AAP for Website - · PDF file4 III) RESOURCE BLOCK STRATEGY: a) SERP, from Andhra Pradesh will...
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Preface
The National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) is a major antipoverty
program through self employment for the rural poor by organizing them into
Self Help Groups (SHGs). NRLM envisages to encompass the entire gamut of
social issues and to pave the way for the poor so that they become capable
of coming out of poverty.
The major strategic interventions will be universal social mobilization,
forming and strengthening of SHGs and their networks, capacity building,
financial inclusion, access to credit, skill development and taking up different
livelihoods options supported with provisions of technological as well as
marketing support. Enhancing and expanding existing livelihoods options of
the poor; building skills for the job market outside and nurturing self-
employed and entrepreneurs (for microenterprise) are the three pillars on
which NRLM will be working.
This flagship program has subsequently been renamed as Aajeevika and
has been launched as Anandadhara in West Bengal in 2012.
Anandadhara will be implemented with the support from dedicated and
sensitive structures being developed at state, district and sub-district levels.
It has a phased implementation strategy to reach all districts and blocks by
the end of 12th Five Year Plan in order to ensure involvement of quality social
capital in the implementation process. A Mission Mode approach is the kernel
in the process of implementation.
NRLM has the belief that the poor have the innate capacity and strong desire
to come out of the poverty and accordingly it intends to translate this into
reality. Keeping the vision in view as well as the Framework of NRLM
prepared by the Ministry of Rural Development, the West Bengal State Rural
Livelihoods Mission has been formed and registered as a Society under the
West Bengal Societies Registration Act, 1961, under the Panchayats and
Rural Development Department, Govt. of West Bengal with a view to
implementing NRLM in the state.
The WBSRLM had developed its Annual Action Plans for 2012-13 (from
December 2012 to March 2013) and for the year 2013-2014 and submitted
before NMMU in December. The Empowerment Committee of NMMU provided
sanction to initiate work during 2012-13.
As per revised guidelines received from NMMU, the annual plan for the
period of 2013-14 developed and submitted earlier, has now been re-
prepared in the newly designed formats. Meanwhile, WBSRLM has also
received indication on the amount of fund available under NRLM (non-NRLP
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portion) and also the amount for interest subventions. This present form of
the annual plan is outcome of such revisions.
The WBSRLM is committed to:
I) implement NRLM in a mission mode so that through this programme,
the rural poor can go for different livelihoods options and make those
sustainable as well as income generating.
II) The WBSRLM aims to strive so that the poor can go for their economic
upliftment and that a strong SHG bank linkage is developed.
III) The WBSRLM is further to see that their own institutions i.e. SHG,
Federations at village, GP and higher levels are formed and strengthened.
IV) The WBSRLM is committed to play an important role in this strive of
the poor to come out of poverty through capacity building, skill
development, financial linkage and moreover through empowerment.
V) developing systems and resources at State, District & Block levels that
would aid and assist the strengthening of the federations of the poor.
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Executive Summary
of the
Annual Action Plan for the period
April 2013 to March 2014
Introduction
As per Framework for Implementation of NRLM, the West Bengal State Rural
Livelihoods Mission, a State Level Society has been formed under the
Panchayats and Rural Development Department, Government of West
Bengal and accordingly Aajeevika / NRLM has been launched as
Anandadhara by the Hon’ble Chief Minister on 17/05/2012.
This Annual Action Plan (April 2013 to March 2014) prepared for rolling out
Aajeevika / NRLM in the State has the following key features:
I) STRUCTURE :
a) Pending preparation of HR Manual for the State Society, an interim
arrangement for dedicated support structure at state, district and block
level has been decided by the Governing Body.
b) Interim Rules for Delegation of Administrative and Financial Power
have also been framed and approved by the Society.
II) SPATIAL CATCHMENT:
a) Regarding phased implementation, the WBSRLM has identified
32 blocks of 8 districts of different geographical and socio-
economic region as intensive blocks in the 1st phase. These 32
blocks will also be covered under the World Bank aided “National Rural
Livelihoods Project”.
b) In the remaining 309 blocks of the state, NRLM will be
implemented in Non-Intensive manner during 2013-14.
c) Phasing of all the blocks as per guidelines of NRLM will be made during
preparation of State Perspective and Implementation Plan (SPIP).
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III) RESOURCE BLOCK STRATEGY:
a) SERP, from Andhra Pradesh will provide technical support for
developing 8 blocks as resource blocks apropos the process mentioned
in this document later to develop those as model blocks under SRLM
for making these as immersion sites for best practices for SRLM staff,
SHG members of other areas, line department staff and other
stakeholders.
b) For turning these as sites for systematic training for State Mission
Team and the WBSRLM structure upto Blocks.
c) For providing support for the strengthening of the Govt Set Up (viz
SMMU, DMMU & BMMU)
d) For providing support in the development & strengthening of the
existing SHG Federations & assisting in the formation of new ones.
e) For providing support in making structural, functional, institutional &
behavioural changes for ensuring better and enhanced credit linkages
from Banks etc.
IV) PRI-SHG CONVERGENCE:
a) WBSRLM would like to tie-up with Kudumbashree of Kerala
who will provide technical supports for developing 5 blocks as models
in convergence with PRIs for:
i. providing us support for strengthening our Federations and linking
the same with the PRIs
ii. Assisting in the PIP process
iii. Bringing in Self Sustainability within the Federations
iv. Effectively making these Federations a contributor in the Planning
and Implementation of the Flagship schemes of the Govt of India
and helping in Converging the schemes of GoI with the NRLM
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V) EXISTING STRUCTURE OF FEDERATIONS IN WEST BENGAL:
a) West Bengal has been the pioneer state to have started
institutionalizing the federations of the SHGs and the poor.
b) The State has self sustainable institutions of the poor at Gram
Panchayat & the Block levels. A great example of this would be in the
Maha-Sanghas and the Sanghas who are manufacturing Sanitary
Napkins and supplying it under the Menstrual Hygiene Program
supported by UNICEF.
c) Nine (9) block level federations are running community based financial
institutions
d) However, present Federation structures would now need additional
strengthening and capacity building.
The NRLM prescribes a structure and we propose that this structure
can be developed in the following way & manner:
Upa-Sanghas20156 / 37426 Gram Sansads
(Unregiste red Body)
Maha-Sangha s(Registered under WB Societies Registration Act)
23nos out of 341 Blocks
Sanghas2509/3349 GPs
(Unregistered Body)
SHG-based Institutions
SHGs( wi th 10-20 members)
Block level Federations
Gram Panchayatlevel Federations
Village level Federations
SHGs( with 10 -20 members)
SHGs( with 10 -20 members)
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VI) The groups will be supported with Capacity building supports,
Revolving fund, Community Investment Fund, Vulnerability reduction
fund, interest subvention, etc. In addition, there will be specific projects
on livelihood developments, convergence with other departments, pilots
on preventing women trafficking, etc.
VII) There will be special emphasis on institution building and financial
inclusion with Bank linkage.
VIII) In 309 blocks, the programme in the 1st phase, NRLM will be
implemented in non-intensive manner where the activities of social and
financial inclusion, livelihoods etc will be limited in scope and intensity.
The objective of the non- intensive blocks will be to get ready for
seamless transition to intensive blocks.
