,

Given below is one of my humble experiences,

[-had the :privil~ge to spend a week in Gujarat, the \

. heart and soul of Amul movement. Visiting peopl~,

meeting farmers, their societies and the various

supporting, organisations controlled .by .the cattle

breeders,A,weremy main job -during the period. 1 was

roaming rOund there with several doubts in my mind.

In a way it was some sort of a field verification of the

, :variou~:-S!ori~sI had heard about the real peoples'

participaiion in such a gigantic programme. 1 had the

~privilege to find farmers and farm women stand in long

SHRI R. HALl is PrincipalInformation Officer, FarmInformation Unit, Trivandrum(Kerala)

j

"

, .

••way.

;',

the

"R.HAL]',

32 KURUKSHETRA October 1,1982

7/25/2019 2008-03-24 (1)


queues before the societies and emptying the milk they

,brought in diDerent kinds of vessels. I also saw how

samples were taken from'each lot and tested imme-

diately, With astonishing eagerness, 1 also watched

farmers getting money for their milk delivered in the

morning during the same evening and buying the feed

and other requirements from the SOciety Irani another

carner and paying from the amoullt they have, just

collected.

They told me about the bonus, showed me theveterinary services and above all they proudly indicated

the contribution made by the Society to various deve-

.lopment activities like construction 0 / schools, roads

etc. Actually the milk they produced was bringing

in. new vistas of development not only to them but to

the community as a whole. ,

THERE EXISTS A lot of diDerence between Gu)arat

and Keralo. Located at the southern tip of. India,

Kerala is a small state when compared to the other Indian States. It is only less than ,1/5th in size thanthat of Gujarat. Kerala is also one of the most heavily

populated part of the world-654 inhabitants per sq.km., unlike Gujarat. It is a highly cosmopolitan

Indian State-21 per cent of the population formingChristians and" 19 per cent Muslims. When we com-

pare the literacy it is also very high in Kerala; i,e. 70

per cent whereas the national avera~e is only 36 pel' cent. Seventy-five per cent of men arid 6 5 per cent of

women are literate.. In the educational sphere too,

Kerala stands very much il' the front with 12,000schools and 150 colleges and 4 Universities. Kerala

has got one college lw ith in every 10 sq. J 7 ' l i l e s . In the

fie ld of '!WSS communication facilities. also, KeTala hasgot several outstanding features. Six per cent of the

otal radio receivers in the" country/are located. here.

Ten per cent of the total daily newspapers' pruduced n the country are from Kerala. Ten per cent of the'

otal 10,000 cinema theatres in the cOT.li.tryare located here. In sm:h a situation whether it was possible for

us to C OP Y . a Syste.m proved successful in Gujarat .wasa big problem.

Good results inspire

KE~AL~' ANDGUJARAThas the more pleasant

monsoon since then and. both have witnessed

everal very interesting developrnents. -But one very

mportant .development that commenced in Kerala

without an)' fanfare 'or publicity during the time was

he,hwnble and highly systematic introductiull of Ope-ation Flood II programme. The reorganisation of the

milk societies into Milk_ Producers' Coop.~rativeSocie-

ies as per the AMUL pattern, brought Iinew wave of hange in ruralUfe.

This time the scene is a.village on the southern tip

f the State close to the Taniilnadu-Keraia border. Tomy -great surprise, I found a long queue of men and.

omen in front of the milk'producers' SOciety, carrying

ig and small vessels containing milk. ,.They, had theame smile which 1 saw on the faces of their friends


in Gujarat whom I had met few years back. An

enquiry abo!Jtthe price of the milk sparked aD a heated debate in the usual "Kerala style". Shri Sukumaran,a sturdy farmer said that the Society has undergone

a change from December 1981. "Previously we weregetting only Rs. 1.90 per litre," and he added, "Today

the cost that we receive from the Society ranges from Rs. 2 to Rs. '3.50 depending upon the fat COlttentof the milk." Before he could stop ailother farmer inter-

jected: "Not only that, previously we had to wait

101' 30-40 days to get the value of the milk sold to the

Society... Now if it is even a Friday, it is a payment day too." ,

. Kunnathukal Milk Producers' Cooperative Society

is one among -the 1800 Primary Cooperative Milk Pro-

ducers Societies being organised in the State: So far the Cooperative, Milk Marketing Federation-theagency implementing the AMUL pattern Operation

Flood II Programme in the State-has organised 95

Cooperatives. "Kunnathukal Society now gets a profit of Rs. 2,000 per month". According to the young and active secretary, Sm!. Vijayavilasini : Uthe farmers

are very happy as they are getting prompt payment and better prices /lOw.' They are also happ)' because of the

veterinary aid extended to them and are now very eager

to gel fullcf/edged membership." No wonder that

. Smt . lagadam.ma PilIai rec.e1ved 'Borius' and a brass 'lamp'

as present by the society.

Contd. onp. 44

33

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. ;

._ .' ~ t •

', _ . :.". ,

.',

. ~ . . . . . . ' . . ' 1._",,) ,

, , '

"

"~ ..

.. .~

People's:participatipu. thecommunication factor

,-

U~ders~oring the role of mass media in spreading

"and buildi~g ofa"'a~~;;ess; -the auihOr says that des-

pile progress in this sphere, the" sweep and reach

of \our mass media" is still inadequate, more so in

the case of the rural areas, and particuli1rly its poor,

and suggests : "Therefore, the most pertinent ques-

tion is that with this state of mass media reach, how

do we take the". message to inform, motivate the

people and to give them a sense of participation iiithe' development programmes .. , Above all, steps

have to be taken to provide literature and informa-

tion for the people in simple Ii1nguage,and on a

scale equal to the needs of the country:'

And adds : "People's participation in development

plans,... is directly reli1ted to their understanding of

ihe pli1ns and an appreciation of wHat is good fo~

them. These have to be'.o/hemain objectives of the

comm unication strategy.1I .

SHRI N. L. CHOWLA is at

present Director? Indian In..

stitute of Mass Communica-

ti.on,. ~ew D el hi. -

34.

PEOPLE'S PARTICIPATIONhi development' prO-"

gramme. has "tod~y ..been' accepted as' imperative.

for their success, in all. developing" countries. '.'This

participation maybeso\Ight. through .awareness"~d,

.motivation or achieved"through' mobilisation"depend.;

iog .upon the "politi~l'system. that a :country adopts,

But it is obvious that without popular .participation

the human resources., 'cannot be gathered on .a

national scale nor cfm the "benefits'be 'evenly distri•.

buted.

In the Indiansltuation there .are least',three factors

which have a direct. bearing on the need to ensure

people's participation: in all our cdevelopinent ,pro.

grammes. First, we' have adopted' a politkal system

,vhich confers on every adult citizeo the , right . to

vote, to. elect.representatives for a state legislature

and for Parliament. IiI this way each 'citiZendireCtly

and indirectly participates in the decision-making"

process affecting all important facets of policies and

progrannnes. It has also to be recognised that'in

. this' rigard, \ve' have"achieved a: measure of 'success

which libr many' countries ~an claim. Political.parties,andiridividuals go' back to the people on regular

intervals,to seek endorsement of their. policies and

performance: . Thus adult franchise guaranteesl a'

process .of political, economic'.and social awakening.

The fact that on a. national average at least fifty

per .cent .of,the adult ,population' have always cast

their' vote is a clear indication of people's political'

maturity and their active involvement in the system.

In' -a..,parliamel!tary democracy this participation' is

extended to ~over .the .entire spectrum-political,

.economic and social.

. Secondly,'and inore $pecifically,the planned sys!em

of economic and social development that we' have

KURUKSHETRA October 1,1982

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Creating gainful emplo)'mcnt in the village itself will' go.a long way to check exodus of the I'illage poor to cities."

Ensuring. people's participation Education opens the door to participation

.The ruroLPOOl" /im'e to Joil day and night; necessary legislations

hqve been made to ensure them a fair wage,

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People's participation dates back to the"voluntary ;abo"r era when people

themselves came in 10 participate in development works. The "samespirit

has to he regenerated now /0 increase the (empo of del'elopmeli/. s"

Popular groups like ;ihose j'

offer.tt 'very}feaH"y ond

To make. people's participation meanin"gfu/,

active .participation of-women who constitute

half of our adult population is"a must.

Ensuring people's participation•

In

ruraldevelopment programmes

Pancha)'ati raj institutions are a very useful

forum of promoting people"s participation in the

programmes concerning their uplift and welfare.

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en and students

t~e,~ energies.

Awareness is a pre-condition to ensure

public, libraries inform the people of the

. . ." popular participation. In{ormation. Cen.tres and

various programmes started by the Government

Community listening sets have increased the awareness 0/ the rural people and have brought a sea.-change in

their attitude -towards development programmt!s. " . ,

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Tile best wa)' to ensure the participation by tile rural

poor is to inform them 0/ various programmes in a

way they understand and assimilate best. Media men

arc usin crall modes; of communication, including the

folk media, to reach the rllral poor.

The most convincing' appeal to farmers. particularly small

farmers, will be one that explains and assures ,them of the

benefits 0/ the development programmes. in a demomJrotWe .

way. Only then will they take interest i n t,he,!,.

. Teaching elementary household craftsand the 3 R's wiIJ truls/orm our rwal

women into active partrers in progress.

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- .''It "is".o b v iO ifs that with'o~t _'pop ~l ar .' participati~~ ':th'eh~inan""

.' ': r.esources ~nnot be gat~ered on a na(ional,scwe nor can. the

c_be~e~~~~~\'~n~ydis!J'i~u~ed."

,adapted makes' 'partiCipation'liy ,tlie: people,' anyWhere

,in the country' a: pre-requisite for the success' of the,

'aevelopm~nt programmes. Exec\itioh of projecisjJas

(0 be decentialised' to ensure' local initiatives as well '

:as indiviihial and group participatiim. And in, faCt

:the sucCess'of a programme' depends: upon the extent

tET' us FIRSTLooK AT th:,r~ach of mass media

radio, television, films and 'the, printed word as

far as the rurai community is concerned. _ . . . - '.

Through 86 radio stations and. 157 transmitters

(short wave and medium wave) ,radio claims a cover-age of about 90 per cent of ,the pOpulation and 77.6

per cent of the area in the country. That leaves only

1Q per cent of the people spread over this vast' land

not receiving the radio signal from any of the AIR

sta'tions. Today All India Radio through its broad-

casts in major' Indian languages and 34 -local dialects

is one of the world's largest broadcasting systems.

,Television which is potentially a more effective

medium is also much inore expensive had a late start. '

At present through 8 T.V. centres, 4 relay centres and'

7 continuity centres which have broadcast programmes

after the completion of the exPeriment of Satellite Ins- 'tructional Television cover over 'only 15 per cent' of '

to whiCh people are motivated to contribute to the

exploitation of resources and take to new technology

and innovative practices., .. - -. .

" The third characteristic of the, Indian planning

and development system is the importance of, the

rural sector: Indian society ,is primarily agrarian,

with over three-fourth of the country's' population

dependent on agricuiture, directly or indirectly. This

fact by itself ,underlines the re!e.vance of the rural

population participating in deveJopment plans. Ob-viously if, the development: plans are to 'help raising

the living standard and to improve quality of life of

the'people' as a' whole focus of planning and, deve '

lopment has to be on the, rural population.

, Popular rural. participation can be achieved

iJiroughwhat may bi: ~C;tlled,.the developmental

administration wl1ichconcernsutilisitlon o~ institu-

tionaI.and idn1i;'istrativ~ set~up at various Ie~els from

i.Vin~g~Panchayat [othe block saminand the zila

parlshaiI and' through a communication system' which

is devised to create awareness and motivation for parti-cipation. Both these factors have thCir sPeciftccon-

tribution to make. I propose to, deal with the second

a!lPect'since'that. is fundamental t6 the' entire concept.

) ...'.

.''Th~ ~Ia~ed :sistem ofecoiJ.o~ic .on.d .~o~.ial.di:.VeIOpm~~!.

.that we have"adopted 'makes participation.by_ the people,any:-

",where in the country a pre-~qui~i.te~f~r : t ~ ~ _~cce~ of, the

. dev~19pm.entprogrammes. Executi.o,!of projects has to be

decentr3lised to 'ensure '10ca1 initlathres' "as well a s individual

and 'gr'o~p p"ar ticip ati on~;

,- .As isw~!1known India is today the largest pro-

;d,;c.er of feature. films. In 1980, nearly 750 feature'

films were. produced. in the country. In ,the same year

the number of documentaries produced was 150.

Impressive as these figures are, they have to be relat-

ed to the total popula.tionin the country and the access

to these media by the people particularly in the rural

areas."

The number of newspapers and journals, includ-.i.tig::,weeklies,fortnightlies and monthlies is around

:lo;(JOO'.:' 'the total circulation has crossed 40 million.

houses: ) or neady' io ,ooo Cinema houses in 'the,coun-

tty a very,small' nuntber of:tooring' t~lJdes'ever go,to,the' small 'urban' centres; "Thus mQst,oLthe villages

or remote areas.reinain-outside-the reach of the.dn'e:J!1a.:

The national average for hundred persons works

out to.: radio sets 3.2; TV sets '0.16; newspapers 2.4

and cinema. seats 'I. These figUres are much below

any norm40r an effective reach to the people. In a

,country.where even the national literacy' percentage

does not exceed 37"radio broadcasting would obviou-

sly be the most relevant medium of m'ass communica-

tion. ,I believe, therefore, that each, family should

bave a radio receiver. This will work out to Iiearly a

hundred million radio sets in the country. A con-

spicuous shortcoming in the reach of the radio is the, concentration pf radio sets in the urban areas. While

no ,definite figures are available it is estimated that only

one-fourth of about 25 million radio sets are located

in the rural areas where 70 per cent of the population

live. There are states like Orissa, Bihar and Madhya

Pradesh where there may be one radio set for over

a hundred persons. The reach of other media like

newspapers, television and films in rural and remote

areas is even more unsatisfactory, It is weli known

that TV sets are owned by' people, of upper-middle

class in towns.. The press also, is concentra~eidin theme\fopolitaniowns., Sameisthe case :vii.h cinelli,,_

t!Ie 'total' population. However, in ,the extension of

television a major' breakthrough is in sight. The

micro-wave linkages across the country and the Indian

'.~aiional'Satellite INSAT-IA have the capacity to ex-

knd' television'signals to almost any part of the country

particularly through the use of direct reception se'ts

'which.will have the capability of receiving the signals

from. INSAT-IB by 1983.

"Re~chof t .l1efuass media. -..'

KURUKSHETRA October 1,1982 35

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Need to inform-and involve'

THEREFORE THE MOST PERTINENT 'QUESTION is

that with this state of mass media reach how do

we take the message to inform, motivate the people

and to give them a sense of participation in the deve-

lopment programmes? How do we create "a wide-

spread understanding of the Plan .... and understand-

ing ,of the priorities which. govern the plan,- (and)will enabk. each person to relate his or her role to

the larger' purposes of the nation as a whole"? The

first Five Year Plan document (1951) had clearly

stkted that "all av;w,.ble methods of communiCation

have to be developed and the people approached

ihrough the written and spoken-word, no less through

'Popuiar rural participation can be achieved through what may

be called -the del'clopmental administration which concerns

utilisation. of institutional and administrative setup at various

levels from a village panchayat to the block samiti and the

zila parishad and through a communication system w~icbis

. de,"'ised to cr~te awareness and motivation for partiCipation.'

radio, film, song and drama. ' Above all, steps have

to be taken to provide literature and information for

.the people in simple ,language and on a scale equ,al

to the needs of' the country." .

'~Itneeds to be reiterate<! that in the development of

tlte media of communication and production of litera~'

ture some very significant progress has been made since

independence. The' problem as it stands now is to

bring the output to the vast rural population in remoteand comparatively backward' regions and, more impor-

tantly, to .relate ihe. information to the interests and

needs of the people concerned. Even this is not a

new projecyon and media. role !)as. been defined in

su'cOhterrils in the past but the success achieved has

not been even.. Also there are sub-regions and social

gro~ps in several parts of the country which have're-

mained deprived and ~nenthused ... They have not

received. the attention they: deserve. These are the

gaps 'in ihe reach of' communication media, The gaps

need to .heidentified in geographical as well as socialc~nt~~t . for t~g corrective, measures. Low-power

local radio stations 'broadcasting short suration pro-

.gram1mes and involving the local community, ror exam-

,pIe, may be one answer., Providing linkages between

the .mass media on .the one hand and the people on

,the other through extension agencies, be they exten-

sion workers or local leaders, may be the other. In

the regions where a vast majority of the people cannot

read' and write and have no direct access to the mass

media such devices alone can carry information to the

people. The' broadcast messages need to be directed /

'to the extenSion agents and to the public. Snch asystem ensures a two-way flow of inforniation which

mass media in them'S'elvei cannot achieve:

.I

Theil we have the traditional or folk media which

need to be more imaginatively and vigorously emp-

loyed both for direct transmission of messages as well

as through the electronic media like'radio and televi-

sion. The traditional media have a potential for great

.impact on the rural audiences. The danger in using

folk or traditional media for development purposes is

that in the process the media tend to lose their vitality

some of its intrinsic qualities and become superficial.

Therefore their indiscriminate use can be quite nnpro-

ductive.

Dr'afting a sound media approach

I N OUR COMMUNICATION APPROACH, there appears

to be an inadequate appreciation of people's in-

herent capabilities and basic sound intelligence .. The

promotional efforts do not always take into account

doubts or questions in the minds of the people. The

. media or the extension agents make little eliart to

take people' {nta confidence. This point too was noted

in .our' First iililn •document.' .confidence in people's

capacity was recognised in the following words:

"If obstacles are enco).lntered and things go wrong

anywhere, it would be helpful in. every sense if in-

formation is imparted candidly and the people are

acquainted with the steps being taken to set things

right. It is all error to belittle the rapacity of the

COmmoll mall to find out and accept what is good for him:' (emphasis added).

