February 2011

Vol 55

Chief Editor : Neeta Prasad Joint Director (Prod) : J.K. Chandra

Editor : Manogyan R. Pal Cover Design : Manjula Das
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Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

Rig Veda

CONTENTS

Grassroots Level Democracy in India : Flagging the Rupee...............................................................36

An Assessment...........................................................................5 Naveen Jindal
Mathew C Kunnumkal
North east diary . ..............................................................38
Needed-A New Deal for Panchayati Raj . ...................10
George Mathew J&K Window
Panchayat elections in J&K.............................................39
do you know? . .....................................................................14
Kavita Suri
Towards Sustainable Sanitation in
North-Eastern Region.........................................................15 Best Practices .....................................................................41
Agatha Sangma Thumbs up for this Caste Panchayat
Usha Chowdhary
A Place to Convert Noise to Voice...............................20
G Palanithurai Natural Resources and Village
Institutions: A critical link . .........................................43
Women in Panchayats: A Review.....................................24
Sushant
Atonu Chatterjee
Protection of Rural Livelihoods................................28 shodh yatra . .........................................................................47
Awanish Somkuwar
Tips for rural health.........................................................50
Sustainable Management of Local Resources....32 M A Haque
N Lalitha

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YOJANA February 2011 1

 YE-5/11/5

2 YOJANA February 2011

 About the Issue

T
he year 2009 marked fifty years since Nagaur in Rajasthan saw the ISSN-0971-8400

foundations of Panchayati Raj institutions being laid in India. Fifty long years February 2011 A DEVELOPMENT MONTHLY ` 10

in which this institution has grown from strength to strength, bringing a large
community of hitherto left-out people into the folds of governance. Fifty long years in
which the common Indian from the remotest corner of the country has proved that he
knows what is best for himself, his family and society, and that given a little support,
he can think, decide and act for the collective good of his community. Fifty long years
that have helped us rediscover the collective strength of the people at the grassroots after
we almost lost it under the torturous period of subjugation by the British. Observing
the year 2009-10 as the Year of the Gram Sabha was a reconfirmation of this strength
of the people.
The Gram Sabha had been visualized as an institutionalized forum of villagers that would ensure that every
voice in the village was heard, the needs and concerns of every quarter of the society was addressed and that
the elected representatives of the panchayats performed their duties as expected of them. If we look at the last
eighteen years since the 73rd constitutional amendment came through, we find a lot to be happy about. Regular
and serious panchayat elections, an increasing representation of women and people from other marginalized
sections of the society, many forceful voices rising from the grassroots, forcing the powers that be to sit up and
take note, a host of innovative development initiatives that have come to fruition under the able stewardship of
the people at the grassroots. In fact, in a bold move the India government has also decided to stitch the Gram
Sabhas into the industrial fabric of the country. In bits and pieces at first and now regularly, the Gram Sabhas
have been given the authority to decide if a particular industrial project should be located in the area where the
Sabha operates. If an industrialist has to set up a project, he has to inform the Sabha, give them an opportunity
to call a meeting, explain the details of the project and ask for their permission to buy land from the area. Only
when the Sabha has approved the same can the project go through.
While all the above is true, it is also a fact that the true potential of the Gram Sabha as an instrument of
participatory governance is yet to be realized. The incorporation of the marginalized sections of the society
into active governance is facing multiple hindrances, issues of accountability are yet to be settled, a sense of
ownership and belonging has not yet developed fully. The Gram Sabha is yet to become the powerful organ of
people’s empowerment that it was meant to be.

In the current issue of Yojana, experts in the field bring to you their views on the issue. q

