Role of Puthu Vaazhvu Project on Rural Empowerment

Transcription

1 Available online at International Journal of Advanced Scientific Research & Development Vol. 02, Spl. Iss. 02, Ver. II, Aug 2015, pp e-issn: p-issn: Role of Puthu Vaazhvu Project on Rural Empowerment Dr. S. BALAKRISHNAN Assistant Professor, R.V.S. Institute of Management Studies, Karaikal Dr. K. KALIDOSS Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce, A.V.C. College, Mannampandal ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article History: Received: 16 Jul 2015; Accepted: 17 Jul 2015; Published online: 10 Aug Key words: Pudhu Vaazhvu Project, Approaches, Sustainable Livelihoods, Community Driven Development. Pudhu Vaazhvu Project is an empowerment and poverty alleviation project implemented by the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj department of Government of Tamilnadu with World Bank assistance. The project is implemented over a 6 year period extended upto September 2014 at an outlay of Rs 717 crores. The Project covers 2509 village panchayats in 70 Backward Blocks in 16 districts. Though the project was launched in November 2005, effective implementation has commenced only from August 2006.Now with additional financing, the project has expanded its operations to 10 more additional districts covers 1665 VPs in 50 backward blocks till September 2016 with an outlay of Rs.950 crores. In this context, it is a tool to empower the poor by improving their livelihoods and reducing poverty by Developing, strengthening pro-poor local institutions at the village level, Building the skills and capacities of the poor, Enhancing their livelihoods by financing demand driven sub project investments. The present study also attempts to reveal the performance of Pudhu Vaazhvu Project. Copyright 2015 IJASRD. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Common Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. INTRODUCTION Pudu Vazhvu Project is an empowerment and poverty implemented by the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department of Government of Tamil Nadu with World Bank assistance. The objective is to empower the poorest of the poor, the marginalized and the differently able and to promote sustainable livelihoods for them. The project follows the Community Driven Development (CDD) approach and has developed the poor and under privileged into the mainstream development process as well as made them decade, participate, implement and monitor their progress and development. Puthu vaazhvu Project was implemented mainly for the poor people living in rural How to cite this article: Balakrishnan, S., & Kalidoss, K., (2015). Role of Puthu Vaazhvu Project on Rural Empowerment. International Journal of Advanced Scientific Research & Development (IJASRD), 02 (02/II), [Special Issue Aug 2015], pp

2 International Conference on Innovation in Commerce and Management (ICONICM 2015) Organized by Department of Commerce, A.V.C. College (Autonomous), Mannampandal, Mayiladuthurai , Tamil Nadu, India. areas. Initially, it was named as Vaazhnthu Kaativom Project. After that it was renamed as Pudhu Vaazhvu Project. Pudhu Vaazhvu Project is an empowerment and poverty alleviation project implemented by the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj department of Government of Tamil Nadu with World Bank assistance. The project is implemented over a 6 year period extended up to September 2014 at an outlay of Rs 717 crores. The Project covers 2509 village panchayats in 70 Backward Blocks in 16 districts. Though the project was launched in November 2005, effective implementation has commenced only from August It is currently implemented in 26 districts of Tamil Nadu covering 4,174 Village Panchayats in 120 blocks. The Project has developed strong Community Based Organizations (CBOs) which are effective and responsive and play a vital role in building the capacities and skills of the poor facilitate and promote sustainable livelihoods with transparent governance and social accountability. The Pudhu Vaazhvu Project is being implemented under the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department, since It is a World Bank supported project aimed at poverty redection and empowerment among the rural people, this project functions in a participatory manner through the constitution of several primary-level institutions, such as, the Village Poverty Reduction Committee (VPRC), Panchayat Level Federation (PLF), Social Audit Committee (SAC) and Community Professionals Unit (CPU). Through these institutions, the project has been extending services to the target communities by identifying their skills; promoting the development of those skills and helping them develop livelihood options through the formation of Common Livelihood Groups (CLGs). One of the unique programmes initiated under the Pudhu Vaazhvu Project is the Community Professional Learning and Training Centre (CPLTC) also known as the Makkal Katram Maiyyam/Magamai. The CPLTC is an organization that comprises of skilled community professionals from villages, which have distinguished themselves in implementing the Pudhu Vaazhvu project. These professionals have a wealth of on-the-field experience and have come together as a team for serving the community members by offering them training and guidance on a variety of subjects. 1.1 Project Principles All activities of the Project are implemented by adopting key non negotiable principles of the Project. Inclusion of the poorest & disadvantaged - 90% of Project funds for very poor and vulnerable. Equity to the disadvantaged especially women. Participation All decision based on participative processes, involving at least 60% of the target poor. Facilitating Style of functioning by officials and staff. Transparency & Accountability ensured at all stages of Project implementation. 365 Volume 02, Special Issue 02, Version II 10 th & 11 th August 2015

