CHAPTER I INTEGRATED RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY

Transcription

1 CHAPTER I INTEGRATED RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY

2 ? INTEGRATED RURAL DEVELOPMENT FROGRAMME INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY Being predominantly rural, attempts for development of rural Inida have been diverse, India launched its first nation-wide activity with the objective of developing all the villages in the country in the year 1952 in the form of Community Development Programme (Mukherji, 1961). People*s participation in socio-economic development was the principle behind India*s Community Development. However, as proper representation for local leaders was not given in community development organisations, the programme of community development did not function effectively. In order to rectify the situation, Panchayati Raj system was introduced in 1959 whereby development with democratic decentralisation became the prominent principle (Ram Reddy, 1986). Community Development and Panchayat Raj were often described as *Broad-front or Multipronged* development strategies as they aimed at development of villages covering all the major spheres like Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Rural Industries, Communication, Health, Education, Women Welfare and Social Welfare(Desai, 1983). In the early 1960*s India revised its rural development strategy and adopted sectoral approach of development, due to financial limitations

3 and pressing needs and priorities (Sharma, 1977)* In the process, it launched specific sectoral development programmes such as Intensive Agricultural District Programme, Intensive Agricultural Area Programme, Intensive Cattle Development Programme, etc. While the sectoral approach to development was fruitful to a major extent in eleminating scarcity of food, it has also contributed to the growing regional imbalances and inequality among the people within the community, The later has affected significantly the rural poor, viz., the landless labour, artisans, marginal and small fanners. As a result, the development policy of India was revised once again in late 1970*s in which development of the rural poor became the primary concerned of rural development. Antyodaya, Integrated Rural Development Programme, National Rural Employment Programme are some of the programmes that were introduced in India for the development of rural poor. The present study is an attempt to review the functioning of Integrated Rural Development Programme with specific reference to the progress made by the beneficiaries and the problems confronted by them in the development process. A theoretical introduction to the Integrated Rural

4 3 Development Programme (IRDP) covering the aspects of its history, meaning and scope Is given hereunder. HISTORY OF INTEGRATED RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME The bio-organic theories of Herbert Spencer, the functional school of sociology and the systems theory have given an ideological impetus for integrated approaches in general. Integrated Rural Development, as per Rau (1981:103) thus is based on the fact that "A society should develop both in its economic prosperity as also social well-being. As a strategy of Rural Development, the Integrated Rural Development Programme was conceived by Sri. C. Subramaniyam, the Finance Minister, Government of India in The programme was included in the annual budget of India in In the year the programme was revised and was introduced in 2,300 blocks. In December 1979 the first major steps in favour of IRDP was initiated by the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, when a directive was issued to form District Planning Committee so as to prepare Block-level plans for development in the country. Government of India took a decision to implement IRDP in all the Blocks with effect from 2nd October 1980, the

5 Day of Gandhi Jayanthi. In order to implement the IRDP programmes on proper lines, a new District level organisation was created at the same time in the form of District Rural Development Agency. The agency was created by merging Small Farmer*s Development Agency with IRD programmes (Verma, 1980). By 1981 most of the Districts in the country have been provided with DRDA's which formed the centres of planning and implementation of IRDP. CONCEPT OF INTEGRATED RURAL DEVELOPMENT The concept of Integrated Rural Development could be understood clearly by looking into the meaning of component concepts like *Development*, 'Rural Development' and 'Integration*. Development has been viewed as a process of change by Venkata Reddy. For him it is : "An activity or process of both quantitative and qualitative change in the existing system aiming at immediate Improvement of living conditions of the people and increase the potential for betterment of living conditions in future*. (Dr.K.Venkata Reddy, 1988:23). Thus for Prof. Reddy development is a quantitative and

6 5 qualitative change for below living standards. A more broad definition for development is given by Vasantha Desai, in which he felt that development should not be restricted to economic growth terms alone. In this context he states: "The term conveys the momentum of whole system towards and even larger measure of power to the people for conscious participation in building their own future* higher production* equitable distribution and maximum happiness with the producers as well as consumers... asthetically and ecologically sound environments(desai, V. 1983:555). \ Sharma and Malhotra (1977:17) included security and improved facilities for education* health* nutrition, housing and social welfare as the other components of development. Thus it can be concluded that development is a broad concept and that it is a continuous process of change involving various systems within the society aiming at the overall improvement of the life style. Development* in the context of rural communities, undergoes suitable changes in the conceptualisation to suit the requirements of the rural situation. As the situation changes* the meaning of rural development also changes to some extent.

7 n S.K.Dey (1962:83-100), the author of India's first national rural development programme, in the form of * Community Development Programme', conceived Rural Development as a method of developing the rural community through the participation of people. Hunter (1979:7), based on his observations on community development programme, explained rural development as development of social, economic and ecological situation. To him : "It covers nothing less than the whole economic and social development of rural communities out put, employment, health, education, transport, commerce, power supplies, water control, political and social tensions? (Hunter, 1977:5). * By 1970's, the definition for rural development has undergone a significant change. The change was mostly aimed at the development of the rural poor and weaker sections. The trend could be observed through a definition for rural development adopted by World Bank. It states: "Improving the living standards of the masses of the low Income population residing the rural areas making the process of rural development self sustaining? (Uma, 1975:20).