YOJANA February 2011 3

 YE-3/11/3

4 YOJANA February 2011

Gram Sabha
Grassroots Level Democracy in India :
An Assessment
rassroots
G democracy i s
neither a new concept
nor is it an expression
of western political
thought operationalized in Indian
soil. The origin of grassroots
level democracy dates back to
the Vedic Age and has been fairly
The performance well documented in ancient
scriptures such as the Rig Veda,
levels of the PRIs
Aitareya Brahman, Panini’s
have been directly Astadhyai, Kautilyas Arthasastra,
proportionate to inscriptions on Asokan Pillars and
the writings of Buddhist and Jain
levels of transfer scholars. The available literature
of 3 ‘F’s’ viz., clearly points to the fact that
Functions, republics functioned and elected
representatives participated in
Functionaries and Janpadas (regional bodies) Paura
Funds Sabhas (City Councils) and Gram
Sabhas (Village assemblies) in
ancient India. People in republics
The author is Director General, National Institute of Rural development, Hyderabad
YOJANA February 2011 5
Overview
Mathew C Kunnumkal
were functioning through a
decision by majority which was
regarded as inviolable and not
to be overridden. Issues which
required more deliberations and
serious thinking were referred
to a special committee elected
from among the members of the
assembly.
Under the British Rule local
self government did not make
much progress. These panchayat
institutions were unable to function
effectively due to organizational
and fiscal maladies. However
with the emergence of Gandhiji
on the political arena, grass root
level democracy slowly started
regaining importance. Gandhiji’s
advocacy of village democracy
brought the issue to centre stage
and laid the foundations for grass
root level democracy in modern
India. In his article (Harijan, 26
July, 1942) on Village Swaraj,
Gandhiji had envisaged a village as
a complete Republic, independent
of its neighbor for its vital wants,
yet interdependent, for many
others in which dependence is
a necessity. These views got
reflected in the non-justiciable part
of the Constitution in the Directive
Principles of State Policy, as
Article 40.
Soon after Independence, both
the Community Development
Programme and National Extension
Service were launched to address
rural reconstruction efforts. The
focus of these programmes was
on improving agriculture and rural
development and bringing about
socio economic transformation
among the rural people. The
Balwantrai Committee which was
appointed to study the Community
Development Programme and
National Extension Service stated
that the community needs to be
involved in planning, decision
making and implementation
process. However Panchayat Raj
Institutions (PRIs) across the
country faced resistance from
bureaucracy, lacked capacity and
were often captured by certain
elitist sections of the community.
Thereafter Ashok Mehta
Committee appointed in 1978
described the post 1959 period
in three phases; a) Ascendancy
6 YOJANA February 2011
1959-64; b) Stagnation -1965-
69; c) Decline - 1969-1977. The
Committee recommended that the
district should be the basic unit for
planning, coordination and resource
allocation and should be supported
by technical expertise. The GVK
Rao Committee (1985) was of the
opinion that PRIs need to play an
important role in rural development
programmes thus building up a
gradual momentum in favour of the
local self government institutions.
In 1986 the Committee for the
Concept Paper on Panchayati
Raj Institutions recommended
that these institutions need
constitutional backing. The gram
sabha was identified as the base
of decentralized democracy and
PRI as units of self–government
promoting people’s participation.
Although this was opposed by
the Sarkaria Commission the late
Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi
introduced the 64th Constitutional
amendment bill in 1989. As the
Bill was defeated in the Rajya
Sabha, it was introduced again in
1992 and was passed as the 73rd
Constituted Amendment. This Act
is a landmark legislation which
has brought empowerment of the
Panchayat Raj Institutions and
has ensured the transfer of power
from the State to the panchayat
raj institutions to be exercised by
the people.
“India lives in its villages” is
the oft quoted statement of the
Father of the Nation. In reality
however the people of India were
far distanced from the seat of
power and the Government at
the Centre and in the States.
The greatest strength of grass
root democracy reflected through
the Panchayat Raj Institutions
is its proximity to the people.
It is an important step towards
the realization of Gandhiji’s
dream of ‘village swaraj’”.
Grass root level democracy
has a tremendous potential for
establishing a people centred
delivery system which is essential
for sustainable development. The
village assemblies/Gram Sabhas
can emerge as a platform for
expression of people’s needs
and aspirations. This in turn
will help to effectively utilize
the local resources and pave the
way for need based development
which would bring visible
benefit to the local community.
These institutions also provide
opportunities for the marginalized
and socially excluded groups to
participate in decision making.
Fundamental requirements for
personal advancement such as
access to health care and education
can be better provided by judicious
assessment of needs and allocation
of resources. With the people
being actually involved in decision
making the scope for corruption
and misuse of resources and
authority get reduced. Close
monitoring and social audit are
possible for taking corrective
action which was not possible in
the erstwhile top down approach
that was in vogue. The vesting of
powers of taxation with the Gram
Panchayats has enabled them to
increase their resource base for
accelerating development. At the
panchayat level, there can be very
imaginative and pragmatic pooling
of resources and convergence of
schemes which will bring larger
good to the community. Micro
level planning which was virtually
absent hitherto enables to translate
people’s aspirations into need
based programmes.
Since the Panchayat Raj
Institutions are still in the early
stages of development they are yet
to overcome several weaknesses
which have not enabled them to
reach their full potential. First and
foremost, the Gram Sabha which
is considered as the life-line of
PRIs by directly reflecting people’s
views and voices has to see a much
higher level of participation by the
entire community. There has also
to be much greater involvement
and articulation of the needs of the
entire community particularly the
deprived sections. Secondly there
is considerable discretion vested
in the state Governments. PRIs
YOJANA February 2011 7
falls under the state subject and the
legal language of ‘shall’ and ‘may’
and other connotations has led to
various levels of conformity by the
state Governments. It is seen that
several non obligatory provisions,
like the representation of legislators
and members of parliament in PRIs,
is affecting the true expression of
village democracy. Adequate
training and sustained handholding
efforts are not extended to elected
representatives. Hence there is a
lack of professionalism in handling
administrative, financial and other
related issues. Devolution of
three Fs – Funds, Functions and
Functionaries which is imperative
for effective public service delivery
has not yet taken place in many
states.
The District planning committee
has been constituted. However its
performance levels needs to be
improved by making the District
Panchayat Chairman as its head
and reducing the role of in charge
Ministers.
The weaknesses which are
highlighted are structural. A greater
amount of political will is essential
to enable these bodies to function
as true democratic institutions.
Notwithstanding these
weaknesses it is very heartening
to note that in many parts of
the country the Panchayat Raj
Institutions has emerged as
powerful vehicles for social
transformation. Some examples of
best practices are stated below:
1) K a r n a t a k a has very
innovatively used the
Panchayat Raj system to
improve revenue realization
in the power sector. Under the
Participatory Rural Energy
Services in Karnataka, Gram
Panchayat (GP) members
were trained to offer
electricity support services
and transfer best practices for
water farming and electricity
management.
2) Integrated Rural Accessibility
Planning (IRAP) is concerned
with improving access in
rural areas of Orissa (ILO).
IRAP comprises a set of
planning tools for use at Gram
Panchayat level to identify
and prioritize interventions
to improve accessibility. The
process responds to the access
needs of rural people and
interventions to either improve
mobility (roads, tracks,
bridges, transport services) or
bring the services and goods
closer to the people (markets,
schools, health centers, water
supplies).
3) Indira Kranthi Pathakam
(IKP) in Andhra Pradesh has
evolved a strategy for enabling
the Village Organizations in
700 Gram Panchayats in 259
 Mandals to facilitate all the
poor households to secure their
Rights and Entitlements under
MGNREGA fully and also to
ensure that the Employment
Guarantee Scheme
investments are secured to
develop the lands belonging
to the poor. The strategy is to
position a team of Community
Resource Persons in select
Gram Panchayats to provide
grass root level support to
the Village Organisations.
It is expected that these 700
Gram Panchayats will emerge
as EGS Model Villages for
demonstrating a framework
for implementing NREGS in a
manner that all the Rights and
Entitlements guaranteed to the
wage seekers are fulfilled in
letter and spirit.
4) In Uttar Pradesh Mid Day
Meal programme is managed
by the Gram Panchayats.
Information on menu, the
quantity of ingredients needed
for feeding 100 children
and funds received for the
programmes are disseminated
through the Gram Panchayats
through wall writings, etc..
The funds for the programme
are deposited in a separate
account in village fund so that
account of expenditure can
be maintained. Food items
are supplied on a monthly
8 YOJANA February 2011
basis in advance. A committee
has been constituted at gram
panchayat level to supervise
day-to-day cooking at school
level with Gram Pradhan,
and representation from
parents. This intervention
has improved the quality and
delivery of the Mid Day Meal
Programme.
5) Understanding the actual
cause of the heavy school drop
outs among tribal children,
Vellamunda Panchayat in
Wayanad district has used its
resources imaginatively to
arrest the drop out rate and
increase retention of children
in the schools. It hired five
jeeps and launched its own
‘transport service’ to ferry
the children to and from the
school and introduced a free
breakfast and noon meal
scheme to retain the children
in the 18 schools within the
panchayat limits as part of six
projects costing Rs.22 lakh
annually.
The decentralized governance
system ushered in through the 73rd
and 74th constitutional amendments
in 1993-94 have not been able to
pick up the required momentum
on account of several challenges
confronting the PRIs. Some of the
challenges are listed below:
1. Constitution of certain types
of Committees not in line with
the spirit of PRIs especially
for several donor driven
programmes, is moving away
from the objectives enshrined
in the Constitution. Similarly,
the strengths of Self Help
Groups need to be integrated
for improving the capability
of the Panchayats.
2. An organic linkage between
gram sabha and gram
panchayat is yet to be forged.
Consequently resolutions
passed in Gram sabha
generally do not get reflected
in the identified needs of
Gram Panchayat, both in
terms of human resource and
infrastructure development.
3. In many states GPs do not
constitute viable administrative
units due to their geographical
areas and physical distances
from potential growth centres
and sheer inaccessibility due
to lack of proper infrastructure
such as roads and connectivity.
Delimitations on the basis
of population distances and
access need to be done in
some States.
4. The higher outlays and number
of programmes require a much
higher level of capability and
professionalism for delivering
the desired results.
5. Physical infrastructure also
needs to be substantially
improved at the Panchayat
 level for data maintenance,
record keeping etc.
Despite these challenges, the
PRIs have been playing a role as
institutions of local governance
in the changing scenario of rural
development. Some of the positive
trends are as follows:
1. P R I s a r e i n c r e a s i n g l y
recognized as the best available
alternative to implement
several developmental
programs and of late GPs are
made to play a pivotal role in the
planning and implementation
process. Direct funding is
also being made available
for speedy implementation of
programmes.
2. Since various Ministries and
donor agencies have started
adopting the ‘Saturation
approach’ in developmental
programmes by extending
the delivery to the last man,
PRI institutions have started
to play an enlarged role in
identification, planning and
implementation.
3. Social audits at PRI level
have shown that people’s
participation is both
qualitatively and effectively
resolving local problems.
4. Performance of the PRIs is
evaluated both by national
and international agencies
(Google) and they are given
YOJANA February 2011 9
awards, which has led to
increased motivation on part
of PRIs. Due to this, over
the years, one comes across
several performing GPs who
are recognized as Beacon
Panchayats and role models
for others. They have been
successful in converging both
human and financial resources
and have been successful
in promoting social and
economic equity.
To conclude, grass root level
democracy has come to stay in
India through the instrumentality
of 73 rd and 74 th Constitutional
Amendment. While on the one
side of the spectrum there are very
active and strong PR Institutions,
at the other end we have a large
number of PRIs which are
not in a position to perform
effectively. The performance
levels of the PRIs have been
directly proportionate to levels of
transfer of 3 ‘F’s’ viz., Functions,
Functionaries and Funds. Since
the devolution of the powers and
functions are within the ambit of
the State Government and the Act
does not make it mandatory for
full-fledged transfer of powers,
the PRIs have not developed
uniformly across the country.
With the implementation of more
rural development programmes
through the PRIs and increase
in the budgetary outlays (e.g.,
MGNREGA – 40,000 crores,
NSAP 3000 crores) the resource
base of the PRIs has increased.
The challenges to translate
these schemes very effectively at
the ground level for the benefit
of the common people have also
brought pressure on the PRIs to
play their role more effectively.
The efforts made by institutions
such as the National Institute of
Rural Development and the State
Institutes of Rural Development
and other agencies for capacity
development of the functionaries
is also showing positive results,
in terms of improved delivery by
the PRIs. Increased participation
of women in PR institutions
resulting from higher percentages
of reservation is slowly changing
the face of PRIs. More acceptable
and sustainable developmental
trends are emerging through the
interventions of PR Institutions
with more participation of women
elected representatives.
The establishment of Self
Help Groups in many States,
the participation of NGOs and
CBOs working together with
the PR Institutions is a promising
trend which, if guided properly,
can improve the delivery of
governing systems at the grass
root level. q
(E-mail : gemathew@ yahoo.co.in
dgnird@gmail.com)
Gram Sabha
Needed-A New Deal for Panchayati Raj
o the p e o p l e o f
T India let us ensure
maximum democracy
and maximum
devolution. Let there
be an end to the power brokers.
Let us give power to the people.
These were the words of Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi on 15 May
1989 when he introduced the
first ever amendment (64th) to the
The shortcomings
Constitution to give constitutional
that the panchayats status to the panchayats. More
than twenty years have passed.
face today call for We have amended the constitution
a new deal. Only and created the new generation of
panchayati raj. But has power been
then they can open devolved to the people? Where do
a new chapter for we stand today?
the eight hundred It is universally accepted that
the parliament or state assemblies
million people living constitute the super structure
of democracy and the local
in our villages governments, which are nearer
to the people, are the base. In
The author is Director, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi
10 YOJANA February 2011
View Point
George Mathew
order to give power to the people,
strong vibrant local governments
(panchayats and municipalities)
are a necessary sine qua non. It
took more than 110 years after the
Ripon resolution (1882) gave the
status of self-government for local
bodies and 84 years after Gandhiji
began to champion the cause of
Gram Swaraj, for panchayats
to get constitutional status on
24 April 1993 through the 73rd
(Constitution) Amendment Act,
thereby becoming the “institutions
of self-government.”
When the Lok Sabha and Rajya
Sabha passed the two amendments
to the Constitution (73rd and 74th)
on 22 and 23 December 1992,
it was hailed as “historic” and
beginning of a silent revolution.
By all accounts it was a radical
piece of legislation in form and
content. Where does it stand now
after about 18 years?
 To begin with, this period has
not been altogether disappointing.
Given the severe social and political
constraints – social inequality, caste
system, patriarchy, feudal setting,
illiteracy, uneven developments
– within which it had to function,
the new pachayati raj had set in
motion a silent social revolution
that would transform India.
Today elections to the local
self-government institutions every
five years have become a norm
although in the initial years almost
all the states irrespective of the
party in power had defied the
constitutional provision with all
the power at their command. As
the civil society organizations
took the initiative to fight the
anti-constitutional approach of
the states by filing public interest
litigations (PILs), the judiciary
at different levels effectively
intervened.
Constitutional bodies like the
State Election Commission, State
Finance Commission etc., in all
states are now firmly in place. The
SECs have taken up the panchayat
elections seriously giving a lot
of credibility to the grassroots
level democratic process. In some
states like Bihar, UP, Uttaranchal,
Maharashtra and Gujarat, SECs
have gone a step further. Taking
the cue from the Supreme Court
order of May 3, 2002 relating to
the Right to Information of electors
regarding criminal antecedents,
assets and liabilities of the
candidates, the State Election
YOJANA February 2011 11
Commissioners have issued orders
in conformity with the Supreme
Court Order. After all, the voters in
the panchayats and municipalities
also have their right to get the
information about the candidates.
We have also witnessed a
steady progress as far as the
inclusion of excluded sections
of our population in the decision
making process from village to the
district level is concerned. Women
have got the maximum mileage.
Today more than 10 lakh women
are elected to these bodies every
five years and more than three
times that number are contesting
elections. This is not a mean
achievement in a hierarchical
and male dominated society like
ours. The common refrain that
it is the men folk in the families
who control the women elected
members may be partly true but
studies show that the situation is
rapidly changing. One-third of all
the panchayats and municipalities
at various levels have women
presidents. As years go by, the
number of women getting elected
from general constituencies is also
increasing. The Scheduled Castes
and Scheduled Tribes are equally
securing their due share in the local
bodies.
As local self-government
bodies have come into existence
throughout the country, their
functioning has come under
scrutiny. A congenial climate for
taking governance to the doorsteps
of the people is slowly being
created. A major achievement of
this process is that patronage and
clientelism are slowly shifting from
traditional castes and families to
political parties and ideologies.
Many states, taking advantage
of the prevailing situation, have
gone for innovative and creative
experiments in local governance,
planning and rural development.
The people’s participation in local
plan in Kerala is an illustrative
case in point.
By creating a separate
Ministry of Panchayati Raj, the
UPA government has taken the
correct and much needed step. The
Ministry has done exceptionally
well in its first five year term to
keep the banner of panchayati raj
aloft. The seven round tables the
ministry organized in 2004, the
activity mapping it initiated, the
charter of demands prepared by
the panchayat representatives for
presenting to the Prime Minister
and President of the Congress
party on 24 April, 2008, and the
documents the Union Minister
signed with 22 Chief Ministers
were very special. All this has
come after a long slumber of 11
years.
However, as a close observer
of the working of panchayats
during this period, I find serious
shortcomings as well. The fact that
the local government system in this
country, which was inaugurated
with great enthusiasm, is facing
enormous problems and powerful
enemies are a matter of serious
concern. The intensity of the
negative forces varies from state to
state because panchayat is a state
subject. Many state governments
are riding roughshod over the local
government institutions.
At a deeper level, the
negative forces are feudalism
and patriarchy. So long as these
remain the organizing principles
of rural society, little good can
be expected from self-governing
panchayats. For, they will only
give more power to those who
are already powerful in social
and economic terms. Control
over the instrumentalities of self-
government will further strengthen
their hands. “Out” groups of one
kind or another, especially the poor
and women, may well come to feel
the weight of oppression more than
before. For them, decentralized
governance could turn out to be a
curse rather than a blessing.
A section of our bureaucracy is
not at all happy to see panchayats
emerge as institutions of self-
government. Our administrative
culture is to retain the powers of
the line departments and not to
give power to the people. In 1995,
I conducted a study at Shadnagar in
Andhra Pradesh where Jawaharlal
Nehru had inaugurated the first
panchayat in South India on
October 11, 1959. When I asked the
reason for the failure of panchayati
raj, an old guard said: “the officials
worked against giving power to
the non-officials and especially the
12 YOJANA February 2011
people’s representatives from the
villages. In this, they were hand in
glove with state level politicians”
(The Hindu, 7 July 1995). In order
to sabotage the new generation of
panchayats, they create parallel
bodies which have devastating
impact on democratically elected
local bodies.
In a socially stratified society
like ours, even today in the rural
areas the landlords and upper
caste people control everything.
Except in a couple of states land
reforms have been implemented
on paper. Studies show that if we
take a typical village panchayat
of about 8,000 population, 70 per
cent people have no land, and the
30 per cent control everything
from gram sabha meetings to
panchayats and influence assembly
and parliament elections including
NREGS implementation. The
gram sevak to BDO and other
officials happily work with the
leaders of the 30 per cent village
landowners. In such villages about
15-20 per cent people are the
Scheduled Castes and they do
not own land. In such situations,
elected panchayats function for
name sake. It is the landlords who
get elected as mukhia/sarpanch/
president. If Dalits, courageous
women, people with idealism
question their actions or when get
elected and try to bring changes
through the panchayats, they are at
the receiving end of the landlords
or upper castes ire. The bloodbath
caused by grassroots democracy
since 1994 is horrendous. Leela
Devi of Madurai, Dhoola Ratnam
of East Godavari, Sukhia Bhai of
Betul, Madhya Pradesh, Murugesan
and Mookan of Melavalavu, Tamil
Nadu and many others have become
martyrs because of their passion to
devolve power to the people. But
the government prefers to sweep
these tragedies under the carpet or
refuse to recognize what it means
for the oppressed when panchayats
are at work.
The power-brokers about whom
Rajiv Gandhi spoke continue to
hold sway. They appear in various
ways as contractors, middlemen,
lobbyists, mafia and so on. They
always prefer centralised corridors
of power and not decentralization.
The contractors are omnipresent.
The much acclaimed NREGS
which is to be implemented by
panchayats has banned contractors.
But the collusion between officials
and contractors has given sizeable
space to the latter.
There are numerous elaborate
mechanisms at Central and State
levels to ensure accountability and
efficient utilisation of public funds.
There are time tested institutional
mechanisms for audit. So also
vigilance committees sponsored
by the government and supported
by civil society organisations.
At another level, India has the
unique distinction of creating a
constitutional forum for direct
democracy - the Gram Sabha - with
special powers for overseeing the
local development and expenditure.
The concept of `social audit’ has
emerged from these innovative
steps. All these are not working
the way they are expected to.
 The shortcomings that the
panchayats face today call for
a new deal which is the need
of the hour. Only then they can
open a new chapter for the eight
hundred million people living in
our villages.
l This new deal should make
panchayats institutions of
local government as envisaged
by the Constitution.
l It must ensure ways and
means to make panchayats
and municipalities (the district
and below), the third tier of
government in the country.
Thus we can say goodbye to
the Collector Raj and bring in
District Governments.
l It must ensure autonomy
to implement the policies
and programmes to eradicate
YOJANA February 2011 13
poverty in this country at the
earliest but not later than 20
years so that by 2025 poverty
line becomes totally irrelevant
for India.
l Since we have a federal
system, the governments and
political parties must show the
political will to give power to
the people at the centre and
state levels; cosmetic actions
will not work.
I feel that the new Ministry
of Panchayati Raj should have
been the Ministry of Local
Government bringing the urban
and rural under one umbrella.
Now with a powerful Ministry
of Rural Development and two
ministries looking after Urban
Affairs, very little is left for
the Ministry of Panchayati Raj
to do. Moreover, one Cabinet
minister is in charge of the two
ministries since May 2009. A
full time cabinet minister of
Panchayati Raj is a felt need
today because of the enormous
tasks ahead.
I would like to underline the
fact that if we slacken our efforts
to keep the institutions of local
self government at the centre stage
and as a top agenda of the policy
makers and practitioners, the best
chance we got through the 73rd and
74th Amendments will be in peril.
Let us move forward with a strong
commitment for decentralized
governance. There is a long way to
travel. q
(E-mail : issnd@vsnl.com)
YE-2/11/2
do you know?
What is WikiLeaks ?
WikiLeaks is an international
website that publishes
anonymous submissions and
leaks of sensitive governmental,
corporate, organisational or
religious documents. This website
WikiLeaks.org was launched on
4th October 2006. The website
was unveiled and published its
first document in December 2006,
claiming a database of more than
1.2  million documents within
a year of its launch. WikiLeaks
founders are a mix of journalists,
mathematicians, and start-up
company technologists from the
United States, Taiwan, Europe,
Australia and South Africa. Julian
Assange an Australian internet
activist is generally described as
its director. The site was originally
launched as a user-editable wiki,
but has progressively moved
towards a more traditional
publication model and no longer
accepts either user comments or
edits. WikiLeaks also develops
and adapts technologies to support
these activities.
Where is WikiLeaks located ?
The WikiLeaks Headquarters
has surprised everybody with
its extraordinary location
and conditions.The Turkey-
based WikiLeaks office was
constructed during the cold war,
and reconstructed by the Pionen
company in 2008. This could be
the most strong and ‘wonderful’
office that’s established in the past
14 YOJANA February 2011
WikiLeaks
ten years. Though the offices of
social networking service Facebook
and Search engine giant Google
were already in hot discussions
– the WikiLeaks Bunker pictures
shows how powerful and unique an
office can be.
Some astonishing facts about
Bahnhof AB office interior where
WikiLeaks data is safely stored:
l Originally built in cold war
years to survive nuclear
attack
l It is buried deep under a granite
mountain
l There is only one entry and
exit
l Generators of German U-Boat
submarines work as a backup
power
l Fish tanks, fountains and plants
are beautifying the ambience
Who are the people behind
WikiLeaks ?
WikiLeaks claim it has a
volunteer group of about 1,400
people, but these numbers have
expanded. The group basically
includes journalists, software
programmers, network engineers,
mathematicians and others.
How does WikiLeaks function ?
WikiLeaks has combined high-
end security technologies with
journalism. Like other media
outlets conducting investigative
journalism, WikiLeaks accepts (but
does not solicit) anonymous sources
of information. When information
comes in, journalists analyse the
material, verify it and write a
news piece about it describing its
significance to society. WikiLeaks
then publishes both the news
story and the original material
in order to enable readers to
analyse the story in the context
of the original source material
themselves. If the main site
wikiLeaks.org is not functional
then WikiLeaks also currently
has 1426 up-to-date sites .
What is the status of
Wikileaks ?
The legal status of WikiLeaks
is complex. Assange considers
WikiLeaks a whistleblower
protection intermediary. Rather
than leaking directly to the
press, and fearing exposure and
retribution, whistleblowers can
leak to WikiLeaks, which then
leaks to the press for them. Its
servers are located throughout
Europe and are accessible from
any uncensored web connection.
The group has located its
headquarters in Sweden because
it has one of the world’s strongest
shield laws to protect confidential
source-journalist relationships.
WikiLeaks has stated that they
“do not solicit any information”.
However, Assange used his
speech during the Hack In The
Box conference in Malaysia to
ask the crowd of hackers and
security researchers to help find
documents on its “Most Wanted
Leaks of 2009” list.
Rural Sanitation
Towards Sustainable Sanitation in
North-Eastern Region
ack of adequate
L sanitation is a pressing
challenge in both
rural and urban India.
Sanitation-related
diseases take a heavy toll of
lives, especially children’s lives,
loss of productivity and income.
Inadequate sanitation leads to
indignity of open defecation
The secret of especially for women and young
girls.
the phenomenal
Despite the fact that India has
success in Sikkim impressive development indictors
has been the top like growth of over 8%, a dynamic
industry and a vibrant democratic
priority given by governance system, one third of
the political and its population has to still bear the
shame of defecating in the open.
administrative
The challenge that India, with its
leadership of the large population, size & different
hydro-geological regions faces in
state
the area of sanitation is unique and
unparalleled in the world. The
The author is Minister of State, Ministry of Rural Development, Govt of india
YOJANA February 2011 15
Overview
Agatha Sangma
Department of Drinking Water
and Sanitation, Ministry of Rural
Development, Government of
India has taken on this enormous
challenge by pledging to provide
sanitation facilities in all rural areas
through its flagship programme
“Total Sanitation Campaign”
(TSC). TSC has been successful
in changing the rural sanitation
coverage from a mere 21% as per
2001 Census to 67% of households
in the current year with over 22,618
PRIs becoming open defecation
free “Nirmal Grams”.
TSC has resulted in the
construction of 7.07 Crore
Individual Household Latrines
(IHHL), 10.33 lakh school toilets,
3,47,077 Anganwadi Toilets,
19,509 community sanitary
complexes with a total project
outlay of Rs. 17,885 Crore. The
Department has set the target to
provide universal toilet coverage
in rural areas by 2015.
Recognizing the enormous
economic, health and social
benefits that sustainable sanitation
brings to the rural communities
TSC is being implemented in all
the eight North Eastern Indian
states of Arunachal Pradesh,
Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya,
Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and
Tripura. While overall the North
Eastern region scores fairly well
on the rural sanitation map as
compared to other states there are
wide variations in the sanitation
coverage.
Sikkim has made the
commendable achievement
of becoming the first “Open
Defecation Free” Nirmal State of
India. The secret of the phenomenal
success in Sikkim has been the top
priority given by the political and
administrative leadership of the
state and decentralized mechanism
of implementation by active
involvement of local governance
Case Study of Bal Panchayat–Young Sanitation Champions
An Ideal Example of Grassroot Democracy and Equity
Under Bac Wok Sikkip, Sikkim
Rights come with responsibilities. BAC Sikkip launched the concept
of Bal Panchayat in the month of February 2010 in 12 Schools. Setting
an example before the adult members of the Gram Panchayat (village
council), children of schools under BAC Sikkip are running a parallel
self-government body, asserting their right to education, health,
entertainment and leisure.
The village children have constituted the Bal Panchayat through a
general election under the supervision of school authorities. Besides
the President, the Bal Panchayat has ‘ministers’ for education, health,
environment, cultural affairs, sports, etc. These ministers are charged
with the responsibilities of ensuring the well-being of the children
by bringing to the notice of the elders and authorities concerned, the
specific problems and needs of the children.
A Self Help Drive was organised by the Block Administrative Centre
for moving towards better toilets and better hygiene at Sanganath
Secondary School, one of the remotest Gram Panchayat Unit. In the
construction drive of the toilets, material component was used from
the fund provided by the Government and the labour component
was covered totally through participatory mode by school students,
teachers, community, Panchayat and Block Officials. This ultimately
built a sense of ownership of the asset created in their area which was
missing earlier.
systems, local communities, the “Nirmal State” status Sikkim
Women’s Self Help Groups and is now planning to take up next
Youth Groups. Having obtained generation sanitation activities

State-wise percentage physical performance is given below

S.N. State IHHL- IHHL IHHL San. School Toilets for
BPL% APL% TOTAL% Comp% Toilets% Anganwadi%
1 Arunachal Pradesh 36.77 59.53 39.88 18.55 97.16 87.57
2 Assam 39.79 20.96 33.32 9.95 92.41 62.64
3 Manipur 13.24 28.84 17.29 55.7 73.51 75.1
4 Meghalaya 33.83 49.7 38.33 25.17 33.12 21.83
5 Mizoram 66.38 88.86 70.3 87.86 100 59.11
6 Nagaland 39.03 19.32 36.11 64.73 61.74 61.37
7 Sikkim 100 100 100 100 100 100
8 Tripura 94.32 80.96 90.7 71.68 67.2 91.55
    46.60 32.28 42.15 69.17 79.18 68.24

16 YOJANA February 2011

 Success Story of Total Sanitation Campaign departments like Education and
Implementation in South Tripura Health.