PROPOSED BRANDING OF WBSRLM
Anandadhara Dist Office
(ADO)
Anandadhara Block Office (ABO)
Panchayat FederationsSANGHAs
Anandadhara State Office
(ASO)SMMU
SHG Federations
DMMU
BMMU
Village ClustersUPA-SANGHAs
Gram Panchayat
Gram Sansad
Block OrgsMAHA-SANGHAs
The CIF & RF would be handled at the Panchayat Feds
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Budget Summary :
� NRLP Total (A) : Rs.171.22 crores
� NRLM Total, except NRLM (B) : Rs.387.51crores
� Total NRLM with NRLP (A+B): Rs.558.72 crores
Chapter 01: Progress of AAP 2012-13 and Status of Implementation
I) State level Society for implementation of Aajeevika/NRLM
ANANDADHARA STATE OFFICE (ASO)
a) Keeping in view the ‘Framework for implementation of NRLM’ prepared
by MoRD, apropos the approval of the state cabinet in its meeting on
05.03.2012, the ‘West Bengal State Rural Livelihoods Mission’
(WBSRLM) has been formed as a Society and has been registered
under ‘The West Bengal Societies Registration Act, 1961’ on
10.05.2012 vide no. S/ID/91315.
b) The Governing Body is constituted with the Minister-in-Charge,
Panchayats and Rural Development Department, Govt. of W.B. as
Chairperson and the Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal as the Vice
Chairperson whereas the Executive Committee is chaired by the
Principal Secretary, Panchayats and Rural Development Department,
Govt of W.B.
ORGANOGRAM OF SMMU/ ASOEXECUTIVE & FUNCTIONING
Executive Committee
Mission Director & Chief Executive Officer
Prin Secretary, P&RD & Chairman
Addl Chief Executive Officer
Administrative Officer
Financial Controller
State Project Managers
Project Managers
Young Professionals
Support Staff
Consultants
Project Managers
ConsultantsConsultants
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c) The Society is responsible for managing the programme of Aajeevika /
National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) in the state and also other
project(s) which the State Government and the Central Government
may entrust, and the Society may expand its scope of work throughout
the state or such area as may be specified by the Central Government
and/or the State Government. There is separate bank account of the
state Society.
II) Infrastructure:
a) The office of the State Mission Management Unit (SMMU) has
been set up at Jessop Building, Kolkata where the Secretariat of the P
& RD Department is located.
b) However, the State Govt has taken a decision recently to shift
P&RD Dept offices to Salt Lake. Hence the SMMU will be relocated to a
more spacious accommodation shortly by around June, 2013.
c) At the District level, the District Rural Development Cells (DRDAs
that had already been merged with the ZPs / SMP / GTA in the year
2000) will function and house the District Mission Management Unit
(DMMU). However, in order to utilise the buildings properly for NRLP
and NRLM, necessary refurbishing works will be carried on.
d) The BMMU will function from the office premises of the Block
Development Office. Necessarily the identified space will require some
refurbishing.
e) As per the guidelines of Aajeevika / NRLM, dedicated and sensitive
support structure shall be set up at the State, District, and Sub district
level. These support structures shall have staff with professionally
competent and dedicated human resources through appropriate
arrangements including partnerships and outsourcing of services.
f) The State Mission Director shall be the Chief Executive of the Society
and shall be responsible for proper administration of the day-to-day
affairs and fund flows/financial operations of the Society and the State
Mission Management Unit (SMMU).
III) Human Resources and Manpower deployment:
a) The offices of the SMMU/ Society and the support structures at
different levels shall have staff of the officials of the Panchayats &
Rural Development Department and other Departments and
organizations / undertaking of the State Government or the Central
Government on deputation basis or to be engaged on contract or part
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time basis as per decision of the Society according to the guidelines of
Aajeevika / NRLM.
b) The Governing Body of WBSRLM has decided to develop the
support structures at different levels as an interim measure as under:
State Level: State Mission Management Unit (SMMU)
i. The SMMU will have 4 officers on deputation basis from the State
Govt i.e. SMD cum CEO, Addl. CEO, Administrative Officer and
Controller of Finance. The Administrative Officer will be in charge of
procurement and the Controller of Finance will be in charge of
Financial Management.
ii. The Special Project Cell of SGSY comprising of one Consultant
(SGSY/NRLM), one Banking Coordinator, 2 APOs, one Marketing
Consultant and 4 Support Staff has been merged with WBSRLM.
iii. Seven (7) SPMs, Seven (7) PMs, 3 Consultants (in addition to the
existing 5); 4 YPs, 6 Support Staff will be recruited on contract
basis.
iv. At present Core Team members co-opted from various programs
and fields and on different thematic areas are functioning in the
SMMU. However, once this above said team is in place, this current
structure would get dissolved.
District Level: District Mission Management Unit (DMMU)
i. As most of the HR of the DRD Cells in West Bengal is presently
engaged in implementation of SGSY, the DRD Cells will be absorbed
as far as possible in the DMMU.
ii. The District Magistrate and the Ex-Officio Executive Officer, Zilla
Parishad / SMP/ Designated authority of GTA, will function as
District Mission Director and the Project Director DRDC will function
as Addl. District Mission Director.
iii. Officers including 4/5 Deputy Project Directors, contractually
engaged professionals and Support Staff will be involved in
implementation of NRLM.
iv. 3 District Project Managers for each of the (8) Intensive districts
selected for the 1st phase are being recruited on contract basis.
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v. The recruitments in the DMMUs would be made by an HR agency so
chosen amongst the Call Down 6 HR Agencies who have been pre-
chosen by the Govt of India.
Block Level: - Block Mission Management Unit (BMMU)
i. Block Development Officer and ex-officio Executive Officer of the
Panchayat Samiti will function as Block Mission Director and Joint
Block Development Officer will function as Joint Block Mission
Director.
ii. Block Project Manager for each of the Intensive Blocks will be
recruited on contract basis.
iii. Women Development Officer, Gram Sevika now associated with
implementation of SGSY will also be associated with the BMMU.
iv. In each of the Intensive blocks, three (3) Cluster Co-ordinators /
Cluster Leaders, 9 Community Co-ordinators, 1 Administrative
Assistant / Computer Operator, 1 Accounts Assistant and 1 Support
Staff per block, will be engaged on contract basis.
PROPOSED VERTICAL STRUCTURE OF NRLM
� SMMU –� Officers
� Consultants
� Young Professionals
� Support Staff
� External experts as
& when reqd
� DMMU
Addl DMD/ PD -
DRDC
DPD Monitoring
DPD Women
Devmt
DPD Credit
DPD Accnts
DRDA admin fund scheme
DPD Agri
DMD/ Dist Mag
DPMEstt-
HR+Admin+
Procurment
M&E
DPMSM & IB
Livelihoods
DPMFI
DPMFM
Asst
Supervisor Livestock
DPMSkills & BD
DTC
LDO livelihood
Devmt Officer
MarktngConsltnt
Support Staff – avg 20 per Dist
Competent Support Staffselected for WBSRLM by agency
DMMU & BMMU
Remainder Support StaffKept in DRDA admin cell
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v. The recruitments in the BMMUs would be made by an HR agency so
chosen amongst the Call Down 6 HR Agencies who have been pre-
chosen by the Govt of India.
IV) Training and capacity building of the staff and related
stakeholders
a) Orientation
b) Comprehensive Training
c) Workshops & Exposure Visits
d) Field study cum evaluation for the Human Resources who are going to
be engaged under the SMMU, DMMU & BMMU-
i. the people who are recruited or engaged would be sent for 2 weeks
to different District & Block to stay and work.
ii. Such field level assignments would be evaluated and the engagee
would get graded.
iii. after the successful completion of such a field-level internship would
the candidate get finally absorbed.
e) Support from NMMU and other resource organisations be sought for
this purpose.
f) SIPRD will play a vital role in order to formulate as well as implement
the activities of training and capacity building.
V) MANUALS & GUIDELINES
i. Necessary action for developing HR manual for the state under
NRLM has been initiated. Accordingly, SIPRD has been assigned
with the job of preparing the HR manual to be suitable for
implementation of the programme in the state.
ii. Necessary supports for preparation of this document are being
provided from state level wherein the Core Committee sits every
fortnight and discusses on the same.
iii. Necessary technical support is sought from NMMU from time to
time.
iv. Required approval will be taken from the competent
authority/authorities after the document is finalised.