8 The stress on rural poor in the process of rural development could also be traced to the analysis made by Parthasarathi. He stated that : "The critical element in the rural development is improvement of living standards of the poor through opportunities for better utilisation of their physical and human resources, in the absence of this utilisation of rural resources has no functional significance. Making the process of rural development self sustaining not only implies the mobilisation of capital and use of technology for the benefit of the poor but their active involvement in the building institutions as well as in functioning of these? (Parthasarathi,1981:25). At this juncture, as the rural development aimed specifically at the development of rural poor, the need for an Integrated approach for development has been felt. Sri.C.Subramaniyam, as the Finance Minister in 1976, proposed an Integrated Rural Development Programme. Before considering the essential features of integrated rural development programme, let us also consider the meaning of the term 'integration*. In ordinary usuage, by 'Integration} we mean combining or co-ordinating separate elements so as to provide a harmonious and integrated whole (Naidu and Murali, 1979). Giving

9 8 the need for Integration of rural development programme in India, Naidu and Murali were of the opinion that only through integration the rural development programme would serve national goals. Integration would also avoid dualistic technology, regional imbalances and social inequalities. They felt further that : "Integration is needed for not only economic development which received major attention in the earlier programme but in the social system as a whole of which economy is a subsystem". (Naidu and Murali 1979:3)* Thus it can be argued, in the context of rural development in India, that integration between economic development and social system is the primary concern. Within social system, there is need for integration of Normative* and functional aspects. Normative integration refers to the process of bringing out confirm!ty between the existing social norms and the ideals set up by the society. Similarly the functional integration brings out co-ordinated effort in the functions of sub-systems like family, economy, polity, religion, etc. Achievement of social integration will result in elimination of discrimination on the basis of caste and colour, creed or sex and thus extends equal opportunities for all. Provision of equality in the

10 9 sub-systems will lead to proper functioning and development of society as a whole. INTEGRATED RURAL DEVELOPMENT Integrated rural development in India was proposed in 1976 budget. At the All India Science Congress, Waltair, the Finance Minister explained integrated rural development as : "A systematic scientific and integrated use of all our National resources and as a part of this process, enabling every person to engage himself in a productive and socially useful occupation and earn an income that would meet at least the basic needs! (C.Subramaniyam, 1977s127). Thus IRDP as a strategy proposes the integrated use of all the resources for generation of employment so that every person earns an income to meet the basic needs. In the process of implementation it has become a multilevel, multi-sector and a multi-section approach* as analysed by Roy (1979s519). It involves interactions of the people and their organisation at village, block and district, each attempting the development of mini-agriculture, animal

11 10 husbandry and rural industry. It covers all the weaker sections of the community, namely, the small and marginal farmers, artisans, labour, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. Vasanth Desai (1983:553) regarded integrated Rural Development as a 'strategy package' seeking to achieve enhanced rural production and productivity. According to Sharma and Malhotra (1977), Integrated Rural Development could be considered as : "A synergestic approach aiming at total development of the area and the people by bringing about the necessary institutional and attitudinal changes, and by delivering package of services through extension services". The National Workshop on Integrated Rural Development, convened in 1975, stated that integrated rural development embraces a wide ranging and comprehensive set of activities pertaining of all aspects of rural economy and covering rural poor artisans and so forth. Thus interaction of various agencies involved in rural development, of various sector of rural economy, of various sections of rural population especially the rural poor, of synergisting the institutional and attitudlnal changes, etc., are some of

12 II the essential features of Integrated Rural Development. SCOPE OF INTEGRATED RURAL DEVELOPMENT Integrated Rural Development Programme aims at promoting the overall development of rural poor. While the poor in India could be classified in general as landless labour, artisans, marginal farmers, and small farmers, the manual on Integrated Rural Development also consider them as "those sections in the society without much influence or managerial ability or capability to bear risks". (Aziz, 1988:6). 3n developing these sectors, IRDP gives priority to the weaker sections that were subjected to socio-culture disabilities such as scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and women (Arora R.C., 1976). The programmes under IRDP are generally evolved after conducting intensive bench-mark surveys to identify the local resources and requirements. On the basis of the data, schemes would be drawn up by the concerned departments. These schemes would be complementary in nature and aim at integrated development of the villages in clusters. Schemes under IRDP, according to Srivasthava (1986:62) relate to 'agriculture, farm forestry, soil and water conservation, cottage and small scale industries, agro-based industries etc.