People's partiCipation in develojmient plans, as has

been suggested', is directly related to their understand-

ing of the plans and an apprecia)ion of what is good

for them. These have to be the main objectives of the

cominunication. strategy. Any discussion on people's

participation in development programmes is likely to.

be repetitive in as mnch as most of the ideas havo

been stated and re-stated. What is required i.s a reap-

. praisal of. tJleir effectiveness in our experience. Aninventory of commnnication gaps as well as of successes

r . .-~Pcople's participation in development plans, is directly related.

to their understanding of the plans,'and aDapprecia~on of

. what is good for, them. These have to be the main objectives

of the communication strategy.'

and failures needs teibe prepared with a view to evolv-

ing a new communication plan" which within thl} basic

concept should concentrate on specific areas and com- .

munities. Different regions may reqnire specific com-

, munication and participation strategies.

KURUKSHETRA October 1,' 1982

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•

., The imperative of

,participation'J. D. SETm

''Though 'the need for people's participation is recog-

nised by everybody, there is no uniform organisatinnal

mechanism available ,to put it into practice. Thevast-

ness, the complexity and the bewildering. socio-

economic variations oj dinerent regions make it almost

impossible to evolve any single formula", says, the

author.. According to him it were better if the political

parties had been' rural-orientedso that the leaders had

better understanding 'of the problems of rural poor and

s~ggests that 'organisation' of the rural people has be.

come not merely a matter of economic necessity but d

political reality for the poor for their survival. But "who will organise the rural people? ,They will have

to pay the price of it because those in pow.~r will dd

every thing to break their resisting organisa/lon. The

Government must make up its mind as to who' is to

organise them? ... We have reached such, a critical

stage in our political and economic life where the

people's participation is more important than the capi-

tal invf!stment."

SHRI J , D_ SETH1 •.a renownedeconomist, is a former Memberof the PI~mningCommission.

; ,

KURUKSHETRA October,l1, 1982,

IN THE FIRST TWO DECADES of our development

planning, ,the agricultural sector did not get the right

kind 'of focus. The Mahalanobis plan was particularly

guilty of introducing sectoral imbalances while attemp-

ting to do precisely the opposite. It was a lesson'learnt '

'after great hardships to our people that without agri"

'cultural development, there can be no, real industrial

development.

In the snbsequent decade, the balance was redressed

'and a: variety of progi-ammes for'rural development

were started. Agnculture was explicitly made a pri-

ority sector'for purposes of plan allocations, .credit',policy, fertilisers, power distribution etc. Green Revo-

lution pu t Indian' agriculture on a more sheltered lines'of progress. " ,

But it took some time before the second lesson was

learnt. It became obvious' that without the rural,

masses bei;'g involved in the production process, agri-

cultural development will slow down prematurely.

The' Go:vernment made' several 'moves to meet the

compulsions of the new situati~n but the success has

been very limited. A very significallt aspect of the new

"Policy was an attemp(to'iargei additional programmes

for small' and marginal farmers. Some of the allied 'prognimines such' as minor irrig;,tion, opening' up

'centies' foithe aisiribution of inputs;' cooperatives, etc.

'were also pressed into s~rvice to supple!I!ent the

thrust. While' we do not know how many margiIi31

and small farmers have benefited from 'plans for agri-

cUltural deveiopment. but poverty statistics reVeal a

rather' disturbi;'i 'pi~ture.Many . bottli:riecks' and

hurdles have been identified; the moSt important being

the pressure of'the local' P\}liticalpower' structure and the bureaucratic'oorruption:" , "',' "

, The big' farmers seem to have 'succeeded' in ,mono-

polising most ofthe concessional inputs' that Were'pro-

'vided by the Government. "Ali this'mayhaveheJped

37

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to push agricultural production but it has bot optimised

distribution of gains. Now constraints on production

have ,started appearing. More or less India has reach-

ed a critical point in her agricultural development where

it is not the lack of resources that acts as a serious

constraint. It is estimated that with the present level

'While ~e do not know how m~nymargina; and~l~farmers

have benefited from plans for agricultural develop.ment but

poverty statistiCs reveal a rather disturbing picture. Many bottlcn~ks'and hurdles b a lo 'e been identified, the"most impor-

. tant being pressure of. the local political power structure and

the bureaucratic corruption., .•r'

or' inv~stment, our agricultural production should have

nearly doubled. For instance, the use of created irri-

gation potential is as low as 30 per cent. The pro-

duction and distribution of seeds has certaiuly improv-

ed but the small farmers still find it hard to get or pay

for them.

A comprehensive development policy

THERE ARE TWO OTH~R PROGRAMMES which are

_,connected with _the life of the rural people. One

,is the small and cottage industries. Thi~ still remains

'one of the most n~giecte-d areas in our, development.

Whereas the other programmes of rural development

'have progressed to 'some extent despite many const-

raints, the programmes for -rural industries, except the

heavily subsidised programmes of the Khadi Commis-

sion, have completely' flopped. According to some -

experts, the last thiee decades have seen a certaindegree of decindustrialisation in the rural areas which

is a seri0'us matter; but it has no easy solution.- Unlike

the articulation' of powerful rural interests, there is

no one to father the rural_industries. The danger is

that if rural industrialisation is not given proper atten-

tion, the rural-urban dichotomy will get entrenched,

with aU its_thr,:,.a!st0' future devel?pment.

The second area affecting the life of the rural people

on which the planners have, concentrated over the last

few -years,is the Minimuni Needs Programme. These

programmes -includeprim:Uy educaiion, rural water

'supply, nutrition, health and a few other programmes.

The Government have been allocating more and more

funds for these progrann:D.esas a percenla ge of overall

plan investment. The delivery system is so bad that

people hardly get 10 to 15 per cent of benefits generat-

ed by the Government. This raises the basic question

as to whether there is some other way of managing thc

-programmes meant 'for the underprivileged. There is

- also the ,other question : whether' Minimum Needs

Programme when divorced from production and em-

ployment programmes will get optimised? '

In view <;>f what has been stated above, it is obvious __ that, unless people's involvement, under '-their -(lirect

participation in the developmental' programmes arc

38

ensured, there is little likelihood of the benefits of deve-

lopment going to them. Indeed, there is a danger that'

the resources may be wasted or appropriated by the

powerful, thus creating situation of greater conflict; We

are daily witnessing the cases of such violence which

end up in the poor Harijans facing onslaughts from ,those of higher castes for whom they work. Though 'the need for people's participation is recognised by

everybody, there is no liniforni organisational mecha-

nism available to 'put it into practice: The vastness, --

the complexity and the bewilderi~g socio-economic

variations of different regions make' it almost impos-

sible to evolve any single formula.

Role of political parties

T RUL~ the function of making people participate in

activities means for them is a function of the

political parties. Unfortunately, the Indian party

system is not attuned to developing their rural organi-

sational base as aU major parties ,are urban-oriented.Parties, go to rural areas only at the time of elections.

In the period between the elections,_ political leaders

,hardly visit villages or if they do they act more like'

agentsf"r imdertaking a specific job. There are rural-

oricn-tecileaders but no'such parties. Unless the whole

;party system in India goes through a structural change,

there is no hope' of pariies initiating or articulating,

__ peOple's participation in developmental activities.

In the absence of the parties, institutions of demo-

cratic '_decentralisation can perform that function. It

was' with that idea that Community Development arid

Panchayat Raj system were started in this country.

Community development more, or less has disappear-

e d from the- scene and the panchaya! system too is

working' only partially. It is interesting to note that

in 'those- States' which have functioning panchayats,

such as Maharashtra and Gujarat, the 'performance of

the rural development programmes particularly of

-Minimum Needs Programme is quite satisfa'ct6ry. It

may not be out of place to note that' 'in areas where

panchayat system is functioning, even family planning

programme is a big success. We have in India ,States

which have not held panchayat elections for a decade,some even' for, 15 ,years. This is a ridiculO\Js position

and against aU the norms of democracy, planned deve-

lopment and the interests of the: people.

If people's participation is to be -ens'ured then either

thc political parties or the institutions of 'democratic

'The bIg farmers see~to "havesu cce e d 'e d in mobilising inost

of the conscessional inputs -that were provided by the Govern ..

ment. All this may have helped to push agricultural produc~

tion but it has Dot optimised distribution of grains. Now

constraints on production have started appearing.'

decentralisation must be ,activated. There is no

escape from this approach. However, until such time


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that these InstitUtlons are actlvated or political parties

reformulate their strategies, there i s another mechi.~-

nism by means of which people's p,uticipation can be

partiaJiy ensured. This may be called the de-bureau-

cratisation - of the community-oriented prognlmme.

'The de-Iin ' f} ' S)'stem is so bad that people hardlyg~t.0 to .5

lIef cent of benefits generated by the Government. This raises

, the basic question as to whether there is some other way of

managing tile programmes meant for the under-priyilegcd.

There is also the other question: Whether minimum needs

programme when dh.on.-ro from production and employment

programmes, will get optimised ? ,

T'his means involving either the entire village com-

munHy or the target group themselves or- both to run

the programmes meant for them. The Indian village

community is at once a pl';l'ceof massive conflicts as

weB as of'trcmendous frate~nal or community spirit.

Within this there are always certain programmes which

trffe~t-the entire community and even conflicts may

intervene to make the distribution of programme goin the desired direction. Of all the programmes that

can be easily debureaucratised, the most important is'

the Minimum Needs Programme. There is no point

in givi'.lg this programme to the bureaucra'cy, A few

instances may be cited in support. .

For the health delivery system to the rura( people

the scheme of Community Health Volunteers (CHV),

now called Health Guides, was started in 1977. -The

principle behind the scheme was to train. a person

chosen by the community fur dealing largcly with pro-

motive and preventive aspects of health and to a limit..

cd cxten.t also with cur.ative aspects. He was given a

kit dealing with the common diseases. All the evalu-

atiOn reports show that wherever the m an o r w o m an

\vas 'choscn correctly, and_ ~njoyed' the confidence of

the community, the .sehelFe made a tremendous suc-

,:css. This is not only India's experience. In Thailand,

forinsta'ncc, the community" health volunteer is the

most respected man of the village and he does this

work withont any emoluments. The result is that

Thailand has one of the best rural health deliverysystems in the wor!d.

We have an adult education programme. Since~hcre a're'more t'han 350 million illiterates~ the value.

of the pl'ogrmnmc . cannot be overemphasised. Un-

fortunately, the programme has been totally .bureau-

craticised, so much so that more .money has gone to the

setting up the administrative structures and less for

actual literacy and functionality. Since one. of the

objectives of. the adult education. programme is to

ma~e the. rural masses aware of their problems, it

makes no sense to.give this job to the district or State-

level bure~ uerats. The local people, the local teacher

and the local functionary should all be involved inthis programme. In fact".. since both' the community

health volunteer and the adult educator' arc part-time

KUROKSBETRA October 1, 1982

(unctionaries, it may.be belter .if the two functions atc

performed by the same person. He should be chosen

by the community and also be responsible.' to' it.

Similarly, we have educators in health ani! family

planning. It is pointless to make them the servants 'of

the bu~eaueraey. It will make all the difference if

they become accountable to the community itself.'

Take another example. There arc nearly 200,000

villages in India which do not have safe drinking water supply. It has been noticed that wherever the water

supply schemes were started, three kinds of problems

cropped up: First, a large part of the water supply

was appropriated by the rich' either through .tlie pIpes

or by !he standposts being installed in their locality.

Second, the villages which did not have the water sup-

ply started facing sanitation problem because of

absence of proper drainage for the outflow o i the

water. Stagnant water spread over the village and mbst

of it got collected near the lanes of the houses of the

poor people because the standposts were set up near

the rich people houses and the water Ilows down fromthe lanes of their .houses towards the houses of the

poor people. Third, maintenance. has become pro-

bably the most serious problem. A number of

schemes' have failed for lack of prope; maintenance.

All the three problems are such which can be looked

after by the community. N o bureaucracy in the wodd'

can mauage them. ~ater s'upply schemes have faced

few problems where the community was made res-

-,pon~ible for thcir~maintenance and sanitafion ..

INOlA IS NOW FACING a seriou; pr~blemof th~ero-sion of land due to deforestation, destruction of

pastures or overcapplication of modern fertilisers. The

Government has starte-d large programmes of social

forestry. All the available .evidence shows that mil-

lions of trees .planted' under official agencies have

withered away bee'allse nobody looked after them after

plantation. This is one programme which .without the

participation -of the community can never succeed

and yet the community .has not bc~ninvolved in a

big way. The new social forestry programme has a

large employment potential also. Therefore, it is very

important that ihis kind of programme. should be .givenentirely _to 'the community with guidelines and moni-

toring provided by the local administration.

'Indeed there js a dang~r that the resourceS may b~was~cd or

appropriated by the powerful-thus creating situation of greafer

conflict. Weare daily witnessing the cases of such violence

which ends up in the poor Harijans facing onslaught from

those of higher castes for whom they work. Though the need

for people's participation is recOgnised by everybody there is

DO uniform .organisational mechanism 3milabJc to put it into practice. , . .

The States which have developed fast are thosewhich have also got a well-developed roads and rail-

way systems, connecting villages with cities.. Punjab

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is ihe 'obvious case. Few. seem to reaiise that in

Punjab the first revolution was not of new agricultural

technology but of new transport system. Un the other . ,'Unfortunately the Indian party system is not attuned to

dcycloping - their rural organisat ional base as al l major parties

are urban-oriented. Parties go to rural areas only at the

time of eledions. In the period between the elections poli-

tical I.caders hardly visit v il la g es . . . . ,~

" .

hand, the transportatiou system in U.P. and Bihar

have remained totally undeveloped. It will take de-

cades if road building is done by the Public Works

Department alone.' What is needed is two .sets of

p,'ogrammes: (1) .the programme of road building

which' cal\ be 'undertaken by the village community it-

self and (2) when the Public Works Department en-

ters to metal or pave roads. Unfortunately, there is

110 coordination between the two programmes. Roads

built through the local community's effort are washed

away because they are not ,treated in the second plan.

I NOlAUSES only 30 per cent of its irrigational poten-

tial. This is largely because of high degree of indivi-

. dualism and absence of cooperative institutions in the.

villages. Unless people's cooperation and participa-

tion in optimising their resources is generally ensured,

the village will al\vays remain a place of conflict al,d

\\'astc of scarce sources. In fa~t, people's. participa-

tion in any progr~mme opens up long-term prospects

of removing coaflietua1 situations in the rural areas. t

In canal-irrigated' areas, field channels are the big-

gest problem and total privatisalion of agriculture is .

standing in the way of optimising their use. The'

problem is how a larger area can be considered as a

unit for irrigation and that is' possible .orily. if some

community participation is ensured ,by individual

owners of land.

More specifically, many of the old water tauks in

the drought-prone agriculture which were lookect. after

as a community asset have fallen into disuse under

pressure of the market or decline of the community

spirit or both. It used to be the community's obliga-

tion to. see that. no desilting took place. There used

to be a common .practiceof collecting dissilted soil

and carrying it to the field to enrich the soil. The

rush for fertilisers has not merely replaced the old

indigenous method of fertilising, it has ended .•the

whole era :of community spirit.

One can go on suggesting any number of program-

mes in which participation c if the village community

~o

can be ensured. Apart from the economic compul-

sions,' even the political and social compulsions are

there that people's participation should be given a

very high priority. In the last few years, one has

seen the tremendous rise in the maltreatment of rural

poor, particularly the Harijans. This is a scandalous

situation ,because in many cases the 'police itself is

involved. The revival of the old community spirit is

important in the maintenance of law and .O!.~er.

Gandhiji's idea of constructive activity has not been

properly understood. Even many of his co-workers

missed the real point. The centr."! focus of that pro,

gramme was to generate spirit in the villages from

which everybody benefited by joining together in

some cOJErnon constructive activity. Of course, for

Gandhiji constructive activity also had its .political

side. Constrnctive work was a training ground for

steeling the new entrants for the struggle of India's

independence. . The Indian political parties do not

'We haye reached-such.a critical stage .in our political and

economic life where the people's participation is more impor~

tant than the capital .illvestmc~t."

seem to realise that they will never be able to perform

their proper fnnctions or get the right kind of recruits

unless either they undertake the constructive work of

Gandhiji type Or find its substitute which will involve

people for development programmes:


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Revive local institutions toensure 'participation

P. R. DUBHASHI

l

The author takes objection of general lack of appre-

ciation of .the- bureaucrats' role in various programmes

oj devel~pment and says; {{As things stand today the

on/v instrlllll':!l1t ;l'hich can act as agent of change i/1

rur;il arells is bureaucracy in the shape of thousands at

viliage level .workers, extension agents, employees of

cooperative institutions, bank employees etc. Institu-

iolls like cooperative credit institutions, cooperative

dairies, coopera-Uve maJ:keting societies, regional rural

Junks, agricultural branches of commercial hanks and

people working ill these institutions can surely bring

aDout a change ;" the shape of greater participlilion of .

he rural poor in various development programmes".

A nd adds: "There is 110 dOl/bt that in a 'large COU/'lt~T

ike India, rural local government institutions have ~to .

emerge as the institutions of grassroot plqnuing ,and

developJl1ent/' to generat~ the real s f!J 1 .te oj partici-

pation among people.

. ' ' .

SHRI P. R. DUBHASHI,

l,A.S" is Director, Indian

Institute of Public Adm'inis-

trafion, New Delhi,

----~._-----_._---------- .

{)R{)K$flETRA QClobec 1, 1982

FROM :rHE VERY INCEPTION of the rural develop:. .

ment programmes introduced in the country after thc

attainment of Independence, great importance was

attached to peoplc'sparticipation in these programmes.

Indeed, the, community development programme intro-

duced in theyear 1952, went to the extent of announc-

ing that the goal was to develop the programine from

the stage of people's' participation in governmental

programmes to that of governmental participation in

the people's programriles .. The very concept of com-

munity development was based on the idea of people's participation:' Community development meant that

the' community itself must be able to identify its felt

needs and work out programmes and projects through

which it .could meet its felt needs. The community

should be able to evolve its own mechanism and tech~

niques of 'development.