Rural Sanitary Marts have been set up and managed by women In Mizoram, TSC was initiated
SHGS in all the 11 blocks of the district for production of sanitary in 2002 and is being implemented
materials like squatting plates, mosaic pan/siphon etc. A number of in all the districts. Efforts are
smaller production units/ manufacturing centers at Gram Panchayat being made to convert the dry
level and ward/para level have been set up for ensuring 100 percent pit latrines to pour flush latrines.
achievement in time. While sanitation coverage received
Rajibnagar and Ratanmani, two Gram Panchayats of Satchand attention in the state, a hygiene
Block and West Jalefa and Bankul Mahamani GPs jointly under behavior such as hand washing
Satcand and Rupaicharri block achieved full coverage of sanitation. was not focused upon. The unique
The 1st three GPs in the District making 100% coverage of targeted feature of the state is that TSC
families were also awarded by the Chief Minister. Awards consisted is implemented with support
of additional allocation of development fund to the block as well as from local NGO’s particularly
to the Gram Panchayats. This really acted on the morale and boosted for drainage cleaning and
the enthusiasm of the implementing agencies of RD programmes in maintenance.
the District.
Nagaland has initiated TSC
like Menstrual Hygiene and Solid is proposed to be promoted in only in 2005 and currently the
& Liquid Waste Management the state under Mahatma Gandhi Campaign is being implemented
(SLWM). The Government of National Rural Employment in 9 out of 11 districts in the
Sikkim is collaborating with Indian Guarantee Scheme. State. IEC activities in the state
Green Services, an NGO to take up have been intensified to accelerate
In Meghalaya there has been
a pilot project on Solid & Liquid intensive campaigning on access sanitation coverage The State
Waste Management (SLWM). and usage of toilets under TSC suggested nurturing strong social
Tr i p u r a i s a n o t h e r s t a t e in all the 7 Districts. TSC is capital, increase the involvement
which has made commendable implemented through the District of women for behavior change &
achievement in achieving over Water and Sanitation Mission IEC and initiating Campaigns on
90% sanitation coverage. TSC is and Village Water and Sanitation sanitation with the involvement
implemented as a comprehensive Committee. The state has been of local leaders and MLAs and
concept, which includes waste able to upscale the TSC by building making a clear time-frame for
disposal, food hygiene, personal, effective partnerships with Water achieving TSC goals.
domestic as well as environmental and Sanitation Programme-South
Asia. The state has made the The overall progress in TSC
hygiene.
recommendation that to scale up in Arunachal Pradesh has been
In Manipur, while coverage of TSC , population figures from slow. Major challenges in the state
school sanitation is good, progress 2011 census and revised BPL are remoteness of habitations,
in IHHL coverage has been rather figures need to be considered difficult mountain terrain beyond
slow. The major concern in the state for assessing progress on TSC, the reach of road connectivity and
is that owing to the hilly terrain integration of sanitation with low income of people. Moreover,
the leach pit toilets are difficult other development programmes transition from wiping with straws
to construct and Ecosanitation through convergence with other and cloth to use of safe sanitation

YOJANA February 2011 17

and washing with water requires
time. So far, 16 Gram Panchayats
(GPs) in the state have won the
Nirmal Gram Panchayat award
and continue to maintain the NGP
status without any slippages. The
state has proposed introduction
of special package to popularize
Ecosanitation models in selected
districts, State, and incentive
for APL families also, as the gap
between Above Poverty Line
(APL) and Below Poverty Line
(BPL) families in Arunachal
Pradesh are marginal.
In Assam “Kaccha toilets”
are a major challenge. Efforts are
underway to convert “Kaccha
toilets” into safe ones. Provision
of sanitation facilities for
Anganwadis is also problematic
due to space constraints and their
location in private buildings. In
four districts of Assam there are
Village Council Development
Committee (VCDC) instead of
the PRI and in 2 hilly Districts
there is a Member of Autonomous
Council making it difficult to
implement TSC.
Policy/implementation issues
Recognizing that the North
East States, particularly the poor
performing ones have specific
issues that need special attention
to upscale TSC, the Government of
India has taken several initiatives.
Some of the policy initiatives
and the issues of concern for
18 YOJANA February 2011
sanitation promotion in North
Eastern region are :
1. As per policy of Govt. of
India, 10% funds are allocated
for North Eastern States. In
the current financial year,
TSC allocation is Rs. 1580
cr. of which Rs. 158 Crore is
reserved for NE states.
2. An additional incentive of
Rs 2000 is given by Central
Government to BPL for
IHHL in the North East
and Hilly states (as against
Rs. 1500 in other cases) while
the state and beneficiary
contributions remain the
same i.e. Rs. 700/- and
Rs. 300/- respectively.
3. Additional incentive is given
by Central Government
for construction of school
toilets (38,500/-for Hilly and
Difficult Areas as against Rs.
35,000/- in other cases). and
for construction of Anganwadi
toilets (Rs. 10,000/--for Hilly
and Difficult Areas as against
Rs. 8,000/- in other cases).
4. S u s t a i n a b l e t e c h n o l o g y
options in sanitation keeping
in view the special geo-
physical feature of the
North East region need
to be considered while
implementing sanitation
projects in these states.
Many of the states have
suggested initiating pilot
projects of technologies like
Ecosanitation particularly
in those hilly areas where
leach pit toilets are difficult
to construct.
5. The G.O.I. has set up several
institutions like WSSO, Block
Resource Centres (BRC),
State Water and Sanitation
Mission (SWSM), District
Water Sanitation, Health
Committees (DWHSC) and
increased the number of Key
Resource Centre (KRC) which
would be providing support to
states to undertake capacity
building and IEC activities
to accelerate sanitation
promotion and address the
challenges being faced in
sanitation promotion.
6. Many states are also prone to
disasters, particularly floods
in Assam which impact
the sanitation facilities in
these areas. Technologies
and response mechanism to
address these needs to be
focused upon.
7. For those North Eastern states
where toilet coverage has
almost reached a peak, viz.
Sikkim, Tripura there is a need
for developing a post “Nirmal
State policy” which should
include capacity building on
next generation sanitation
activities like Solid and
Liquid Waste Management,
Ecosanitation, Menstrual
Hygiene Management
etc. q
(E-mail : mosrural197@gmail.com)
 Gandhi’s Vision of Democracy :
His Will and last Testament
Every panchayat of five adult men or women being villagers or village-minded shall form a unit. Two such
contiguous panchayats shall form a working party under a leader elected from among themselves. When there
are one hundred such panchayats, the fifty first grade leaders shall elect from among themselves a second-grade
leader and so on, the first-grade leaders meanwhile working under the second-grade leader. Parallel groups
of two1 hundred panchayats shall continue to be formed till they cover the whole of India, each succeeding
group of panchayats electing a second-grade leader after the manner of the first. All second-grade leaders
shall serve jointly for the whole of India and severally for their respective areas.
The second-grade leaders may elect, when ever they deem necessary, from among themselves a chief who
will, during pleasure, regulate and command all the groups.(As the final formation of provinces or districts
is still in a state of flux, no attempt has been made to divide this group of servants into provincial or district
councils and jurisdiction over the whole of India has been vested in the group or groups that may have been
formed at any given time. It should be noted that this body of servants derive their authority or power from
service ungrudgingly and wisely done to their master, the whole of India.)2
1. Every worker shall be a habitual wearer of khadi made from self-spun yarn or certified by the A. I. S.
A. and must be a teetotaller. If a Hindu, he must have abjured untouchability in any shape or form in his
own person or in his family and must be a believer in the ideal of inter-communal unity, equal respect
and regard for all religions and equality of opportunity and status for all irrespective of race, creed or
sex.
2. He shall come in personal contact with every villager within his jurisdiction.
3. He shall enrol and train workers from amongst the villagers and keep a register of all these.
4. He shall keep a record of his work from day to day.
5. He shall organize the villages so as to make them self contained and self-supporting through their
agriculture and handicrafts.
6. He shall educate the village folk in sanitation and hygiene and take all measures for prevention of ill
health and disease among them.
7. He shall organize the education of the village folk from birth to death along the lines of Nayee Talim, in
accordance with the policy laid down by the Hindustani Talimi Sangh.
8. He shall see that those whose names are missing on the statutory voters, roll are duly entered therein.
9. He shall encourage those who have not yet acquired the legal qualification, to acquire it for getting the
right of franchise.
10. For the above purposes and others to be added from time to time, he shall train and fit himself in accordance
with the rules laid down by the Sangh for the due performance of duty.
The Sangh shall affiliate the following autonomous bodies:
1. A.I.S.A.
2. A.I.V.I.A.
3. Hindustani Talimi Sangh
4. Harijan Sevak Sangh
5. Goseva Sangh
FINANCE
The Sangh shall raise finances for the fulfilment of its mission from among the villagers and others,
special stress being laid on collection of poor man’s pice.

YOJANA February 2011 19

Gram Sabha
Opinion

A Place to Convert Noise to Voice

G Palanithurai

ram S abha i s the welfare of their communities,

G equivalent to Lok
Sabha and Rajya
Sabha as long as it
is able to exercise
the powers conferred on it by
the Act of Panchayati Raj. It
is a constitutional body with
To make Gram tremendous potential. Yet, even
Sabha more after fifteen years of its existence,
effective, the whole we do not find substantial impact
of Gram Sabha in the rural polity,
Panchayati Raj society and development. It does
system has to be not mean that Gram Sabha has
strengthened. The sunk into oblivion. It does exist
Gram Panchayat and is certainly functioning.
But it is not functioning in the
should be way it was expected to. Hence,
empowered enough time and again we are faced
to be able to carry with the question as to why this
institution is falling short of
out the decisions expectation.
taken by the
Local bodies provide
Gram Sabha opportunity to people to work for
The author is Professor, Rajiv Gandhi Chair for Panchayati Raj Studies,Department of Political Science and
Development Administration, Gandhigram Rural University, Tamil Nadu
thereby participating in the
process of governance and
development. They help
change the character of the
democracy from representative
to participatory. Through the
institution of the Gram Sabha,
the centre is connected to the
community at the grassroots ,
which is essential for making
governance meaningful. The Gram
Sabha is a powerful instrument to
achieve social equality and to
convert the noise of the people
to voice of the people. It is an
instrument that can make it
possible to eliminate power
brokers from the development
space, provide opportunity to the
poor to claim their entitlements,
ensure accountable governance
at the state and central levels
and achieve growth that is truly