(1) We had thought of having a committee of a few District
Magistrates, Project Director - DRDCs, few DPDs & Experts -
SIPRD & representatives from NGOs like SHG-Promotional Forum
etc. However, the 8th General Panchayat Elections being round
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the corner, this committee has been limited to the Core
Committee of WBSRLM.
v. The following table shows the status of the operating procedures
that are being created for the Project:
SL.
NO.
ITEM MANUAL GUIDELINES REMARKS
1 Human Resource
& Personnel
Being
developed
by SIPRD
NA By mid
July
2 Financial
Management
Adopted
from GoI
Being
developed
By mid
July
3 Procurement Adopted
from GoI
Being
Developed
By 1st
week of
July
4 Financial Inclusion
Being Developed
NA By July end
5 IBCB Being
Developed
NA By July
end
vi. Until these manuals are prepared and approved by the
appropriate authority, the WBSRLM will be functioning as per the
Interim Rules for Delegation of Administrative and Financial Power
which has already been prepared and approved by the Governing
Body of the WBSRLM.
vii. The MD cum CEO of the Society or the person delegated by him
will have the power to conduct day to day management and
administration as required for effective functioning of the Society.
viii. A Core group drawn from state level government officials,
specialized in the areas of procurement & finance as well as some
professional experts will be extending support for development of
procurement guidelines.
ix. There will also be community operation manual so that
community procurement guidelines are prepared keeping
conformity with the community operation manual.
x. WBSRLM will have separate cells for procurement and finance
related activities at all levels.
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VI) State Perspective and Implementation Plan
a) Progress and Preparation
i. Introduction:
1) The SPIP is a long term (5-7 years) strategy for reducing
poverty comprehensively in the state, outlining the results, core
strategies and key activities in a phased manner.
2) It is a dynamic document subject to regular and periodic
modifications based on the learning/feedback from the progress
of programme implementation. However the overall direction of
Policy Making would be guided by such a document.
3) Apart from results, strategies and activities, the SPIP also
articulates the implementation arrangements and financial
resources for achieving these results in a phased and time bound
manner.
ii. Preparation:
1) 5 sub-groups have been formed for development of State
Perspective Plan with members drawn from various departments,
Banks, NGOs, and also from specialized institutes like CII, etc.
2) The groups were for
• Social Mobilization and Institution Building,
• Financial Inclusion,
• Livelihood,
• Monitoring and evaluation, and
• Skill Development.
3) These groups had submitted their specific thematic reports. The
reports need to be updated and revised according to the present
scenario.
4) In addition to these, WBSLM proposes to have stakeholders
meetings at the district and block levels to get their views on
strategies, focus, etc. so that SPIP is able to ensure all
stakeholders participation and incorporate their views in the
document, and in the process SPIP becomes an effective and
realizable framework for WBSRLM.
iii. Additional Work:
WBSRLM proposes to undertake
• Study & Exposure tours
• Tie up with Resource Organisations & other entities
• Conduct discussion workshops of the Core Group with the
prominent NGOs and entities having experience in doing work
in this field.
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• Discuss and decide with the assistance of the NMMU.
b) Phasing of Blocks for implementation of activities under NRLM
i. Background:
1) The NRLM has adopted a phased implementation approach
wherein all the programme activities in intensive manner will
reach all the blocks by the end of the 12th Five year plan so that
the required social capital consisting of the institutions of the
poor, community professionals and community resource persons
for implementation of the NRLM are available during its
implementation. The blocks that are taken up for implementation
of NRLM, i.e., the Intensive Blocks, would have access to a full
complement of trained professionals and cover a whole range of
activities of universal and intense social and financial inclusion,
livelihoods, partnerships etc. Other blocks where the activities
may be limited in scope and intensity will be called Non-Intensive
Blocks. This means from 2013-14 onwards, there will be two
sets of blocks, i.e., Intensive and Non-intensive. However,
selection of Intensive blocks for the 1st phase has been made.
Phasing plan for all the blocks will be made during preparation of
State Perspective and Implementation Plan (SPIP)
2) Out of 341 Blocks in the State, 32 blocks of the 8 districts of
different natural and socio-economic regions have been selected
as Intensive districts and blocks for the 1st phase under
NRLM which would have access to a full complement of trained
professional staff and cover a whole range of activities of
universal and intense social and financial inclusion, livelihoods,
partnership etc.
3) These blocks will also come under the World Bank aided
National Rural Livelihood Project (NRLP) under NRLM.
4) NRLM will be implemented in Non-Intensive manner in the
remaining 309 Blocks during 2013-14.
c) Intensive Blocks under NRLM in the 1st Phase:
The districts identified as intensive districts in the 1st phase, as well as
to come under NRLP under NRLM are: Bankura, Birbhum, Coochbehar,
Jalpaiguri, Malda, Purba Medinipur, Purulia and S-24 Paraganas. While
selecting intensive blocks as well as blocks under NRLP, the variables
like existing social capital, BPL households, BPL SC/ST/Minority
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households, uncovered BPL households within SHG fold, locations etc.
were taken into consideration.
List of NRLP Blocks/Intensive Blocks under NRLM for the 1st phase:
Name of the
District
Name of the Blocks
1. Bankura i) Simlapal, ii) Ranibandh, iii) Patrasayar, iv) Saltora
2. Birbhum i) Bolpur-Sriniketan, iii) Mohammed Bazar, iii) Rampurhat I,
iv) Dubrajpur
3. Coochbehar i) Dinhata I, ii) Haldibari, iii) Mekhliganj, iv) Sitai
4. Jalpaiguri i)Alipurduar I, ii) Dhupguri, iii) Kalchini, iv) Matiali
5. Maldah i) Kaliachak I, ii) Harishchandrapur II, iii) Manikchak, iv)
Habibpur
6.Purba Medinipur i) Khejuri II, ii) Tamluk, iii) Ramnanagar I, iv) Nandigram I
7. Purulia i) Joypur, ii) Manbazar II, iii) Para, iv) Baghmundi
8. South 24
Parganas
i) Jaynagar II, ii) Basanti, iii) Patharpratima, iv) Bishnupur
II
d) Resource Blocks:
i. As suggested by MoRD, GoI, within the districts identified as
intensive districts in the 1st phase the WBSRLM has identified 8
Resource Blocks
ii. These Resource Blocks would have seed intensive social
mobilization and institution building by engaging external
Community Resource Persons (CRPs) and Project Resource Persons
(PRPs) in various best practices.
iii. The Resource Blocks will, in a short period of 2-3 years, become
immersion sites for the best interventions
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iv. The avg size of the Blocks in West Bengal is larger than any other
Block in the Country. On an avg there are about 2400 SHGs per
Block. Hence the External Resource Persons (ERPs) would come and
train the CRPs chosen by and from the Sanghas (Gram Panchayat
Level Federations). These CRPs would in-turn help the Upa-Sanghas
(Gram Sansad Level Clusters) & the SHGs in the tenets of NRLM.
v. The strategy of the rollout would be worked out with SERP in due
course of time.
vi. when the project scales up these blocks will be useful for training of
the newly recruited staff as they can learn from the external CRPs.
vii. The biggest gain from the Resource Block strategy will be the
generation of high quality social capital in the form of CRPs, who
will play a major role in scaling up NRLM to newer blocks and newer
districts.
viii. It has been decided that one block from each of the selected 8
NRLP districts (out of Intensive Blocks), would be identified as
Resource Block as a result of which all the NRLP districts of different
Zones may get one Resource Block to develop as a model block.
ix. While selecting these blocks, location, higher number of uncovered
BPL households under SHG, etc of the non-federation blocks were
considered.
e) Partnership with External Resource Organizations (EROs)
The WBSRLM has decided to take advantage of having partnership with a
Resource Organisation from amongst the organizations shortlisted by MoRD,
which have wide experience in the large scale anti poverty and women
Name of the
District
Name of the
Block
Name of the
District
Name of the
Block
1. Bankura Simlapal 2. Birbhum Dubrajpur
3. Coochbehar Sitai 4. Jalpaiguri Kalchini
5. Malda Habibpur 6. Purba
Medinipur Nandigram I
7. Purulia Baghmundi 8. South 24
Parganas Patharpratima
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empowerment initiatives by building strong institutional platforms of poor
and engaging them comprehensively in rural poverty elimination
programme. The Resource Organization will provide support to the State
Mission in the areas of i) immersion to best practice sites for SRLM staff, line
department officials, other stakeholders, ii) systematic training of state
mission team etc.