, In actual fact, however, the concept of people's

participation had a much more limited connotation. In

the. early yea~s of community development, the empha-

sis was on construction of school buildings,dispen-

. saries, panchayat-ghars, open drainage, approach roadsetc. and the concept of peopl~'s participation in rela-

tion ('0 these brick and mortar programmes took the

fOl '~ ; of "Shramdan". "Shramdan" meant that in the

execution of "the programmes, people would contribute

their share by way of phy'sical labour and supply' of

"local material~ and provision of services like' carting

etc.. In the rural areas, Monday is treated as a holiday

and so people's participation was in the shape of

Monday labour provided -by the members of the local

cdinmunity on the local projects. The concept of

Shr1undan was aJso used to revive certain old traditions

atl~ practices. Thus. the late Shri V. T. Krishnarrm-

chad.' the f irst neputy Chairman of the Planning

• 41

'.

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,

Commission: used to lay great emphasis on 'Kudimara-

mat' that is the traditional obligation of the villagers to

m a in ta in o ld t an k 's a nd i rr ig a ti on w o rk s by regular

wntribution.

T HOUGH THE ~ONCEPT OF SHRAMDAN as a method

of people's participation in community projects evoked

g rea t d eg ree of e nth usias m in t he i nitial y ears an d

provided many examples of the upsurge of popular.

_~Indced the_com~lInity development programme introduced in

. -the year: 1952," went to the extent. of announcing that the goal

was to develop the programme from the stage. of people's

; . participation in"governmental programm es to that o(govern-

mental participation in'the people:s progrommes. ~

enthus ia sm a nd par ti ci pa ti on, s oo n the initi al e nt hu-

'siasm gave way to scepticism, and even cynic ism: when

it was discovered that the application of the conceptof Shramdan led to two abuses. First, the people who

were ~'allcd upon to contribute their labour were the

very ones who had nothing but their labour to offer!

To expect them alone to contribute their labour

amounted to nothing but begar or forced labour. To

expect them t() gi~e-.free labour was to nsk them to

\"ork on empt)' stomach. Shramdan, therefore, dege-

nerated into e xploitation of the w eaker sections.

S'ccondly. even a worse abuse of the. concept of

Shramdan had crept in when in. order to accommodate

pcople'spartieipation. the work. estimates started

getting packed up. Thus, if 25 per cent was described

as..t I1c extent of. people's participation in any T work,

the esji~~tcs \~'as' escalated bya iike amount, thus the

contractor ~cco'~l1ting for people's particip~tion orily

0 1 ; paper. and deriving the full amount of the cost of

construction! Soon the occurrcnce of the abuse be-

came widespread and the very concept of Shramdan

w as bro wi ht i nt o c onte mpt a nd gr adua ll y a bo li shed.

To'day, the c'onccpt is totally forgotten and its revival

has become almost impossible as p~op1c have come to

exnect the f !ovcrnmcnt to bear the full share o f everyI . . •....

possible construction activity.

- '

Too ..much'dependence on government

-THIs WAS PARTICULARLY NOTICED under the major

irrigation proje~ts. These p~'ojects were constructed

hy government .at henvy cost. Reservo irs :vere . ~or~l1ed

bv construct ing dams across r ivers and major dlstnbu~

t;riesand canals'brought :water to the. villages through

channels up to 3 cusec capa.city . . Bu! even then, irr iga..:tion development would not take, place because the

a$SlImptio!, that the fieldohannels ta~ing off from the

3 eusecs cllannels constnlc\ed by government would

42 •

be providcd by the farmers was not borne out in prac-

tice .. The farmers eX[Jccted that even the jfield

channels \volild be constructed by government. GOjeru-

ment anxious to qevelop irrigation potential brought

into existence by L~eirrigation projects decidedl to

con stru ct th e field ch an nels a lso ; rh us , on ce ag ain ,

abandoning the hopes of people's participation.

After the early'brick and mortar emphasis of the

comniunity dcvelopment, the attcntion shifted to themore demanding programmes of agricultural p fOaUC-

tio n. In creasin g ag ricu ltu ra l p rod uction . req Jired

millions of farmers to participate in the adoption I of

new t ec hnol og y. T hi s \ va s s ought to, be done through

various methods of agricultural cxtension. The apprdach

in the initial years was that the new technolog'y weluld

first be communicated to, the "leaders" in the fanding

community or in other wrrds. to the- progressive- f a r ~mers who, it was expected, would then' inspire others

to follow their example. The progressive far~ers

were expected to be the multipliers of . the moderntechnology. They were provided with the packilgJ of

. improved pract ices and services. This approach," hbw-

ever, led to deepcning of disparities in . the 'r4ral

soc'ety .. The large and the well-to-do farmers quicF1y

,absorbed the ne\v technology and deri.ved the bCfw-'.

~tsof the supply of inputs and cheap agricultural

credit. while the largc majority of small and. margihal

farmers were left out, thereby increasing the dista*ce

between the large and the small and marginal farm~rs

in the rural arcas. ~SOOI1the government realised that

from the point of view of increased agric-ultural p t o-

duction as from tile point of view of justice and equit)'

i t w as nec es sa ry t .o m odif y the a ppro ac h o f agricbl-

t;"al exteusion in order : 0 ensure: that the bene.fits I e i I '

rural technolog" and faCIlitIes of mput and credIt are. . . . ' I

'The concept of shramdan led to two abuses. First the people

_who were called upon to contrib~te their labour were the , " , c d 'ones who had nothing hut their labour to offer. To expec~

them alone to contribute theirlahour amounted to nothing but

begar or forced lahour. ... Secondly, cw o a worse ahUS?

of the concept of shramdan had crept when in order to

accommodate people's participation, the work estimate~

started getting packed up.'

not confined to small group of well-to-do farmers but

were extended to large majority of small and marginfl

f ar mer s. T he new a ppro ac h, ther efo re, l~volved aln

attempt to identify thc smoll and the m"rgmal farmers

and bring: them in the fold of v~rious programmes ~f

rural development.

'.

THlS WAS ATTEMPTED throu~h the small farme'f

dev elo pm ent a genci es a nd t he m ar ginal fa rm er s an,~

labour a!!encies which were recommended by the Rural. - I

Credit Review Committee in the year 1966. under

KUR1JKSFlETRA October 1, 1982'

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hese agencies, thefust step after the identilkation or

mall and marginal fanners was to enable them to

articipate in the activities of the co-operatives by

nrolling them as members of the co-operative credit

nstitutions. A number of s'tops were taken to eusure

he participation of the .mall and marginal farmers in

he coo-operative aetl vitie-s. First~ loans were given to

nable them to purchase shares in the co-operative

ocieties. Second, a certain percentage .of lending

was earmarked for the sn~all and marginal farmers.

The need has now c"ometo make a definite attempt to sec that

well4o~do sections in the rural society not onl:)'.do not tQ' to

grab the benefits of gon;~rnmcnt's schemes meant for nlral

poor but themselves contrjbute their share to the del'clopment

of those people in rural areas who are below the pO\'ert;y

line. There arc many who feel that a \'oluntary self~eDying

ordinance can hardly be passed by the amucot sections of the

rural society.'

hird, about one-fourth to one-third of the loan

was given in the shape of subsidy. Fourth, the pure

oses for \vhich agricultural loans \\,cre given were

iversified giving greater emphasis' to auxiliary occu-

ations like daily, fishery and sheep-rearing. The~

ew technology being neutral to scale, it was expected

hat given the rneasllres mentioned above, the .small.

nd marginal farmers would be able to participate in

gricultural developmelll. To some extent, these expec-

ations have been fulfilled and the share of the small

nd margilial farmers in the supply of agricultural

redit and input has gone up substantially.

There was, however, anoth~r, section which was

ompletely le.fl out and that was that of the landless

abourer. For enabling' them to participate in rural

evelopment was devised the concept of "Food £or

Work", now known as of "National Rural Employmentrogramme". There \vere many otlier precursors of

he scheme induding that of the crash scheme for rural

mployment; an advanced version 1S that of the

Employment Guarantee Scheme' of Maharashira.

hese schemes have ensured that even those families in

ural.areas who have no assets oll their own would beble. to earn their purchasing power by working on

onstruction progra.mmes of governmen~ in ~unlI areas.

Specific programmes needed

THUS, THE ORIGINAL CONCEPT which wa;that of

voking people's participation iu a general way jn rural

evelopment has. given way to devising specific pro-

rammes for different sections of the rural society to

nable them to partkipate in programrn~s of ruralevelopment.

URUKSHETRAOcLoberl,1982

The need has now come to make a definite attempt

to see that the -well-to-do sections in the rural society

not only do not try to g~'abthe benefits of government's

schemes meant for the rural poor bnt themselves con-

tribute their share to the development of those people

in rural areas who are below the poverty line. Th~re

are m;lI1)' who feel that such a voluntary self-denying

ordinance can hardly be passed by the affluent section.

of the rural society. They feel that the only way of

ensuring the participation of the poor in the ruraldevelopment programmes is to organise theln on a

militant basis so that they will assert and get their legi-

timate share :in the additional incomes generated inthe rural .areas. The rural 'people could be organise~

in the shape of militant trade nnions. However, such

, militant organisations would cre~te conflicts in the rural

communities. It would also give a setback to rural

development generally.

In fact, there are two models which arc hefore us

for consideration. One is that of Pnnjab where moderni-

sation of agricuture or the 'Green Revolution' as it iscalled, has led to the mcreased production and pros-

~perity of the farmers or the land-owning classes but

.also, at the same time, despite mec.hunisation, ,has

generated greater demand for agricultural labour, as' a

result O f which not only has local J3bour started getting

high wages but even outside labour from distant Bihar

and Eastern U.P. have migrated to Punjab to take

advantage of the demand for agricultural labour. at

higher wage>. On the other hand, trade union type of

activity organised amongst the agricultural labour'111

Allepey District in Kerala has ouly led to stultificationof the progress of agriculiural development. We can

only commend the Punjab model rather than the

Kcrala model because, in the ultimate . analysis, all-

round prosperity in rural areas can only come about as

a result of all-round increase in agricultural productionand productivity. Trade unionism would. only create.. -

'In some academic.'circles, th~re is a tendency to look with

scepticism at all such attempts since they feel that bureaucracy

is hardl;}' the instrument to bring about social and economic

change in the rural areas. However, as things stand toda;Y9

the only instrument which can act as agent of change in rural

areas is burcaucrac;y ... ,

rigidities. . On the otherhalld, a dcliberate attempt to

exielld technology, servIces and credit to the poorer"

people in rural areas tluough co-operatives and other

organisations is bound to 'lead to more equitable

development.

_ Bureaucracy as change-agent

IN SOME ACADEMIC CIRCLES, there'is a tendency to

look with scepticism at all such attempts since they~:cclthat bureaucracy is hardly the instrument to bring

43

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pended aniiluuion. No wonder that the Asoka lehta'

Committee fomid the panchayati raj institUti~nsl in a

moribund state but despite this, they did recommend

the revival of panchayati raj institutions. Recbntly,

steps have been taken by some of the state go~ern-

ments to hold elections to the panchayati raj. iJstitu-.,lions. This is move in the right direction,

' I

THEilE .IS NO DOUBT that in a large country like

India, rural local government institutions have to

emerge a s the institutions of grass-root planning I and.

development. Pt. Jawaharial Nehru had great faith jn

.the panchayati raj iustitutions, since he felt that Ihese

were the institutions which were nearcr 10 'the tural

people. What is, therefore, needed today, once akain,

is to give a new fillip to planning and development at

, grass-reot level through the revival and strenglhebing

of panchayati raj institutions. The General. Body of

the Village Panchayat known as Gram Sabha should

be ,3aken seriously. The rural people of India IIave

long traditions of self-government which should I be

revived. Several schemes of development like social. ,

forestry or developing local water resolUces or malting

economic use of water -resources through sc ienp;fic

techniques of water management. Or programmes like

• dairy development could best be promoted throughjthe

agency of panchayati raj institntions. What is needed,,is to once again revive the old spirit of rural develop-

ment as the voluntary and spontaneous movement I of

the people, but this time the people, essentially shoWd

be the poorer sections of the rural society. I

about social and ecoiloni;c change in rural areas. How-

evcr, as things'stund today, the only'instrument which

can act as agent of change in rural areas is bureauC

cracy in the shape of thousands of village level

workers, extension agents, employees of co-operative

institutions, bank employees etc. Institutions like Cae

operative credit institutions, co-operative dairies, co-

operative marketing soci.eties, regional rural banks,

agricultural branches of commercial banks and people

working in these institutions can surely bring about a

change in the shape of greater participation of ,the

rUfal poor in ~arious de~;elopmentprogrammes.

The Panchayati Raj institutions conceived as prin-

cipal agencies of rural deve-lepment were set up at

three tiers in the year 1959, following the recommen-

dations of the Balwantrai Mehta Committee Report.

In the initial years, there -was an euphoria in favour

of these institutions. It was felt that the elected

representatives of the people in the. panchayati raj

institutions namely village panchayats, samitis and, ziJa pariS-hads would kindle popular enthusiasm and parti.-

cipation in rural development. These earlier expecta-

tions, however, soon gave way to frustration when

panci,"yati raj institutions s~emed to be involved in

local factions and became centres of power struggle

rather than instruments of rural development. Also,

the politicians at the state lcvel ,started 100IUng at

panchayati raj institutions as rival centres of power.

Their growth, thereforc; was stifled by 'various state

governments who refused to. hold elections to these

bodies and allowed them to remain in a stale of .sus- .

(Colltd. from 1', 33)

beticI' prices 1l0W, They are'also IWI;PYbecause of the

veterinary aid extended to them. and are now very eager

to get full-fledged membership:" No wOllder that several socieiies are now coming up' in the different

parts of the State ullder the programme.

L<lkhs, of Ilewspaper readers of Kerala were

pleasantly surprised recently when they' read the news

about the bOllus for farmers. In Kerala, people

belonging to all walks of life get every year a sum in

the name of bonus or something simi/ar to that. Bonlls

is no more a term attached to the working class alone

ill the State. But in this. State nobody had heard of

bonus for the farmers. This Hexplosive" news carne

from the Milk Cooperatives under the amul pattern.

According to rule the audit of all Societies must be con-

ducted immediately after 30th June every year and a

portion of the net profit must be declared as bonus to

the producers. Forty societies are ill the differellt stages of audit and may be fixing the bOllus to its pro- .

dlleers SOOIl, Again the {irst recipil!nt' of honlls

44

under the programme in Kerala i.~ a women, Shu.

Jagadamma PilIai, who supplied 3,500 litres of ,,Jilk ,durillg a short span of six months to the society, WUh

'. I '

great pride, she collected the bonus amount and a spe-

cial prize of the society at a glittering ceremony orga-

nised ill the illterior rural area, attended by the vi/u,ge

folk. '..' ., '. ; , :\ "

This is .only a beginning. A day will come soon

when all the 1800 Societies )/arl giving bonus to ~ts

producers and most of them are either marginal farmJrs

or' those who are below the poyerty.line. This + 1 1 create a tremendous impact in every nook. and corner

, '., I

of the State and not oilly in the sphere of cooperatpo'e

movement and dairy development, but it will also credte

great awareness among the rural people to unite ah d

channelise their energies and resources "for more" a,~d

more creative activities, and bring. in better earnih g", ,

through community participation. This will mark the beg inn ing of a rea l rev olu tion in lh~ rural areGs m~d

opell "l' new vistas of prosperity. , IKURUKSHETRA October 1, 1982

II

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Proper" im plementation' would~.. . .

, ,ensure partIcIpatIonG. P. JAIN

ccording to the author, what will best ensure people's

arti<;ipation .in the well-imp lem ented pro gra mm e with

s, benefits well-explained and mGde obvious and

nderstood by the rural people by actuGI demonstra-

on and 1ive examples. "Why won't the poor consent

and participate in rural development. 11 would be

ynical ,to suspect that they will not, if they are the

ne s to partake of the inp uts and services offered.

hat, however,' is a big 'if' and perhaps the real villain

f the development drama", he observes.

And adds: "Effective implementation 'ot the pro-

ra mm e will pro duce and nurture awareness in bou rtti-

ul measure and is the real key {a the national conun-

rum . -.. Also, it is necessary to ensure that no part

f the available means of production in the vilwges,

iz . land, anima"Zpower and. water resources, is left

nutilized," and tor this tapping of the youtk'potential

n the yillages will go a long way ill realising this

bjective of bringing in a better Ufe tor the rural poor

ho "even atter 35 years are' still waiting for the gifts

t freedom to come to their doors".

SHRI G.P. JAIN is, Editor.'Sevagram'. a weekly de~

voted to the cause of ruraldevelopment, published from, Delhi.

KURUKSHETRA. October 1, 1982

IMPAS~IONED APPEALS will not sweep b;ck the

oceans of poverty, sloth, ignorance and supersti-tion from our countryside. Without a great deal of

work done with the consent and participation of the

targeted, poor, 'rural development will rcmain a •

dream or at best a pious hope.

But why:won't the poor consent to and, participate

in rural development? 11would be cynical to suspect

that they will not, if they are the ones to partake of

the inputs and services offered. That, however, is

a big 'if' and perhaps the real villain of the develop-ment drama. Because, somewhere down the line

vested interests have switched places with the poor

and mulcted the programmes to their advantage.

The rot can be stemmed by offers of assistance

funnelled through programmes executed genuinely to

benefit the poor. Bringing awarness to the intcnded

beneficia!ies of what is held oulin' the palm is barely

enough. The palm is to be emptied in the outstretch-

ed hands of the poor, who without being told know

what. they want, but do not have the strength to wrest

it ,from unwilling. hands: A weird helplessness

aPPe'ar~ to have settled over them.

Effective implementation of the programmes will

produce and nurture .awareness in bountiful measure

and is the real key to the national conundrum. Take,

for example, land distribution to the poor which is,

Point NO.4 of the new 20-Point Economic Program-

me.' According to the National Sample Survcy, nlore

than 75 percent of the agricultural holdings are of less

than 5 acres and altogether account' for nearl)' 20 per-

cent of the total arable land in India. The uneven-

ness of distribution is 'also ,highlighted by the fact that

only one' percent of holdings of 50 acres or more ~.

account for 12 percent of theiotal incom~.