20 YOJANA February 2011

inclusive. It needs to be analyzed
how effectively the Gram Sabha
has enacted these roles during the
past fifteen years.
Backdrop
The India society and polity
are unique and paradoxical to
many of the established notions
o f d e m o c r a c y, g o v e r n a n c e
and administration. Ours is a
hierarchical society based on the
caste system; it is patriarchal in
nature and feudal in character.
Societies normally witnesses a
high level of conflict based on
caste, religion, region, culture and
language, which are antithetical
to representative democracy. Yet,
despite such immense diversity,
our democracy is active and
vibrant- at least quantitatively,
if not qualitatively. Qualitatively
there is a lot to be desired.
Over a period of time since
independence all responsibilities
of the society have been taken
over by the government through
its departments and the street
bureaucracy . Yet they have not
been able to satisfy even the
basic needs of the people. The
governance process distanced
common men and women from
the government. This was noted
by former Prime Minister Rajiv
Gandhi in Parliament when he
said, “A wide chasm separated
the largest body of the electorate
from a small member of its elected
representatives. This gap has
YOJANA February 2011 21
been occupied by the power
brokers, the middlemen and vested
interests……. with the passage
of these bills the panchayats
would emerge as a firm building
block of administration and
development….. as an instrument
in the consolidation of democracy
at the grassroots.” (Rajiv Gandhi,
1989) The quality of democracy,
development, governance and
administration substantially relate
to the quality of participation of
people in the process of politics,
governance and development.
It was to make this qualitative
difference to our democracy that
we attempted to design a vibrant
rural body that would make
the process of development
participatory at the grassroots
level. Though the prescribed
process was devolutionary, the
ultimate aim was to achieve
a vibrant, strong and active
participatory democracy in India
through a process of functional
evolution of the newly created
local bodies. It was expected that
by making the rural local bodies
more vibrant, the top heavy-
bottom weak model of democracy
would change into bottom strong
and thereby top strong model of
democracy. The foundation of
this evolutionary process was to
rest upon the Gram Sabha.
Design of Gram Sabha
The successful execution
of any work depends on the
precision of the instrument being
used. Thus the design of the Gram
Sabha is crucial to the success of
scheme of panchayati raj. Even
before the 73 rd constitutional
amendment came, there were
several participatory decision
making bodies at the grassroots in
many communities for example,
the Oor Sabhas functioning in the
villages of Tamil Nadu. They are
traditional institutions with limited
functions at the community level,
and are acceptable to the local
communities. These institutions
are headed by traditional leaders
who are sometimes elected. They
have an unwritten conventional
framework of rules. In the Oor
Sabha, the ultimate authority
lies with its stakeholders. They
are answerable to themselves
and rely on their own resources.
Every stakeholder knows the role
of the Oor Sabha. They have
extreme role clarity. No external
agency is involved either in
their decision making or in the
implementation of the decisions.
If an evaluation is made on their
functional efficacy and efficiency,
one would find them to be
excellent in terms of attendance,
participation, decision making
and implementation of decisions.
How and why this traditional
institution performs well and
why is a constitutional body not
able to perform as traditional
institutions? This is the point one
has to analyse.
Conception and Operation
In order to achieve participatory
governance at grassroots level,
Article 243 A of part 1X of the
constitution of India places the Gram
Sabha at the centre of Panchayati
Raj by giving constitutional
recognition to it. The Gram Sabha
is an age old institution. But it
was not democratic and inclusive
at all times and places. Yet, it held
the promise of effectiveness,
vibrancy, responsiveness and
accountability and was therefore
incorporated in the constitution
and also in the panchayati raj Acts
of states. The state governments
have operationalised the provisions
of panchayati raj, and the Gram
Sabhas have come into being.
Their performance in different
states is being evaluated and
they are being brought out in the
form of reports and monographs.
From the reports one can broadly
classify that there are five types of
functions and twenty one matters
or subjects earmarked for Gram
Sabha transactions. But in terms
of effectiveness, there is still a lot
to be desired.
Without going into details
of how and where the Gram
Sabha has measured less that was
expected of it, a comparison with
the Oor Sabha indicates faulty
or weak design as one possible
reason for the less than expected
performance. The traditional
Oor Sabha deal with about eleven
22 YOJANA February 2011
subjects, and they have been utmost importance. Normally one
functioning well. They have their cannot expect that every one in
own records, people have more a community will participate in
faith in them than on the Gram the Gram Sabha meeting. Those
Sabha. The rules, regulations, who can spare time and those
functions, implementation who are really the beneficiaries
mechanisms of the Oor Sabha of the decisions would normally
vary from village to village, and participate. If this happens one can
are based on the specific needs be satisfied. But if neither people
and priorities of its own people with leisure nor the beneficiaries
with no interference of any sort participate, it obviously indicates
from any outside agency. The something wrong in the designing
constitutional Gram Sabha is of the institutions. Further the
however, a prototype, and the decisions taken in the institutions
same across the state. It does – that is the Gram Sabha - have to
not take into account the specific be carried out or implemented by
needs to people coming under the concerned agencies otherwise
it. Since the character, culture, the decision has no meaning. But
practices, needs vary from place in many of the states, neither the
to place within a state or even panchayats have the resources to
within a district, a grassroots level fulfill the demands of the people
institution should be able to take nor have the line departments
these variations into account. So worked towards implementing the
designing of the institution is of same. As a result, the decisions
In Sivaganga district of Tamil Nadu, a large number of community
organisations are functioning effectively and looking after some of
the community affairs, mostly water bodies. These organisations
take care of water tanks, ponds and ooranies with the corpus fund.
Repair of water tanks by Public Works Department usually takes a
long time, resulting in wastage of water. To overcome this problem
the community organisations use the corpus money to carry out
the repairs. Each organisation has a general council. The leader of
the general council manages the corpus. The district administration
does not disturb the functioning of these traditional councils as they
are doing useful work for the community. In many of the places
these councils are very vibrant and democratic, and they work
with the constitutional panchayats and carry out effectively the
development works. On the contrary in many places these councils
are undemocratic and do not get along with the constitutional
panchayats.
 Nallukottai is a Gram Panchayat in Sivaganga district. It is resource base has to be created
one of the best Gram Panchayats and has bagged several at panchayat level;
awards for successful implementation of development schemes. l Role clarity is very important.
The traditional panchayat leader here is also the leader The powers given to Gram
of the Gram Panchayat. They have two Gram Sabhas. One is the
Sabha should be known to the
Gram Sabha of the Panchayat and the other is the Oorsabha of the
people without ambiguity;
community. Both are functioning very well. When a question was
raised to the community leader regarding the role of the two sabhas, l Mobilization of people for
his reply was that the Gram Sabha, created through the Panchayat Gram Sabha has to be done
Act was tied up with officials. The Oorsabha on the other hand more effectively
was tied up with community. The Gram Sabha gets directions from
l The chairperson of Gram
the Collector through the Gram Panchayat whereas the Oorsabha
Sabha should create interest
is convened periodically according to the people’s convenience.
Agenda is decided by the people. No supervision from above. No for the members so that they
observer. No rigid rules. No paper work. Oorsabha is need attend meetings regularly.
based. Whatever is decided here gets implemented whereas the Opportunity should to be
decisions of Gram Sabha are often not implemented. The Oorsabha given to all segments of the
of the community is vested with powers with all flexibility. society. Patient hearing of
The Gram Sabha of the Gram Panchayat does not have power, yet the voices of the people is
it has got rigidity. This was the observation of the leader of the essential.
traditional panchayat, who also happened to be the chairman of the
l The chairperson should take
Oorsabha in this village.
pains to respond to the voices
taken by the Gram Sabha do not to meet the genuine demands of of the people;
get implemented and it has been the people and help solve their l It should have flexibility
reduced to a place for collecting problems. of operation. The whole
petitions from the members. organization and conduct
Conclusion
Neither the office bearers nor of meeting of Gram Sabha
the members perceive the Gram l To make Gram Sabha more
should be left to the people
Sabha as an institution that can effective, one has to consider and it should not be driven
help them in any way. To make the following options: from the above;
Gram Sabha more effective, the
l Primarily what could l Gram Sabha should have some
whole Panchayati Raj system has
be achieved at the village value addition like making
to be strengthened. The Gram
panchayat level should be it an information Sabha, a
Panchayat should be empowered
given as powers to Gram discourse Sabha, a debating
enough in every way to be able
Sabha; Sabha and so on. One has to
to carry out the decisions taken
by the Gram Sabha. At least the l What ever Gram Sabha decides think creatively to make Gram
panchayat leader should have the within the framework of Sabha more active, vibrant
power, authority and effectiveness powers conferred on it have and interesting. q

to get the government departments to be executed and for this (E-mail : gpgri_hung1@rediffmail.com)

YOJANA February 2011 23

Gram Sabha
Women in Panchayats: A Review
nno D omini
A 1993 saw history in
the making. After a
protracted exercise, in
the summer of 1993
(24th April 1993) Presidential
assent was accorded to the 73rd
constitutional amendment bill
Gradual gendering which inter alia ensured the
entry of women into rural local
of local democracy
self governing units i.e. the
is opening up a panchayats, both as members
new vista in the and as functionaries. This was
considered a gigantic step towards
rural areas. Women
empowerment of women. The 73rd
are increasingly constitutional amendment spelt a
getting a chance to sea change in the arena of women’s
representation in PRI. It brought in
shape grassroots
a total departure from the erstwhile
level politics which system of token nomination or
previously was co-option of one or two women
in panchayats as advised by B.
controlled by local
R. Mehta Committee (1957) and
power cliques Ashok Mehta Committee (1978).
The author is a member of the West Bengal Civil Service, currently posted as GM, WBIDC. He is also a Guest Faculty
at the Rural Development and Management Department of Kalyani University.
24 YOJANA February 2011
Opinion
Atonu Chatterjee
Further, it also partially complied
with the recommendation of the
Committee on the status of Women
which, way back in 1974 mentioned
that earnest efforts should be taken
for “… establishment of statutory
women’s panchayats at the village
level with autonomy and resources
of their own for the management
and administration of welfare
and development programmes for
women and children, as a transition
measure, to break through the
traditional attitudes that inhibit
most women from articulating their
problems and participating actively
in the existing local bodies” (as
cited in India Panchyati Raj Report
2001).
This step was recently followed
up by another significant decision.
On June 4, 2009 the President in
her speech in the joint session of
Parliament, wished to have more
seats reserved for women in the
panchayats so that the multiple
deprivations of class, caste and
gender suffered by women can be
tackled head on ! The Government
took up the cue. Similar demands
in Bihar, Uttarakhand, Himachal
Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh
added strength to the concept. On
August 27, 2009 the Indian cabinet
approved a proposal for enhancing
the reservation of directly elected
seats for women from one third to
fifty percent in all the tiers through
an amendment of Article 243(D)
(3) of the Constitution. Article 243
D(3) enumerates that ‘Not less than
one third (including the number of
seats reserved for women belonging
to the Scheduled Castes and the
Scheduled Tribes) of the total
number of seats to be filled by
direct election in every panchayat
shall be reserved for women and
such seats may be allotted by
rotation to different constituencies
in a panchayat’. Along with this,
rotational reservation of at least
one third of the total number of
offices of Chairpersons at all levels
of panchayat was ensured through
Article 243D(4). The proposed
amendment seeks to replace this
phrase of “not less than one third’
with the words ‘not less than
half’.
Once this move is implemented,
the number of women members
will go up to 4.4 million from the
present three million. As per the
official version this provision will
apply to the total number of seats
YOJANA February 2011 25
filled by direct election, offices
of chairpersons and seats and
offices of chairpersons reserved
for scheduled castes and scheduled
tribes. Nagaland, Meghalaya,
Mizoram, hill areas of Manipur and
tribal areas of Assam and Tripura
will remain outside the ambit of the
amendment.
On 30th March 2010, the
Government of West Bengal
‘principally agreed’ to put this
arrangement into practice during
the next panchayat general election
of the state scheduled in 2013,
while Rajasthan, Kerala and
Gujrat have already implemented
it during their panchayat general
election of 2010. Tripura went a
step further. It not only amended
its own panchayat act to this
effect, but also brought its urban
local bodies within this ambit
through Tripura Muncipal (fourth
amendment) bill.
Performance of women in PRIs
General Observations
l Despite several stumbling
blocks women PRI members
have generally performed
well throughout the country.
Several surveys indicate this.
The Ministry of Panchayati
Raj of the Government of
India has also conducted one,
with by far the largest sample
size. Culling the observations
from all the sources certain
common points emerge-
l Participation of women in
the Gram Sabha meetings
increases when the Prodhan
is a woman. This corroborates
the general perception that
political communication
improves when the citizen and
the leader are of the same sex.
(The Impact of Reservation in
the Panchayati Raj- Evidence
from a nationwide randomized
experiment-Raghobendra
Chattopadhyay & Esther
Daflo-Nov-2003.)
l Since women panchayat
representatives consistently
demand for adequate supply
of drinking water, housing and
social welfare programmes,
expenditure on these counts
are relatively higher in women
headed panchayats.
l Women headed panchayats
score brownie points in
construction of roads, upkeep
of drinking water facilities
and administering government
loan schemes. However
their performance is not as
effective in ensuring irrigation
avenues.
l Women headed panchayats
generally take more interests
in negotiating social evils like
child marriage, indiscriminate
sale of liquor, witch-hunting
and such other problems.
Problems
Certain major hindrances can
also be identified in the path
of functioning of the women
members and functionaries.
(Empowerment of Women: Waiting
for Godot?-Atonu Chatterjee &
Apurba Mukhopadhyay in Indian
Political thought and Movements-
edited by H.Bhattacharyya et al.
K.P.Bagchi& Company 2007)
l Dual responsibility: Women
traditionally burdened with
domestic work face difficulties
in balancing the official work
with their home.
l Lack of security: Sometimes
due to lack of security women
members fail to visit remote
areas in odd hours or attend
meetings in far away places.
Gradual criminalization of
politics also is arresting their
participation.
l Lack of information and
knowledge about government
programmes especially for
women and child development
poses problems. Again limited
exposure to formal education
breeds information gap and
dependency on second hand
knowledge. Consequently
political lineage determines
the distribution of benefits of
different schemes.
l Communication problem
hinders performance as most of
the correspondences,, rules and
regulations are in English.
l Due to lack of exposure and
experience women members
face difficulty in asserting
themselves. The fact that
majority of women enter
politics through reservation
and kinship arrangement only
accentuates this problem.
26 YOJANA February 2011
Owing to rotational policy
women can scarcely continue their
relationship with politics. There
are three points to be noted in this
kind of rotational reservation. First
a very small percentage of first
time women members/ pradhans
get elected for the second / third
time. The following table amply
clarifies this.
Secondly, as all these seats were
previously held by male members,
they often manage to fix these up
in favour of one of their women
relatives. Hence we find that most
women representatives scarcely
had previous experience of being
associated with political or social
organizations and majority of
them got elected to the seats to
which their family members were
previously elected. Thus we find
that 41.7% of the female prodhans
and 41.8% of the female ward
members drew their motivation
for contesting panchayat election
from their spouse. The Community
groups like Mahila Mondals, Self-
Help Groups motivated 23.3%
of women to take a plunge and
political parties come a poor third
motivating only 6.9% of the women
representatives and that too only in
the states of West Bengal, Sikkim,
Tripura and Kerala.
Table-1 Comparison of the male and female contestants
Sl.No 1st time
Male Prodhan 62.7%
Female Prodhan 84.6%
Male members 79.8%
Female members 90.8%
Thirdly, women candidates are
scarcely nominated from unreserved
seats. In rural local bodies only
10.8% of the women get elected
from unreserved seats. For male
contestants however this figure is
49%. (“Study on Elected Women
Representatives in Panchayati
Raj Institutions” - Ministry of
Panchayati Raj, Government of
India,2008)
Thus this rotational aspect
of reservation begets a short-
term gain mindset, leading to
a lack of accountability among
the PRI members. Women who
have got in simply through family
connections are also not effective in
asserting themselves and bringing
about meaningful change. The
process also entails a huge wastage
of resources on the part of state
governments as with every election
they have to start the process of
training and other related activities
ab initio for the women members.
These are issues that need to
be sorted out if the participation of
women is to be made effective in
the real sense.
The Scene in West Bengal
In terms of reservation of seats
for women in panchayats, West
Bengal took certain steps even
2nd time 3rd time
24.5% 12.8%
12% 3.4%
14.7% 5.5%
7.9% 1.4%
prior to the implementation of
the constitutional amendment.
The state adopted this reservation
of seats for women, SCs and
STs through Section 15(a)(ii)
of the West Bengal Panchayat
(Amendment) Act 1992, prior
to the implementation of the
constitutional amendment.
Women members got elected
as chairpersons without
reservation, from 1993 itself
(reservation of chairpersons was
implemented from 1998 panchayat
election)
Further by virtue of an
amendment of West Bengal
Panchayat Act 1973 in 1997,
the reservation of office-bearers
was extended to the posts which
are second in command in the
respective tiers of panchayats
namely of Upaprodhan (Sec 9)
in the Gram Panchayat , Sahakari
Sabhapati (Sec 98) in the Pachayat
Samity (PS) or intermediary level
and Sahakari Sabhadhipati (Sec
143) in the Zilla Parishad (ZP)or
the apex level.
Position of Women Office Bearers in 1993 election
(before relevant reservation)
Tier
Zilla Parishad
Panchayat Samity
Gram Panchayat
Another interesting feature
emerged afterwards. Panchayat
Samity and Zilla Parishad in
West Bengal operate through
ten work-specific-standing
committees (Sthayee Samities).
The state government through
an executive request (memo no-
2757 dated 23/11/1994) made it
desirable that half of the elected
members of ‘Sishu-o-Nari
Unnayan, Janakalyan-o-Tran
Sthayee Samity’, (the standing
committee dealing with women,
child development and social
welfare programmes) shall be
women and that the posts of
chairpersons of this committee
in both the tiers be earmarked
for women. WB Panchayat Act
(Sec 32A) extended this principle
to the Gram Panchayat level by
As Chief of the Body As Deputy chief
Nil 2
8 84
186 567
constituting Upa-Samities and
half of the members as well
chairperson of the upa-samity
dealing with women and child
welfare has been reserved for
women. ( West Bengal Panchayat
(Amendment) Act 2003)
Kultikri : Rubbing shoulders
with history -
An all women panchayat was
constituted in Kultikri gram
panchayat in the then Midnapore
district (Midnapore district of
West Bengal was bifurcated
in 2002 and now Kultikri falls
i n We s t M i d n a p o r e u n d e r
Sankrail block, Jhargram sub-
division) in 1993 and the trend
has continued in subsequent
panchayat elections held in 1998,
2003 and 2008. The performance

Comparison of Female representative in PRI of West Bengal 1988 & 1993

Position in 1988 Position in 1993

Tiers of PRI Total Won Total % of Total Elected % of

seats in Fem. seats in Fem Fem.
1988 Nominated Elected Rep 1993 rep. Rep

Gram Panchayat 49828 4588 223 4811 9.6 61011 21489 35.2

Panchayat samity 8621 386 61 447 5.1 9453 3182 33.6

Zilla Parishad 631 107 26 133 20.8 656 224 34.1

(Kultikri: An all woman Panchayat –Jaytilak Guha Roy in Public Administration in India: Case Studies edited by M.C.Gupta et al. Gyan
Publishing House 1999.)

