'.

'.

dll' ir:IA7~

aB9
-..:-.

I,

,
,

.
.

'f.

'Wh',y :

,.

:~-:!

. coordinated action.
is a.must
.......for
integrated ..'
.'rural d.evelopment
".

f.

,,;

i~.,;".~,;"
..
:.~

:.,.

"

'"-

J-t

~
..

t :
Self~uffitiency

{.

and surplus
forexPort ~n ~tce~. ~rc the prime
objective.s orlit_cei Industry in India.

The new
20-point
programme:
Public
enterprises
Point No. 20.: .Improve tbe working,of public enterprises hlc t increasing
efficiency, capacity ntilisation and generation of internal resources
The public sector today embr~ces a wide spectrum of eCOltomicactivities
like manufacturing and mining, transportation, trading a~d marketing,
project consultancy, general contracting, etc. It plays a commanding
role in tl.e development of vital industries
, like steel, atomic Cltergy, minltJg, petrolet1m, chemicals and fertilizers and heavy engineering. It has also
.
entered
into areas of consumer goods 'like te"tiles and newerfields like e!ec-.'
ttonics~
.

Million tonn~s
of crude ojl is
extracted from
earth using indigenous cquipw
ments,
work
in progress in
Nunamati Oil
Refinery.

,
.~

,
-,

Vol. XXXI

1/,

".~~

~-

No.9
Pausa 26, 1904

Editorial

i_~'.'>. '"-~~:~',
~ . ....
'",.
,-:~ 1'"-~

.....

~~.~

January 16, 1983

I.

~Hutukshetra

~:

j''''~

"

developmcn~ it <;.anbe said with, out mincing many words, .that to draw out a pro-,
gramme of deyeiopment is a smaller' part of it; the
, bigger part consists of carrying out the programme"
(India's
Jomnal of Rural Development)
~ithout leavlng',out any d~tail oftheprogram;"e'
o~
,
..
,.
overlooking a portion of the perspective beneficiaries,.This fact is also borne' out in a telling manne? b; ihe
experiences' we have had aU these years in, giving a
4CO.ORDINATED
ACTION AND li'lTFoGRATED
..,
:",.
.- .
. .
RURAL DEVEL()PMENT
, practical shape to the "various' rural'development proR: Tiwlln
~grammes'\ve have had during the last three decade~-:
PRE.SCHOOl" EDUCATION IN' 'RURAL 'I-Jj~i~
i~si~e the, Five YeaiPla~~
mid outside. The,
,
AREAS: A'Sl'iJI)y
I 1\uestlOn IS : W)1y do these programmes. of developv. K. Ndta~a{an , ment,>,well.thought out and ,veil prepared, 'go astray',
HOW WAREHOUSING CAN
"HELP,
~;"
. ,,"
.,,'
.
.
FARMERS'
t~nu-~~il~tod?liv~tthe desiredg0;3ds.
", ./
1'1.THE

CONTEXT',OF

I:

'L'

CONTENTS

,-

-'

"1>-""
..II

B. R~Choyal'
THE USEFULNESS OF WEEKL~':RtJRAL
MARKETS

11

SIXTH PLAN AND THEJ'WORK OF RURAL

DEVELOPMENT
B. Sambasiva Rao

17

ACHIEVEMENTS

19

PANCHAYATI"RAJ, PARTICIPATION AND

. RURAL DEVELOpMENT

;n.

01' ITDA PROGRAMMES

C. SIlrya-narayal1G

fi'nancc, tecllflology;

_ ;..~';

THEY SHOW THE WAY ...

EDITOR
RATNA

.TUNE.TA

ASSiT. EDiTOR
N.

N .. SHf\,RMA

SUB.EDITOR
PARAMJEET

G. SINGH

BUSINESS MANAGER
S. L. J:AISWAL

Assrf.

DIRECTOR

(PRODUCTION)
K. R. KRISHNA!'!

"

COVER

:;~

,.,--

1"

,".

,~.'

'dissemination"

and

overseeing.

'

"

,.

't I' - I'

~ena

'.

. ".

t.-

~.

'b'

I'

nv~ nes, .~m;cumJog ,to pOBu ~~tpressure etc.

hip~ci~1l

.~\
"~.'

P.fiala HOli,e. New Delhi.1l0001

Tel: 387983.
. 'Ediforj;j"Office.: 'Krlsbi Dha'van, Ne~ Delhi-HOOD!'
,"".
Tel~pbone,:384888 & 382406'
. ...
~"
Editor's' Residence: _6tS9i~'

.......

-'~
..
~

"-~if:

.~.. ~~

Enquiries regar<ling Sl"b~ptions, Age"ncies."etc;;

~ay:_ make: th~ goingJess':thal,r.ls"?Q~!b~':' but there is no
~ Bl~siite~ :l\1anager, Publications .Division, :1 rdbtib6-as to .its"'uiefUtn~ss. A:
,this will inime~

\
.;'

.T1VAN ADAL.JA

~ ..."