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Th, panchayat lands or lands obtained consequent

to the enforcement of the ceiling laws largely continue

to be in the illegal occupation of rich and powerful

landowners, who find in the slow-grinding judicial

process handy tool to their advantagc. In the event

of the Tehsildar passing thc eviction order, the land

owner rushes to the Appellate Com.missioner's Court

and obtains a stay order. All proccedings are frozen

thereafter. The Commissioner's Court is so swamped with work that no appeal has a cbance of coming

'nut why won't" the poor -consent to and p~lriicipate in rur.al

d evel op ment? It wou ld b e cyn ical to suspect ~t 'they will .

not, if they are tbe o•..•es to partake of the inputs and services

offered. That, ho'wel'er, is a big 'if' and perhaps the real

villain of fhe del'eloprnent dram~.~

up' for hearing before two years' from the date it is

filed. Meanwhile, the stay order holds and so does

the u'nlawful possession of the evicted occupier.

If the Commissioner's Court also throws him out,

he would go to the Board of Revenue, the highest

rcvenue COUl'tin a State .and once again cock a snook.

at the enforcement agency. After all the revenue

courts have decreed against him, he still has the civil

courts open to him to 'redress the wrong' done to

him. Cases are known to have dragged on .for years

without a n end in sight . In exasperatio~,.the landless

or small farmers gives up and abandons his rightful

claim long before the last post.

A solution to such wicked evasion of .law through

the' judicial: process is to change the judicial pro-

cess. After the eviction order is passed by the first

court, the land should immediately be handed over to

the gram samaj or village panchayat for distribution to

the landless, The evictee should however, be free

to have his righi declared by a competent appellate

court. 1If he succeeds, the status quo will be restored,

but in no case should the illegal occupier be allowed

to remain in protracted possession after his claim has

once been rejected.

Effeminate panchayati raj

A FTER the self-confessed failure. of the .officif,]

agencies to obtain the pa-rticipation of the rural

population, trust was placed in Panchayati Raj or

-the people's own institutiOils. But a serious mistake

was made in the way they were organized. The offi-

cial ,machinery iooked upon the popularly e1ec'ted'

villagebodics as a projection of itself to carry out its behcsts. The village people, in turn, regarded -them

as Government's Trojan horse . in their midst and

treated them with 'coldness.

46

-Any talk of transfer of power to the village bodies to

supervise the revenue mutations brings forth Iloud

howls of protest from the bureaucracy I and

talk of. giving them power ovcr the P10liee

is regarded as rank heresy. The bureau-

cmts are opposed to strong Panchayati Raj I in-,

stitutions as it threatcns thcir powers and privilcges. r

The politicians fear that. they will bc thrownl into

obli'{ion jf village representatives emerge more plowerful. I

Things will change dramatically if the gram sabha,

made up of all the. village adulls, is given real a,\tho-

rity over its elected representatives as well as go~ern-

ment functionaries in the village, so that the pJople

feel strong enough' to resist undue ollicial dem1ands

and obtain from them what is their due. - I .

The ordinary -people's apathy now is easy to under-

stand. The gram sabha, as it exists, is intehded

largely to rubber-stamp the development projects I sent

down from above and impose taxes on its members,to meet the eXl1enses of those projects. The village

officials are beyond .the gram sabha's control I and

supervision. The rcvenue lekhpal, the' canal patrol

or tubewell operator and the police constable conlinue

merrily to. harass and exploit the peoplc.. .

T H E FAST crumbling liaison . between. Governm'ent. - I

and the people needs to be bolstered and by streng-

thening village institutions, which when powerfurland living will vest the people with new s<;lf-respect and

a. sellse of responsibility. They will look after their

needs betler~ When villages are flooded and cF0P-

laden lands are inundated; days pass before thc officialI

machinery begins to move. But when the village

bodi"" are granted the . status of units I of local self-government, they will act faster. The pan-

chayat institutions e10thed with authority and giver! the

resources to execute the programmes would lalso

. se<ourethe respect and loyalty of the. people,-.

Also, it is necessary to ensure that no part of the

available means of production in the villages viz. land,

animal power and water resources, is left unutiliked.

, . . . . 1The -rot can be stemmed by efforts of assistance funnelled

through programmes executed genuinely to benefit the poor.

Bringing .awareness to the intended beneficiaries of what j l s

. held out in the palm is barely enough. T he palm is to ble

empiied in the outstretched hands of the poor .... , - I

Individual ownership of small holdings may well be

combined with utilization of the inputs through jbint

farming societies. Ideological objections would p e r -haps be' raised to joint farming, but it will be necesiary

to meet .thc objections squarely and explain the clear advantages of joint farming as .also its pitfalls and let

the people work out the solutions.' - I(Contd. on p. 53)

. . I


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tr. .iii .t .. , •

.,

"

'.

,. ,','

" .I!'.

;, •. 1 ~

,I

~.

Manpower utilization aspectof.people~sparticipation

M, e. VERMA'

The besi way in which people cun participate in the

rural development of the country is to ~1ake them gain-

fully employed. It is particularly true of the tural

youth. Says the author, "It has been suggested by

several authorities that the crux. of the problem in

regard to self-employment opportunities in small

settiemeills Tuimely the villnges is lnck of full involve-

ment -of the C0I1Ul1U11ity and even the bene.ficiaries.

Though it is admitted that mobilisation of people's

participation is not on easy task, it ~as been generally

recommended that mobili~~ltioll should be done tact-

fully and gradually in the mitial stages " .. so as to

give sufficient confidence to the poor. It appears to

me that there is still some confusion about what can

be expected of t he trainees who are selected from

poverty groups t!llft ~oo from bottOJ}l deciles. People

who have..:su.aered exploitation over centuries cannot

be expected to give up their jeeling of helplessnesS! so

quickly thut they can be straig11taway cOJ1ver.ted into

entrepreneurs, as understood by the social psycholo-gists.".

SHRI M.e. VERMA, LA.S.,

is Chief (Manpower) in the

Planning Commission.

KURUKSHI:}TRA October 1, 1982

A S IS WELL KNOWN, there, is a close relationship

between poverty and unemployment:. It could be

said that in the Indian si'tliationthey are the cause and

effect of each other except possibly for the limited

number of educated unemployed youth in the rural

areas who in some ways can be considered voluntarily

unemployed. The scheme of rural development,

therefore, naturally put a lot of emphasis on generat-

ing extra employment opportunities whether of a long-

term or short-term nature. The characteristics of

rural, unemployment, however, vary from Sl;!le toState, season to season and even one social group to

another group.

One of the most inclusive indiCators of the unemp-

loyment situation is the indicator of daily status un-employment rate as picked up by the detailed surveys

conducted by the National Sample Survey Organisa-

tion. . The latest such survey was conducted between

July, 1977 to June, 1978 and covered practically the

entire country. In this context, it may be usefUl to

remember that the rates of unemployment calculated

by the NSSO depend on fairly detailed' interviews of

the individual by the enumerators. In these interviews,

questions are asked to understand the statu's of the

, individual fi~st, namely wheiher he is employed, un-

employed but actively seeking work, unemployed btit

available for work and the last category of those who

-are neither seeking work or available for work i.e.

outside the labour force. The daily status unemploy-

ment rates had been worked out on the basis ofqucs'

tions which would elicit information about whether a

person was working for at least an hour In'the day

under examination or whether he was seeking or avail-

*The views contained in this paper are those of the author

and not necessarily those of the organisation. to which he

helongs.

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able for work etc. on that day. If a person' worked

for morc than 4 hours, he was conside~ed employed

" 'There is"3 close rell!tionship between poverty and uilemploy~

m en t. It co uld b e said' that in the Ind!an situation. they are

the cause and effect of each other except possibly for the. limi-

ted number of educated unemploy~ youth in the rural areas

... The scheme orrural development, t~erefore, naturally put

a lot of emphasis on generating extra employment oppo~-

n it ie s. . . . ,

for the day but if he worked for between 1and 4

hours, 'he was 'considered employed only for half the

day etc. Thereforc, the daily status unemPloJ61t

rate throws light on the willingness of people to ~rk

but lack of 'such work on a particular day. In Ithe

rural situation, persons often work even though'. they

may be outside the working age' of 15 to 59 yJars

namely,. 'either young or old 'people_ Therefore, Ithe

.best indicator of unemployment in the rural situation )I

which' throws the best light on part time or scasoba!

uncmployment also is the daily status rate. Th6e. ,were worked out separately for the StateS/Union

Territories and the table below indicates the. au\:e-

rences which. exist between different Statesmnlon

Territories ;

TABLE I

Daily status Unemployment~rat~by states 1977.78 based on N.S.S. 32nd Round

SI. No. States/Union Territories

(0) (1) .

1- Tatpil Nadu

2: Andhra Pradesh

3. Kerala

4. Maharashtra-

5_ West Bengal

6_ .Bihar.

7_ Uttar Pradesh

8. Karnataka

9. odssa

10. Gujarat

11- Madhya Pradesh

12. .Rajasthan

]3_ Punjab

14. Haryana

15. Delhi-

Jammu & Kashmic. ..16.

17. Assam

18_ Goa

19. pondicherry

20. :rripura

21. Himachal Pradesh

22_ . Manipur

2 3_ Chandigarh

24_ Arunachal Pradesh

25. Meghalaya

26. Nagaland

27. All India

Unemployment Share of State I

Share of State

Rates in Al l India in All India \

Unemployment Labour Force

(2) (3) (4) I(Percentage)

15.49 16.48 8-65

10 .67 12.37 '9 .49,.

25.69 1l.09 3 .54

7.99 10 .16 10-41

10.15 9.08 7 -33

8.01 8.71 9-81

\.,4'12 7.01 ]3.92

9-36 6.61 5-78

8.]3 3.81 3 -83

6.24 3-80 4.99

3-09 3.21 8.50

2.99 1 .92 5-26

4.82 1.34 2'27

6-41 1 .22 1.56

10.96 1 .10 0'82

5.70 0.52 0.74

1 .81 0.47 2.15

14-63 0'29_ 0.16

22.62 0.20 0'07

5.04 0.19 0-31

1.92 0.16 0.66

2.00 0-04 '0.18

4.94 0-02 0-04

0.35 0.01 o .1l

0.41 0-01 0.24

1 .03 0 0-01

.8.18 100 -00 100.00

Note: (1) :The data relate to all ages-five and. above.. . . . - . ..

(2) Totals of figu~s under Cols. 3 and 4 may not add up to 100 due to incomplete data In respect of Umon Ter~ltones.

(3) £-Negligible.

48 KURUKSHETRA October 1, 1982.

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lll-effects of. unemployment

.IT WOULD BE NOTIFIJ!D that some of the southern

States like Kerala, Tamil Nadu .and Pondicherry

have very high unemployment rates. Since these

rates are averaged over. the year, it can be surmised

that in some of the seasons the rates could be as.much

as double of the average, which must be considered

-ery high. However, the rates in such States which

'Since the labour households are not masters of their own

economic. destiny they are liable for. exploitation by others

who are in a better position (0hire their labour at their Olln

convenience. Therefore, if fl!l"tber impoyerishment in

rural areas i s to be avoided, it bas t o be based on giving assets,

skills and other means to the labour households to become

se~r-emptoyed again. , -

are otherwise.known to be poor like Rajasthan, Uttar

Pradesh and Bihar are not very high and hide theground reality of poor remuneration for work which

..might be available. To this extent, the undifferentia-

ted. average unemployment rate based on daily status

cannot guide the policy-planners on its own without

supporting evidence from other measures of rural

poverty. A further sophistication on the daily status

unemployment rate would be to find out the extent of

variati~n between the busy and the lean seasons which

is kn~wn to be' different for different States; Even

otherwise,. it is known that areas which ..can ~e

more than 2 crops in a..year wilL show .less inter-

seasonal variation than those where the principal crop

is only one.

Ancther way to look at the problem of under-un"

employment in the rural areas would be to have . a

look at the unemployment rates with reference to em-

ployment status. The sl'atus of a household could

be either that of self-employment, regular salary,f

wage empl~yee or casual labour. The followiiigtable

brings mit 6lear1ythe fact that the mte of unemploy-

ment in the rural areas is the highest for the agricultu-

ral labour, households and the lowest for selfcemp-

loyed households in agricultural occupations:

TABLE II

Daily status unemployment situation by hOUseholdtype (age 5 and above)

I. Rural

1. Self-employed household,

.(i) in agricultural occupations

(ii) in non~agricultural oecup:.uions

Total

2. Labour households

(i) agriculture

(ii) Others

. Total

3. Other households

It has been well-known for quite some time that

he agricultural labour. households, whose members

asically depend on selling their labour to people

with larger land areas; are the persons who are most

andicapped. Their assets base is generally poor and

ocially also they are way down in the social hier-

rchy. Bee-am",of centuries of exploitation, these

abour households do not have the confidence and the

bility to .stand up for their rights vis-~vis the landed

lasses in the villages so much so that miuirnum 'agri-

ultural wages prescribed by the State Governments

re often not avaitable to these people. The position

Sf. No. Household Type Percentage of Rate of Percentore population unemployment share of

unemployment

(percentage)

79 . 6 7 . 70 76 . 8

40 ' 9 2 . 68 13 . 5

8 . 4 5 . 49 5 , 6

4 9 ' 3 3 . 1 6 19 . 1

21 . 2 . 15 . 82 46 . 7

5 . 2 12 . 73 8 . 2

26 . 4 15 . 27 54 . 9

3 . 9 8 . 80 2 . 8

"

of non-agricultural lahour household is also not very

different and they are as handicapped in demanding

their rights from the Government agencies and the

better-off people in the society. It is. expected that

• the anti-poverty programmes, specially the lRD 'and

. the NREP wowd cover these households on a priOrity

basis. - The instructions which have issued from the

Ministry of Rural Development for these two pro-

grammes, being centrally sponsored programmes; do

give emphasis on seleCtiqnof the target group familiesfor assistance on the basis of their being in the bot-

tom dedi"" of the income distribution..

KURUKSHETRA OCtober I,1982 • 49

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Scarcity of saleable skills,

R~EGIONS WHICH ARE RELATIVELY 'POOR " i n . t h e

country and the households which are'. ,relatively

advantaged in the. rural; society, both have.a common

problem of relative scarcity of saleable . skills. While

it is true that geographically disadvantaged areas of

a country sometimes' produce outstanding. entrypre-

:r:teurs,as for example, the Marwadi. millionaires frQffi

Jhunjhunu and.other districts of Rajasthan, .the public. . .

, .

, It is necessary at this stage to understand as to . whether

. tfie skill development methods used so fa r h ave been u s e M

ful to these disadvantaged households in the rural areas. It

. i s a lso perhaps neceSsary to understand whether such house-

holds ,have been given awareness about what kind of govern-

,meot-aided programmes exist for their benefit and h ow t o ' .

~pproach the govenuDent functionaries of those programmes .

. tp take the maxin,tum advantages out of them., ~

at large still finds..it difficult to get over the basic

natural" handicaps.. In. fact, the existence of dedicated

individuals' or successful entrepreneurs .. from such

region,s does not diminish the validity of the geneml

rule that the State has a duty to such disadvantaged

regions of the country and disadvantal(ed "sectious of

the society, While it is not correct .to deny . the

mitural differences in innate. ability .of individuals,

in terms of entrepreneurship, the welfare Stat~ l'akes

upon itself tlie responsibility of making up for different

kinds of handicaps. The most common method of

re!TI0ving the handicaps is to provide skills to indivi-duals through governmental sURPort, either in Gov-

ernment-owned institutions or other institutions which

are backed by the Government. In fact, one of the

basic reaSons for starting a programme like the

TRYSEM was. this perception that man-made and

other types of handicaps can be got over by provid-

.ing suitable training to individuals, There .are, of

course, existing networks of providing training in

different trades, skills and occupations but it was felt

at that time that those networks train .people more

for wage-paid or regular employment, wheiher in the

public or the private sector, The growth of employ-

ment in these sector~ being rather limited, as shown

by the experience of the previous 30 years, it was

felt necessary that Government should do something

to .promote self-employment ,by providing skills of

diUerent .kinds to people belonging to the poverty

groups. .",

It .has already' been noted 'ihat. unemployment rates

.have been rather low in self-empioyed. households

whether in agricultural occupations or non-agricultu-

ral occuJl"ltious. (see Table .II) . One of the fel!.tures

of India's rural poverty has been the increase in the

proportion of labour households as compared to self- .

employed households in the last few decadeS.. Since

the labour households ,arenotOna,ters of their own

econ~mic destiny, they are.li~~]e fore\,ploitati~n b¥

others who "re in 'I better posItIon to hire theIr labour

'~r - t h e l t - . o~n.co~ve'n'ien<;e. Therefore; jf furthef. im:'"

poverishment in' r.ur.al areas is to be avoided" it I has

to be. ba.sed on giving asse~.s,skills and other. mea,?s:tol

the lobour households to .become selfoemployed agam.. ", - •.: •:' - • ~ . I

However since the- net ,cropped.aream Que country

is unlikely to :increase' sfgnificantly i n " t h e ne'ar.fut~e;the possibility of gr.adation from labour household

status to self-employed status lies mainly in the ron-

agricultural occupati'i,!'s ,alougwith a~ic~ltural rrlat-

cd .activitie., like animaLhusbandry, daJrymg, fore~try,fisheries. etc, It is necessary at this stage to, un(ler-

stand a~ to whether. the skill development' .riletilods.. I

used so far, have been useful to th~e dlsadvanta1ged

'households in the rural areas. It IS also pe.rlliaps

necessary to understand whether sueh households I:i,ave

even been given awareness about what kiI?-dof Gov-

ernmcnt-"ided prol(tammes exist for their benefit tnd

how t9 approach the Government 'functionaries! of

those programmes to take. the maxirilUm advantages

out of them,

A S ALREADY MENTIONED, TRYSEM is one of the

programmes for skill development 'of ~he disdd-

vantag~ households and has a target of covering \ 2

lakhs rural youth between age~ 18 to 35 every ye,ar

from the target group families, selected under the IRD

programme. Though it can be argued that the figure

of 2 lakhs per year is rather small for '" country. with

as much poverty as Indi"" its impact can nevertheldss

be sizeable in terms of the target. group fanj;-

lies selected every year. The programme hasI

already run for more than 3 yo",rs and . . I

some evaluatIOn re,ports have also. ~n

available recently. The evaluation was. done by agen-

. cies which ~ere selected by the Ministry of Rur~1

Development itself and therefore, it can be surmi,retI

that they h.ad no preconceived biases in regard tb

the contents of the prol(tamme. SOme reports ha+

been available for Gujarat, . Himachal PradesH,

Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan while some others arbin the ,offing. However, before. we loOk . iIito . tlli,

'PeOPle who have suffered e~ploitation over centuries cannot

be expected to give up t~eir reeI~Dgsof heiplessness so quickly

that they can be straightaway -converted into entrepren~urs;

as understood by the social psychologists., .

broad conclusions of these evahration reports, ~e

should as well. make a viable distinction between diffe- .

rent kinds of self'employment.' In fact,tliere has 'not

been suffiCient clarity 'about. tlle new: deal for the

self-employed. wliich has been incorPorated in .the

Sixth Plan document as to whether the new thrust: of

the Government policy is' directed towa.rds wh"t Can

50 • KURUKSHETR;\October 1,J982

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directcd (O\vardscpeoplewho 'were expected to have

the potential, of entrepreneurship sclf-emplo)'ment.'--'

be considered subsis,tence self-employment ,a s different

from entrepreneurship self-employment. In ,fact,. the

earlier pragrainmcs of, the' Small Industries' Develop-

ment Organisation and ~tbc special- employment prog-

rammes started in tile carly seventies were mainlY'-~ .~ . C',.' !~. I ~,i, ' ...

