COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

Transcription

1 CHAPTER II COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME There have been several approaches to rural development in India since pre-in d ep en d en ce period. D u ring th e pre- In d ep en d en ce p erio d, a num ber o f ru ra l reco n s tru c tio n experiments were initiated by nationalist thinkers and social reformers. Besides the various experiments of rural reconstruction by social reformers and missionaries, various departments of government also tried in their own ways to resolve rural problems. The Grow More Food Campaign (GMFC) was India's first organized effort to food production. This campaign was launched in 1943 in the wake of the Bengal famine. In 1952, the GMFC became a part of the First Plan of 1951.In 1952, the governm ent of India appointed the Grow More Food Inquiry Committee to evaluate the campaign. One of the recommendations of the inquiry committee was that an extension agency was to be set up for rural work which would reach every farmer and assist in the co-ordinated

2 development of rural life. It is in this context that Community Development Programme (CDP) was born in India. As pointed out in Chapter 1, the majority of the works of iu!nl development and upliftment in India during the first two decades of planning were based on Community Development Programmes. In 1952 the Community Development Programme as a part of planned development was first introduced in India. The programme was gradually extended and by the middle of the 1970s it covered nearly the entire rural population of the country. The primary objective of the Community Development Programme is to secure the total development of the material and human resources of rural areas and to develop local leadership and selfgoverning institutions. This programme envisages to raise the levels of rural people through a number of programmes. A number of rural community development activities like agricultural and related matters, communication, education, health, training, social welfare, supplem entary em ploym ent and housing, etc., are undertaken under Community Development Programme. In ten sive A g ricu ltu ra l D istrict Program m e (IAD P) represen ted a sign ifican t d epartu re from the Com m unity Development Programme. The IADP was in formative stage between 1960 and 1965 and by 1966 the programme gained national importance and came to be considered as a foundation of India's 27 /

3 strategies for agriculture development. The success of IADP programme paved the way for launching the High Yielding Variety Programme (HYVP) in Since the growth oriented strategies of the Sixties could not s ig n ific a n tly tack le the p roblem s o f rural p overty, unemployment, weaker section and backward areas, it become necessary to re-examine the growth oriented programmes. The special programmes introduced in the Seventies for the weaker section of the rural population of backward areas included the Small Farmers Development Agency (SFDA), the Marginal Farmers and Agricultural Labourers (MFAL) programme, the Drought [Tone Area Programme (DPAP), the Desert Development Programme (DDP), Hill Area Development Programme (HADP), Tribal Area Development Programme (TADP), National Rural Employment Programme (NREP), Crash Scheme for Rural Employment (CSRE) and Food For Work (FFW) programme. These programmes dealt with the problem of rural poverty and backwardness and aimed at helping the weaker section to increase income. As a supplement to these programmes, another programme known as the Minimum Needs Programme (MNP) was launched in the Fifth Plan. The MNP aimed at raising the level of social consumption of the poor people in rural areas. 28

4 In , the government introduced the integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP). Its main objective was poverty alleviation through growth and generation of employment opportunities for the poorest of the poor. The benefits of this program m e w ere provided to the id en tified target groups comprising of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe, small and marginal farmers, tenants, landlords, share cropper and artisans. However, like many other programmes, IRDP has also failed to achieve the desired results. In 1979, the government introduced Training for Rural Self-Employment Scheme (TRYSEM), in 1980 National Rural Em ploym ent Program m e (NREP), in 1983 R ural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme and in a programme of Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas tdwcra). Thus the government over the years has implemented a host of programmes for rural development. However, many of these programmes did not achieve desired goals. On 1st April, 1999, the government introduced a new self-employment programme known as Swarnajayanti Grams Seva Rozgar Yojana and discontinued 6 ongoing programmes namely IRDP, DWCRA, TRYSEM, Supply of Improve Tool Kits to Rural Artisan(SITRA), Ganga Kalyan Yojana (GKY), Million Wells Scheme (MWS). This new scheme has been formulated keeping in view the failure and success of the earlier programmes. The Ninth Five Year Plan has been launched in

