The Independent Commission for People’s Rights & DevelopmentThe Independent Commission for People’s Rights & DevelopmentThe Independent Commission for People’s Rights & DevelopmentThe Independent Commission for People’s Rights & DevelopmentThe Independent Commission for People’s Rights & Development

NEWSLETTERIssue No. 6 June, 2006

Outcomes and Innovations!

Farmers’ Suicide Victims of Anantpur:Review of Rehabil i tat ion and ReliefMeasures

A Plan of Action

As part of its pro-poor advocacy, ICPRDhas sought to make the voices of themarginalized heard at the highest levels ofpolicy making. Within this context, ICPRDfacilitated the deposition of the plight ofFarmers’ Suicide Victims’ Families at thePlanning Commission in November, 2004.As a continuum of this effort, a workshopwas organized in Anantpur, Andhra Pradeshon May 28, 2006 to enquire f rom theFamilies of Suicide Victims real facts aboutthe i r cur rent s i tua t ion w i th regard toprogress o f rehab i l i ta t ion and re l ie fmeasures provided by the government.(contd. on page 2)

Rural Employment Guarantee Act

Recommendations and a Strategy Noteevolving out of ICPRD’s ground experienceon the Nat iona l Rura l EmploymentGuarantee Scheme - (contd. on page 6)

Men as Partners in Combating GenderBased Violence: Adding a newmomentum to the challenge with “YouthForums Against Gender Violence”

Interventions to address Gender BasedViolence are usually targeted towards thevict ims, i .e . , women . But a un iqueprogramme initiated by ICPRD endeavouredto engage men as partners and allies incombating Gender Based Violence, i.e. thearm that “would potentially harm wassought to be transformed to an arm that

would protect.” This innovative “Action toIntervention Research Project” to addressand cover young men was undertaken byICPRD in five districts across Karnataka andRajasthan - (contd. on page 10)

Micro-Finance Training Technology inTribal Santhali Language – An India First

As a f irst for India, in i ts micro-f inanceadvocacy campaign in Jharkhand (one ofIndia’s backward states in the poverty belt),ICPRD facilitated the preparation, in localSanthali language, of its field training manualon SHG group formation to reintegrate tribalwomen into financial institutions. The manualfor management of tribal women’s groups haspictorial representation of social mobilizationconcepts to reach out to the tribal women.

To recall, the barter system has been stillpracticed in the region till recently and to linkthem to the formal banking system, ICPRDalso facilitated the preparation of SHG Banklinkage forms and other necessary bankingformats in Santhali language as promotionalventures.

Occupational and entrepreneurial case-studies of successful t r ibal womenentrepreneurs describing their life cycleinc lud ing sk i l l s , exper ience, shocks,cha l lenges and access to product iveresources have been produced for providingglimpses of policy advocacy to financialinstitutions, planners, government andcivil society - (contd. on page 15).

SAARC Workshop on Gender Violence:Report on the SAARC Regional TrainingWorkshop held in Jaipur in October 2005- (contd. on page 18 )

IN SHORTIN SHORTIN SHORTIN SHORTIN SHORT

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Farmers’ Suicide Victims - (contd. from page 1) amount of Rs. 1 lac was deposited in a jointaccount with the Mandal Revenue Officer(MRO). This amount has not beenproperly utilized as the family memberslack awareness. They seem to bereinvesting the amount on agriculture,instead of using it for their economicstability or by taking up alternativelivelihood. Often they lapsed back intodebt due to this and other consumptionneeds.All Govt. Departments related to agriculture,Panchayati Raj, Revenue and Horticultureand local NGOs do not collectively convergeto help victims’ families as highlighted in theG.O. 421.

Others includeSpurious seeds in the market lead to croplosses.The farmers are not skilled in alternativeforms of livelihood, such as cattle/sheep/goatrearing.Farmers do not get a renumerative/goodprice for their produced crop.Several programmes of the govt. are notuniformly implemented in all the districts.In the Food for Work Program, contractorshave earned crores of rupees by opting formachinery instead of human resource.Old traditional methods for agriculture areused by the farmers. Agricultural extensionis still inaccessible to the farmer.Several farmers try to bore wells withoutconsulting geologists. This results in theborewells either failing to provide the muchneeded water or soon drying up. The costsincurred in digging these borewells becomesa dead investment for the farmer and addsto his debts.

Progress of Relief Measures

Government GO Ms. No. 421 is the crucialbenchmark wherein the government beganimplementing relief and rehabilitation packages toSuicide Victims’ Families.

Relief was sanctioned to several families;currently, it is slack though.Creditors, including bankers, paid chequesas one time settlement (with documentaryevidence) where the debt was more than Rs.50,000.

Farmersí Suicide Victimsí Family Member putting her caseforward at the Workshop on Outcomes of Agricultural and

Food Security Policies in Anantpur, Andhra Pradesh,May 28, 2006

The Policy Advocacy Workshop on ‘Outcomes ofAgricultural and Food Security Policies inAnantpur’ was attended by 35 suicide victimfamilies, 12 NGOs from 5 Mandals aroundAnantpur (Putluru, Narpala, Garladinne, Almakur,Kudair).

Objectives of the Workshop:

Assistance received by the suicide victimfarmers’ familiesUnderstand the outcomes of this assistanceto suicide farmers’ familiesAnalyse gaps/lacunae in strategy that couldbe addressed for corrective measuresAdvocate to policy makers

At the workshop, it was assumed commonly thatthe Government has been implementing manyprograms since 1970, but because of leakages/corruption in the various govt. departments, thebeneficiaries seem unable to fully access thecomplete benefits under the various programs.Nonetheless, Anantpur has regressed from“drought prone” to “desert” in Governmentnomenclature.

Certain issues and challenges also needaddressing continuously:

The Government has provided a financial aidof Rs. 1,50,000/- to each of the victims’ familyunder the Special Package given to thesuicide victim families. Of this amount, Rs.50,000/- was paid by the Government itselfto offset the farmer’s debts. The remaining

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In several cases, in the face of disputes, onetime settlement was not possible.In some cases, court decree for auctioninglands led to families paying over and abovethe cheque amount available to them, tosettle debts. If the victim families did not settleover and above the cheque amount what wasreally due, acquiring hand loans would notbe possible.In few cases, bank managers transferred thecrop loans held by the deceased farmers inthe name of the son or refused to close thecrop loan.

The MRO and nearest of the deceased held jointaccounts of the ex-gratia payment of 1 lakh. Whenwithdrawn, this was mainly used for consumptionand production purpose.

The main uses of withdrawals of ex-gratia paymentby priority expenditure are:

Crop production / medical expensesAgriculture / dairying / business / education /housingMarriage / gold & consumption purposesNot withdrawn from joint A/CIn safekeeping for children’s education

The GO No. 421 also provides for converging orlinking financial assistance of other Govt. schemes.Dairying and SGSY were accessed a little by a fewfamilies. For those that had withdrawn amountsfor dairying, SGSY could have been linked.Similarly, those buying powerlooms, were deniedaccess to accounts as it was not for “agriculturalpurposes.”

An Analysis of Measures

It is felt that a distinction be made betweenstrategies for the different beneficiary groups:Wage earners, Share Croppers, Tenants,Marginal/Small farmers, those involved inallied agriculture operations such as goat,sheep rearing, cattle rearing, etc.All women at the workshop wanted toengage in other livelihood activities suchas dairying/sheep/goat rearing/pettyshop keeping/vegetable vending. Theyneed to have access to loans and SHGs.NREGA/Food for Work programs do notseem useful for cultivators but for wageearners. Though job cards have been issued,farmers do not seem to go for work.

Linkage with SGSY and other alternativelivelihood schemes needs to be acceleratedon an emergency basis.Government assistance could reach inredressing where loans from banks havebeen availed but have failed withmoneylenders’ debts. Packages have notbeen allowed to be utilized as the joint A/C iswith MRO – The moneylender continuesto be the most accessible source of handloans as RRB / Cooperative loan processinghas hurdles (taking further time). Only thosewith passbooks can avail assistance, butseveral without it, cannot access benefits.Leakages in sanctioning loans seemsrampant.In Indira Prabha Scheme for Agriculturalland distribution to Scheduled Castes,identification of lands seems difficult due tolack of knowledge of Revenue personnel (as‘Karnams’ or older Revenue Personnel, arenon – existent now, and they had value addedknowledge on all lands in the area).

Institutional arrangements

The Mandal team of MRO, (Mandal Revenueofficer) Mandal Agriculture officer and otherofficials needs to be put into place. TheIndira Kranthi Pratham (velugu formerly)or PRI officials that are well versed withpoverty issues (scheme formulation &implementation) could be focal pointsalternately. For e.g: SGSY & National old agepension schemes are implemented throughPR and the entire ex-gratia payment can beuntouched for consumption purposes aspossibly, these officials dealing with suitableschemes could help victims of suicide easilyaccess schemes. Helplines have either notproved effective or ceased to exist.

