Preparing Database of Best
2-3 SGSY Products in the State of Rajasthan
About the Study
The objective of the study was to prepare a database of 2-3 main
products promoted through SGSY in each district of Rajasthan.
These products will be identified based on their sell ability
and value addition potential. The study besides identifying the
main products seeks to provide a detailed note on all the SHGs
involved in making of the identified products. The study also
seeks to compile information of the location of the SHGs
involved, the level of connectivity, procurement of assets and
raw materials, interventions in design, packaging and branding;
status of current marketing and long tern marketing
arrangements; pricing policy adopted for the products; profit
margins. The study also focuses to tabulate quantity of monetary
help taken from Ministry of Rural Development and also the
status of repayment along with contact address of 2 members of
the SHGs where orders can be placed.
The
specific objectives1 of the study is as follows:
To identify 2-3 main products in each district (promoted through
SGSY) based on their saleability and value addition potential.
To prepare a database of all the groups involved in making those
products.
To study and analyse the different aspect of production (as
mentioned above) of the identified products.
To compile the extent of financial help taken by each SHG and
status of repayments.
Scope of the Study
The scope of the study included all 32 districts of Rajasthan.
The study was carried out taking into consideration the SHGs
financed during the period April 1999 to January 2006. This
period was fixed in consultation with IRD, Govt. of Rajasthan.
During this period out of the 32 districts, in 2 districts [1] -
Jaisalmer and Nagaur, no SHGs have been financed for any
economic activity. Thus these 2 districts were not considered
within the scope of this study. However during the study,
efforts were made to collect information of groups which were
financed for economic activities till March 2006.
.......................................
[1] As per the data provided by IRD, Govt.
of Rajasthan.
District Human Development
Report
Preface
The UNDP initiative of ranking countries on the basis of their
human development indices has been accepted universally as an
effective method to bring into focus deficiencies in health,
education and access to other essential facilities for a good
living. From a simple measure of per capita income as indicator
of development, we have moved into a much more holistic concept
of ‘well being’ of the population. The notion of well-being
has shifted away from just material attainments, or the means
for development, to outcomes that are either desirable in
themselves or desirable because of their role in supporting
better opportunities for people. Preparation of State Human
Development Reports (HDRs) has also been gaining ground in
India. These HDR’s have emerged as the principal advocacy
platform for sustainable human development. To translate this
advocacy into action plans the need was felt to prepare such
report at a more disaggregated level.
The District Human Development Report- Tonk is an attempt to map
the state of human development in the district. The quality of
life and the level of human well-being have been ranked across
panchayat samities. The choice of indicators has been governed
by the overall impact on the quality of life and the standard of
living of people. There has been, in recent years, a conceptual
broadening in the notions of human well-being and deprivation.
The Report has seven chapters. Chapter 1 outlines the concept,
methodology and State of Human Development and the Chapter 2
deals with the Profile of Tonk District. Chapter 3 discusses
economy of the district and the status of livelihood is
discussed in Chapter 4. This is followed by indicators on
educational attainments in Chapter 5. Health attainments and
demographic concerns are covered in Chapter 6. The annexure
include Profile of the Panchayat Samities at a glance and the
methodology used for building the composite indices The
assumptions that have been made to fill gaps in the database
used for the Report have also been discussed. A detailed
Statistical Annex is presented at the end.
Impact Assessment of Rural
Development Programme
(A study in Jalore District of
Rajasthan w.e.f. 2001-2004)
Executive Summary
The Impact Assessment Studies commissioned by Government of
India tries to assess the overall impact of six rural
development programmes of the Ministry of Rural Development
being implemented in selected villages of Jalore district,
Rajasthan. The impact assessment study was carried out in 40
villages from four blocks namely Ahore, Jalore, Bhinmal and
Jaswantpura in Jalore district, Rajasthan.
Study aimed to capture the spatial dimension of various rural
development and poverty alleviation programmes. The reference
period for the study was 3 years (2001-2002, 2002-2003 and
2003-2004). The study covered rural development schemes such as
Sampoorna Gramin Rojgar Yojana, Indira Awas Yojana, Swarna
Jayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana, Desert Development Programme,
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, Accelerated Rural Water Supply
Programme and Swajaldhara.
Four blocks were selected to have an adequate geographical
representation for conducting the impact assessment study. Based
on the socio-economic parameters two relatively better off and
two other blocks were covered under the study. Further based on
the physical spread of programme implementation, 10 villages
were selected from each block. A detailed questionnaire was
designed to collect the primary data from the field involving
600 individual beneficiaries from 40 villages.
Socio-Economic Profile of Jalore
District
Jalore district has a very dry climate with extreme temperature
and very low rainfall. Human development index of the district
is 0.5 and is ranked 29th in the state. The population growth
rate of the district over a decade is 26.78%. The Scheduled
Caste and Scheduled Tribes proportion in the district is 18 %
and 8.8 % respectively. There has been a sharp fluctuation in
the sex ratio in the district over the decade. The non-worker in
the district comprises about 50%.
Family profiles of the sample households were done through
door-to-door interaction with the heads of 600 households in 40
villages of four blocks. The sample size of the respondents
interviewed were 61 % male and 39 % female. The proportion of
the SC and ST were 42.3% and 22 % respectively. As most of the
rural development programmes are targeted to benefit the BPL
families therefore 71.16 % household interviewed were from the
below poverty line.
Performance of the program over three years
The secondary data collected from the district and block offices
for the assessment of physical and financial performance of the
rural development programmes over the period of three years
showed good results. The guidelines of the rural development
schemes were strictly followed during the implementation both at
the district and block level.
