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Vol. XXXII

No."

October. 1983

RS.2'

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I

,

Our tasks ahead are by no means, over and there are 'many

problems, chronic in nature, yet to be solved on a priority basis./ . . . .

Poverty is our enemy number one which demands our undivided

attention. Economic growth with social justice has been our watch-

word. There have been positive achievements in this field and a

measure of progress is visible to the naked. eye. In my tours to

vario'us parts of the country I have observed that progress is being

made and the weaker sections, of society are marching forward.

'with co'nfidence about a bette'rfuture fodhemselves. ," .",.. .

-Giani Zail SinghPresident oj India

(From l1Ie Independence Day Message to l1Ie Nalion. August 14, 1983)

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Vol. XXXII

No.1

October, 1983

Asvina-Karlika 19O5

.:;j~

. ' , H u r u k s h l l r a .i'( ,-, jibS " (India's Jour~al of rural development)

Annual Number ' .I -,'

; "

..4,~,,f •

• . . . CONTENTS

t, 'ALLEVIATING RURAL POVERTY ..

, l .BU,T H'OW :? 5 v. K. R. V. Rao

f;..

.~~ .~-~, .'.~;, ';,;['

.. RESTRUCTURING PRIsJS THE

ONLY REMEDY" 8 " ' . .. , .

. N. V. Ratnam

.' , . . I. ,. - ". *",,1 ~

• " REQUIRED ': A PEOPLE-ORIENTED 1. ". • ' .. DEVELOPMENT'SEt-Up: " 3 . '. M; Subramanian

POVERTY ANDSOCIAL'15. . CHANGE P. C. Joshi

. ',f I' " ••• ,,,MAJOR STRUCTURAL CHANGES' 1 9 " .,

. . . . NE~ARY . Balmj Mehta

, NEEDED EFFICIENT PLANNING AND 2

SINCERE EXECUTION' 2 ., D.Tripaih): -."

- ,

POVERTY'AiUVIi\TION IS A. 2 8 ',', MULTI-LEVEL'ENDEAVOUR

, ' " ~

"0 4 . R. Pater

- .~ . . ! ' t-

MASS AWARENESS WILL HELP

ALLEVIATE POvERTY' 40 G . I V . S. Raghavall

. .• t

:

TIME>IS-RIPEFOR FRESH. 36 .." F . . THINKING. , '"P. S';i"ivasall

•

. ORGANISING RURAL POOR

.THE .ONLY ANSWER .•• -1 r' .

48 M. V. Rajasekharan

t.~YRAL J!'IDUSTRIALISATION. WILL GO

.1 ,.' '.' A!:O!:,G WAY .51 : ' v . Vel/kalah." .'

Enquiries regarding

Agencies, etc. :

'if" "

Subscription, Editor

Ratna Juneja

. Business Manager, Publications Divi-

sion, Patiala House, New Delhi-I 10001

Editorial Office : Krishi Bhavan, New

Delhi-llOOOI,

Telc. 384888 & 382406

Editor's Residence: 615920

Note.-The views expressed by the

authors do 'lOt necessarily reflect Ihe

views of the Governmell/. , ,. . . ,.... -;

Assa. Editor

N. N. Sharma

: !. Sub-Editor

S. Manjula

Cover

M. M. Parmar

ColQur Transparency

S. L. GhosaI

J

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sn't it a matter of common concern to note that even after three and a half

'TV'.' ~.' ~!,,!,des of planned development abont half of our population still remains

below;,,'I, .,mlllthe poverty line? It is really depressing to know from the studies done by Planning

Commission and other agencies that the number of poor,.particularly ;rural poor, in~ .' . ,. • . . . ~"- ' ~. ~ . . . . .... • . - .' . ,

the country.has in fact increased oVerthe years, notwithstanding the Government's,,' , .• , _,h .•. . • ..• -

commitment to remove hunger, unemploymentand poverty in the shortest time possible.' . ' . , . . . . . • ' . , ' • . . • - < ' . . , . ' I I .~'-."1

Ironically, the kind of rural poverty'that .we now'have to contend' with in our rural" ,.; •.f' r 1(~>:'.r'Jcr ~,. !/1)

areas isnot'the one associated with 'econoniic'stagnation inherited from the colonial

era but is rather the product of. planned. agrarian change 'of rural development in

independent India. The!'g&p b~tw~;n th~vast; ~~';'i~g' ;"e:ilth '~f the i;w and the.'" " '.". . • . . . ..~.. ~.'.

continuing poverty of the many has been widening and creating new soci:il tensions

and coniIicts in the ;ountryside: I nOI f''''I l' Ql'/O'f '.'. . \ t1 lQ/IH j .

Naturally the question .is : H after :ill these years of planned development

rur al poverty is only spiralling;( a n d IJi"t 'declilung, 'there'in~"'{be 'terious lacunaeI ~ l .. ~~ ',~' '.~'If f ,>~'.~'~"r,,,: .

in not only implementing the programmes 'for the amelioration of the conditions of

the rural poor but also in comprehending the.depth, the needs and the. tasks reqnired " r " - . .. .1f'IT . lO'. ~, •• " • '. "-.• -. ,

for tackling the Pllyerty:syndro~eIL j'l, 'IH lYli

,~so what do we do? Thi~~~a~ th~y ar~"t~~r~ js.no~1 m,!c~"rollmdor adding to

the present progranimes: of deve}opment.,Take, Integrated II Rural Development

.Programme (IRDP) for example. It possesses the required motive power to. .O'r.-"'" "'.r..'- '.r r~ ~.T .- r.-t"'

blaze a meaningful crnsad.e on'rural poverty.' Vet beneath the reports that it is

gathering' momenu:in, the~~is a';'f~iilig' th~t it is veebit slower than we had desired

it to be. This is for :ill interested in the weal.of.the.rural,poor .to stop and think. A". 'AJ..I •.•.:.j(t. '..'...•..,..-'.•.~<I. - "',ii.,

It wiII.ne.v~r ~etoo late to have la.n!'th~r,intrllspective look into its working to know'" " ..

where our thrnst has been weak and where we need to restructure our approach.

o ~ 5IuUtJ, 1I if ' ••.~ t,J••.•.U: / i 15r0

It, is...p~~sely tl!is senso' ofjcllncern.""dl!n~k~ping with the spirit of the

Prime Minister's new 20-Point Programme which rellects her deep concern for the

betterment of the roral poor tbat we rliavev deVl,te,iTthis:"'year;s":AMuai Nrimber , " " , . . r ~ . . . ' '''1 :"\:'/.")l .1

to the theme of "AlIenatIOn of Rur:ilPoverty". Our. effort has been to providea useful forum for exchange of ideas on. how to best tackle this most pressing

r problem of the day. It is for our valued readers to tell us how far we have succ-

eeded in this endeavour of ours.

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A.noted economist and former Union Minister,

":. Allevia ting r u r a l.p'overty; but how?

, . .

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The. author, a notea' economist, •has' himself been in

he midst of formuiaiion of economic' policies ever I, L L,,, : j' •

i'1~e the dawn of planned development is of the opinion

hat ,"while broadly speaking, poverty is the result of

ack of assets and of employment based on these assets

r of employmentT"ijn .wage ba.sis, it is also. necessary~ ...,I. ; " ..." ,.,d." ,. .•.•'

o a sk thether whose who are emp loyed ha ve an y

assets or are in a p;sitio~ 'to take full productive advan-

age of assets if they are given assets," and adds: "In

mY: opinion.tlu; missing link in the programme bf aile_ .

ialion' of porerti is the motivation and skill'of the

oor ,' lvi1 Ose'p overi y is' now b~ing sought to be Temo ved .~' ;,:.'~,;" ~ . .., . ,

He.further. adds: "No, programme of, alleviation ,of

ural poverty ,can be successful and escape leakages; "

orruption, misuse, waste' and ineffective .. delivery

ystem unless.steps are laken to get rural poor organis-

d,':' .. No amounl of spoo'n-feedingby the plethora of

urea"udratic officials who a ; e now swarming' i n ,ti,~I 0,

J'! ,'" ' - • '. ~J '

ural countryside will solve the problem of rural poverty. ,I:,,(t' ,_ ,,'. •

There is. no substitute for organising and direct partici- ., . -ation in an organised manner bY,!he rural poor in the

tiempts' that are being made to solve the problem

f Iheif poverty,"

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I am ,not in.,apositiou,to evaluate the success or,

otherwise . of; these I attempts':. at . alleviating rural;'

poverty. , In. fact.I do not,thiuk there is enough data ,;,

to make. a, proper eva!uati'on; but I thought it ,may ''1

be worthwhile' to point out some, of the conditions for

the ,success of such an effort .. ,If these conditions do not,

get. satisfied, the ..implementation of the anti-poverty programme will,' I am afraid,; fail to achieve its objec-

tive in a lasting or durable manner.

.lv, . J. t " .~. 0' ,I

IT,IS ,NOT NECESSARY 10 recount the history of, eco~

-nomic development in :this country since indepen-.,

dence to prove that while .there has been substantial

economic growth, its"benefits have not extended them-,

selves over the masses of the populatioJ;l with the

result that, the proportion of the population below the

poyerty line, now placed. at Rs. 3,500 per year per

family, Ihas, not gone do~, -and the poor in India

are ,now numbered in terms of many hundreds of .

millions, the

hill of ~hom are to

'be found in the

rural a~eas. It .is, therefore, that .d"'lng the last few

years the Planning Commission has been devising plans

for, making a ,direct attack on poverty ,by' trying to

identify: the poor 'and -tacic!-;;their problems ofpovert:i' "

. _by.giving:them employment-Provision of employ-• , ment for the removaliof.poverty .in the rural areas has

, •. been the keynote, of, the programme of alleviation of

, poverty, lin addition'. to .ideutifying,a given number of

- •families in each'taluk 'who .are 'below the poverty line

and ..directing their' attempts ,at ,giving' employment to

the identified'poor. ',Both ,the, integrated rural deve-'

lopment .progt'ariune.in!its 'new ,form and the national.rural ,employment. programrtle . 'announced 'oy .the"

Prime Minister' are intended as part' of the'strategyfor .removing-lpdverty," J

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URUKSHETRA October, 1983 5

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THE FIRST POINT 1want to make is that while

, broadly speaking, poverty is the result of lack of as-

sets and of employment based on these assets, or of em-

ployment on a wage basis, it is also necessary to ask

whether those who are employed have any assets or

are in a position to take full productive advantage of

assets if they are given assets, or if they are able to

undertake productive efficiency-bascd work if there is

wage employment. In my opinion, the missing link in the programme of alleviation of poverty is the moti-

vation and skill of the poor whose poverty is now being

sought to be removed. Thus, for example, if a

mileh buflalo is given to an agricultural labourer with-

out taking any steps to instruet him in how to look

after the animal and make productive use of it, or pro-

viding facilities for his obtaining fodder and other in-

puts required for feeding the animal, 'or providing

marketing facilities by which the milk that he produces

can be converted into' cash income, all that happens

is that aftcr some time the milch buflalo changeshands, and the agricultural labourer remains as poor

as he was before and some beller equipped person

with more assets adds it to his livestock. This in fact

has been the experience on the field of many schemes

for giving employment to agricultural labourers by

giving them milch cattle for earning their livelihood.

Similarly, with other schemes for increasing producti-

vity in self-employment for rural artisans, the fact.

that we are inclined to forget is that unless we educate

the rural poor and give them literacy and some train-

ing in business discipline and management in produc-

tive skills, mere transfer of assets does not bring about

a lasting solution. Therefore, any scheme for removal

of poverty by providing agricnltural labourers or

rural artisans with better assets can only succeed if

this is preccded or at least accompanied by an attempt

al1evlation j)r6gratllme that is being made for remova1

of poverty by providing cither assets or employment

or both.

THE SECOND MAJOR POINT I would like to

make in connection with tbis programme of reduc- .

ing the rural poverty is to emphasise the need for

modernisation of rural industrial skills. It is no good

thinking that we c~n restore tbe old artisan crafts whichhave declined due to technological change. An ins- .

tance in point would be the state to which the village .

paller has been reduced when he found earthen ves-

sels being replaceJ by plastic vessels which are manu-

factured 'in urban areas. Constantly harping on the

.thesis that rural industrial development must be

based on rural local resources and existing rural

industrial skills, will only perpetuate tbe phenomenon

of our rural poverty. We have to think in terms

of a new industrial strategy by which modern indust-

ries can be split up into various components whichrequires simplc indostri'al skills and have these compo-

nents manufactured in the rural areas by giving the

appropriate training to the artisans in addition to their

traditional skills. I am told for example that a recent

survey conducted in Ahmedabad of 150 small and tiny

industries showed that all these industries could be

transported to the rural areas without any adverse

effect on their efficiency, provided of course, that the

necessary training in education and industrial skills

are imparted to the concerned rural population. I also'

learnt personally when I was in Turnkur recently, talk-

ing to the management staff of the Hindustan MachineTools Unit there that a great deal of their production

is done through ancillaries, but these ancillaries

arc situated on the outskirts of Tumkur Town itself.

I don't see why these ancillaries should be located on

'All that happens is that after some time the milch buffalo changes hands, and the

agricultural labourer remains as poor as he was before and some belter equipped

person with more assets adds it to his livestock,

at educating and imparting of functional skills to them,

and seeing to it that that the assets are used for the purpose for which they are intended, and the necessary

inputs and marketing facilities are provided for con-

verting the; use of the assets into increments in income.

Motivation, education, skills and organisation of the

rural poor, constitute the essential conJitions for

giving success to the frontaI allack that is being made

on rural poverty. It would be worthwhile, therefore,

that while planning anti-poverty programmes of a

direct character or evaluating them 'later, attention is

paid to the extent to which these basic, if not pre-

conditions, are fulfilled. In this connection I would

suggest the integration of the national adult education progranumes and the integrated child and women wel-

fare alld development progr~mmes with the poverty

the outskirts of big ctlles or towns and cannot be

transferred to the interior and provide employment.to

rural artisans who coulJ be given the necessary train-

ing for the purpose. 1also learnt, for example that

one item viz., attaching strap to the watch is done

entirely by women, giving them a good deal of income,

and that required no special skills. Our new indust-,

rial technology of modern production should take the

form of more and more divided production process iOta, '

simpler and simpler. forms and going in for assembly on

a large scale which may be undertaken in urban areas.

I think this whole process of the transfer of ancillary

units and small scale and tiny units of industrial pro-

duction from the metropolitan and urban areas to therural areas is a subject that deserves serious and indepth

study by the Planning Commission an\!. the Ministries

KURUKSHETRA Oc~obe;r, 1983

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f Industries. Such a study could reveal the pre-re-

uirements of transferring modernised industries along

with its culture and discipline to the rural areas and

t the same time solving the problem of rural unem-

loyment and poverty.

Marketing has been found to be Achilles heel of

most programmes of rural development. Here again,

we havc the successful example' of the Anand patternwhere the marketin,? problem has been solved for thou-

ands of small and marginal farmers and agricultural

abourers, who are able to oDtain a decent livelihood

rom animal husbandry and milk, production and where

areas and for inducing the enterprising' and socially

motivated among the urban areas to move into the

rural areas for pr~viding both leadership and employ-

;. mcnt to the rural poor arid the emergence of the new

industrial culture that I would like to see extended to

thc rural India.

,FINALLY, no programme of alleviation of rural

poverty can be successful and escape leakages, cor-.ruption, misuse, waste and. ineffective delivery system

unless steps are taken to get the rural poor organised.

Unless the' rural poor become organised and learn to

a'ct in a disciplined manner, not only by becoming

'Witb other scbemes for-increasing-productivity'in'self-employment for rural- artisans,

the fact tbat we are inclined to forget is that unlesswe educate the mral poor and give

tbem literacy and some training in business discipline and management in productive

skills, mere transfer of assets does not bring about a lasting solution'l;~.- . ,", ',.•-.~--~i-,-.on "

ttention is being paid to the problem' of increasing the

upply of animals without which the spread of milchuffalo or milch cow technique for solving the rural

poverty cannot succeed. I understand the National

Dairv Development programme is noW thinking of 'ex-

ending the Anand pattern to tbe,"oil-s,ed 'fields. J, I

do not see any reason',why'ati in-depth study ,could not

e made to see how far the' Anand pattern' can be trans-

erred to other items of production ~hich are now con-

centrated in the urban areas.

.IWOULD ALSO ,[ WEi-coME';r.the, '~ntrodu~ti6n "of

the new technology by:'which It IS possible" ,toransport' practically' the' entire 'modern' textile 'industry

o the many villages 'with' their unemployed popula-

ion. ArecentsiudvbY a group'oNhinkers'headed

y" Shri Vadilal Lallubhai Mehta "of "A:hniedabad

has advocated a'neW'pattern 'of Amber charkha which

ould transfer" the" 'bulk' of 'the" spinning ",'industry

6 the rural areas/ but', on a':viable~'and)econOinically

ompetitive basis. 'It Is 'ilepity'that 'while we have so

many CSIR 'Institutes. a'rid' Lilbonltories ,'which' deal

mostly with the problems ohribdem'large scalC"indus-

ry and operations; we'lda noFhave a' net-work"of

cientific and technological tesearch .'institutes" whichdeal 'With' the"problems ';of-'small and 'tiny 'sectors" in

ndustry iIi' the .'sPeCial 'Context of theit "being m'ade

ransferable to' the tural areas and the pre-conditions

ecessary to make such a transfer viable and economi-

ally success(ul.. T don't think ,we'can sol~e the(problem

f rural poverty if we thInk in terms'of the dual society

of lJigher technology and' industrial culture hethe

rban areas and' inferior technology .and agricultUral

ulture in the rural areas." We' have' tii 'break"doWn

he dichotomy between' the urban and rural societies

y diminishin.,;.'if noieliiuiriatihg; ,ti;~'ivastdifierenceT ' , " • ~ ~ : . . • . • .

hat exists in living facilities such as water; drainage,

ower, lighting; 'ro';d and'ttimsport etc.'j betWeen urb:m

nd rural areas, 50 as to make it"posslbl,;for the 'enter-

prising, among the rural areas to stay back i n the rural

aware of their own interests but also of the work ethics

and discipline and management techniques that isnecessary for removing their poverty, no amount of

spoon-feeding by the plethora of bureaucratic officials

who 'are now swarming in the rural country-side will

solve the problem of rural poverty. There is no sub-

stitute for organising and direct participation in an

organised manner by the rural poor in the attempts

tIlat are being made to solve the problem of their

poverty. r have a feeling that the Government machi-

nery by itself cannot successfully deal with these pro-

blems. We have to bring in voluntary organisations

and dedicated and socially motivated workers and ins-

titutions into the picture. I see no reason why the

large bulk of educational institutions spread all ovcr

the country from high schools and colleges to techno-

logical institutes, shi'uld not be made to realise that in

addition to imparting of skills to their pupils they also

have a social responsibility towards the hinterland of

the areas where they function. I have long held the

view that the basic reform that we require in educa:-

tion is not merely to confine ourselves to dissemina..J

lOtion'"of'knowledge:':and. sponsorin~ of'''research, \ but

, also. to include, in .,the' .basic, objectives' of', education,

community, service.. not merely in' the form of lecturesor text books,. but in the form of action programmeS by

the educational institutions' concerned as 'part 'of their

.required"work 1The,jdea\may:sound fantastic~and'-.un-

orthodox biJt, in, the peculiar situation we ,find' our-

'selves in Tndia~one liaS to think. in unorthodox terms

and try t';' s~e how pradiClility can be implanted in

'Undrth'odox "thiriking.

" A u 'thai I'~riI '(ryingto point out is that if such 'pro-Igfanirries\o£-!~lIeViat.ion~of r u r a l pdvertvare to' sucCeed,

.manv othe",ccoirditi<ms"rieed't6 'be,'.fulfilled. ' As 'IOIig

"as we"realise that:poverty' is not ,merelv a urbhlem of .employment or of'assets, ,but includes ..the otherthingli

that I have mentjoned and a number of things which I

'have not: iher" is 'hope that we 'will sUeeee(;(in' elimi-

nating rural poverty from our country.

7

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. . . . ' " " '" .'

. "If underdevelopment is the contribution of the western

economists, poverty as a;concept and a basis of develop-ineili 'can be' considEredas a typical Indian contribution

to Jhe develop'me~t'literat~re", says the aut~or.

And adds: "The problem of poverty as a basis jor ex-

cluSive developmental planning is in my' view an exclu-

sive, effort. of. the Indian: economists to highlight the

p~litical sentiments of the pow;; structure. But,. in' the

.process. they.have failed t.o,answer one important ques-

tion. That is, Ifpoverty isto'be the cause of development

. p in the initial yellrs; .-shouldthis be' tackled as a welfare

fwiction of ihe 'Govermnent or shiJuld idle made an

'.T'exclusive develojJlneni 'strategyol the country?' .This

" .ii 'a .m.ajo~~ue~don for;' the pol!c~:;''akers to .answer .,... " . _n.' .. ,. . '.' .• "_. .

.. n o l i . ; : .

6

' 1Restructuring PRIs is

the only remedy N.V. RATNAM

Professor, Indian Institute of M anageme nt, B angal or e

.R UAAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES have been

with us for the past three decades, but, whe-

ther these have become a 'populist slogan aiding the

political powor game. in. a democracy-where every

adult, whether he is poor or rich, unskilled or skilled,

has a vote--is a moot point, The world over deve-

lopm'ent process symbolised economic develop men .

in th e countries. This, in turn meant modernisatio'

and industrialisation, at the expense of rural socie-ties~ at Ieast in the earlier stages of the process.. The

problems and prescription of economic development

in the 20tli century are quite different fro~ those

that had the advantage of industrial revolution in the

18th and 19th centuries, In this century, with no

new world countries awaiting colonisation and the

developed countries' effectively curbing large scale

migration, and technology transfer, the' consump-.

tion needs of several cloistered countries are to be

matched with' the initial sacrifices required of the

people to investment in'. the future of the country.Simultaneously, . the increasing aspirations of. the

.present generation had to be kept alive in spite . of

. the population swelling alarmingly, outstripping any

gains of the development in the early stages.

, The, development .process has constrained growth of

the rural incomes to. keep pace with the productivity

gains of the agriculture' in the short run for two .re

sons.' Firstly, the. economic process as was defined;

treated agriculture. as a growth promoting sector ready

to' make all"'sacrifices and generate surplus resourceS

fot investment in the urban centres to prom'Ote indus-trialisation. Tn addition, it has also to provide the

requisite .skilled manpower'to absorb those very inc

vestments. in- .the urban sector. However, to- meet

this new challenge of agriculture, . the industry itself

c.KURUKSHETRA .October 1983" . '- - : '_.~ , . -' - . . -' . -

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not in a position to make any contribution illre-

n, at least in the earlier stages, for improving

quality of the people and bring the secondary

efits of industrialisation to the countryside. The

velopment literature the world over has indieated

t the rural areas are to generate surpluses and it

urban industry that benefits in the initial stages.

ondly, the consumption needs of the rural areas

mselves are bound ,to get second priority in , theerall context of developmental needs' of the co"n-

due ,to priorities of industrialisation.

This process, therefore, accentuates the absolute

verty in the rural areas among ,the, agricultural

our vis-a-vis the land owning class and also the re-

ve rural poverty in general compared to the ur1;lan

nomy. lt is this dilemma, in my view, that has

moted a specific eoncept like rural development

rt f~om the general strategies for economic deve-

ment pursued in the traditional societies. We

~ede that the methodology or strategy of ruralelopment pursued the world over has never been

same but reflected the political will of the socie-

superimposed on the agricultural resources posi-

in the rural. areas. However, the success or

ure of the programme in a democraticpolitieal

cess ultimately depends upon whether the political

ership keeps the priorities of rural developmentight. .

f underdevelopment 'is the ,contribution of the

stern economists, poverty as a concept and a

s of development can be considered as a typicalan contributi(jn ,to the development literature.

erly in this, context, is strictly defined in terms

consumerism.

n a closed society these two are strictly the two

s of the same coin. Schedultz had integrated these

lines of thought and proposed the production

ntation with the consnmerism in the developing

nomies and had come up with the concept of

question. That is, if 'povertyis'to be the cause of

development in the initial years, sho"uld' this lie

tackled as a welfare function of the goverurnent or

sh(juld it be made an exclusive development strategy

of the country? This is a major question for the policy-makers to answer now.

I NTHE FIRST PLAN ITSELF, the problems of employ-

ment and the strategy for development have heenclearly laid out 'when the First Five Year Plan cate-

gorised the problems of income distribution through

employment in two parts ;

(a) need to make the maximum USe of idle'

labour for the purpose of production. This is in-

terpreted as effectively mobilising all available

labour resources at minimum social cost, and

(b) increasing the productivity of labour so that

large employment, can be provided at 'rising levelsof rural income.

The First Plan had warned that' both these aspects

may be apparently contradictory in the early stages

of development because, in promoting higher levels

of employment, it is necessary to see that the newly

mobilised labour is able to raise total physical, output

without creating excessive pressure of money incomes

, On available supplies, i.e., at a minimum social cost.

This is possible when the 'real incomes of rillal labour

are cons.trainednot to overrun the net incremental

(value of) production in the economy, i.e., the wages

for the new labour force should be less than marginal

value product of labour whicli is itself near zero ina labour-surplus rural economy like India.

The pragmatism evident in the First Plan has some- '

how given way to populist policies of employment

and income without reference ,to productivitY during'-the Sixth Plan' under IRDP.

The country has seen 'a turning point each

decade in the development strategy starting with,

the technology-oriented production programmes in

'The problem of poverty, as ,a basis for exclusive developmental planniug is, in my

view, an exclusive effort of tbe Indian economists to higWight the political senti-ments of the power structure. But, in the process they have failed to answer one

important question. That is, if poverty is to be the cause of development in the initial

years, should this be tackled as a welfare function of the governmeut or should it be

made an exclusive developmeut strategy of the couotry? This is a major questionfor lbe policy-makers to answer now'

lity of people'" to underline the productivity aua'

c services as priority for technology assimilation

e developing societies.

HE PROBLEM of poverty" as a basis for exclusive

developmental planning is, in my view, an exclu-

effort of the Indian economists to highlight theical sentiments of the power structure, But, in

process they have failed to answer, one important

UKSHETRA October, -1983

the high" pay-off 'agricultural areas such 'ais

irrigated areas 'leading' to an employment

oriented 'agricultural 'enterprise. The"" approach'

later on, ln the seventies, took a turn t o the back:'

ward areas and' the weaker sections. The underlying philosophy is that the'technological dev~lopmeut in

the progressive' agricultural districts has' come to a

take~off stage without,' i t perceptible ' "trickle' aown"

9 .J.

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e~ect,,~l}<!!hatJ\le0b't~k1'!~!<!J,egion~"aI]<!,the spec.ific, Iw~ak'triEell!¥J.I.1\~in)~~:rrr'}Ljlf~as I,1e,ed)o:pe",giv~n ,)

a ~po~t'."~-'j;f -. -

EMPLOYMENTgeneration primarily-as a relief mea-

,'sure, has been a recurrent theme in the, p~st three

decades as a part of the' beneficiary-oriented pro-

gra(llm,es.;n rural ,.dev,elopll).ent,.This •.was.,particularly,

so . in. times of Jlat_ur~l disasters s.u~has. sev.ere. droughts .•.in the, djfferen,t,parts lof .the ,country..••However, ,the:.

rur,al,,)"orks:prograj11me,l,and,hiter ,on the Drought,

Prone Areas Programme (DI'AP) ,have' given it a

production, twist by, insistiqg .0; , crea~ing qurabie

assets while generating employment in the rural areas.".' .. r 1 ,I' j. .'. '" ,', j -, -. .

The .Integrated Rural Development,,that was launched c O ,I ,.".' "

in' the beginning of the, Sixth" Plan, period anyway

tried to' simi /upand integraU; these various aspects

of emphasi8ing production' technology and infrastruc-

ture," Employment .. for "the . ,unempl~yed and_the

at about ,Rs. )41.29 crores ,out of a totaLState plan,

outlaY,,?f ,~s'lJ99.75crores, for 'the year 1983-84.

This 'J.1leaIjsthat .the ,cxpel}diture in each district o,n

the district ,plan component is roughly about Rs.. 7, '

crores per year. However, the district sub-plans covering

thc discretionary outlays of only, 3.75 per cent are to

be . drawn at the districUevel. while .the, rest is all

handed down asearma~k,ed outlay"for the districts.

The reason for. this state of affairs in terms of rural

development, has been admirably' sunnned up in a

recent workshop ,on DistriCt Planning' at Bangalore"

(21-23 July,jI983). The workshop has identified'

that, "there appears to be an organisational vacuum

in the Karnat~ka District Planning set up". it fur-

ther adds that the "line, bureaucracies of State head-

qU"!ter~ ,,,have, effec!iye1ythwarted the growth and

establishment"of ~ horizontal decision-making body

which ,can alter or arqend'departmental plan .