Considering the achievement of the ‘Society for Elimination of Rural
Poverty’ (SERP) of Andhra Pradesh in the field of SHG movement,
WBSRLM has decided to have partnership with the SERP for developing 8
Resource Blocks.
For social development, SHG-PRI convergence and entitlement related
capacity building support from Kudumbashree is planned in this year.
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II) Chapter 2: Implementation Plan for Resource Blocks
a) Introduction:
8 resource blocks will have all the intensive support from ERO i.e.
SERP. The detail plans will be formulated with the advice from SERP
for which a MOU will be executed soon. Based on the ground
situations on the status of SHGs and their institutional framework,
the following paragraphs give an indicative strategy only.
b) Background & Run-up:
i. West Bengal state has 3.97 Lakh SHGs formed under SGSY (upto
March, 2013) and about 6.9 Lakh SHGs that have also been formed
by the line departments and under Bank linkage programmes of
NABARD.
ii. All the SHGs are to be brought under NRLM purview and in this
regard, a SHG Database would have to be developed.
iii. The data would have to taken from Districts, Govt Depts, SHG
Federations, Banks, Cooperatives, NABARD & SLBC. Since their data
exists in a digital format on heterogeneous platforms/ applications/
software, we'd have to integrate all these under one universal
system. The same would be done by a System Integrator whom we
select from amongst the best IT companies. Such a MIS would be
developed under a web-based portal so that the data can be put
online. This same system would double-time as an internal G-2-G
application like HRMS or the FMIS.
iv. Once such a database is created it would need to be validated and
the same would be done at the ground level vide a thorough
exercise.
v. Additionally a survey on the structure of federations of the SHGs
would be conducted and an assessment made on the health of
these federations
vi. GP level Federations (Sanghas) will be a part of not only IBCB
activities, but also act as CIF channeling agency. Hence it is
proposed that all these Sanghas will also be registered as a Coop
Soc. This would help us in achieving a better & faster database and
also negate any duplicity of any sorts.
vii. Out of 3243 Gram Sansads in 32 intensive blocks, there are
2816 Village clusters (known as Upa-Sanghas). Similarly at the
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Panchayat level, out of 313 GPs, there are 292 Panchayat Level
Federations (called as Sanghas). Out of 341 Blocks 23 have Block
Level Organisations (called as Maha-Sanghas).
viii. These PLFs have been in existence since more than a decade.
However these would need strengthening and Capacity Building.
c) Community Professionals / Community Resource Persons
i. BACKGROUND:
1) The State has existence of GP level Resource Persons and District
Level Resource Persons who were chosen and engaged by the
Govt
2) These DRPs and GPRPs had been engaged during the SGSY
ii. PROPOSED:
1) All RPs would now start to be designated as CRPs – Community
Resource Persons.
2) They would be selected by the Panchayat level Federations for
and from the Village Clusters / SHGs.
3) The existing District & GP RPs would be evaluated by the PLF
apropos guidelines issued by SRLM.
4) However the overall control (financial, functional etc) of the CRPs
will remain with the SHGs or their Federations.
5) The CRPs would draw their honorarium from their respective
SHG Federation who would be controlling them though their
honorarium would be not less than the present rate & they would
be paid as per performance criteria drawn on an objective scale.
6) Based on their competence some CRPs would be considered for
performing roles at Anandadhara Block offices also as facilitators
for the PLFs.
7) They will be paid incentives based on their performance. The
performance of the CRPs will be judged not only the controlling
Federation but also the next tier on objectively verifiable
parameters such as a) identification of poor, b) formation of
groups, c) Hand holding of the groups, d) saving mobilization, e)
credit mobilization / bank linkage, f) repayment rate, g)social
actions by the groups, etc. In order to assess the performance
on the basis of the agreed parameters, the MIS and e-book
keeping systems will be introduced from the very beginning
apropos the part b of Chapter II.
20
iii. SERP's ROLE:
1) As the ERO would be faced with the daunting task of about
2400 SHGs per block. This would essentially mean that a team of
80 CRPs from SERP would have to come over and train. Since
this is an unmanageable number, it is envisaged that the ERO i.e
SERP team would reach at the level of Block and in consultation
with DMMU, BMMU, Representatives from Maha-Sanghas (if
existent), Representatives from the Sanghas, GPs, NGOs like
Pradan, Banks - LDBs, RBs et al who are operating in that will
assist the Sanghas to identify and select the CRPs.
2) Once selected these CRPs would undergo handholding,
training, capacity building and even exposure visits thereby
making these CRPs as Master Trainers. These Master Trainers
would thereafter assist in the rollout of the NRLM at the GP & GS
levels effectively.
3) Thence, Instead of the "saturation approach" the SERP
team members would adopt a cascading mode of training.
4) The Master Trainer CRPS would adopt the "saturation
approach" for GPs & GSs (Gram Panchayats and Gram Sansads).
5) The selected CRPs will be trained in phases by SERP and
will also be provided with follow up supports and be monitored
through an agreed mechanism to be devised and applied jointly
with SERP team.
6) There will be about 1 CRP for about 20-25 SHGs – the actual
engagement will depend on the catchment & the context. For
this year, all CRPs will be developed in multi-task competencies
and in the coming years based on their competencies in specific
thematic areas, some of them will be groomed as specialists /
para-professionals in different themes such as book keeping,
bank mitra, livelihood trades, etc.
d) Objectives of such a Strategy:
The objectives of such Resource Blocks strategy will be:
• to develop these 8 block as model blocks under SRLM,
• to make these as immersion sites for best practices for SRLM staff,
SHG members of other areas, line department staff and other
stakeholders and
• to turn these as sites for systematic training for State Mission Team
also
21
e) PROCESS & METHODOLOGY
Major Activities in Resource Blocks and the strategies
The activities here will include:
a) Social mobilization and institution building
b) Financial inclusion with special emphasis on Bank linkage
c) livelihood promotion
d) Skills and Placement
e) Convergence with PRI and other line departments
f) Replication of best practices
b. Social mobilization, institution building and capacity building
The activities will include
� Identification of the poor by participatory method and their
mobilization, including vulnerable
� Nurturing and strengthening - existing groups
� Formation and strengthening - new groups
� Hand – holding
� Capacity building and exposure
� Formation and strengthening federations at different levels
All the SHGs irrespective of their promotional agencies, will come under the
coverage of village level organisations and gradually under higher level
federations.
f) Financial Inclusion / Bank linkage
mobilizing bank credit is core to the NRLM financial inclusion and
investment strategy.
i. BACKGROUND:
1) SHGs have shown considerable achievements in social
mobilization and group strengthening. The bank linkages are also
there with savings and then credit supports. But in many cases,
22
SHG members strive desperately to convince bankers for larger
credit. This is a mis-match situation for both supply and demand
perspectives. Bankers find the inability of SHGs to articulate their
strengths in business planning and the SHG members on the
other hand find Bankers’ systems and processes as unwarranted
hurdles resulting into bankers’ reluctance to extend investment
supports. In fact, there are many SHGs in West Bengal, whose
members are looking for avenues to utilize their own savings and
also the credit that they can access form banks and other
sources.
ii. NEED:
1) In view of this, there is a need for the SHG members to prepare
their own livelihood plan with credit requirements, necessary
support, etc. However, this should be simple, easy to understand
by the women members and also to be able to take out the
potential of the individuals. The women SHG members
themselves will be able to identify the livelihood options through
a participatory methodology The above tool when introduced will
be very much helpful to prepare their own livelihood plan with
credit requirements, support necessary, etc.