During the study period (2001-02,
2002-03,2003-04)
Under IAY scheme total houses constructed were 2802 out of which
Schedule Caste got 1234, Schedule Tribes got 566; Other’s 998
and 4 houses were constructed for Physically Handicapped.
Under SGSY 2568 individuals swarozgaris were benefited and
601new SHG groups were formed.
Under SGRY total wage employment generated in the district was
19.66 lakhs man-days.
Under Accelerated rural water supply programme (ARWSP) and
Swajaldhara scheme total geographical area of 10640 sq. km. In
the district was covered under the scheme. By the end of year
2005 all 697 habited villages and 1101 hamlets has been covered
under the scheme in the district.
Under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana total 71 villages have
been connected with the panchayat head quarter in three years by
construction of new roads.
The selection of the beneficiaries was done in a fair and
transparent manner under various rural development schemes at
the village level through Gram Panchayat except in few cases.
Implementations of these schemes were done properly. Assets
created under various schemes have raised the financial status
as well as social status along with social security of the
beneficiaries. At present most of the assets created were found
in good condition but some of them are under utilised. The
participation level of beneficiaries during the planning, design
and purchase of raw material was comparatively low.
Methods for publicity and level of
awareness
Government has made efforts to create awareness and disseminate
the information about rural development schemes through
interpersonal meetings, street plays, poster campaign,
distribution of leaflets etc. As a result it was found that
around 72.33% of the respondents were aware of IAY scheme,
49.33% about SGSY scheme, 66.50% about SGRY, 17.67% about PMGSY,
21% about DDP and 0.33% about ARWSP. Sarpanch, Gram–Sewak,
Ward-panch and other members of the community were the prominent
source of the information about the rural development schemes.
The role of PRIs in planning and
implementation of programmes
During the study it was found that Panchayati Raj Institutions
are proactively involved in the planning, implementation and
monitoring of the rural development schemes. And most of these
schemes were rooted through District Rural Development Agency,
intermediate Panchayat and gram Panchayat. As per the 73rd
amendment in the constitution the concept of ward sabha came
into force. But during the impact assessment study we could not
find active role of ward sabha in planning, implementation and
monitoring of these schemes. We also found that most of the ward
sabha are only for the namesake and the Sarpanch and the Gram
Sewak at Gram Panchayat level take up most of the decisions.
Overall impact of the programme
Overall the implementation of the centrally sponsored rural
development programmes such as SGSY; IAY; SGRY; DDP; PMGSY and
ARSWP & Swajaldhara was implemented to a large extent in true
sense and spirit. And it has helped in improving the social and
economic standard of living of the targeted individual
beneficiaries and the groups. Contribution for these programmes
has been gregariously admitted by the beneficiaries and observed
by the study team. The implementation of these programmes in the
district has benefited both individuals and the villages as a
whole in social and financial aspects, which ultimately led in
the improvement of the quality of life of the beneficiaries and
villages as a whole.
As per the secondary data available at the district and block
level, related to financial and physical achievements of the
selected rural development programmes were found to be in good
progress.
Problems and deficiencies in
implementation
During the study team found various deficiencies and problems
while implementation of the rural development schemes in the
district such as the support given by the government under IAY
scheme i.e. Rs.20, 000 /- was found insufficient for the
construction of the house. There are instances of erroneous
selection under IAY scheme by the gram Panchayat. During the
study irregularity were found in selection of the beneficiaries
under SGRY scheme and Sarpanch obliged his family members or
close associates by providing them more number of wage
employment days or assigning relatively less labour intensive
work such as deputing on supervision work, arranging for
drinking water etc.
Suggestions and Recommendations
Suggestions and recommendations have been put to achieve better
results from these programmes such as more area should be
brought under watershed treatment through DDP on continuous
manner. Most of the rural development programme targets BPL
families therefore list of BPL families should be prepared with
proper care and Government should prepare village wise database
of the BPL families and it should be made available on-line
through IT. Emphasis should be given on the development of the
human capital through organizing training programmes for the
representatives of the PRIs and for the selected beneficiaries
under various schemes.
Selection of beneficiaries should be done in a participatory
manner so that poor are benefited under different programmes and
wrong selections are avoided.
PRIs representatives should be provided adequate trainings in
time for enhancing their skills and capacities for effective
delivery mechanisms.
Wider awareness generation campaign should be initiated for
having wider outreach of various rural development programmes
and benefits are accessed by the poor.
WASSAN Study
ARAVALI is the nodal agency at the state level to study the
process documentation of the successful watershed development
programme in eight selected watersheds implemented in the
Rajasthan state. This study is being commissioned at National
Level by WASSAN, Hyderabad in eight States. The study is funded
by ICEF, New Delhi. The main objective of the study is to
strengthen the participatory processes in Watershed Development
Programmes in India.
Sector Reform Study
An evaluation study on ”Concurrent Reform Projects under Rural
Water Supply Programme” by Ministry of Rural Development in
Jaipur, Sikar, Alwar and Rajasmand Districts was taken up by
ARAVALI this year. The study aims at providing a qualitative and
quantitative review of the sector reform project in terms of
community management of schemes; involvement of community in
planning, execution, operation and maintenance; institutional
arrangements and socio economic impact of the project.
Magra Area Development Project
In the year 2000, Government of Rajasthan engaged ARAVALI to
undertake a baseline study to demarcate the Magra Area and
identify the development gaps and priority for its development.
Based on the survey, the government allocated funds for the
development of the area. In the year 2005, again Government of
Rajasthan requested ARAVALI to prepare a proposal detailing out
situational analysis and identifying appropriate solutions in
terms of natural resource enhancement, infrastructure
development, capacity building aspects and finally proposing a
strategic plan of Bhilwara district.