3 Role of Puthu Vaazhvu Project on Rural Empowerment 1.2 Project Objectives Developing, strengthening pro-poor local institutions at the village level. Building the skills and capacities of the poor. Enhancing their livelihoods by financing demand driven sub project investments. 1.3 Pudhu Vaazhvu Project in Nagapattinam District: The project was started in Nagapattinam district in the year The project has been implemented in 182 village panchayats of Kilvelur, Mayiladuthurai, Thirumarugal and Kuthalam Blocks of Nagapattinam district. For the administration purpose these 182 Panchayats have been divided into 14 clusters with panchayats per cluster. 1.4 District Puthuvazhvu Project Executive Members 1. The District Collector Chairman 2. Project Director DRDA Member 3. District Project Manager Pudhu Vaazhvu Project - Member Secretary 4. Project Officer Mahalir Thittam Member 5. Assistant Director (Panchayat) 6. District Social Welfare Officer Member 7. District Differently abled Welfare Officer Member 8. Lead District Manager Member 9. District Manager THADCO Member 10. Principal Government ITIM 11. Representative from PLF (2).M 1.5 Project Processes & Activities 1.6 Social Mobilization Initiation Activities The Project adopts involving Community Driven Development approach involving village communities at every stage of Project implementation. Volume 02, Special Issue 02, Version II 10 th & 11 th August

4 International Conference on Innovation in Commerce and Management (ICONICM 2015) Organized by Department of Commerce, A.V.C. College (Autonomous), Mannampandal, Mayiladuthurai , Tamil Nadu, India. 1. Initial Communication to create awareness about the Project. 2. Identification of target poor by participatory methodology. 3. Grama Sabha approval and release of panchayat initiation fund. 1.7 Participatory Identification of Poor [PIP] Under the project, the target poor are indentified by the community using participatory methodologies and the list is approved by the Grama Sabha. The Participatory identification of the poor (PIP) methodology has proved to be a powerful and transparent tool to identify the poorest and the excluded members of the village. The Village Poverty Reduction Committee (VPRC) is a community organization formed under the project predominantly with the representatives of the target population. Each hamlet of the Panchayat is represented by a women SHG member from the target population. A PLF office bearer, a representative of the differently abled, 2 members from youth is also nominated to VPRC by Grama Sabha. The Village Panchayat is the Ex- Officio Chairperson of the VPRC. In Nagapattinam district there are 182 VPRCs functioning at the village level for the implementation of the project. Each VPRC have been provided fund to implement the activities in their village. The total amount were distributed to VPRCS is lakhs. Table 1 shows the fund details that each blocks received. Table 1: Block wise detail of VPRCS and Amount (As on ) (Rs. in Lakhs) Name of the Block No. of VPRCS Amount Kilvelur Mayiladuthurai Thirumarugal Kuthalam Total Self Help Groups (SHG) The left out target poor, and persons with disability are formed into self-help groups with in a group or 5-10 in the case of persons with disabilities. The members in the SHG are given training, for building their capacities and encouraged to save money. They are then linked to banks, Government Schemes and access funds to start livelihood activities. Sufficient hand holding support is given to the SHGs and is monitored by CSTs (Community SHG trainers) who have been developed by the project. The total number of SHGs are formed It consisting Women SHGs 715, Tribal SHGs 2, Youth SHGs 107 and Differently Abled SHGs 573. Table. 2 depict the blockwise detail. 367 Volume 02, Special Issue 02, Version II 10 th & 11 th August 2015

5 Table 2: SHGs formed through Pudhu Vaazhvu Project Name of the block Women SHG Role of Puthu Vaazhvu Project on Rural Empowerment Tribal SHG Youth SHG Differently Abled SHG Total Kilvelur Mayiladuthurai Thirumarugal Kuthalam Total Seed Money All the SHGs formed under Pudhu Vaazhvu project have been graded after completing 3months by a team consisting of 3 community members and provided seed grant of Rs. 10,000 Rs. 20,000. There are 1395 SHGs were provided Seed Money. The maximum SHGs in Kuthalam block as it is recorded Table 4 shows the detail. Table 3: SHGs Provided Seed Money through Pudhu Vaazhvu Project Name of the block No. of women SHGs received seed money No. of Differently Abled Groups received Seed Money Total Kilvelur Mayiladuthurai Thirumarugal Kuthalam Total Credit Rating and Linkage The SHGs that complete 6 months become eligible for credit rating. Credit rating is a bench marking exercise to grade the group and ascertain its credit worthiness. Regularity of savings, frequency of meetings, proper maintenance of registers, internal loaning and repayment are some of the key parameters for rating of groups. The successfully credit rated SHGs, become eligible for credit linkage. They are given revolving fund through schemes like SGSY, TAHDCO or directly provided loans by banks Revolving Fund After the groups in rural areas pass the first credit rating, Revolving Fund (RF) subsidy of Rs.10,000/- is provided under Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) to facilitate credit linkage with the banks. In addition to the subsidy given by the Government, the Banks provide cash credit upto Rs.60,000/- per group. Volume 02, Special Issue 02, Version II 10 th & 11 th August