5 The report of the Ninth Plan (draft) states : "Priority is accorded to agriculture and rural development with a view to generating adequate productive employment and eradication of poverty". As compared to the preceding Plan, i.e., the Eight Plan, the current plan has been more vocal and emphatic in eradication of rural poverty. RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN NORTH EAST INDIA AND ASSAM North East India occupies an area of 2,55,000 sq. km. This region accounts for 7 per cent of the total land mass of India. About 70 per cent of the region is hilly. This region is marked by uneven spatial distribution of population in the seven states (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura) of North East India. The total population of North East India according to 2001 census is million which constitutes 3.7 per cent of the total population of India (1027 million). The tribal population constitutes 12 per cent of the total population of North East India. In Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland, the percentages of tribal population to the total population of the states are 63.65, 85.53, and

6 respectively. Of all the states of North East India, Mizoram has the highest literacy rate (88.49%). The density of population varies considerably in the region being 13 persons per sq. km. in Arunachal Pradesh to 340 person per sq. km. in North East India as a wholev The economy of North East India is basically agrarian. Its economy comprises of two main sectors : rural and urban. Urban sector is not dominant. The rural sector comprises of agricultural and non agriculture sub-sectors. The agriculture sub-sector comprises of agriculture and allied economic activities, such as crop husbandry, animal husbandry and dairy, fishery, poultry and forest. The non agricultural sub-sector consists of economic activities relating to industry, business and services. Industry com prises khadi and village industries, cottage industries, handloom, handicraft, etc. Business includes trading of general group, small shop, petty traders, etc., whereas services refer to transport and communication banking, input supply, marketing of farm and non-farm products. The main stakeholders of rural sector includes farm ers, agricu ltu re and non agricu ltu ral labourers, artisans, traders, money lenders and those providing such services as transport, communication, processing, banking and educational extension. 31

7 The tribes of North East India living in the hill areas mainly practise jhum (shifting cultivation). A few small communities living in the exlrcmcs of north eastern parts of Arunachal and the eastern boundary of Nagaland, carry on non-monetized exchange system. These tribes are involved in market economy through a large number of weekly and by weekly rural markets. The shifting cultivators also supplement their earning who also work as wage labourers and petty businessmen. The tribes mainly living in the plains of the region like the Bodo- Kacharis, Rabhas, Mishings, etc. have built a peasant based economy. The trend of occupational diversification has also emerged among many of the tribes of North East India. Goswami(1989 : 31) has rightly pointed out that in North East India, the strategy of rural development in hilly areas must be different from plain wet paddy cultivation areas. It may also be different for various ethnic groups living in the region or even in a single state due to their distinct socio-economic pattern, culture and language. In some areas emphasis on double cropping may be there, in some an adoption of new technology, in some development of forestry and horticultural crops, in some cattle and poultry development, in some cottage industries and handicrafts, in some building up of basic infrastructure may need greater attention, without neglecting other programmes. 32

8 The slate of Assam which forms the core of North East India consists of 23 districts, including two hill districts (Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills) and 48 sub-divisions, 224 police stations and 146 revenue circles. There are 24,685 villages, 115 towns and one city (Guwahati). Assam has 219 Community Development Blocks, 42 Mahakuma Parishads and 2490 Gaon Panchayats. According to 2001 census the total population of Assam is 2,66,38,000 out of which per cent are urban and per cent are rural population. The 23 different tribal communities inhabiting Assam constitute per cent of the total population of the state. Assam has an agricultural based economy and more than 70 per cent of the population depend on agriculture as their primary source of livelihood. Rice is the main crop cultivated by the people. In the interior hill areas, the tribal people practise shifting cultivation which is commonly known as jhum in North East Indian. The tribal people raise mixed crops along with paddy in jhum cultivation. Tea, jute and sugarcane in the plain areas and coffee and rubber in the hill areas are grown as cash crops in Assam. Assam is considered to be industrially backward. In Assam the trend of poverty is worse than that of India as a whole. Though statewise periodic data are not available for all the states, experts have estimated that per cent of the population of Assam with a real number of lakhs have 33