Bdi',n' spite ofafJ tliese; . If the programmes do not

'~k'tmuch
headway. it is because of the fact that their
implementation lacks one very basic element so necessary for the success of the programme : the coordination among various wings of the implementatio~ machinery. This ;job ofe'oordiilatioti is so vital, just as a
human body which' may have all organs like heart.
liver, kidneys 'but it's the blood that connects each of
these and makes, it a living combination. For successful implementation of a development programme, coordination among different Government agencies,
financial institutions and different departments of the
,Central
and State Governments,,is
indispensable.
~'~ough ~oordiation is loosely, understood as coopern",lion ~nd some handicaps like red-tape inter-depart-.

Kushal Sharnza"

22

. ,', -

There is no denying the fact that enough home work

is dohe while preparing a particular development programme, Programmes of develoPIl1ent are always pre_
pared. by raking into consideration the needs of a particular population group, area, region and take notice
of all, relevant information to' meet,long-felt neeDS as
also their feasibility . given the 'necessiry' inputs like

T. Jogaiah

14

.'.

~+

eliately' tell'upo-;"

i.he' prog,.es.' o{'.thepi6'grammes

.- :'~'~.~_".';_;
':;,.

11

Jp

'"

"

,.,.... , .

.,.:.

. -' ' .' "

this _issue

'~"",:

,,"

.',

'7

",

we .carry'~-an"attrc~e-on~'intP6rtance of

co-

. ;",:"_ .. :. - :S!!,!GLE COPY'Re. t'i:dinated:cti~~

il1inte!'nlted' rural dev.,el'opmentwhieh,
SUBSCRjPTION--FORONE YEAR: R,. 20
i~eJi.O,pe, our'rea,ders will 'definitely futd'useful.
\

. t'

"..

~~..

'

':~j

'

;Co-ordinated action and

int~gratedrural development
',i!l'

,
Distt. Planning 3':ld Development

uplifting the rural poor

A, 'needs' co-ordinatedofaction
by all those ,entrusted
NY

PROGRAMME

Council;' Collectorate,

R. TIWAR]':~
Osmanabad

tions, are, ho~ever,,preSented in vague form. Most

of the 'time it' is proposed to have dug wells' in every
Gram Panchayat rather than in those villages having
favourable groundwater survey report and electricity
connectiol). Again, the emphasis is always on local
variety of cows or buffaloes as the exotic varieties
are said to be prone to diseases or not' suitable to
local conditions. ,Banks would not finance fbr local.
variety of cows as they are not economical. It is ,;
not always easy to bypass' such popular but mis-':
guided demands. The result is that one has to work
much 'harder for co-ordinating these activities.
Similarly' administrative decentralisation which is
basically designed to facilitate quick and sound decision also causes a lot of problems:
The District
.Rural Development Agencies in Maharashtra are
headed by the Chief Executive Officers of Zilla'
Parishads. They have to implement the schemes with
the' help of a dozen of other officers, These officers

with 'the task. It is 'just like serving a' full mea'[

consisting of all the required nutrients to make him
.
.,
healthy. A single item, however rich i'n content,
y;ill on,ly,lead to' further atrophy and side-eftect~;
Co-ordination is still more necessary in implementing
the 'Integrated
Rural Development 'ProgramIJ.l~.
because it is a multi-dimensional approach. ' It .i~
multi-sectional becanse it aims at benefitting the runil
poor consisting of small .farmers, landless
labour;"
village artisans and scheduled castes and scheduleo
tribes. It is also mnlti-sectoral because the various
, sectots included in the progra=e
are agricuIture~
ind~stry; transport, social forestry etc. . And finally
the; apprm,ch is muiti-level as it has to be planned,
implemented and evaluated at different'levels
froni"
village to.district. The Integrated Rural Develop-'
ment Programme aims. at tackling almost all seCtions
of the rural poor, its activities extend. to a. large
are under their administrative control but arc also
number of sectors and it requires a large number of
controlled by their heads of departments.' These'
agencies 'at all levels to join hands"for its successfu
officers'concentrate oil two targets:' the departmental
implementation. Co-ordinatio'n thus become's "'iIfeo" target and the IRD target. The Department of
keyword' for successful implementation cif the' pra:
. Animal Husbandry would nOt agree to the "roposal,.
gramme. ..
,
of. setting up A.I. Centres of the BAIF as they fee(
that their department is doing much better than thoSe "'"
of the BAlF. .It is necessary to examine whether'
Problems
-of cO-brdinatiofi
.
~i''''i" l
a separate agency like DPAP would give better'
O-ORD~NATION, HOWEVER, is a loose word which
results. The whole problem of co,ordination can be
. normally, means co-operation."
There are ;;1 .
divided into three sections:"

~'

large. number'

of structural . 'aI}d operational

issues"H

which make co-ordination difficult.. Democratisation'

and decentralisation have also added to the problem.
Democratisation has decentralised the centres of
decision-making. Elected representatives represent '.he
hopes and aspirations of the masses. These aspira'

(1) Co-ordination among different Government.

Agencies;
.<... ,
Co-ordination
a~ong
financial
in~titutions;.' (2)

and ftnally
(3) Co-ordination between the above two..