""

ILWcas.suggested al.one place ,that training, should be

impar:ted tin a running concern to enable: the bene-ficiary' to ,get. exposed to, the "total culture of an cn-

terpri.s,e~',.r,Clt1I.er {than. technical training in isolation.

thc selection of trainecs will involve thc examination of

the aptitude of tJie applicants for self-employment.

Thcreforc, it could be assumed that the approach, of

the TR YSEM was to help developing "entreprcneur-

ship" self-employment even thougli thc massiveness of

the operation. gives.the impression that the authorities

:might have been, satisfied \vith .achievement of subsis-

tence self-employment. I-Iowever, as the programme

has becn, implemented, a lot of deficiencies have ,come

to~otif'~ '}Vhich:take a\Vay,the higher qualities ~f en-

trepreneurship from, the programme, The, TRYSEM

programme should in fact,' be considered 'part of the

wider package under which 1/3rd of the IRD benefi-

ciaries are supposed to bc assisted in industries and services component of economic activities.

.. • [I ~ ; J 'I '

i~bn~~itf~~'i~po~tant p~licy conclusi~~s which can be'drawn'.oJ . .'( ._ ••• - .," •• ~ ', •.. '. .' •.• " ., • .

, from the above discussions is that the personS willino- to( ~.'I...... ", ,',.. '" ,., 1 . e

try their"luck in self-emplo)'ment have to be guided much bettcr'

,ilian ha s;bcen.possible in progrnm1mes takcn up by thc .G~~'ern-:merit-so ,'far. - Such, .guidance iwill ,'have..to .take into ,consi...

j, •.:(I~.rnti9!1'11lle p.~:rcho.logical'mak~up "of. the. individual, his

}!~jt.i,t~de;~!!:d:~a~hgr~un~ a~d relate ~~ same to .future po~si•.. ,bilities ,~f e:eonomic activities., .

J ~, I "I " ' ." .

,~.I~ ... t1 '"",' ....

.)T:,~lilCi8~CLUSHjNS:"8f)';~he"etaluutiOh 'reports for

'Gir]"r"t, "RajUkthdn ','and Aridhr" Prade'sh are fai~ly

Jirl-tila; in'qf~~~ird'to 'po~r selecti~n practices in id'enti-

Ac.~ti~n'.hf r~uit~abJe'In'divid~~ls for setHi'ng d o w n inseIfcehl'pibyineIiL C They also come to ro~ghly the

., .•\I:!h,v .... :->~lt ~;1' H',.'. '.' '."' •. ,~ .~ .. '!

same conclUSIOnsrcgarding the shortness of the tram-iH g pi!6 V ided ' to '~ lhc \ 'ben ef ic iar1 cs ' : ' T]~e's c h e m e ' a s ~uchhas b e p n .'cOIlslde-rc<ito be a' kirid of reHe'f'nleas'lue ln

;~6~.~f:j~~~~.c.~':I~~~.~~~?~})f)~~~~idi,~g:,~~b~~st~.ilc~.~~\~~lof hVlllg through Its stipends and a means of provid-

ing such skills which could le~d to iegular or 'wage-

paid employment in diffcrent cascs, Different evalua-:',-~:,-;'-q"t,T' .It'."i 'j'~ i, ,.~-,.'.I.~.n...•

lIon 'reports 'Have Suggested increasing the length of

training from six months Of below at present, to It

,?,r,,2,yeHf s, ,qep~Edjng on the types of trades selecte.C!,'p)':"tr.~ipi,!gicentre~, .,.,v,ere,not fully ,cquipped, with

.eq,!ipmel]k t",ac\ling m~t.er,ial,sand teachers for impart-

J,,!g}!'e,.skiJIs',n".C,4,d and individual. craftsmen were

110tiSe!!having ,exploited thetrail)ees for pers",nal ends,

1 'h t? vm~ge.;po:vpr g.rol.1psand. th .c community leaders

oft~n ~hp\\"cl apathy, t", ,th~ schcme and in ,~_uy,case,

PWP,~r. p~b}i<;ity.w!,s,n9t ,gil'Sn in',mo,st of the places

s~1.!.gi~~.»fh.c . c1!rriculum and, m~thods. of. training

e.~'Ye~y.~!~SO,fpuq.d.to be ~veal<:since special efforts were

'Q.9t"q.~a<J.e j.n .tpat .c;1ir,c-ctionIdespite clear instructio"ns.- . I ' . . .

"1'. : I ' ~ .

..H i', . .

,\) ,;,,; ;;-.

.. ,..-.4 _I... 1" ., s ~•• t .' ,;

In international, .literature", on 'employment/unem-

loyment, two approaches have been indicated ,witl;

a view to encouraging self-employment which can be

tcrmed as '}he Mass'appf6'atli"and th~ Selec'tive'app-

roach, ' Thc Mnss appr6~ch"has' oftcn meant 'launch-

ing of a 'natiohal ;'-dn~fo~:nal.iralniri~ programme, im-

mediately ,after baSic schooling, ' On'the other ha,id,

the Selective approach hasnieant'imparting pie:v6~

cationa,l skills iii 'a conCentrated manner, more n'airow-

lyon a group i\ihich has' passed' Some basiC 'educa-

tional examiimtion's, 'say Matric," The' Selective sira-

tegy is fairly common 'in marly' traditionai non~formal

skill progmmmes for yOung .people arid has some

connections with the ed~cational strategy of vbca'tiomilisatioH of secondary 'education, The'Mass ap'pe

roach generally 'leads 'to :subsistence self-employnient

and is related to all those "programmes" which' st;css

the rcint~gration of' ectlicated )'-i youth :inro' . ordinary

village life, the need ,for"bis skills to be adapted to

village needs, an>! the.jinportance of his' being" able

to work alongside other people'in the 'vilIrig6~- We

can 'detect the str<iitl of forming Qf correct iattittides,

hard work and reconcilation with village 'mores'. TheSeleetive approach cmphasises not only acquisition

of basicskills but 'also pr(}yision of many dther'f,aci-

lities as'a w~der p.a~kage t6 the. ~utal'Vtj{ire.pr1m'eurs.", "",' p -.0" . .c.' \'1 lL' . '.••

;1. I 'II "I.. ',<I .\.. >f ••• ' ';,j'"

,,I. 'One of the im portant pr"c-i'equisitcs' for suCC'{'ss in' p"ro.i

duc~io>n -.of g.:~~s ::'I}dIs~n'il:2esH,(th.cjr ~arkl~ti'pg:-,sufflci~n.t.lyquickly to realise atleast a marginal profit. In this regard,

U • ' ..•.• ~•. :.. •.•• 1 .11!,.. ',,- ;\. ,; .••••••. , .'. ".".,.,."

it seems ob,'ious that since each of the small producers of ," "I -', .J.,',~.'" '.,,', .....<J,h)' .o..il,Hu,- !' .•......••;;_.., ..-1

goods or services will be too.smal\ to command ,the market,'

'he' sJiould teb~"'up ' : . w i t h ~ p r '6 d u c c r s ' 1 o f i s i r n i l a r g o 'o d s ' ; i n d s e r - I

\'ices.~ ," l.J'JJ1' tA\i..,.,I~ ;l.,' . qhi <

Eniploy~,~*~.,is .ni,~a,ris"otp~rticipihion. . , ' .

IN TH'E'~R~S'E~PROGRA~~E, it:~dsenvisai~;: that

after six months or Icsr i'1:;ini~gw i th tb e master crafts-

llien or other training institutions, the trainee would

be hCIped in preparation of a ,project for ,settling down.

111self-employment.' It was also 'laid down that the

IRD programme functionaries will assist the, tfainees

~n _o.bt~~ing.credit from institutio'ns as also s~pportin obt~mm~ raw materials and marketing of the goods.~r !he ~erv~cesprodu:ced. It was also. envjsag~d,t.hSL.t,

KURUKSHETRA October'l, 1982 5t

•

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In terms of post-training facilities, and cooperative

enCleavours of sister institntions like the DIes, the

banks and other agencies, the conclusions of the eva-

"Iuation'reports have been 'even more criticaL Loans 1

were not arrangcd far inany trainees and projects

were not prepared either. Market potential far the

goods and services was also not studied carefully in

'As we gain expericnt.'e in i~Plementation of programmes

of promotion of self-emplo~'mcnt,' wemay ha\'e to devise

different programmes for different regions Of differcI!t groups

of people in the rural areas. ~

many cases. The development . agencies connected

with the trades in which training was provided did

ndt take much care about supply of raw materials and

evcn subsistence. TherOfare, the evaluation reports

recommended strengthening of the Government 'ag'en- .

des implementing the -programme and sharper focuson proper selection of suitable trainees and detailed

follow-up. This squares . up well with the evidence

that' only about l/3rd of the youth trained under the'

schcme could settle down in some kind of self-em-

ployment-,it is not very clear whether such cases

should be ~lassified entrepreneurship self-employment

or subsistence self-,:mploment. ". . .

Ensuring full involvement

IT HAS BEEN SUGGESTED by several authorities that

the crux of the problem in regard to self-employment.

. opportunities in small settlements 'namely, the villages,

is lack of full involvement of the community and even

the beneficiaries. Though it is admitted that mobili-

sation 'Of people's participation is not an 'easy task,"

it has been generally recommended that such mobilisa-

tion should be done tactfully and gradually in the ini-

tial stages of the scheme so as to give sufficient con-

fidence to the poor. It appears to me that there is

still some confusion about what e~n be expected of

the trainees who are selected from poverty groups,.that too from the bottom deenes. People who have

suffered exploitation over centuries can not be expect-

ed to give up their feeling of helplessness so quickly

that they can be straightaway converted into entre-

preneurs, as understood by the social' psychologists

It. is, however, clear that the training: scheme 'must

keep open the possibility of discovering a few' trainees

with sufficient motivation for achievement in the

economic arena where one has to compete with esta-

blished businesses. But, most of the persons cOmlng

inHor training for self:employment would be quite

satisfied w~h the subsistence_ kind of self-emploYJl!ent

with marginal possibilities of growth' of their assets

and income. To that extent, the TR YSEM program-

52

mehas evolved like a mass' approach programme

directed toW,,:"ds subsistence ~elf-employment !with

some. posslb111lies of ,upgradatIOn from subsistence

level to entrepreneurship level.' I

One of the important- pre-requisites for success in

production of goods and services is their mark~ting

sufficiently quickly to realise at least a marginal ptofit. ' !

.In this regard, it seems obvious that since each td the

small producers of goods or services will he too' slnall. I

to command tile market,. he should team up ~ith

producers of similar goods and services. Theretore,

not only the persons being encouraged to go for kelf-

employment should see their innate abilities, aptitdGles

and family. background but also their willinghess

to orgailise themselves in the form. of small rhralI

producers of goods or services. Such organisations

need not be ouly in'. tlie form of cooperatives rebs-

tercd under .the Cooperatives Act. Even loose or-

ganisations have been found useful in marketing of

goods and services.

One of the important policy conclusions which can

'be drawn from the above discussions is that the per-

sons willing to t,y their luck in self-employment hhe

to be guided much better than has been possible I in

programmes taken up by the Government so far.I

Such..guidance will. have to take into consideration

the psychological.make-up of the individual, his apti-'. I

tude and background and relate the same to future

possibilities. of economic activities. This is not ~n

easy task under any circumstances. But this ~as

been recommended to be taken up by the employinentexchange machinery through vocational .guidadee

cells under the new decentralised strategy for mah-

power planning and employment generation given lin

the Sixth Five Year Plan. However, even here care

will have to )e taken to separate ,the human materJl9

fit for what has been termed as entrepreneursHip

self-employmcnt from . the subsistence self-emplo~-

ment. It is possible that in practice, the programme

r , . . ba' -h .. t " \.• It also appears Jalrty obvIOUS t t t e eXisting rammg

infrastructure in the country is not sufficiently equipped t oI

deal Yt'itbproblems of"correctly motivating yo.ung bo)'s ana

girlS towards different types of self-employmerit. Nor arb

- they having enough experience of devising different kinds dlf

training programmes for different types of people so that the

skills imparted to tliem during the course are quite relevan~

to the' individual's own background as well as those of the agb-

climati zones in which he lh'es.,

functionaries of rural development. _and employmen1t

exchanges would concentrate their attention more on

the individuals likely to be satisfied with the minirnun:llevel of subsistence self-employment with . potentia!

. for growth while the Small Industries Developmenl

Organisation and similar bodies concentJ;ate theiJ


•

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attention on tmose individuals with potential for

higher order of entrepreneurship. For entrepreneur-

ship self-employment, studies made by American psy-

chologists, like Mclleland on achievement motivation

will be more relevant than for the Mass approach of

either the TRYIiEM, KVle or the employment ex- ,

change machinery. Further, it seems necessary that

'much more research work should be done' on the

e.xper~ence of programme functionaries in regard t omotivating individuals for either entrepreneurship self-

employment or subsistence, self-employment. Only

on the basis of much more materials collected through

research studies, will it be possible to take positi~e

steps to-make the various programmes of the Govern-

ment more effective for different kinds of individuals

and, possibly diff~rent resou'ree endownments .of va-

rious regions of the country? We have already seen.

that, there is an enormous variety in "0l;lf country in

terms of varying rates of unemployment for' different

regions/States and different social groups. As we gain

experience in implementation o'f programmes of pro-motion of self-employment, we, may have to devise

different programmes for different regions or diffe-

rent groups of people in the rural areas. We may,

therefore, have to give up our attachment to artifi-

cially uniform type of programme for the entire

country.

(Conld. frol11 p. 46)

Need for rural cadre

A YOUTHFUL rural cadre who will undertake village

tasks -on a voluntary basis in accordance with the

schemes drawn up by the elected bodies is desirable

in order to let the gates of 'creative energy be opened and give youth their' rightful share in rural develop-

ment, .

Nothing could be more,denunciatory'of ihc manner

in which the Government's plans are implemented

than that, most people .in'the villages, sub-marignal,

marginal and small farmers, after 35 years are still

waiting for the gifts of freedom to come to their doors.

A vISIonary-said ,not long ago that as the clock

struck twelve;' India moved on to her tryst with destiny.

That destiny, unfortunately, 'is stark poverty for most

of the .people, for the present' at least. But it will not

b e long before the tocsin begins emitting alarming

sounds. So we have to act fast and fast enough.

KURUKSHETRA October 1,-1982 53

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\: ''.If .f,uLI,l!'llt .,Jl

:.u:c;.~.~f1'""Pt' 1(. .rr"1,.m:"'f'f.rt".~iW.i' I

',•••.~~;.,..,/, ~.I1! ', t'" ' "J')!,irr ~;)Ij', .~. } h

" • i

€!'ji::t ,:c. "TI ['I '0', '.),;:. ,~.l.-, ~"Itt'~~}~;'....r! ,.i;1 .< ,....~ ~li,j.,J

!;.i,il,rr,f7' '~Ftl ,,',H 'r. , : A . . 1 -;l- 'n .'!

:,

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it: ',[,h: "ii""l ,1'1'p'/ H "";.; f . '} t-'"( ,il . ,f.

f ' ,,,,I" I'", ",,-.'.-' r "".lli}".!1 '; ,'/"' ' ,Y ' ,' . ) ' "n

nl~ "l.f .~I \)II:'j(! i', i :~iii. ,'.r

" ',...

)-' ', '

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'J,""!'

<)Ji' r:~ ,.r:

d'.<o' ..,:! t. (': ,if, ,) d~.r',;,-r!i '1'", jfij r ' i . .fOil ,j ...' #11 ff.