'TItefuuetioning of the IRDP. iu the last 4 yea~~bas ~le~~ly' btougbi'o~i'ihe c~ntra- 'dieti"oDsof ~'de~e,t'opm,'e,n,,t pr,o!:':,.ammemerged uiio ~n antl"povertyp~ograinrneof the

I) < t. <. '; \.,' ~ • < i '

Governmentof India while the original intentionsof theIRDP. were the otbcr way, ,~ •. • , '. ' • t >

ronnd.' .. ; ':"

tlRa~'ai:ri~f"li~t!1laY~.& :P : pas':M~nagement of Rural Develop-ment., A StudY.,of-"the Orgamsauonal Structure for Manage-ment of DPAIJ':. A report spo~ored aD:d.financed by Ministryof Rural De~e1opment, Govt. of. India, Indian Institute of Manageme!1t,,Bangalore (.1976) (Mirneo) ..

W,.ITH'tHE INSTANCE,of the new lRDP on subsidies

for loans, from, the .banking system, the bank,

appraisal has substituted the district plauning as an'

area developmert concept. The. DRDS, have eveu

obhgmgly,.placel:t advanced subsidies to be adjusted

all :these il1ustr~te the contradiction~the pulls and

pressures-inherent in a situation where the State'

is preflared to go some extent towards decentralisation

but"not far enough,-to devolVe all planning.functions

to the local lev.el". '

. T}1edi~,lfjctpl'!J)!]ing!,i1,1,\I'e,po~ntryJ~~s.emp~'!~isec!,.\t

mt",4Igc;p!n,\ajy fPPro~~h tq ,t~;k1~ the,probleW's.,pf "

ru~at~(~~~~.'op~~n~t? Y . . i~e!lt}fxipgh~i?tri~~w~~~i~v~~t,:,.,.J

m'ent!/pportullHl~~tm rur'!1 areas,.and prompting .the ,

age':,cies).ike DistrieL.Rural c Development. Societie~,(D~S!_to tak~'lvet the plaIJ.ning::~n.'t,g1oi;itoringo~"econo~c r~CtlYltle~ III a. graq~a);~~laI;1.ner~_.,_"The "State

of .Kar,lW,!!<a,has identified,tJi~~iS~clS.,,~ectoroutlays

wcaker segments or'the rural 'society' has 'b~en sub-

sumed in the production objective in the scheme of

things. as envisaged in the Interim report ofthe work-

ing group on IRDP,. " ': ~

,As,a memb~r ~f ,the..working group,.,on.IRDP, ,,in1978,: this writer" had the"privileg~, of 'assisting in Wc must emphasise that the' problems of rur

prppar\qg the:,dr'\ft; Inter\~ repp~t of the working development. planning in many, other States aregroup which)ried to integra!ethe ,area,!Ievelopment worse than the situation in Kamataka.' ,The problems

progra~mes with ,the SFDA to provide a judicious encountered in the district planning mcntioned above

mix 'of' public "and private investments in terms of are due to ,Ia.ck of ,emphasis on strengthening the

rural' infrastruct~'~e and beneficiary-oriented economic institutions at the, panchayat raj level both finaucially

programmes. However, the IRDP had finally' emerg-' and, organizationally." FOLinstance" we have recom-

ed as a subsidy-oriented credit programme' effective- mended, creation. O ! DRDS, as a managemen! organi-

ly,.!lifting the planning responsibility to the nationa- sation for, watershed management, under !he control

lised,blU1ks.-The.~ewly constituted Distriet Rural of the.zila~arishads.\ We have advocated lateral co-

Development,Societies have been entrusted' with- an ordin~tion, between',development departments in the

easy task of providing subsidies to' the banks' to district. along with, a strong,planning-cum-moni[oring

finance 600 families,in a limited, cluster of villages ,iri '.L .cell]manned: by, senior district ~.1evel • officers under

the name of an anti-poverty .programme:;'.The"1unc- '0 • •• DRD~.T ,Insteag, Lwhat _~e see .1'0W all overlhe

tioning of the IRDP.in thedast .4 years--has.cleady'" country,is,:another, .organiza,tion.with no powers of

brought <Jutthe contradictions of a development pro- "d. effectiv".\,cpordin'ltionJ'!!ld:with no area planning and

gramme merged into .an 'anti-poverty programme' of '0' momt!,rJ11g,eell. j,What. we have now is the old wine

the Government of'India"while.:tbe origmal intentions'" . ill a .new,bottlei!,

,of the IRDP were the o,ther way around.

10 .

"

KUlU1KSJ;I.E;,TRA'October ,1983

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gramme with ail economic objective wherein the

matching investment on infrastructure is aSifn!iortmt

as individual beneficiary prograIhIhe. This emphasis

which was the strength of the DPAP and CAP prO-

grammes has been forgotten in the process.

The new IRDP with t he tWIst in the name Df

abolishing pDverty, has only brDught into. the field a

neW versiDn of the SFDA/MFAL which had lost their

f1avDurtDwards the end Df 1970's. This planning stra-

tegy fDllDWedby the urban elite has resulted in a struc-

ture convenient to. the bureaucracy wherein the

DRDS and ,the Dther state machinery in the dis-

trict have Dnly to. dole out the money in the name Df

poverty programmes, and shift the blame to. ,the

nationalised banks. In the process the grass-root level

Panchayati Raj institutions 'and the rural poor them-

selves are cl"arlyforgotlen.

MATTERSDF RURALDEVELo.PMENTadministratiDn

and planning are at present geared to. the pDlitical

exigencies and party politics rather than giving priori-'

ties to the needs Df the rural areas at the local

level. This would be so. as long as the decentralised

planning and the implementatiDn of the prDgrammes

closer to the grass'root level dDes nDt materialise. This,

in my view can never become a reality as Io.ng as the

Panchayati Raj institutions continue to. live Dn the

grants-in-aid etc., conferred by the State and the

centre as "earmarked expenditure". This will be the

case as IDng as the State level bureaucracy in a cadri-

sed framewDrk operates at. the Panchayati Raj iustitu-

tions. This vicious circle, in my view, can be brokennp only when the political leadership decides to. streng-

then and prDvide a StatutDry guarantee o.f a Third

Level Government administratiDn for the Panchayati

Raj administration to take care of social develop-

ments and watershed planning at the Block and dis-

trict levels respectively converging on a viable Rural

Panchayat at the village level? This. shDuid pro.-

mote a programme of providing bread with dignity.

(In this context ... the more emphasis on poverty CDn-

notes a philanthrDpic/recipients relationship which is

'In otber w~rds, we are trying 't~mix the priorities of the rural development in thename of tackling rural poverty and confuse the welfare objective of consmnption-

oriented programme with aa econOlnicprogramme. Without adeqnate infrastructure

development to support these economic activities, all such activities remained nothing

mOre than money-changing propositions.' . '

gainst bankable prDposal" fulfilling the cluster con-

C'fpt and cDnting from within the 600 weaker families

dentified in each block.

An analysis of the state of things in Karnatilka has

evealed that cDntrary to the .expectations . of even

mitjgating the suffering Dfthe rural poor, the IRDP

'lid the cluster appro!lch had augmented once. again

he Commercial Banks deposits through the liquid

ash accumulations of DRDS. . The total investiblelan. resDurces with 19 DRDSs in Karnataka

tate amDunt to. Rs. 18.10 crDres during 1981-82.

But the expenditure during this year was Duly arDund

15per cent! This is due to' the lack Df a) coordinating.

uthority between the departmental hierarchies and

he. ;Taluk Development Boards, and b) a planning.

ell Df its Dwn to do. the area planning exercise Dn

watershed basis. While .these rural development

unds 'are meant for the uplift Df the rural poor, at

ny time 2/3rd of the DRDS liquid resources are in

ank depDsits. This ShDWSthat the organisation and

management Df the IRD structure is more tuned to.'

enefit the public finance institutions instead Df theural poor. .

The reDrientation of the IRD programme in tenns

f the rural. poor amDng the weaker sectiDns in the

ural areas exclusively, that too. concentrating Dn a

luster approach, has dearly brought out the so-called

frontal attack" on rural poverty in the Sixth Plan.

owever, the constitutiDn of DRDS and the empha-

Dn rural poor have taken a comical twist in

he sense that the IRD in the present cDntext Dnly

eans giving subsidies and money for the individualeneficiaries to. meet the requirements Df viability as

cDndition fDr obtaiuing the bank loans! In other

Drds,. we. are trying to. mix the priorities Df the

ural develDpment in the name of tackling rural

overty and cDnfuse the welfare Dbjective of COilsump-

on-oriented prDgramme with an economic programme.

ithOut adequate infrastructure develDpment to.

upport these eCDnomic activities; all such activities

mained nDthing mDre than mDney-changing

opositiDns.

HE RESULTof this distortion'is seen in tlie dis- always counter-productive in terms of promoting

appointingiy taU clairils rtiad6 thili when once the a rural economy which can integrate'Dn its o.wn terms

ster is chosen for iiiiplefuelitiilg the IRD programme with the' industrial urban elite.)

th Rs. 8 lakhs subsidy per year, poverty is banished It is therefore necessary that we have to.imprDve the

m this cluster in three years and we are on the ',' operational management of the rural Panchayati Rajrch to. banish it frDm the other clusters in the dis- . ~ __

et? It is, indeed comical because 'of a confusion of 2Ra;tnam, Nittall1'V ~ B Bhask.ar Rao, ''The Management of e consumption' obJoective of poverty relawd prt""l- SOCial Development In Rural Areas", Newman Group' New

~ ))elhi. (1983). •

1 ' 1

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institutions' imd hand over the resources for a produC-

tion programme at the district and block levels. Simult-

aneously the goverument should take up directly the

welfare-oriented poverty programmes such as the em-

ployment guarantee schemes, food subsidies .and in-

.creased matching grants for providing social ameni-

ties .like health and education ifi partnership with the

Panchayati Raj institutions at the block level.

TH E empio~ent guarantee. scheme has the poeilt

. '. tial of combining the production-ori~nted deve-_

lopment programmes with the employment orientation

designed to give a ntinimum family income for the

i;,ir,al!P?"~' However,for this allocating some grants

per districts is not enough. It should be combined

Wiiha rigorousinterdiscij>linary (watershed) platming

hampered rural industrialization.

Effective bifurcation of the political and bureaucratic

administration between the State and the Panchayati

Raj system. TwO parallel developments ~ve taken

piace in the states during the last two decades which

hav" rendered Panchayati Raj se~.up ineffective and

. whiiher away in despair. Firstly, .the tendency to

centralise. the affairs at the State level. The 'state

political leadership hi!! cOmpletely done away with

the elected leadership in. the Panchayati Raj insti-.o,

tutions. Secondly, the process of. cadrisation of.

Panchayati Raj employees and even the rural areas

have. done. away with the concept of community

,workers and employees . that can 'understand the

aspirations pf .the local' people. With the staff

, .

",

. 'This pl~ing strategy followed by the orban elite bas resulted' in a structure cone

vemenfto tbe bureaucracy wherein the DRDS aIid .the otber state machinery in'tbe

district'have only to dole ont the moneyin the name of povertyprogrammes, and shiftthe blame to the nationalised.banks. In the process the grass-root level Panchayati

Raj institutions and the rural poor tbemselves are clearly forgotten.'

a-rid Inonitoring machinery to provide a cafetaria of

I&al .projects tbat do not sacrifice the incremental

p'roductivity coricept.' For thiS to cocur, effective de-

centraiisation of rural' development function under the

following institutional reforms at tbe district level.and

beiowisUnperative.

: 1 . Augmenting tbe financial autonomy and statutory.powers of taxation and revenue sharing to upgrade

tbe quality of adntinistraoon at Panchayati Raj Level.

. For 'example, in moststa!es, the governments

have conceded the entire land revenues as grants-in-

_aid to Panchayati Raj institutions. But, still they

: .are unwilling to concede the land revenue adminis-

'.' •.tration at the village and block levels to the Pan-

'. 'chayati Raj .system. Left to the Panchayati Raj

. instituti6n, the land revenue can be made ei:juitable

.at the distiiC'tleveland reduce the uncertainties in-

volved in teriIM~ of selective rentissions .resorted to

by the state adrnilli~lration and political leadership

on an ad hoc basis. In 'addition, this measure could

pave the way for building up 'adequate infrastruct)lre. "", .....•,••''',.:j.'.,•.".

to promote rural industrialisation. At present;,.

rural investments in terms of the health, educa-

tion and social. services and amenities have grie-

'.vously suffered because of the lack of linkage bet-

'ween the' resource mobilization and resource use

even in agriculturally prosperous districts. This has

cadres integrated into State bureaucracy, the limi-

ted autonomy and initiative for action has become

a myth. This can be corrected by reversing these

trends. A ray .of hope in this regard is the pro-

gressive Panchayati Raj legislation envisaged in

.Karnataka . to induct elected representation on .

again and to hand over all the class ill and Class

IV employees in the districts to the Panchayati Rajinstitutions. In my view, they also 'should cede

the officer cadres at least under Class II and junior

Class I in the districts ,to the Panchayati Raj insti-

tutions.

3 Constitutional guarantee of the third level Govern-

ment for Panchayati Raj system responsible for local

development is strongly advocated to effectively

safeguard the leaderShip from the changing vicissi-

tudes of the politlcaI leadership at the State. In

my view, the forthright and illuntinating constitutional

provision in the matter of taking over the State

adminjstration by the Centre should be extended

".to the' relationship between the State Government

'and the Panchayati Raj structure. Otherwise in a

democracy-based adult franchise, the temptations of

the State political leadership are great when the

rural development can be made a political slogan

at .the top withont allowing it to strike root as

development programme in the rural areas.

KURUKSHBTRA Octolier, 1983

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~.

" .

Requir~d :a people-oriented

development set~upM,SUB~

Additional Secretary, Union Ministry of Rural Developmen-t

•

As one closely involved in the drafting and implementing

of .the programmes of rural development, the author

s justifiably proud of the achievements made though

agrees' that this "progress is not achieved without prob-

ems. Gains of development have not yet reached every

amily in rural India. There are' still large numbers

of rural poor and landless labour for whom there' is

need for greater effort in terms of creating employ-

ment opportunities and providing assistance in econ~mic

generation for crossing the poverty line."

And adds: "The provision of social and economic

ervice to rural India is a task of tremendous magni-

ude. With its' limited resources, the administrative

system has in many ways been able to provide the rural

com mu nity with assistance under various programmes.

However, the emerging challenges that rural India'

s facing will call for a more effective and efficient

delivery system for rural services".

KURUKSHE~ Qcto~er;1983

THE RACE OF RURAL INDIA is certainly changing.

fast. At heart, however, rural India ~emainSthe.

same. India's villages have benefited in the last 36

years since independence from the efforts.,made "to

improve living conditions, to provide minlmum nee.ds

aild to increase productivity and .employment. .In

teims of living conditions, more villages have. been

connected with all-weather roads. The provision of

drinking water in each village' has been accorded. the

highest priority. Basic needs of education and healthare being taken care of under massive programmes

which cover practically every village of the count;y:

In recognising the winds of change that have. over:

taken rural India, meniion must also be made o f .the technological progresS in the field of agriculture

and irrigation that hal' made it possible for us to 'h e :come self-sufficient in food. . .' .. ,

Rural India can. thus be justifiably proud of its

new face but progress is not achieved without prolr

lems. The gains of development have not. yet reached

every family in rural India. There .are still a largenumber of rural poor and landless labour for whom

there is need for greater effort in terms of creating

employment opportunities and' providing assistance in

income generation for crossing the poverty line. The

provisionof social and economic services to" rural

India is a task of tremendous magnitude. .With its

limited resources, the administrative system has in

many ways been able to provide the rural commuirity

with assistance under various programmes. However,

the emerging challenges that rural India is facing will

call for a more effective and efficient delivery system

for rural services. ~,'

It is relevant to recall here the emphasis laid by'

late Prime Minister JawaharlaFNehru oli' tJi~ involve"

13

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mentof the community in rural development. Deve-

lopment is not a process which can be brought about

by governmental action alone. It is the rural com-

munity th'at can transform itself with necessary gov-

ernment support. It was thus appropriate that the

focus in the rural India of the 1950s was on com-

munity development programmes. In the 60s, the

concept of community participation was transformed

into one of the people's participation through the Pan-chayati kaj system. With the advent of the Green

Revolution, however, the emphasis shifted towards

greater productivity in agriculture. The framework

that was advocated in the early days after indepen-

dence for mobilising the support and participation of

the people remained to be vitalised. More recently,

however, the need for special attention to those fami-

lies in 'the rural areas who are assctless and who live

below the poverty line has been recognised. Equally

4nportant is the need, for, creating additional employ-

ment Oppoltunities and income generating activitiesin the rural areas. This concern for the alleviation

of poverty has been reflected in the introduction of

tlte Integrated Rurl!! Development Progra~e (IRDP)

and the Nwtional ,Rural Employment Programme

(NRBP). The inclusion of a large number ,of pro-

grammes relating to rural development in the new

20-Point Programme reflects the growing concern for

accelerating ilie process of social 'and economic change

in: rural India.

S OMB OF THE CHANGBS

tltat are being broughtabout under tlte new programmes have tremen-

dous socio-economic significance for rural India,

though this is not always perceived. The, obligation

cast on the banking system ,to provide credit support

for income-generating activities under the IRDP has

converted these security-oriented lending institutions

into development banks for rural India. The crea-

tion of durable community assets has been made tlle

principal objective of rural employment programmes'

so that, the workers perceive themselves as contributors

to area <!evelopmimt instead of mere wage-earners.

ported by appropriate productive and remunerative

labour-oriented technologies.

IF VILLAGE development is to enable rural citizens to

learn self-government, the plll1chayati raj system'

needs to be strengthened. Suggestions iliat development

of panchayati raj institutions should have a constitu-

,tional basis merit careful consideration. It follows tltat

the quality of political leadership at tlte grass root level

will be a major factor in rural development. Know-

ledge and skills and reorientation are also needed for'

those who will exercise power under democratic decen-

tralisation. There is a need for setting up trainin\;

institutions that will cater to the needs of these non-

officials who are deeply involved 'and in many ways

responsible for development in rural areas.

Inadequate awareness of development programmes

is partly responsible for lack of community participa-

tion. Procedural delays and tlte scope for malpractices

at the field level tend to keep citizens away from

greater involvement in community development. A

greater openess iri the system will be possible if gram

sabhas are made effective instruments' of community

decision-making by consensus. More effective com-

munication will also ,have to be developed through

functional literacy programmes and by giving the

media a greater rural bias.

In a sense, we are at the crossroads. We have come

a long way, but still have miles to go. Whether we

can chang~ the face of rural India so as to reduce

poverty and improve tlte quality of life depends very ~

much on how we manage rural development pro-

grammes in the coming years. In my view, 'this

would call for a new approach to development adminis-

tration in the rural areas. Firstly tlte time has come for

us to take a hard look at the present structure of block

and district 'administratio'n and take necessary steps 'to

restructure and re-orient th~ administrative ,apparatus

that is entrusted with the delivery system for social'and

economic services. NQ comprehensive analysis of' tJie

administration of development programmes has be<;n

undertaken in recent years. With tlte introduction 'of

'In recognising the winds of change that havecovertaken rural India, mention most

also be made of tbe technological progress in:the field of agriculture and Irrigation

that bas made it possible for os to become self-snfficient.in food.'

The concept of 'gram swara)' advocated by Mahatma

Gandhi" is still the foundation of these development

strategies. 'Creation of irrigation sources, reclamation

of. wasteland, sOCialforestry and other activities are

meant to be 'so planned as to restore the ecological

b~ance and to, meet the energy and consumption

needs of the villages from the development of localresources. New technologies are making, rainfed

agriculture productive for small and marginal farmers

as, well. ,Rural India can sustain itself only with a

baiimced groWth of fal1!' and non-farm activities s!lP'

14

District Rural Development Agencies as the 'principal

instruments for administering poverty alleviation. pro-

grammes, there is an urgent need for a re-definition of

the respective roles of various official 'and ncin-offtcial '

agencies entrusted with development 'tasks at tlte block"

and district level. Secondly" management of. rural

development has to be as professional as tlte manag~-

nient, of the industrial sector. The need for formin.g

appropriate cadres and trainiIig and motivating theill

for effeCtivelyimplcmeritingrural development projeeis, ' (Conld. onp. 27)

:KURUKSHETRA Octo1>er,1983

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~.~'l .'t'

;~' ,J,:,,~I ],.{; . 'lit. r

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Director, Institute of Economic Growt14 Delhi, ", • p

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THi'\!odIAL "s H u A T Io N 'in 'many Asia;" cOU11tries

:I.'iiiCiudirig:'InCila 'is m~tk&!. by a 'great paradox.

While the question of 'poverty llas acquired politicali!J1P~rtance ~nd l~gitiniacy" the poor themselves .are

stilUa.r from ,:becQrning (ully articulate and from

emerging as a social force i.e. as an agent of social

change: , There is still a vas! hiatns between politici-

sa~on ,o f the.issue of poverty an,d the politicisation of

tIie poor., The issne of mass P9verty is frequently nsed

by,o~e s~ctionpf 'uie political ~li!e for ,a~ indictmel)t of

the, ,9th~r sec\ion.s,,'YithOl:ittnepqor ,themselves beingmobilised to protest or rise against their own depriva-

U.. ' '. ..' .,

tio~.~t .... ~.' . \,'.'.What explain~' this .lag between the, vast mobilising

p~tenti~l of poverty ~nd the lack' of realisation of this

potential: for soci~l, and political. change? What ex-

plaips th.!' elllergenc~ of the, politics of poverty as au

jssu~"of .po~er~truggle witltin the political elite with"

out the involVement of the poor. them5;'lves in the

,', , '"", ' • '. .'.. ."",.,', h, struggle against the forces perpetuatm.g"lhe socio-The author, an emment SOCial SClentlst, IS piqued to economic basis of. poverty,? One must first seek the

• . . . .- .~. - - .. , . . ' . - - ,-. . '

note that in our country" While the question of poverty . reasons for it in, the ,nature 9.f .c,o.nt~mporary politics

has acquired politi4al ~iff/po;t~ce , a n d _ jJ g iif u ;a ~ j;• . . .ih~'.I~,'.1wi~~~~;.I~!p'~ ' f h 1 sIl~'3~i~xtlL )s :e~t~'~~elyrelevant to .pdor themselvesa;~ s till fa~.'j~~mb e c o '~ i '; g Y u ll y ~rii;~!"..~~~r~~~a.t~~!},~i~~J~H : ~ e Jf~,~~,::~V~~~:th~ political.e~te

, , .' .:' " : ' ,,1., suffers from, a strange amblviilence as reflected 1U Itsculate and from emergmg as a sOClalforce l.e~.as.an'f, ,:l,)r~.4) ;~f.:;-;.t~.a '!'," ':"b"~';'":'t"~'~d~'~t",l;"~~fr th' ,

. " ....-,,'. ,', 'concern or poverty ut IS IS ance om e poor.agent of social change,"" ,".' As'a'resiilt'the'isstie"of'poverty 'is put into'the centre

, .' ;;':'" " ':', ,j , ••t. . of 'politics but 'thdssue of identification of the poor a'iW'4nd qautlOns : The SOCialchlf"ge p~tentl~l of poverty of their, 'own protest againsi their poverty is not put

would be obscured if the question of,rich vs. poor is iilto the'centre of the 'political stage. Moreover, the

misrepresented as a question of town vs.village.HIt iii spontaneous protests of the poor when ihey oCca-

idle to think that poverty in 'the rural ar~as can be ' sionally. occur do not find adequate 'response from,', d" t' d ':t'h" t'th' , "t "r rt'h • b; ,'- -'d those who contr,ol,the mass media (pres's, radio, TV,

era lea e WI ou e suppor OJ e ur an poor all .. . . ..~, '. ,',' , ,'.. .'''. " " films erc.) ;or. from. those who dommate the polilicalth<;t the rural development can be achleved,wI!h~~t the" forums' (par1iiuiient, legislatures, political parties

s,upport of urban industrial development and adf~1 etc.). ' i O ,

that "in the preseni day India the ideologyof ruralism ,\

C(iNtERN FOR POVERTY ]filt distance from the

is the most formidable obstacle in transforming poverty , '" jiO<\r --is-Aot oWly a inarkea characteristic of

ilftiJ a n ageni of social ciunige:'" - '., Iiidian 'politics tOday.' it is a1s'o maik~ cnaracteristic

1 ' 5

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of Indian literature and social science. In Western

countries poverty and degradation of the working

people in the early stages of industrialisation found

its first poignant and indignant expression in the

novels of Balzac, Dickens, Zola and a hQl;t of other

social novelists of the nineteenth century. But Indian

literature has perhaps yet to throw up its Dickens and

Zola voicing the S\Iffering and degradation of the poor

in India. So far as social science is concerned, Westernsociology had its origin in social surveys into conditions

of the rural and urban poor. Moreover, studies of

the miserable, conditions of, the working .,people. dut:,J"

ing t h e eni- : 0 £ '~pri~tive~ a c c li r r n J la ii o n ;:~served"f as-' a .'

basis of the revolutionary as well as scientific writings

of both Utopian and scientfic " socialist thinkers,

Neiher Indian lite:ature nor Indian' social science

mirrors the life of th.c poor in India in any significant

and meaningful way, even though poverty is the ,most

conspicuous faci .of Indian life and the poor constitute

tJ:e '!Iujority of the Indian p~ople.. .• , " . '

. Nothing in fact reveals the povet'tyof social scierice

iri India as its sophistication in quantifying" poVerty

but its reluctance to come into' direct contact with the'

poor for first hand enquiries into'theiife of the poor:

Social science itself provides a riCh ',Ilan's view of'

poverty and not the' poor m'dn';view .. (For the rich,

poverty is bestundersi6olF\>fhen it Iis measured . by

"the poverty line" etc.; or' by the' impersonalised mag-

nitudes of poverty ... By' these scientific' devices . and

procedures refinement is achieved in measurements of

poverty' bilt insight is not provided into basic issuesrelating to' the genesis of poverty or ..the relation of,

poverty:'to the social, economic. and: political system

within which the poor. are deprived,'" The very defi-

nition of poverty evades th".basic issues oHundamen-

tal change ,in the system which: generates Fand filer:"

petuates poverty. ,1''''' ,..

r.' .'fi 'l.

deserving pity and. compassion~o[ Jhe ruling classes

a~d not the. reservoir of colossal creative energy with-

out which no gennine economic development aJid

. -transformation can be accomplished. Hence the end-

less discussions and deliberations of high-level experts

and technocrats on schemes for the reEef and uplift

of the poor and on the best methods ~nd means of

'huplementing these schemes. What these sympathi-

sers of the poor do not however see, or do not wish'to see, is the fact of the poor ,getting transformed

into the agents of social change. Social science has

still to put into forefront the question as to how from

a 'position of being the victhus of their fate the poor

are converted into an active social force capable of

over-throwing the old system which keeps them ex-

ploited, deprived and of creating a new social system

which would put an end to their exploitation l.lrid

deprivation.

The transformation of the poor from a passive

human mass into a socially conscious, productive classhas been closely related in the past to three important

developments viz. (i) the accentuation of 'artificial

poverty' in the midst of 'uatural poverty'; (li) the

emergence of radical intellectuals as the Cleators and

disseminators of a new outlook on poverty linking

poverty with class 'exploitation'; and 'systemic' cbange

and finally, (iii) the growth of a cri!ical conscious-

ness among tbe poor as a sequel to a break from the

fatalistic and a paternalistic outlook and a fundamen-

!al re-evaluation of their position in society and their

role in social change.

IF ONE TURNS TO past history one finds that the

aggravation of 'artificial' poverty was a neces-

sary condition for the transformation of the poor into

an agent of social change. 'Natural poverty' can be

defined as a state of economic scarcity associated with

underdevelopmeut of. the' economy or of the social'.;

,,;

\' .,.~

. "

,. ... . , .., '. '

" ') While tbequestion I'0f poverty bas acquired political importance and I~gitimacy,

!.J,l ,'r tbe poor themselves-are ,stil' far from becoming'fully articulate'and' from emerging

, a s a social forcei,e: as an ~'g.nt of social cbang~:' Thereis still 'a vast biatus bet-

,I ,wee? politicis~,ti?n'of, !h( issue' of po~,:rty and the politicisation of the poor.'

T,-.HE GRAVEST ,'WEAKNESS OF ••./sCientific' ~nalyses

into. poverty, ;s tbat they assign the crucial ,role,

in the crusade against, p'overty' t,~ the paternalism and

the benevolence of the haves and their social and

political represeutatives: But the' poor are assigned

no' vital role iu the mobilisation against poverty. In

other words; the grea'test'indictnient. of contemporary

sOCialscience as of contempotary 'politics is that;. to

quote Karl Marx, "they see iu poverty only poverty

withouLnoticing its revolutionary and, subversive aspect, whicn will, overthro~1 the old soci~ty'~; they se.e'"

iu the pOOLonly a.helpless .lnd pathetic hllman mass, . _..' - - "'. . .. ~

16

productive forces. Such underdevelopment of pro-

ductive forces' favours the acceptance "f poverty' as

a natural phenomenon (i.e. o,s God-given and un-

alterable) aud to be shared by both the haves and

have,uots alike. Under such a regime of genera!

economic scarcity the essence of exploitation. in. the

relations betweeu the haves and the have-nots tends

to get obscured by the appearance of. interdependence'.