13 12 - A more detailed account of IRDP, objectives, progress and problems is given in the subsequent chapter. IRDP was introduced in Andhra Pradesh as well as Cuddapah district in This study is intended to analyse the nature of IRDP programme under-taken in Cuddapah district the special reference to Mylavaram mandal. Details about the methodological Issues of current study are given below. METHODOLOGY The Rayalaseema districts in general are considered as backward educationally, economically and socially. As a result majority of its population would be classified as poor. Hence a programme like IRDP, which emphasises on the development of poor, has more relevance to Rayalaseema region. In view of this it is proposed to undertake a study on "Integrated Rural Development Programme : A Case Study of problems and prospects of the beneficiaries at Mylavaram mandal in Cuddapah district. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The impact of the IRDP programme in developing the rural poor in Mylavaram mandal is the overall objective of the. present study. The specific objectives of the study as given below :

14 13 1) To study the scope and extent of XRDP programme launched in Cuddapah district in general and Mylavaram mandal in particular. 2) To study the socio-economic profile of the XRDF beneficiaries. 3) To assess the impact of IRDP on the socio-economic condition of the beneficiaries. 4) To examine the critical points of the programme and the problems confronted by the beneficiaries in programme implementation. 5) To suggest measures for improving the effectiveness of IRDP. THE AREA OF STUDY Cuddapah district in Rayalaseeaa comes under the backward belt of Andhra Pradesh. Accordingly it was identified as one of the districts for implementation of IRDP in the first phase of this programme in Andhra Pradesh. The district comprises of 30 mandals. Mylavaram is one of the backward mandal in Cuddapah district. The mandal has a potential for development as it is rich in minerals and as it has a soil suitable for development of agriculture, horticulture and sericulture. One of the major constraints, namely lack of assured source of water for irrigation has been overcome recently with the commissioning of Mylavaram water

15 H reservoir, a programme like IRDP should give the necessary integrated impetus to the development of the mandal especially with reference it*s poorer sections of population. Hence Mylavaram mandal has been selected as the area study. THE UNIVERSE Mylavaram mandal covers 21 villages. Out of a total population 33,801 nearly 19»754 have been identified as poor. Over the years IRDP covered 328 number of beneficiaries in the Mylavaram mandal. Thus universe of study covers 328 beneficiaries under IRDP. THE SAMPLE A sample of 122 has been identified for the detailed of study, following the method of stratified random sampling. For the purpose of stratification, the beneficiaries in Mylavaram mandal were classified into various groups depending upon the programme in which they took part, viz., beneficiaries tinder agriculture, irrigation, animal husbandry etc., From each group of beneficiaries the sample was picked up on random basis proportionately. Our sample thus comprises of 122 beneficiaries representing all the pregrammes undertaken through IRDP in Mylavaram mandal.

16 TOOLS OF DATA COLLECTION Data were collected from primary and secondary sources. The selected beneficiaries formed the source primary data. A scheduled covering questions on the identification, family particulars, economic particulars, income particulars, development awareness, programme participation particulars and particulars on the prospects and problem was administered to the beneficiaries. IRDP plans, monthly review reports and annual plans available with the District Rural Development Agency, Cuddapah and Mandal Office at Mylavaram were used as the secondary sources of information. The researcher conducted interviews with the officials at DRDA and Mandal and held discussions with the concerned panchayat presidents as well as development officers of the villages covered by the Mylavaram mandal. DATA PROCESSING The data was processed manually by preparing a master chart. Suitable tables were drawn from the master chart. Analysis was made with the help of simple statistical techniques such as percentages and averages.

17 16 SCHEME OF PRESENTATION The report on the study is presented in six chapters. The first chapter, i.e., the present one gives details on theoretical and methodological issues related to the study. The second chapter contains a discussion on the Integrated Rural Development Programme in India. The programme is reviewed in this chapter with reference to with its objectives, strategy and progress. Progress made by IRDP with reference to India and Andhra Pradesh are discussed in this chapter. In addition review of some studies on IRDP was also made. The third chapter contains an analysis of IRDP in Cuddapah district and Mylavaram mandal. The chapter contains profile of the selected district and mandal. The progress made by IRDP in this area is discuss with reference to the beneficiaries, programmes and finances. The fourth chapter deals with the demography and socioeconomic profile of the selected beneficiaries from Mylavaram mandal. It also contains an analysis of the programmes adopted by them and the credit and subsidy procured by them. The impact of IRDP scheme on the beneficiaries is analysed

18 17 in the fifth chapter* Details of the assets generated* mandays created and the additional income raised through the IRDP scheme are discussed and the overall impact of the programme in alliviation of poverty is also analysed. The last chapter presents summary of the study as well as conclusions. Suggestion for improving the performance of the programme are also given the last chapter. Bibliography and the interview schedule are given in the appendeces. LIMITATIONSOF THE STUDY IRDP is a national programme, and as such the performance of the programme and its impact on the rural poor may vary from reason to reason. Due to the limited scope in time as well as finances, the current study is limited to one hundred twenty two IRDP beneficiaries in a mandal of Cuddapah district. As a result the conclusions and suggestions of the study have limitations in application.