Let:s le'ave 'it~to!p~6'p.le':i~ JI;"r,:,,m o e t t e 'f J Iid g e m :e r i t"1','.1/ {b,'.. :. .f," 'H,!tr ; 'A: f, ''''.'; h,j

1. I :It,.. '11" $U~!,N~ER1S~'

cUi / 1'1(":: ~',~" :~..', 'f"

T '" ;~,~~~f:1~F';J::~~~k.~:'~~\;~LO~'¥~~T~ ' i n'Itpe~,'~..try !has: b.cen, plark~d i!~y p~o~i;f7~~~io{1~.9 . : f ,~g_e~~,iland ,schemes for the welfare of the rural. J<I~ssesand

, --...'., .. ' ..•• • 'fl' .', ,,' "'Hi'. " ""\";

generous allocation.of.funds for .this ,purpose. Yet to." ""',., . . I'our dismay, the nllmber, of people hvmg m p~nuryhas

steadily been increasing. The gains' in overall ~1#ic~7tural production however large or small, have not, . I

been reflected adequately in the form of improvementI

in tbe living standards of the rural poor nor there

is any remarkable improve'men.t in environment Of-iH,e

countryside, Most of the villages in the country stinlack basic amenities like drinking water, all-wealh.lr

roads, ,sanitation, health cover, etc, Although alinoit

,every five-year plan has listed among priority items. the measures for mitigating unemployment, the joble~s

population in rural areas has been increasing with

every year that passes. (,-~. ,':1 "", J;

:Jlblj'J ~G,PJ 1,;' b.... ./

. Why has this been so? Where have we gone wron~?Th

. p I

The" reason 'perhaps is, no.t far to. seek, .' ' every pianning for' development smackS .of. a';m-chair 'think'-

ino-. "."It is , th~'' 'buie~ucra,ts.r.s iltin g ' i n I'DeIhi' or' iIi' tli~,C I, ,I '. ,.•.,,' " ••.,":. "', f' "1', '",'''''-' I

state .capitals who decide what the needs of the rural',' I. "'. . J' • ""." .:,1 , r , . . • • • ~

people 'are and, how these, could- ne fulfilled, 'Leave; ,.11 ,c. ' • , j .,.-' ." j, ~,,' H~", "','" f'l' I

alone the targetted benefiCiaries, even the lower level

g?,~~m~n~~~functionarie~, who are ~ctually. to. iInplef ment' the' rural development schemes, 'are.' rarely con-

• \-" ••••'r' "".; ~ ,f ..

sulted a!'the plan formUlation'stage:' I'i' "'.rl,, No wonder then the people as well as the field-level

.implementers of. the development projects have littl~

reason. to be enthusiastic about their' success" som~

of the well-conceived projects bave failed to}ield ~e-Isired results due to this apathy, .Instances are legion

where funds set aside for, vital programmes have re-

mained unutilised.

.,".! .'

SHRI SURINDER SOOD isAgricultural Correspondent

. of the Times of India. NewDelhi.

'." • • , , - , !r,:;: i;i . • r . _ l:..u, fh ., ,f. ~,il

,

" ,!" "j

".,

.nl

I " . . r ,'! .1'\'

," ~. :; , ,

), \-r'

,"

, , ,

" I. ';';

"

" " 0

~j Ii; ~, j,:

:;;J".I "J. I , JI,l; /i Ie IltHI' r" ' l.: , .. •• '. :,fj,) "

CastigiltiHg ~the bureaucrat who" generally is _not

",liolly aivare of tlie real needs of the rllral poor, Ihe

author ,,,;ys: "No wohder th'lf the people as well as

the {ield'level impleliu!iittrs ,df the"developlnent'pro'

<jects have liIile reason to be enthusiastic about their,

'success., Some of the well-concdved projects have

failed'/O yield desired results due to this apathy. Ins-

. 'Iances are legion where Vunds'set aside for vital pro-

~.,.amme, have remained ul1utilised.n

He adds: "No strategy, howeVer well cOllceived,

aimed at seekJng wider involvement oj rural popula- .

:tioll in developmellt activi/iN will sllcceed unless the '

policy planners display cOlliplete faith in the people

and leave i/, to .their beller judgement as to what is

. ,good for, them .. The experience has it tilat, Indian pea" . .<. ..", ," I.: '-".J"l ,. -I", 1.;1 .!,;'

:7./11try.,bv and. large, IS quite shrewd and Will wel-,". ". . .' r,_, , 'I' '"' ,.,1:, ,. I,.

'comewhole,-heartedlv anything that, se,yes their illte~, .• ,••• : •• ",-,." ," ~~"', '".~,,~ .j! ,,,':;~'l'~."

rcsts and benefits them fiJ1anci~lly."

KURUKSHETRA' Octdhet,1,,1982

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The current plan is no exception. Of the Rs. 1,800

crores earmarkcd for the Integrated Rural Develop-

ment Programmes (IRDP) in the first two years, nomore than Rs. 637 crores had actually been disbur-

sed either as grants or loans. This is despite the

'Why has .this been so 1. \Vhere ha\'~we gone wTong?

The reason perhaps is not far to seek. The ,'cry planning for

development smacks orarm chair thinking . .. lea\'e alone thetargetted beneficiaries, even the lower level go\'emment

functionaries, who- are actualI)' to implement the rural de\'e~

lopment schemes, are rarely. consulted at the plan formula~

tion stage"

fact that the Sixth plan document does not mince

words in highlighting the need for community partici-

patioll in the execution' of rural development pro-

gramm~s.

Faulty implementation

I N A COMMUNICATION to the states a~out a. year

ago, the Planning Commission reiterated the need

for decentralisation of the planning process for the

successful i;I!pjeme.!1tationof the IRDP. It urged the.

state governments to make' available to the district

level authorities funds for the development of infra-

~tru~tm~ based on local need~~ Barring Maharashtra

and Gujarat, no other .state ~cems to have taken the

suggestiol1seriously.

As pointed out during a national seminar on

"Integrated Approach. to Agricultural Development",

held recently the whole picture of the process of ruf'al

development, as also of tlle national dev<e!opmep.t,is

indeed confusing. A programme has often been star-

ted with much fanfare and publicity, !"valuated even.

before it is implemented fully, side-tracked after sarno.

time (midway) and finally it gives way to a new

programme in the same manner.

The Community Development Programme was laun-

ched in 1952 with the main objectiv!" of bring-ing overall improve!!1~nt in rural areas covering

all aspects of rural life, such , ! S i'griculture, animal hus"

bandry, rural industries, education, health, cooperation,

panchayats, etc. This was ..ca:lled. as a "process", a

Hf!1ov~ment" ~da "programnle" and- was expected tobring about economic development. through intensive

community organi~a.tionwork in a democratic maMer.

But even this programme could not must<;'f-suilicient

support and patronage of the community. By 1959-

60, it was realised that the C.D. programme was un-

able to solve the immediate problem of food

sqlIcity. A new programme called Intensive Agricul-

tural District Programme (IADP) and later follow~d


by Intensive Agricultural Area Programme (IAAP)

\vas launched. The emph~~~ shifted from an' app-

roach for overall development in rural areas to a

limited approach of concentrating on selected areas.

The IADP, also called the "package programme"

was fairly successful in raising the foodgrain out-

put in the country and also in providing a degree of

stability at least in the case of marketable produce.

One of its unique features that helped in realising thelimited initial obje,tive of dispensing with the food.

imports through increased domestic production wa~

.that"it concentrated efforts and resources only in the

selected areas known to possess potential for a quick

breakthrough in production. This, howevcr, led to

certain undesirable consequences, such as widening of .inter-regional disparities in agricultural and econo-

mic development. The gulf betwcen the rich and the

poor also widened furthi'r.

As a result, a debate was gcnerated on the judi-

.ciousness of intep.sive versus cxtensrve deployment of resources for wider social gains. The consensus ulti-

mately veered round tge new concept of spreading the

scarce resources relatively thinly over a large area.

The social benefit likely to accrue from such an app-

roach is believed to be greater than. from the earlier

approach of concentrating resources in fcw pockets.

The agricultural policy. adopted since the Fourth

plan, therefore, had "growth with .social justice" as its

principal plank. This concpt makes it incumbent upon

the authorities cto involve people at large in the pro-

ces.s,:Jf development; .economic as well a s

social.

N o STRATEGY, HOWEV~R WELL CONCEIVED, aimed

at 'seeking wider involvement of rural population

in development activities will succeed unless the policy planners .display complete faith in the people and

leave it to their better judgement as to what is good

for them. The experience has it that Indian peasan-

try, by and large, is quite shrewd and will welcome

wholeheartedly anything that serves his inierests and

benefits hinl financially. Instances. arc known whe~e

people camc fQrward with voluntary labour and other

'A programme has often been ~tarted with much -f, , :nfarc ' .

and publicity, evaluated even before it is implemented fully,

. sidetracked after some time and. fi~lly it gi"es way to a

new programme in the same manner. ~

possible help for programmes. ainled at meeting their

genuine heeds.

One way to solicit unre5erved support and coopera-

tion of people in project implementation can be through

letting them decide the priorities of action and also

(COll/d .. OJl.p .•66)

55

,

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People's participation! 'dqwe mean business?

, IBUNKER ROY

'The author appears quite bitter and is highly dis-

~ enchall/ed with the results 6t tile various program-

me; at development' at the rural poor and the way

they are beiJ1gplanned and o/npleJliiNllfd. But his

.bitterness' is born at his high impatience to deliver

goods sooner thall later,and tram all ulleasy sense at

disgust and helplesslless ill effecting a changed illthe'

system that governs the running ofJhe programmes

as they. are. Added to this inlih; rampa/it lack of

kllowledge at the real problems ,at the 'rural poor.

and their real caUSes on the part of plnnners what

irks the author most is tlick the programmes seem

to act like a whitewash rather than grapple with theroots at the problem.

SHRI BUNKER ROY works

at the Social Work and Re-

search Centre at Tulonia (DisU

Ajmer) in Rajasthan.

S6

VERY SIGNIFICANTLY;the Governmen.t has r 7 Que,st-

ed the participation of, the people In the Inlp\e-

mentation of only two programmes out of the ~O-

Point Programme to boost the economy and help t:he

poor' as announced by Ihe Prime Minister on 1~th

January 1982. ~ The first -Point No. 13--40il1ls~orla

promotion of .family planning on a voluntary basIs as

a people's movement while the second-Point No; . 1 6--40alls for a spread of universal elementary educatl~n

and .jnvolvement of students and vohInta~ agenciEs

in the removal of adult illiteracy. ObVIOusly tijis

shows the extreme reluctance of the Government tomake the people a party to their own developm~~t.

It also shows how we are planning and implemenlI~g

programmes' more for the government and less fo,r

the people. Even after three decades of develop-

ment work in the rural areas, there still persists in, . . . I

the 'corridors of power this urge and feeling. of wanttn,g

to do charity work in !he name of development.' In. • I

, the eyes, of the Government the poor will remaIn poqr

and must remain poor and every effort must be madF

to see that very few families living below the poverty

line--every progress from being non-persons to becomL

ing a citizen of this country., '., I, It is not that planners and policy-makers 11 1 ,the

'higher levels of decision making-but cut off from th~

realities of life-<lo not want the 350 IIDlhon small anq

marginal. farmers, rural artisan" scheduled castcs_an~scheduled tribes, Harijans and agneultural- labourers tO

Iimprove their way of life. But the sehell;'es that.tl~el prepare and the projects that they conceIve of SItttn&

in .Dellii and the State capilaIs are so impractical that. . I

it is not surprising that the people have no mterest tn,

participating: One would expect those who think of;

thes~ programmes to have noticed the lapses and -changed accordingly. But it appears it is too much

to ask be'cause we sec the same mistakes being eom-,mitted we se!c th~ sa~e officers who have no idea'of

- ,

KURUKSHEl'RA October i,19$2'

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, ' .

. The rural development programmes sPecifically h a T e D O

community involvement input and this has made govemRleat

programmes a hand-out programme emphasising a top, tobottom. approach without a feedback syst~m.'

their participation at all. Those' who speak ,on behalf

of the poor to be sUre, are desperately keen: to partici-

pate in every government programme because their

fortunes and their influence in the village depends 011 ,

it. ' Government is a major source of funds that need

not be accoul\ted for and if he, has the conneetions it

should be possible for him to embezzle funds .from

Looking at the realities

W'H E , N, 14 LAKHFAMILIESh.ave'] 0 lakh hectares

of land waiting to be reclaImed and made more

productive but most of this surplus land is disputed

and, the landless families through no fault of their

own have been dragged to court because of govern-

~ent error, why ha;; the Point NO.4 (of. the 20-

point programme) at all which reads, "strict imple-

mentation of agricultural land ceilings and distribu-tion of surplus land?" The delivery system of the

government--':'the ,,',venue, the police and the judiciary

supposedly development-oriented and working for the

best interests of the poor is in fact designed to keep

community initiative away and discourage any effort

at generating awareness of laws and. government

orders for their own development. Even though,

Point No. 5 commits the government to "review and

effective enforcement of minimum wage for 'awcultu-

ral labourers" very few of them know the existence of

the Minimum Wages Act and what wages have ,been

set up by the. State Government in one parlicular

State.' It is known to the sub-divisional level officials,

the rich farmers who hire labour know it, the, Labour

Courts are aware of the people violating the law but

so strong is the bond between the people breaking

.the law and those whose job it is to protect it that

the final ..casualty is the agr!culturaI labourer. He

will remain a bon.Jed labourer even' if. the Point No.

6 cOl1l1l1itsthe government to rehabilitating bonded

labourers ,under the Bonded Lahour System (Aboli-

tion) Act because the government is quite incapable

of appreciating the seriousness of the situation. Moreoften than not district and sub-divisional officials have

expressed their impotence to do anything about it

over and above. certifying they are bonded labourers

which enliHes them to re<:eiving Rs 200 in Andbra

Pradesh: Rs 500 for' land development in' Madhya

Pradesh: Rs 60 for 6 months and Rs 500 for marriage

grants in Orissa and Rs 500 for land reclamation in

Rajasthan. If by a mi~ade any bonded labourer

receives this amount he is considered 'rehabilitated'.

ominllnity participation being asked to implement the

rogral1l1l1ewith people's ,support, we see the same

arrow-minded approach to solving problems of the

poor.

THE,RURALDEVELOPMENT programmes sp'ecmcallY

have 'no community involvement input and this, hasmade government programmes' a hand-out programme

'But the schemes that they prepare and the projects that they

conceive of sitting in Delhi and the State capitals are .50

impractical that it is not surprising that the people have no

interest in participating.,

emphasising a top to bottom approach without a feed'

back system. There is no scope for the beneficiaries

suggesting how progral1l1l1escould be imp!"oved or

how corruption can be minimised or what steps could,

bc taken to make them more" effective. The system. of accountability being non-existent at the village level

whatever programmes' are being implemented have

he sanction of the rural rich .and the governme,nt

fmictionary in the name of the beneficiaries. 'Thus

strengthening and expanding the coverage of the in-

egrated rural development and national rural employ-

ment programmes (Point NO.3) means integration of

exploitative forces at the village level which includes

he patwari, the gram sevak, the cooperative inspector,

he group secretary, the thanedar and the teacher

along with the sarpanch, the ward members and theother richer landlords. Between them--and their

understanding is the last. ,word in integration-they

dentify the beneficiaries who' should receive subsidies

under the IRD programme, they decide which fami-

ies should receive loans and whose' forms should be

processed first, they reach an understanding on whose

flock of sheep should be sold to whom and who should

pay back loans' to the cooperative society with a view

o taking it back the next day. Under the National

Rural Employment Programme, the idea is to develop

community assets and use bullock carts insiead, of

ractors and ,trolleys so that more income could begenerated by the families living below the poverty line.

You think this actually happens? Has anyone check-

ed? And when irregularities have beelf exposed, do

you think any action has been taken against the

village level officials? It just does not happen and when.

year after year criminal acts have been allowed to go

scot free to the extent it is blatantly and publicly'done

nowadays, the question of peoples' participation for

constructive and positive purposes does not arise. The

question must also be asked which people and what

sort of participation is' expected when the government

does 'not recognise the role of the ,beneficiaries in thisprocess? .

Earlier on We did ask ourselves. the question

people we are talking about and whether we

which

want


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the cooperative society in the village, get a cut from

every sheep; goat, secd and medium tcrm loan that is

sanctioned from the subsidies provided 'by the govern-'. . "

ment and earn a ,'commission from providing electric

connections fo[. wells, cottage industries ctc, Apart

from the monetary advantages this man who claims

to be a crusader for the poor is well acquaintcd with

the various schemes and projects of the government

through his contracts with the patwari and the ~ram.

-,

When year after year criminal acts have been allowed to goscol rrce to the extent it .is' blatantly and publicly done now:"

adal's. the questio:l or people's participation for constructive

anj posItive pUipose~ does nof arise. The question must also

be. asked which .people and what sort of ~articipation is

expected when the' government does not recognise the role

of the heneficiaries in this process?,

scvak, He wiW'share this knowledge with extremediscretion, It'is a form of power: it is one way of

keeping that hold' on the poor: it is the carrot this

man will dangle' in front of poor families to get thcir

participation. O n c e the transactions are 'over and the

formalities completed tne scheduled caste family

cca~;es-to exist.~ 7 : 1Is this the sort of participation we

have in mind? 'But this is precisely the extent to

which governme'nt is prepared to go-never beyond.

If a sarpaneh vC;;eeshis inner thoughts, it is taken as

the voice of the 'whole community. If a ward member

expresses his personal wish to electrify the village, itis taken to be the combined wish of all the sections of

the village whethe~ they can afford it or not. If one '

educated man thinks a television set in the village is

a good idea it is .taken for granted that it has the-sup-

port of the whole village. This is far from being the

ca.se. These are not only exaggerated versions of

aile person's importance but also a reflection of the

re'ality of the situation which we like to call 'commu-

nity participation'. It is not uncommon to find a

h~ndful of peop!"e controlling and influencing, public.

: opinion in a whole village. They donate money in

the name of the'-whole village for dubious causes-for repairing schools, putting up a dispensary or building

a dharmasala or providing refreshments for a visiting

politician or district collector. They consider these.

investments; we call it community involvement. If

an on-the-spot demonstration has to be arranged for

a gullible visiting government expertshamianas can

be put up in double quick time, chairs could be

acquired in a day, malas along' with sarpanehes and

ward members in. their Sunday best waiting in line

and agricultural labourers and scheduled caste fami-

lies digging away' madly on some road showing howthe community is doing 'shramd'an'. This is the best

example of community participation that has the

stamp of approval, at tbe lowest level:

58

I

Let me give you a scenario of another type \ of

participation for another kind of 'people', the mime-

less millions,' who arc never free from hunger land

want and fear.n,is type of participation lead~ to

the development of the human being,which, ironicilly,

is considered anti-devclopmcnt. The spectacle that

haunts our planner, politician and bureaucrat at e~ery

level is the independent thinking man who has through'

sheer grit raised himself above this mysterious povdrty

line and started standing on his own two feet. Sihce

there is' a vested "interestin keeping them poor ~nd

impoverished, anyonc who can defeat such formiddble

forces is a man to be feared and hated-and grudgirg~

Iy respected from a distance. We have seen how the

vary institutions and agencies that arc supposed I to

help him become a better human being, a more u~e-

ful citizen and a more responsible m;mber of ru~a1,

society are actually mobilised to keep h'ln in his,

place. .. : \.'