The conflict of intereSI gets subordinated to the

harmony of interest huposed hy the common struggleagainst natural economic scarcity. Even when ex-

ploitation is perceived, it is ignored by the ,have-nots

KURUKSHETRA October, 1983

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s a price to be paid by them for the security pro-ided to theJ!l by the haves. ,. . .1

H" • .'".' .> .

A. sharp discontjnuity is introduced into this social

tuation with die emergence of a capitalist economy

hich according to Marx fQrced upon society. the re-

ognition of "the identity between national wealth

nd the poverty of the people" (K. Marx, Capital

ol. I, 725) and which according to Mahatma Gandhi

d to the emerg~nce of "mass production" .with theIDina:tion of "production by the masses" (1934).

his social situation compelled a redefinition of

ve~y; instead of "physical or material deprivation"

sulting from. Uliderdevelopment as in the past,

verty now was, paradoxically speaking, the prodnct

. "development" itself. The v~ry process of deve-

!tis ncicessa:iy"to'empbasise the criicial distinction

as suggested bY-Mllrxon the one liarid' arid Gandhi

on the other betwtien conservative arid a . radical 'ap-

proachto the probleni or-pOverty. , Tlie former consi-

ders poverty as the outcome of a defective pattern of

distribution. of means of ,.consumption (I.e. income)

and, therefore, lays the' primary emphasis on res!ruc~

turing the pattern . of income diStribution without

reference to, the pattern of distribution of' means of production. The latter on the other mnd starts from

the premise that "any distribution •whatever of the

means of"coIiSumptiol1' is only a consequence of the

dis'tribution' of the conditions of' production them-,

selves" and any scheme of redistributing the means of

consUIription independent of the' mode of production

is bound to prove futile. . As Gandhi said, the' roots

'Concemfor,poverty but distnnee from thei'poor iscnot only~a~marked~characteristic..l

of Indian literature and social science. In Western countries poverty and degrada-

tion of the working people in the early stageS cif industrialisation' found its first

poignant and indignant expression in th. novels.of Balzac,. Dickens,' Zola and a hostof other social novelists ....• But Indian literature has perhaps' yet, to .throw up

its Dickens and Zola voicing the sulfering and degradation or the poor in India.'

pment which generated affluence for the few simul-

neoUsly generated poverty for the many (C.T.

urieri 1978 : 8, 77) .• There emerges in this process

ew category of the poor, the "free labouring poor",

"that artificial product of modern society" as dis-

guished from "the naturally poor" which were theoducts of the old society (Capital Y.QI.I: 760).

I

T SHOULDBE NOTEDthat in real life the phenome-

non of natural poverty arising as a result of general

onomic backwardness is often mixed up with the

enomenon of artificial poverty arising as a result of

e socio-economic system. This intertwining of two

alitatively different types of poverty acts as a mysti-

ng force, keeping the poor in darkness about the

cial genesis of poverty and thus thwarting their

mergence as a socially conscious force. The revolu-

nary potential of poverty may continue to be un-

ploited, or insufficiently exploited, for social change

"the artificially impoverished" are overshadowd by

e naturally poor". This potential may also remainexploited if the "artificially impoverished" continue

interpret their poverty in terms of categories of

derstanding characteristics' of the previous era. In

ancipating the minds of the millions of "the arti-

ally impoverished" from the myths and illusions of

era of undifferentiated natural poverty and in

ologicl!llY remoulding their minds, the role of radi-

intellectua,ls is crucial. They act as' the carrier.;

a new consciousness of the radical potential of

verty and they accelerate the transformation of the

r from mere victints of class exploitation into

nts of change in the very sysrem of class exploita-'n.

URUKSHETRA October, 1983

of mass poverty lie: in' the mode of production which

determines also the mode of distribution. Only that

section of the poor which experiences in every moment

of its social existence an acute perception of depriva-

tion from the means of production has, therefore, a;

critical and active.ratl)er than a'passive and resigned

attitude towards poverty or the potential of attacking

poverty at its roots. The remainiug sections of the poor who' are draWn: into the system of ownership of

the .means of produt;l . iOJl in ,howsoever partial

and inconsequential, a manner are handicapped

from perceiving the tme, causes' of poverty. Radical

theorists have in 'the past characterised the

small holding peasants as conservative in the sense

that remaining in "stupefied seclusion within the old

order 'they want to see themselves and their small

holding saved and favoured by the' ghost of the em-

pire". They aISo saw their radical potential insofar as, impoverished by the domination of capital, small

holding peasauts were forced "to strike out beyond the condition of their social existence" and seek inthe urban, proletariat "their naturally and leader"

(K. Marx 1955: '337, 338)., I

WHrLE DEMARCATINGA SCIENTIFICapproach to

poverty from other approaches, it should also be

poiuted out that a scientific approach to the problem

of poverty is at once" structural and a developmental

.approach. TJie, roots of poverty are thus identified

by scientific theory in the sphere of the economic

structure and not merely in the manner of functioningof this structlire.'~Changing the structure rather than

merely influencing the functioning of the structure

17

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The abolition of 'artificial. poverty' through struc-

tur,al 'change must become the initiator of a protracted

struggle against 'nat"ra!. Poverty' Le. against the low

level. of, development of produ~tive forces which is the

~ltirnate cause oj material deprivation, The .emer-

gence of. the '~artificially impOverished': as a separate

category assumes historical significance insofar as it

proyjdes ,the social instrument of initiaing the struggle

against "natural" pOverty. In struggling for their own

abOlition as a social category in the short-run,' the

c1'assof the "artificially impOverished'.:,c~~te the socio-

economic and political preconditions for. the abolition

of "natural'; poverty itself. in the long-run. ~

appears as a crucial characteristic of the scientmc $- J,N tHE CONtEMPORARY' SOCIAL situation In .India

. proa~4f!lr er,a~jcatil)g,p!lveJ;1y,' At th~_same time t~e 1. the scientific perspective which links up the struggle

~c;entific vielY.'Il,!st be (Ii~tiJJIDJish~f[9m~n ti()n9qUc against poverty with structural change on the one

romanticist view which believes that a structural trans- haild aild with capital accumulation oil the other hasL _.. ., _ .,. • ~_.. • • • ,"I '. ,-" - _.' •.. _.- - '.. '-.

formation w~s ~y, itself, s~fjjcient to abo~h ]JOverty, great historical' relevance, This perspeCtive departs

A'ssi~nti!if', apprgach, ~O\vever, sta11s from the pre- on the one hand from those idcclogies who seek 'to

miSe, that "justice can nexe.r.rise superior to theeco- cope with poverty without altering the" paitem of dis-

4,oJi;jccOl)d\tlolls'of tlie time" (Maurice Do,bb 1947,: tribution of means of production which generates and

148), Structural change according to the scientific perpetuates po,crty, it departs on the other ha~d conception, t~e~efore': i~ ~ot a; culmU;atipn of th~ from those romanticists who make no distinctionbet~

st':Uggle ~g~inst povertY but. only its begjn,ning: . It ween 'artificial poverty' and 'natural poverty' and wh6

can becollJe,a crucial stl1Pin the struggle t"wards a,b!lc therefore detach the struggle against poverty fromth'e '

. liti()n of 'poverty ~nl>'.if it is an instrument o~:capital . hiitorically necessary task of' Capital accumulation.

accumulatjon (Le. of ecol)olllic growtl!)... Structurjll What is required in India is a new unity between

cha~ge, becomes alJ engin~ of capil'aL~cc!!lJ1ulatiol)if radical theorists who uphold an integrated persPeCtive

it serves' a s ' ~el)ns of. el!mill.ating'the gap between on poverty and growth on the one handaild the

actual economic surplus and potential economic sur- - "artificially impoverished masses" on the other who

plus and thus the means of enlargement of the size of. need this perspective in their struggle for a new life.

the economic surplus and. the mode. of its utilisation •A meaningful struggle against poverty must, therefore,

for productive purposes (Panl. A. Baran, 1957,: ,begin with a struggle against the cUrrent poverty of

25-48). The scientific perspective on Poverty there- philosophy which "sees in poverty only poverty with-

fore views the struggle against p.overty f\ot.as a single •...out noticing its revolutionary' and subversive aspect

leap from poverty to plenty but as a protected. struggle ,f, • which will overthrow the old society".

on two fronts, against class exploitation on the one . In the new situation, therefore, an objective basis

hand and against, the low level of development of. pro- is emerging for a unity' of the rural arid urban pi$or

ductive forces on the other. " since the urban poor are mostly niral poor ilhs'hed

out'into urban areas. The recbJ.(' resurgence' ~wof

Ruralism dramatisi.ng the rural-urban cleavage rather

than ~the rich-poor cleavage is only meailt to mystifY

and obscure the fast-growing economic difIerentiatioJL

in iuial and urban areas, The socIal cluinge p',jtentia1

of poverty'would be obscured if the qu~tio~ "':;f.rich

VS , poor is misrepresented as a question of 'town v~.

village. It is idle to think that poverty in t1ie rural

areas can be eradicated without the support of the uri:iiU

pooriind !h'at rural developinent can 'be achieved wiiii-

b~!{tlie>u~po.~t.of ur~ari, ~d?~.triar ci~~elo~~~iil.~ - i present'd'lY IndIa the ideology of rurahsm JS the most

formidable' obstacle in transforming poverty into. ~~agerif'of social' change: . ..,.,~

l; •.,. ! 1-". .

" ,

18.. 1

. ~..

!;.";'


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ncern for the alleviation of poverty of the rural masses

the hall-mark of all our rural development programmes.

al artisans specially those in ivory and filigree work being given the utmost" aitentionand assistance to con-e their traditional arts.

A rural youth after training under Trysem programmeis able to earn around Rs. 20 a day :inany of the trades

he learns.

Alleviation

of rural poverty

Decorative wood and gravure work are the proud heri-tage of our carpenters who are now given assistance bythe State. Their products fetch a ready market in the country

. and_abroad.

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A view of the standing loom in the village. A weaver is now helped not anI

in securing raw materials but also in marketing his products.

Sheep-rearing is an important programme helped and financed under the integrated ruraldevelopment programme.

Providing drinking water to our villages including the

problem villages, is being given the topmost priority.

Rigs are deployed in these distant villages to dig Dew

wells and wherever needed drinking water is reached by

emergency water tankers.

A village level worker is.the kingpin of the rural develop-ent set-up for he interprets development programmes

o the villagers and also serves as the feedback.

The weaker sections of the society like carpenters, weaver and potters are very much within the ambit of the ruradevelopment programmes and are given all possible assistance in producing and marketing their goods.

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The author is anguished to observe the phenomenon of

"massive dehuinanising poverty in the midst of the

growing ajJluence of a thin segmen't of the populationn India even after 36 years oFgaining political freedom

and three decades of development planning."

And opines: "A frontal attack on rural poverty requires

major structural reforms in the economy, a radical

redistribution of incomes and wealth in society, redeft-

nitiim of development priorities both as regards mobili.

ation and deployment of resources for development

and sharing of tlte gains of development". And further

adds tltat "populist gestures are no substitute for

meaningful action for any frontal attack on poverty-

ural .and urban-to be mounted".

Major structuralchanges necessary

BALRAJ MEHTA

Freelance Journalist, New Delh

~ r .~ERE ARE OBJECTIVE FACTORS and forces at work

. in society which mock at S'Ubjectivedesires and

preferences, howsoever laudable they might be. Swings

from populism to pragmatism and realism on the part

of political formations of all kinds and hues in the

practice of our parliamentary democracy are indeed a

fascinating spectacle. But massive dehumanising

'poverty in the midst of the growing affluence of a thin

segment of the population remains a fact of life in

India even after 36 years of gaining political freedom

and three decades of development planning.

It i.spointless; as matters stand, to get bogged down

by statistics on poverty and definitions of poverty. The

periodic announcements by political personalities and

official planners about variations in numbers and per-

centage points below and above the poverty line--

whether the number is 3 5 1 0 million or 2 8 1 0 million and

the percentage of those below the poverty line has

declined from 50 to 48-and claiming achievements

in poverty alleviation measures on this basis 'not only

do not carry conviction but even emphasise the grow-

ing alienation of the power establishment from and its increasing insensitivity towards the conditions of

the people.

Still more cynical is the move launched last year to

review and refine the definition of poverty with a view,

presumably, to refurbish the grim reality and present

a better'image to the world. The move was appa-

rently inspired' by the idea that statistics when they

did not. accord with the god-like' vision and percep-

tion of high personages should be redone and juggled

for the subjective satisfaction of the ruling authority.

It is indeed sickening to watch the growing obsessionof persons and groups in authority with' their illusions

which clash with reality and images that they hanker

i ~

..; I •

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-Bal Gangadhar Tilak

"Ve must give the- best possible education.

to the ignorant ,"'magers. We must treat

them on terms of equality, teach them their

rights and show them how to fight consti.

tutionally.'

attack" on poverty for the first time in India's eco-

nomic development strategy. This was widely hailed.

It was the economic articulation of the political slogan

of Garibi Ratao. However, the concept was project-

ed within the overall framework of a developmental

strategy which remained unaltered and was limited to

the idea of a sizeable and possibly growing provision of financial outlays for what was called the Minimum

Needs Programme for the poor and the a1leviationof

their poverty. It was thus an addendum to the deve-

lopment pl,!"s and not part of a new development

strategy. It soon lost its charm for the ruling Estab-

lishment.

after for presenting to their own' people and more es-

pecially people-foes and friends alike-in foreign

lands. And: yet, there is no hesitation in opening up

to the contempt of many and amusement of others

when frantic cries are raised for more and more

foreign aid to keep the economy and polity of the

country afloat and strong protests are made when some

aid-giving quarters taking advantage of the boastful

claims of progress suggest that India has graduated'out of concesSional aid flows and there should be cuts

in such aid to India.

THAT POVERTY IN INDIA is universal and pervasive

is indisputable. But its worst manifestation and

concentration is undoubtedly in rural India. Accord-

ing to official estimates, 251 million below the poverty

line, as at present defined broadly in terms of calories

intake (which incidentally is placed at a'lower level for

the rural poor than the urban poor), live in rural areas

as againsf 51 million in urban areas. The Minimum

Needs Programmes, special rural employmeut pro-grammes and other poverty alleviatibn programmes

which have been launched since the Fourth Five Year

Plan with more and mote strident fanfare are olaimed

to be especially directed to give relief to the rural.

poor. The idea seems to be that financial a1locations

which' only superficially ajppe~ to be impressive but

'This is tbe typical growtb model whicbworked in:;tbe special bistorical conditions

of 6tb to 9tb century in Western Europe and tbe U.S.A. bnt is totnny out

of place in conditionswhicbprevail in India at present.'

are, in fact, far too inadequate to make anything like

effectiveimpression on mass poverty and administrative

action, which is always half-hearted if not altogether

counter-'productive in the prevailing order of power

and influence will alleviate poverty in course of time.

But these are no more than palliative and often 'have

very little integration with and relevance for the over-

all economic growth strategy. and process which' is

guided by the theory of precedence for growth. The

gains of growth even if they might be monopolised to

begin with by the dominant strata of the population

which are active participants and manoagersof tbe

growtb strategy and process are expected under this

theory eventually and after suitable time lag to percolate

down to lower levels of society and uplift them above

the poverty line. This is the typical growth model

which worked in the special historical conditions of

16th to 19th century in Western Europe and the USA

but is totally 'Jut of place in conditions which prevail

in India at present. Renee 'the growing tensions iii

Indian suciety and polity and failure of the economic

development process to the limited extent if is making

some headway to resolve them.

The first Approach T'ape,r 011, the Fifth Plan

drawn up in 1972 projected the concept of "frontal

IT WAS WAY BACK IN THE early sixties when deve-

lopment planning was still young in our country

and evoked much faith and fervour in the political

and the administrative est"blishment and aroused

hopes and expectations among the people that Pers-

pective Planning Division under the devoted leader-

ship of late Pitambo.rPant in Yojana Bhawan presented.

a, "Perspective of Development : 1961-76, implica-

ions of planning for a minimum level of living. "It

postulated 7"per cent annual rate of growfh of the

economy during 1966-76 which would, at the same

time, reach the objective of Rs. 20 per month as thenational minimum consumption level (at i96Q-61

prices) 'by 1975-76 and a reduction in the concentra-

tion ratio of per capita consumption from 0.33 to

0.25. This has turned out to be a dream whichgot lost in the mid-sixties even is development plan-

ning and process got bogged down and growth rate

slumped to 3.5 per cent as against the 7 per cen~

postulated. But the failure in the attainment of the"

equity objectives earlier projected was 110tonly due

to the slump in the growth rate postulated. The very

assumption that a certain level of growth of the eco-nomy would result in the desired measure of redistri-

bution of income and consumption levels was mis-

placed. Further, the assumption that growth strategy

lCURUKSHETRA October, 1983

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unctionally independent of social objective of re-

tion of poverty and that the two objectives of

wth and social justice can be pursued independently

each other was f?cile. Experts have, of course,

gested that it is possible to construct a growth

del which is based OIl the in!erdepe!,dence of the

objectives of growth and social justice. But then

y also point out that the implement;ltion of any

h model involves the exercise of political will need-

for redistributive planning real and ~ffective. If needed political will is 1<Lcking,such a model will

be constructed and if constructed will not be im-

mented. This is exactly how things have happened ing the last twanty-five years ..

E VE:,.WHI~E GROWTHH;ASremained' arrested and politlcal will and adnulllstratlve efficiency has

n lacking for making any prograinnle of'redistri-

ive justice real and effective, economic and social

parities have .inevitably alld .relentlessly widened.

is process has only intensified as attempts have

en made more and more vigorously to push growthrelying on profit maximisation motive of what are

led the "viable" segments in the est,!blished socio~

onomic structure-those classes and groups which

eady have a stake in this structure and are keen to

engthen their stake. This has been most glaring

d unequivocal in the rural socie,ty during the seven-s with the launching of the so-called 'gre-en '~evo-

ion and the strategy for ilgricultural growth which

s been associated with it. The promise of landre- .

ms through the ceiling laws' has turn~d o"ut in this

ntext to be not only phoney 'but de~tive. .

economy a powelful segment of rich farll1..ersengaged

in modern capitalist agriculture and even if it has dis-

integrated old feudal system in agriculture, it h,!s, at

the same time, paupersied. the mass of the peasantry

and intensified the exploita!ion of the growing army

of landless who have nothing but their labour to sell

in conditions where widespread unemploymen! and

under-employment pre:v~il. There i~ no gainsaying

the fact that the bargaining power .of those who have

to sell their labour in such conditions is veery weak

in relation to those who hire their labour.

ITIS THUS THAT the so,called minimum wage

legislation has become more of a window dress-

ing than protective of .the rights of wage earners to

fair wage and a fair sharing of the gains of increase.s

in production and productivity in agricul!ure and rural

economy. Even in such are~s as Punjab and Haryana

where middle peas,mt faunin& is predomlimnt and the

land ceiling laws did not result in as large a scale

eviction of tenants from resumption of land for self-

. cultivation as in most parts of the country, the emer-

gence of labour shortage in agriculture and existence

of "high" wages for ~gricultural labourers is a myt1I.

Whatever small gains have been made by agricultural

labourers in tile Punjab and Haryana countryside too

have been attempted to be neutralised .by mechanisa-

tion and hirhrg of labour from more poverty-stricken

areas outside Punjab and Haryana ..

The fact indeed must be reckoned with that the

cumulative effect of slow ]lace of economic growth

and of the industrialisation process Which has not

,This has turned out to be a dream wbichgot lost in,tbe mid-sixties even as develop"

ment planning and pro<css got bogged down and growtb:rate slmnpedto 3.5 per cent

as against the 7 per cent postulated. But the failure in-tbe attainment of the equity

objectives earlier projected was not only due to tbe slump in tbe growtb rate postu-

lated. Tbe very assUllIptiontbat a certain level of growth of tbe economy would

result in tbe desired measure of redistribution of income and consumption levels

was misplaced.' "

Land ceiling laws have not resulted infinCing sur-

us land to any worthwhile extent for redistributionmong the landless. They have only encour"ged

esumption of land for personal cul!ivation" upto

e ceiling on a large scale which, in turn, has respited

extinguishing the tenancy righ!~ of actual cultiva-

rs on such lands and turning them into agricultural

bourers without any rights on land.

Those who have resumed land for personal culti-

ion under the ceiling laws' have also claimed .under

e incentive scheme for producing marketable sur-

uses under the green r~volution strategy higher and

gher procurement prices for their. produce, sub-"

dised inputs-from fertilisers and pesticides to pri-te irrigation facilities and tractors---and liberal cre-

t facilities. This process has' created"in .the rural

URUKSHETRi\. OctolJer, 1983

generated adeqJJate employment opporWnityto ab-

sorb either the growth of population or surplns labour

in agriculture combined with growing concentratioli

of land in fewer and fewer bands and pauperisation of

the mass of the peasantry are th~ basic' c!,use of em"

ployment and under-employment and mass poverty

in rural society. Even in the urban ar""s, the exis-

tence of large numbers of those below the poverty

line ~re those who have iu the last couple of decades

migrated from rural areas to urban areas in search

oflivelibood. Any talk of alleviation cf rural poverty

in those conditions is bound to lack conviction as well

as credibility. The proclaroajions of 20 or more or

less point progranunes and ad hoc financial provisionswhicb are residual after all other claims to priority

(Contd. on P. 35)

21,

J

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,

JNeeded!

efficient planningand sincere execution

D.TRlPATHY

.Jt. Diredof, Water Mgmt. DVD. , Union Ministry of Irrigation

The author feels hat "a technology-oriented in-

tensive agricultural programme alone does not ensure

an equit",ble distribution of benefits of ~evelopment.

The fact remains that a very large number of rural. . ,

population comprising small farmers, marginal far-

mers, landless labour, rural artisans and disadvanta.

ged groups like scheduled castes and scheduled

.tribes with very loll' or llO asset base did not benefit

from various area development and other community

development programmes".

And adds : "the problem at the moment is the

development of proper organisation or planning, exe-.

cution, moniioring and evaluation of different progra-

mmes in which integration is a vital e/ement~ Integra.

tion aspect is vital as it has got bearing on the dyna-

mic elements of various programmes in relation to the

productivity, employment and income generation .....

The extent to which poverty could be eradicated willdepend upon the efficiency with which we plan and

sin cerity with which we execute such schemes."

THE QUESTIONOF POVERTYREDRESSALin rural areas

, was givenconsider~ble attention during the Fourth'

. Plan as it was realised by then that a technology-oriente

ed intensive agricultural programme alone does not.

ensure an equitable distribution of benefits of develop-

ment in th" rural co=unity. A very large number of

rural population comprising small farmers, marginal

farmers, landless labourers, rural artisans and the

disadvantaged groups like scheduled castes and sche- ~

duled tribes, with very low or no asset base, did not "

benefit from various area development and other com-

munity development progra=es. In fact, the problem

of poveI1y had its origin in (a) low asset base and

(b) unemployment.

",;". While the gen~ral economic development would take

care of a portion of poverty, specific schemes were to

'" ;"be developed for a concerted assault on poverty. The

asset aspect was sought to be tackled through develop-

ment of special agencies for identification of poverty"

stricken and support through institutional agencies for

creation of assets and steady flow of income. Unem-

ployment was principally to be attacked through spe-

cial employment generation schemes specially devised

for .the purpose.

•The 'first major thrust for proVIsion of income yield-

ing of. assets for the poor came in the form of Small

Farmers Development Agency (SFDA) and Marginal

Farmers and Agricultural Labom;ers - Development

Agency (MFALDA) progranunes, during the Fourth .

Plan with three major schemes: (a) agricultural in-

.puts .inCiuding agriculture implements;' (b) develop-

ment of minor irrigation i.e. dugwells, pumpsets, tube-wells, cO=lmity irrigatiou works (both ground water

and surface projects) and (c) subsidiary occupatiou

schemes; relying maiuly on animal husbaudry i'.e. dairy

22Lt

KURUKSHETRA October, 1983---- ~-- - - ~,- - - - ,

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eep and goat-rearing, ,poultry-keeping. In some of

e SFDA and MFAL are.as, rural artisans programme

as taken up to help 'ih~ rural artisans ..

The 'second, aspect of poverty alleviation ,was taken

through a number of community asset creation pro-1- .

aqunes, mainly d~Jing agricultural slack season.

e principal programines were Crash Scheme for

ural Employment (CSRE), 'Food for Work .Pro-

amine (FFW)"and Rural Works Programme (RW-

under SFDA and MFAL at the national level and hemes like EmpliJymmt Gllaran~ce.Scheme of Malia'

htra at the state levels m a hmlted scale. These'

ogrammes were intended for "directly benefiting the

rsons 'in rural areas' who live below the poverty line

providing them employment and raising their in-

mes and nutritional levels" . .

THESE PROGRAMMES, -in a sense. were meant for

-'the very poo~. , v } t h . vcry low, asset base or no as:-:et

se whereas the previous programnies were principally

r: a slightly higher. a~set baSed poor. In addition .to

ese two, a number pf other are,a development pro-ammes like Command Area Development Programme

ADP), Drought ,Prone. Area, Pr.Jgramn,e (DPAP)

d Minimum 'Ne~ds 'Programme (MNP)' were in

ecution which had 'a lot of potential for helping theal poor. • ' ,'J .•

".. . . t. .... '.

The poverty. seen at the beginning of the Sixth Plan". ,. ~..

s very ugly in spite of ,the execution of various pro-

alll.fl1~s. Not only 'pf)~e{.ty' was growing in terms of

mber of people below th.: pov'erty line, in percentage

ms also it was very high. This disconcerting feature

led for further sirenb~heJijng of the attack on povertyulting in Integrated .Rural Development Programme

RDP) in, the first diegory and National Rural Em-

yment Programme '(NREP.) in the second. The

w 2o-Point Programme of the Prime Minister.

ected a number of schemes for better' and quicke;eviation oLrural poverty. .

Objectives of all the schemes under various pro-

mmes takcn up before the Sixth Plan were very

ll intentioned. Yet the 'poverty grew. 'In 'this con-

t, a few questions.,that arise are '(a)' what was rhe

pact of these prograIhmes; '(b) why th'e povertyw if the programmes were good; (c) If there were

me lacunae, whether ','the later schemes introdueed-

Sixth Plan have tried to rectify 'them, and (d) what

Ore can be thought of for quicker alleviation ofrun;1erty.

BJECTIVEASSESSMENT,'OF ' thO:-impact of'differffit

schemes c~uld be don~ p;ovided data are avail- '

e' from studies with wide coverages specifically at

ro levels. In the absence of such detailed studies.- • f • . ,-

stof the data on programme ,impact are taken from

,fudies' having all-India coverage and conducted by' . '

RUKSHETRA'Octobe'r;19831 'r

'It is .. natural that we should think of the

villages first and try to bring about a radical

change and improvement in the surrouDings of

the rural ~eas"Our obje~tiveis to improve th e

economic -conditions of Our country and for

that we have always said thdt both agriCul-

tur e as we ll as industries have .to devel.ap.

and expand. Agriculture 'alone cannot meet

the present day challenge of fighting pO'ierty

and also prOl'iding employment to our people.

Therefore, there has to be a very ha~py

combination of industries as ,,,'ell as agri-'

culture. '

-Lal Bahadur Shastri

r'T

Programme Evaluation Qrganisation of, the Planning

Commission. For the first category of projects, thefindings of a study are quite revealing. ,.For example,

net increase in income per benefiCiary in minor ir.riga-

tion and dairy schemes was Rs. 1670 and Rs. 829

respectively: Increase of this order can certainly be

considered as subst;tnti~~limprovement over the prc~

vious' situation. Bu t there were' wide "variat,ions in

income accrual pee bGneHciary as between states. In

re-spect of, minor irrigation, the range varied between.a

net loss of Rs. 1690 per beneficiary in Sirmur project

to a net benefit of Rs. 4785 for Rae BareH. Similarly,

the range of net increase, of income per beneficiary of

the dairy scheme was also very' wide~a loss: of Rs. 1589 in respect of Gurgaon project as against

Rs. 2869 for Thana-Nasik project

, I

Sheep and goat rearing contributed a net loss or'

Rs. 103 and net profit of Rs. 192 respectively per

beneficiary on all-India basis. The range in case of

former was from a loss of Rs. 934 to a benefit of

Rs. 1603 as against a range Rs. 84 to Rs. 209 for thelatter.

The' employment generation j;npact of the second

category of the programmes at micro level appear,"- prima 'facie, substantial. The employment generated

through CSRE and FFW were 315.78 million man-

days and -1184.77 million man-days respectively.