9 remained Below Poverty Line (BPL) in Following this year percentages increased to in which in real number is lakhs. From this year the condition of poverty in Assam improved and had come down to per cent with lakhs below poverty line persons in But following this year the situation deteriorated and the percentage of BPL population had raisen to ( lakh population) in After this, the condition worsen further with lakh population indicating per cent of the total in as per estimate of experts. In view of this some experts have opined that in Assam the poverty alleviation programmes have not been successful. The performance of rural development programmes in Assam can be judged in terms of achievements in this regard. During the physical achievements in Assam in Indira Awas Yojana (IAY), DWCRA, TRYSEM, Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (JRY), Employment Assurance Scheme ( EAS), were per cent, per cent, per cent, per cent, per cent and per cent, respectively. In respect to financial achievement during under IRDP and JRY was also not very encouraging. As against an allocation of Rs lakhs for IRDP, expenditure was Rs lakhs only, accounting for per cent. In respect to JRY the financial achievement was little better. As against allocation of Rs lakhs for JRY, expenditure was Rs , accounting for per cent. In view of this it can 34

10 be stated that there was overall shortfall in the achievement of target both in physical and financial terms. In the year , Assam has been able to receive, though lately, the release of second instalm ent o f fund from the central governm ent for rural development schemes. The financial condition of the states of North East India hampered the implementation of the rural development schemes since the states are not in a position to make its 25 per cent matching contribution. ADMINISTRATIVE SET UP OF IRDP AND OTHER ALLIED PROGRAMMES CENTRAL LEVEL The Department of rural development in the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, New Delhi, has the overall responsibility of policy formulation, monitoring and evaluation of the programmes and for release of central share of funds. A Central Level C oordination C om m ittee (CLCC) on IRD P and allied programmes of TRYSEM and DWCRA has been constituted to assist the Department. STATE LEVEL The Departm ent of rural developm ent or any other department to which the programmes of rural development have been allocated should be responsible for planning, implementation, 35

11 monitoring and evaluation of the programmes at the state level. A State Level Coordination Committee (SLCC) has been constituted to assist this department in discharging the responsibilities. DISTRICT LEVEL The program m es are im plem ented through DRDAs (District Rural Development Agency) at the District Level. These agencies are registered societies under the Registration of Societies A ct. They are g en era lly headed by th e C ollector/ D ep u ty Commissioner/Sabhapati of Zila Parishad depending upon the practice prevailing in the state. The Chairman/President of the DRDA is empowered to form an Executive Committee to assist the DRDA. The Executive Committee can consist of all the district level officers and other officers deemed necessary for the planning and implementation of the programme. The Governing Body of the DRDA should meet once in a quarter and the Executive Committee once in a month. FUNCTIONS OF THE DRDA The DRDAs are the overall in-charge of the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the programmes in the district. The main functions of the DRDA are : (a) To keep the district and block level agencies informed of the basic parameters and the requirements of the programmes and the tasks to be performed by all these agencies. 36

12 (b) To coordinate and oversee the surveys, preparation of perspective plans and annual plan of the blocks and finally prepare a district plan. (c) To monitor and evaluate the programme implementation by government and non-governmental agencies to ensure their effectiveness. (d) To secure inter-sectoral and inter-departmental coordination and cooperation. (e) To give publicity to the achievements made under the programmes and disseminate knowledge and build up awareness about the programmes. (f) To send periodical returns to the state government in the prescribed formats. BLOCK LEVEL The Block is a basic unit for the preparation of perspective and annual plans, implementation of the programmes as per the approved plan and providing feedback on the impact of the programmes. Therefore, the Block Development Officer (BDO) is required to perform the role of the chief coordinator in the Block and also to see that plans are prepared in time and implemented effectively. 37

13 STAFFING PATTERN OF BLOCKS The BDOs are assisted by Extension Officers whose number is determined according to the need of the area. Usually there is an Extension Officer each for every core discipline. One post of a Joint BDO per Block is created for the Blocks having a population of more than one lakh. The number of Village Level Workers (VLW) and Extension Officers are determined according to the needs of the area. Ordinarily, there should be 10 Village Level Workers per Block. In addition, at least 2 women VLWs should also be provided to facilitate assistance to women beneficiaries. In the ITDP areas of the north eastern region the joint BDO is generally posted irrespective of the population size. In these Blocks, the strength of Gram Sevaks and Gram Sevikas can be augmented by 50 per cent of the existing strength subject to such additional staff being not more than 5 VLWs and one VLW (woman) per Block. 38