YOJANA February 2011 27

GRAM SABHA
Protection of Rural Livelihoods
ural I ndia i s
R experiencing rapid
socio-economic and
cultural transformation
with improved
I T- e n a b l e d c o m m u n i c a t i o n
services, surface connectivity and
community-centric infrastructure.
Madhya Pradesh The unique legislation - Mahatma
has already Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act, supplemented by a
shown the way by host of social security programmes
publishing major has proved a catalyst in rural asset
building. Livelihood interventions
Acts in tribal are increasingly contributing
dialects like Gondi, to rural economy in a big way.
What the country urgently needs
Bhili and Korku. is a sustainable, people-centric
These publications implementation mechanism at
grassroots level . Without this,
are read out in well-designed programmes and
compulsory Gram well-intended technologies will fail
to leave the desired impact. But who
Sabha meetings will do it ? The answer is simple. As
The author is Assistant Director - Public Relations, CM's Press Cell,Directorate of Public Relations, Government of
Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal.
28 YOJANA February 2011
VIEW POINT
Awanish Somkuwar
the Indian democracy shows signs
of maturity, the institution of Gram
Sabha can be the most trusted body
for implementing programmes
designed to secure livelihoods to
the rural poor.
Improvement in quality of
life greatly depends on good
governance, which requires
meticulous planning. The
development planning of rural
India largely remains top-
driven in practice. Decentralized
development planning involving
panchayat raj institutions and the
Gram Sabha can pave the way for
participatory governance while
addressing the sustainability
issue. The benefits of ambitious
rural poverty alleviation
programmes can reach out to the
needy only when Gram Sabha
performs vibrantly. It can act as a
learning platform of participatory
governance.
Why Gram Sabha
The Gram Sabha is a
constitutionally mandated body
enjoying extensive powers
relating to planning, monitoring
and implementing development
initiatives. The Government of
India observed 2009-10 as Gram
Sabha Year expecting the states to
awaken the Gram Sabha towards
its mandated functions, duties
and rights. No other agency at
grassroots level can match the
administrative and financial
strengths of Gram Sabha. In some
states like Madhya Pradesh, all
development departments aiming
at improving rural livelihoods and
assets have transferred extensive
administrative and financial powers
to Gram Sabha.
Article 243(B) of the Constitution
defines the Gram Sabha as a body
consisting of persons registered
in the electoral rolls relating to a
village comprised within the area
of the panchayat. With regard to
its powers and authority, Article
243(A) of the Constitution says that
the Gram Sabha may exercise such
powers and perform such functions
at the village level as Legislature
of a State.
The 73rd Constitutional
Amendment proved a milestone
in the history of democratic
decentralization of India. Thanks
to it, panchayat raj institutions are
able to address even complicated
village governance issues. The
73rd Amendment provides for
establishment of Gram Sabha for
YOJANA February 2011 29
each village. The state governments
have endowed panchayats with such
powers and authority that enable
them to function as institutions of
self-government.
The role of Gram Sabha has
gained greater importance in the
era of decentralized governance.
The Gram Sabha is expected to own
the responsibility of implementing
major rural development
programmes and enforcing radical
laws like MNREGA, Forest
Rights Act, Right to Information
Act, Gram Nyayalaya Act or the
forthcoming legislation on food
security. With increasing focus
on social protection, sustainable
rural livelihoods and effective
management of village resources,
the role of Gram Sabha assumes
a vital role.
Ending Rural Poverty - Gram
Sabha’s Role
The most pressing challenge
before the country today is to
eradicate rural poverty, which
continues to assume new dimensions.
A recent study by Oxford Poverty
and Human Development Initiative
presents a distressing scenario.
The magnitude of poverty in eight
Indian states namely Madhya
Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand,
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan,
Orissa and West Bengal has
been measured higher than the
most chronically affected poor
nations of sub Saharan Africa.
Interestingly these eight states
contribute significantly to India’s
fast growing economy. The multi
dimensional view of poverty in
these states takes into account the
multiple deprivation of rural poor
from basic services, rights and
entitlements. There is a continuous
debate about the exactness and
accuracy of data on the number
of poor and the extent of poverty.
The most realistic approach to
improving rural livelihoods is to
mobilize local resources and build
capacity of the rural poor. In this
context, a Gram Sabha awakened
to its duties and rights can address
deprivation ensuring easy access to
basic services.
Rural India is witnessing a
lot of economic interventions for
improving livelihoods of the poor.
Economic enterprise exhibited by
Self Help Groups, job-oriented
trainings to rural youths, expansion
of agri-business, interference
of rural technologies, creation
of community assets through
MNREGA, specific social sector
initiatives by community based
organizations are contributing to
economic buoyancy in rural areas.
The panchayat raj institutions
are also executing infrastructure
development programmes creating
livelihood opportunities at local
levels. In fact, it is perhaps for the
first time in the post independence
era that we have started assigning
so much of importance to rural
livelihoods and adopting an
integrated approach towards it.
The National Rural Livelihood
Mission (NRLM) promises to
address the needs of 6.5 crore poor
rural households and proposes
to bring substantial changes in
the lives of the rural poor. As the
Mission document says, its focus
is on people-led and people-
centric organizations. It provides
for a demand driven approach for
release of funds on receipt of state
level action plans. About one crore
rural youths are to be covered
under the Mission. The question is
that such an ambitious target can
be achieved only with the active
support and cooperation of Gram
Sabha. The village, block level
and zila panchayats can deal with
operations, but understanding at
Gram Sabha level must prevail.
The Mission further seeks to
improve livelihood options by
strengthening SHGs. This is going
to make a fundamental difference
and is a very welcome step as it
ensures involvement of the people.
In order to optimize the impact, the
phenomenon of SHG formation
needs to be understood by the Gram
Sabha, whose adult members are
the members of SHGs. Many SHGs
and their products die out for want
of marketing facilities. The SHGs
can survive only when they have
sound financial base. Inter-loaning
for consumption needs and petty
requirements cannot help sustain
the SHGs. The Gram Sabha has to
take up responsibility of building a
favourable atmosphere for survival
of SHGs. Buy rural products as they
come from fellow villagers. This
spirit should be the core theme of
advocacy, which Gram Sabha must
take up.
The Gram Sabha is a powerful
b o d y. T h e i n n a t e w i s d o m
of its members regarding their
understanding of poverty and
30 YOJANA February 2011
rational utilization of resources
can be a very effective tool for
fighting poverty sustainably. The
DFID-UK Govt. aided Madhya
Pradesh Rural Livelihoods Project
has adopted the Gram Sabha
approach to poverty alleviation in
3000 remote tribal villages. The
project initially decided to work
on the rural wisdom-based poverty
alleviation strategies designed and
suggested by the Gram Sabha.
It was a bottom up approach.
Capacity building of Gram Sabha
was taken up on a massive scale
to enable the members to utilize
the project money transferred
to Village Fund. The positive
outcome is that the poor tribal
families have taken innovative
ways of addressing poverty. For
example, more than 600 Village
Relief Funds are operative, meeting
out emergency situations. Anybody
in dire need can approach the
committee members managing the
Village Relief Fund and get money.
The money is returned to the Village
Relief Fund on convenient terms.
This simple mechanism has given
a severe jolt to the age-old money
lending system in 600 villages.
Unquestionably, decentralized
planning and implementation of
rural development agenda cannot be
done effectively without involving
the Gram Sabha. There are certain
fundamental processes that need
support of the Gram Sabha like
well-being ranking, participatory
planning and decision making,
selection of actual beneficiaries,
human communications on social
issues, village level monitoring
network, social auditing etc.
These are the pre-conditions on
which depend the performance
of ambitious rural development
progammes designed to mitigate
poverty.
Capacity building of Gram
Sabha is a major task before the
states. While Gram Sabha has the
innate ability to perform assigned
tasks, they need to learn the use
of administrative apparatus in
the larger interest of people. The
learnings and wisdom gained from
working with a Gram Sabha need
replication elsewhere. India must
take up an agenda for capacity
building of Gram Sabha so that they
can reach out to people effectively.
Orientation of Gram Sabha towards
development issues, constitutional
mandate, rights and entitlements,
utilization of human and natural
resources, revenue generation and
financial literacy etc. must continue.
The capacity building agenda
must incorporate legal literacy.
Legal understanding quickens
the development processes. The
Gram Sabha can take up the uphill
task of spreading legal literacy
among the rural masses. Madhya
Pradesh has already shown the
way by publishing major Acts in
tribal dialects like Gondi, Bhili
and Korku. These publications are
read out in compulsory Gram Sabha
meetings.
Harnessing the strength of the
Gram Sabha is the only effective
option for achieving the objectives
of development and inclusive
growth. q
(E-mail : awanishsomkuwar@gmail.com)
graph of the panchayat, though
n o t s p e c t a c u l a r, i s m o r e o r
less satisfactory. Scanning the
performance of MGNREGA in
Kultikri we find that job card
was issued to 1610 families
who had applied for it. In the
financial year 2010-11 and upto
December 8, 2010, fifteen days
of work was provided to 46% of
the households which demanded
work and on an average, wage
payments were made to the
workers within 16-30 days. Two
households also got work for
more than one hundred days.
There was no incident of claim
for unemployment allowance in
the financial year. The GP has
been able to complete 26 projects
of rural connectivity and 58
projects of water conservation
in this financial year till the
cut-off date. Problem however
lurks in 55 unfinished projects
which not only disturb the
internal logistics but also eat up
the benefits accruing from the
Yojana
This will be a Special Issue on the Union Budget
YOJANA February 2011 31
completed ones. The situation is
more menacing since majority
of the unfinished projects (21
for water conservation, 30
of rural connectivity and 4
of land development) have a
direct bearing on the livelihood
of the common people. The
material to wage ratio of 29:47
is over all good. This distinct
tilt towards wage component
adheres to the fundamental tenets
of the programme. (http://www.
nregapaschimmedinipur.com/
index_files/Sankrail.htmand
http://164.100.112.66/netnrega/
ReportCard.aspx)
The Gram Panchayat has
also taken efforts this year to
upgrade the existing Primary
Health Centre with the assistance
of Zilla Parishad at a total cost
of Rs 74.18 lakhs. Previously it
also has achieved the status of
Nirmal Gram in 2003 by adopting
all round sanitation programme
and did a remarkable job in adult
literacy campaign in the 1990s. In
Forthcoming
Issues
March 2011
April 2011
Social Justice and Human Rights
fact a general attempt on the part
of the Gram Panchayat is always
on to develop the area.
Gradual gendering of local
democracy is opening up a new
vista in the rural areas. Women
are increasingly getting a
chance to shape grassroots level
politics which previously was
controlled by local power cliques.
Jean Dreze &Amartya Sen in
‘India-Economic Development
and Social Opportunity (1995)’
opined that “It is not merely that
more justice must be received
by women but also that social
justice can be achieved through
the active agency of women….
The emancipation of women is an
integral part of social progress, not
just a woman’s issue.” The existent
social patriarchy and the party
bureaucracy need to realize this,
and the sooner they perceive this
the brighter will be the smile on the
face of women! q
(E-mail : atonu.chatterjee@gmail.com)
March 2011
&
April 2011
Self Help Groups
Analysis

Sustainable Management of Local

Resources
N Lalitha

educing poverty ‘Sustainable development’

R and hunger are

the fundamental
challenges facing
developing countries.
Despite India’s recent high
economic growth rate, around
350 million people are still living
Effective on less than one dollar a day. About
local resource 72% of India’s poor are living in
rural areas, primarily dependent on
management can be agriculture and natural resources for
achieved through their sustenance. Acknowledging
the rural distress, the Indian
synergy of various Government has declared the
stakeholders – development of rural areas a
top national priority (National
NGOs, SHGs, Common Minimum Programme of
banks, technical the GOI, 2004). The most critical
elements here are the access to
institutions and the and equitable management of
government local resources in a viable and
sustainable way.
extends the traditional concept
of economic development in two
directions. The concept has a
future focus; it aims at ensuring a
pattern of development that will not
damage the reasonably foreseeable
interests and needs of future
generations. Second, it entails to
focus not only economic goals
but also social and environmental
well being. The aim of sustainable
development is to ‘de couple’
economic growth from adverse
effects on the environment.
A livelihood is sustainable
when it can cope with and recover
from stress and shock, maintain
or enhance its capabilities and
assets both now and in the future
while not undermining the natural
resource base” (DIFD). In this
context the following aspects
deserve special mention.

The author is Professor & Head, Department of Rural Development, Gandhigram Rural Institute, Gandhigram.
Tamil Nadu