6 International Conference on Innovation in Commerce and Management (ICONICM 2015) Organized by Department of Commerce, A.V.C. College (Autonomous), Mannampandal, Mayiladuthurai , Tamil Nadu, India. Table 4: Block-wise Revolving Fund distribution Name of the block No. of SHGs received RF (women, tribal& youth) (Rs. in Lakhs) Amount Kilvelur Mayiladuthurai Thirumarugal Kuthalam Total Table 5: Block-wise Revolving Fund distribution Name of the block No. of Differently Abled SHGs received RF (Rs. in Lakhs) Amount Kilvelur Mayiladuthurai Thirumarugal Kuthalam Total Table 4 and 5 shows that the Revolving Fund distributed to the SHGs. There are 589 women, tribal and youth SHGs were received Rs.348 lakhs and 240 differently abled SHGs were received Rs Revolving Fund Direct Linkage The groups that have received RF and repaid it well are eligible for receiving Direct linkage. SHGs are also helped to receive this Direct Linkage. There are 66 SHGs have received Rs lakhs through direct linkage. Table 7 shows the detail. Table 6: Direct Linkage to SHGs (Rs. in Lakhs) Name of the block No. of SHGs received DL Amount Kilvelur Mayiladuthurai Thirumarugal 2 1 Kuthalam Total Volume 02, Special Issue 02, Version II 10 th & 11 th August 2015

7 Role of Puthu Vaazhvu Project on Rural Empowerment 1.13 Affiliation of SHGS The groups that were existing before the project have been affiliated with the VPRC. Such groups were given training and they are also helped for bank linkages. Totally 4164 SHGs have been affiliated. Among these groups 1953 SHGs received Rs Lakh as Revolving fund, 1503 SHGs received Rs Lakh as Direct linkage, 215 SHGs received Rs Lakh as Economic Assistance Panchayat Level Federation (PLF) The Panchayat Level Federation (PLF) provides a common platform for the SHGs to share their experiences and to voice their problems. The PLF can help to achieve what individual SHGs cannot, by pooling in talent and resources. They can also guide and monitor the functioning of SHGs in a Village Panchayat and also form and train new SHGs. As per the Orders of the Government, PLFs are restructured in all PVP Blocks and Habitation Level Forums, Executive Committees and General Body were formed as like democratic institutions. The restructured PLF were also registered under The Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, Incentive Fund Each PLF is given an incentive fund through Mahalir thittam. So far 121 PLFs have received Rs.121 lakh as incentive fund (Rs. 1 lakh per PLF) 1.16 Bulk Loan The PLF that has received 'Amutha Surabi' fund and utilized in their panchayat has applied for Bulk Loan from bank. The bulk loan is also given for any livelihood activity that will help people to earn. So far 2 PLFs from Kilvelur Block has received Rs Lahs and 3 PLFs from Mayiladuthurai Block has received Rs.184 Lakhs Special Focus on Differently Abled The project has been able to reach the marginalized like the differently abled, vulnerable and tribal and bring them into the mainstream. Apart from assisting disabled SHGs, financial assistance is also provided by the VPRCs to disabled and vulnerable persons individually for starting livelihood activities. Some of the project interventions are Disability assessment, National ID cards, Aids and appliances Self Help groups for the disabled, Medical Care, Vocational skill training, Individual assistance for livelihoods, Economic activity groups, Old age pension, Insurance Scheme Individual Assistance In order to start livelihood activity the differently able and vulnerable people in the village are given loan individually. This assistance is also given for their medical treatment through the project fund Differently Abled people and 5996 individuals were benefited through this plan. Table 8 depict the detail. Volume 02, Special Issue 02, Version II 10 th & 11 th August