2) A financial inclusion strategy will have the supply side and the
demand side. i.e The Lending and the Investment cum
Repayment mechanism would have to be strengthened.
• supply side: it is to be worked out what and how the
necessary support by the financial institutions can be available
to the SHGs.
• demand side:
(i) Making a Micro Investment Plan
(ii) Investing from self
(iii) Repayment
iii. PROPOSED ACTION POINTS:
Supply side actions
a. Orientation and exposure for Bankers to the Andhra Pradesh for
having the experience of outstanding SHG Bank linkage by SERP
b. Workshops with stakeholders at District and Block levels
c. Regular monitoring of SHG bank linkage programme in the
meetings of SLBC, SHG Bank linkage sub committee of SLBC, DLCC
and DCC, BLBC etc
d. Establishing partnership with the banks vide MoUs
23
e. Creation of a robust database of all SHGs in collaboration with the
banks involved in SHG Bank linkage programme
f. Having a common IT system that would allow WBSRLM and banks
to view their micro credit lending to the SHGs
g. Fixation of credit targets bank branch wise - in terms of number of
SHGS and the amount of credit lend
h. Fixation of a reasonable amount as minimum for first credit linkage
to an SHG
i. Having Bank officials at SMMU & DMMU and Retd Bank Officials at
BMMUs
Demand Side actions
a. Universalisation of financial literacy and counseling for all SHGs in
order to increase loan absorption capacity and effectiveness of loan
utilization
b. Preparation of Micro Investment Plan by SHGs through a
participatory process
c. Provision of RF to the Grade I passed groups to improve their
financial management capacity. RF support will be @ Rs 10000/- to
Rs 15000/-.
d. CIF Support @ around Rs 50000/ to the Grade II passed groups not
linked with project credit.
e. Vulnerability reduction fund to the needy SHGs
f. At least 10% Gr II passed groups will have credit support from the
bank during the period.
g. Interest Subsidy as per norms
h. Placement of Bank Mitras to enable SHGs to have better banking
transactions. The eligible Resource Persons selected SHG members
will be engaged as bank Mitras, to act as interface between the
bank and the SHG/its members so that all services from the banks
are easily accessible and that also on timely basis.
i. Having a Loan Recovery Unit in each and every Sangha
iv. PROGRESS SO FAR:
Supply side action
1) Removing the multiplicity of database. For this, SLBC, Banks,
SHG&SE Dept & SGSY Database would be compiled and
uniformed for 32 Intensive Blocks by June 13.
24
2) A common MIS system is contemplated with a uniform IT / MIS
system with banks for effective SHG bank linkage - Banks have
agreed to share their data. A common platform & format has
been designed & shared. An independent SI or IT agency would
integrate all platforms & applications across all banks &
departments.
3) An exclusive sub committee of SLBC on SHG Bank linkage has
been formed. Credit target for 2013-14 has been fixed by
NABARD and distributed district wise by SLBC (Total amount is
Rs 1163 Cr), with Rs 1 lakh as minimum amount for 1st credit
linkage has been fixed by SLBC. The road map of achieving these
targets & district-wise targets (physical & financial) has been
drawn up but is being amended. This would be ready by May
2013.
4) For Cross Pollination of officials, WBSRLM would enter into MoUs
with 7 main banks and serving Bank officials would be placed in
SMMU & DMMUs & retd bankers in BMMUs. In addition, Bank
Mitras would be positioned by Panchayat Federations in Banks.
5) Exposure visit of around 70 bank officials in 2 batches to SERP
- AP has been decided and this will be followed by Sensitization
Workshops of LDBs, PDs & SHG federations.
g) Livelihood Promotion Strategy:
i. NEED:
1) In the present socio economic conditions in rural areas, the
poor families cannot rest upon their traditional livelihoods for the
only way of income generation.
2) They are to find out suitable livelihoods from different
options. To create such a situation that the poor can attain such
expertise in going for new economic activities or to strengthen /
expand their own existing economic activities provisions will have
for imparting different trainings under their own traditional
sectors i.e. farm development and allied activities. These will
enable them to take up economic activities individually as well
collectively. Wherever the situations will be congenial for taking
up collective activities, the federations will take initiatives for
developing producers collectives.
3) A good number of activity based clusters have so far been
developed in different areas like manufacturing of jute based
25
products, handlooms, kantha stich sarees, carpet making,
horticulture and floriculture, Gahanna bori, toy making, paddy
processing etc.
4) Apart from secondary sector activities the producers group
are involved in primary sector business activities also.
5) Some are doing business in service sector activities like
catering, hospitality etc.
6) Under NRLM more number of producer’s collectives will be
formed / developed. It will be necessary to provide them
necessary support for technology inputs, value addition,
training/capacity building/ branding, exposure to best practices,
designing value chain, scaling up on-firm and non-firm best
practices etc.
h) Food security
i. For the poorest of the poor i.e. the most vulnerable sections, at the
initial stage only by providing some supports for livelihood
developments, their day to day needs cannot properly be
addressed, because of the fact that these people at the backward
regions are prone to food insecurity. To cope up this situations and
to get out from this insecurity stage for finding out a livelihood for
generating income, together with other supports they are to be
provided food security and in this respect, NRLM is to look after how
this problem can be overcome. Together with food insecurity, they
are also prone to health hazards and NRLM has also this objective
to provide health coverage to those families now staying in
vulnerable conditions.
ii. These necessarily will invite convergence with various departments
like Food and Supplies Department for Social Welfare Department,
Health and Family Welfare Department etc.
iii. Schemes like SABLA, SAHAY, NRHM, ICDS, MDM etc would have to
have a very strong inter-face with the SHGs
i) Community Investment Support
i. WBSRLM proposes to provide livelihood support to SHGs /
Federations when they reach a certain level of maturity as an
incentive to SHGs / Federations for undertaking productive
livelihood activities.
26
ii. This will enable SHGs to leverage funds from the banking system,
benefits from other government programmes like RSBY, MGNREGS;
improving access to social safetynets and other entitlements for
vulnerability reduction of the poorest households;
iii. undertaking livelihoods enhancing activities in agriculture, fisheries,
forestry (NTFP), livestock and household diary, micro-enterprises,
for building skills for the job market etc.
iv. Necessary guidelines will be prepared for taking up activities under
CIS, in consultation with this NMMU.
v. The resource block will be further revisited in consultation with
SERP and Kudumbashree as they come on board for supporting
these resource blocks as NROs in their respective fields i.e. SERP for
social mobilization, institution building, financial inclusion and
primary livelihood whereas Kudumbashree for PRI-SHG
convergence, social development, Gender and entitlements.
vi. Though it may not be fixed beforehand, the special programmes,
pilots, etc as detailed in chapter 6 may be tried in the resource
blocks and then intensive blocks as preferred implementation sites.
27
III) Chapter 3: Implementation Plan for Intensive Blocks
NRLM is a process intensive and community driven poverty alleviation and
women empowerment programme. It requires a phased implementation and
community learning approach for reaching out to all villages in all blocks of
the state. In order to demonstrate and consolidate this approach, in addition
to 8 Resource blocks as detailed in the previous section, WBSRLM has
identified 24 blocks and will work intensively to learn from Resource blocks
and undertake social mobilization, institution building, financial inclusion and
livelihood promotion intensively with local CRPs.
In the dedicated and sensitive support structure being developed at Block
(BMMU) and a mature set-up at district level, Human Resources will be
deployed accordingly and strategic interventions will be made under every
sector of activities NRLM envisages to implement in respect of intensive
blocks.