Under the RWP, the total employment generated was

much less (only 9.68 million man-days) .. The employ-

Jilent generated. under the,EGS in Maharashtra was562.7 million man-days.

The per capita ,employment generated through the'

earlier programmes seems to be very Jow; only 3 mfUl-

days per capita in a year 'in respect of the beneficiaries'

of CSRE and 8.5 man-days in -respect of'RWP. Later

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schemes like FFW' and EGS provided higher employ-

ment per beneficiary per annum. Whereas EGS pro-

vided 50 days of employment, 44 days of employment

was provided per family in a year lhrough FFW pro-•

gramme.

T.HE PERFORMANCE OF SOME 0 1 the programmes

under the first category in a few districts of India

seems to be very good and in some cases even out-

standing. However, thc inter-project variations and

the inter-programme variations of benefits are so widethat one has to" look into the data vei'y carefully to

arrive at any conclusion. . As for example, getting

negative benefits or very low benefits from a pro-

gramme in any project or any part of the project casts

doubt about the suila;,ilit., of the scheme for the orea

and the beneficiaries. •I

P RTNCIPAL HCTORS whkh contribl,ted to low re-

turns on investment in minor irrigation as found

from the investigation are' given below:

Low returns have generally been attributed to lack

6f e"tension support. Absence of proper co-ordi-

nated action in several project areas impaired the'

effectiveness of the programme. For instance, in a

nuinber of project areas, pumpsets were sanctioned

without ascertaining from the Electricity Department

whether they will be able to energise the pumps

(e.g., Ballia, Rae Barcli, Nalgonda, Tumkur, Bhan-

dara and Gurgaon) with the result t1iat even when

the pumpsets were installed they. could not be used

for want of electricity connections. In some pro-

jects, the funds sanctioned could not be effectively

utilised due to difficulties of securing building mate-ria.ls (e.g., Alwar, Badaun and Bhandara). Though

considerabl<i stress had been laid on groundwater

surveys in each project area, such surveys had been

conducted in very few of them. In the absence "f

such surveys, some farmers, who took loans, often

came to grief on account of failure of well or were

confronted with cscalated cost due to rocky soil or

very loY' water table. In the absence of any pro~

vision for compensation in such cases of failure of

I NABOUT 15 PER CENT of the' SFDAs and 8 per cent

of the MF ALs, dairying, instead of augmenting the

income proved to be a liability of the beneficiaries. In

one of the projects, wrong selection of beneficiaries led

to poor returns from the investment on dairy. In two

districts, Gurgaon and Bhiwani, because of . lack of

supervision the loans were misutilised. In Chind-

wara, the quality of animal supplied was not suitable

for the local climate and the beneficiaries did not even

have the requisite knowledge of animal husbandry.Good extension would have helped the beneficiaries to

get some benefits, in these cases. But extension was .,~. ) . ~

found to be poor. In sheep-rearmg the loss was

mainly due to non-availability of veterinary facilities.

In case of goat-rearing, the failure in one of the pro-

jects was interestingly explained thus:

"The factor was the absence <ifproper veteri~

nary arrangements. It is reported that there were .

heavy casualties of goats in the ab~ence of proper

health cover which c",used a great setback to the programme and losses to the beneficiaries. There

were complaints regarding absence of proper heaI!h

cover in certain other projects as well".

The experience of poultry farming was rather

. alarming. Except for SFDA, Surat, in all other

areas the scheme failed. The main factors responsible

for the failure were improper selection of beneficiaries,

lack of experience or training in upkeep of birds

among beneficiaries, absence of extension services ~

and inadequate or no arrangements for health cover

for birds or for marketing of the produce. The situa-

tion was compounded by escalation in cost of feed 1

and its general scarcity. In the absence of any

arrangements for supply of feed at reasonable prices,

the beneficiaries found it uneconomic to keep the .

birds. Many participants in the scheme suffered

heavily on account of mortality among birds in the

absence of any knowledge of poultry keeping, exten-

sion support or arrangements far getting adeqnate

medical aid.

,Not only 'poverty' was growing in terms of number of people below tbe povertyline, in percentage terms also it was very high. This disconcerting feature called

for further strengthening of the attack on poverty resulting in Integrated Rural

Development Programme (IRDP) in the first category and National Rural Employ-

ment Programme (NREP) in the second. The new 20-point programme of the Prime

Minister has directed a nnmber of schemes' for better and quicker alleviation of

rural poverty.'

wells, farmers found themselves saddled with in-

fructuous debts ("e.g.Nalgonda an~ Visakhapatnam).

In some of the project areas, financial institutions

could not assess the viability of the proposals in the

absence o( .groundwater survey reports. and, there-fore were chary in giving loans.

24

For the second category of programmes, wide:'"

variations were marked in per capita em'ployment.

As for example, while in Madhya Pradesh'

(Hoshangabad District) only 0.3 days of employ-

ment was created under CSRE, 23.3 days of employ-

ment per capita was created in Rajasthan (Ajmer

KURUKSHETRA Octooer,1983

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District). The RWP provided 10 days of employ-

ment in MFAL arens nnd 11 days of employment in

SFDA areas per beneficiary per annum. In only

about 1/3rd of the projects, RWP provided employ-

ment for more t han 15 days in a year. The per

capita income generation was only Rs. 42.•

As against the belief that more and more agricul-turallaboilrers are available for work-during off-season,

it was found that less agricultural labourers were avail-

able for off-season employment in certain areas. ' TIlls

was principally due to the type of wage arrangement

provided under certain schemes. As for \,xample, for

AtL THESE FActORS were known by the beginning

, of the Sixth Plan, which envisaged a two-pronged

atiack On poverty i.e. through growth and income,dis-

tribution, the former contributing a little 'over SOper

cent of the total poverty reduction, from 48.44, per

cent in 1979-80 to 30 per cent in the terminal year of

the Plan. There was more stress on the income dis-

tribution aspect of poverty redressal in rural areas.

"The public se<otoroutlay in the Sixth Plan provides

many poverty alleviation programmes which is to

operate mainly by way of tmnsfering assets and skj])s

and by providing employment in slack seasons of the

year .. : . . . . . .. Besides, there are a large number of

,However, the inter-project variations and the inter-programme variations of benefits

are so wide that one has to look into tbe data very carefully to arrive at any conclusion.

As for example, getting negative benefits or very low benefits from a programme in

any project or any part of the project casts doubt about the suitability of the scheme

for the area and the beneficiaries.'

EGS less agricultural labourers were available in com-

parison to cultivators of higher land holding groups,

in spite of higher wages offered in the EGS works than

the prevailing market wage. Agricultural labourers

constituted only 21 per cent of the EGS workers. The

landless agricultural labourers were more concerned

about the daily payment of wages as they were, hand

to mouth and could not afford to wait for the wages

to be paid after a week or 10-15 days which was themode of wage payment.

AVERY PROM',NENT ASPECT of the above schemes

of direct employment generation 'was the creation

of labour-intensive durable community assets in conso-

nance with local development plans. The idea behind

such a condition was that the 'assets created would help

n future income flow through their linkage effects

nstead of being one-time income generation schemes.

But in a large number of projects this condition 'was

violated. For example in FFW, road construction a~d

drainage which together constituted more than 50 per

cent of total expenditure the percentage ,of durable

assets were as low as 32 and 21 respectively., Further

he assets so created were poorly maintained for want

of adequate funds for their maintenance. A large

number of local bodies refused to accept the transfer

of the completed works froni the implementing agen-cies.

, 1

Evaluation of various schemes implemented before

he Sixth Plan indicated the inadequacy of development

of proper schemes at operational 'level leading 'to much

ower achievements in generation of income than what

was envisaged. Among other things contributing for

ower achievements were, low participation rate of theural people and rural democratic institutions and Jack

of integration as between different projeets/~chemesof development and rural, employment., ' ,


other public sector schemes which will contribute to

the reduction of unemployment and under-employ-

ment". The main thrust of the income distribution

schemes envisaged in the form of Integrated Rural

Development Programme' (lRDP) and National Rural

Employment Progranune (NREP).

IRDP which had a modest beginning in '1978.79 was

extended ,to all the development blocks of the coun-

try with effect from October 2, 1980. Though all the

schemes under SFDA (MFALDA) were included under lRDP, there was a change in the basic approach

in the latter. It was more comprehensive as it includ-

ed agriculture. non-agriculture and ,tertiary sector. It

concentrated its attention on the poorest of the poor

through 'Antyodaya' approach and envisaged substan-

tial increase in income oJ the participant-beneficiaries

so that they cross and remain above the poverty line

level. Added importance was given on monitoring

of the additional income generated in case of each

participant. It also contemplated a micro level' block

planning and suitable economic programmes for

,effective participation of the rural poor. 111e total

estimated credit requirement of this sector was of the

order of Rs. 3000 crores witl1 a subsidy component of

1500 crores on 50 pcr cent basis. The ,total invest.

ment envisaged was Rs. 4500 crores.,

NREP which replaced the erstwhile FFW incorpo-

rated the same characteristics under which it was

envisaged to integrate the development projects and

target group-oriented employment generation projects.

It was also felt desirable to involve the Panchayati Raj

institutions in plannin'g and execution of the works and the educational research and technical institutions' in

preparing a shelf of projects which would help in 'en.

sunng that the assets created are at least equal in

value to the wages paid. Emphasis was laid on the

25

7/21/2019 2008-03-25 (1)


creation or durable community assets except for

schemes benefiting ,individual members of the. sche-

duled castes and scheduled tribes.

,. t " .'T HE ANTI-POVERTY schemes in the Sixth Plan,

• I ' therefore, have the following characteristics:

.f, (a) identification of the poor

(b) devClopment of proper schemes for the poor-

est and provision of help

(c) integration of special schemes of rural em-

ployment with that of other 'plan program-

mes and projects

(d) participation of rural democratic institntions

in planning and execution of commnnity

projects of durable nature.

The schemes under various programmes incorporat-

ed certain other elements to minimise' the leakages

trom the system for maximisation of benefits to thep o o r .

The problem at the moment is the development of

. proper organisation. for planning, execution, monitoring

,and evaluation of different programmes in which'inte-

gration is a vital element. Integration aspect is vital

as. it has got bearing on the dynamic elements of

various programmes in relation to productivity, ' em-

ployment and income generation.

Integration is a function of proper planning of

. varions sectors an-j subsectors of the rural economywith shclves of properly prepared viable projects in

,each of them indicating details of the areas and cate-

gory of beneficiaries and the linkage effects. It then

, pre-supposes adeqnate planning machinery at varions

levels i.e. panchayats, block, district or area and each

plan being dovetailed to the other at higher levels.

Block and district plans with their decentralised charac-

,ter ,are still in their infancy. Withont such plans at

present, the integration between the schemes of pover-

ty alleviation and other developmcnt schemes appears

highly inadequate:

Proper integration of schemes under IRDP and

NREP will have better impact on employment, pro-

ductivity and income generation than individual schemes

taken up in isolation. Integration of schemes wilJ be

dependent' on the following two factors :'---,

(I) Organisation for planning, execution, Moni-

toring and evaluation, and

(ii) Resources availability.

personnel having wide field experience may not be

available in a' scale required for the whole nation. The

planning exercise will be the first of its kind f,?r these

personnel. As such there should be proper training

i,mparted to them before they are positioned.. While

at national level or to some extent at state level, plan-

ning exercise is done with'a g~d knowledge regarding

resource flow, at district or lower levels planning exer-

I eises are to be done without a ,very Clear idea abou '

resource transfer from Centre and from the State. The

planners may have to prepare alternative plans with

assumption of various levels of resource transfer in-

Clnding the credit flow;from the institutional sector.

If 'the present Icvel of human resource availability for

decentraHscd planning is taken into account, it can be

said that a lo! of preparation and execution of human

resource devClopment schemes are required to be done

before the decentralised plans are taken up on a mass

scale. Otherwise, the decentralised plans at variouslevels will just juxtapose the" schemes of different

departments, with some beautifully couched words on

integration, rnral development, poverty allcviation 'and

so on,

The schemes and programmes' of poverty alleviat'ion

are conceived of at central' level on the basis of avail.

able information. It is quite likely that a few of them

may face operational problems at the execution level

thercby defeating the very purpose for which th

were created. For example, minor irrigation schemes'

like dugwells, pnmpsets, etc. are meant for small and marginal farmers. Experience. suggests that quite a

large number 'of them cannot utilise this opportUnity

as their lands are " highly' fragmented: Many 'who

avail.of the opportunity with heavy subsidy are not able

to utilise it and eit,her deriveiyery , low.return, or lose

. heavily. The scheme may need some I.modification.

Public projects like. public tubewells may be taken up

,Jo help such identified individuals instead of individual

beneficiary asset-oriented schemes. Any' departure

from the gencral guidelines which will help the rural

poor should be taken up by planners at decentralised level with the higher, levels for quicker approval.

The subsidiar~ occupation schemes have been con-

fined to a few animals viz, cows and buffaloes in dairy

sheep and goats, pigs and poultry with a minim

viable unit approach. In a large number of' cases

agricultural labourers, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes

who take up snch schemes do not have' the manager!'

capability to adop"~such a high technology and as, ,

Hn about 15 per cent of the SFDAs and 8 per cent of the MF ALs, dairl'ing, inslead

of augmenting Ihe income, pro~ed 10 be a liabilitl' of tbe beneficiaries., ,

. ORGANISAT'JONAL REQUIREMENTS at decentralised

level are' more demanding than either at state or

central level due to a number of faclors. Suitable

26

result incur heavl' loss. Although afamily of sucI

disadvantaged individual can probably manage a smal

piece of land, a ,few birds 'and snpplement the livin

KURUKSHETRAOclober, 198

7/21/2019 2008-03-25 (1)


with income from agricultural labour or off-seasou

NREP employment, this schemc is not bankable for

he credit institutions in present circumstances. The

planner, at operational level may suggest a change in

he scheme-a change from bankability of the scheme

o bankability of the whole family proposition.

In the district or decentralised planning effort, credit

?lans h~ve to play a very significant role specifically

m relatiOn to povcrty alleviation programmes. Credit

plans cannot be prepared in isolation. Once the dis-

rict plans indicate, apart from budgetary resources

detai!~,?f ~heprogrammes or schemes to bc supported

by the InstItullonal sector, credit plans can be prepared

\yhl~~'will be more in the' nature of likely deployme~t

of credit by various, institutionW'.agencies rather than

ust ,estimation of credit requirements.

FINAI.L~, the question of integration. 'Developmentof dramage, constructIon of chak roads, establish-

rnent of regulated markets, execution of social forestry,

soJ!conservatIOncould be linked up with NREP, once

the labour requirement 'and implementation scheduies

are available. IRD schemes could be linked with the

pr~grammes under special component plan 'along with

'From th e traveller, 'whose sack of ,provisions

is empty before the voyage is ended, wbose

garment is torn and dust~laden, whose stre~

ngth is exhausted, remove shame and poverty,

and renew his life like a 'flower under the

cover ;of thy kindly night. ' .

-Rabindranath Tagore

the utilisation of Special 'Central Assisiance. 'The

nature and extent of such integration will of course

have spatial variation.

Integration of various schemes of rural development

and of alleviation of poverty at decentralised levels will

have a multiplier effect on productivity, employment

and income generation. The extent to which poverty

could be eradicated will depend upon the efficiency

with which we plan and the 'sincerity with which we

execute such schemes.

'\

(Conld ..from Page 14),i,

has not been adequately recognised; Thirdly, more

thought needs to be given on how the 'general support

and partiCipation of the people can 'be mobilised' in

these programmes so that the development process

tends to be more a people's movement than a govern-

ment programme.

ITIS NOT SUFFICIENT that TUralIndia:acquires,a:new

face. It' is necessary that rural India must arise to a'new awakening and it must propel itself speedily 'to-

wards greater social and economic 'justice for all the

millions that inhabit our villages. Wis necessary for

'this purpose that committed and competent young men

and women from the villages are 'encouraged to come

'forward With the support 'of voluntary agencies and

Govetmnent."ind offer their service'on a part-time basis

for mobilisingthe pcople of their villages for participa-tion in the constructive' tasks ahead. Ultirnately, the

'face of nira! India can be transformed onlywhcn the

human resources 'in, the villages ar.e made productive.

••.. l~ " ,") f (._;11:


Adult eduCation, health care; rural industrialisation,

development of women and children and other commu-

nity development programmes can make India's villages

self-reliant and self-sufficient only when the people of

rural India organise themselves for constructive work.

I do hope that in th~'coming years, we shaIl build a

professionally competent people-oriented development

administration which will function with the support of

voluntary workers drawn from the community itself.

Rural India 'i's developing fast but it must also come

alive to ensure that the fruits of development 'are avail-

able to the rural poor and to the community aUarge

in such a manner that there is a perceptible'change in

the overall quality of life everywhere in the country-

,side. Thus, the ncw face of rural India must not

merely reflect the vast physical changes in the infra-

structure brought on by the process of development: It

should also reflect the happiness that progress brings

to each' rural household 'which alone can be the true

, measure of sOCialand economic change in rural India.\ .o'

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1 . In the background of these gaps, the author em-

'ph;,.,ies the 'need for correcting the drificienciesin the'..' ,. r... , • ..'

'i,!,plementation of I.R.D. programme through for-

. ~r;,,;;taii~g7~'result-oriented ac.tion plan' and the ''ne;d

.t?I.have an ,effic(ent delive~y system at the grassroot

level which may provide innovations and all needed

services to the beneficiaries.

"While Integrated Rural Development Programme

has made ,appreciable progress since its inception, a

,f;~'+ questions yei re~ain unanswered!';' says ~he

author.: Can ati. investment. .of Rs. three thousand t~

,four thousand as envisaged in the programme help the

family below poverty line cross poverty line once and

for all? Have the benrificiariesreally benefited ?

'-iIave the Jno:vedbleassets created out of'investm(!nt '.. ~"!"•. nil' '.,

l'

been ',really enjoyed by those beneficiaries or havethey b~en;sold or transferred to 'other wel/-to-do per-

.i:sons .? Or have the supporting facilities as envisaged

;in'the Programme been extended to them to make them

ieconomiciIllj viable ?.'.,'t, "

''}':. -

_ . r ,

"

'~,b

.,'~I. ,

Poverty alleviation is amulti-level endeavour

A. R. PATEL

Manager (AFD '& PMEC), Bank of Baroda, Bombay

•T

HE PROBLEMOF RURALPOVERTY has been so

'"deep-tooted in ihe developing countries where 40

per 2ent population lives in absolute poverty (in case

of India the percentage has been 50.82 in rural and

38.19 in the urban area indicating overaI! 48.13 per

cent as per 1977-78 data) and their life is so degraded

by disease, illiteracy, malnutrition ffnd squalor that the

attainment of even the basic necessities seems to be

difficult. The United Nations Conference On Human

Settlement held at Vancouver, Canada in May-June I .i976, had recommended that the developing countries

pay special attention to the improvement of rnral areas

where a majority of their population resides. 'In gene-

ral, it beckoned the member-countries to enlarge em-

ployment opportunities to the rural poor, extend public

services and improve the levels of living of those living

in the rural areas. The Conference also called upon

to improve the physical environment and thus enhance

in ,gencr~I the quality of life.

Government of India has been committed to remove

hunger, .'unemployment and 'poverty through imple-

menti,lg 'planned programmes. Integrated Rural

,Development Programme (IRDP) had indeed been

conceived as anti-poverty programme. It seeks to re-

duce the poverty in the rural India through the adop-

tion of the family as a unit of planning and by making

it economically viable through provision of technolo-

gically feasible and financially viable schemes with

package of services which would lead to the generation .~

of'income sufficient for crossing the poverty line, once .

and for all. Initially in 1978-79, it was decided to

implement lRDP in selected 2000 blocks out of 3000

,blocks in which SFDA, DPA and CAD programmeswere in operation. However, with effect from October

2, 1980 the prograrmrte has beeu extended to cover

',.28 , KURUKSHETRA October, 1983

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*Figures in parentheses indicate perc~ntage increase ova the

preceding year. . i

It" is of"interest to note that. perce~'tage of l?e."ne-fi~iaries belonging to scheduled castes and scheduled

tribes has sharply iocreased from 24.9 in 1980-81 to

35.1 in 1981-82 and 41.5 in 1982-83 as against the

target of 30 .per cent of the total beneficiaries,. t'? be

7. Pcr capita subsidy RS.550

8, Pf;rc'apita credit' RS.741

6.. Institutional cr~djt . RS.199

crores

crare. : : ;

ld,

176"\7

c r a T e s

(37 '16%)

, 190.0J'

470 crares 380.72

cror,;:s

~i .• (upto Jan.

, 1983)_.•.~ t.:~'

928 1036

(68'72%) (11'63%)

1713 .2076

(131'17%) ~(~1'90%)

2641 3112

(104'5%) 17.83 ,;.' .

I '84 2.00

2

123.44

. crores

(55 .53 %)

255:8crores ,.

Rs. 82.58

crores

Rs. 153 .9

crares

4. Central assistance

5. State assistance

" . .

.9. Pcr capita .invest- RS.1291.ment . (

10. Subsidy credit ratio 1 .35

ll the 5011 blocks in the country. Under thepro-

ramme, it is expected that 15 million families would

e assisted to cross the poverty line once and for all by

he end of Sixth Plan (1980':-85). 'Nhilc the' pro-

ramme is supported by a provision of ~ubsidy of

s. 1500 crores to make the scheme viable as well as

serve as, incentives to the identified ben~ficiaries,

anking system has been called upon to provide loans

mounting to Rs. 3000 crores to these beneficiaries

nder the programme. Perhaps, this would be the

rst of its kind of anti-poverty programme being imple-

ented in the world on such a massive scale.. As such

e method of implementation and its impact would

finitely be seriously studied by the economists, plan-

rs, administrators, financiers, scientists at the national

nd international'level so as to draw,Jesson for under-

eveloped countries where hunger and poverty have

en as deep-rooted. The programme has almost

ompleted three years and the performance is quite

mpressive from the point of view of achieviog the tar-ets, release of subsidy, disburse!"ent of credit and

overage of scheduled caste/scheduled tribes. It is

gainst this background an attempt is made here to

scuss in brief the direction in which the progamme

dt is of interest to note that percentage of beneficiaries belonging to schednled castesand scheduled tribes has sharply increased from 24.9 of 1980.81 to' 35.1 in 1981-82

and 41.5 in 1982-83 as against the target of 30 percent of tbe total. beneficiaries to

be covered nnder tbe programme. Per capita snbsidy and per capita credit bave also

increased remarkably well' from Rs. 550 and Rs, 741 in, 1980-81 to Rs. 928 and

Rs. 1713 in 1981-82 and fnrther to Rs, 1036 in 1982-83 and Rs. 2076 in 1982-83.'

.. ,

Indicators of the Performance under IRDP (1980--83)

as' been moving, idenlifY .the factors associated with

is kind of development and suggest measur!,s to

medy the situation.

THE PROGRAMME which now forms a. major

component of the New 20-Point Programme has

howed considerable improvement. The dala presented

the following lable reveal thai there has been steady

rogress under the programme in respect ~f coverage,.

lease of subsidy, mobilisation of credit and per capita

nveslment from 1980-81 to 1981-82 and 1982-83_:

1980.81 1981.82 1982.83

(upto

Feb. '83)

covered under the programme. Per capita subsidy

and per capita credit have also increased remarkably

well from Rs. 550 and Rs. 741 in 1980-81 to Rs. 928

and Rs. 1713 in 1981-82 and further to Rs. 1036 and

Rs. 2076 '1 0 1982-83. Thus, the subsidy credit ralio

now has reached a level of 1:2. in 1982-83 as. large-

ted under the programme .• As a consequence of this,

.. per capita iovestment has showed substantial im~

provement from Rs. 1291 in 1980-81 to Rs. 2641 in

.1981-82 and Rs. 3112 in 1982-83 indicaling 104.57

";per cent iocrease 1 0 ' 1981-82 and 17.83 per cent 1 0

1982-83 over the preceding year. It is undoubledly

certain that Ihis figure must have shown further

improvement as these dala retate to January-February,

1983 which should have considerably increased at the

end of March 1983, being the end of the financialyear. r i o

27 .90 lakhs 28.30 lakhs 22 ,00 lakhs1. No. of families

assisted

2. No. of SCjST

families benefited

3. Percentage coverage

ofSC/ST

7.00

lakhs

2 4 . 9

2

10'00

lakhs

35 ,I

3

9.10

lakhs

41 .5

. .

T HI! PROGRESS UNDER THE IRDP has been .quile

satisfactory with regard to the fulfilment of tar-

gets. However, following questions are-yet unanswered:

Have Ihe beneficiaries for whom the'programine

is meant and to whom the subsidy as well as .

credit has been disburSed really benefited ?

URUKSHETRA OctolJer, 1983 29

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Have the moveable assets created out of subsidy

and bank loans been really enjoyed by these

beneficiaries or have they been transferred to

other well-to-do persons?

Have supporting facilities, including inputs of

production, raw material, marketing etc. which

have direct bearing on the successful .imple-

mentation of IRDP been provided to the bene-ficiaries who have been disbursed loans and

provided subsidy?

Can per. capita investment of the order of

Rs. 3112 or so help the IRDP beneficiary to

cross poverty line, once and for all ?

An in-depth study and experience on the implemen-

tation of IRDP have revealed that though the Govern-

ment has created a full-fledged organisational set-up

known as District Rural Development Agency (DRDA)

in all the districts with definite objective of playing aweU defined role so that the assisted families cross the

poverty line once and for all, effort of the DRDA has

been directed only to achieve the physical targets . of

covering three million families, release of subsidy of

Rs. 300 crores and getting loan of matchable amount

disbursed. The possible reason for thi; state of affairs

has been the lack of appreciation of :

(i) the concept of IRDP and its integrated

al'Proach.,

(ii) meticulous planiring exercise, and (iii) developing a result-oriented action. plan.

WIDLE LAYINGDOWNtargets for this kind of deve-

lopment-oriented programme has been essentially

accepted as a part of plarining process; however, under

ment etc. Thus, it bas mov~ only in one direction

of achieving targets and other quite ilIl[loruint aspect

. of ensuring that the family has crossed poverty line

has' been neglected. -It is therefore, essential that

implementing ,agency at the block level including

DRDA, Banks and Panchayat administration should

appreciate following important comPonents of the pro,

gramme to ensure the end-result., . - -

R URAL DEVELOPMENThas now come to be rcalised'.

as a sine qua non for national development and. >

social welfare. The problem is not merely one of

development' of rural areas but of the development of

rural communitie.s-to dispel ignorance and poverty'

and assist the process of creating self-reliant and self c

sustaining modern little communities. Thus, rural

development can no longer be identified with mere

increase in GNP or even per capita national income.

The increased income is expected to be 50 distributed

as to result in significant diminution of inequalities of income and wealth. In short, every rural family

shonld have its reasonable share in the generation of

GNP and increasing per capita income. The major

objective should be to reconstruct and. develop the

rural economy in s,!ch a way that income owing from

the ownership of productive assets, skills and labour

would be automatically distributed . more equitably.

. This fact. therefore, focusses the need, urgency and

importance of. building viable rural communities of

functional rural clusters with improved dwellings, ""

clean water and modern sanit~tion, a congenial

environment, dependable and convenient energy sup-

plies, adequate transport aI)d communication facilities

that link it to the larger world, suitable health and

educational facilities, access \0 crectit and markets,.

culturally invigorated and no longer compartmentalised

, ,Under IRDP the official machinery at the block; district and state level only desires

to achieve targets of 600 beneficiary families per block per year witbont being pre-

pared to do groundwork envisaged in the programme. This process of achieving the

targets in each blnck M5 further created climate 'wherebymost of-the beneficiaries are

interested in securing subsidy without paying :attention to achieve the end-results

of the programme. This has created h~st of problems'

t

IRnP the official machinery at the block; district atid

state level only desires to achiev~ targets of 600 bene-

ficiary families per block per year without being pre-

pared. to do groundwork envisaged in the programme.

This process of achieving the targets in each block

has further created a climate whereby most of the

beneficiaries ;;;'e iIiterested in securing subsidy without.

paying attention" to achieve the end-results of the pro-. -' .~

gramme. This has created a host of prOblems: VIZ..

.supervision. on the end-use of credit,. follow-up for

seeking solution to the problem of beneficiaries; reco-

very of !l;mn instalments, ascertaining the genuine need

for re-scheduling the repayment period, cr~dit manage-

.30

. by barriers .of castes and feudal distinctions based on

land ownership or occupation. .

Tl:Ie economists and social scientists 'view the inte-

gration inherent in rural development in four dimen-

sions : The first is the concept of "overall development

of all" with a focus on specified target groups. This'

means multipurpose and multi-term credit to a family.

The second 'Yhich is an elaboration of the first, wonld

refer to credit being integrated with technical services

so that produciivc deployment of credit leads to' its prompt repayment out of additional income generated.