PLAN OF ACTION

Recommendations

Short Term Measures

Regulate and monitor seed quality.Changing crop insurance unit to village fromMandal level.Enhance wage employment immediately forwage earners.Diversification into vegetables / floriculture /fodder crop.

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Supplementary income such as dairying,sheep rearing & some poultry through micro– enterprises loans, SHGs / NGOs.Without any concern for the old loans,continuance to finance and issue of newloans for Agriculture is mandatory.Auction of gold loan has to be stopped(banks).Govt. should encourage and help incommunity marriages as these are sourcesof debt (Samutlika Marriage).The banks are providing crop loans to thefarmers but yet, the loan amount released isdifficult to access (hurdles) or insufficient forthem to meet the initial investment forcultivating the crops (or not in agriculturalseason). In order to meet the seeds,pesticides and other labor charges, thefarmers borrow money from the moneylenders, as they find it easy to get hand loans.RRBs and Co-operatives have to work on awar footing.The financial aid given to the victims undervarious schemes has to be increased. At thesame time, they are to be encouraged andprovided with various alternative livelihoodoptions.Organize Rytumitra insurance groups underLife Insurance Corporation Schemes alreadyavailable to SHGs.

Overall Recommendations

The Government has to immediately take thefollowing steps to ensure and protectAgriculture:

To extend land under Cultivation.To see that all necessary steps are taken inextension and supplying Seeds, Pesticides,and Fertilizers and other inputs to thefarmers.To ensure that all the resources required likeWater, Electricity are supplied adequately tothe farmer till his crop is reaped.To ensure farmers obtain profitable pricewhen they sell their crops. (to remuneratetoiling through the year).NREGA to be implemented throughout theyear in Anantpur district to prevent migration– in lieu of the agriculture season.e definition of ‘Farmer’ needs to bebroadened as suggested by NationalCommission on Farmers - (including Animal/ Sheep husbandry and so forth).

Emphasis on allied activities such as dairying,sheep rearing, goat rearing and poverty andmicro enterprises.Credit facility to be provided to tenantcultivators and share croppers also.Need to rejuvenate tanks. (4500 tanks/kuntas/water resource bodies in Anantpur)Agriculture needs to be strengthened inrespect of five major fronts – extensionsupport, Input supply, Institutional credit,Marketing and Insurance.The Govt. GO on providing relief to thesurvivors of suicide victims needs to beeffectively implemented - preferably throughPR or IKP instead of revenue dept. - andlinked with ongoing rural developmentprogrammes.Minimum support prices to be fixed for allimportant crops and coverage by cropInsurance schemes.Comprehensive land development schemes(CLDP) to cover self- help groups of farmersneeds attention. (49 crores for 31,000 acreshas been released (Land Development, FoodSecurity, Gross Development, Horticulture,Dairy Development, Development of WaterResources) – But whether they are paperpattas (titles) or land could be reclaimed/developed, needs to be enquired into. Theland distributed to the landless laborers wasnot under cultivation for almost nearly 20years (nearly 1,00,000 acres distributed).They are unable to bring it undercultivation through their own efforts andresources. The government has to help themin bringing the cultivation to the land underthe “Integrated Land DevelopmentProgram”. Otherwise it seems of no use.Insurance cover to farmers (LIC schemes)through SHGs. (Crop Insurance is beingreceived from Govt.)The Self Help Groups interacted with thevictims’ family members who requestedimmediate rehabilitation measures to helpthem under the supervision of any local NGO.The NGOs may be advised to prepare SpecialProject Proposals to CAPART, Central SocialWelfare Board, and RMK to cover theaffected families and extend the help thesefamilies.Thrift & Savings need to be activated throughSHGs. Hand loans can be taken foremergency from the rotating funds. Funds /banks (NABARD /RMK / SIDBI) can supportin providing funds to NGOs to identify, buildand train groups in SHG management. Later,SHG – bank linkage could be possible.

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It was felt that the dumping of heavilysubsidized American/European Union producein local markets is to be avoided to preventfarmers from going in for distress sales.

It was also felt that alternate employment isan immediate emergency measure.

All the participants at the Workshop stressedthe need to take the necessary steps to protectand preserve agriculture as a profession. TheNational Commission on Agriculturerecommendations needed to be accepted, theyemphasized.

Case Studies of Suicide Victims’ Families

Consumption Loans

Krishnamurthy could not earn enough through thecrops he cultivated. He was also worried abouthis daughter’s marriage. He had a debt of Rs. 2Lac. He could not repay the loans and due to thepressure he faced from the money lenders, hecommitted suicide in the year 2000. The familyreceived Rs. 1,50,000/- from the government.One Lac of this amount was deposited in the wife’sname, who wanted to withdraw funds for herdaughter’s wedding. But the bank officials did notallow her to do so as she owed money to the bank.She was forced to again borrow frommoneylenders.Krishnamurthy, Pappur Village, Narpala

Continue loaning to victims

Shiv Shankar Reddy had borrowed amounts upto Rs. 5 lac, of which Rs. 3 lac was from the banks.Being the eldest in the family he had to shoulderall the responsibilities. None of his brothershelped him financially. He drilled 5 borewells inhis fields, of which 4 failed. The water in the singlebore well was insufficient for cultivating the land.The crop was drying up. He was also facingdemands from the moneylenders to repay themoney which he had borrowed for the marriageof his two sisters and for agriculture at Rs. 3/-interest. Unable to withstand the pressure, hecaught hold of an electric wire and ended his life.After his death, his wife has been disinheritedand thrown out of the house along with theirthree children. The family received Rs. 1,50,000/- from the government of which Rs. 50,000/- waspaid to the money lenders and one lac wasdeposited in a joint account with the local Mandal

Revenue Officer (MRO). She is unable tosupport her children and pay for theireducation. She approached the local banksto give her a loan for cattle rearing. But thebanks refused to give her any loan as herhusband owed the bank a sum of Rs. 3 lac.She borrowed money from the local moneylender at Rs. 3/- interest and purchased threeshe-buffaloes. She is managing to take care ofher children with the sale of milk.Shiva Shankar Reddy, Akkampalli

Son may suicide too!

Continuous failure of his crops and mountingdebts which seemed unrepayable, Chennappacommitted suicide by lying down on a railwaytrack. His only son is now facing demands frommoney lenders. He feels he may be forced tochoose the same fate as his father to escape fromtheir clutches. It is his request to thegovernment to help him so that he can startsome small business other than agricultureto earn his livelihood and to pay off his debts.Boya Chennappa, Illuru Village, Garladinne

Livelihood for Women headed Households

Peddi Reddy had incurred a debt of Rs. 6 lacs.He sold his 20 acres of land to pay off all his debts,including his bank loans. After he sold off hislands, he was unable to feed his family thrice aday. He became diabetic and the doctors told himthat his right leg would have to be amputated.The operation would cost Rs. one lac, he was told.He approached local officials to help him but invain. He did not wish his family to create newdebts as a handicapped person and would be ofno use to his family. So, he committed suicide bytaking pesticides. His family has received noassistance from the government. His wife isnot aware of any kind of government schemes toreceive any assistance. It is her request to thegovernment to help her so that she can takeup cattle rearing to support herself and herdaughter.Peddi Reddy, Kodavakolu Village, Puttanur

Farmer to Labourer

Dastagiri had no land of his own so he took 4acres of land on lease and cultivated it. He hadborrowed nearly Rs. 1.50 lac from private moneylenders at Rs. 3/- interest. He used this moneyfor cultivating paddy and sunflower crops. He

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lost the crop several times and the few timesthat he got a good crop, he could not get agood price for it. He stopped cultivatingleased land and started accepting daily wagelabour . Faced w i th demands f rommoneylenders to pay up and seeing no wayout , he commi t ted su ic ide by tak ingpesticides. It had hurt his dignity andprest ige that he had turned a dai lylabourer from being a farmer. The familyhas not received any govt. assistance.Dastagiri, Karuvaikottala Village, Narpala

Rural Employment Guarantee Act - (contd.from page 1)

The basis of ICPRD understanding of NREGAis through the experience of five RegionalState consultations held in Jharkhand, Bihar,Chatt isgarh, Tamilnadu, Orissa, with over1000 participants by ICPRD in the last year.In Rayalaseema too in AP with NGOs suchdiscussions have taken place. (including withlabour / women/ tribals). Further in Jharkhandthree months ago, padayatra or walking tourwith Gram Sabhas by NGOs / civil society wassupported by ICPRD to, “discuss the role ofcivi l society in the Gram Sabha or vi l lagecouncil implementation of schemes.”

ICPRD’s access to Civil Society information inthe NREGA Phase – I implementation districtsare high ie approximately 65% of the districts.In the f ive Central India states of Orissa,Jharkhand, Bihar, M.P, W. Bengal, ICPRD hasdetailed NGO/ SHG directories in remoteareas (over 500 NGOs in about 50 districts).In A.P, Member-Secretary, Dr. Azad hastraveled in target districts in remote Naxaliteareas, meeting potential beneficiaries.