8 International Conference on Innovation in Commerce and Management (ICONICM 2015) Organized by Department of Commerce, A.V.C. College (Autonomous), Mannampandal, Mayiladuthurai , Tamil Nadu, India. Table 7: Individual Assistance Name of the block Differently Abled received individual assistance (Rs. in Lakhs) Vulnerable Received individual assistance Kilvelur Mayiladuthurai Thirumarugal Kuthalam Total Benefits for Differently Abled through Convergence: 4002 Differently abled have been provided National ID cards through DDWO Vulnerable have been provided OAP through Revenue department. 591 Diffrently abled have been provided maintenance grant through DDWO. 490 Diffrently abled have been provided Diffrently abled pension through Revenue department Diffrently abled have been provided aids & Appliance through various schemes. 273 Diffrently abled have been covered under NIRMAYA (Insurance) 1.18 Livelihood Promotion To promote the livelihoods of the poor, the project follows specific approaches Skill Training Pudhu Vaazhvu Project has evolved a unique public private partnership model and has taken initiative to impart skill training to youth to improve their employability and link them with reputed corporate and industrial. A youth data base has been created village in each Panchayat. This data base captures those in the age group of years who are unemployed and under employed. Based on this database different kind of skill training is being organized. So far 11,509 youth have been benefited through skill training, among them 11,124 are from target families. From which 10,381 youth are employed. Table 8: Skill Training Name of the block Total No of target HH as per PIP So far covered Kilvelur Mayiladuthurai Thirumarugal Kuthalam District consolidation Volume 02, Special Issue 02, Version II 10 th & 11 th August 2015

9 Role of Puthu Vaazhvu Project on Rural Empowerment 1.20 Primary Production Activities by Individual/Groups The vulnerable and differently able families are assisted by special fund through VPRC to take up livelihood activities of their own choice. In the same way SHG members are encouraged to take up viable livelihood activities through internal loans or through ASF either individual or by groups Common Livelihood Groups (POOCHARAM) PVP advocates the formation of Common Livelihood Groups (CLGs) to aggregate the above small livelihoods for further support services at village level. A group of minimum 10 members doing similar livelihood activities are encouraged to join together to form CLG/Producer group. These CLG members need not be form SHGs. Both men and women are allowed to join the group. 70% of the members should be target poor. Minimum office bearers/sub committees are to be formed to monitor input, production and marketing arrangements Book keeper to be appointed and he/she should maintain the bank account and the minimum registers to analyze the fund flow. The Project assist these CLGs based on their business plan for common infra to run their business effectively. Marketing tie-ups are being made with private and public partnerships for pricing the products by quality in all sectors. Services of CLG's to its Members are Planning for improving business activities, Common procurement of raw materials, Creating infrastructure for storage, processing outputs, commodity movement, Structured training and exposure visits to its members, to improve the quality of products and Convergence services with local governments and line agencies. In Nagapattinam District Pudhu Vaazhvu project have formed 202 CLGs as follows. Table 9 shows the detail. Table 9: Common Livelihood Groups (Poocharam) Name of the block No. of CLGs Dairy Goat Poultry Garments Others Kilvelur Mayiladuthurai Thirumarugal Kuthalam Total Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning As Pudhu Vaazhvu is a community driven development project, there is a quality and processes. Monitoring of quantitative indicators alone will not bring out the outcome results. Hence the project has initiated Baseline survey, Progress and Monitoring Institutional Performance (MIS), Concurrent Process Monitoring, E xternal Process Monitoring, Internal Learning Forums, Mid-term and Impact Evaluation Expected Outcome of the Project At least 20% increase in incremental income against base year for 50% of the target households by end of the project. Volume 02, Special Issue 02, Version II 10 th & 11 th August

10 International Conference on Innovation in Commerce and Management (ICONICM 2015) Organized by Department of Commerce, A.V.C. College (Autonomous), Mannampandal, Mayiladuthurai , Tamil Nadu, India. At least 70% target households have increased their income. At least 80% of CBOs (VPRCs and Federations) have accessed and managed Project funds according to rules and procedures. CONCLUSION Tamil Nadu Government s par-excellence PVP programme is a well-designed initiative as it primarily involves women in the development process. Its strong guidelines and local approach gives the PVP project the potential to change the development landscape of rural Tamil Nadu. To reach that stage however, we noticed certain issues that need to be addressed. We feel it is extremely important to address these issues to strengthen the participation of women in the development process. REFERENCE [1] Tamil Arasu, May-June [2] The Hindu, 1 August [3] Labonne, Julien and Robert Chase Do Community Driven Development Projects Enhance Social Capital? Evidence from the Philippines. The World Bank Policy Research Working Paper [4] Olken, Benjamin A Monitoring Corruption: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Indonesia. Journal of Political Economy, 115(2): [5] Mansuri, Ghazala and Vijaynedra Rao Community Based and Driven Development: A Critical Review. The World Bank Research Observer. [6] Khwaja, Asim I Is increasing community participation always a good thing? Journal of the European Economic Association. April-May 2004, 2(2-3): Volume 02, Special Issue 02, Version II 10 th & 11 th August 2015