That is from whichever primary level institution the

rural producer opts to borrow under the multi-agency

KURU~S~TRA October, 1983.,

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system, it should be in a position to tak~ 'a total view

of his requirements ,and to provide integrated service

backe,j' by appropriate higher level institutions. The

third dimension implies the integration of economic

activities inherent in rural development to ensure

balanced growth. This means intensification of the

primary sector programmes .of agriculture and enlarg-

ing and strengthening of the secondary sector of village,

cottage and other small scale industries in rural areascOlipled with creation of facilities for organised market-

ing, processing and allied activities in the tertiary sector

to create larger employment opportunities so as to

absorb the increasing number of rural population. The

last dimension is one of so integrating the credit dis-

bursing activities under' the multi-agency approach as

to avoid duplication of efforts in exteil.jing credit or

technicaL-expertise. Based on these lines, integrated

development aims at assisting the rural poor by com-

bining cn,dit and programmes for (i) comprehensive

agriculture, (ii) tiny, village and cottage industries,(iii) rural services including marketiug, and (iv) infra-

structure ror p~oduction.'.~'~,I

T,HIS HERCULEANTASK OF alleviating rural poverty

, cannot be accomplished overnight, through piece-

nieiaefforts and in isolation of tOlal development of

tural areas. The entire planning exercise is, therefore,

required' t o be geared up in favour of (i) optimum

utilization' of the growth potential. of the villages' to

increase income, employment and production; (ii)

ensuring a latger than proportionate gain of develop-

ment to the weaker sections of the population; (iii)

"

,It is necessary to plan, to direct, to organise.

and to coordinate; but it is even more necessary.

to create conditions in which a spontaneous

growtb from below is poSsible.'

.,....-Jawaharlal Nehru .;

f . [ , . ; •

of the population. The growth',o.,mtre project can pro-

vide, blueprints indicating the possiblc locations for

education, health and such o!ber facilities. ,Based

on the principle of "equal accessibility" the growth

centre approach can bring several community facilic

ties like health, education, transport and communica-

tion, local administration etc. within easy reach of

the 'entire population.' c,,

These growth centres should necessarily be equip"

ped with all the required facilities which may help

th'e rural population to get their work done in the

area itself rather than visiting cities or towns snch

as (i) a permanent ,training centre to impart practical

training' in the area of agriculture, village industries

'and agro-based Iodustries; (ii) a mobile training.;eum.

demonstration unit to provide on-the-spot training

and repairs; service and maintenance facilities' for

agricul,tural and industrial machineries; (iii) a .. rura!service society to provide crcdit, inputs of produclion,, ,j

. ,

'The problem is not merely one of development of rural areas bnt of the development

of 'rural areas but of the development of rural communities to dispel ignorance and'

poverty and assist the. process of creating self-reliant and self-sustaiiiing healthy.modern little communities,'

"

•... • I

fp}filling the minimum needs programme; (iv) aug-

1]1entingthe duration and productivity of employment

in' their existing occupations inter alia through up-

gradation of technology, imparting' of skills and setting

up of non-exploitativ~ institutions for credit, marketingand services; (v) alleviating chronic unemployment

through employment on public works such as National

Rural Employment Programme; (vi) building up of

a s,oci::L1and economic infrastructure; (vii) r~orienting

existing .instit.utio"nsand organisations in order to pro-

tect the interest oB the poor; (viii) building up of

appropriate organisation of the rural poor, especially

to protect them from exploitation; and (ix) pro-

motion of a progressively more egalitarian structureof ownership of assets.

.. "~he,-growtl.1'ce-nt{e~exercise, in the endeavour, can

be' .a"-powerful instrument for as.sisting the policy-

makers and the. planners in' improving the well-being

KlTRUKSHETRA Gctob"r" 1983

custom hiring of farm equipment and machinerie.f?;'

(iv) a marketing-cum-warehousing component, that

can provide safe storage and efficient marketing of

farm produce and cottage indus,tries p~oducts; (iv) a

forest .a~d grass 'nursery for p~oviding fruits, fuel;

fodder and forest trees; (vi) a developmental school

based on the 'earning while learning'principle 'and'

oriented to develop a cadre of,' self-employed and

dedic-ateri workers in the area of human; animal, planf

and soil health care and (vii) a residential COInpO-

nent to provide basic housing facilities' for workers

in the project area. J . ",I j ..

J NTENSIVERESEARCHand investigation would ~h a v e '

, to be planned in order to (i) identify t~e existing

areas which could' be developed as growth centreltogether with',their associate areas i~terms of a n eeo..,

nomic base and a range a/population; '(iii investigate

the suitability of a population range of 10,000 .. to

31

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,,The major objeclive shoold be to reconstruct and develop the rural economy in su~h

a way that income 1I0wiugfrom the ownership of productive assets, skills and labour

wonld be automatically distributed more equitably.' ,

125,000 in a cluster of 20 villages or so for the purpose

,of viable co=unity; (iv) study inhibiting social fac-

tors and anomalies; (v) determine nOrms of viable

'village communities in terms of economic investmenis

;and social amenities and effectiveness of community

~institutions like panchayats, cooperatives; and (vi)

I,suggest eventually, as may be necessary, lines of pos-

,sible change in the structure and base unit of plann-ing and administration.

achieving the accclerated growth in the village eco-

nomy. A resu1t-oriented-action plan would, therefore,

call for initiating following steps:

1

A detailed study of the villages and households

should be conducted for studying the present state

of economic activities practised by the villagers, itscontribution to the growth of village economy,

)

IFPAST EXPERIENCE OF three years' implementation

exercise of IRDP is any guide, it definitely calls

for strengthening of district planning m3cchinery as

well as office of DRDA to make it effective enough

to undertake the kind of planning required at the

block level. While the DRDA should draw upon the

expertise, in the meantime, available with technical

experts, economists, administra;tors, co-operators

for undertaking detailed planning of IRDP, the role

of financing institutions viz., cooperative banks, land

development banks, nationalised banks, regional

rural banks, state financial corporations should not be

confined merely to purvey the credit alone but it should

convert the credi! into supply and services.

The responsibility of the banker has to be extended to support his lending for production by also lending

to the creation of necessary infrastructure, supply

structure and marketing structure without which credit

for prodnction by itself would be self-defeating. The

National Co=ission on Agriculture (NCA) has

also very aptly emphasised similar role of credit insti-

tutions in the rural sector. No doubt this is ex-,

tremely difficult, but not impossible. Yet whatever

credit institutions can do to suppor! their production,

lending has to be done without waiting for perfect

conditions. The °developinental role of banking hasto come into effective play in identifying the items

of support and the methods to exploit !hem. What

the state is already providing \hrough its administra-

tive and organisation can, !o some extent, be aug-

mented and furthered by the private alld pu!;>licsec-

tor through credit. In this endeavour, the bank

offices in the ,rural and semi-urban areas have to be

necessarily strengthened in terms of technically train-

ed manpower and !heir mobility in villages has to be

ensured.

A COMPREHENSIVE SURVEY of a group of 15 to 20villages should be undertaken' by a branch of the

bank in association with DRDA with an ultimate objec-

tive of improving the standard of living and quality

of life of the families living below poverty line as also

32

resource potential which could be exploited by har-

nessing science and technology, scope for improving

the economic activities-(crop farming,

livestock farming, inland fisheries, rural and

cottage industries, trade and other services)-by in,lroducing proven technology, management

expertise and building socio-economic infrastruc-

ture, constraints already existing and those likely to

arise during implementation of rural development

progra=e need to be identified, methods and in-

nov,ative approach for overcoming these constraints

should be developed. While effort has to be made

to identify those below poverty line (BPL) , more

importantly below bread line, survey should incor-

porate plan for optimum utilization of the growth '"

potential of the entire area to increase income, employment and production. Inadequacy of bare

minimum needs in relation to health and medical

facilities, drinking waler, housing, education, supply

of esscntial co=odities through public distribution

system, transport and co=uiiication etc. should

be brought out clearly. Scope for revitalising the

existing non-exploitative institutions for credil,

marketing and services should be examined. Possi-

bilities of alleviating chronic unemployment through

employment on public works under National Rural

Employment Programme should be explored. '

2

Integrated Rural Development Programme should

be developed with emphasis on preparing area-

specific credit schemes acceptable by the rural

households. Introduction of innovative schemes

(non-traditional) such as (i) production-cum-

consumption-cum-housing credit scheme for the

weakest of the weak and (ti) crop-cum-Iivestock

farming-eum-acquaculture or livestock farming-

cum-rural industries etc. to be developed for opti-

mum utilisation of available resources, assets of the

rur~l household as also expandillg his income base

KURUKSIffiTRA October, 1983

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through subsidiary occupations or cottage industries

which can gainfully employ or keep occupied all the

members of the family. Different modes of such

credit schemes should be worked out for different

categories of beneficiaries based on their resoun;es

potential including assets and liabilities.

3

While schemes to exploit underground water re-•ources should be formulated, schemes should also

be initiated for development of drought-prone areas

'to insulate ihe economy of these areas from the

effects of recurring droughts through diversifica-

tion of agriculture and promoting afforestation,

pasture development and soil and moisture conser-

vation. . In arid and desert areas, schemes should

be formulated for arresting desertification through

activities which restore ecological balance, stabilise

sand dunes and facilitate soil and water conserva-

tiori. Plantation of shclter belts, adoption of w:<lter

harvesting techniques and development of pastures .

to sustain the livestock economy should receive im-

mediate attention. Schemes to encourage innova-

tive use of land for fodder crops, pastures and fuel

and fodder plantations should be taken up on

priority basis.

4

.Schemes for setting up agro-based industries/

rural industries, food processing industries to utilise

local resources as also for setting up custom service

units repair workshops should be formulated to

.overcome the difficulties of rural families in meeting

their day-to-day requirements.

5

Qmintifieation of the requirements of all the

components of the credit schemes for their success-

ful implementation in these villages is absolutely

necessary. As for example, quantity of high yield-

ing seeds/hybrid fertilisers, pesticides, etc. required

fot the crops to be grown under the 'crop loan

schemes; number of electric/diesel pumpsets to

6

While quantifying the needed inputs and equip-

ment, effort should also be made (0 locate sources

of their availability within a manageable distance.

If need be, schemes to set up such centres for sup-

ply of inputs, services, marketing, repair facilities

etc. should be formulated. In fact, implementation

of any scheme should not suffer for want of timely

supply of such prerequisites.

7

A plan for successful implementation of these

schemes should incorporate the need for training

and technical guidance to be imparted to the bene-

ficiaries for improving their skills 'and upgrading

the quantity and quality of their products which

may fetch higher price. As for example, crop farm-

ing, livestock farming, acquaculture, etc. pre-en-

visages the knowledge of. crop production

technology, cattle breeding, fish breeding.etc. In

fact demonstration of proven technology, continu-

.ous training and technical guidance, should

form a part of such development' programme.

Efforts should also be made to suggest holding of

required training program'mes, demonstrations, dis-

cussions with the villagers, exhibitions, farmers' faiTs

etc. Training needs of artisans in their traditional

, as also new industries for improving their skills

should be clearly spelt out. Need for identifying

and training of entrepreneurs for setting up small

scale units, ancillaries, tiny industries in light of local needs should receive equal attention .

" 8

Past experience has revealed that a large number

of small/marginal farmers, landless labourers,

rural artisans and members belonging (0 the sche-

duled castes/tribes have to be continuously guided

in respect Of adoption of proven technology which

produces spectacular results. While under the

World. Bank Scheme, the Government has intro-.

duced 'Training. &

Visit System' in all. the blocks,the Gram Vikas' Adhikari (GVA) O r Village

,

,This Herculean task of alleviating rural poverty cannot be accomplishedovernight,

throughpiece-mealeffort and iii isolation of total developmentof rural areas.'

be installed under 'minor irrigation scheme', num-

ber of milch animals, poultry birds, sheep, goat,

pigs as also of feeds and fodder required under

'animal husbandry scbemes', number and type of

equipment and raw materials required for specific

types of rural industries under 'credit scheme for

rural industries' should be worked out for the area.

KURUKSHETRA October, 1983. I

Extension Workers (VEW) in charge of 600 farm

families for a group of 3 to 4 villages' should work

in close liaison with field officer'of the bank. This

working relationship would help solve the problems

of the farmers ahd artisans and enable them to in-troduce 'farm plan and farm budgeting' concept

for optimum utilisation of resources and expanding

33

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the income base by resorting to novel credit

schemes viz. 'crop-cum-livestock farming-cum-cot-

tage industries or 'livestock farm'ing-cum-acquacul-

ture-cum-cottage 'industries etc. While the farmcrs

may be, trained at the Krishi Vigyan Kendras or

Farmers' Training Centres in the area of latest

farm technology, th~ rural youths should be train-

ed under TRYSEM for 'improving their knowledge

and skill in specified rural or cottage industries.

9

Aspects of post-harvest technology including pro-

cessing, s.torage and m'arketing of crops, fruit,

vegetables, milk, wool, eggs, meat, fish, products

of cottage'industries should be includcd in the plan.

This has been the. weakest chain in whole of the

the Bank, DIC, KVIC and respective board viz.

Coir Board, Handicraft Board, Handloom Board.

12

Resource potential of the rural areas 'can profitably

be exploited if community assets are created and

well ,managed. The community assets to be cre-

ated out of bank's loans viz. lift irrigation system

installed on a perennial river, ~ommunity bio-gas plant, com'munity irrigation well, development of

grassland, forest land and pastur~s for raising fod-

der, fuel and timber, organised marketing arrange-

ment through promoting milk/egg producers co-

operative societies etc. have to be managed by' a

trained and qualified personnel on sound business

and financial principles. When land holding of a

't .

,If. past experience of three years' implementation exercise of IRDP is lillY gnide,

it definitely calls for strengthening of district .planning machinery as well as office

of DRDA to make it enough elfecth'. to undertake this kind o(planuing required atthe hlock level.'

.0'

11•. ,' r- .

Marketing of products' of rural and cottage mdus-

tries is another aspect of great importance in the

development of rural industries. This problem

, may" have to be overCome by setting up 'Rural

'Marketing & Service Centre', (RMSC), at block 'level. . The RMSC should perform the functions

'of Identifying the beneficiaries of cottage industrieso their 'needs 'for training, raw materials, equipm~nt,

. credit, and 'marketing. AlI these should 1>~quanti-

.fiedand"arranged by the RMSC in close liaIson w'ith

f f .. 1 - . . . " • •

'formulation and implementahon of the credit

, schemes meant for rural poor. Institutional struc-

ture for u~derHlking these activities should be cre-

at~(( in the area, viz'. c00Pef.ative prqc.c.ssingunits,

, c~operative marketing, society, cold storage, chil-

I~ling 'plant;' milk collection centres, rural godowns,

'com~unity threshIng yards, market yards, etc.. ' ' 10

. f ~ :tndustrial houses,. voluntary. associations and ser-"vice organisations should also be associated with

the poverty-alleviation programme. While Bank

;' and Government departments have their built-in

limitations. , these . agencies can help nJodernise

.. rural ,areas by way of .providing drinking water,

primary schoolS,. rural health centres, arterial

, rQads etc. A. coordinated approach 'involving in-

h dU,striai hOllses voluntary associatiQlls, credit institu-

',ions, Government departments, panchayat adminis-

'tration etc. should be evolved in such a way that

all .req~itements .of rural families for socio-econo-'IDle develop.\nent inel.uding provision of basic in-

frastructure are met with within a reasonable period

of time.

farm family is day-by-day becoming sinaller

fragmented and scattered, there is no alternative

but development of resources on a community

basis and provision of management input. . 1n

13Credit estimates should be reasonably made on

the basis of demand-based' surveys. The village-

wise and household wise survey would assist, the

credit agency: (I) to correctly estimate the develop-mental needs of the rural households. on the basis

of which credit scheme can be formulated and imple-

mented in a given situation; (ii) to identify the

rural households already indebted to the institu-

tional and non-institutional sources of credit, ex-

tent to which they are indebted as also whether

any of them is a wilful or genuine defaulter. If a

'few of thein are genuine defaulters, the r'easons

of default can be ascertained and the repayment

period of the defaulted loan can be reasonably,re-

scheduled taking over-all position of their' asSetsand likdy 'prospects of development for which

credit line can further be opened; (iii) to introduce

crop or cattle or pumpset insurance scheme or

create risk stabilisation fund or development fund,

to mit'igate the adverse effects of natural calami-

ties; (iv) to formulate innQvative schemes viz.

crop-cum-livestock . farming-eum,acquaculture/eot-

tage industries etc. so as to stabilise and guarantee

,minimum amount of income. This requir~s in-

gennity and visionary. approach of the part of the

, bank and tpe development agencies; (v) scale of

finance, disbursement and repayment' schelllile,

margin, .ic. should be 'realistic and uniform' ..for

the entire 'area; (vi) scheme should be evolved

r- < , _..~.. • - I. ~ , • i '

KURUKSHETRA October, 19S3

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14

taking into consideration the availability of infra-

structure and aptitude of the beueficiaries to imple-

ment them; (vii) to identify the gaps in the in-

frastructure and' suggest measures to bridge the

same in a reason~ble time; and (viti) credit scheme

to improve the rural communities" rural iifeand

total development of the village with emphasis on

the assistance to the weaker section of the societyshould be formulated. Then villagewise credit

schemes with credit outIay and subsidy should be

worked out and the credit plan be implemcnted in

a period of, t hree years or so. , 1 ' t ~r ~ .I'~ . . . . J l. ~••... I

"The Earth has her hi l l' -sides and her uplands, . v " 'Hers the wide plain,

She ' l is the bearer of plants of many uses:

May she stretch out ber hand and bebounti. ."

ful to us !"

---:-Atharva Veda Xli, i'

. ,

Credit ,camps should be organised by the banks,

block officials, DRDA authorities jointly in the

villages to motivate the rural poor to participate inthe process of rural development, secure loan for

their [resource development, make. them aware' of

the difference between subsidy ~nd loans, explain

terms and pmc,dures like availing credit, repay-

ment of loans, interest rates and caution them

against misappropriate useef lean or 3 wilful

default.

•The, action plan should have bnilt-in mechanism

for reviewing, monitoring and evaluating the

schemes from time 'to time so that adequate flexi-

bility is imparted in the schemes. Besides, co-,

" ordinated approach for supervision, follow-up and

recovery of loan should be adopted rather thanleaving the job to the credit agency only. This will

make the beneficiaries aware that all the agencies

including DRDA, block officials, bank, state-owned

corporation/board, district officials have' the right

to supervise ,the end-use of credit and even take

penal action if there is Ill'isutilisation of loans or

wilful default.,

'I

" 15

"""

. i.,

-----

/

(Contd. from' p. 21) ••,.."

in reso~rce al1ocations under the Five Year Plans

have, been met for the, Minimum Needs Programme

and special employJIlent schemes can not make. much

impression on ruraf poverty when more' and TIJ9re

numbers are.' driven below the poverty line by the_re-

lentIess working of the objective economic factors at

work in the rural econOIuy'. The situaiion is bound'

even' to, further aggravate 'with, the new liberalising

trends in economic policy and management and

reliance on freer play of' market fOIces to' determine

"

income, consumption and investment pattern in the

economy and its growth process. A frontal ~ttack

on rural poverty requires major structural reforms in

'.the economy, a radiCal r~distribution of inc~mes and

'wealth in society arid ~edefinitioll of develop.Jllent

priorities both 'as 'regards mobilisation and deploy-

ment of resources 'for development and sharing ef the

"gains of, development. Populist gestures are no' sub-stitute for meaningful action for attack on poverty-

rural and urL"'an~tobe mounted. .

"

" \

"READERS PLEASE NOTE'•

With this issue,' Kurukshetra' is being changed into a monthly, with more

Pages arId lot af new features, to give our esteemed readers more alld more

lIseful'reading, ' .

. , - EDI TOR

KURUKSHETRA' October, 1983

,. "

35

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I• f

Time is ripe for freshthinking

P. SRINIVASAN

Freelance JournaJist, New Delhi

."

• fl'

For any welfare programme "to deliver results, it is

necessary that its implementation is in a systematic Gnd

bu~illesslike manner, says the author and makes a plea

for, drawing up the implementation strategy which is

'based on facts as they are or are obtained whileimple-,l menting various schemes and programmes out ill the

field.

He adds: "Some of these (development) programmes

are more than 10 years old and it is long enough time

_ -to. appoint a, high level expert committee to go into.

I their working and suggest improvements or alternate

I schemes. And further adds that "The argument that

I agricultural bad debts are only. a ' small portion of the

I total non-transactions does not do any good either to

the giver or to the rec.eiver. .. It is time to get

lout of the old grooves and find new waysfor reaching

'--the goal (of economic betterment, and social equity)".

36

EVE~AFTER THIR'~-\-T.HREb -fEARS of p.lanned de~~

lopment, about half of our' populatiOn remams

bolow the poverty line. This does not mean that the

national reconstruction work has had no effect on this

"'problem, nor does it mean that it has been dealt with

adequately and in the proper manner; Economic

justice was given an important place in the First five

year Plan itself; the phenomenon of unequal distribu-

tion of the fruits of planning was identified and correc-tive measures were outlined from the Third Plan

onwards; and pointed attention was focussed on remG-

val of poverty (Garibi Hatao) one-and-a-half decades

back. The most urgent steps required for improving

the lot of the people were listed in the Twenty-Point

Programme in the late seventies and has been rein- ,

forced in the new Programme under the same name.

The various projects carried out under the Plans in

the fields of agriculture, industry, the tertiary sector

and social services have increased the national wealth

to a substantial' extent and the per capita income to amuch lesser degree, providing in the process productive

employment, both direct and indirect, for a large num-

ber of people. If the investment had been progressi-

vely increased in the successive Plans much more

gainful employment would have been generated, but,

unfortunately, that was not the case. The current

Sixth Plan has, of course, stepped up inve.tment con.

siderably, but, as the mid-t~rm appraisal of the Plan

shows, even this is found to be inadequate for achiev-

ing the physical targcts. '

While the irrigation, industrial, road transport an dother construction works and expansion of the service

sector in urban areas have provided employment oppor-tunities to. rural labour, the modernisation of agricul-

ture, described as the Green RevolutioTl, has also .giv!cn


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hem more work and better wages. In fact, in Punjab and suggest improvements or alternate schemes.. A

here is acute shortage of farm labourers, who have to commonsense view, meanwhile. would suggest that

e imported from distant Bihar. In other fertile areas except in cases of destitution where outright doles may

f the country also the local labour is found to be be granted, in all other economic programmes busi-

nadequate during busy seasons, and workers from nesslike procedures should be followed-loans should

ther areas, though within the' same State, have to, be be granted against sufficient personal collateral or

rought in. This. incidentially. proves that rural group security and should be strictly recovered. The

abour is not immobile and that much fuss need not argument that agricultural bad, debts are only a small

e made of selecting only local workers for providing portion of the total loan transactions doesuot do any

mployment. But in dry and droughtCprone areas good eitber to the 'giver' or the receiver. ,

here is perennial unemployment and under- PROVIDING GAtNFULEMPLOYMENTis the only way

mployment and, if the rains fail, distress relief measu- to remove poverty. Unemployment is acute in

es have to be undertaken. our country-the Sixth Plan estimates that, :'inClud-'- __________________________ ': .k \

,H the investment had been progressively increased in the successivePlans much more

gainful employment would have been generated, but, unfortunately, that was not the

,case. The current Sixth Plan has, of course stepped up investment considerably,

but, as;the mid-term appraisal of the Plan shows, even this is found to be iuadequate

for achieving the physical targets.' ,\

A

'PARTfrom the favourable impact arid mnltiplier

effect of the general development projects on the

ural areas, some special programmes specifically

meant for the weaker sections arid backward areas

ave been introduced in recent years. These were

necessitated because of the well-to-do sections and

dvanced areas getting' a major portion of the new

wealth' created by virtue of their economic, strength.

The Marginal and Small Farmers Development Agency,

he Drought Prone Areas Programme, tlie Hill Areas

Development Programme, employment-oriented pro-

rammes with changing nomenClature, etc., ,come under

his category. In the new Twenty-Point Programmelso about half of the items pertain to the progress of

he rural people, particularly the poorer, Classes.

Regarding the other programmes, which have laudable

bjectives and wbichhave been very carefully prepar-

d, their success largely depends on the sincerity of the

fficials implementing them; at the field level and the

ooperation of the beneficiaries. For example, if some

employees of the concerned government department

delivering a subsidy or the public sector bank sanc-

ioning loans at differential rate of ,interest, demand a

ut, the villagers cannot get the full benefit of assistance

nor will they have the capacity to repay the loans.Apart from this, there has been a growing tendency

mong the villagers, which has been fostered by the

ich farmers and irresponsible politicians, of not

promptly repaying even cooperative society loans, not

o speak of government-guaranteed bank loans. It

s worth considering iuthis context, whether after

ssuring a profitable price for the produce, all subsidies

may be eliminated.

Some of these special programmes' are more than

en years old and it is long enough time to appoint. a

igh-level expert, committee to go into their working


ing the backlog, about 46 million persons would need, I

jobs during 1980'85. The problem is even more 'serious in villages than in urban areas. The number.

of landless workers is increasing at the rate of about 15"

lakhs per year. There is also wide-spread offseason

under-employment in rural areas. With an increase

of 2.45 per cent in population and of 1.9 per cent in

the labour force per annum, the problem is worseningwith each passing day. .' ,

Apart from agriculture, which is overburdened with

the population depending on it, animal husbandry and,

handloom industry can provide means of livelihood to'

a large number of rural people. Dairying has received a boost through the Operation Flood programme, which' ,.

benefits both the rural and urban people, by providing

more income to the farmer and the much-needed milk,

to the latter. It should spread further and dairying'

cooperative shonld be better organised so that the

claim of 'White Revolution' could be justified. There . , iis still enormous demand for dairy products in the

metropolitan and other cities and, towns. The hand-

loom industry. including Khadi, has been next only to

• farrning in providing gainful work to a large number

of rural families. Though an 'inefficient' sector in

modern economy, its human factor haS'been recognised ?y the government and it has been given a high place

m all lhe Plans. - But theinduslry is finding it diffi-

cult to face the competition of power looms and mills

and is periodically beset with unsold stocks. The

~a!n governmental support to the handloom industry

IS 10 the shape of rebate on sales wbich is a cumber-

some procedure. Since a long time this industry bas

been plead10g for reserving certain varieties of cloth

such as dhoties and bordered sarees for its exclusiv~'

~roduction. This' ~nd of arrangement may help the

, 10dustry stand an Its own feet without permanent

dependence on government subsidy. Khadi uniforms

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are being provided tb class IV employees of the govern-

ment, ',md to'that extent, the industry is benefitted. ,It

is worthwhile to consider whether khadi or handloom

uniforms could, be 'provided to ,all employees' of the

Central and' State' governments' and Panchayati Raj

institutions,'so thai a big market for the industry can

be assured.. This will also reduce the hierarchical

feeling in' the bureaucracy. there arc so many 'allo-

wances, and a dress allowance can be added to them;

or a part of the cost can be rec.overed from the employees. ,

('.," r.

AS, MENTIONED ~A_~LIERJ the government has, be~n

launching various _, employment-oriented, pro-

grammes, beginning with the Crash Scheme fOf'Rural

Employment of the early seventies '10 the just-announe- .

ed Rural LaiJdless Employment Guarantee Progr~me.

This writer had the opportunity of observing the work-

ing of the centrally sponsored CSRE from a vantage

point. Consistent with its objectives, the scheme was

perfectly drawn, therequired funds (R s. '100 CrDreper

year) were provided, the top administrators were dedi-cated to it and the concerned Ministers were earnest

about 'its' success. But, apart from rejuvenating the

old CommunIty Development set-up, it could not

achieve much in reducing rural poverty, creating dur-

able assets 'and ensuring their .future maintenance.

It was 'often frustr!'ting to get viable projects and ac-

counts' fdr expenditure from the State governments

and to fulfil the conditions for executing works, stieh

as not dngaging contractors, limiting the cost of mate-rials, etc. I! ,"

The Food For" Work Programme had also to face

m'anyimpediments, including that of the vested inte-

rests in, the foodgrains trade. The progress of the

National Rural Employment Programme is not en'

couragirig either,: The target of this scheme is to raise

3,000 poorest families in every Block above the poverty

line during 'the Sixth Plan period, and to gerierate 850

year, and is likely to get Rs. 500 crores in the next

year. Half.of the funds is to be given as wages and

the' rest is to be spent on materials, etc. It aims at

providing employment upto 100 days in a year to one

member of each needy family. It is expected to gene-

rate about 60 million mandays of employment each

year. Part of the wages will be paid in the form of

foodgrains. The projects under this scheme are to

be undertaken preferably in backward areas, and they

will be labour-intensive and production-oriented, such

as irrigation, social forestry and ecological develop-

ment. This scheme can of COursegive much ,relief to

the mral poor, but as in the case of earlier schemes its

- . success will depend on its faithful implementation at

•."the State, district and Block levels.