A “NREGA implementat ion chal lengesmeeting” was also organized in Dumka,Jharkhand by ICPRD in Feb. 2006. Theinterface had the four important stakeholders,namely

Civil Society (Comprising 12 NGOs fromICPRD network ( in Dumka (Godda,Deoghar), 10 academicians, 8 membersof the Regional & English Media).Government (Deputy Deve lopmentCommissioner in charge of NREGA andthree of his officials)

Beneficiaries (Tribal & Poor Women)Political executives

NGOs and media activists pointed out thata new parallel NREGA economy had beenstarted that Civil Society should challenge,namely

with reference to accessing NREGSformsFilling formsJob Card provision

It was suggested that third parties or NGOscould give out forms judiciously to minimizethese and would have to sit on the “job card”for filling forms; and could actually get out “thejob card” to the beneficiary, which is crucial.

The discussion in the Dumka workshop on theState Employment Guarantee Act ,Jharkhand and its differences with theCentral Act were namely, the following: (thisgives a sample of the differences betweenState and Central Acts).

Household definitions seemed different andvague in the State Act - providing loop holes.Unskilled and semi-skilled - no cleardefinitions and new usage of semi-skilleddefinition needs serious attention.“Gram Sabha” and “Am Sabha” are used assimilar and inter changed in the State Act withdiluting implications.Wages in kind during implementation needclarification - (is it Annapurna or other kindsof grain-gradation and its implication onrenumeration).Women’s role specified is nearly nil.Support services in State Act not referred to(such as health / crèche etc.) Except that 5%will be cut for P.F. (whether it be from wagesor 5% above is not clear.Communication Strategy: The State Actstrategy seems similar to the NACO strategywhich is often targeted to the literate. Streetplays with ‘how much’, “how, has it beendone, ratio, quality / type of works/labour” needs to be brought in themessages. Most people seem to feel thatNREGA is mainly for BPL families while theDDC of the District said he had aunprecedented no. of registrations, and theywere not yet prepared to implement it.

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Newspaper Reports

Hindustan, Deogarh, Jharkhand - 27/02/06

Lack of Consultation in SREGS : Dr. NandiniDeogar / Ex. Planning Commission official and Member-Secretary,ICPRD, Dr. Nandini Azad critiqued the State Government ofJharkhand for not carrying out the Central Governments RuralEmployment Guarantee Act in spirit particularly lack of Consultationwith various stake holders. Dr. Azad speaking to the Press in theCircuit House referred to “the Household” definition in the StateAct and its implication in identifying the poorest at the grassroots.Such vague understanding will lead to the real beneficiaries at thegrassroots losing out in reality at implementation levels, she warned.Lack of usefulness of written posters at bus stands and railwaystations (as specified in the state scheme) was questioned. Sheemphasized street corner street plays highlighting the correctmessages for the illiterates. While dwelling on the role of women,she regretted that both the State and Central Act do not specifically‘indicate’ or imply women or their specific role except 1/3 rd percentin the Central Council (and allocations?). In the implementation ofworks, she highlighted that self help groups should be given prioritypreference. These suggestions would be sent to Hon’ble PrimeMinister and UPA leadership soon, she promised.

Seize the NREGA Scheme, she alerted Indian NGOs, withimplications of crores of rupees for the poor. Without the CivilSociety support in implementation, she called the scheme wouldbe “an empty dream” implying its successfulness. Many social &political activists including NGO leaders Mira Singh, UdayPrakash, Rajneesh Sentu, were also present.

AN “INDEPENDENT” CIVIL SOCIETY ROLE INNREGA IMPLEMENTATION - “Outcomes andnot merely Outlays”Dr. Nandini Azad, Member-Secretary, ICPRD andformer Head, Outcome Monitoring Mechanism,Planning Commission, Government of India

Watch dog role for civil society

The near absence of the term “NGO” voluntaryagencies, people’s organizations from the basicNREGS documents/manuals (MORD –operationalizing NREGA and NREGA/2005) seemsto indicate ‘a position’ that PRIs are people’sorganizations! while Civil Society is a supportstructure. This analytical conceptualizationpresents a serious implementation dilemma. Ifone looks at the Governance Chapter in the 10thFive Year Plan (Mid term Appraisal), it is clear thatthere exist three arms of governance, namelythe Civil service, PRI, & Civil Society. NREGSimplementation manuals fail to seriously provideCivil Society ie, “the independent third sectorwith the watch dog function’.

Implementation triumvirate

The implementation seems to continue to bevested at the local level in the triumvirate of

The Distt. Collector/ Jilla Parishad ChiefPramukh / DPOMukhya / Gram Sevak

The fund utilization also seems to be in the samesequence in the ratio of 20:30:50% respectively tothe Village, block & district level, indicating the‘resource and administrative control’ of this chainof implementers.

Access & Equity Concerns

A long flogged issue at the district, block,village level implementation is ‘the access& equity concerns’ to the vulnerable &marginal population (both socially &economically backward). To once againrepeat this oft remembered grim realitysimply, the need to break the caste-class-gender hierarchy at the Gram Sabha / Samitilevel is pivotal to reach the vulnerable/poorest. This has somewhat been possibledue to the generation of demand of thesesections through an organized / aware voicethrough the mobilization of the poor into

Prabhat Khabar, Deogarh, Jharkhand - 27/02/06

Role of Civil Society in Development Programs:

Dr. Nandini AzadThe new programs of the Central and State Government musthave the participation of NGOs, Women’s Organizations, SHGs,youth clubs for successful implementation, emphasized Dr. NandiniAzad, ICPRD Member-Secretary. While commenting on the newNREGS, she said that NGOs could be given roles including ‘smalltasks’ at different levels which should be compared in otherdistricts or blocks where it is not so. Surely, the NGO successrate in implementing this scheme while compared will be definitelyhigher. If Civil Society was given watch dog roles, the schemecould be monitored properly. She was speaking on the occasionof flagging off tribal women SHGs from the area to Orissa for aexposure visit by ICPRD. Finally, she insisted that as Panchayatswere non-existent in Jharkhand, “this mechanism” of NGO rolein implementation was extremely essential. Shri Uday Prakashand other NGOs were present here at the briefing.

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NGOs, PVOs, SHGs, user groups & so forth.The classic “position” that PRIs are people’sparticipatory organizations may thus betheoretically acceptable but unfortunatelyimplementation reality often belies it. In Bihar/Jharkhand etc 80% of the PRI leadershipare often criminal / muscle version. Arecently conducted study by a NationalNGO of women Sarpanches in Bihar,indicate that 80% of the husbands hadcriminal backgrounds. Gram Sabhascannot often dare articulate or demandor voice grievance easily for fear ofacrimony or worse still, violence & death.Often, as one has seen, the counterleverage is the “small NGO” at the locallevel that seems to provide the “classicthird party leverage & pressure” - (moreas a check & balance, rather than arguethat all NGOs are virtuous).

POTENTIAL STRATEGIESWithin this rather simplistic analytical frame ofimplementation, it maybe useful to kindly considerthe following suggestions:

Suggestions

MonitoringThe Central Council of the NREGS needsto be independent. The term voluntaryagencies does not seem specified in thecouncil. Similarly, only 1/3 rd are to be women.1 /3rd seems a “magic number” that seemsto deny a reality - (it should be possible that50% of the council could be deservingwomen).

ImplementationIn terms of expediency & speed,Implementation could be delinked from dayto day administration of MORD i.e. a Missionmode is a better frame – It could be betterplaced under the Hon. P.M directly, if it is tobe seriously considered ‘India’s flagshippoverty reduction program”.

Current Counter Checks

Vigilance Committees – NGOs, PVOs,accredited Social Workers, Teachers,Professors, Lawyers, Doctor etc could be onit. Panchayat elected representatives orretired Bureaucrats could be minimal on it.

Empowering Gram Sabhas - A Schemeneeds to be initiated at the village level forSHGs /NGOs that maybe on the lines of theCAPART / CSWB Schemes or PRI MinistrySchemes. (the CAPART scheme is“Organization & mobilization of Poor” orand ‘AGP” – Awareness GenerationProgram (CSWB) could be providedmandatorily to “the third party SHG orNGOs” and could be dovetailed in theNREGS in the first few model districts forempowering Gram Sabhas.

Features of the above suggested scheme forNGOs / SHGs / Participatory researchinstitutions

to first mobilize the gram sabha,announce the features,discuss the works,make transparent resource availability,check quality of works apart from, finallydiscuss quality of completed work / ratio oflabour: work costs.