28
IV) Chapter 4: Implementation Plan for Non-Intensive Blocks
i. A phased implementation approach has been adopted under
Aajeevika/NRLM so that NRLM is rolled out with the active
involvement of social capital consisting of the institutions of the poor,
their leaders, community professionals and more importantly
community resource persons and it will take some time for building up
this social capital in initial years.
ii. Therefore during the 1st phase 32 blocks of 8 districts have been
selected as Intensive Blocks (out of these 8 as resource blocks) and
these blocks will also to come under the World Bank aided NRLP under
NRLM. All the remaining 309 blocks will gradually be selected as
intensive block within the 12th Five year plan. Phasing of all the blocks
will be taken up during the preparation of SPIP.
iii. In the 1st phase, NRLM will be implemented in these 309 blocks
in non-intensive manner where the activities of social and financial
inclusion, livelihoods etc will be limited in scope and intensity. The
objective of the non- intensive blocks will be to get ready for seamless
transition to intensive block.
iv. The DMMUs that would be set up will implement NRLM in non-
intensive manner in the non-intensive districts. At the block level, the
Women Development Officers, Gram Sevikas, and other officials will
be associated with implementation of NRLM in non intensive manner
alongwith the Community Resource persons.
v. Out of the total number of 309 non-intensive blocks of the 1st
phase 22 blocks (@ 2 for each of the remaining 11 DRD Cells) have
been selected for implementing non- intensive NRLM in intensive
mode where the activities of social mobilisation, institution building,
capacity building, financial inclusion will be taken in a more intensive
manner than the non-intensive blocks for having the concept of
implementation of NRLM in intensive manner in subsequent phases.
vi. The CRPs who would be created apropos the method mentioned
earlier will be associated in training and capacity building of the
existing groups, as well as new groups. Therefore this pool of CRPs
29
will be further strengthened with intensive training, capacity building
exposure visit etc.
vii. In the non-intensive blocks, strengthening of existing groups,
rejuvenation of dormant/non-functional groups, strengthening of
existing federations of SHGs, providing RF support, to the Grade I
passed groups, credit linkage to the eligible Grade II passed groups,
strengthening of producer’s collectives etc will be given importance.
MIS development at GP level will also be taken up. Training and
capacity building on livelihoods promotion will also be given priority.
Convergence with the programmes of other departments and with PRI
will be one of the major components of activities in the non-intensive
blocks and PRIs will play a major role in this matter. The concept of
Bank Mitras may also be introduced in some non-intensive blocks.
viii. Eligible SHGs will be provided with Interest Subsidy as per
norms.
ix. Apart from these, workshops with the stake holders like line
departments, PRIs. Banks, CBOs, etc will be organised so that the
supports to the rural poor are duly extended for social inclusion,
financial inclusion, livelihoods promotion etc.
30
V) Chapter 5: Infrastructure and Marketing
(Key infrastructure items proposed and the rationale)
a) Plan and the Way ahead:
i. As the main focus of Aajeevika is to look at the entire portfolio of
livelihoods of each poor household and work towards stabilising and
enhancing the existing livelihoods and subsequently diversifying
their livelihoods, it should be ensured that infrastructure needs for
the major livelihoods activities of the poor are met with and support
for marketing to the SHGs and their institutions are provided.
ii. Accordingly the fund available under the component of marketing
and infrastructure support would be utilised for building the farm
and non farm collectives supporting related interventions- value
addition, market research, market intelligence, marketing support,
pooling and marketing etc.
iii. Goods and services are traded everyday in all parts of the
country. According to the requirement of goods and services in
different areas( i.e, rural, urban, local, regional, inter-district, inter
state etc.) and in different sectors(i.e, agriculture, industry,
marketing services etc.) necessary arrangements will be made for
providing supports for cleaning, packaging, processing, quality
upgradation, market linkage through
1) intermediary agencies,
2) building an identity (branding) to the SHG products etc.
3) With partnership support from the emerging urban markets
for developing clientele for the rural products.
iv. In order to provide necessary support for marketing of the SHG
products at local, block and district level, marketing outlets (haats)
will be developed. In fact, under SGSY, initiatives for setting up 3
rural haats for each district have been taken up and some of them
have already been completed.
v. A good number of marketing outlets are being run by the SHGs
in all the districts. These will be branded under Anandadhara and
would be positioned as Marketing Sites for sale of produce.
vi. At the district level, all the districts have already identified land
for setting up district haats that would be run and managed by the
31
SHG federations who would use these places of the Govt on rental
basis.
vii. At the state level, work has already started for setting up of
market complex with all necessary arrangements and amenities at
Dhakuria, Kolkata.
viii. SHGs of West Bengal have been participating in various
fairs/exhibitions at local, district, regional, state, regional SARAS
fairs, IITF, Delhi haat etc. for marketing of their products as well as
having the experience of direct interaction with the different
category of customers, and their choice, market demand etc and
and this avenue has been proved to be very effective. During the
current financial year also the SHGs of West Bengal will be
participating in such type of fairs/exhibitions.
ix. The e-catalogue of all products would be made and tie-ups with
other States and NGO Partners who would assist in better
marketing of the Goods of the SHG Federations would be entered
into. We intend tying up with a organisation that would do this for
us on an outsourced model.
x. WBSRLM plans to organize 2 fairs each of one week duration at
the Kolkata that would help improve the brand image of Aajeevika/
Anandadhara & help in the sale of produces of the SHGs
32
VI) Chapter 6: Partnerships, Innovations, Pilots and Special
Programs
(Key strategies and activities proposed under special programs and
innovations such as those for health and nutrition, creation of special
purpose vehicles, implementation in difficult areas, social entrepreneurship
development, innovation forums etc.)
a) Innovation and Partnership
i. WBSRLM proposes to organise an Innovation Forum at the
state level in order to support innovations identified through
developing marketplace type forums that have potential to be
scaled up in a viable manner in partnership with development
foundations.
ii. This will help replications/scaling up of many innovative
mechanisms and good initiatives of various stakeholders (public,
private, community, CBO etc,) including e-book-keeping at SHG
level, Financial literacy, etc.
iii. A detailed plan of action would be developed through workshop,
consultations etc.
b) Special Project for Extremely Excluded
i. There are communities like extremely excluded people like
displaced, women headed, destitute, and affected by social,
ecological, industrial tensions and disasters. Some of them like
primitive races are solely dependent on natural resources like
forests and river by hunting small animals, birds, fishes, crabs even
turtles, collecting woods and honey etc. and thus destroying the
nature and bio-diversity. They are not habituated with cultivation.
They have no lands for agriculture, no ponds for fish culture. They
only manage a small piece of vested/ vacant land for residential
purpose only. As the natural resources are declining day by day
they are facing hand to mouth situation. Severe malnutrition is a
part of their life. These people live on subsistence mode and without
any access to resources needed for their living. In order to ensure
their access and control to the basic needs and then to move
towards decent livelihood, there will be need for special attention
and therefore specially designed interventions.
ii. The intervention may include support for infrastructural
development, behavioural change, health, nutrition, education,
heritage and culture and capacity building on sustainable livelihood
and job opportunity, etc. - directly and through linkages. There will
be attention to ensure protection of bio-diversity from their
33
destructive livelihood pattern, in forests and rivers, through
alternative livelihoods.
iii. The WBSRLM envisages to focus Spatially on - Tea Garden
workers who have been rendered jobless due to the closing down of
the gardens (Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, Cooch Behar & North Dinajpur)
& on the people who are working in the wetlands of Kolkata
Municipal Area.
iv. The WBSRLM also plans to undertake extension of "Parvaaz"
initiative in Murshidabad, by replicating it in other Dists with similar
anthropo-socio-cultural patterns in the Women from the Minority
Communities.
c) Block level Knowledge Kiosk
It is seen that in many cases the poor and marginalized SHG members are
unaware of their entitlement and rights. While the members look forward to
get access to such information easily and continuously, there is huge
information demand among service providers as well i.e. the front line
service providers like AWC, ANM, etc. There is huge need for appropriate
materials in different forms to be used as dissemination materials. Poor also
need continuous facilitation to enable the poor to ensure access on a
sustainable basis, along with continuous capacity enhancement of the
facilitators and service providers. Few projects may be developed for by
dissemination of information through the Common Services Centers set up
by the Dept of IT, Govt of India across the State. This would include
information such as:
i. To provide relevant information and knowledge to socially excluded
poor women about their entitlements under different programmes.-
maintain and update related information and materials for
dissemination, organize display and dissemination of materials at
prominent public places such as GP offices, Cluster / Federation / NGO
offices, BDO offices, Banks, ICDS, Health Sub centres, Rations shops,
Schools, etc.