In general, some new thinking is required regarding

the very concept of employment-orientation. Develop~

mentwork, by itself, generates employment. But

modern organised industry is capital-intensive and its

- -development eannot provide jobs for' an appreciable

number and so;'labour-intensive occupations have alsoto be developed for giving work to millions of people,

especially in an over-populated eountry like ours. It

does not, however,"mean that employment for the sake

of employment is to be favoured. Stone-breaking and

road construetion may be all right as a famine-relief.

measure. B,ut employment can be enduring only if it

is productive and its product is economically pro-

fitable. Such avennes of employment are certainly

there' and they should be earefully selected. For

example, afforestation including social forestry, can

provide gainful work to lakhs of people, rectify the

immense denudation of our forests and provide the

much-needed fuel' and timber. '(But it is reported

that the afforestation seheme is not progressing satis-

faetorily; only a small portion of the l!irgeted saplings

have been used by the' States, with the result the

employment generated is mueh below the target).

Similarly, systematic renovation of existing minor irri-

,IL ,There bas been a growing tendency among tbe villagers, whicb has bee~ fostered

by the ~ich fa~ersand irresponsible politicians, of not promptly repaying even

cooperative socIety loans, not to speak of government-guaranteed bank loans. It

is w~rib considering in this context, whether after assuring a profitable price for the produce, all subsidies may be eliminated.... , ,

.~. I

to 900 ,miIlion mandays of additional employment

each year. But it is reported thaj in 1982-83, only

110 ffiillion mandays of employment conld be guarillltCo'

ed till, the end of December, 1982. Similarly only a',r 11,.

small portion of the foodgrains and funds allotted for

the ,P~ogramme have been utilised by the states.

The new and bigger Central scheme for guaranteeing

employment to the landless workers has been~,allotted'

Rs. 100 crores for the remaining part of the current

. '

38

gation works can provide work to a large number of

rural people and also increase agricultural production.

In such projects it will' be better to associate contrac:

tors than t.o depend solely on officials, so that 'the tar-

gets eanbe achieved and the contraetors can be pena-

lised for failures. Special conditions, such as engag-

"ing local labour at prescribed rates of wages, ean be

imposed and officials may exercise strict supervisionon .them.


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FURTHER, ANY NUMBER OF EMPLOYMENT schemes

cannot provide work for all, if 'our population

grows at the present rate. The family planning cam-

paign has not made much headway in rural areas and

it should be intensified. In China, which is also over-

populated, the communist government is taking penal

action on all those contravening the small-family (one-

child) norm. This is not to suggest that we should

also adopt compulsive methods, but just to remind all

political parties and social service organisations of the

urgent task of motivating our people, especially the

rural masses, to limit the size of their families.

If all the rural people are literate there would not

be much difficulty in convincing them of the need

for family planning. Literacy wil! also ena12lethem to

use modern methods' and implements in ,cultivation

and allied activities. It can help them to get the

full benefits of the' existing legisl.ation, such as Tenan-

cy Act, Minimum Wages Act, Debt Relief Act, etc.

It will be of great use to them in other fields like thecooperative movement, health and hygiene, savings

and investment, and so on. Social education, which

is vaster than literacy, has been a part of Community

Development Programme from the beginning. But it

has not made much progress so far. It is worthwhile

to establish' regular folk schools for adult education

as some Scandimavian countries have successfully

done.

"

~ _ .----~---~-

'So long as millions live iD ~'hunger and igno-

rance, Ihold eveI' ) ' man a traitor, who, hav~

iog been educated at their expense, pays DOt

the least heed to them'.

-Swami Vivekananda

,

,

" .

place. The collective farm experiment in one such

State ended in failure. Even now more than one-fifth

of rural households in the country own no land. _

THE QUESTION OF EFFECTIVE land reforms has

been relegated to the background in recent years.

This is because there is no organised' pressure for it

from below. All parties, including the leftist ones,'

are otherwise too busy to org3I)ise the ~asants for

getting their legitimate rights through peaceful means.

It is a sad commentary on these parties and trade

unions, that the Conference of Labour Ministers some--

time back had to decide to appoint government officials

in order to organise the landless labourers, so that they

could derive the benefits of the existing legislation.

,The number of landless workers is increasing at the rate of about 15 lakhs per year.

There is also widespread offseason:underemployment in raral areas. ll.With an in-crease of 2.45 per cent in popuJati~n and of 1.9 per cent in the labour force per

annmn, the problem is worsening witheacb passing day.'

. 'All other measures 'for removing rural poverty are

just cosmetic remedies as compared to the basic reme-

dy of agrarian reforms. Of course, intermediary- .

systems like the zamindari were abolished soon after

Independence, laws for a fair share of the produce

ahd fixity of' tenure to the tenants, for the minimum

wages to the farm labourers, for abolition of bonded labour and for the fixation of ceilings on land owner-

ship have been enacted. Some State Govermnents

have also provided debt relief to the rural poor. But

in spite of a1l'these;very large land holdings are still

there; only a negligible part' of surplus lands has been

secured and distributed among th~ peasants. and the

labourers are not able to get the prescribed minimum

wages; groups of bonded labour are stili being identi-

fied.' The Scheduled Castes, people, who, are also

landle'ss labourers,.,are subjected to atrocities by the_

landlords in many, areas. In some States where leftist

governments have implemented land' reforms effecti-_

"ely; resale of lands by the erstwhile-tenants. thus

remarking them back to poverty, has been' taking

There are two ways of ~olving the inequity in land

ownership. One way is to expropriate large holdings'

and force the peasants into coll~ctive farms, The

other, and better way, is to pay fair compensation to

the landholders, to distribute the lands among thelandless and to help them form cooperatives for getting

credit and oth.f'r facilities. In the countri~ where thecoercive method was used, agriculture continues to be

the Acl)illes tendoll for decades 'andi they have: to im-

pprt foodgrains from ot,her countries. In China,

under the new dispensation, the communes' are being

dismantled and a new 'Responsibility System' which

gives peasants more scope for private cultivation and

other activities, is being introduCed. Demnark, on the

other hand, solved the land ownership problem long

ago by the government bnying the s,!!rplus lands at

fair value; distributing the lands among the peasants

and'recovering the cost from .them in instalments.

The strong and all-embracing cooperative system of

(Con/d. on page.47)

KURUKIlHETRA October; 1983;, I ~r

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"

"

Mass awareness willhelp alleviate poverty

G.N,s. RAGHAVAN

Professor, Indian Institute of Mass Couununication, New Delhi

T'HE PERSISTENCEOF widespread rural poverty is

the major minus point in the record of India's

planned development over the last three decades.

I.:

.u._

' .

't • ,.

, .

In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha

on April, 18, 1983, the Minister of Food and Civil

Supplies, Shri Bhagwat Jha Azad, stated that 48.18

per ,cent of the country's population were' below the

-- 'poverty line. Since per capita incomes are higher in

.; 'cities and towns than in villages, t.his means that themajority of the rural population live below the poverty

line. ./

POLITICALPARTICIPAtIONby Ihe urban population of

India is much more active than by the rural popu-

lation. Political parties compete with each other in

organising,' seCuring benefits for, and thereby winning

the support at election time of workers and white-collar

employees in the organised sector such as railwaymen,

"The pefs;stence - 0 / »oidespreadrural poverty is the. -, •., The ,persistence of rural poverty has much to dowith the poverty of rural communication. Of the many

m a i' " minus point in the record of India's pl;mned streams of cOmDluuication which have the potential

developmentfor the last three decades, says the authpr for being, utilised for the prQmotion of development,

and ,flsserts"The persistence of rural poverty has much the rural poor have adequate access ouly to two,

to do with the poverty of rural communication", and namely religion and the traditional modes of

laments 'that of the many streams of communication communication. They have very limited access to the

which hav~ the 'potential of being utilised to promote other possible streams of development communication,

I. d' I' t th I h _oJ namely,: (\) political participation; (2) formal edu-

rura eve opmen ,e rura poor, as emequate cation ;(3) official extension agencies of inter-personal

access i only to few.... communication; (4) non-official agencies of inter-per'

sonal communication inc!uding social welfare organi-

sations' ; and (5) the modern mass media of news-

papers, l{i"lio, Film and Television.

Let us mst survey the Q.osition of the latter five

ccimmqnication streams.

But adds: "To, achieve any worth whilepub!icparti-

cipation and involvement need to have radical redraft-

ing of the pattern 'of our media use, putting greater ,J -: ..

emp1ul'Sison folk media and local'resources whose

utilisation till date is ';'s litti~ as negligible. The pre-

sent policy of top-down and centralised communica-'

tion must' be replaced by communication among and from the people at the bottom, decentralised and

participatory, i f rural communication is to make a

significant contribution to development... , . "

40 . ,

KURUKSf!gTRA, October, 1983

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textile workers, bank and life insurance employees, and

non-gazetted staff of the Central and State Govern-

ments. In between elections, urban interest groups

articulate themselves politically in adequate measure

through the press and through their. sympathisers in

Parliament and the State legislatures.

The political process would have been vigorously at

work in the rural areas also if the scheme of Pancha!

yati Raj, drawn up in the mid-fifties, had been imple~mented. It envisaged regular elections to village pane

chayats, panchayat samitis at the level of the develop.:

ment block, and to Zila Parishads at the district level.

All these ,three tiers of rural self-government were to be

given adequate powers and financial resources to make

a reality of "planning from below" to meet locally-felt

needs. But the scheme has been implemented in very

'few States, and even there without a firm division of

powers and responsibilities as between the State Gov,

emment and the local self-government bodies. As a

rule, State Governments have been reluctant to pracelise themselves lhe devolution of powers which they

commend to the Centre.

The result is that the villager is approached only

once in five years-nnless there are mid-term elections

to the State Assembly or to Parliament-to vote for

one political parly or the other on the basis of electi~n

manifestoes which deal with ideology and broad poli-

cies rather than area-specific programmes at the district

level and below.

ligures relating to which are'uninfiated and reliable-

rose at a higher rate, nearly nine-fold, from 360,000

in,1951 to 3,130,000 in 1980. The elitist bias in

edueational development can be .inferred from these

figures. 'Edueationa]' growth has taken place maiilly

in the urban centres, whereas nearly four-fifths of the

country's population of 684, million (1981' Census)

live in villages.

There are two major reasons for the poor level of enrolment, and the high drop-out rate, in rural schools.

One is th~t the content of formal education is unrelated

to the rural environment. The second is the enforce-

ment of an urban pattern of school hours and vacations

which fail to 'take into ~ccount' the need ,for the parti-

cipation of children and adolescents in farm work or

other family occupation at least part of the time, and

full-time during certain seasons.

The load of book learning is so heavy 'that, even in

the cities, school children need the help of . a hired

tutor, or of their parents in copying with their lessonswhich are often in difiicult language and contain much

information non-essential for a school child. This

rules out the progress of cbildren from a depressed

economic and social background heyond the primary

or secondary stage of education.

. The result of the neglect of education in rural India

where the great majority of Indians live is that the

literacy rate moved up from 16.7 per cent in 1951 to

only 36.2 per cent in 1981. The absolute numbers of

'The persistence of rural poverty has moch to do with the poverty of ruralcommooicatioo.'

-

The only way to make the political process serve the ,.

needs of rural development seems to be, 'as suggested'

at a seminar in Hyderabad' last August, to include in

the Constitution a Fourth List of subjects to be admi- ~.

nistered by Panchayati Raj institutions. This will

entail amendment of the Constitution so as to give a

statutory place to these institutions and to 'iilake--the

holding of elections to these bodies obligatory as in the

case of elections to State legislatures and to Parliament:

FORMAL EDUCATION is at once a product and a

stimulant of development. Its groWth'is impressive

at first sight. It has fitted thousands of Indian doctors,

engineers and scientists to work at responsible aud

highly remunerative levels in industrially advanced 'or

oil-rich countries, It is a question, however, ,vhetlier

such a brain drain shonld not be regarded as a signof imitative and undesirable, rather than 'indigenous

and developmentally re~evant, educational growth.

In absolute terms, school enrolment went' up-atleast on paper-by nearly four times from 23.5 million

in 1951 to 90 million in 1980. College entolment-

KURUKSHETRA Octoher, 1983

. ". ~ ~

the non-hte,rate among the growing population have

.,gone up from 372 million in 1971 to 440 million in1981. ,

• The literacy tate of 29.45 per cent at the 1971

Census comprised an, urban' literacy rate of 52.4 per

•cent and. rural literacy rate of only 23.7 per cent (cor-

responding figures for the 1981 Census are not yet

available): Superimposed on this urban-rural divide

is the disparity between the overall male literacy rate

of 46.7 per cent and tJ1~female liieracy rate of 24.9

per cent in the total literacy rate of 36.2 per cent in1981. • . ' .

.".r

Efforts at non-formal or social education have there.

fore to be directe-j specially towards the rural popula-

tIOn, and to women in particular.,

O,FFICIAL EXTENSION AGENCIES,. which are most wide

spread in:the fields of agricultnre and health, are

a major channel of inter-personal and literacy.free

communication in rural India.

They have done good work over the three decades

since the<early, fifties when village level workers men, , ,

41

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and women, were trained and' inducted as part of the

community development programme, It is no dis-

couragement of the extegsion WOrKerSbut merely the

recognition of social and economic realities to acknow-

ledge that information and, ,ervices related to 'rural

development' have benefited the land-owning minority

of rural families much more than the majarity com-

prising landless agricultural labourers and artisans.

ExtenSion workers are required to have some mini-

mum levels of 'formal educatian, This rules aut the

deployment of young men and women from the' paorest

and most exploited layers of the rural populatian to

wark among their kith and kiu, employing their own

diale,ct and idiom. Take for example Hindi, which is

often described as the mast wiaely spoken langnage of

India. It is not really one langnage except in its lite-

racy usage. Hindi as actually spoken in rural .India

is many dialects and langnages, such as Garhwali,

Haryanvi, Rajasthani and Braj Bhasha.

'On a visit to Rajasthan with a study team on family

platming communicatian. this author noticed that a

large percentage of the female extension workers

known as Auxiliary Nurse-Midwives were drawn

fram far-away Kerala. These 'youiig women knew

Hindi but not the distinctive local variant, which is

Rajasthani. They could !!lake themselves understaod,

but cauld nat follow what the local women said.

A more fundamental difficulty is that extension

workers are drawn mainly from the lower niiddle class.

Their aspiration is to. move up and away from their ~, ,

class and their rural or small-tawn background., They''''

•Poverty is indeed the central problem fae iug

us imd it is the way in which we s et out to

tackle it that we as a nation-will be judged.

It is a long and arduous battle that w e have

, . to' wage. It. calls" for clarity of purpose; for

determination, for u n it } " , It demands of us'

o all the per5e,"'crencc,' the discipline, the hard .

. y .work ,o f .",'hich we are capable . Slowly and

~•. steadily,. we .,shall b e building a new and

progressive nation in whichev'en the p'oorest

- in our country will b e able to enjoy a minimuin

. , level of l iv ing. There will be fuller:employ-

ment7

more widespread' facilities of education

and health, greater opportunit ies for youth

. and less inequalities of income and wealth.'

.-Indira Gandhi

.

securing the benefits intended far them. But social

'welfare organisations, trade union organisers and other

social activities are-with a few creditable exceptions-

verY"m~ch more visible and active in urban centres

thim in villages.' ', . , - - , ~ J ' r,' ,

. There has been no.greater challenge and opportunity

inret'ent' years to. thase: engaged in constructive rural

work than the National Adult Education.' Programme

which was launched inJ977-78. It was aimed at pro-

mating not only literacy. but alSo.productive skills and

,The o-"Iyway to make tb'- political process seive the needs of rural development

" seelDSto be ... , to include in the Constitution il'Fourtb List of subjects to be ad.

ministered by Pancbayati Raj institutions. This will entail amendment of theConsti-

tution so as'to give a statutory place to these institUtions and to make tbe holding of

elections to~these bodies obligatory as in the case or' election!, to State legislatures

and to Parliament." ,.' "

,I

aspire to . be like, and relate to ., the elite rather thango. to the law..,,;t-casle and poorest people in their rural

ghettoes, to bring them the message of their legal rights

or of the benefits they can' avail themselves of under

development prajects like those far Marginal Fanners

and Agricultural Labour (MFAL), National Rural

Emplayment Programme or the consumptian loans

which the rural branches af nationalised banks are

supposed to advance to poar families.

N'ON-OFFICiAL'AGENC.IESlike organisatians d~v?te'd

to. social welfare, Risan Sabhas and assoclaltons

af agn,cultural warkbrs or artisans c~n do ,a great dealto make the rural poor aware of development schemes

relevant to . tlieir needs and to ,remove the obstacles of

red-tape and carruption' which prevent' them froin

the consciausness af the citizens' rights 'and dutieS. Thefailure 'of NAEP speaks far the low level ,of invalve-

ment of aur non-palitical sacial organisatians - as well.• -. -- ,

as of politically-led mass arganisations. with the day"

to:day needs and problems of the rural population. 1

'IT HE MODERN MASS MEDIA are overwhelmingly,1. urban based. '

, The clientele of the Press are necessarily concen-

trated in'the urban centres where literacy a~d pur-

chasing pawer are' the highest: Hawever, the majar India,n newspapers. evince considerable interest in the

problems of farmers, agricultural warkers., artisans;

tribal groups and other sections of -the rural papulatian,

'KURtJJ(SHETRA October, 1983,

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Fisheries are being encouraged not only to provide regular livelihood to the weaker sections of the society but alsoearn valuable foreign exchange.

Food for work programme help~d in creating lot of employment in the rural areas.

Women's trammg in crafts like stitching and Treml>-roidery not only enables them to add to their- fami.lies income but is also useful in their househol.rj 'vork.

'Nutrition and healthcare facilities are reachingmore and more villages every year.

Alleviation

of rural poverty

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ransistor has helped the people in the remotest

o cross the comm~nication.gap in one big jump.

Rural electrification has been given high priority in the

Sixth Plan.

Poultry can be raised even in your

courtyard and it will yield extra income

that will stand your family in good stead.

mmand Area Development Programme no~ only the irrigation facilities are

hat result in increased production but good.amount of employment too isn the rural areas. ' c : . . . . ' , . , . . . .

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Food for work programme, now amalgamated into IRp programme not only helped in creating employment III

rural areas but also. helped in creating durable assetslike roads, schools, wells etc.

Provision of credit is being made more and more simso~that the rural poor have no difficulty in availing thselves of it as and when nccded.

Tubewells and better quality of seeds accompanied byother modern inputs have helped in increasing the production of foodgrains.

Dryland farming has immense potential to increase thefoodgrains production of the country. Advanced

techniques are being popularised to get the most from thearid land.

~,'~-~~.- ~. . . • --.. ,.,.~-..

-..

Abolition of bonded labour system has brought a neray of hope in their lives.

Social forestry not only helps in keeping the

mental balance even but also helps in keeping thefertile.

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jasthani shoe-craft is a beautiful work of art. They

e the craze of the sophisticated buyers in big cities.

Gobar gas is now an accepted part of life in villages and

is used not .only in cooking b~t also in lighting the homes.

DP has pioneered an erabetter life fOf the tribals

ing in the remote areas.

nder IRDP, various nationalised banks are helpinge poor farmers by giving them loans to buy milch animals

d thus add to their income.

Community TV sets have brought a sea-change in the quality

of rural life as far as their exposure to new ideas is concerned.

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eo.mmending this, the. 8ecomi,Press .Commission says

in,its, r.eport!(1982) _:r . . . • 1Jii~'-1~~~".~:..~)~~.~!'••.~~t'i.. e...

"Though judged by readership 'or' by 10wnersbip,

it is not necessary for most 'of "our newspapers

to highlight the issues of "poverty, the Press uhas

made a major contribution l1 y reminding readers

o r those who Iiyebelow ihe poverty line and ~ving

the ruling middle and upper' chisses a'Jeelirig or

guilt. ' Many newspapers have from time to thne

. drawn atteIition to 'such matters concerning, the

f;. 11...• ,,:,.it:JI:,.;- ! ~ .;! ,_1'"

Again, a fiim made in one lla~t of rurai india camo!.

evoke.,audience identification in another region, . I

onne met a group of extension workers engaged in fer-

iIij~r ,pi(}m(}tic)ll'in Andhra Pradesh. I aSked ,them

wliether they' had audio-visual vails for screening films. _' . ~, .. . II . _ •

on. fertilizer use to villagers with little or no acness'tod I. ~-_., _' l.o .,' "."

"illerna hO,uses, Yes, they said, but the films were

iri~de in l~ations in Maharashtra ana therefore did not

cll2k' With Andhra Pradesh audiences, Maharashtrar',:;!-, ,,-. _ ~.. -.1 ."antf Andhra Pra'desh are not widely separated ,parts of

the Inaian Union but are adjacent states. '

',Th~te ar~~hl;;;~;j~; r_~~fo;.ti,e'poor level ot:~olmeot, and the high deop-ontJ

rate, in rural schools. One is that the content ,ofrorma! edncation is unrelated to the

rural; enviroRDIent, ,The second is tbe enfor~einent of an urban pattern of school

hours and vacations which fail to take into aC<:f)!JIltthe need for the participation of

," childeenand adolescents in farm work or otber, f!l!Dilyoccupation at least part of the

time, and full-time during, certain seasons.' .' .,

weaker ~ections 0t.s?Ci<;tyas th:'v~o~-enfor~":ment 'c: The language of the commentaries in the documen-

of ,minimum wages and the failure to revise them taries is often not followed by villagers, because theyto keep"pace withthefall in the purchasing power .ar~ d~bbed in' the corree( literary form of the major

of ihe 'rupee; 'theV

persisience of, bOnded 'labour languages of India as spoken by the urban educated.

de'spite ItS aboli~i~ by, l~~'or}ts~¥.ergence ~; a Vill?gers, on the other hand, usc the locally prevalent

new guise as contract labOur; the generation of 'dialectiU 'variant of an Indian language.

black 'money and its use, Jrequently entailing' the , .."" ,involvement 'of corrupt officials arid politicians, ,"Radio. and Television are not constrained by. theetc." , C " N ,lj!eraey billTier., And their growth has been funded

, ' ',. ., . .., " ,by"the Government in the name of social education.The Press can coniribute furthei, io'",s9c,ial tre.,t,tef; Inoprinciple they can and should be utilised to reach

ment along these lines, through the two-step flow 01 ,the, f)Jfal masses directly rather than through the two-

wormation from the newspaper-readinli litetate' 1 0 the step flow as in the case of the privately owned Press.

noil-literaie' .throu&h social activities" and' . extensionworkers. ' 'I' , , ".! '" , Yet the electronic media do not in fact reach the. , , . , ." 0 '1 ) ',~a~,s.~,'diteCtly.' 1be reason is that widespread sOCial

" The 10,500 ci,,!,ina.houses in tllc.country are re- consljrnption of radio and television programmes has

quired under a law, to show oue or two short educa; o';i'"belm;;'ade an integral part of the plans for invest-

tional films along with each screening of a feat\!Cefilm. ment' in fu ,; expansion and slrengthening of radio and

'rhe,~ire"t" majority of featurem;,.. 'offer iriVial enter; t.V;':~ta~i,:nSand transmitters. They market their

tafumenYand are made tOa f"nIlUI,,'of melodrama; sex~ entertaimncnt and information to those who can afford

Violenc~;aiid'clowning. The,shalt fiims'are sUpPosed,ti;buy 're~eiving' sets. Urban dwellers and the ~;.i.c ' o ' n t r ~ s i ,i,,'hJ{orm arid 'educate .. But~the"doi:ument8.- n~Ji'own the bulk of radio receivers in the country.

,'.,;.JJj'" .J ,. ,'. 0;, •.••.;r(~~. _•..:..~•.•• "';, .•• ,~'l' •••.h••• "

rics, arid ,the newsreels supp)led by.the Filriis, DIVISIon d.:rll~,s,ignals of All India Radio's transmitters' now

i(j'jhe '~Qm:ineibial Ih'eatrical' circllit are"lriaCIe"n;ostly cover almost the entire area and population, or.,theI.. ' ~"'., ," '. " '''._~''~'''''' ' ..' --

iIi urban locations. The same short fiImS are used by country. But the actual access to radio is far less thanaudio-visual vans of tne Centiill':iii(j' Siiiie governmen~ -its techiiical reach, The spectacle of the farmer car-

for free screening in viIlages;.thoiigh'few"oni1eiii'bliv~>'l'JIJ(~r~ij;g'~ i . : . d i 6 s~t 'te ' his field-what has been called the. ~.,._ .-"i:b 1:"~ c" m u -,:t lew. b a A : (" " ' .I '$fl1l:1 o f ~ ' - , _ J _ _ • • • . , ~ , • . _ • • • • ', . - ~ ~ " . . . _ . " - - . •

relevance III rural,~fe~~i '7t~l" ~b .1~i19d ._~~~iq;-•• ('.':IT ~~~~.~~~~J,r~vp.~u.tlOn-Js.CO~~_ to.i.areas like PU~jab, , . . . , . and Haryana.where there has been a,Green Rcvolutlon.

A documentary ,on,family'.plannmg"for~mstan~,l",,, c•..•,'.,.. ,0 -~,.. • •• ,," .'

shows a father of six childreJl smoKing ,a'cigaielte.,whil~;, L:.; For widening the access to radio, provision of the

the kids pester him for school fees and pocket money. ,,<tofacility of community listening wasdntroduced on the

When such a film is,screened in,a,village,.the.audiel!<:e._ basis ,of, a Central, subsidy. However, fo~0w.rng the

is. lik~y t() regard the father not. as the hllrassed' head ~?"~?r ~!;'75a:Jelections WhIChfor the first tIme b!,?ught

o~an unduly large f,unily but a~ a rather lucky urbanite; int~ p0'Y.~ri'1 m~!1YStates political parties other th3:!'

draped in several, yards, Qf I,white ~Iothing,' whQ. ca.n ! J : \ \ ', COJl!l!J"ssWhlC1jr,uled at the Centre, there was an

a1fprp cigarettes in,contrast:,ui the beec(i.or.cheroot'.of ~~sertf~'!. ,?f S:a!es'.autonomy fo~ ,!eed Ips<;d loca!villagers. ,,", • :.'11., ,I'., B!~!!'1iml., ThIS 1e9.to the SC!applOgof a mYllber of

KURPl(S~TRA: OctOber; 11983 .43

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for'attanging wide lis'tetiing'and promoting j two-Way

communication between radio and tbe .audienCli.'LOcal

stations with their reqnirement of 10calIy recruited'., fI

will serve to bridge the 'cultural distance which now

separates the radio programmer, typically an urbanite,

from the rural audience. , ,,'

A N, E""MPLE IS tbe popularisation of high-yielding ..

, varieties Of'rice seed through rural broadcasts in

the Tanjore district of South India where; in 'the 1960's,

farmers took to wbat they called 'radio' rice'. Or tbe

Zona: Dab programme of tbe Srinagar station -which

encourages the ventilation of citizens' grievances about

the'state of public roads, street lighting or other civic

amenities. The programme brings such grievances to the

attention of the concerned authorities and fesnlts eitber

in remedial action or explanation of 'the constraints'

which must make the remedy wait: '" '" p

, Centrally spoilsored Plan schemes. t'he baby o f com-

munity listening was thrown out with the batbwater.

Since then, the provision of community listening to

radio 'has been a responsibility of the State 'Govern-

ments which hlivediffered in their 'perception of its

'usefulness and importance in their scheme of priorities.

In the result, there have !lever been mgre than 90,000'Yet, I;' 1983, district-level sound broadcasting re-

cOmlnunity listening sets as against the 576,000 villages mains , a n exp~rimet\t to be tried out jn a few" districts

in which the bulk of India's, population live. More thlig du~n~l;he Sixth Five Year Plan (1980-;-85).",

half of the sets are liable to be out of commission' at,!,The 'Verghese Group--its 1978 Report commended

any given time. ", _ •. _ .. --_wcpriority'forthe densification'of radio listening before

The number of radio sets'in schools and'collegeS-isl '(>'''.undertaking the expansion of television. This was in

even less, and educational. broadcasting is' meagre.";!"'" the light' of the resource constraiIit and the need to

This may not be a cause for regret, considering that the ,indemocratise commlinication,within the country at the

introduction of multiple shifts in rural schools, which .,,,j least cost.: ,But'in fact the television network is being

will permit flexible hours of schooling' for the children n., "'expanded for the benefit of !the upper crust of Indian

of labouring rural households, ought to be the firSt ""'.,SOciely even while radio remains beyond the rural com-

priority. This calls for the recrnitment.and.training~monman'Bhearing.

of 'more teachers who will teach children face to face, ,I"

The higher costs, of programme production and of rather than.for more curriculum-oriented or general ~ei:eiver sets required that,' even more than in ,the case.

enrichment br<Yo!dcaststo reinforce the learning, of th~ . of ,radiO. telt!vision should be organised as a medium

fortunate who are .already attending school. . ," 'of s~cial education through large-scale sOCialconsump-

Radio ha~ been operated primarily for ufb~ fute- tion. This 'haS not been the case: f'. '.'. - • t') p, J ~"i'" , ~J\.. ,. oJ ~.

ners, most of tbem literate and readers of newspapers, '.', The only occasion, on wbich' the gover~l!1ent con-

for whom it is a carrier of entertainment-mainly !ibn cerned itself with providing rural access to television

music~and of spot news and of sports coverage. Its in many parts of India was the Satellite Instructional

role in promoting ~onomicgrowth or social cbaDge is Television Experiment which was conducted for a year

marginal, but significant enough where tbere has been frbniAugus1'1975. - ,,' , ...

an imaginative use of the medium by programmers " Di;e~t r~~epti~~ ~~t;were installed in 2 330 ~illa~

inbued with social commitment. i~, backward districts of 'siXStates to recelve program-mes in four languages: Oriya for Orissa; Hindi for .the

Slates of Bihar, Rajasthan and Madbya PradeSh;

Telugu for Andhra Pradesh and Kannada for Kama-1aka-,-::1.l',' (.... ' .' -",j'

SITE (JtiIised ATS-6, which was made avail~bleand

put'into 'geOstationary"orbit by the National Aeronau-

tics and 'Space Administration of the U.S.A. The

Ind{in::Space Research Organisation (ISRO) wa.d\is-

pimsible' for 'alI tecbnical' operations of the groUnd

segment iiitiuding the maini~liance of the direct recep-

t{on 'sets' many of which Were run on batteries hi' uil:I.~' t. ._ . . / ~ . .~ . l " ; / , 1 • • •

,, .