Immediate Checks at Vital Pressure Points

Survey & identification of beneficiariesA Job cardIdentification of WorksGram sabha meetings / Social auditActual WorkMuster rollsPayment

At the level of ‘identification ofbeneficiaries, in Bihar / Jharkhand, migrationis high. The job card issued is often benami.A simple scheme of “third party Survey”rather than Gram Panch conducting it, willmake the foundation strong. This couldminimize ‘boosting the number of’ job cardbeneficaries & benami effect in a sense. Twoimportant variables would be “totalhousehold income” including of all migrantsas well as length of residence of migrantsin the village” in the past 3 years.Job cards - This has important implicationson the Scheme in terms of the number of jobcards issued and identification of the needy -(differentials between landless, share cropper,tenant, farmer etc. has to be made).Identification of Works - a worksopportunity survey needs to be conductedby “ a third party” providing a shopping list

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of works in consultation with a supported /aware Gram Sabha. This should match theskills available “by season” whereverpossible, especially in the unorganized orinformal sector” - (the most vulnerable sector).

It maybe useful first that the GramSabha draw up a wish list of works &possible NGOs associated in specificdistricts for a comparative profile (NGOswith experience in taking up such works,pertaining land, water, environment,Schools, roads etc.) This survey willclearly target / delineate assets/required infrastructure too, apart fromnumber of jobs created, therebyproviding a rough cost/ benefit at theparticular village, including level ofquality infrastructure /job creation/outcomes (and percentage of costs).These surveys need to follow a general& specific format (depending on type ofworks/ estimate). Maybe model surveyscould be provided in the first instanceto the Gram Sabhas.Qualitative input such as to access ofthese infrastructure by vulnerabilityindex could also be useful. For eg: Ithas been seen that often high caste/class create irrigation works in apredominantly, landless village ( thoughit may provide all year round wages – itmaybe useful to have small waterresources which may enhance kitchengarden quality or enhance quickgrowing plants for energy or raise smallgoats). While macro economic planners,may at “the 3000 ft they often think”,not pay attention to these simple / realdetails, but the sum total of suchpractical and minimal solutions will nodoubt add up to the quality of life of thevulnerable. Or even reduce women’sdrudgery to collect firewood - makingit easy for her to earn a wage or carryon micro enterprise.It has been often found that many workssuch as canal cutting or pondclearing which have feet specified aremostly never checked afterimplementation. The contractor thoughobliterated from the NREGS manuals isabout the only person who can affordto spend 5-7 % in accessing thesecontracts sitting at the District level, as

he can invest resources to accquire it.Unfortunately, the quality ofimplementation of “the works” unlike inthe earlier system with a designatedcontracter (though worse) were stillpinpointable to him. Now it cannot bedirectly attributed to him but covertly so,with the Gram Sevak as the front. TheProbability of tractors / machines cuttingonly few inches in works instead of foreg. “seven feet” could be the reality –but who would check the reality orrather risk it? The latter ie Gram Sevakwould therefore be “a victim” of sucha system.Checking of quality of works by “a thirdindependent party” is also essential.While Quality Monitors are anexcellent idea, pliable NGOs should notbe coopted by elected representativesor retired level bureaucracy (CapartMonitors are a good instance of whatshould be avoided). This task could beattached to “the Work Opportunityidentification survey”.

Muster Rolls - With job card deflated by the“survey” by the third independent partyin the simplest possible manner, surprisechecks on possibly inflated muster rolls tocheck actual job cards are possible. Issuedon the basis of “the third partyrecommendation” would be essential (apartfrom other criteria).

Payments (1/3 rd payment to women or realpayments or labour / works ratio) can onlybe checked in person by the “third party”.No amount of ICT/ MIS could possibly solveit completely. ICT provides data / resourcelists & can be the numbers monitoring of theBRC (Block Resource Center) but not reallyassess actual payments on the spot.

Independent & parallel informationThe basic premise of the above argumentsis that the Central Council of the NREGSmust, in the first instance in the 200 districts,be able to access “Independent opinion”with direct access to quality informationon ‘equality concerns, level of corruption,actual implementation problems’ throughparallel Civil Society channels.

SchemesThe amount spent on the above including

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schemes, would totally cost 30 croresapproximately in 2500 blocks. It could beworthwhile “building blocks of theprogram” compared to its impact on qualityand the utilization / outcomes. These are

“the Identification surveys”“Gram Sabha mobilization scheme”,work identification survey

Women SHGs as implementationmechanismsWherever possible, quality SHGs should beprovided works implementation assuccessfully done in A.P leading to thesuccessful micro finance movement of poorwomen. Experience has shown that savingsaccumulate due to profit when these SHGscarry out works and also enhance the families“food security conditions”. Furtherwomen are more diligent in providing labourfor the immediate community as well aspayments – the SHG, when empowered, willbe a formidable force for the contractor –implementer chain to confront. Suchcounter leverages at the local level wouldplay monitor/ watchdog apart from processevaluations. Alert citizens are program’ssustainability.

Low cost indigenous communicationstrategy Similarly the currentcommunication strategy should includelocally acceptable & communicable low costforms” such as street theater of variousforms that may enhance awareness of thepublic - this will also generate a demand,moving NREGS to be a People’s movement.(currently it is more print/ radio media-spotsetc.). Local cultural mediums need to beused.

Grievance redressal by the “sametruimvarate” of implementers seems a deadend. The complaints are made about the sameperson, but petition is referred back to them“syndrome” - may not yield many positiveresults. The vigilance committees mustinclude only “public persons”, who are notinvolved in actual implementation.

Training quality would be high if not onlyGovernment institutions but also Civil Societyprovide training that enable the “Voluntaryspirit”, apart from technicalities. It has beenfound that whenever women panchayatmembers are trained, they take up water,fodder, food, animal husbandry, wage issues

compared to male members that seempreoccupied with larger infrastructure, whichmaybe critical but also invaluable in thepercentage of commissions! Involvingwomen in Panchayats and investing intheir training will, in the long run, alsominimize corruption.

Public persons of eminence must beassociated at local levels with the schemelinked to a list drawn up in the 200 districts,verifiable by the NYKS independently -(through not solely). (for eg: Monitors,vigilance committee etc.). In the early 80’s,the DWACRA scheme linked to evolution ofSHGs led to its high value and had such astrategy.

The above suggestions are pointers butfor fine operational details, plugging allother loopholes, cautiously evolving“third party” engagement, is essential.Particularly, as patterns / trends will haveto be analyzed by level of political / social/ economic development by district aswell as extent of civil society activism forspecific local strategies - (generatingaccountability).

NGO INNOVATIONS / PILOTSThe NREGS requires “that the people’s spiritis put into it, giving it the energy that itdeserves”. Innovations can be taken up inspecific FFW districts that have indicatedsuccess, such as the above, that can be“dovetailed and are low cost quality inputs”.

Male Youth as allies in fighting Gender BasedViolence: National Innovation - (contd. frompage 1)

Young men performing street theatre in Jaipur, Rajasthan tocreate awareness regarding Gender Based Violence

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ICPRD’s innovative approach to the Project:

First, conduct sustained research on maleyouth from selected low income communitiesto find out perceptions, attitudes andbehaviour patterns regarding gender norms.Second, undertake training andinterventions with the objective of increasingawareness of Gender Based Violence andcause a behaviour change in the young mento reduce gender based violence in their poorand low income communities.

Community Resistance

At the start of the project, ICPRD faced tremendousresistance from local communities, which brokedown as the project progressed, through consistentdialogue and visits by staff.

Village heads/youth opposed the staff andinstructed them not to visit them again withsuch issues.

In some places, people thought that it was apolitical movement. In several instances, parentsobjected to IDIs (In-depth Interviews) beingadministered on their children. In addition, someyoung men were not interested and hesitated totalk on GBV and on personal matters. They wereeven ridiculing the questions being asked. But theattitude of the young men changed after attendingICPRD workshops.

Scientific Studies

ICPRD conducted a scientific study on young menfrom the age group 14-17 years and 18-24 years,both married and unmarried from a low socio-economic group of the target area. The studyshowed that perceptions regarding the role andfunctions of men and women in the community,though rapidly changing due to globalization andindustrialization, at best remains stereotyped.

While myths regarding masculinity and sexualitystill exist in different forms and dimensions, certainpositive encouraging trends were alsoidentified. It was perceived that a few youngmen have begun to view girls/women as equalpartners, who possess intelligence, thinkingpower and rights as equals.

It was noted that youth who have been brought upby their mothers, or have working mothers, are

more gender sensitive and have more respect forwomen.

Here’s a case study of a young man fromIttamadu village, Bangalore rural district,Karnataka, who has a working mother and agirl friend who is educated and belongs to thehigher strata of society. The young man isprofessionally and socially networked throughvarious sanghas and youth clubs. These kindof positive influences of children socialized inwomen headed families or who have beenaffiliated to organizations led ICPRD to initiateYouth Forums Against Gender Based Violence.

Some of the responses of the young man fromIttamadu Village:

“My mother brought me up with a great dealof effort, working hard. I am what I ambecause of my mother.”

“If violence happens to a woman, I can’t bearit. I try to resolve the fight to the best of myability.”

“In our community, we have certain setnotions of roles for wife and husband leadingto stereotypes. Be it a girl or a boy, theyshould receive equal education and theeducation should be suited to their likes andtalents.”