Needed a change ill outlook

T h" 'f '.. . h lidHE EFFECT OF t IS type a partiCIpatIOn ,as 9

to the development of a sort of man that cannot,

be recognised. The pity of it all is that we do nbt

like what we see.' We do not have the maturity io

adjust to what we have done to him. If projects,

programmes and subsidies are supposed to make hiln, ,

get on in life-,gct him a better house, send his child

to a better school, generate more income by acquit-

ing more animals-and' he makes good use of theAe

opportunities it leads to jealousy, suspicion and blttet-

~~s:a~~~se:~r~e:ff~r~c~e~~~~ ~~s~n~~tt::t;et~tr~~~~

a hand pump so easily: it is decreed that they , mu~t

suffer and get 'water from two miles away, especiall&'

when the sarpanch and upper castes have to mak'e

do with open wells. If loans arc taken and rc,p'aid il:.

time it hurts because then this scheduled caste is ndt

. playing the game fairly: he should be depending oh.

politicians providing him protection who should bb

felling him to treat the loan as a grant. If ever~

'Why do. we want people's' participation ? Because wewant better thinking human beings : because we want people

to stand on their own feet : we want them to realise their

.strength : we want the~.to use the rural development pro-

grammes the way they think best.'

scheduled caste Were to repay their loans in time tJ

entire system of patronage is likely to fall apart!

Should every family living below the poverty line start!

thinking and acting independently, it will be a disasJ

1' ter of the first magnitude. '

Why do we want people's' participation.?' Beeausel

we want better thinking human beings': because we,

want people to stand on their own two feet: we want

them to realiSe their strength: we want them to usc

KURUj(SHETRA Oeiober 1, 1982

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ural development progral1ll1les the, way tbey thi~

est., B,ut,who is the Developed Man who the system

s so scared of?

He is the person who auswers back; he asks ques-

ions and points out flaws in the system. He names

he bent and corrupt officials and by putting pressures

expects the system to respond by- taking action. ,He'

docs nof care if the family is, hurt in the process but

stands for what is right and just by his terms of reference which, funnily enough are not too differen!

from the way we urban types look at the same issues.

t is just that he is in a village somewhere wh~re the

_.' in the name of accountabilit:r, the heavy presence of &overn-

ment bas literal!)r sapped all commu.nity. initiatil'C. it is.

strange tbat the government does not trust the community and

this is ,evident from its strict system of accountability, of

obtaining no objection certificates from the patwari, th e teb~

sildar, the BDO and the cooperatil'e insPector-ali. links in

the exploitative chain. ~

pressures are real, intense and dangerous but we do notappreciate the tremendous guts 'it takes for him to

take such a stand, we take these things for granted.

He has never been to school or college but he provides

living proof of what we mean by educ'ation. If he

passes any member of the panchayat or a respected'

man from the upper caste on a village street he will

not get off his bicycle and if it is aquestion of discus-

sing a problem with anyone of'them he will choose

a cllarpai or a chair and will refuse to sit on the floor

as many are expected to do. These small acts of

courage which show the development of' the hnmanbeing taking place is v.irulently resented and the do-

minant minority in the villages go to exiraordinary

limits to stifle it.. If a widow starts cycling openly in

the village everyone is scandalised; if she builds a

latrine next to her house right in the middle of the

,:il1age j - t is interpreted as an act of defiance' and pr~s-

sure is put on her 'to close it down immediately. The

sarpanch does not possess this facility and all other

respected families in the village go to the fields who

is this widow to start doing these strange things?

This is not development: it is an insult.

_ A S THE President of Tanzania, said, "People callnot

be developed; they develop themselves." What the

government is doing is trying 'to .develop people,

shape people to think one way, insist and encourage

a top-down approach to solving problems witho~t

even considering the establishment of a feedback

system from tbe village, level. The idea of peoplespartkipation is to create conditions for people to

develop themselves. 111e government insists this is

their objective in the first place to be self reliant-and

yet when :ve S~ fhis happening in front of Our eyes,

we get agItated. and scared and refuse to identify itas < l change for the hetter. '


The participation of peopie is genexaily seen' ,i.< d l

tlu'e,at,to ruraL society. If the rural poor get organised;

get to understand their powe~ betler and thus become

indepen.jent it would be disastrous for the rural ricb.

The Government and the dominant minority are

interested. in keeping individual initiatives in check

~nd one way of doing this is to make them as depen-

dent on government as possible.

The bane of bureaucracy

ION THE NAME OF ACCOUNTABIUTY, the heavy pres-

ence ,of government has literally sapped all c0m-

munity initiative. It is strange that the government

docs not trust the COl1ll1lunityarid this is evident from

its'strict system of accountability, of obtaining 'no

objection certificates' from the patwari, the tehsildar,

tbe Block Development Officer and the cooperative

inspector-all links in the exploitative chain-and

whose thumb print will certify a guilty man innocent.

This system is for loans, for ration cards, for obtainingcement for lining wells, for taking possession of land

given to the scheduled caste, by the government, for

claiming subsidies, for identification as a family living

below the poverty line, for qualifying as a' voter. In

fact for. almost everything that concerns him and his

,own development he is obliged to or dependent on

,the government. Is this a way of promoting people's participation?

The, government has every right to enforce this

5ysteni of accountability on the community but notice.

there is ,no system of accountability on themselves. Acooperative inspector can embezzle thousands of

rupees and the community knows he will get away

with it. A patwari and, the tehsildar and an SDO

together can distribute disputed land supposedly sur-

plus .to the poor, involve them in a legal battle making

them ultimately poorer in the process but - no one

in the government feels these officials should be held

accountable. The teacher is not accountable to the

'The ver)' idea of the rural poor's participation in ~ural

"deyelopment programmes is a threat to the grassroot g~\-'ern-

ment functionaries because it means seeking to impose a

s)'stem 'of accountability at village le\'el, ,

cOffiluunity but to the Inspector of Schools so he can

come when he feels like, go when he 'feels like or

never cOll1e to the school for months but collect his

salary and mark his attendance-accountability? None:

The same is the case with the doctor the ilianedar'the pat'Yari and the gram sevak.' ,

The very , idea of the rural poor's participation. in

rural development programmes is a threat to these

grassroot government functionaries because it means

seeking to impose a system of accounfability at thevIllage level. If this ever happens the wbole strncture

of protecting ,each other in time of crises will fall and

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they will be vulnerable: it is for their own weJiare and

survival that the poor remain poor anci they. do not

get an opportunity t .o ra~setheir voice over any issue.

It is necessary for the vested interests in the villane, 0

.that the poor have no independent means of develop-

ing themselves.

W H Y THE participation oi the rural poor is so essen-

tial is the very reason why the local governmentofficials and .the rural rich are opposing it tooth and

nail. First the part,cipation of the people leads to the

testing of the system, whether it is capable of res-

ponding to community demands, whether it is capab1e"

of protecting the interests of the .sociaHy vulnerable

groups, whether , i t s development programmes are

actuaHy reaching thc .target groups; obviously these

issues, if thrown open to the public and to the com-

munity w iI l expose aU th e possible intrigues, arrange-

ments and irregular practices that have been going on

for decades. N9 g,?vernment would like to open thisPandora's box. Second, the involvement of people

and their interest is likely to lead to knowledge and

information being available to all-this would be dis-

astrous since it w i lL mean a major sOurce of income

being Cllt off quite apart from the considerable loss of

'We refuse to identify Cha~gc. Instc~d we look ~n this

development as a challenge to the system, as a threat to

society. We im'ariably confuse conOid with yiolcncc, the

questioning spirit w ith indiscipline, the freedom of expression

with anarchy, science with technology and de\'{~lopmcnt

with politics., '"

patronage. Imagine what would happen if the rural

poor start questioning the interpretation .of certain

schemes based on correct inform'ation they have re-

ceived from el~ewhere (c.g. a non-governmental

agency): imagine. what would ]lappen if the govern-

ment servant was forced to adhere to the criteria laid

down by the Central Government -rcgarding the pro-

cess of identification of potential . beneficiaries just

because su"eh classified information was made public:

in;agine what would happen if the SDO was informed

.by a poor scheduled .caste fanlily oLthe existence of

an .act which he, the SDO has not hea-rd of! In the

fin'al analysis, this is what people's participation would

accomplish: it is a nightmare that keep these petty

bureaucrats up at night and it is one major reaSOn w hy

non-governmental agc)1cics arc not appt.eciated or cu-

.couraged. The dc-mystification of kriowledg" the.

accessibility 10 information has terrifying repercus,..

sions that very few structures can withstand.

60

t"~,,"""'do eo' ,i" ", w ; ' w ~.changc. Least of all to .-accept it in the forml we

sec it. The fact is it frightens us. This is the dildnima

facing rural development programmes today. We :want

change, we are looking for change but we are u'lable

...to recognise it and wliaf we see happening as a rbsu l t

of cominunity participa~ibll, w e d o n "o t lik e fo r \ a n

" assortment of reasOl'ls, largely personal, s o we sw endmuch of aUf effort to destroy the very work we jmye

dOric.. ... . . \

. We refuse to Identify change. Instead we Iooki on

this development as a challenge to the System, asl a

threat to society. We invariably confuse conhict

with violence, the. ques~ionin~, spirit w~th indisCipllne~

the freedom of expreSSIOn wah anarchy science with, I

technology and development with politics. For ins-- I

tance, when there is a need 'to test the delivery system

ostensibly committed to rum! development-the re~e-

nue, the police and the judiciary-there is a potenhal

conflict" situ'ltion in cvery move you make on beHalf . I

of the poor. The government influenced by the rural

rich would definitely like to see such situations defusbd . - " -... I

as quickly as possible. People's participation to the

government, does' not mean exposing the vuInerabili;ty

of the system-but in many cases it. just. cannot be

avoided. So a heavy hand is used to prevent ariy

change from taking place. Status quo at any cost ~s

n~aintai[led. " ' . . \ .

We know there is a fine distinction bctween devclop-

. ment and political work at the villaee level. After aql

we arc dealing with people and if .th;ir participation .i,s

"a mu~t, qevelopmcnt means the 1evelopment of human

beings. Every loan, hand pump, balvadi, adult edu~

cation centre and dispensary has political implieationsl

its very location can be source of conflict and heart!

b_ur,n. So when people j5ay government is involved ~ ddevelopment and the non-governmcnt!11 agelicid

should only do 'soci'al servicc', they do not' know whal

t he y a rc ta lk in g a bo ut. " Ev er y organisati~n COlhmit tcd\

to rural development is also committed -to the partic.i-

. pation of the beneficiaries s'inee, after all, it is a politi-

cal proccs.s we are cOffimittiilg to changing. Peoplesparticipation means we are dabbling ..with peoples

min.js and their thinking process~s-and that is politic~.

In other words, people's participation means the

politicisation of-development. J find it heartening

and indeed encouraging to see that the government

wants this to happen-but when they sec tangible evi:

dence of .this change taking place, why do they get so

scared?


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Only a good rapport willl~'~ ...'

. en~urepartlclpat1onH. T. KHUMA

The author is sad to note the tact that "Consider-

ing the quantum of. exercise !the media lUIs taken,

one is easily inclined to believe that b.v now the

jJeople in the villages should be alright and aware

at 'the n"istence o f m ea nin gf ul a nd realistic deve-

. lopmem programmes meanl for their uplift inch/d-

ing how they could avail themselves 'o f various -kinds

of assista nce , sub sidies , loans and ./rainil lg facilities

etc. But, alas, what oblair:.s actually is however just,

the re~'erse'" and adds that ."iit order 'to be ab le to

drive home the idea of economic change to the rural

poor to the extent at arousing them ~o act ,it is

11(!c(dsary that communicator ' himself is equipped:with thorough knowledge of his' subject and is in-

volved in his m iss io l1 . "

He further adds: "Cal17paigllers have the tenriencv to

arrange thej~' programmes in better (:onnected vill~',ges

ill preference to those which are located remotelv .

Or are far off which in t a c . ! deserve such campaig,;s

much nwre .'than.the former. Such a sit-:wtioll can

be remedied by modifying cam/;aigl1-1jl{fi~J1ing and

bringing it closer to the needs wid the refllities o f

our rural-areas.

SHRl H. T. KHUMA is Direc-

t or ( Basic L it erat ure) in t he

U ni on Ministry of R ural Dc-

velopment.

-

T HE CONCEPT Qt-' DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION

is not. a new thing' in this country. Right from thestart of community development programme, publicity'

has been assigned a significant role in the acceptance

and popularisation iJf the programmes. Various

media units available with .th." Government have becn

utilised for popularising the idea of economic and

social change among'the people, especially those in the

Iural arcas. There was a time when even community

listening .sets were freely' distributed and fixed up' i;,

the villages for the rural listcners. The main media

organs such as the A.I.R., .Field Publicity, Song and

Drama, DAVP, Films Division and the PublicationsDivision have all along been giving high priority to

rural development in their programme activities. They

have been labouring quite hard to'.f6ster knowledge

and. understanding of development programmes among

the rural populace. In fact, considering the quantum

of exercise the various media has taken, one is easily

inclined to believe that by now the people in the village

should bo already quite aware of the existence of

meaningful ,md realistic development programmes

meant fat their uplift, including how they could avail

themselves of various kinds of assistance, subsidies,

loans and training facilities provided .under them.But, alas, what obtains .aetu'ally is, however, 'just the.

reversc. The rural man is still "dumb'. to what is

being made available to him to make his life a vee-bot-

ter, and for that matter, the transformation of his en-

vironment. The rna,in furge~ of the. current pro-

grammes of rural development is the' poorest of the

rural poor which also happens to be the most igno-

rant, illiterate, sickly, superstinous "and apathctic sec-

tion of the society .. The ruraJ poor whose annual

income is below Rs. 3,500 do not read newspapers.

seldom !See films and cannot buy and m'aintain even

the cheapest transistor set; yet, they are the people whohave to be. awakened and motivated. How and in what

form this could be done is a matter for constant exa-

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mination and study. on the part of development com-

municatl"lrs and programme-managers.

.M ERE PUBLICITY through the usual'media and ac- ' '

cording to age-old practice and techniques appears to

have failed. to a considerable extent, to bring about

welcomc rcsults and in spite of so many years of offi-

cial efforts in field dcvelopmcnt such as construction. \

of roads, water tanks, schools, health racilities, demon-stration farms and so on the poor man' remains very

poor both physically and mentally. What is needed

~~now is a system 'of effective m'otivational communica-.

;.r~ion of the development message through a medium or

media suitable and also available to the man in the

village. This, in other wor 1

ds, means o~al~communi-

cation and that too, person to person. fortified with

audio-visual support. The' poor man (has to know

how poor he is, what he' is capable of, and what'he

should do to alter his ignoble fate. He has to be

properly 'coTl1municated' about the Government's con-cern faT him which is exhibited by the provision of

roads, schools, welfare centres, loaning facilities, sub-

sidies, primary health centres, distribution of seeds,

fertilizers, etc. The age-oid sins of accepting fate as

malignant, refusing to change; and being indolent have

tei be removed from his mental make-up by judicious

use of the various communication media such as drama,

pupp'et, folk art, ,lectures, question and answer ses-

sion, and discussions depending upon the Intelligence-

lcvd of various people. In order to be able to

'The rural poor whose annual" income is below Rs. -3500 doesnot. read newspapers, seldom sees films and cannot buy and

mainroin- even the cheapest transistor set. yet, this is-the

person who has to be awakened.and motivated.'"

drive home the idea of economic chan'ge to the rural

poor to the extent of arounsing them to act. it is neces- '

sary that the communicator himself is equipped with a

thorough knowledge of his subject, and is emotionally

irivoh:ed in ris mission.

0, NFOF THE BE~r and most readily available com-

municator in rural development is the development

, work cr ... He may be a BDO, a gram sevak, lady

health visitor,' extension worker, VF A, over,seeraly

agricultural demonstrator etc. These people carry

~cater credibility in a village setting than a publicity

official who is handicapped by unfamiliarity and cannot

follow his . promises with aclualfinancial or institu"

tional help.

The Ministrv of Information and Broadcasting ear-

ries.-out what is called multi-media' c3mpahm~ in rural

areas by putting together the services of the informa-

tion personnel on the one hand. and the development

officials on the other, supoorted by long distance com-

munication through radio, pamphlets, oosters. book-

lets, etc. over selected areas where the Field Publicity,

62

Song and Drama, and the. exhibition 'agencies ~ Jup

visual programmes, This type of intensive, mhlti-

mt2dia communication approach over;sc.kcted nrcak in

rural India has proved effective as message goes d e e pand is broad-spread. On occasions of such c;mpai~ns,

the villagers assemble and 'sit face to face with deve-

lopment functionaries to discuss and clarify vari6us

doubts which may have developed in their mihds

during their _exposure to various development p~o-grammes through dramas, film shows, exhibitibns:

etc., ,\ '

One common experience which a communicator very. I

often comes across is that the main beneficiaries of offi-

cial programmes arc always the rural well-to-do arid

not their poorer cousins. Ir{ actn,l1 field operatiohs,

even the information personnel as also other functi~n-

aries have the tendency to work 'with and mix mdre

with the not-so-Oloor of the villa!!ers,because of a nuth-

bel' of factors including the weakness for personal cok-

fort. In an area where there is no rest house, hotel,or hall, the visitors have to rely on the hospitality of tre '

local gaon-buras. saroanchs, teachers and traders w~o

are in turn interested to have advantage 'of such com-

ing together in various ways, someti'~s even unsc~-

pulously. Due to ahsence of these basic amenities i,n

the backward areas, there is also the tendency on the

, part of the campaigners to fix the programmes in coul,-

paratively better connected and 'on-the-road' villages,in

preference to those located remotely or far-off villagJs

which in fact deserve this kind of thrust more than a~y

other, This aspect of the campaign organisation needs

to be looked into in the light of the pressing need tb. ,

bring even remote and backward areas in contact with

the development work being done in the country. I(contd. on P. 19) ,

Modify campaign PJanningl"

I N SUCH A SITUATION.it may be a~vi,able for th '

communication men to. concentr~te their ~r~'

grammes in the remote VIllages dunng the day tnrte ,

as the viflages nearer the roads and otherwise easil~

'accessible c;n be looked after by evening programme;.1

The .area approach and pooling plan bein~g practised

by the Directorate of Field Publicity is definitely ani.

improvement over the earlier methods. althO,ugh thel

cost hos gone up. But that is money well-spent and

worth the good results that have been received.