'A more fundamental difficulty ;;; tbai'extensi~I1';';;'~ ale dra;;o mainly from tbe

-lower Jniddle claSs. Their aspiratloil-is to oiov~ I1 P aDd away from their class and

their inial or smalI-town background. They aspire to be Ilke, aDd relate to,' ,the

~Iite ratber tban go to the loweSt-caste aDd poorest, people In tIleir ruraI ghettoes,

to bring tbem tbe message l!f their legal rights or .of,.;the beRellts they, can avail

themselves of under development projects ..... ' "I •...i,~r II 1';'1).

. . .)..~

Such ~rogrammes which contribute to development

must necessarily be localised and area-specific. This

requires a decentralised broadcasting system with'stations at district level whose managers should be

responsible not only for progr~mme origination but alsO

" _ ~ ~ . . ; ~. . . ., ~ ' L . ~ ",,-ct)'

electiiiied villages.. Doord;rrshan was 'responsible "fot

th e software. l.l There' was a morning tnirtsihission' {6r

schoo1'<;bildren,'ana programmes of entertainment and soci,il. educatioh on development tbemes '.for ,the'-gene'

ral public in the evening. '. '

.KURUKSHBTRA 'October) 1983

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While the experiment was' an unqualified Success

n terms of hardware and technical operations, SITE

was only a qualified success as an exercise' in social

ducation for the rural population., There were only

hree base "production centres-.,.at Delhi, Cuttack and

Hyderabad-to prepare . programmes .for far-flnng

illages with varied agro-economic and coltural back-rounds.

Like Indian documentary films on development;'

hemes which are made for all of India and are

ddressed to no group of Indians in particular, and

hich therefore fail to create interest and motivation,

ITE, programmes-except for, some made in the local,ialect at Pij--could neither employ local speech nor

epict the local agro-economic and human landscape.

.]11

the programme. A tiered seating arrangement would help..

. .The custodianof the set should be better remunerat-

ed and made respensible also for andience manage-

ment. Where an existing school building or Pancha-

yai' Ghar (office of the elected village council) is not

s~itable, a new and simple structure should be erected.

'.There is little point in setting up a community view-

illg facility "If. electricity mains where pewer supply'is'erratic. in such places, and in non-electrified vil-

lages, there is need to revive the 'SITE practice of

installing, battery-operated receivers. It is' also neces-

sary,:to experiment with solar cell operation of com-

munity viewing sets, which will obviate'the expense of

periodic visits by maintenance crew for recharging the batteries. '

of, "

, I "' •• , H ,j

t, , .•~~

'The pr~vision .of commm'lityli~t~g to radio'~ J J e k i . a respobs'~iIity ~fthe State

. Goveroments which have differed.in their perception of its nsefobless .and importance

in their scheme of priorities; In the result, there have never~eeo more than 90,000 .',... -... \r .. ,.' • •

. commuoity.listeoing1sets as against the 576,000 villages in which the hulk of India's.

, popnlation live" More than half of the sets are Ii8Jileto he o~t"of."IlIInnissi~nat any. '.'"I~~~-l" . . . - + f' ", 'given time.' 'y...n '"- .

.. . . .

;

"Iridian ,televsion is,financed by the taxpayer. With

indirect. taxes accounting for the bulk of Central reve-nue. ,everyqne who buys, a matchbox or buys a bottle

"[Kerosene is paying for Doordarshan. Yet it is being

, !u:R UKSFlETRA October,' 1,983

..~•..'h , ", ~ ..,..

The need for. the employment of local. speech is ", The r~pense to these challenges will be a measure

rought out by a research project spensored by.ISRO. 0Ltp~ earnestness of the Indian authorities who are

entailed holistic studies by athropelogists. in seven applying public funds to develop television for the 'pro-

IIages :• one each in the six -;'lustersserVed. by' the fessed purpcse of promoting social education.tellite and, ,in addition, a village served by !Pc.; Pij. "",', 'f

rrestrial transmitter whic,h was operated by ISRO to, 1:' 'bRTY:ONE TVITRANSM;UE'as are now in position

lecast some locally made programmes as well as those .IT'in'India. But they are served hy productiort faci-.ceivea via' the -satellite. The report on' the research lities at ouly eleve;; places. This is 'at the heart of thenaings says: " ,. " ' , I

~IJ . :_.~If . " I' _ , •.', -'-,. prob,eD:l;.of Indian television: ,It is 'Dot-in a' positioo""The linguistic profile of these villages shows a to, produce and telecast programmes of local appeal

. higher useof dialects than the standard language an,dcomprehension in a country where a dozen' major

h, of the r~gion~" None of the languages speken in langu'ages .are .speken, each by tens 'of millions, besides

the villages were ;usea on 1V except in Dadus~, hundreds of dialects. "The establishment of a hUndred

(in the Pij area) where Charautari was utilised an~ more transmitters 'to relay the Delhi station's pro-

. 'to some extent. If, the, programmes wene enter- grinnmes,. which has been launched asa "crash' plan,

, ..taining enough in .terms of SOllgs, and, dances; will,,<:mlybenefit. the elite ontside Delhi by providing

:'", language ,did fiot become a barrier: Due to this them entertainment. It will make no contribution to;'~Ireason, recreational programmes of other clusters' rural development.

. ' ,

were viewed with'enthusiasm in an the', villages. h". ',.

The Hindi common news.was,alm08t.ine1lective~. _ .At.theend.of 1981', there were 3,800 commnnity

in all the villages." " h:" lc",'" 1"'JU,~c~r~eir~rs.(as. ~inst 3,801 at,the end of 1980) to

, , .•~" ... ~. ,,.; .,' ,~ ~n~b!e,1V",VIewmgby~those who cannot afford to buy

THE EXPERIENCE WITH COMMUNITY Vlewmg. of therr«own, sets.. IndlVldually' owned' sets nnmbered

TV has presented 'problems whiqh ne~,~ttentiOll;,;'"':,.ahq;'t 1?7 lakhs (as against 15 lakhs at the close of

most places, community viewing is in open air with I 1980). ,The number of individually owned sets today

l the hazards of' wind and rain. There is need to is likely to be well above 20 lakhs, with no increase inovide covered accommodation. - , , -- _. ...the number of community viewing sets.

, , ••. I

Secondly, children who account for about a third of e audience sit right in front of the set.« When ,a

ogramme,is not of interest to them, they begin :,toalier and it becomes difficult for the adults to foU.;w,

~: ~ ~.. . _~. '.r ~_'i[""" ,. _

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s

-Mahatma Gandhi

'j.'

"'!::m-"!'

."0 __ '" ~_' ~.,..~ ~~ .,'

~. IM y gr~test "worry is the ign~raDce and

'" : 'poverty of 'the" masses of India, the way in

. : ~ which theybave been n.eglected by the classes,

j ~ f especially the neglect of the Harijan by the

Hindus.'

-Some 'secularists .wonld' like to see the declining

hold of religion~withurbanisation and industrialisa-

tioit~ecIiiie futther.' •But we will have to wait a vet:y

long tinle' indeed 'if' we expect Hindu.Muslimconflictto end only with the eclipse of bOth the religions .

• ,e f TThe vast and widely knoWn body of verses and say-

ings ~f the egalitarian saints of the Bhakti and Sufi

school,; provide a wealth of material which the com-

nmnicator engaged iiI lliJiioU-~nilding tasks can draw

o rr :,. ,T h e ~ saintS rlenoUncea' the hierarchical diffe-'. i'l'_'... ", ,:",~. . '\" -. ,. .

rences of caste, and .affirmed the oneness of the human-~•.),,f.~,'\., :':' -- .•-,""" ~ l' r-.."" .,.' .

raee"despite different religious labels,,. '," , "'. ,'I •

-As against thesenegative'featiires; ther~ are elements

in 0& tn;diti~ns and beliefs which call be highlighted

a~CI.drav,;n on topromoie socilil harmony ~d pro-

g r e s s . For eiWfple, there ate numeroUs instanci:l; ,in

IiidianMYth~fogy 'and 'epics to illustrate the ideas, of

orotherhooo. of man arid the superiority of inner worth ''-/

over acCident cifbiith or riches. •

I ' . ,",I ""',,

I I~". . ' 1l .--~} - -

~.

,$ r . '

'Like mdian documentary films on development themes which are made for 'all of '

India and are addressed to no group of Indians in particular. and whieh tl!erefore fail

. rto create interest and motivation, siTE prograDmies~xCept [til ; .o ~ e~ade i n , the

loCal dialect at Pij--couldneither employ loCa:ispeech' nrir depict the ioeal ailto..economic and human land~pe.' •.; '."~.W. ,'''' tTl

.' • ...-J ',1 u~,:Hl ~. '~.,_'r,

'~- .

, . "

,,

, ,

This pattern of TV content will continue unless there

is a conscious policy decision to place mdian televi-

sion at the, service of the commo!! people and not o D lyth,r thin u~r c';llSt of Indian society.

R ELIGIOUSCOMMUNICATIONis a stream that conti~'

nues to flow deep and wide in rural India. It

owes"nothing to the five year planS, government patro-

nage or the mass media, It continues to be the source

of ethical values as well as, unfortunately, of some

socially detrhnental customs and attitudes not in-

trinsic to religion but so closely associated with I-eli-

gioils tradition as to be regarded as part of religion.

Follo.;1ng are some examples of the negative in-fluence of religious tradition. (i) the presistence of

. ,

Programme's relevant to the common peope will get

made only whe'n there is a large audience consisting of common, people. Such an audience will be highly rituai iuicle;uiliness, including the notion, of untoucha-

diversined in terms of languageS and life styles. biIltytdespit~ 'the conferment of equal civic rights'onall'citii.ens by the Iridian Constitution and the enact-

The present clientele of Doordarshan.form a fairly .'ment "of 'laws' making the practice of untouchability a

homogeneous group t.hrou~ the C?untry.. They. ca?, punishableliffence; and (iii) unawareness of the moral

follow progranunes ~lth~r 1TI, Engbsh or I~ ~ndlor ,'teachiIigsof'other religio11S,-andthe prevalence of pre-

both, . The present national program~e. IS Inte~ded, ,,' judices' and' • derogatory 'stereoty~s;' resulting in th~for thIS homogenous upper crust of IndIan sqclety., '1 • separation of members of different'religious commUTIl-

They want entert~inment: m~vies,.cricket. tes~s, Whne,,'" ties 'by-waI1s'oUgnorance, and sometimes in outbreaks

bledon or Amencan ChampIOnshIp tennIs, unported of violent conflict. 'social comedy like Lucy Series, athletic games "!l

. ,-._~-..,..-

on the occasion' of the Ninth Asiad, or spectacular

political games like the Non-aligned Summit. Such

are the progranunes that Doordarshan has been serving

and is equipped to deliver.

For the middle and upper class families who are the

main conSumers of Indian television, a TV seC ~s a

wholesale purcha~e of movie entertainment. It works

out cheaper, since anything costs less in bulk than inretail. Moreover, it avoids the inconvenience of travel

to ciilerua houses and queuing up for tickets. '

used as a medium ofcntertainment for the urban well-

to-do rather than for adult literacy, proJl1otion of pro-

ductive skills and conscientisation anlong the rural

masses. I ; I }i::

prayers and benedictions for a large number of child-

ren; specially sons, whiCh had their origin at a timewhen brawn was inore important than brain arid when

famine' and disease 'resnlted in high 'mortality rates:'

(ii) the persistence of caste'prejudice and 'ideas 'o c

Giv~n tbe p,!werful hold of religion on the masses,

sec~lilfi~ts ;i-ic:ifild "not bene~tral towards or iguore re-

ligion pui,should aciively invoke the b~st teachings~f

each "refigion:t~ pr~mote. the copcept .of ihe brot)t~r"

hOOd'h i ' man."TIiey should, continuously counter the

KURUKSHETRA October. 1 9 8 3

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xploitation of religion for poliiical or ~ectarian pur-.

oses.

Superstitious beliefs which are unrelated to the

ssence of religion and are inimical to physical and

ocial health must be exposed and fought.

India to the purposeful utilisation of traditional folk

media is as little as to the !J:lodef!!mass media.

The employment of folk medi~ for effectively con-

veying modern messages, in a language and style that

.will be locally comprehended and liked, will be possible

only if resident, rather than visiting, practioners of

TRADITIONALMODESOF ENTERTAINMENTANDIN- the traditional media are utilised. For this it will be

STRUCTIONalso continue to be vibrantly alive in necessary that extension personnel of the development

ural India. departments should locate, communicate with, persuade

Folk forms like the ballad, drama, dance and stylis- and motivate resident practitioners of thll traditional

d narration can be utilised to promote awareness of media in each group of villages to perform frequently

and participation in rural economic development and in each cluster of villages, and at nominal remunera-

ocial change. tion. This will require a high degree of motivation On

The union Government formed a small Song and the part of extension personnel, and th~ ability on their

Drama unit in 1954 as part of All India Radio. The part to get the village composer-singer or other artist

'Considering tbat tbe numberof villagesin.India is nearly 600,000, it is clear tbat tbe

exposure of tbe rural populationof India to the purposefulutilisation of traditional

folk media is as little as to tbe modern mass media.'

unit was sepa.ratedin 1960 and established as the Song

nd Drama DivisiOn:I! presents prograinmes of songs,

dance and drama, puppetry and stylised narration,

oth through its 41 departmental troups and through

bout 400 private parties which are screened and regis'

eredo , - "

These programmes are designed to promote national

Unity and social harmony aud to increase the aware-

ess of and participation in programmes of social re-

orm and econontic development. Notwithstanding

he increase, over the years, in the number of field fiicesand in the personnel strength of the Song and

Drama Division the number of programmes presented

by it stood at only 21,138 during 1977. Not all of

ven this small number of programmes ar~ presented

n typical small villages or in the depressed localities

of urban centres where first and second-generation

tigfants from rural areas live.

There are sintilar song-and.Qrama units in the

States which attempt (0 use the folk' media. The

umber of programmes conducted by them each year is

not 'known, but it is doubtful if it would be mOre thanfour times the performance level ()f the Union Govern-

ment's Song and Drama Division. Considering that

he number of villages in India is nearly 600,000, it

s clear that. the exposure of th~ rural population of

to internalise the !!J,essageand give it creative expreS-

sion.

The other and perha~ more realistic way is, ins-

.tead of attempting to have live performances frequently

in each of India's villages, to utilise locally popnlar

traditional forms of communication through the modern

mass media. Traditional media being highly specific

to each cnltural region even within linguistic zones,

and development information itse!£ h~ving to be area-

specific, the mass media programmes using traditionalforms would have to be made and delivered on a de-

centralised basis. But that. is not the pattern on

Whichthe governmental mass media h~ve developed.

0'.NEIS THUSDRIVENTOthe conclusion that the pov-

erty of rural communication will persist unless the

Governmeni re-examines and radically alters its com-

munication policy. The policy at present is of top-

down and centralised communication. It mUStbe re-

placed by communication among and from the people

at the bottom, decentralised and participatory, if rural

communication is to make a significant contribution todevelopment-understood not in terI1lsof cement, con-

crete and' steel structures but of improvement in the

material well-being and quality of life, of the rural

masses.

-Conld. from page 39)

hat is also a model for others. In Sweden one cannot

uy agricnlturalland nnless one is qualified to do farm-

ng and actually cultivates the land. This piece for in-

ormation was given to this writer by a Swedish socio-

ogist who used to periodically visit a West' Bengal

Block for studying social change there. It is worthconsideriilg sintilar systems for reducihg the inequality

n land ownership and abolishing absente~ landlordism

KURVKS!:!;ETRA0ct01.Jllr,1983.

iIi our country. The latter evil, namely, absentee land- -lordism, has become worse in recent times by the in-trusion of black money in buying up lands.

- In land reforms or other measures, the criterion for

their evaluation is whether they have contributed .10

the . actual remov!u of the age-old and phenoni~nal .

rural poverty. If not, it is time for getting 'out of the

old grooves ,!nd finding new ways for reaching thegoal.

:47

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, The author is of the opinion that "increase in dimen-

sion of poverty and the appalling magnitude it is

assuming day by day are the very antithesis of the desi'

red goal of achieving at least a gradual decline in poverty

and its ultimate eradication'.', and asserts : "If after

32 years of planned development, rural poverty is only

spiral/ing and not declining, there must be serious

lacunae in not only implementing the programmes for

the amelioration of the conditions of the rural poor

but also in comprehending the depth, the needs and

the tasks requiredfor tackling the poverty syndrome."

And suggests : "Any programme or. a concerted.

effort at a.lleviating rural poverty must obviously be

multi-pronged and well coordinated taking into consi-

deration all factors contributing to the success of the

effort. One of the most important among such factors

is the beneficiary himself whose sense of involvement

in his own improvement, whose response to the deve-

lopmentinitiatives and whose personal predilections

go a long way in making or marring the success of any

anti-poverty programme'.'.

48

Organising .rural poor is the only answer

M.V. RAJ ASEKHARAN

Executive Trnstee, Asian Institute for Rural Development, Bangalore

I NSPITE O F SUBSTANTIAL GAINS in agricultunil' prO-:.

. duction resulting from the introduction of high. . .

yielding crop varieties, and despite the efforts made

over the years to revive village and cottage indlli.tries

through new techniques both in termS of prodnction

and marketing, the problem of rural poverty still.

remainswith us. The increasing dimension of pover-

ty and the appalling magnitude it is assuming day by

day are the very imti.thesis of the desired goal

of achieving at least a gradual decline in poverty and

its ultimate eradication. If after 32 years of planned

development, rural poverty is ouly spiralling and

not declining, there must be serious lacunae in not

oilly iruplementing tbe programmes for the ameliora"

lion of the conditions of the rural poor 'but also in

comprehending the depth, the needs and the tasks

required for tackling the poverty syudrome. Any

attack on rural poverty must obviously be multi"

pronged and well coordinated taking into considera-

tion all factors contributing to the success of the

effort. One of the most important among such fa"".

tors, is the beneficiary himself whose sense of' in.volvement in his own iruprovement, . whose response

to the development initiatives, and whose personal

predilections go a long way in making or marring th~

success of anti-poverty programmes.

Touching briefly on the causes of rural poverty, it

can generally be stated that fatalistic attitude tollie,

becoming an easy prey to exploitation by local power-

groups, gross socio-economic inequalities, indulgence

in vices by heads of families in lower socio-econonnc

strata, population growth, lack of sense of the con-

cept of deferred gratification (saving), and the con-.tinning social stigmas such as untouchability and un-

approachability have been the root-causes of poverty.

Whether in planning anli~poverty programmes, .all

KURUKSHETRA October, ..1983

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hese factors were fully taken into account. or some

f them were ignored deliberately or otherwise is .a

matter for serious consideration. Because, generally

lips or lacunae in implementation arise from impro-

er assessment of the various causes of poverty. An-

ther aspect to be considered is the human dimension

f poverty. Absolute poverty is a condition of life

n which the quality of life is very low. This kind

f poverty is very much below the average level

which' itself' is nof static but keep~ on changing on

ccount of the rise in the numbers of the people,

ise in .prices, non-availability of essential com'modi-

es etc. People in absolute poverty suffer from

deplorable conditions of life, absence of minimum

iet, severe malnutrition and ill-health. All those be-

ow .the poverty line can be described as those

Uffering from absolute poverty. They suffer from

Otallack of any resource base, gross under-employ-

ment,. woeful inability to avail opportunities even

when they are there, low productivity and complete

wck of bargaining power. AlI these disabilities com-ined with sociological factors, have given the poor

verywhere, specially.in rural .areas, very low status.

Naturally, the attitude of the poor towards life itself

the connected spheres, a considerable amolint of

leakage has been occurring; (iii) The ignorance of

the availability of the. benefits and at times, wrong

notions, ,fears, etc., about the benefits themselves

h~ve resulted in the poor not taking advantage of the

schemes; and (iv) The power groups and vested in-

terests are actiVe in preventing the benefits from

reachiIig the. poor. All these drawbacks have resw-

ted. in preventing the poor from gaining compl<1e

and exclusive accessibility.to the benefits.

THE ANSWER. TO THE PROBLEM lies to. a great

. extenf in organising the rural poor. The Work-

ing Group on Block Level Planning. headed by .Prof.

M. L. DantwaIa (Published by .the Planning . Com-

miSSIon, .1978) said in its report that building up

of appropriate organisations 'of the poor to. protect

them from exploitation should be one of the objec-

tives of block level planning. The logic behind this

is.that the poor .individuallyare no match to the power

and influence wielded by the traditional exploiting

sections such as landlords, bureaucrats, traders and intermediaries. If the poor were organised, they

wowd acquire a new strength which would act as

the countervailing power against the exploiters.

.'The increasing dimensionof poverty and the .appalling magnitude it is assuming

day by day are the very anti-thesisof the desiredgoal of achievingat least a gradual

declinein povertyand its ultimate eradication.'

s .full of despair. Added to all this is the condescen-

ing attitude of the official implementers of the pro-

gramntes, which makes the poor feel small and humble. Obviously efforts have not been made in

adequate measure to make the' poor people feel that

hey are also human beings and that. they have a

ight to improve. their standards of living, -Awareness

has not .been created in them that the anti-poverty

programmes are meant for them and that they showd

demand and avail the opportUnities provided .for

hem.

In this context, the question of organising the

ural poor assumes vital importance because unless

and until they are organised and enthused to have aense of total involvement in the programmes m'eant

for them, all efforts will go waste. Whether the

benefits under the anti-poverty programmes have been

percolating' at least partially to those suffering from

absolute. poverty has been doubtful It is a very

crucial factor contributing to the peripheral impact

of the programmes. Studies have revealed that there

have been quite a few drawbacks in implementation.

These include : (i) Among the beneficiaries are

found persons who really are not supposed to take

ad"antage of the schemes; as a reswt,the really

deserving have been deprived; (ii) Owing to preva-enceof. graf:t and similar unhealthy practices in all

KURUKSHETRA=October,1983

There are many categories of rural 'workers in-

cluding rural artisans. But a vast majority belong

to the category of landless agricultural labourers,

and small and marginal farmers. For the purpose

here, it is desirable to limit ourselves to this majority

of category. Landless agricultural labourers com-

prise three types : they are bonded labourers, attach-

ed labourers and casual agricultural labourers. The

small and marginal farmers suffer from disabilities

like low acreage of land, lack of irrigation facilities

and lack of resources for improving the land. Com-

pared to the organisation of industrial labour in urbari

areas, it is indeed very difficult to organise the rural

workers, specially the agricultural workers on thesame pattern. The organisational aspects of agricw-

tural labourers need to be considered in relation to

the structure of the agriculture sector. It is a very

wide sector in the sense of generating large employ-

ment and output. It also has several sub-sectors.

Agriculture covers plantations, animal husbandry,

horticwture and crop cultivation farms. By and large,

workers in plantations are already well organised.

In the case of animal husbandry, in large dairy

farms, work and wages are generally regulated. But

in the' case of other farms, the situation is different

and efforts need to be made to organise the animal

husbandry workers. In respect of horticultural farms,

49

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specially those like mulberry and sugarcane, wages

are paid according to government regulations.

THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE, THEREFORE, where ac-

tion is called' for is the sphere of private

crop cultivation farms. Here also, in the case of

large farms, the workers are employed on a regular

basis and they have employment throughout the

year. The largest area where there is dire need for

organisation, where they are well organised, it hasfarms. The labourers in this category are not tied to

any particular employee. The work is only seasonal.

This poses a problem in organising them. It is not

as if no attempts have been made to organise them.

Quite a few organisations have emerged at the national,

state and local levels. ' But they have touched only

the, periphery. The Rural Labour Enquiry has esti-

mated that only about one per cent of the agricultural

labour is covered by trade union activity. Even

here, whatever proportion of agricultural labour is

organised, it is not uniformly spread all over thecountry. The success of such organisations is con-

fined only to a few pockets like Kerala, Punjab, and

Haryana. In many parts of the country even their

existence is not noticeable. In the case of peasant

organisations, where they are well organised, it has

been observed that benefits have reached only the

non-poor large farmers and not the small and margi-

nal farmers.

SOME EFFORTS HAVE BEEN MADE earlier in India

to organise the rural poor into separate as-

sociations. They were based on rather wrong as-sumption that there were nO' common interests among

the various groups of the rural poor. The assump-

tion was wrong because the economic forces at the root

of poverty are the same. They relate to the univer-

sally low levels of income. Therefore, in view of

the common interests that are involved, it appears

rational to encourage the different sections of the

poor to organise themselves into a single organisation

instead of separate organisations. Such an effort has,

identifiable statlis. The only 'conufion factor that

could be a binding force is the economic hardship

which the. poor suffer uniformly. But this in itself

cannot be an adequate binding force for organising

the poor. As in the case of efforts at unionisation in

other sectors, here also there is need for exogenous

forces' to enter the arena and prOVideprOps (0 ,the

poor to organise themselves.

The question is who should constitute these exc-

/1;enousforces. Historically, our country has a long

record of .voluntary action by several ,social ,and

soda-economic organisations which are generally reo:

ferred to as non-governmental organisations. It is

estirliated that in India today the number of NGOs or

voluntary. agencies qceeds six thousand. They fall.

into many categories such as the Christian missions"

the. Ramakrishna Mission, Inner Wheel, Jaycees,:

Rotary, Lions and Youth Gubs, cooperative societies,

and several other autonomous institutions. Each of,

these may be working for a specific purpose not total-ly encompassing the problems of the. rural poor. For

organising the rural poor, the kind of voluntary or-

ganisations most essential would be those which do.

not owe their origin to any Governmental motivation

but which originate and develop through dedicated

efforts and' vision of persons committed to the emanci-

pation of.the poor in rural areas. As the emancipation

of the poor is their sale aim, such organisations are

willing to educate the poor and create awareness,

about the opportunities available for improvement ')

whether 'the opportunities are created by Govermnentor by' others. It is noW admitted even in official cir-

cles that Government alone cannot do everything.

The ultimate objective of all rural development pro-

grammes is to eliminate rural poverty and unemploy-

ment. This is an enormous task implying and invol-

ving structural' changes in the rural economy provid-

iog for equal distribution of productive assets and

skills to the rural populace. If people's participation

in this task and in the success of the programmes

'The attitude of the poor towardslife itself is full of despair. Addedto all !his is thecondescendingattitude of the official implementersof the programme,w~lchmakes

the poor feel small and humble. Obviouslyefforts have not been made m adeqnate

measure to make the poor Ilooplefeel that they are also human beings and that they

have a right to improvetheir standards of living.'

ed d . Kerala. Obviously, orgamsmg thesucceem ..

rural poor is a complex and difficult task. It IS eaSIer

said than done. The reason is that there are ~evera1

constraints such as their scattered nature, thel[ own

persona! and sentimental affiliations ~ landed .~nd

other interest' groups, lack of coheSIVenessansmg

out of their diverse cultures, castes and customs, lack

of even,elements of mental preparedness and strength

to stand up against injustice and absence of any

is desired, it is very essential that a major role is

assigned to the voluntary organisations of the type

just mentioned. Their involvement in rural develop-

ment is of paramount importance, The factors which

inhibit their association with Government's anti-

poverty programmes should be identified and condi-

tions which enable them to participate fully in thedevelopmental' effort should 'be created.