What was apparent also in the study was thatpatriarchy seems more difficult to deal with inKarnataka as compared to Rajasthan. This hasbeen borne out by a recent IDS, Jaipur study whichindicates that the HDI indices of Rajasthan inselected Panchayats were better off.

Intervention activities in select communities inKarnataka and Rajasthan

With its strong community based work andgrassroots presence and with the help of local NGOpartners (Working Women’s Forum (WWF) inKarnataka and Jan Kalyan Sahitya ManchSansthan (JKSMS) in Rajasthan, ICPRD targetedthe young men of the select areas to transformpotential perpetrators of violence into protectors.As part of the intervention strategy, activitiescarried out were:

Community MobilizationMass Awareness Campaigns

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IEC WorkshopsStreet TheatreTraining and Capacity Building Workshops

Community Meetings/Forums for awarenessbuilding were organized to mobilize thecommunity. ICPRD sought to actively involve thecommunity, local agencies and stakeholders toensure that programme outcomes are locally‘owned’ by the community.

Mass campaigns were organized in selectedvillages in each of the 5 districts for mobilizingthe communities for reducing GBV. Throughthese mass campaigns ICPRD was able toreach out to approximately 6000 direct andindirect stakeholders. (young men and women,parents, teachers, panchayat members, SHGgroup members, etc.)

Culturally appropriate and gender sensitiveposters, handbills and other IEC materials weredeveloped and disseminated during meetings inorder to provide basic information on the issue ofviolence against women.

Street plays, image theatre, songs, skits wereenacted and discussions followed with thecommunity for engaging them in a dialogue, forassessing their views and sensitizing them on theneed for reducing incidences, which lead to genderbased violence. Nearly 300 young men/womenparticipated in exposure and exchange visitsbetween Karnataka and Rajasthan projects.

In some places, Posters were used for publicawareness on GBV whereas in others ralliesholding banners were organized to sensitize thecommunity on GBV followed with discussions onthe need for gender equitable norms.

Training and Capacity Building Workshopswere organized for the youth leaders and peereducators, who were the key facilitators of ICPRD’scommunity-awareness programme to carryforward the follow-on after the interventions.

Youth groups were formed comprising of studentsand working young men of the age group 14-24years

Strategy

First an attempt was made to gauge their levelof sensitivity regarding Gender BasedViolence.Thereafter they were facilitated to identify thevarious forms of violence in their community.A module was then prepared which helpedthem become aware of violence: what isviolence, what is Gender Based Violence andwhat they can do to stop it in theircommunities.

Overall, 100 youth leaders were identified andselected on criteria such as commitment,availability, motivation, capacity and leadershipskills and trained on gender, Violence AgainstWomen, prevention and reduction.

They were also trained in:

Communication skillsInformation sharing and receiving techniques

Gender Equity Scale (GES) – scale to measureshift in attitude and behaviour

A GES Scale, Pre and post training wasadministered on youth leaders to see qualitativechanges in their attitude towards women. TheGES revealed that the training was very effectivereflecting an overall changes in attitude shift andbehaviour of young men in Rajasthan as well inKarnataka.

State Level Dissemination Workshops

State level Dissemination Workshops wereorganized both in Karnataka and Rajasthan inFebruary 2006 to share the findings with NGOpartners, Investigators, Consultants, Teachers,Youth Organizations, Sarpanch, parents andproject staff of ICPRD.

Young men taking out a rally for creating awareness regardingGender Based Violence in the community in Bangalore,

Karnataka.

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The community applauded the efforts of ICPRD,saying that they could see behavioural changes inthe young men of there area and would like moreof their youth to participate in the programme.

One woman shared how she had sponsoredthe education of a girl child after becomingaware of the importance of education for girls.

Impact of the project

The Young Men as Partners against GBV projecthas had the participation of the followingstakeholders in its various activities.

Youth LeadersNGO RepresentativesSHG membersCommunityTeachersMembers of ParliamentGovernment officials (NYK Co-ordinators)Media

A total of 9,145 beneficiaries, both direct andindirect, have been reached through theproject.

Beneficiary change: young men

Though the change is visible in the communityas a whole, it is most evidenced in the youngmen of the target areas. The youth havecourage now to speak on sensitive issueswhich they found difficult even after 6 monthsof the project. ICPRD was also able to changetheir perception regarding violence. Before theproject, they saw violence only in terms ofphysical violence but after ICPRD intervention,they could understand the different forms ofviolence.

Youthspeak

We came to know that equal rights should begiven to women. Teasing and beating of womenshould be stopped. We should understand thatwe should not beat each other and first of all, weshould stop violence at home.

We should not behave differently with the girl andboy child in any way. We should not be violent toothers. We should not spread gossip about girls/women.

We will not allow violence to take place in ourcommunities.

We will protect the women in our communities.

The change is apparent from the fact that now thesame young men are talking about GBV andmaking efforts to stop it wherever they can.

Parents appreciate and have a good opinionof this project.Teachers say that they can prevent violenceby not beating children in the schoolVillage heads say that they can preventviolence in their villages with the help ofICPRD and they are ready to support ICPRD.This will also support in the battle againstalcoholism and food security.

The youth have been instrumental in reducingissues related to eve teasing, alcoholism, dowryand other such issues in their areas and have comeout quite strongly to protect the young girls andwomen of their community.

Voices of Young Men Fighting Against GenderBased Violence

Karnataka

Young Men propagating girls’ education

“My friend’s parents are living with their son anddaughter. My friend’s sister has passed SSLCand his parents have not sent her to college forfurther study. One day I heard about this frommy friend. I went with some of my ICPRD friendsto his house. We advised his parents about theimportance of girls’ education. Initially, they didnot agree to this, but after advising them severaltimes, they have agreed to send their daughterto college. Now this girl is studying in IInd year.”HP Camp, Hospet

Challenging eve teasing

“I saw some of my friends teasing girls. I knewthat what they are doing is wrong because I haveattended workshops conducted by ICPRD. So, Itried to advise them. But they teased me in turn.One day I took them to the workshop. There theylearnt problems facing by women in our society.After attending the workshop, they havecompletely changed. I am very happy by theirreformation”. Village Kampli

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Stop violence on mothers

“An alcoholic son was in the habit of beating hismother and small children after consumingalcohol daily. When we heard about hismisbehaviour, my friends and I visited his houseand advised him to stop consuming alcohol. Buthe did not listen to our advice and he startedscolding us. He told us that he knows what is rightand what is wrong and there is no need for himto take any advice from us. So we went to ICPRDand told them about this alcoholic person. Themembers of ICPRD visited this man’s house. Theymade him aware about the problem and impactof alcohol i.e. what are the problems he has toface in society and how it affects his health,children etc. After listening to their advice, he hasstopped consuming alcohol. Now he is lookingafter his mother and his small children with loveand care. I requested ICPRD to work in this areaand to give more awareness to people on thisissue.” BCC Ground, Bellary

Rajasthan

Closing liquor shops

On the very first night of the Mass Campaign inJaipur urban, one participant who is an auto driverwas so charged up that he, along with his fewfriends, had the courage to agitate and threatenen masse the closure of a liquor shop.

Psychological violence

A peer educator who, before the project, used togo to the market along with his friends and teasegirls, even touch them, and this had become hishabit, now has stopped doing so and startedthinking about the negative effects of the mentaland psychological violence that he and his friendsinflict on girls/women.

Emerging New Trends

By working directly with the communities atgrassroots level, organizing mass campaigns,street theatre and talking with young men intimatelythrough in depth interviews, certain new trendshave been identified which merit mention:

Girls’ higher education, technical andprofessional growth is the key to changingsocialization pattern and stereotype roles ofwomen and men.

Breaking down of traditional and stereotypeimage of roles of women also helps indeveloping new identity where women arerespected as individuals.Economic pressures which are forcing womento go out of the house to work is also breakingdown the barriers where women are no longerin passive roles and men are forced to acceptthem in these new roles.

Socialization pattern changes requiredthrough:

Employment for women leads to higherleverage at home; empowered they seembetter socializers of gender neutral maleyouthChange in education curriculum to make itmore gender sensitive; need to disaggregateand make it value based.Educate the girl child and mainstream theminto higher education and employment.Sensitize youth and community throughmass campaigns, street theatre workshops.Make aware women, young girls and boyson these issues simultaneouslyIn communities, develop internal systems toreduce gender based violence which coulddo away with enforcement from statemachinery, eg. Police and law.Sensitization of other stakeholders, teachers,opinion leaders at the community level isneeded to promote gender equitable norms.

ICPRD’s crusade against Gender BasedViolence – Empowering Young Men to BecomeChange Agents – Other Key activities toachieve vision, mission and goal

Organized advocacy events for visitingMPs at the ICPRD’s MPs’ Exposure Visitsto expose MPs to social activism throughground level activities.