ii. To facilitate access to government programmes - organize face to face
/ facilitation meets with service providers
iii. To develop and ensure an SHG / community facilitated review and
monitoring mechanism for this
34
d) Prevention of Human Trafficking and Rehabilitation of Victims
of Human Trafficking
i. NRLM prioritizes social inclusion of marginalized and excluded
communities of the poor. Therefore, prevention of human trafficking
and rehabilitation of victims of human trafficking will become an
integral component of NRLM intensive block strategy.
ii. In this connection, WBSRLM proposes to take up special pilot
initiatives on prevention of human trafficking and rehabilitation of
victims of human trafficking initially on pilot basis with the help of
the Women and Child Welfare and Social Welfare Deptt, AIDS
Control Society, credible NGOs working in this sector etc. It is learnt
that UNWOMEN in association with National Commission for Women
(NCW) has already initiated a pilot on prevention of human
trafficking in South 24 Parganas district.
iii. Pilot intervention would focus on developing intensive livelihood
support strategies which would include sensitization of community
based organizations of women towards this problem, create
channels of social acceptance of victims, create convergence of
various employment schemes of women, special focus for
institutional credit access for livelihood support etc.
iv. Initially, 3 districts vulnerable to human trafficking would be
taken up for this pilot programme. Gradually all the vulnerable
districts would be taken up under this special initiative.
e) other Pilots
In the 8 Resource Blocks Piloting on e-book keeping and
Financial Literacy will be taken up. This will enable the SHGs to build
their capacity in Group management, leveraging funds from the
banking system and taking up economic activities.
d) Convergence
i. Convergence with PRIs
As the Panchayati Raj Institutions have a constitutional role in local economic
development, poverty reduction and social justice, mutually beneficial
working relationship and formal platforms for consultation between the
Panchayats and the institutions of the poor such as SHGs and SHG
federations need to be facilitated in the interest of deepening democracy and
empowering the poor.
35
West Bengal, where the PRI system is very strong, all the three tiers of the
PRI are actively facilitating the SHG movement. Few examples of supports
provided by the PRIs in strengthening the SHG movement are as under:
a. Maintenance of SHG database.
b. Playing active role in formation of SHG based federations at Gram
Sansad, Gram Panchayat and block level.
c. Membership from GP level SHG federations in the standing
committees of Gram Panchayats
d. Incorporating SHG plan and disbursement of fund as per plan
sanctioned by the authority
e. Providing support for acquiring necessary training and production
infrastructure, skill and non credit inputs, lease of vested land,
machinery etc.
f. Entrusting SHG/ SHG federations to manage and utilize common
property resources(CPR) for the interest of the poor
g. Intermediation for smooth flow of credit and other external support
h. Extending support of various government driven self employment,
wage employment and welfare programmes to the target groups
It is important for any government-driven programme seeking local
participation to strategize and overcome local realities of divisions, power
structure, economic relations and dependencies and vulnerabilities which
limit participation of the most vulnerable. For NRLM to succeed and benefit
those who are deprived due to either or all of these, PRI strengthening and
convergence will surely play a vital role. A strong local instititional system
developed through NRLM would also create a cordial environment for the
implementation of other innovative projects like MGNREGS, Nirmal Bharat
Abhiyan, RSBY, NSAP, NRHM etc. Complementarily, all these programmes
facilitate capacity building of both PRIs and CBOs.
Considering the unique experience of Kudumbashree- Kerala State Poverty
Eradication Mission in the area of convergence of Community Based
Organisations (CBOs) with Local Self Governments along with designing,
implementing and evolving a number of interventions in the areas of
economic and social development, the Ministry of Rural Gevelopment has
identified Kudumbashree as a National Resource Organisation for providing
technical assistance and implementation support for PRI CBO convergence.
The WBSRLM, with its previous experience of PRI SHG convergence during
the implementation of SGSY, now therefore proposes to have partnership
with Kudumbashree for further strengthening PRI- CBO convergence under
Aajeevika/NRLM as per guidelines of MoRD.
36
As a pilot initiative under this component, 5 blocks will be taken up as pilot
blocks where women person days under MGNREGS is low
The activities under this component will include-
• Exposure visit of the state delegations to Kudumbashree
(the team will include panchayat leaders, leaders of
federations, panchayat officials etc.)
• Scoping study and feasibility analysis
• Signing of MoU between WBSRLM and Kudumbashree
• Strategy formulation
• Setting up community based Resource Persons
• Support for community mobilization
• Community building at various levels- organisational and
functional
• Establishing coterminous
• Establishing M & E system
• Hand holding support by Resource Persons as mentors for
various activities
After successful implementation of the pilot initiatives for
PRI-CBO convergence, these activities will be replicated in
other blocks.
However, the plan of action in details will be developed with the
support of Kudumbashree. In this regard, a state level workshop
and exposure to Kerala will be organized.
ii. Convergence with Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA)
WBSRLM would like to work in close collaboration with NBA in West Bengal.
Since inception of Total Sanitation Campaign SHGs are actively involved in
awareness generation under this programme. Out of 3349 GPs in the state,
1077 GPs have already earned the distinctions of Nirmal GP. Out of 315 GPs
of 32 intensive blocks in the 1st phase, there are already 33 GPs which have
earned the distinctions of Nirmal GP. Besides promoting SHGs as self
propelling demand creation and supporting organizations in general, special
emphasis will be given on earning the status of Nirmal GP in respect of all
the GPs of the Intensive Blocks. WBSRLM would collaborate with NBA for
convergence strategy in the following areas
37
• Awareness Generation through SHGs and their Federations
• More production centre to be run by SHGs / Sanghas
• Engagement of SHG members as Swachhata Doots
i. Convergence with other government schemes and
programmes
In keeping with the on-going efforts and as suggested by NRLM framework,
SRLM will surge ahead with convergence with MGNREGS, NRHM, ICDS,
RSBY, etc. to ensure higher access to wage employment, heath services and
entitlements, RCH and supplementary nutritional services, health insurance
services, etc. In addition, there will be specific emphasis on
• Aam Admi Bima Yojana and other insurance schemes available for SHG
members
• Comprehensive data base of all SHGs in the state
e) Special initiatives for IAP districts
Dists of Bankura, Paschim Medinipur and Purulia have been identified
as IAP districts where special supports for public services are being provided.
The SHGs and the SHG based institutions at different levels formed or
to be formed will play important role in the areas of awareness development
for health, sanitation, safe drinking water, literacy, school education, etc.
These institutions may also play key role in developing infrastructures
like village roads, Godowns, markets, etc.
f) State Resource Centre
i. The SRLM would establish a state resource centre to support the
massive capacity building programme that would be undertaken in a
cascading mode.
ii. The SIPRD would be suitable institute in the state, as these are
dedicated institutions developed for similar purposes and have the
required resources and infrastructure.
iii. A separate centre may be developed at SIPRD with support from
NRLM. The resource centre would empanel resource persons and
agencies from the state, district and block levels to facilitate
delivery of training services.