32 YOJANA February 2011

l To support planning and
promotion of rational
use, conservation and
improvement of natural
resources essential to
continuous and self sustaining
livelihood opportunities
l To support and stimulate
new innovative initiatives
aimed at improving the stock,
quality and productivity of the
resource base and livelihood
opportunities
l To e m p o w e r t h e l o c a l
communities to become
equal and self reliant partners
in sustainable resource
management
SHG movement and Rural
Development:
The SHG movement has
taken off on a huge scale in
Indian villages and has become
the approach of numerous rural
development projects of Indian
Government and banks. With
500 SHGs in 1992 to more than
68 lakh SHGs linked to banking
system over the last 18 years, the
growth of SHGs is astounding.
However only those groups
which initiate entrepreneurial
activities - resource based and
demand based activities- seem to
be treading towards sustainable
development. While SHGs can
promote sustainable development
of local resources, local resource-
based activities are primordial for
sustainability of SHGs.
YOJANA February 2011 33
SHG movement had its origin
in the context of non-access to
credit facilities from commercial
bank for the marginalized section
at the grassroots, particularly the
women who are otherwise careful
in their spending, diligent in their
saving habits, prudent enough to
understand the productive links
with various agencies and above
all, have the responding capacity
to the emerging needs of the
consumers and the market. The
cascading effect of the savings
and credit operations is witnessed
in the emergence of a strong SHG
base in rural areas, capable of
addressing their own credit needs
under the guidance of reputed and
well tested NGOs and also capable
of gradually moving into higher
order business operations as micro
entrepreneurs.
But the SHGs are also faced with
the problem of stiff competition
from Multi National Corporations
(MNCs) and corporate retailers.
The MNCs who have well
recognized the potential of these
SHGs, lured them away from
their original field of micro credit
and micro-enterprises into the
field of marketing of the products
of MNCs, thus paving the way
for supplanting them from their
avocation of producing items
with traditional skills and also
resulting in non utilization of local
resources .
Role of NGOs in nurturing
SHGs
To make the resource-based
activities successful and effective,
the role of NGOs has significant
importance in terms of identification
of the location, resources, pre-
promotional activities, selection of
potential activities, entrepreneurial
training, monitoring and follow
up mechanism. NGOs play a
catalytic role in training the SHGs
to convert the local resources into
finished goods.
Management of local resources
through SHGs:
Kanniwadi village in
Reddiarchatram block of Dindigul
district is rich in banana cultivation.
The SHGs of the area are given
one-month training in conversion
of banana waste into handmade
paper at Sevagram, and in screen
painting by the M.S.Swaminathan
Research Foundation. After harvest
these SHGs produce hand made
paper, greetings card, envelops,
and writing pads out of banana
and cotton waste. The process
uses solar energy and no harmful
chemicals. Machinery worth Rs 7
lakhs were procured through SHG
Bank Linkage loan and grants
from MSSRF. The members, all of
whom belong to scheduled caste,
have been successfully running the
enterprise since 2001.
In Athur block of Dindigul
district the SHGs are trained by
Gandhigram Trust to set up vermi
composting units. Vermi compost
is in great demand for farming and
the manure fetches Rs.6 to Rs.7
per k.g.
 Local medicinal plants constitute
valuable resource for livelihood
security. The region between Kodai
Hills and Sirumalai, Dindigul
district has tremendous potential
for cultivation of medicinal plants
and herbs. The Ministry of Micro
, Small and Medium Enterprises
(MSME) , Government of India
has sanctioned a project to Lakshmi
Seva Sangham (LSS) through
Khadi and Village industries
Commission (KVIC) Mumbai
at a cost of Rs one crore under
“Scheme of Funds for Regeneration
o f Tr a d i t i o n a l i n d u s t r i e s
(SFURTI)” with the objective of
developing cluster based Siddha
and Ayurvedic industries. The
scheme is implemented in Athur,
Nilakottai and Kodaikanal blocks
of Dindigul district and Andipatti
block of Theni district. The major
beneficiaries are collectors of
herbs, barks, seeds and roots,
who are mostly tribals. Under the
scheme the tribals are encouraged
to involve themselves in value
addition products and shift their
focus to planned collection of
natural medicinal plants without
destroying resources of forest .
Farmers are exposed to large scale
cultivation of medicinal plants,
a viable alternative commercial
proposition with assured income.
The SHGs are roped in by
providing infrastructural facilities
such as drying lands, godowns
and semi processing units. A
cluster development co-ordination
34 YOJANA February 2011
committee has been formed and
an action plan chalked out for
implementation and monitoring.
41 SHGs have been formed
under this scheme. About 500
families get livelihood support
through collection of medicinal
plants, cultivation, semi –
processing and marketing. The
successful experience of SHGs in
Athur block is worth quoting here.
The raw materials for the LSS
are purchased only from SHGs.
During the year 2008-2009 an
amount of Rs 17,00,000/- worth
of raw materials were purchased
from the members. It is nearly 20
% of the total purchase. The SHGs
supply firewood, cow dung and
milk to LSS, in addition to the
medicinal plants for manufacture
of Siddha and Ayurveda medicines.
The members get loan under Direct
Linkage Programmes at 10%
interest rate and buy milch cattle
and supply the milk to LSS. As
part of marketing promotional
assistance, Gandhdigram Sales
Representatives (GSR) have been
appointed. Each GSR has opened
an account in Canara Bank ,
Gandhigram and applied for
loan of Rs 10000/- towards initial
investment. The cheque is issued
in the name of LSS from where
the GSR takes the products for
sale. One group has started a
canteen in LSS which is being run
profitably. Out of the profits the
group members have purchased 4½
acres of plots in the nearby area
(900Sq. for each) for construction
of houses.
The SHG Federation has
purchased a land in their name in
Andipatti block of Theni district
and handed over to SFURTI for the
construction of Common Facility
Centre. An oil ghani with 7.5 Hp
motor, semi – automatic oil filling
machine and cap sealing machines,
pill making machine worth 15 lakhs
were also purchased and installed.
It is planned to purchase and install
micro pulvarizers with which the
SHG members can powder the
dried medicinal leaves.
Other examples of SHGs
managing local resources and
providing people with means
of livelihood include the silk
and cotton ginning unit at T
Subbulapuram in Theni district,
where members are engaged in
weaving and cotton pillow and bed
production and have accumulated
savings amount of Rs1,25,000,
or the neem oil extraction unit
at Subbulapuram where the
Angalaeswari SHG members,
with support from Gandhigram
Trust, are engaged in extraction of
neem oil, powdering of neem cake
and marketing of neem soaps and
detergent.
The explosive growth of
Chennai, by the arrival of MNCs
has eaten away into the rural
spaces of Kanchipuram district.
There is the displacement of the
village people and closure of their
traditional occupation. Paranur
village is a classic example where
the location of a few MNCs has
encroached upon the pasture land
thereby affecting the animal
husbandry activities in the area.
The Osuramman SHG in this
village is now involved in sale
of milk packets. Milk in bulk is
procured from Hatsun Dairy in
the area, and sold to customers as
per demand.
S i m i l a r l y , t h e Va i g a i
SHG in Walajabad block of
Kanchipuram district have
undertaken banana cultivation as a
profitable venture seven years ago
and have accumulated a savings
fund of Rs.53500/-. The group
procured the necessary funds from
various loan schemes and leased in
three acres of land for Rs.50,000/-
for one year. The profit they
made was shared equally and was
ploughed back in small business
activities like cloth business, , auto
maintenance, saree sales.
The factors which led to the
success of the group were that
the activity is based on local
resources, Vaigai is a single caste
group ; all the members belong to
the farming community and each
member possessed land of half
acre to three acres; the funds for
investment was available through
the micro enterprise loan of Hand
In Hand; proximity to Chengalpet
town is an additional advantage
and hence there is no problem of
marketing.
YOJANA February 2011 35
In Othukadu village
of Othukadu panchayat,
Kancheepuram district there are
eight groups functioning under the
able leadership of a woman social
worker. The group promoted
kitchen garden activities in the
backyard of the members’ houses
and cultivated brinjal, ladyfinger
and palaks. The activity was
selected based on the local resource
availability and local soil and
climate conditions. Moreover the
marketing of the product is easy
as the ‘greens’ have high demand
in the markets of nearby cities
like Kancheepuram, Chennai,
P a l l a v a r a m a n d Ta m b a r a m .
Thanks to the bank assistance, the
groups could mobilize financial
resources for investment under
Revolving fund and Economic
Assistance under SGSY . One of
the groups - Mother Teresa Group
got Manimekalai award for the
best performance from the State
Government.
Here again the group succeeded
since the activity is based on local
resources, demand for the product
is assured, there is effective
leadership, individual effort,
support from NGO, availability
Omshakthi SHG in
Thimmasamudhram panchayat,
Kanchipuram district is
producing areca nut products.
They make trays and cups of
areca nut leaves in different
shapes and sizes. These ‘use
and throw’ products are of great
demand in hotels, bakeries and
marriage functions. The group
participated in SARAS 2007 held
in connection with International
Trade Fair in 2007 organized
by CAPART, Ministry of Rural
Development at Delhi.
From the foregoing analysis
a broad generalization emerges
that credit alone is not enough for
starting new livelihood enterprises
based on local resources. Skill
training, technology up-gradation
and marketing assistance are
also just as important. It is the
integrated strategy and not the
minimalist strategy which has
enabled the SHGs to manage
the local resources effectively.
These experiments also prove
that wherever NGOs/SHPIs have
taken conscious efforts and steps
to create better awareness and
improve the knowledge, practices
and skills of SHGs and where
the members have been able to
exercise informed choices and
constitute a cohesive, dynamic and
homogeneous group, the group
has managed the local resources
towards sustainability. Effective
local resource management can
be achieved through synergy of
various stakeholders – NGOs,
SHGs, banks, technical institutions
and the government for policy
support. q
(E-mail : drnlalitha@yahoo.com)
Economy
Flagging the Rupee
`
n July 2010, India
I joined the ranks of
the major currencies
of the world by
adopting a symbol
for the rupee–an elegant blend of
Devanagari and English alphabets
with attributes of the tricolour
represented in the two lines at the
The new rupee icon top and white space in between.
includes a symbol The Indian rupee symbolises the
strength of our economic system
of equality. The and our rising financial prowess,
time has come for acknowledged and admired the
us to reduce the world over.
artificial divide
At a time when we are
celebrating the growth of our
between my rupee e c o n o m y, t h e s y m b o l a n d
and their rupee. In substance of what the Indian
India, we accept rupee represents is undermined
by an irrational policy of our
the INR anytime, government. The Indian rupee, a
anywhere perfectly legal form of currency
through the entire length and
The author is Hon’ble Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha )
36 YOJANA February 2011
Opinion
Naveen Jindal
breadth of our country becomes
unusable in a certain area–the
protected environs of duty free
shops at our international airports,
where the memorable phrase–
“show me the money” acquires
a whole new meaning. If you are
an Indian national feel free to buy
what you want. Of course, terms
and conditions apply–you can
spend a maximum of Rs 5,000 in
Indian currency. But if you are a
foreign national and the billing
assistant asks–cash or card–
please don’t make the mistake of
offering Indian rupees–they are
unacceptable. You can shop till
you drop, but pick up a credit card
or foreign currency to pay for the
purchase.
Is there another nation that
disregards its own currency as we
reject the rupee in our territory?
I think not. At international
airports, prices are marked in
local currencies and paid for in
local currencies. Among the great
and small nations, we are the only
nation that gives short shrift to our
own currency and refuse to accept
the rupee as a form of payment. It
defies common sense.
For foreign tourists Incredible
India turns into incredulous India
when after a memorable stay in
our country they are told the
rupees they used throughout their
stay are not good enough at the
airport duty free shop. Imagine
the irritation of travellers who
have set aside a few hours
and a few thousand rupees to
take back tangible memories of
India. The Indian currency in
their hand cannot pay for the
goods they buy. They have to
change their Indian rupees into
foreign exchange by paying a
commission, a double whammy
since they would have paid it to
convert their foreign exchange
into Indian rupees at the time
of arrival. Instead of being able
to spend it freely at the point of
departure, they have to convert
it before spending it.
How does it serve us–in
economic terms or in terms of
perception of being seen as a
warm and hospitable country
if the foreign traveller decides
against shopping because she
cannot use the Indian rupees in
her wallet? What is the policy
YOJANA February 2011 37
compulsion behind such a
practice? When foreign tourist
and business travellers spend
money in India, on their stay, food
and shopping, it flows into our
economy. Why does the colour
of money become an issue in the
hands of a foreign national at an
international airport? An Indian
rupee is being spent in India.
What is the harm in that?
At a time when we are building
state-of-the-art airports with
facilities and services comparable
to the best in the world, this law
is outdated. India is likely to
emerge as an important hub
in the years to come and it
makes enormous economic
sense to take this one simple
step to make the entire visiting
experience a pleasant one for
tourists and business travellers.
There are many international
airports that are marketed as the
ultimate shopping destination
for travellers. We are not in the
same league yet but if we want to
get there, we should review our
policies. If we don’t change our
attitude we will lose an important
source of revenue, as sales at
some of the best duty free shops
run into billions of dollars, sorry,
thousands of crores of rupees
annually.
India is a trillion dollar
e c o n o m y, g r o w i n g a t c l o s e
to nine per cent with foreign
exchange reserves of almost 300
billion dollars. The strength of
the Indian economy is for all to
see and experience. As a country
confident of our economic ability
and our financial muscle we
should allow the use of Indian
rupees at duty free shops. This
step will be in line with our recent
adoption of the rupee symbol; it
will increase the visibility of
our currency and enhance its
distinctive identity.
When Sher Shah Suri
introduced the first rupee in the
early part of the 16th century, he
could not have imagined that five
hundred years later, our currency
would not hold sway in some parts
of our sovereign territory. It took
me five years of relentless letter
writing to all stakeholders and
decision makers–the ministry of
finance, the ministry of tourism
and the Reserve Bank of India to
get Indian citizens to use Indian
rupees at airport duty free shops.
That change of policy was notified
in September 2005. I hope I don’t
have to wait that long to get this
discriminatory policy struck off
the rule book.
The new rupee icon includes
a symbol of equality. The time
has come for us to reduce the
artificial divide between my
rupee and their rupee. In India,
we accept the INR anytime,
anywhere. q
(E-mail : naveen.jindal@sansad.nic.in)
 North east diary
rural jobs scheme in Mizoram

he Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has

T been adopted as a community work by the well-knit, classless society in Mizoram. Unlike
in other States, people in Mizoram do not apply for jobs; it is the village council or local
administration which sends out invitations to each household to send at least one job holder to
execute the work in their village or area.
The village council, an elected body, has been created under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution
and exercises control at the grassroots level. However, dissolution of some of these councils falling
within the jurisdiction of the capital city of Aizwal is on the cards now with its transition towards
governance through a municipal body. The first election to its 19 wards was held recently.
In villages, however, the councils are evolving the development process with greater ingenuity,
particularly after the introduction of MNREGS which has given them the leeway to club a number
of schemes.
A case in point is Sakeiram---Tiger Land. Sake means tiger in Mizo language and Ram stands
for land as in the case of Mizoram---land of the Mizos. More than 700 men and women of all
ages are collectively cutting a 6km pathway in the mountains with the objective of setting up an
althogether new locality in Serchhip district. The village council has issued a call and the job
card holders responded as if they were taking up a community work. Of course, the wage rate is
Rs. 110 per person day.
It sure is a multipurpose road suggestive of a unique model of convergence of various schemes
taken up with the idea of not only linking Thensal village with the main road but also to facilitate
construction of a AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) hospital, ring in a
new mode of agriculture and give a fillip to horticulture and floriculture.
Several programmes are thus clubbed, but primary importance is attached to construction of
roads, MGNREGS doubles up even with Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) as the hilly
terrains are still inaccessible.
Horticulture and floriculture are among the schemes permitted under the MGNREGS to develop
the land of BPL and Scheduled Tribes households. This is being used to wean them away from jhum
cultivation which typifies the shifting cultivation.
To save ecology, the government recently launched a New Land Use Policy (NLUP)
with the promise to provide at least two hectares to 1.2 lakh families over the next three
years. The government also intends to provide help to develop their land for tilling
purpose. With people living on the higher slopes of the mountain, water is a major problem
despite several rivers crisscrossing the State. MGNREGS has come in handy for taking
up water conservation schemes. It is being combined with other structures for setting up
reservoirs. q