MPs who are at the highest echelons ofpolicy making in the country were sensitizedto new techniques involving young men tocombat GBV practices. Some wanted tospread the message which was unique andnot “ghettoed by converted womencombating perpetrators”, while others wereinspired at ICPRD’s Street Theatre techniquein carrying messages particularly regardinggender and specifically regarding GBV.

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Initiated a new extension of the crusadeagainst GBV in 4 blocks of Coimbatore inTamil Nadu for combating Gender BasedViolence including IEC materials.Conducted 2 National Street TheatreWorkshops in which an interface between thePublic Representatives and the Youth tookplace. 200 women from Working Women’sForum, (WWF), Chennapatna, Bellary, Kota,Jaipur Rural, Bangalore participated in theworkshop. This also served as a platformfor the sharing and learning of youth leadersfrom the 3 states of Karnataka, Rajasthanand Tamil Nadu and together highlight,through role play, the various atrocitiesperpetrated on women, such as rape, dowryand alcoholism.

This platform is a unique and innovative oneto bring together the grassroots levelworkers to share and exchange experiencesto further the campaign on Gender basedviolence, though the programme has beentried out earlier in Africa.

The use of street theatre as a communicationtool was initiated by young men as partnersin combating violence against women bycreating mass awareness through thismethodology.

At the street theater workshops participantsportrayed various images, depictingsituations in which a woman is the victim,such as girl child discrimination, alcoholism,child marriage, eve teasing and rape. Theaudience were then asked to identify theissues and suggest possible solutions. Theresponse was tremendous and amazingsolutions were presented by the audience.Visting MPs under the ICPRD’s ExposureVisits project, also participated in thesestreet theater workshops and enactedpossible solutions.

Young men are effectively using thistechnique to spread their messageamong the people and ICPRD is nowemploying this novel concept as apowerful communication tool to reachout to a widespread of people throughholding similar workshops in differentparts of the country.

Santhali Tribal Women: From Barter to MicroFinance Institutions - (contd. from page 1)

Women at a Cluster Workshop organized byICPRD in Jharkhand, May 2006

ICPRD initiated its micro finance advocacycampaign for poor tribal women in the remote andbackward districts of Jharkhand in 1998. In itsinteractions with the local Santhali women, ICPRDfound that they had to face major challenges intheir day-to-day life:

live in a caste-ridden feudal economyare extremely poor and illiteratetheir agriculture based livelihood isdependent on the monsoonin the absence of formal credit institutions,they are forced to take loans from the localmahajans who charge high rates of interest(as much as 50%) which they are unable topay and thus fall into a vicious debt trap fromwhich it is impossible for them to come out.

Building Micro-finance Networks

ICPRD’s field mobilization in the area also assessedthat though NGOs were working in the area andSelf Help Groups were functioning, NGOs wereweak and scattered and did not have the technicalmicro finance competence for developing SHGs.The infrastructure, too, was weak.

ICPRD Goals:

Empowering tribal women financiallyBuilding their capacitiesCreating micro-finance institutions in thisremote area

Strategy

ICPRD networked with local NGOs and identifiedagainst all hardships to collaborate with each otherto accomplish the joint goal of addressing theinstitutions.

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Trailblazing Micro-finance Movement

ICPRD has trail blazed the micro financemovement in Santhal Parganas today with 3000women having been trained as socialentrepreneurs (thrift, savings, leadership)through 111 training programmes held inDumka, Deoghar, Jamtara and Godda districts inthe last 5-7 years.

Variety of training included:Management of MFIsTraining of Trainers (Micro finance)SHG Members’ TrainingBuilding a Micro Finance Cluster FederationEnterprise Promotion ActivitiesCoalition Building for EmpowermentMicrofinance Advocacy

Today, these poor women entrepreneurs havebecome a powerful force in their villages:

Confronting village problems through a jointstruggleStanding for panchayat electionsFilling tenders for government contractsEven making government functionariesaccountable!

Chickpea flour containing protein and eatenas Protein) Members of Saraswati SHG ofMohanpur village in Deoghar are the proudmarketers of their own group enterprise. ICPRDhas helped these tribal rural women to understandlocal based business activities through exposurevisits of these women to other groups which areinvolved in business activities.

The women are involved in the manufacturing andmarketing of sattu in the area and are expandingthis business with financial assistance from ICPRD.Packaging the manufactured sattu intopackets and labelling them is adding a brandvalue to their product.

This has not only helped the group members tounderstand the functioning of micro enterpriseslike purchasing raw materials, manufacturing andmarketing the products but has also boosted theirmorale towards a more egalitarian society.

Before they started this enterprise, the womenwere involved in daily wage labour at thenearby crusher, crushing stones. They wereout of their homes day and night. Afterstarting this enterprise, they have the dignityof being entrepreneurs; as they are operatingfrom home, they are able to look after theirfamilies; they have enough time to work intheir own fields and there is the added socialprestige they enjoy amongst their families andin society.

Baking Irish Doughnuts: Tribal Women

Bakery Enterprise: Before the support fromICPRD, tribal members of the Gulab andChampa Baha groups of Sarwa village inDumka district were mostly involved in labourjobs apart from monsoon dependent agricultureand vegetable cultivation. Today, with training fromICPRD, they are involved in the different stagesof cake and doughnut baking – frommanufacturing to marketing through rotationduties. They have bought a small mixie, iron pots,and an oven. Mrs. Rawdi Murmu, the presidentof Gulab Baha SHG, has good experience inbaking cakes and doughnuts. Irish missionarieshad taught her father in law years ago. She hastrained the members of her SHG in baking andselling cakes. All the baked cakes anddoughnuts are not only consumed in the localmarket (schools, colleges), but also in village

Tribal women sharing experiences at an ICPRDWorkshop in Jharkhand

Growth and Types of Enterprises

Initially, ICPRD found that women were engagedin low paying, low profit occupations individually.Today, several new enterprises and cases haveemerged with its effect on the group: Sattu,Bakery, Jewellery, and Vermi-Compost due tocapacity building of NGOs/SHGs, advocacy andnetworking.

Sattu Enterprise – Labelling and Patent: (flourmade from a type of gram called ‘chana’.

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mandies and haats. The members earn a profitfrom daily labour and marketing jobs. On aninvestment of Rs. 385/- they are able to earn Rs.1,000/- per day. Cake business is a viablelivelihood option which can be expanded and laterestablished as a continuous source of income forthese group members.

Organic Farming boosted

Vermi-Compost: In Narayanpur village, most ofthe families have cattle (cows and buffaloes) andanimal husbandry contributes around 30-40% oftheir annual income. 12 members of Ankur SHGof this village attended a government sponsoreddemonstration workshop on vermi compost inJamtara. The participants were given samplesof 2.5 kg. of worms and 10 kg. of vermi Compos.They applied this 10 kg. sample in their flowergardens and saw the difference with anaugmentation in the number, size and brightnessof marigold flowers. The worms were fed oncattle dung after making beds on soil under freeshades. They covered the beds with straw,banana leaves, and sprayed water for moisture,whenever needed. More compost was readywithin 25-30 days in the upper portion of the bedsand they applied this compost in the fields andfound the difference in the production of wheatand vegetables.

Seeing the spectacular results of organic farming,the members wanted to augment this exercise,which they were able to do with ICPRD assistance.The quality of their crops has enhanced; they aresaving money on fertilizers and there is a bondingin the community as members from differentcastes are working together.

Crafting Silver Jewellery

Phulmani Devi is a member of Gangotri SHG inKadampur village in Dumka. She has startedher own enterprise of making and repairing goldand silver jewellery items.

“Having a group at the village level really makesnon-exploitative credit accessible for poor andunorganized people like us. We were earlierexploited by village money lenders for accessingcredits for our business activities at very highrates of interest,” she says. It is this low interestcredit from her SHG that has helped her to starther jewellery business with a loan of Rs. 7000/-.

The marriage season is the most profitable timefor her enterprise when there is much demandfor making and repairing jewellery items.

How did she think of starting a jewellery business?‘We are dependent on agriculture for ourlivelihood which is monsoon-based. Earlier myson was working in a jewellery shop in Dumka.Later, he came back to the village and startedhis own jewellery shop. It is from him that I learntthe art of making and repairing gold and silveritems,’ she says.

Regular members’ trainings, Training of Trainersand Exposures on Livelihood under ICPRDproject have enhanced her capabilities, she feels.

Her future plans include taking another loanafter repayment of the present loan in thesecond grading of the group under the SGSYscheme and using the profits for the marriageof her second daughter. Phulmani Devi,Kadampur Village

Case Studies of Successful Tribal WomenEntrepreneurs

Tribal women of Jharkhand engaged in variouslivelihood activities

A Woman of Substance

32 year old Churki Soren is an empoweredwoman today, nominated by her self help groupand villagers to fight for panchayat elections inMurbhanga PO. This is no mean feat for ananganwadi teacher earning Rs. 500/- per month,belonging to a farmer family.