(COn/d. on p. 56)'

KtfRUKSHETRA Oc tober , 1983

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hei:.,author.l.~isanguished-to note tlzaf.-.there~/1Gs"been

an i"!1creasein' the "number and proportion"of the people

iving below the poverty line. "The neaitype of poverty",

says .the author, "has been growing.,in fl~ral. India ~

in .the recent years .. "Accordinglto this, poverty is no.

onger associated with. tlle"economic 'stagnatiori..in--

erited/rom the colonial era but rather. is theproduc.

ion of planned agrarian ,change of rural ,development, ,

n independent,India. ,.The gap:between the fast grow. ,.ngnvealth ..vf thefew and the cO)ltinuingpoverty of the

manY'Jhas beendvidening and creating"new' ~ social"-.a

ensions"and .conflicts.in rural India.""

He'" suggests : '.'Rural industrialisation "can solve

he problen-zof rural poverty to a great extent as it

elps; evolving a.social- system in which there-would be t,

greater possibility of equitable' distribution .of income

andlmaximwn,possible' sociei/.justice. E~;idently the

main.4hrust -' of rural industrialisation is llOt to doh(rigs'Jfor the rural people but to organise'.them to;do '"1

thi!,gSfor themselves."

U,RUKSHl;.TRA 'October;>1983 !Ht. ~. • J. __.--.. ~"

Rural' ~industtialisation"willngQi along'way"

V. VENKAIAH ',;

Faculty .Member, Institute of Public Enterprise, .Hyderabad

TliE PROBLEM OF POVERTY has assumed serious

'. .dimensions in India. Studies conducted on this

problem suggest thai there has. been an increase in the

number and proportion of the people living below the

poverty line. A riew type of poverty has been grow.

ing in rural India'in the 'recent years. According to

this, poverty is no longer associated with economic

stagnation inherited from the colonial era, but rather

is ihe prodnct of 'planned' 'agrarian change of rural

development in independent'India. The gap between"

the' vast growing 'wealth of the few and the' continuing ..

poverty of the' many"has 'been widening and crcatingnew sociallensions' and 'conflicts' in rural 'India,

The National'Sample Survey'of hou.ehold <Xlnsumer •

expenditure revealed that nearly 50 per cent of our

population' ..are 'living '~low :'the" poverty line. The;

incidence of poverty ~is. greater; in rural .areas CCID--'

pared ,to ,the'urban'areas:- In 1977-78, 50 per cent

, of the, rural jropulation weie' ,living below,.thejroverty'

line:.o.The,extent\ of poverty. varies'" from' state. to

state .•. The 'FuraVpopulation'living .below the 'Poverty"

linec waso'.the .'Io\vest cin Punjab 'and Haryana where.

it was.1.1.87.and 23.25 percent respectively while it wasas 'high!as 68:97,perCeril'iil Orissa and 64.28 percentin Tripura .••.i.In othet.iwords, the bottom 30 percent

of the'rural jropulati6n in',1977-78 accounted for only

15 vercent of the consnmption ,expenditure while the

top 30 percent accounted for 51.9 percent of household

expenditure. j"Further;1 it has been' estimated lbat

around'28 'percent'of .the'rural'populationsulIers froni

clminiC -nutritional "inadequacy. It is evident from

these".facts. that a' large' proportion of India's rural

popUlation IS' living in' conditions' of acute poverty.

As per. the, Sixth Plan' Document, 'Poverty line'.isthe mid.point of lbe ,montbly .per .capita expenditure

class having. a, daily ,calorie. intake .of 2400 'per. person I

51 t:

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in rural areas and 2100 in urban areas. In 1979-80

prices, the mid-points are Rs, 76 in rural areas and

Rs. 88 in urban areas ..

THE GOVERNMENTOF INDIAbeginning from the

Fourth plan period fprmulatcd special program-,

mes for accelerating development of the ruial areas.

These' special programmes, called Small Fanners

Development Agency (SFDA) and Marginal Farmers

and Agricultural Labourers (MFAL) besides Drought

Prone Areas Pmgramme (in chronically drought

affected areas of the district) were implemented ini-

tially on a pilot basis since 1969-70. .

The experience gained from the' above rural deve-

lopment programmes has shown that a sectoral app.

roach is not adequate for overall development of au

area nor for the percolation of the benefits equitably

among the local population particularly of the weaker

scotions of the rural areas. As such the Government

larger incomes and mOre employment. The strategy

proposed is a selective approach and involves identjfi-

cation of a target group of. those below the poverty'

line .comprising 600 families in each block. Follow-

ing the identification of the beneficiary families, up'-

propriate programmes are formulated keeping in view

the potential of the chosen allocations in respect of

those families and funding for those allocation with

financial support from financing institutions. Inevit-ably, this is followed by a careful overseeing of the

implementation of the programmes to ensure the de-

sired results of higher incomes and more employment..

The programme of integrated rural development is

expected to cover 30 per cent of the target gronp

from among SC/STs who own little or negligible assets.

. An important distinction of IRDP is that while the

DPAp was essentially area/infrastructnral develop-

ment programme and SFDA, MFAL were primarily

'A new type of poverty has been growing in rural India in the recent years. Accord-

. ing to this, poverty is no longer associated with economic stagnation inherited from

the colonial era bnt rather is the product of "planned" agrarian change of rural

development in independent India. The gap between the vast .growing wealth of the

few and the continuing poverty of the many has been wideningand creating new social

tensions and conOicts in rural India.'

of India formulated another programme called. the

Integrated Rural Development Programme . (IRDP)

.in 1978-79 for intensification of the existing develop-

mental effort, With the result that today the pro-grammes .under the earlier schemes got merged with

the IRDP which was introduced in all the 5011 blocks

in the conntry sinc~ April 1980.

THE INTEGRATEDRURALDEVELOPMENTCONCEPT

involves a multi-pronged attack on the problems

of rural development. 'Integration' here covers four

principal.dimensions-integration of sectoral program-

. mes, spatial integration, integration of social and' eco-

nomic processes and, above all, the policies with a

view to achieving a better fit between growth, removalof poverty and employment generation. More speci-

fically, it involves a sharp' focus on target groups

comprising small and J;IIarginal farmers; agricultural

labourers and rural artisans and extremely specific planning in the rural areas.

The IRDP aims at increasing production and pro-

ductivity in agriculture and allied sectors and develop-

ing rcsoilrces and generate iricomes of the vulnerable

sections of the rural population on all m e blocks of the

countri The programme is mainly oriented to aug-

ment the family incomes of those below the povertyline through reduction of the incidence of chronic

unemployment and underemployment in the' rural'

areas. The' twin objectives of lRDP, therefore, are

52

programmes for small and marginal farmers and agri-

cultural labourers, the IRDP covers' all classes of '-1

people including non-agricultural labourers and rural

artisans who (lre below the poverty line. The signi-

ficant characteristic of IRDP, as in the earlier program- .

mes, is the mobilisation of institutional credit for indi-

vidual economic programmes resulting in larger income

accruals thus enabling the individuals to cross the

poverty line. Realising the complexity and magnitude

of the problem and the urgency to solve it, government

has launched different programmes mentioned above

to frontally attack the problem of poverty.

The strategies for taclding rural poverty enunciated

by the government from time to time have been parti-

ally successful in achievmg their objectives.

HowEvER, THROUGHTHE experience gained with

. these programmes, it was found that the benefits

of various developmental strategies Were not commen-

surate with the investments made so far and were

mainly taken away by relatively rich families bypass-

ing the people living below the poverty line. In practice

the diffe~ent development schemes meant for amelio-

rating the conditions of the rural poor operating in the

country, though vary in concept and content, were

reduced' to mere subsidy-giving programmes shorn of

any planned approach to the betterment of the rural

poor as an inbuiIt process in the development of the

area and its resources. Even the newly introduced

IRDP,. which is said to be comprehensive and aims

KURUKSHETRA Octo1<er,1983

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at making a frontal attack on rural poverty cannot

eradicate this problem during the plan period alone and

a large majority of the people the poverty line

have to wait for future plans for their upliftment, and

meanwhile their ranks may be swelling.

The studies conducted on the evaluation of IRDP

havc revealed certain basic weaknesses. The primary

criticism of the programme relates to the concepttself which is devoid of any new element. It is term-

ed as a 'modified. management exercise' which does

not provide ani new approach to tackle the problem.

An important drawback of the IRD programme is

that it docs' not initiate any integration of different

ectors-agriculture, industry and tertiary~relevant to

he rural areas. The integration emphasised has been

mainly the coordination of' different government

agencies. Even this integration is not forthcoming.

As'it has been rightly pointed out, 'what is wailting at

he moment is not' money or technology, but adminis-

rative coordination and intelligent utilisation of ;e~sources for producing best results.' The departmental

empires will have to be ~haken'.

It has been observed from the experiences of senior

administrators that there was always pressure from

he telatively rich and influential pwple in the rural

ector to corner the benefits of the' programme to

hemselves. Further, an-ather evaluation study reveals

hat some developmental schemes have not been suc-'

cessful in the past because investment in such schemes

had heen undertaken in isolated manner without creat-

ng the supporting infrastructure for their success. If

RDP is to achievc its ohjectives, it must be a genuine-

y integrated programme linking investment activities

for the target group with the investment being made

ri a number of other sectors simultaneously through

tate's plan in the rural areas. Integrated rural deve-

opment can take place only through such inter'and

ntra-sectoral linkages and coordination in'the decision-

making process. '

between them' and allows' the rural economy self-sus-

taining with improved position of savings and invest-

ment. In other words, it would result in higher pro-

ductivity of abundant local resources. Rural develop-

ment through planned rural industrialization is advo-

cated on more than one-grounds: (i) rural industries

are suitable to ,rural areas as thcy are raw material-

hased; O i), uplifting rural economy is possible by

establishing small scale industries, as they create

employment opportunities to the over-populated

rural areas and help solving the problem of disguised

unemployment and underemployment; (iii) the locally

availahle resources-human and natural--can be utili-

sed for the improvement in the income levels of the

village economy; (iv) income generation through rural

industries would improve the purchasing power of

rural masses thereby creating potential for demand-

based industries and increasing the standard of living;

(v) migration of rural population to urban centres can

be prevented by setting up of industries in rural areas;(vi) rural industries would achieve balanced growth

,by coordinating agriculture and industry; and (vii)

decentralisation and dispersal of industries would be

achieved to a great extent through the establishment

of small sc'ale industries in rural areas.

c' oTIe' of the importarit ~rerC{juisites'for solving

the problem of rural poverty in our country is proper

integration" and coordination" between agriculture and

industry' which"ensuresintensive and extensive develop-

ment of agriculture thereby crea,tingadditional employ-

ment for the"niral population. Such integration and coordination' between two sectors is only possible

through rural industrialisation by setting up of agro-

based industries in rural areas.

A GRG-INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT implies growth of

industries in rural areas through inter-dependence

of agriculture and industry. In brief, it is a process

of balanced growth of industry and agriculture in which

-t1ieoutput ofagriciIltiJre serves as an, input of industry

'The integrated rural developmentconcept involves a multi-pronged attack on the' problemsof rural development. "Integration' here coversfour principaldimensions-

integration of secloral programmes, spatial integration, integration of social and

economicprocessesand aboveall, tbe policieswith a ,viewto achievinga better fit bet-

ween growth, removal of'poverty and employment,generation.'

In order to achievc a modicum of results in the

RD programme, there is need to shift emphasis on

promoting rural industrialisation through agro"based ndustries.

R URAL INDUSTRIALISATION is an urgent need of the

hour as it provides equihbrium for the structural

conomy of the country which would in turn 'help the

development of both agriculture and industry. It

makes them useful with the process of coordination


."~

and vice-versa. . Thus, integratcd rural industrialisa-

tion through agro-based industries is a dynamic, inter-

depending and ,self-generating process. The unique

features of agro-based ,industries in,planned industriali~

zation of the rural areas are analyso<!below.

The distinctive 'feature of agro-based industries is

" that they woUld establish a vital link between agricul-

ture and industry and yields quick returns. Well

thought-out plan of integration' and development of

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_,agriculture, and' industry' would, tesult'hi "econonlic

.jdevelopment'l)f the rural areas,

,,' Another important Jeature of the agro~based indus-

tries 'is that they' integrate agriculture with industry

-which' a prerequisite' for the' prosperity' of 'rural ,areaS,

. 'Diverting' some 'people from'villages and sending them

, to.industrial 'cities would not solve "the fundamental

" problems ; increasing pressure ofpopuJation on agri-'cultural sector; inadequate' employment opportunities

, in niral' areas; and ineqUitable distribuiion of indus-

'triill ine-omo'and'weillth:"The correct strategy of rural

'- development,' therefore, should try to integrate agricul-

ture 'with indiistry' by locating agro-based industries

.-'in ru r~ l ' a re a s . .

J,

, , 1'! Rliral''j EmploymenU;Orie •.of theimp<'>rtant

:f. fiildlngs 'is.'thai' agro'baserl'industties provide"new

, avenues' of"employment at relatively 'sma1l"qipital

w cost. ,IThey 'provide" seasonal' ~mployment' to' the

agricultural"laboureis during the non-agricultural

seasons, II is observed that the .provision of

employment opportunities ,by, agro-based industries

, is twofold i.e., they not ouly create, employment

opportunities. in the agricultural ,units (direct

,employment') but also create considerable ,em',

"ployment opportuoities in .agriculture and tertiary

sectors, , The additional employment in the. farm'

sector is essentially a result of cultivation of agro-

. industrial crops, consequent ,on the setting up of

;"In practice the'different'developmental schemes"meant for::ameliorating the condi-

, , tions of the rural poor operating in ,theCOnlltry,though,;vary'in concept,and content,

were reduced to'mere subsidy-giving progr~mme.,shorn of_any~plannedapproach to" the betterment of the rural poor as an inhuilt.process,in'.the development oUhe ,area

.. ~n~' its' resources. 'Even the' newly"introdnced,mDP, .""bich'it ,said it o , he'compre-

" hensive and aims at making a frontal attack on rural poverty cannot ,eradicate. this

prllblem during the 'plan 'period.alone. ""

•

, i The significant contribution' ofagrofbased. industries

is ';in tbel'direction' of providing-newkavenucs' of"em-

'ployment; with a 'relatively' small) capital 'and serving

"as a ':means ,f.;:>r providing, more ',employment "oppbrtu-

". iJities to' the labour'during the'offoseasons" Accordingto the' Food ,and' Agriculture" Organisation I(iFAO),

. , r the agro-indnstrie". 'providc'!at .lCasvtwo-thirds' of, the

"employment in thedevcloping'countties. ,A featnre to

be noted about these .industties-is<thaLtheyate lIabour-

, intcns,ivc and he.we conspicuous propel)~ity for ~ini-

mum capital deploymontand, maximum relurns ,com-

,pared "with seycral non-agro-based industries.

d Flirthcr,"agto-bilsed 'jndu'stries' operatc 'as a.catalytiC

\ 'agent for the' development 'of ,"'infrastructurc ,ow!tich

bridges the gap between rural and urban areas. They

will be looked upon primarily as an. agency to' pavethc way for oecupa~ional',siiifts' ~nd .for creating -new.

social order. An'othet 'noteworthy 'aspect;of'agroobas-

ed industrial dcvelop~ent is capijalformation ..~'A.gro-'

based industries require only small 'saVings-",ithiri' the

family group and the establishment"and 'growth, of

these industries 'set' in motion "the process"af '.capital

(.formation, in.Jhe ,developing countries like India. As80. per ..cent of the .people. in India live villages 'and

• practically lack the means of chmmeUsing their savings,

,.the.,right: solution ..to._tackl~ .th" probl"lll is to ,induce

agro-based,)ndustries in the rur~J. sector.

";The signiiicance' of :agro'bas'e<j-'.industries'for'planned

"ihdustrialisation~of rural 'areas,:rrlay !becanalysed'witb,

'.'the folloWing findings 'ofdhe" research' :stlldy done "by

'Cthe':autlioT. . .

,agr6-based . in,ciu~tries,;"The study revealed that'

agro:-based industries could solve" to some extent,

,, the problem! of disguised unemployment in agric~j-,

, tural sector.. . . . " . .

2. Ocpupational Structure, . Consequent ' on, the,

selling .up, of ,agro-based _industrial units" in .or

. near the, rural areas,. the. occupational npattern

,. of rural, population,o has undergone ,significant

changes over. a period of .lime . These •industries

auc to thcir ,location in the ,ruml areas creaied

:additional employment.opportunities -to ru;al' popu-

latIOn,and changed their occupations .• Even though

they are located ,.in nearby ur-ban, areas, they,

brought about changes in the occupational pattern

of rural population by attracting unskilled labourers

.from the villages.._ Such changes in the occupatio-

~ naL,patternoare.found,to.be'maximum in the case of

,l"agricultural ..workerslbecause~ of, the low wage-levels

,,,in."agsiculture ",compared '-with industries, Agro-

," based,.irrdustriesehave ,.not.only .resulted in the shift

of. oGcnpationofrom,agriculture to non-agricultural

sector but also led to the ,multiple occupations, I.e.the workers engage in more than one occupation,

" byitakiug.up!agrocbased industrial: occupation in th

non,:agdcultu~al' season besides' theirorigina,l, agdc'U~.. turak'OccupatlOn, )IThus -there;. has'~been a .rgradu

decline in dependence on agdcultural occupation' as

,the .only means of.:employment..in..ruraI areas which,can, be.-taken ,on. a,;sign of .increasing prosperity.

,3, .-Rural Wages",'Agrd-based"'irrdustries,: as'nstated

eariier,; employ ~a 1Jjaige~ n u m b e r ..of ~'in;skiile

'"workers 'drawn ,from"farrn' sector-resulting irirthe

'~KURUKSHETRA10ctober~ .1-98

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pteneurship, the roie o f which is pivotai inoveraH. . - . .. ,I:' J.!-I ",_'1.11 I: ;.;j i' ~,J

deve~,~p~~.nt'of t~erU :li! are~s:'!,..~~ .t .0.:. ,.:')

7, Infrastructure.-,-Agro-based industries operate.

as .catalytic, agents for the development of infra- t

.struciUre which bridges the ,gap between rural and",

urban areas. These industries paved the way" for "

occupational shifts and for creating new social ord~r.ff'

\"hich formed the basis for creation. of necessary/1

socio-cultural and psychological foundations, for:.modern industrial soc,iety. The basic infrastructu-li

fa( facilities such as c1ectricity, water, ..communica-

tion and rural roads, etc., were provided at a .rela-.,I I

tively faster rate following the development of the:1

agro-based industrial complexes in rural areas.. " -, ,

.,<1 t I .8. Industrial Dispersal.-The study also substan-

tiated the fact that balanced regional development

can be met by evolving a planned indus.trialisation

through agro-based industries as they have greater

location flexibilities. These industries may be

considered as main instruments .for decentra-lisect rural indusirialisation. The big cities of India

as we all know, are at prcsent facing the ecological

problems of urbanisation and industrialisation, and

therefote, lndustrial dispersal has become an eco-

nOmlc necessity. With frequent shortage of .electri-

city, water, skilled labour, housing, transport etc., in

urban areas, agro-based irrJustries are forced' to look

for an alternative location in rural areas, and thus

have become prime m'overs for industrial dispersaL.

T

HE DEVELOPMENT OF agro-based industries nOd'

cultivation ofagro-based industrial crops deve- "

lop and change the structure of agricultural output in " '.5. Capital Formation.-Another important find- the villages. The growth in the indnstrial and agricul- ", I

ng of agro-industrial development is capital forma- tural sectors of the rural areas gives inapetus to . tIie'd

ion. These industries have a little access to institu- teritiary sector viz" banking, transport, communica- ;,.'

tional finance and hence majority of the units cover- tion, hotel business etc. The development of tertiary"

ed by the study were started with small savings with- sector provides further employment opportunities for

n the family groups and from investments which rural population. Further, agro-based industrial' i

would not have normally streamlined into productive development accentuate~ the developme~t of r~ds ~d 2'An important drawback of the (IRD) programmeis that it does not initiate any inte- ' 'I ",,',

gration of differentsectors~agricnlture, industry and tertiary-relevant to the rural " ' " ."areas. The integration emphasised has been mainly tbe coordination of different .:. ~r

government agencies. Even 'ihisintegration is not forthcoming.' .t , ."

4. Rural Incomes.-Agro-lJascd 'industries brought

about"a pcrceptible change in the income levels of-

ural population. There was a sig!1ificantincrease in

he per capita .income.of the households of agricul-ural workers and workers employed in agro-based

ndustries. This inaplies that the standard of living of

the landless and near-landle);s workers improved

which is attributable to !he increased wages and

cmployment. As a result, there were changes in the

consumption patter!! bettering the lifc condition of

hc rural popula.tion. The iJ:lc.reasein !he: income wa, {

essentially due to the setting up of agro.based in-

dustries which lead to high rate of wages iu the

agricultural sector coupled with additional employ-

ment.

eduction of the suppiy ot workers to farm sector.

uch' inobility of agDcultural' workers from sector"

o agrO-based industries,' otherwise called non-farin

sector, resulted in the increase in productivity

and also wages in the farm sector. The causes lead

o the increase in rural wages, consequertt upon thc

etting up of agro-based industries, are both direct.

and indirect. .Besides the direct. causes of mobility

of wO[.kersfrom farm_~ectorsto agro-based industries,',more employment opportunities, ensuring fuller

utilisation of existing rural labour, were also created

because of the changes in the cropping. pattern in'

favour of the crops linked to agro-based industries

equiring a large number of man-days of labour.

Thus, agro-bascd inclustries inqeased the wage

evels of workers in rural areas.

Ii I!

activities. Thus the establishment and growth of

agro-based industries set in motion the process of

capital formation in the rural areas. .1' .•' I

I'6. Entrepreneurship.-Agro-based indnstries' pro-

mote. rural and indigenous cntrepr~neurship. Iri

fact, paucity of entrepreneurial talents, particularly .

in rural areas, is one of the basic handicaps of indus-'

trialisation of rural areas in developing countries; Itis observed that agro-based industries acted as j1;ood

nurseries for the growth of rural indigenous entr-e-

. ,. ,.,.

co~uuicat;~ri facilities in the countryside. Th~ ."

development' of roads is neccessitated by the need' to,'

transport~agricultural ,raw materials from villages to".,,-

the agro-based industries on the one hand, and to pro_ "I

vide agricultural inputs to the agriculturists in viIIage~",.'

on the other. Moreover, the means of transport under,:",J ilr

goes a considerable change. It has been, fo~ \~~t' ,,j ,

farmers have been increasingly replacing bullock cart~ od with tractor-trailers for transporting agricUltural out-

puts. Because of the improvement i!! transpon and

URUKSHETRA October, 1983;:"•. ",.'.,. .•.... 1.' '-;/ .• ,.. J

5S, ..

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ooihIDUnicatloli;'iherural people wilfhave an Increas-

ed access to the growing towns. Establishment of

agio-bilsed industries is mainly based on the availiibi-

Iity.o( raw milterial. As such, agro-based industries

ought to be set'up in rural areas where raw material

is available in 'plenty. Since the rural folk form a,

major chuilk of our population, the employment op-

portunities provided by the agro-based industries are

also equally large in proportion. This helps in up-

lifting the' rural economy., In essence, setting up of

agrd-baSed industries in rural areas generates income

thereby improving the economic condition of the

people which in turn' creates potential demand for

goods and',serVices. This demand can be classified

into three. categories :

. i t ; , 'th~ demand for non-food goods and services,

, which would, increase as rural income inc-

reases ;

(ii)' the demand for inputs and services for agri-

culture including tools and equipment, ,re-

pair services, transport, processing and sup-

porting infrastructure and works etc., which

would .increase with agricultural develop-, ment; a r i d

,(iii) the demand for manufactured goods.

, Some research'sttidies On household expenditure re-

vealed that sigruficant portion of the income was spent

on ,non-food items. The increase in demand for non~food items stems. from both 'backward' and, 'forward'

linkages with agriculture. The former includes demand'

for tools'and equipment repairs and supply services,

buildings, and, other works; the latter includes proces-

sing, transport and marketing of output. Besides the

markets generated by agricultural development, exter-• >. ,

(Con/d. from Page' 50)

S:UCH 'VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS can usefuIIy

add the task of organising ,the rural poor to their

other functions. Orgauising the rural poor alone can-

not itself be a function because the success of the

task depends on the rapport which the voluntary Or-

gauisations have with the rural and the confidence

and credibility which they are able to create in the

rural people. This, they can achieve ouly when

thrOliih other modes of social and economic upliftrnent

tasks," they creaih: a considerable degree of satisfac-

tion in the people that their interestS are being looked

after. OVer the .'years, voluntary orgauisations have

been contributing their mite for helping the poor to

help themselves. But this is by and large outside

the orbit of 'GoVernment programmes. Iithere is 'to be any' rneimingful'participation' by !he people in

, ,

. .! \ .,",~ . ,~. .J _ ' .••

nal markets for manufactured goods and' handicrafts

from rural a~eascould also be a source of employment.

Adequate rural infrastructure proyides manufacturers

a re~dy access.to, the rural labour market, mate-

rials and services. (This indicates that agri-

cultural development cannot be, looked in' iso-

lation as it requires continuous improvement of infra-

structure. Moreover, it is a positive impetqs to thedev.elopment of agro-based industries which form' the

natural nodal points for the expansion of manufaCtur-

ing activity). Owing to forward and backward Ji!1k-

ages,it is important to consider the interaction between

rural development and the growth and role of rural

towns,the latter ,beingthe consequence of development

of agro-based industries in rural areas. ,.

I N CONCLUSION", it may be stated that planned

rural industrialisation through agro-based indus-

tries creates nucleus of structural change and moderni-

sation in the ~ural areas, giving them, the capacity to

diversity into industrial. activities in, accordance with

their own needs, ,capacities andr~~ouices; rather ffian

remain as the hinterland' of an industrial seCtor'built

near the big cities. Further, it transforms the disor-

gauised and improverished village economy into ,viable

production units capable of organising themselves' to

improve t~.eirlimite<!-:JaIl!!,control thei~ . resources,

apply improved technology and increase agrictiltural

production to meet the growing needs of the rural

population. Above all" rur~J industrialisation can

solve the problem of rural poverty to a great extent asit helps evolving a social system in which there would

be greater possibility of equitable distribution on in-

come and maximum pOssible sOCialjustice. Evidently,

the main thrust of rural industrialisation is not to do

things of the rural people but- toorgauise them to dothings for themselX!es. r '

.';

rural areas, what is imvo'rtant is that the work of

voluntary organisations must be recogijised and their

role appreCiated by the -Governm~¥~ There has to be a 'cooperative attitude"towards each other between

• - .• 1

the Governmental agencies and vollll)tary organisa-

tions: The' local governInental minions at village or

tehsi! level should be s,trict1ypreveiited from taking

up condescending attitude towa(d~ voluntary agencies

or suspecting them jf they try to organise the rural

poor. On the other hand; .they should take the

NGOs into confidence and try to implement the anti-

poverty programme with their help instead. of crea-

ting hurdles or pockets of vested interests. Then alone

can the peoples' participation, and success of any' pro-

gramme of alleviation of rural poverty be ensured.

;. •••

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the encouraging,achievements f~, I~tegrated Rural evelopme~~;,i ~,: t'

of the Revised 20'Point "c, : • Rehabilitation of bonded lab()ul'lJ;. "

Programme-:::thebh.leprint for I • Welfare of Scheduled Castes and :/. :"

progr~ssimdprosperity for the, " ,Scheduled Tribes; , ~\,. ,

masses.;rhe prograritrites i n ~ ' : ! , ! , Drinking 'water lacir.tie~in ,probJ~m' :

which we attained 100per cent I Villages; , " " II- :free plantahon; and ..• "

(or nore)of the target set out ~ .. , ", ,"~, "~...." ~""" '"'r'"'' " " , , 1 , , - Integra,te"d .Child Development, Servi,ce '".,

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COME, LET'USJOIN HANDS TO FULFIL THE

TARGETS OF THE REVISED.2o-POINT,PROGRAMME'"3~!::.-~'{'r'. ,.' ~ - + .•••• ,.'r::,~.l.'. ,.,,~ "'..';'1,. "davP:832n

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URUKSHElRA,October, 1983•.,""~ .~•.,;•••,.;;..•._; ,.;'"••li,.IC-':.'. 1 . . . . • . 1. 57

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KtiRUkSHETRAOctober, 1983

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'India lives in her villages ... WhenI succeed in ridding the ,villages of

. their poverty, I have won Swaraj'

-2lfahatlna Gandhi

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(Licensed under U (DN) -54 to post without prepayment

at Civil Lin'es Post Office, Delhi). .

- . . = - . • •

Regd. No D(DN)/39

RN702/57

, Since Independence, espedally in the last few years, our efforts

have been directed towards raising crores of people above the

poverty line but crores still remain below it. Our problems have

not ended.. So our efforts have to be intensified for the success of

the 20-Point Programme and the Plan. As I said before, this is not

jusi the concern of a few people or of the Government alone. It is

everybody's concern !lnd a responsibility for which we have tomobilize all citizens.: ~We must make ita mass<movement. The

country's work will go ahead only when everyone considers it his

I\own resj)onsibilitYJ

2008-03-25 (1)

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