38 YOJANA February 2011

J&K Window
Panchayat elections in J&K
ith the objective
W of transferring power
to the grassroots level
by involving more
and more people
in governance, the Jammu and
Kashmir government is holding
panchayat elections in the state by
february end this year. The last
panchayat elections in the state
were held in 2001 and panchayats
were dissolved in 2006 when their
five year term ended.
Panchayat elections in Jammu
and Kashmir have been postponed
in the past due to various reasons
including unrest in the state,
updation/revision of electoral rolls
and weather conditions. The state
has 2,700 panchayats out of which
elections were held in about 1,900
in 2001.
The state Government is losing
Rs 400 crore per month of the
central grant in the absence of
panchayats since 2006. The State
would, however, request the centre
(The writer is Assistant Director, Department of Lifelong Learning, University of Jammu, J &K)
YOJANA February 2011 39
to compensate it for the funds of
previous years once the panchayats
are set up.
An approximate 47.4 lakh voters
will be eligible to exercise their
right to franchise in the panchayat
elections. Jammu district has the
highest number of voters (5,66,273)
while Srinagar district has lowest
number of 15061 voters in the
state. Kathua district has 3,27,733
voters while Samba district has
1,76,231. Udhampur accounted
for 2,79,075 voters while Reasi
had 1,60,810. Twin border districts
of Poonch and Rajouri would
now have 2,47,119 and 3,16,527
voters respectively. Ramban has
1,48,690 voters, Kishtwar 1,23,346
and Doda 2,13,375. In Kashmir
valley, Baramulla district has
highest number of 4,37,431 voters
followed by 4,19,668 in Anantnag,
3,35,604 in Budgam and 3,30,905 in
Kupwara. Ganderbal has 1.21 lakh
voters, Pulwama 2,63,398, Kulgam
1,93,044 and Shopian 2,43,044.
Kargil district in Ladakh region
Kavita Suri
accounted for 71,765 electorates.
The figure for Leh and Bandipora
are awaited. Thus the total number
of voters for the state stands at
45.37 lakh (45,37,283) but the
election department is expecting
the figure to touch around 47.4 lakh
after the inclusion of figures for the
districts of Bandipora and Leh.
Within 33 per cent reserved
constituencies for women,
reservation has been given to
SC and ST women. According
to official figures released by the
election department, out of a total
of 13,760 panch constituencies in
10 districts of Jammu province,
4726 segments have been reserved
for women. The men will contest
the remaining 9034 constituencies.
The seats reserved for SCs (both
men and women) have been pegged
at 1996 while STs would have 2183
reserved segments.
Jammu district has a maximum
of 655 panch constituencies reserved
for SC, both men and women, while
Samba and Kathua accounted for
190 and 367 seats respectively.
Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban will
have 152, 45 and 35 seats reserved
for SCs while Udhampur and Reasi
districts have 332 and 92 seats for
SCs. In Rajouri, SCs have 128 seats
while no reservation has been given
to them in Poonch district.
The STs have highest number of
640 seats reserved in Rajouri and
592 in Poonch districts including
the women reservation. Jammu
district has 84 ST constituencies
while Samba and Kathua districts
have 24 and 122 respectively.
In Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban
districts, 123, 112 and 118 seats
have been reserved for STs while
Udhampur and Reasi have 124
and 248 Panch segments for STs
respectively.
Jammu district has the
highest number of 2166 panch
constituencies. Of them, 748 have
been reserved for women - 222 SC
26 ST and 500 general category. Of
1418 seats for men, 433 have been
reserved for SCs, 54 for STs and
931 for general categories. Rajouri
district has second highest number
of 295 panchayats and 2028 panch
constituencies, 705 of which have
been reserved for women(, 466
general candidates, 204 for STs and
35 for SCs.), leaving 1323 for men(
93 for SCs, 436 for STs and 794 for
general categories).
Samba district has 100 panchayats
and 726 panch constituencies. Of
them, 251 segments have been
reserved for women (61 SCs, four
STs and 186 open) while 475 seats
belongto men that include 129 for
SCs, 20 for STs and rest 326 for
general categories. Kathua district
accounted for 244 panchayats and
1644 panch constituencies. A total
40 YOJANA February 2011
of 567 seats have been reserved for
women (128 SCs, 42 STs and 397
open) and 1077 for men including
239 for SCs, 80 for STs while 758
seats have been kept open.
Doda district will now have
232 panchayats and 1428 panch
segments. It will have 481 seats
reserved for women including 45
SC, 39 STs and 397 open. For men,
there will be 947 constituencies,
which would include 107 for
SCs, 84 for STs and 756 for open
categories. Kishtwar district will
now account for 134 panchayats
and 838 panch constituencies. Of
838 seats, 284 have been reserved
for women (242 open, 31 STs and
11 SCs) while 554 seats will be
for men with 34 reserved for SCs,
81 for STs and 439 for general
categories.
Newly carved out Ramban
district has lowest number of
124 panchayats and 832 panch
constituencies. It will have 287
seats reserved for women, 236 for
open categories, 41 for STs and 10
for SC. Of 545 seats for male, 25
for SCs, 77 for STs and 443 for
open categories. Udhampur district
accounted for 204 panchayats
and 1544 panch segments. It will
have 1006 seats reserved for men
including 229 for SCs, 87 for STs
and 690 for general categories. The
women quota comprised 538 seats
with 398 open, 37 for STs and 103
for SCs.
Reasi has only 147 panchayats
and 1014 panch constituencies.
It will have 353 seats reserved
for women (35 SCs, 94 STs
and 224 open) while the men
will be able to contest 661
seats, of which 57 have been
reserved for SCs, 154 for STs
and 450 for open categories.
The border district of Poonch
has 189 numbers of panchayats
and 1540 constituencies. It has
512 seats reserved for women
including 190 for STs and 322 for
open categories. Of 1028 seats of
males, 402 are reserved for STs
and 626 for general categories.
The elections to panchayats will
be held on the pattern of Assembly
polls to save time. Under the
Assembly scheduled, about 22
days time is kept between issuance
of notification for a phase of the
election and date of the polling.
The time was much more in the
panchayat election scheduled. The
elections would start from plain
areas as there will be snowfall in
upper reaches during January and
February. Polling in mountainous
areas will be held in March when
weather starts improving. Security
arrangements for Panchayat
elections are to be made from
existing strength of CRPF and
police. The elections would be
spread over 10 to 12 phases. More
than two lakh employees would be
required for its conduct. Ballot
boxes would be used in these
elections, and not EVMs.
While people are upbeat about
these forthcoming elections,
the political parties like Jammu
and Kashmir National Panthers
Party(JKNPP) and People
Democratic Party (PDP) have
criticized these elections as these
are being held in the state on
a non-party basis. The JKNPP
has demanded that the elections
should be held on a party basis as
has been done in other states of the
country. q
(E-mail:snowy132@rediffmail.com)
Best Practices
Thumbs up for this Caste Panchayat
he “Jati Panchayat”
T or caste panchayat
in Jalore district in
western Rajasthan
holds a lot of influence
over the local people. This
influence it leverages to impose a
‘moral’ way of life and lead the
way for what it defines as ‘common
good’. Sounds uncomfortably
It is perhaps this familiar to the numerous reports
transformation of other such panchayats in the
country, which have not just
which is more ostracized young boys and girls
for daring to love and marry
enduring than outside the strict definitions of
any top-down ‘gotra’ or ‘ family ties’ but also
pronounced and implemented
programme which violent judgments with no legal
seeks to impose basis whatsoever.
rather than co-opt Mercifully this panchayat is
different. There is difference of
the local people in cultural context, social patterns
and what is most important, the
social change role the panchayat envisages
for itself in strengthening the
YOJANA February 2011 41
Usha Chowdhary
positives in society. A “Mumkin
Hai Committee” has been formed
under a local NGO, VIKALP
across sixteen villages of Aahor
block of Jalore. This has brought
together local women, school
teachers, anganwadi workers,
ASHA workers and youth of these
villages on a common platform
with the core objective of making
the district free from domestic
violence and girl foeticide. In a
state like Rajasthan where female
foeticide is prevalent in many
areas, child marriage is rampant
and the girl child is often denied
education, the going for such a
platform is bound to be difficult.
The group has however taken
up the challenge and is trying
to create awareness about the
rights of the girl child. Recently,
the group took out a “Padyatra”
across several villages like Kotda,
Jethpura, Nosra and Gudarma to
raise the issues of child marriage
and girl foeticide.
 The change of mindset in the
area is apparent. What is more
interesting is that this change is
being seen in quarters which
were till now entrenched in anti-
girl child practices. 50 year old
Ukaram Dewasi, of Dudiyan
village in Aahore tehsil in Jalore
is a ‘Panch’. Though initially
hesitant, he was drawn into the
activities and discussions of this
committee which questioned
much of what he believed, the
social mores that were handed
down over generations, mores that
he never felt the need to question.
Child marriage for instance, was an
accepted part of life in the region
and Ukaram did not really have a
problem with it.
During discussion with the
others, many issues opened up,
taking Ukaram, on a journey into
the unknown. The discussions
which he was hesitant to join in
initially, made him see how the
growth and development of the
region’s girl child depended on
her getting an education and the
opportunities that arise from it.
The practice of early marriage
was in direct confrontation with
this growth. Over time, Ukaram
could see this clearly and on his
own raised it at one of the meetings
with ‘Dewasi’ community, with
the MLA of Sirohi region Odharam
Ji Dewasi and Panch from other
communities.
In this meeting Ukaram
presented his case in support of
education of girls and voiced
his opposition to child marriage.
42 YOJANA February 2011
He now completely believed in
this cause. He was not parroting
any jargon introduced by the
group. His words sprung deep
from his own conviction and a
realization of how wrong his
views had previously been.
Ukaram stated categorically that
child marriage adversely affects
the lives of both the boy and
the girl, preventing them from
pursuing their education. This
break in education affects the
girls’ life more adversely. Then
Ukaram took a quantum leap
forward and called for a complete
prohibition on child marriage,
indeed a revolutionary statement,
given the context and social
practices that prevailed.
As expected, it was not well
received initially but the power of
his own conviction and the dint
of his argument helped Ukaram
carry the day. What is laudable
is that the others in the group also
took the step forward to not only
question social mores but actually
transform their own outlook and
come out not only with a statement
of support but a commitment to
carry it forward.
After what was an expectedly
prolonged debate, all members
came to a common understanding
and accepted the proposal of
Ukaram Ji. They took the step
to pass a resolution which stated
“no parent would encourage child
marriage in his own family”.
“If any family allows the girl’s
marriage before 18 years of age
and boy’s marriage before 21 years
of age, the Dewasi community
would impose a fine worth
Rs 50,000 on the concerned
family”. In what is clearly of
importance in the region, the
resolution goes on to add “The
guilty family will also have to
make available at least two jute
bags of wheat as pigeons food”,
In the case of Jalore district,
it is one man who could see
light, who transformed himself
to open the way to a larger social
transformation. The efforts of
Vikalp in the region, the local
forum ‘ Mumkin Hai’ which came
together to first visualize and
then take action towards a better
deal for its girl children came to
a fruition with this one man. If
this can be done in one region,
changing the perceptions of one
person, surely the light can spread.
It is perhaps this transformation
which is more enduring than any
top-down programme which
seeks to impose rather than co-
opt the local people in social
change.
Ukaram himself is a happy
man, a man at peace with his
conscience. He is grateful for the
platform that opened his eyes and
made him aware of the “darker
side of the child marriage” He is
quite clear that he would put his
energy in ensuring that no parent
encourages what he terms as a
“social evil which spoils the life
of tender-aged boys and girl in
the region”.
Charkha Features
Forest Rights
Natural Resources and Village Institutions:
A critical link
ndia is h o m e t o
I more than a billion
people, majority of
whom are directly or
indirectly dependent
upon agriculture. It also has the
world’s largest cattle population.
There is a heavy pressure on
When given land and water resources across
the country. The importance of
clear rights and managing Common Property
responsibilities, Resources (CPRs) like water
bodies, forest and pasture land,
forest communities
and the central role of village
are proving they can communities in this regard
work as allies with have formed a minor, though
important part of the Indian
government and Natural Resource Management
NGOs to establish (NRM) discourse and practice
effective access (Balachander and Raj 2006).
Data indicates that sub-marginal
controls and install and marginal tribal households
regulated forest-use accrue 35 to 36 percent of their
systems income from forest produce
(Ramamani 1988). One study
The author is pursuing PhD from Punjab University. This article is an abridged version of a paper presented by him at
2nd UNITAR’-Yale Conference on Environmental Governance and Democracy held at Yale University, USA.
YOJANA February 2011 43
Analysis
Sushant
estimates that CPRs contribute
about US $5 billion a year to
towards the income of poor
households in India (Beck and
Nesmith 2001).
During the last few decades,
three broad types of community
institutions engaged in forest
protection and management
have developed in various states
of India (Sarin, 1996). The
first type has emerged out of
local initiative, primarily as a
response to the hardships of
scarcity faced by local villagers
due to degradation of forest
resources in their areas. Second
type of community organizations
engaged in forest management
are those promoted by the forest
departments. The third type
is the one sponsored by local
Government or NGO programmes
to carry out a more general rural
development mandate.
Policy Initiatives towards
Decentralization
Communities in most parts of
India have been demanding their
rights over forests – in 1930,
villages of Tehri Garwal protested
against the reservation of forests;
in 1970s and 1980s, villagers
hugged the trees to protect them
from being cut by the contractors
in northern Uttar Pradesh, which
is referred to as the Chipko
Movement. India’s National Forest
Policy, 1988 was the first proforest
dwellers initiative that recognized
the fact that the forests cannot be
protected by “policing” alone,
rather the village communities
need to be involved in the task of
forest protection. National Forest
Policy, 1988 admitted the fact that
it would be difficult to protect the
forests without the collaboration
of the local communities.
The Government of India
enacted the “Provisions to
the Panchayats (Extension to
Scheduled Areas) Act” or PESA
Act in the year 1996. It is one
of the progressive legislations
for the tribal regions of India,
entrusting self-governance and
recognizing the traditional rights
of indigenous communities over
their natural resources through
decentralization of government
power to the ones at the bottom
of the pyramid. As per PESA,
the Gram Sabha is involved in
approval of development plans and
programmes, leading to a strong
control of tribal communities
over “community resources” –
44 YOJANA February 2011
land, forest and water. In its true
interpretation, PESA significantly
strengthens the position of tribal
people through self governance
of the ‘village republic’ through
the Gram Sabha. It has enabled
communities to take control of
their livelihoods, conserve and
manage natural resources and
protect their traditional rights.
The Scheduled Tribes and
Other Traditional Forest Dwellers
(Recognition of Forest Rights)
Act 2006, commonly referred
to as FRA, is a landmark in the
struggle of forest dwellers to
get legal recognition of their
environmental rights over forests.
It attempted not only to correct
a “historic injustice” committed
by the colonial and postcolonial
rulers but also to vest in forest
communities the primary role of
sustaining forest ecosystems by
restoring their rights as well as
their environmental duties.
The new recognition of forest
dwellers as “integral to the very
survival and sustainability of the
forest ecosystem” is a crucial
policy reversal compared with
previous forest laws, as the new
law makes them the custodians
of forests and their ecology. FRA
definitely has converted key
environmental interests of forest
dwellers into environmental rights
that could be enforced by courts.
Thus we can clearly see
devolution of powers from JFM
to PESA and further to FRA. JFM,
though it professes to treat local
communities as equal partners,
suffered from uneven power
relationship, putting the authority
of decision-making in the hands
of the forest department. JFM
failed to promote equitable and
democratic participation of all
sections. This intrinsic problem
of unequal power relationship
was taken care of in PESA.
However, PESA was applicable
only in Scheduled areas and not
across the country. FRA, the
most recent legislation towards
decentralization of powers is
applicable all across the country.
At this point of time, the challenge
that lies ahead regarding
institutions and management of
natural resources pertains to the
behaviour of institutions after the
enactment of FRA, under which
both individual and community
rights in forests are provided for.
Institutional Dynamics
Nayak (2003) has analyzed
that the single largest factor
for initiation of community
forest management (CFM) is the
degrading resource base and its
manifold consequences on local
livelihoods and micro ecosystems.
Several documents on community
forestry in India indicate that
forest protecting groups initiated
active protection only when
the local forests degraded,
warranting immediate action.
In order to establish effective
access controls, membership in
the management group needs to
be well defined and the protected
forest area clearly identified and
demarcated.
 As soon as some individuals
monitor others and impose
sanctions, conflict will occur over
rule interpretation, the facts of
the event being sanctioned, and
the appropriate level and type of
punishment (Ostrom 1992, 55).
Increase in value of resource
through protection often leads
to conflict between neighboring
villages. Hechter (1987, 150-57)
identifies several strategies that
groups can adopt to increase
effectiveness of monitoring,
including (1) increasing visibility
through architecture and the
creation of public rituals, and (2)
minimizing errors of interpretation
by establishing clear-cut rules and
recruiting participants who share
similar views.
Principles of democratic
management and local governance
ensure equality of members by
meeting the needs of a variety of
people and accommodating sub-
group interests as well as context
specific concerns. It also relies
upon open debate, persuasion,
compromise and thereby guarantees
basic freedom to its members.
Every community institution
is likely to face a situation of
periodic conflict. A certain amount
of conflict is inevitable as the
institutions persuade their members
to forsake some individual benefits
or freedom for a larger, common
goal.
Conflicts as part of the process
of social change could be seen as
a positive element so long as they
do not completely disintegrate
YOJANA February 2011 45
the institutional arrangement and
become a factor for resource
destruction (Nayak 2002).
Resilience Capability of
Institutions
Walker et al. (2002) describes
resilience as capacity of a system to
absorb disturbance and reorganize
while undergoing change so as to
still retain essentially the same
function, structure, identity, and
feedbacks. The flexibility of
an ecosystem is a consequence
of its multiple feedback loops,
which tend to bring the system
back into balance whenever there
is a deviation from the norm,
due to changing environmental
conditions.
A self-sufficient and successful
forest management institution
would not mean creating a closed
system of forest management.
The crafting of an institution
never ends. It is critical for
the institutions to be alive
and resilient to the increased
externalities and complexities
(Pradhan 2006).
Indigenous institutions operate
on the basis of “working rules”,
which provide them flexibility to
be situation specific, and hence
socially relevant (Adams et al.
1997). There are inbuilt mechanisms
which allow flexibility to
accommodate the situation specific
requirements. If an institutional
arrangement is too inflexible to
cope with changing ecological
conditions, it is unlikely to prosper
and ultimately disintegrate. It
is, therefore, important that the
depletion of a particular resource
serves as a signal for change in
management responses. It is not
only the source condition, but also
the changing social and economic
conditions that call for new forms
of adaptation.
The factors of resilience like
institutional structure, rule system,
adaptive mechanisms, broad based
decision making, mechanisms for
accountability and transparency,
resource-user interactions, alliance
building across communities
and stake holders can guide an
institution to perform consistently
over a period of time and thereby
lead to sustainability.
Way Ahead
One of the most important
reasons why the indigenous
institutions work is their social
embeddedness (Aggarwal 2008). It
makes people stick to the rules as
trespassing them means trespassing
the entire social system.
Consensus based ‘selection’ of
management committee members
of an institution in an open general
body meeting may not be fully
representative since traditionally
disadvantaged groups including
women, are commonly too inhibited
to participate fully. A compromise
solution in such cases can be that for
each forest-related interest group,
a representative may be elected by
the respective disadvantaged group
in smaller sub-group meetings.
Such a tradition already exists in
some areas, particularly among
the indigenous forest protection
groups in the Indian states of
Orissa and Bihar.
Very often, the subgroup most
dependent on forests is also in the
lower socio-economic bracket.
The community institution
must be able to ensure equal
representation of the interests
of the most disadvantaged
minorities in negotiating a
partnership with the other side
(forest department). Thus, the
constitution of a representative
and stable community institution
capable of performing its forest
management tasks need to be
facilitated by an empowering and
participatory process.
Community led protection
initiatives often lead to a ‘rippling
effect’ as when a few communities
begin protecting some forests
and closing access to others,
their actions often encourage
neighboring villages to take
responsibility of protecting
adjacent forest tracts (Poffenberger
1996).
Institutions shape human
behaviour through their impact
on incentives. They play a critical
role in sustainable management of
natural resources through defining
property rights. Institutions
promote stability of expectations
ex ante, and consistency in actions,
ex post, from different actors
(Agrawal and Gibson 1999).
Hence, it is increasingly believed
that “getting institutions right” is
as important as and inextricable
from “getting incentives right”, if
46 YOJANA February 2011
sustainable resource development
is to be achieved (Barett et al.
2005).
The concept of incentives
involves more than just financial
rewards and penalties. Incentives
are the positive and negative
changes in outcomes that
individuals perceive as likely
to result from particular actions
taken within a set of working rules,
combined with relevant individual,
physical, and social variables that
also impinge on outcomes.
The last two decades have
witnessed a paradigm shift
in conservation and natural
resource management away from
state-centered control towards
approaches in which local people
play a much more active role
(Shackleton et al. 2002, 1).
Conclusion
We have seen the devolution of
power from state control to tribal
centered laws and policies. In
today’s time, the role of tribals in
natural resource management of
the country is strongly embedded
in policy as well as in action. Such
a scenario demands enhanced
responsibilities on the shoulders
of tribal community of India.
These enhanced responsibilities
are due to varied reasons ranging
from impacts of climate change on
biodiversity, pressure of mining
industry (especially in states like
Orissa), increasing population, etc.
Any uninformed decision taken at
a point, without keeping the larger
scenario under consideration,
may have huge repercussions
for that particular region. Such a
dynamic environment demands
strong democratic and proactive
institutions to ensure equitable
distribution of resources, strong
in-built conflict resolution
mechanisms, and clear mandates
and legitimacy.
It has been observed that in all
the three types of organisations,
whether community-led, state-led,
or NGO-led, a commitment from a
large majority of the community
appears to be strongly correlated
with success. Commitment can be
further supported through positive
reinforcements in the form of
incentives and recognition of
efforts of members. Promoting
incentives in an institution requires
benchmarking of performance
and clear-cut monitoring
mechanisms.
When given clear rights and
responsibilities, forest communities
are proving they can work as allies
with government and NGOs to
establish effective access controls
and install regulated forest-use
systems. At this juncture, when a
lot of decentralization has already
taken place, it is worthwhile to
support institutional network
based on the historic experience of
tribal communities in successfully
managing the forest resource
for centuries. Some amount of
support by NGOs and state forest
departments may be provided,
but limited to facilitation of the
process. q
(E-mail : katariasushant@hotmail.com)
shodh yatra
Solar Mosquito Destroyer
athews K Mathew
M from Kalaketty in
Kottayam district of
Kerala has come up
with a very interesting
device- the solar mosquito trapper
cum destroyer. This device makes
use of the smell from the septic tank
to attract the mosquitoes. Once the
mosquitoes get trapped inside the
device, the heat built up inside as a
result of direct sunlight exposure,
The product has kills them.
many unique Currently, Mathews K Mathew
is the managing partner of the firm,
features which Kine Technologies and Research
India, based at Kanjirapally,
make it universal, Kottayam. Along with his two
partners, his firm is involved in
cost effective and design, production and sale of solar
mosquito destroyer.
a high quality
It is apt that this innovation
solution which has been done in Kottayam as it
is the first town in India selected
can be deployed by the Ministry of Environment
and Forests, Government of India
anywhere to be transformed into an Eco
City.
YOJANA February 2011 47
Genesis of innovation
Mathew had noticed that
mosquitoes often tried to escape
through a glass pane in his room,
mistaking the transparent glass as
open space. He had also noticed
mosquitoes seeking out the moist
and humid waste tank near the
cowshed, entering it through
the cracks in the concrete slab
covering it. Using these facts he
started experimenting with ways
to trap the mosquitoes inside the
tank. He covered the cracks in the
concrete cover with glass painted
with non –transparent material,
leaving a small trapezoid shaped
part of transparent glass to allow
sunlight to entre. He then mounted
a vertical, transparent glass tube
over the trapezoid part, and covered
the mouth with a wooden plank,
leaving a one-inch hole at the centre
for mosquitoes to enter. Attracted
by the smell of gas coming out
of the tank, mosquitoes would
enter through the tube. When they
encountered heat and light at the
trapezoid glass piece they would be
distressed and escape again through
the tube. When Mathew covered
this exit point with a polythene bag,
many mosquitoes got trapped in it
and died.
He then set up the arrangement
as a portable model and installed it
in the tank of a rubber processing
unit. This model had the same holes
and trapezoid transparent patch in
wooden plank (6 inch wide and 40
inch long) was able to trap not only
a large number of mosquitoes but
also of different types. He started
concentrating on septic tanks as
he considered them as the chief
breeding ground of mosquitoes.
For this he had to modify his
design and made use of a 25 liter
non-transparent colored jar with
holes in it. The design had to be
fine tuned over time to improve the
efficiency of the device. He soon
got publicity for his innovation
and filed for patent. Since 2005,
apart from commercializing this
device, he has also built an indoor
version and filed the patent for the The solar mosquito trapper and destroyer
two variants.
Bio-gas from the septic tank collect the dead mosquitoes and
The solar mosquito trapper and flows through the metered gas this total unit can be taken out for
destroyer inlet tube into the base of the emptying and cleaning.
This product is an outdoor unit, housing from one end. This smell The product has many unique
measuring only 25 cm × 20 cm × attracts the mosquitoes, which features which make it universal,
25 cm and weighing 1.5 kg. It is come into the base housing through cost effective and a high quality
installed near septic tanks and traps the circular inlet provided in the solution which can be deployed
and kills mosquitoes at the source base housing. They see the diffused anywhere. It is an eco-friendly
itself, away from the homes. The sunlight coming out of the top dome self-sustaining device, which does
product is placed so as to have and go upwards to investigate the not use any chemical or pesticide
direct sunlight hitting its dome. source. The mosquitoes move to destroy the mosquitoes. Once
up through the trap hole into the installed on site, this unit has no
The basic components of the conical channel to reach the dome running cost or cost of consumable
device include a polymer base shaped roof area, which is actually as applicable in conventional
housing, a transparent dome shaped the solar furnace. With the sunlight mosquito repellants. Also, requiring
“solar furnace” with two side streaming in, the air gets heated up at least 30 minutes of direct sunlight
wings to lead and collect the dead in this dome and mosquitoes try a day (between 11.00 am to 4.00
mosquitoes at the bottom, inner to escape downward into the two pm), this outdoor unit is otherwise
fine mesh layers, a central conical side wings. The greenhouse effect weather independent and requires
channel with trap hole, adapter inside the chamber dehydrates and no maintenance.
system for the biogas inlet tube, finally kills the mosquitoes. The
two wings of the reservoir inside Applications
control valve to calibrate the bio-
gas and bio-gas exhaust tube. the solar furnace are designed to Millions of homes try to manage