Secretary of the Hopon Marsal Self Help Group,she has attended training sessions conducted by

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ICPRD in Dumka which helped develop hercapacities. “I learnt from members who went ona ICPRD Exposure visit to Kolkatta about variouslivelihood options. One of them was potatocultivation This is how I startedcultivatingpotatoes,’ says Churki.

She owns 3-4 bigha (1 acre) land on which shecultivates paddy, maize, arhar (lentil) for theconsumption of the family only.

She has taken loans from the group 4 times. Shestarted potato plantation with a Rs. 1000/- loanfrom the group. ‘I invested the entire amount forpotato cultivation. I had a rich crop,’ she says.

Along with potatoes, she also planted onions,tomatoes, brinjal for consumption purpose but shehad a good crop of tomatoes which she sold andearned Rs. 1000/- in Kurum, Gando and Chirudihhaats or fairs.

‘What I need now is a well so that I can cultivatemore and improve my livelihood. I got this ideaof expanding my enterprise in this way throughICPRD and RTDF (Rural Tribal DevelopmentFoundation),’ says Churki.Churki Soren, Sahargatti Village, Dumka

Many hats to wear!

At 22, Mini Murmu seems to have encompasseda lot in such a short life - Secretary of her SelfHelp Group, farmer; entrepreneur, constructingtoilets in her village, Asan bani, making mats andbrooms – this multi-faceted Santhali womanwears many hats.

Mini has tried her hand at various enterprises –selling chicks, cakes and murhi ghoghni (puffedrice served with vegetable made of peas), thefinal being her main area of business activity.

‘I started the business of selling murhi ghoghniwith my mother’s help,’ says Mini. ‘I am theSecretary of Badoli SHG and have taken loansfrom the group several times. These loans havehelped me invest in various enterprises for thelivelihood of my family. For my murhi business,too, I took a loan from the group. I invested theentire amount, i.e. Rs. 200/- and I earned Rs. 500/- from it. My mother prepared the murhi at homeand I sold the murhi at the village fair, lottery melaand football matches. It is a very profitable

business. The ICPRD conducted trainings havebeen of great help to me. I learnt how to expandmy business activities; about group grading andlivelihood options. I also learnt about thefunctioning of SHGs and the importance ofsavings,’ says Mini.

Mini got an opportunity to attend the training fortoilet making at Kathara, Dumka, organized byPWD for members from various SHGs. It is herSHG group that has won the contract ofconstructing toilets in her village.Mini Murmu, Asanbani Village

SAARC Regional Training Workshop onGender and Development (Focus on GenderViolence), October 2005 - (contd. from page 1)

Her Excellency, Mme. Pratibha Patilji, Honíble President of Indiaas the then Governor of Rajasthan and Dr. Nandini Azad,

Member Secretary, ICPRD with Staff at the SAARC RegionalWorkshop on Gender Violence. Jaipur, October, 2005

In her valedictory address, Smt. Pratibha Patil,Hon’ble Governor of Rajasthan and ChiefGuest at the SAARC Workshop, welcomed theparticipants and expressed her happiness andsatisfaction at this debate on the serious issue ofgender based violence.

Smt. Pratibha Patil observed that gender basedviolence is universal, and developed countries arenot spared of it. In SAARC Countries, Patriachyand male dominance is high and the rate ofprevalence of crimes against women is also highin this region. Gender based violence is a violationof the basic human rights of women. Sheemphasized the need for self assertiveness ofwomen to fight against violence. Lack of selfconfidence among women due to a stereotypedimage of woman is one of the prime reasons forviolence. She spoke of women’s struggle againstviolence in the state of Maharashtra. That

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domestic violence against girls and women hasbeen considered a private affair has contributedto the seriousness of the issue. Many women areunaware of their legal rights.

Reporting on the Workshop proceedings andthe address by the Hon’ble Governor, TheHindustan Times, Rajasthan edition, said:“….personal empowerment of a girl by equippingher with judo-karate, self-confidence and economicindependence was the only hope against thecurrent suppression and oppression.” It furtheradded: “Police personnel too had to change theirmindsets. ……50 per cent of cases of violenceagainst women would be taken care of only if thepolice department would take responsibility.”

The Regional Newspaper, Rajasthan Patrikaalso reported on the Hon’ble Governor’sspeech: “……..women have to become physicallyand mentally strong. ………..Women have to beinvolved in decision making processes. Theirdecision will benefit not only their families, butsociety, as well.”

The Hon’ble Governor opened the floor to theworkshop participants to express their views onthe theme and share information on the prevalenceof gender based violence in their respectivecountries. Many issues relating to strategies ofNGOs and government in combating violenceagainst women emerged from this interaction.

In her welcome address, Dr. Nandini Azad,Chairperson, ICPRD, spoke about the SAARCworking group on Gender and Poverty(SWGGP) which was formed in 2003 by four wellknown civil society organizations in Sri Lanka, India,Pakistan, Nepal in Colombo to draw attention tothe magnitude of gender and poverty in the SouthAsian Region (approx 250 Million poor women).ICPRD is India convener of SWGGP, she informedthe gathering. In May 2005 in New Delhi, SWGGPhad a regional dialogue of Parliamentarians andNGOs from SAARC countries on the same themewherein the Hon’ble Minister, Shri Shivraj SinghjiPatil, Smt. Kanti Singh, MOS – Women, werepresent. At this dialogue it was decided to holdthis event in Jaipur for building capacities in thisarea.

There were 21 participants comprisingrepresentatives of six SAARC countries fromreputed civil society institutions. Well knownorganizations such as (Agromart/ Sri Lanka,Behbud/Pakistan, BNPS/ Bangladesh, FASHAN/Maldives, Diripiyasa/ Sri Lanka, INHURED/Nepal,NUK/Bangladesh, Rushan/Pakistan, ICPRD/India,WWF/India) participated in the workshop. Seniorresource persons from the women’s movementalso contributed in this workshop.

The presentation of country papers byparticipating SAARC NGO representatives andthe group discussions that followedhighlighted the chilling fact that women in theSAARC region are subjected to violence whichis similar in its form and manifestation.

Be it the honour killings in Pakistan, or dowryrelated deaths in India or trafficking in Nepaland Bangladesh, women bear the brunt ofliving in male dominated societies.

Women’s groups and civil society institutions in theSAARC region have been in the forefront in fightingagainst arocities/violence against women and girlchildren in the SAARC countries. As a result of thesuccess of women’s groups’ activism, thegovernments in these countries have had to respondeither through enacting appropriate new laws or byway of providing teeth to the existing ones.

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Giving an overview of Gender Violence inPakistan, Dr. Shahida Khan, Representativefrom Behbud said the use of physical power orviolence against women has many faces from wifebeating to bride burning and acid throwing tohonour killings. What is shocking is that thesecrimes not only go unpunished but aretolerated in silence – the silence of society aswell as that of its victims.

Cases of acid attacks seem to be growing at analarming rate. A charitable organization, set up toassist acid attack victims, stated that in the last 10years, 15000 cases have been reported, ofteninflicted by their husbands or in-laws.

The legs of a married woman, Sultana, wereamputated allegedly by her brother-in-law in thename of honour in a village near Sargodha. Theaccused, who was arrested the day of the incident,alleged that Sultana had illicit relations with avillager. The injured woman, admitted to thehospital, alleged that the accused wanted to marryher younger sister, and had acted against her afterthe proposal was rejected.

Ms. Ranjana Thapa, Human Rights Officer,spoke on the Pattern of Violence Against Womenin Nepal. In this regard she observed that the chainand form of violence against women areinterrelated. A background of one case givesenough ground to produce another violence.Giving instances, she said that rape and sexualviolence often come together or related withdomestic violence and political violence.

Women and girls of Nepal are trafficked to or viaIndia for the purpose of sex trade, factory work ordomestic work.

The role and movement of NGOs working onwomen issues have had much effect on policymaking and law enforcing bodies in Nepal, Ms.Thapa said.

Ms. Shamima Afroz Shiuli from Bangladesh NariProgoti Sangha categorized the causes forviolence against women in Bangladesh into 3 broadclasses:

1. Attitude and dubious role of government2. Religious fundamentalism and3. Societal mindset

The women and feminist organizations inBangladesh have devised various strategies tocombat violence against women. The main

strategies are raising awareness, mobilization,advocacy and lobbying in local, national and policylevel, legal support, networking. Though moreorganizations are working for women, women inBangladesh are now more vulnerable to violencethan they were ever before. She was of the viewthat more deliberate efforts are needed, in local,national, regional and international level toovercome the present situation.

Presenting the country paper on Gender Violencein Sri Lanka, Ms. Rukmalie Shalini Hurulle,Outreach Co-ordinator, ‘Diripiyasa’ Trust Fund,observed that gender based violence in Sri Lankais less when compared to the region. With theconflict that engulfed the entire social fabric,violence has crept even into the minds of children.Militants, fighters, and killers have become rolemodels for children who are expected to be thefuture leaders of the country, she said.