To effectively comunicate the message of develop-

ment and motivate the rural oeople to take part in

them with a view to ameliorating their standard of liv-

ing is only half the job. For it will have to be followed

sedulouslv and diligently by media support. going

whole-hoe to the poor people themselves at their door-

steo and without offending sensibilities if we really,

. mean to enlist their participation in various develoD-

mental pro~ramme-s aimed at making a dent into the

ages-old inertia and diffidence of the rural, poor.

KURUKSHETRA Octobed, 198F '

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/

The 'why' ,and the 'how' of people's participation

.

- .

The author feels 'that the rural, development pro-

r a111111eS have ({fro doubt been able to create sOlne i i l 1 -

pact in localised areas with selected families, But the

esTilts achieved so far are not quite satisfactory owing

o various factors like maladroit conceptualisation of

he programme both by implementing agencies as well

as beneficiaries, ullSuitable infrastructure facilities in-

luding h l "proper men~ ma chine ry and materials, more

ri'phasis on expenditure and allotted funds, and dis-

ribution 'O f loans and subsidids etc, The crucial

spect of involvement of the people ilt different levelsor difJerent purposes is again not so well understood

and scrupulously followed, This has resulted again

n m a ki n g th e programmes more o f a " government

unction. ",," And adds: "What lacks today is the

'egular guidance and supervision of rural programmes

ue to Jack of. which a good programme is not inlple-

nented well eno{(gh and the poor lose interest and

.o17fi~ance" .and since the ({modern tecl?lIolngical

evelopment is capital-intensive, therefore proper

rrangements of adeqU{lte capital in tune for'the right

urpose to the right families is basic to s:uccess. of the

rogramrne" and these, would gather enough mass toreople's . parfir;ipa tfon t n t~em. . .

G. TRIVEDI

VARIOUS KINDS of Rural Development Programmes

, are' initiated in India a,fler Independence, subse- ,

quent to the laiJnchingof various five yer plans 'in

order to improve the socia-economic situation of the

rural India, But the introduction of Integrated Rural

Development' Programme some two years ago is. the

most appropriate one, as it aims at ameliorating the

lot of the poorest of the poor families in the villages,

which have so far remained almost unbenefittcd of the

various developmental pr~grammes, The prograinme

is designed to select alfeast 600 fannlies per year per

, block from the lowest socio-economic category of rural

families and on the basis of their resource inventory

and ,malady-remedy analysis, need-based programmes

'have to be taken up with these families in order to'in-

crease their income and employment and bring them

up from the moran of poverty' and backwardness to

a reasonable standard of living, The most impurtant

concept of backward and forward linkage, hitherto

mis.ssing in the past programmes, is significant "in

achieving the desired restults, The sino-qua-nC'n' of

the programme is ,the people's active participation inthe various activities from the very beginning of devec

lopmimt prbgrammes till their final denouement. '

SHRI G, TRIVEDI is Direc-tor (Extension Education)Rajendra Agricultural Univer-sity. Bihar at Ptira(Samastipur)

\

How to get people interested

THE I.RD, PROGRAMME has no donbt been able to

create some impact in localised areas with selected

families, But the results achieved so far are not quite

satisfactory owing to various fac~ors 'like maladroit,

conceptualisation of the programme both by impJec,

mentingagencies. a s wen as beneficiaries, unsuitable

infrasiructure facilities including proper men,machi-

nery and m~tetials. more'emphasis on expenditure"and

allotted funds and distribution ~f loans and subsidies

uRUKSHETRA october 1, 1982 63

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etc. The crucial aspect of involvement o f the

people at different levels for different purposes is

again not so well nnderstood and scrupulousW follow-

ed. This has resulted again in making the program-

" ' me more of a Governmental function, and resultantly

developed more into a rountine administrative affair rather than a dynamic, forward-looking' programme

or rural development. And so the implication of im-

proving the lot of the poorest of the poor within a 5ti' pulated period of time, utilising local resources and

talent to the extent possible aided by the means of

modern science and technology for alleviating their , .

'The crucial aspec t of involvementof the people atdifierent levels for. different purposes Is again not s oweB-understood and followed. . This -...has resultedagain in making. the programme more of a govem-merit:il function arid resultantJy, developed more intoa routine. adminl.'ltrative affairs,

misery have remained more or less unachieved. In-

tegrat.ed Rural Development Programme thus needs to be reoriented' in the light of experience so far.

.The rural development programmes need to be

, oasically agricultural development programmes con-

. sisting of 'animal husbandry, poultry, piggcry, goat-

keeping, forestry, horticultural farming, in addition to-

crop husbandry in the fields of which ,there ,exist vast

potentitality of improvement and. which possess

enough scope of generation' of sufficient employment

and good income, the basic pre-requisites of better

~tandard of living. Development of irrigation infras-

tructure and care, m~intenance and proper use of

fanil machineries including tractors and pumping-sets

may be part of the programme. Apiculture has also

been found to be very useful with the poor people

whi~h does not involve much labour and lands Sub-

sidiary cottage industries based on farm products' and

their, byproducts likc rope-making, basket-making.

fruit preservation, 'mat-making,. blacksmithy, .carpen-

tary etc. to meet the local needs as well as sale in

adjace"nt towns to supplement the income, should be

part of such programme. The farm and related sec-

tors in viUages presently are not operated at the higher

efficiency level and therefore, have enough scope, to

improve socio-economic status of the rural families.

This needs to be' developed lifter threadbare discus-

sion with the people of different age, sex and status.

The rural women 2nd youth ueed to be involved more

and more in such programmes. ,Presently they. are

. very'little involved which is again a factor responsible

for not creating desired impact.

- What people's participation is worth

T

-... ".. HE'PEOPLE'S participation can be utilised in identl.

fication ,of families, their problems and solutions

based On their thinking :rnd knowledge. This will

give an opportunity to know their level of knowledge,

64

I. . .'. -I

awareness, as well as their .aspirations. The problems

and their solutions can then be discussed with exp~rts.'

concerned who may be involved in developing suiulble

programmes for them. It is very necessafy that.lthe

programmes should be developed by utilising lhe

results of modern science and technology as this oluy

would be effective. . Concerned families and lobI

people may be involved in making basic survdys,

preparing individual plans and implementing theril.The whole progral.".me needs to be implemented \by ,

the concerned families. The Governmental and oilier", ,

agencies may act as friends, philosophers and guides j

and as catal)tic agents,' thereby revising and impr6v-'.

ing the working pattern. The local rural organisatidns

which may be existing and functioning in the villdgeL. , ,

or in the areas like co-operative societies, panchayats,

commercial banks and such others may be involvM'.

and given specific responsibility'in programme form I

lation and implementation. These organisations ab'

agencies need to be associated for specific purpose arld their role and responsibility be defined in clear tenbs

so that they are made accouniable for the succesJ/ '

lapses of the programme. A proper monitor.iog arid

evaluation should be the basic part of successful in\.-

plementation of the programme, The monitori~g,

system will help in concurrent evaluation, on the basis

of which the programme can be modified to achievb

the desired resulL A proper system for this purposb' ,

lieeds to be developed for the particular situation. Thi~

will depend upon various local factors. On thb

basis of survey, identification of families to be bend-fitted under the programme has to be done and fot,

each group of 20-25 families, one contact person oui

of the beneficiaries has to be spotted out. Th6'. ' I

selection of the contact person needs to be made very

carefully,' So that only a dedicated person is selected!,

He may act as a, team .leader and a contactman

.between the different official agencies and beneficiarY,

clients. This contactman may be properly trained!

and well acquainted with all asPects of the programmel

,The rural. women and youth need to be involvedmore and more in such programmes. Presently they

3rc very little involved which is again a factor res-ponsible for Dot creating desired impa~'

as well as the ,'ole expected to be played by him. The

whole process of programme pl";,,ning and involve-

meilt of people is given in ihe following diagram.

Learning from experience

T HE AUTHOR has been initimately associated with the

Integrated Rural. Development Programme being.'implemented by the Rajendra Agricultural University

in seven villages in Murou! Block of Muzallarpur district, five villages in Sabour Block of Shagalpur}

district and three villages in Phulwarishatif Block of

Patna district with the p1imary objective of dOllbling

" ,KURUKSHETRA Octo)Jer 1, 1982.

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KURUKSHETRA October 1, 1982.

"

Proper implementation holds the key

65

advocated by the sCientists of the Uni~ersity led to

increase in intensity of cropping, increased use of "

fertilisers, insecticides and adoption of high yielding

varieties resulting ultimately in increase in income.-, " "

'The selection of" contact person needs 10 ,be made

nry carefully so that only a re"ally dedicated' person

is "selected." He may not act as a team leader and a

contact man' between" the different official, agencies

and beneficiary clients." ~

necessary that proper, marketing facilities are deve-loped and proper linkage eStablished between produc-ing and' consuming centres, -, ,

W HAT LA~KS TODAY is" the supervision of r u rno l

development programmes dbe - to which a good programme is not implemented well enough and

the poor families lose interest and confidence. Proper

arrangements of su.pply of various inputs and services

like raw materials, tools and implements, soil-testing

and plant protection mcasures need to be made fool-

proof otherwise the whole recommendation will again

fall fiat. It has also been observed that modem tech-

nological development is capital-intensive and therefore

proper arrangements of adequate capital in time, for

the right purpose tei the right families is basic to the

succes~ of the programme.

Usually thisfukes long time and is riot available

even after making frantic efforts. The whole piece'

dure of disbursement of loan' needs to be further more

simplified. It has improved bnt still a borrower has to

visit atleast 10 times and to 10 places for getting,

even a very small amount of 10aIl. Many a time,

even after .pending much time' and energy, loan is

~ot given. Credit is the basic requirement for the

success of the integrated Rural Development Pio-gramm~ and there- has been provision of substantial

subsidies too for this purpose. The marketing of the

-products so developed as a result of efforts by the poor 'families needs to be further organised and streng-

thened: It was observed that a poor family accepted

apairy as a persnit and produced about 100 kilos of

honey. It became a problem for him to sell.!t in the'

village or even in the nearby town. He contacted many

individuals, organisations and firms who were 'ready .

to. purchase but on credit and ,the rate offered was

very low. This dampened the ~pirit of the concern-ed fanillies who had been persuaded' for it. However.

the problem was solved after sometime when the

author .met the families and the whole produce

was sold on cash payment at a good price. Similar

was the experience with the production of fruit pro-

ducts for which housewives were given training and

they ptepared jam and jelly ,of good quality. Exam-'

pies of such difficulties are galore. Therefore it is

'.

n by a team of scientists at a regular interval in

illages helped much in transfer of technology at the

rassrooi level resulting in incease of production eveno the extent of 50 percent in one year in. case of

ice and wheat. .The average yield of whea~ obtained

during Rabi 1982 was almost double (25.29qt1s/hect)

f the ,State average 12.70 qtls./hect): The average

ield of a village Itaha in Muroul Block of Muzaffar-

ur district was 33.34 quintal per hectare. Apart from

roviding more income .and sufficient food to theamilies, it provided more employment in' different

operations and processing.

THE INTENSITYof cropping has increased by 8.7 and,n an average, highest by 14.7 percent in village

Dwarikapur and the maximum on the farms of

argi!,a1 group. The per he<:tare fertiliser consump-

ion on an average showed an increase of about 54

ercent (1980-81) over the base year (1978-79). The

aximum increase wasobserved on small size group

f farm (60.5). The use of insecticides, which on an

verage was a mere 5 Kg. per hectare rose .to 7 kgs.

or hectare, thus showing an 'increase of roughly 40

ercent. The maximum increase ~gain was observed

n marginal type group (66.6 percent) probably

ecause of low base which was merely 3 kgs. in the

use year. The per hectare av.erage increase in the

ross income of the farmers of the project area was

8.6 p~rcent,'the maximum on marginal size group

49.8 percent). The, net inconie per hcctare on an

average was observed to be 50.7 percent higher on

he base year. It was 49.6 percent in case of marginalarmers while 54.8 percent in case of small faimers.

On an . average, number of man-days employmentwhich was 186 days in a base year increased to 232

a-y', these showing an increase of roughly 24.7 per-'

ent. It was. 36.0 percent in case of marginal farmersnd 31 percent in a case of small farmere. All these

ndicate that adoption of modern tec~nologies as

arm 'production in Sixth, Five Year Plan period, i.e.

ffecting an increase of 20 per cent per year. This

rogramme is based on the four basic concepts of

ntensive technological guidance and supervision.

roper arrangements of supply and services, credit

acilities and marketing organisation. Subsidy . and

ree distribution have been almost completely kept mit

f, purview of the programme. After the basic survey

nd development of a suitable plan for the families/-

~lage, intensive technological guidance and supervi-

" The local agencies and tbe banks and sueb others

' may' be Involved and' given specific responsibility in

~: programme formulation and implementation. These

. organisatious and agencies need to be a.~iated for

specific purpose and their role and resp0m6bllity

defined in clear teI'DIS.'

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Tile' concept of subsidy.-The concept of provid-

ing subsidy and free distribution also needs to begiVen'a second' thought. - Past experience does '.showthat ,due to poverty ,and backwardness, the farmers nodoubt get attracted towards subsidy or free distribu-tion 'but these become the motivating ,faGtors, butnot to the technol0in' or the programme: This hascreated viCious atmosphere in which the whole society'sthinking has been tuned towards subsidy and freedistribution' for every little thing. This has also told upon the initiative. Subsidy or free distributiOn may~e ~ecessary ill specific cases or 'situatiOIis,for!spe:cific

, pui"poses' as a stimuli but its whole mechanism and procedure nC'Cds to be madc:: pnrpose-orientcd and not Jundcoricnted. The present trend. of reporting thcamount of snbsidv distributed does notindicatc thatthe desired objective has been achieved. It should . . - . . . , . - . ' . ' .

\

\

be linked with the result of making a family ptos: perous and capable of- standing on its own. -'filesubsidy and free supplies may only act as a J prop and.encouragement towards a better performance arid notas the end .of the programme:.~ L '

Personnel: -It is high that due care is taJen:in selecting the personnel who man 'and .'implement ihe\'

programmc routine and usual way of .entrusting /,he,managcment of the 'programme to the existing adminis-

trative/developmental infrastructnre from the vi]]~gelevel to the State needs to be critically examined; without prejudice. If, the personnel are themselves nbtmotivated eno1Jgh towards devolopinent of backward ,and' poor fatriilies and towards the objectives 'of th e prQgram'me, no good programme a nd n o amount . •o . .

of money, can . achieve the' desired resulis.l

i

, . I"

E V A lU A H O 'N ' :A T T 'H E E N D O F T H E S E A S O N / Y E A R - 1 , . \ . 'M O D IF IC A T IO N O f J H E P R O G R A M M E O N T H E B A S IS O f I T S R E S U L T . ' \ . , :

A S 'S -E S S M E N T O F R E l lU I R E M E N T S F O RIM P L E M E N M T iO N O F T H E A L T E R N A T E

P L A U O T m A R R A N G E M E N T S

DIAG'RAMATIC VIEW OF THE PROCESS OF PROGRAMME PLANNING WHICH SHOULD BE

'.fOllOWED IN evc lIC ORDER AT EACH STAGE. l OCALPEOPtEi ORGANISATIONS MAY BE

INVOLVED / RESPONSIBILITES ,GivEN. ' " '

(Con/d. from p. 55)

th,timp1ementing agency-be it the state extension set-

up Or a. voluntary organisation or their own coopera-

tive .society.

. CROP .PRODUCTIONalone may not give adequate.

employment and minimum level of income to the

bulk of. tbe rural population, Ii is, therefore, necessary

to diversify rural employment opportunities by develop-

ing suitable subsidiary occupations such as dairying,

poultry, farming, sheep and pig husbandry, fisheries, bee-keeping, sericUIture, etc. These occupations \vill

provide gainful employment' to the fanning commu-

nity as well as the landless labourers, especially the

66

female folk, throughout'tbe year. Likewise, develop-ment of forestry and fisberies has considerable ,.scop"

for creating additional employment opportunities fot

the rural people. The benefits of the expanded forestry

activity can be made to accrue to unemployed and

underemployed by making suitable changes in th~

existing system .of utilisation of forest produce.

Both the agrarian structnre and institutional arrange

ments will require fundamental changes for widely

diffusing agricultural production activities with accent

on labour utilisation and yield improvement. It would,.

be necessary to redefine larid relations and create con-:litions for bigger use of the available land resonr~s;'

by the small farmers, tenants and share-croppers for

increased employment, output and income.

KURQKSHETRA October 1, 198:t!4.

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. -

~~

".1)

I"

':1

, ,

~.

~,

c.

"The cities are capable of taking care' of

themselves. It is the villages we have

"to turn to. We have. to' disabuse them

of 'their prejudices, 'th'eir. superstitions,

their narrow outlook and we can. do so.~ ,. .

in,no.other manner, than that ofstayi1)g

amongst them and share .their joys and

sorrows and. spreading education and

intelligent information among them.,:

-Mahatma Gandhi

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(UcencedunderU(D)-54 to post without prepay-

ment at Civil Lines Post Office, Delhi).

,RegeL No. J}(DNl/39 .•

RN 702/57 .~I,

•

•

. •.

•

,. 'jr~~:~h'duldr~~lis~' t i i c ' t i ';e;';ov{ng poverty

or uplifting the village is not the

responsibility of the Government ,alone,

but is everyone's responsibility. Every

man, !-,-,omanand child mus"t understand

that it is his or her duty to keep the home

clean, the town clean, the village clean, to

make it more beautiful, to absorb such

ideas and habits as will help' the country

to move' forward and reject ideas and

habits which pull us back. Only then

t~ere will be progress

,

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JJ' ; l

f I

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2008-03-24 (1)

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