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iv. The group of external resource persons would be supported by a
dedicated group of internal resource persons from state project.
v. The team would work in close collaboration with the SMMU. At the
initial stage financial support from NRLM may be available for the
centre and eventually it will be self-sustained.
vi. The expected Role of State Resource Centre will be to:
(1) develop capacity building tool kit/manuals, and design
courses, modules, methodology and program content based on
the requirements of SMMU;
(2) develop as a state level knowledge hub on social
development, livelihoods, micro finance, vulnerability reduction,
etc;
(3) link up with stakeholders like NGOs, government agencies,
banks and other financial institutions and draw from their
experience and help SRLM to develop and pilot initiatives;
(4) establish a state information resource centre to facilitate
access to development related information and to create a
database in respect of the same for preparing reports,
developing information tools for research and training and
promoting exchange of information among the participating
organization and establish an interactive website for the same;
(5) bring out publications including books, journals, reports,
occasional papers, study reports, newsletters etc; and to
(6) facilitating community learning academy to establish, grow
and develop
g) Mahila Kishan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP)
MKSP is an important sub component of NRLM which recognizes the
centrality of women in agriculture and therefore aims to provide direct and
indirect support to enable them to achieve sustainable agriculture
production. WBSRLM attaches top priority on this scheme and proposes to
create sustainable agriculture and in the process ensure food and nutrition
security at the household and the community level. One Project under MKSP
has already been sanctioned by the MoRD and some proposals are now
under scrutiny at State level. SRLM proposes to prepare and submit separate
proposals under this sub component.
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h) Placement Linked Skill Development Programme:
There is a high demand for skilled youths in cities and industrial clusters on
account of high economic growth and at the same time large population of
unskilled & unemployed rural youths are increasingly looking for work / job.
In order to bridge this gap and to create more and more skilled wage
employment Skills and Placement Projects will play a key role under NRLM
by scaling up through partnership mode as one of the best investments in
youth and provide impetus to livelihoods opportunities in emerging markets.
At present several agencies are imparting skill training under this
programme. WBSRLM proposes to scale up this projects and to arrange
training programme placement for around 30-40 thousand rural youths
every year, for which a separate proposal will be submitted.
About 28,000 youth have been successfully placed across the country till last
year.
Our target this year is to achieve processes to start for placing about
50,000 youth this year.
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VII) Chapter 7: Mission Management, MIS and M&E
(State and district Mission management, M&E, MIS, process monitoring,
community monitoring, other studies etc.,)
WBSRLM would warrant block wise plan for all categories of blocks
(intensive, non-intensive and resource) that are going to feed into
developing district plans. The block and district plans will be developed
within the overall framework of NRLM and also within the ambit of this Plan.
This will be undertaken and completed as soon as AAP is approved, so that
actual implementation can start immediately after that on the basis of the
detailed plans. This is basically to ensure a demand driven and participatory
approach originating from as below as possible. The plan will consist of the
following:
a) Annual Plan and Budget for Block / District
b) Period:
c) Introduction: About the block / district set up, about the operational
area
d) Objective (for this year only – as far as possible SMART)
e) Strategy / Key approaches
f) Activities: month-wise plan covering project activities, review and
monitoring, recruitment and procurement, etc.
g) Budget: month-wise fund requirement covering project activities,
review and monitoring, recruitment and procurement, etc.
h) Review and Monitoring
a. Expected Outcome against the Programme Activities
The expected outcome against programme activities will be measured
according to the following indicators:
Actual numbers / targets will be decided based on the base line and the
detailed plan exercise at the block and districts:
a) Institution Building and Capacity Building related
� No. of SHGs formed
� No. of SHGs adopted Panchasutra
� % of poor organized into SHG
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� No. of SHGs with paid book-keeper
� No. of village level federation (up-sangha and sangha) formed
and functional
� No. of VO activities trained and functioning
b) Financial Inclusion related
� No. of SHGs linked to Banks (more than 6 months old)
� No. of SHGs received at least one dose
� No. of SHG received at least 2 doses
� No. of SHGs received at least 3 doses
� Bank Credit mobilized
� Bank Mitra positioned @1 per branch / GP
� Institutionalization of community based recovery
� e-book keeping system introduced
� SHGs adopted Micro plan for accessing CIF
c) Livelihood related
� Livelihood CRPs incubate best practices
� Internal livelihood CRPs available for saturating the blocks
� Internal livelihood CRPs available for scaling up to other blocks
� No. of HH with viable livelihoods
� X number of HH are provided with food security intervention
d) Skill and placement related
� Job CRPs identified and trained
� Youth data base developed
� CBO support to the jobs initiative institutionalized
b. Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning
The Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Framework for WBSRLM will be
based within the overall plan of National Mission’s Monitoring, Evaluation
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and Learning system (ME&L) for reinforcing the culture of result-based
management and providing the basis for evidence-based decision-making
processes, of both strategic and operational nature, at all levels including
community institutions. However, the context specific requirements on each
programme components will also be addressed through this ME&L.
For Monitoring and Evaluation, the indicators of Result Framework of NRLM
will guide the detailing in all aspects. SPIP will elaborate processes and set
targets aiming at achieving the objectives as envisaged in the result
framework. The purpose of monitoring will be to achieve an efficient
and effective project implementation by providing feedback at all
levels for taking timely, corrective actions at all levels in case of
shortfalls and constraints, if any, in the implementation of each
project component. The important concerns of project monitoring
are-
1. Input utilization and operation performance (In terms of timeliness,
Quality, costs, etc.)
2. Activity delivery system performance
3. Process adherence
4. Output generation against targets ( Quantitative)
5. Financial performance
The evaluation of the project shall be for the Effects and Impact of the
project. M&E Matrix to be detailed before the commencement of the project
will provide the details of the indicators which will be covered under the
evaluation. As already mentioned, PDO level and intermediate level
indicators will be main basis of evaluation. PDO levels indicators for the state
within the overall NRLM PDO indicators are as follows:
1. At least 70% of the excluded SC, ST and Minorities households directly
access Community Investment Support or formal financial institutions
through SHGs/Federations.
2. At least 45% increase in the number of identified poor households who
have accessed services from formal financial institutions
3. Identified poor households have saved cumulatively through thrift and
financial inclusion
4. Average income for identified poor households in project villages has
increased by 50%
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The learning management system will help to build a process of learning
from within the state and outside – this means there will be systematic
collection of information and practices and sharing / dissemination
mechanism in WBSRLM to keep the Mission staff, community and other
stakeholders updated, interested and motivated.
The components of ME&L framework
a) MIS based input-output monitoring anchored on specially developed
ICT platform (e NRLMs)
b) Process monitoring through well knit review and MIS mechanism
c) CBO self-monitoring and learning
d) Internal reviews and learning;
e) Impact evaluation involving baseline survey, follow-up surveyes. Mid-
tem evaluation at the end of 2 years and end of project evaluation;
f) Longitudinal studies based on panel sample and stand-alone studies;
and
g) Social/development audit.
Learning Management System
Learning management systems will be built on the following
� Institutionalization of learning space in the regular staff meeting and
review processes
� Regular documentation of Learning events / practices through internal
institutionalized system and also by engaging external experts
� Dissemination through news letter / websites / e-group / short films, etc.
� documenting field based learning and disseminate it continuously to the
policy makers of the project and
� Encouraging vernacular and neo-literate friendly language for
communication with the CBOs.
� Incentivize staff on knowledge gathering and own personal development
through promotional, additional responsibility, etc.
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Ensuring proper functioning of ME&L and take care of any corrective
measures in this regard
While M&E Manager at the SMMU will be primarily responsible to ensuring
proper functioning of M&E, SMD at the state level and the heads at DMMU
and BMMU will look into the timeliness, quality of data / information, flow of
information, analyses and feedback, etc. For this SMD may introduce an
internal checking system on monthly basis, to be under his / her direct
supervision and whenever necessary may also look for checks and supports
through external agencies.
VIII) Chapter 8: Technical Supports Required from NMMU
WBSRLM would be working within the guidance and supports from NMMU.
However, considering some of the critical areas that WBSRLM is going to
undertake / initiate during this AAP period, the following list suggests the
areas where NMMU’s technical supports will be immensely valuable:
1. Establishment of State Resource Centre
2. Establishment of knowledge management centre
3. Draft TOR for base line study
4. Exposure / immersion in other states
5. Data Base management for SHGs
6. Development of M&E frame work, especially for measurement of
process indicators
7. Specialized CB inputs on Institution building, bank linkage, producers
collectives, etc.