48 YOJANA February 2011

the menace of mosquitoes & flies
ineffectively at home, while they
breed and multiply outside near
tanks, drainage and sewage units.
An average mosquito can lay up to
300 eggs and has the ability to lay
thousands in its lifespan. It makes
sense, as far as possible, to trap and
kill them outside.
Most of the indoor units
and devices are partly efficient,
generate toxins such as Allethrin.
For average consumers many of
these indoor units become costly
to own, replenish and operate.
Basic solutions such as mosquito
nets only stop the mosquitoes but
do not kill them and they move to
other rooms. This low-cost, eco-
friendly solution with no running
or consumable cost is a universal
YOJANA February 2011 49
solution killing the pests at source
effectively.
The product costing only Rs.
1400 can be fitted in place of the
cowl at the top of the vent pipes of
all septic tanks.
Partnering with his brother-
in-law, Mathews has taken up
a loan to commercialise the
innovation. His preferred vendor
is the industrial unit-Laxmi Plastic,
located in SIDCO, Coimbatore
who manufactures all the plastic
components and sends them to
their office in Kerala. He has started
production since 2005. He plans to
increase his sales and bring down
the cost below Rs. 1000 to be
able to sell to individuals on mass
scale.
Mathews obtained a patent
for this device in 2000. He has
manufactured and supplied over
250 units under the trade name-
“HAWKER” to private individuals,
institutions, government schools
and hospitals.
Mathews has also developed an
indoor version called “Sleeper trap
for mosquito destruction” for which
the patent was filed in 2007 (483/
CHE/ 2007). It is more of a system
solution with a way of trapping the
mosquitoes and allowing the user
to sleep comfortably. The system
uses the user’s body heat to draw
away the mosquitoes and uses a
fluorescent bulb at top as a source
instead of sunlight. q
(E-mail : campaign@nifindia.org,
www.nifindia.org)
YE-4/11/4
Health
Tips for rural health
mong the
A multifarious problems
that plague rural India,
the problem of health
is perhaps the most
important as it directly affects the
quality of life of people. Even after
so many years of independence
we have not been able to provide
safe drinking water and clean
environment to our people. The
Similarly, efforts bye products of daily life freely
contaminate the water and air
can be made to around us, leaving us vulnerable
improve nutrition and susceptible to infections
and diseases of various kinds.
and immunity
The abysmally poor rural health
through the infrastructure makes the situation
all the more worse. A National Rural
intake of foods Health Mission notwithstanding,
delivery of health services in rural
that provide some India continues to be very poor.
special nutrients While it is absolutely essential
to improve the rural health
infrastructure in the country and
The author is Retd Director (Scientific), Ministry of Environment & Forests, Govt of India
50 YOJANA February 2011
Alternatives
M A Haque
ensure better services, it is equally
important to improve the quality
of life of people, thereby reducing
their vulnerability to diseases.
For example, if safe drinking
water is made available, a number
of infectious diseases can be
controlled. Or if people are provided
better dwelling units, sufferings on
account of cold exposure, sunstroke
etc. can be reduced. Also, malaria,
filaria, elephantiasis, TB etc. can
be controlled through improved
sanitation.
Similarly, efforts can be made
to improve nutrition and immunity
through the intake of foods that
provide some special nutrients.
Let us take a fruit which is both
cultivated and also grows in the
wild - the wood apple. The fruit
is rich in mucilage and tannins,
calcium, potassium, phosphorous,
sodium, Vitamins B and C and
protein. It thus provides good
nutrition, strengthens liver,
heart and stomach. It can relieve
constipation, gives relief from peptic
ulcer and prevents heat-stroke
and dehydration. Consumption
of tender wood apple pulp can
help in controlling dysentery and
diarrhea.
Guava is another tree which
grows almost all over the country.
It is quite affordable, especially
in the rural areas. Guava fruit
is rich in essential minerals like
calcium, copper, iron, phosphorous,
potassium, sulfur and zinc. The fruit
pulp has various vitamins, fatty
acids, flavonoids and saponins,
which can keep our body healthy
and disease free. Guava is rich in
fibres. It can prevent constipation,
dysentery, ulcer etc. and also cancer
of the digestive tract. Guava helps
in controlling high blood pressure
and high cholesterol. One particular
feature of guava which is not well
known is that it is very rich in
Vitamin C. It may contain up to
180 mg of the vitamin per 100 g of
the fruit. Thus, its consumption can
provide resistance and immunity
against a number of common health
related problems, especially during
winters.
Another common fruit is papaya.
Papaya plants can be grown in
almost every part of the country
without much effort. Papaya fruit
can be used unripe as well as ripe.
Unripe fruit has high content of
latex which aids digestion and is
highly recommended for dyspeptic
persons. It also checks unwanted
bacteria in the digestive tract.
YOJANA February 2011 51
Ripe papaya fruit pulp is highly
nutritious. It contains more carotene
than any other fruit. Carotene
content may go up to 2700 micro
gram per 100 g of the pulp. That
is why papaya is a rich source of
Vitamin A. In the rural areas a
large numbers of children go blind
on account of insufficient intake
of Vitamin A. Consumption of
papaya can help fight this scourge.
In addition, Beta carotene provides
protection against cancer. Papaya
pulp is rich in Vitamin C, potassium,
sodium, calcium, iron and proteins.
It makes the body healthy and
disease resistant.
Another tree commonly present
in the forests of the country is the
jackfruit tree. The tree remains
productive for decades. One
tree produces hundreds of fruits
every year. Even young fruits are
harvested and used as vegetable and
also for preparation of pickles, chips
etc. Once ripe the fruit does not
survive for long. Pulp of jackfruit,
ripe or unripe, is highly nutritious.
The unripe fruit is rich in protein,
calcium, phosphorus, iron, Vitamin
C, Riboflavin and Thiamine etc.
Ripe fruit is sweet and carries a
distinct flavor. It is rich in carotene,
carbohydrate, calcium, potassium
and Vitamin C. The seed is rich in
protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron,
carotene, Vitamin C, Riboflavin and
Thiamine. In certain areas the seed
is roasted or cooked as vegetable.
Another common fruit which
grows extensively in the country
is the Black Berry (Jamun). It
is also grown as avenue tree, on
roadside and also close to dwelling
units, especially in villages. Jamun
pulp improves digestion and has
diuretic properties, detoxifying the
system. The pulp is a good source
of Vitamin C, folic acid, carotene
and fibre. It is rich in calcium,
magnesium, potassium, sodium,
iron and phosphorous. Black
Berry seed is extensively used in
Ayurveda, Unani and Homeopathy
to control diabetes.
Gooseberry (Amla) can cure a
variety of nutritional deficiencies.
Fruit pulp protects against anemia,
constipation, cough, asthma,
bronchitis, colic, peptic ulcer,
diarrhea, dysentery etc. It also
helps in case of heart problems,
inflammation and leprosy. It
provides strength to vital organs,
improves eyesight and strengthens
brain. It also has antibiotic
properties. The pulp is extremely
rich in Vitamin C and pectin. Pectin
helps in reducing blood cholesterol.
Tannins in the fruit protect the
Vitamin C from getting denatured
during processing. Gooseberry is an
important ingredient for Ayurvedic
and Unani medicines, hence, a
profitable crop.
Another fruit which is cheap
and nutritious is tamarind. Fruit
pulp is rich in fibres, calcium,
phosphorous, potassium, iron,
Vitamin A and Vitamin C. It
can help in strengthening body
immunity against several day to
day problems.
Lemon is another fruit which
can help in protecting the rural
population against several health
related problems. Lemon is rich
in Vitamin C. But it is not known
to most people that it contains
high concentration of potassium.
Potassium is helpful for people
suffering from heart problems.
Lemon removes toxic substances
from gall bladder and liver.
Fig is another fruit which, though
expensive, is also nutritious. Fig
was discovered in archaeological
remains from 5000 BC. The Bible
mentions fig at 57 places. Qur’an
too mentions the fruit. Fig contains
carbohydrates, proteins, calcium,
phosphorous, potassium, sodium,
Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Niacin,
Riboflavin, Thiamine etc besides
substantial quantity of fibres. Fig
is particularly useful for growing
children and women as it provides
calcium.
Pomegranate is another fruit
which aids the functioning of
kidney and liver. It helps fight
TB. Pomegranate contains large
quantities of Vitamins B1 and B2,
niacin, calcium and phosphorous.
Recent researches show
pomegranate fruit and its juice
helps people with prostate cancer.
Coconut is another nutritious
fruit. Both tender coconut water
and the fruit pulp are useful.
Coconut water is highly nutritious,
good for heart, liver and kidney.
It rehydrates the body with five
essential electrolytes. Coconut
contains monolaurin which is also
present in mother’s milk.
There are various other fruits
like oranges, mango, litchi, apple,
banana etc. which are nutritious.
But, people do not consume them
regularly as part of their daily
food. In past people in the rural
areas consumed unpolished rice,
whole wheat flour, coarse grains
etc. Habits have changed today
and people now consume polished
rice, refined flour (maida) etc. The
result is nutritional deficiencies and
problems like constipation, piles
etc. Similarly, in rural areas and
small towns there was a tradition of
preparing fresh spices by grinding
the ingredients on day to day basis.
Now, packaged ground spices are
replacing them. Such products may
be adulterated, ruining the intrinsic
value of the substance. There is
need to create awareness on these
issues so that people in rural areas
may remain healthy. q
(E-mail:asrarulhaque@hotmail.com)

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