She expressed the view that there are no ‘shortcuts’ to prevent gender based violence. A totaldevelopment of women would eventually lead toless violence. She said in order to reach a ‘win-win’ situation it will be necessary to engage menas partners in gender development.

Adding to these observations on the state of genderviolence in Sri Lanka, Ms. Champa Ku YapaAbeywardane, from the Agromart Foundation,observed that much of the higher decision makingis done by males and is therefore influenced bymale values. As an example of the success ofwomen’s groups’ activism, she cited the instancewhen police had to agree to set up “Women andChildren’s Desks” in all police stations which wereto be handled by trained women police officers.

The country paper presentation on Maldives byMs. Fiunaz Waheed of FASHAN observed thatwomen in Maldives face violence in various formssimilar to women all over the world within theirhomes, public spaces, in the workplace, and withinthe community in general. Gender based violencegreatly affects the overall mental, psychologicaland physical health of half the population and is amajor constraint to women’s full participation insociety and development.

Not enough research has been done and there isa lack of data on the prevalence and impact ofgender based violence in the Maldives, sheobserved. Research can be a starting point tobring the issue into the public eye, making it difficultfor governments and civil society to ignore it, shesaid.

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She also observed that instances of domesticviolence had increased in Maldives after theTsunami disaster.

In her presentation, Dr. Nandini Azad,Chairperson, ICPRD, India observed that sincethe 1980’s, women’s movement in India has workedtowards change in legislation as an instrument toprotect women against violence. The governmentof India has responded to it with several lawreforms. Currently the UPA Government hasbrought out The Protection of Women fromDomestic Violence Act, 2005; The ProtectionAgainst Sexual Harassment of Women Bill, 2005and is soon to introduce a Bill in the Lok Sabha,The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) AmendmentBill, 2006.

Ms. Kavita Srivastava, Resource Person, gavean overview on Policy, Legislatory andAdvocacy on Gender Based Violence. In thisregard she said that women’s movements, thejudiciary and the law enforcement machinery ofthe police have begun to collaborate to make justiceaccessible to women. An outcome of thiscollaboration has been the elaborate provision oflegislative measures and the creation of CrimeAgainst Women cell to redress such violence. Asfar as legislative measures are concerned thegovernment responded by adding severalprovisions to the Indian Penal Code and IndianEvidence Act in 1983 and 1986, she said. Sheadded that if laws are created to “protect” women,they are done “within” the system. This, in turn,reinforces culturally legitimized social hierarchies.She suggested that what is required is “appropriatebehavioural and social changes” along withefficient enforcement of laws.

Field Visit

The participants of the Workshop made a field visitto Village Phagi Disrict, Jaipur Rural to witnessICPRD’s Project ‘Men as Partners for CombatingGender Based Violence’.

ICPRD youth clubs enacted a street play inRajasthan to work out strategies andcommunication channels / methodologies forcreating mass awareness for combating genderbased violence. In this workshop, 12 SAARCRepresentatives, 70 young men of ICPRD youthclubs (Rajasthan), ICPRD staff, Village Leadersfrom 5 districts assembled at Jaipur enacted streetplays, training techniques, imagery theatre tounderstand the issue and together developmechanisms for sensitizing the community on

Gender Based Violence.

The workshop came up with certain suggestionsand recommendations:

Media needs to be constantly monitored onstereotyped portrayal of women.Laws that discriminate against women shouldbe reviewed and reformed.Mandatory and relevant training andorientation should be provided to doctors,police, judiciary to enhance theirunderstanding of violence against women, itscauses and consequences.Community responses aimed at transformingprevailing traditional attitudes and norms arenecessary to ending impunity for violenceagainst women.Poverty alleviation and micro-credit schemesshould provide special windows of supportto target groups including victims of violence.Affirmative Action to increase theparticipation of women in the political processshould be encouraged.Strengthen the linkage between the women’smovement and the national machinery for theadvancement of women.Strengthen women in leadership anddecision-making.Increase access to education for women andgirls.Increase women’s access to and control overeconomic resources.Increase women’s access to healthinformation and women’s control over theirown bodies.Improve women’s self-esteem and sense ofpersonal power.

Dr. Nandini Azad, Chairperson, ICPRD, India, welcoming theparticipants at the SAARC Regional Workshop on Gender

Violence. Also seen are NGO representatives from SAARCcountries. October, 2005

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A Decade of Service in Activist Advocacy1996-2006

ABOUT US

The Independent Commission for People’sRights and Development, (ICPRD) has evolvedsince 1996 as a national advocacy coalition (non-profit sector) that aims to strengthen the solidarityand advocacy base of Special and vulnerableconstituencies for rights and development duringthe period of economic reform. The process istowards facilitation of resource transfers in an effortto deepen democracy.

In the last ten years, over 6480 participants fromthe categories listed below have contributed to theabove advocacy and intermediation processthrough interface & coalescing systems in over 21states of India. These are:

About 880 small rural NGOs from 153districts across 21 states of India havebeen involved in various activities (around181 activities).60 Senior State Development Managerssuch as Secretaries / Joint Secretaries ofRural Development, Such as Planning

Commission (Deputy Chairman / MemberSecretaries / Members), Banking, Small ScaleEnterprises Ministry / Depts. of theGovernment of India, P.M.O. apart frombankers, financial institutions (NABARD,SIDBI, RMK) Statutory bodies MinoritiesCommission (Chairperson), NHRC(Member); Autonomous bodies such as NLI,NIPCCD, NCERT, BIRD, CAPART, CSWB etc.57 MPs, legislators etc in India and 11SAARC / European MPs.80 Technical experts / Academia, universities190 members of the National / local mediaDistinguished Police officers, securitypersonnel, eminent academicians/intellectuals.

Interventions

A range of interventions, have been utilized untilnow towards the process. These are:

1. Undertaking coalition/alliance buildingas a strategy for pro poor advocacy andmobilization. Linking the national/policy level – withgrassroots initiatives with a view for the poor tocontribute and participate in decisions that governtheir lives (policy changes).

(SAARC levels have also been engaged with)Network and Coalition building as a service facilityfor inter mediation of rights / development issuesamongst the poor, women, tribals, dalits, minoritiesetc. or for Human crisis response mechanisms withdifferent stakeholders to influence the process.

2. Exploring NGO - Governancerelationships through interface Organizingroundtables/public hearings as pro-poor watchprocesses to ensure access transparency/accountability of public policies and programs forthe poor, recognized and considered a planningand political necessity. Advocacy and round tableswith MPs/MLAs on a variety of issues or withgovernments – focusing on deepening democracy,ensuring accountability, enhancing the role of civilsociety in planning governance etc.

3. Identifying, interfacing and trainingNGOs at the state level through a consultativeprocess, thus developing district and state levelNGO alliances /social capital especially for‘accessing’ and generating a demand; and buildingcapacity to monitor poverty programs at village /tehsil / district levels. Training to build advocates

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and groups in unserved areas to generate ademand for resource transfers in poorcommunities. (or marginalized constituencies)

4. Development of research/ documentationas an instrument and tool for pro-poor anddevelopment advocacy. Designing trainingmodules and participatory research throughbeneficiaries with the support of activisttheoreticians.

5. Strategies for reintegration of specificconstituencies such as trafficked women, youth,dalits, tribals (including primitive tribals), bondedchild labour, drought affected suicide victims(economic & social). Umbrella federation with over880 NGOs currently linked to poor and remotelocations - identified, interfaced and coalesced(detailed database often available for such groupswith ICPRD).

ICPRD niche areas to recap are:

Umbrella federation with over 880 NGOscurrently linked to poor and remote locationsin India’s poorest areas - identified, interfaced

Editorial Team :Ms. Neelam PrakashDr. Nandini AzadMr. Anil Tirkey

Production Team :Ms. Sumita ChakrabortyMr. Sanjay Samantara

Administrative Support :Mr. Pankaj Thakur

The Independent Commission forPeopleís Rights and Development

A-13, Nizamuddin EastNew Delhi ñ 110 013 IndiaTel. : 91-11-24356110Telefax : 91-11-24356570E-mail : icprd@ndb.vsnl.net.inWebsite : www.icprd.orgI

CP

RD

and coalesced (detailed database oftenavailable for such groups with ICPRD).

Training to build advocates and groups inunserved areas to generate a demand forresource transfers in poor communities, (ormarginalized constituencies). Pro- PoorPlanning / Gender Training with a practicalorientation to mainstream agencies /institutions.

Training young men as advocates againstGender violence. (Research/ data basethrough detailed & latest techniques – actionresearch).

Network and Coalition building as a servicefacility for inter mediation of rights/development issues amongst the poor,women, tribals, dalits, minorities etc. or forHuman crisis response mechanisms.

Advocacy and round tables with MPs/MLAson a variety of issues or with governments –focusing on deepening democracy, ensuringaccountability, enhancing the role of civilsociety including governance etc

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An India First!ICPRD integrates tribal women into financial institutions through local Santhali language

Field Training Manual on Self Help Group (SHG) formation

Supported by : The Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Germany.