,..,.\
of"

KURUKSHETRA January 16, 1983

Goverili:i:ientAgencies will have to continue to

Co-ordination among Goveriiment Agencies.- the
co-ordinate with one another even in the disbursenecessity of co-ordination arises from the very beginning. Proper identification of the poor is bot possible . ment. of the loan. We have come across cases where
without co-ordination among Government agencies: A ' the' Bhariiya Agro-Industries Foundation Centre 'is
person belonging to the target gronp shonld not have
running the A;I. Centre without health coverage or a
.\ more than 5 acres of land and his income bot exceedZilla Parishad Centre is having health ,care but not
,,<ing Rs. 3500. Number of family members is also imthe A.I. Centre. A co-ordinated effort wonld . cerportant. There is no Government department having
tainly give better resnlts.
all these facts. This will have !o' be collected from
A massive brain-washing of the staff of the lowest
different agencies. We will have (0 crosscheck them
level
is urgently required.
Gram-sevaks
and
as' our. poor are very clever. If you rely on the dula
Patwaris
working
at
the
village
level
have
hardly
collected by the Civil Supply Department, it would
changed their approach towards the poor. Most of
never tally with those collected by the Department ot
them
are indifferent or ignorant. They still feel tna'
Family Plan:ning. Again co-ordination is required
it
is
the
poor who have to approach 'them and bot
while selecting the cluster. . It will have to be examinvice
versa.
I have come across people who still feel'
ed whether there is adequate infrastructure or is' likely
.
~that.
the
thii:sty
has to go to the well. Frequellt
to be made available in the near future. A cow wonld
_changes
in
the
~chemes
have confused them as. they
not prove "Kamadhenu" unless the forest department
lack
knowledge
abont
these
schemes.' Refresher
has some scheme of providing fodder. There is a
courses
for
higher
level
staff
is
not
.so important as for
)?ciefy to purchase milk and the P.W.D. has proposed
them. It is these "Weaker sections of bureaucracy"
to construct a road. Thus it is necessary to sit
which have to be raised above the line of ignorance
together before we finalise the cluster. It is also
and indifference before we think of raising the man
possible that a cluster has 90 per cent of the infrabelow p~verty line.
.
structure required for undertaking an economic activity bnt the financial institutpns are likely to hesitate
;Co-ordination among FinancJD"gInstitutions.-Co- '
because of remaining 10 per cent. It is here that
ordination
among different financing institutions
we come to the rescue of the poor by co-ordinated
are equally important. The volume ot finance is 'so
action.
much that it is not possible for one bank to" do'
everything. 'Ihus co-ordination between the Lead
B,'Ulkand the non-lead banks becomes very 'important. Our experience show~ that the non-lead
. Different Government ageucies will have to' cobanks do not co-operate whole-heartedly in the
.Jordinate these activities at the processing level. The
implementation of the District credit plan. The very
Block Development Officer normally collects applic~~c~pt of Lead Bank envisages that a bank which
cations but there are dozens of columns. that they
is~.sUPposed
to play leading role in one area becomes
generally confuse them. His land holding . is with
non-lead
bank
in another area. Despite this, I have
the Revenue Department, we . have to find out
come
,across
cases where the non-lead banks
whether he is a defaulter and whether the Electriargue
that
the
target
has been fixed in therr' aosence
cityjGroundwater Survey Agency have no objection
or_.imposed upon them. This goes to the ridiculous
to the proposed economic activity. We have re-.
level when'the Lead Bank is not able to get even
commended cases for wells where there is no undertheir non-performance report. The way out is to
ground water and the Electricity Board has no plans
wr.ite to the. Head Office of the Bank which has not
to extend their lines in near. future. The resnlt is
co-operated. This does not give any . resnlt.
The
that thousands of wells have been dug'up and pump
reyiew meeting proves useless. . It is high time we'
sets purchased but there is 110 electricity. A study made
sh}'uld think whether some structural changes are
in this district has revealed that 400 pump sets
purchased during the last financial year are yet to
required. Why not strengthen the hands ~f the Lead
Bank Officer? Co-ordination reqrnres a little
'e energised. Beneficiary has to pay interest on the
}oan. The best way is to circulate the copies of hiS.
coercion. We have not come across instances where
'application to departments reqnesting them to send
a ,~ollector has not been able to secure co-operation.
their comments to the Block Development Officer.
There are some difficnlties in its implementation.
The other way is to have a data bank. at the block
The Lead Bank Officer belongs to a particnlar bank
levels 'where we come to know whether our cluster
and he may not be able to extract co-operation. It
has the facilities required for the schemes.
The
rnay, not be desirable to make him head of all' the
Development Officer can have periodical meeting to
branches of different banks. Why not extend the
remind officer of the pending cases. It may be coconcept of Lead Bank to the Block level?' We have
ordinated by the Sub'Divisional Officer at the next
been talking of 'Block Plans' ann 'Single' point of
. level .and finally by the Collector at the district level.
~
(Collled on p. 2,1)

:I
:KURUKSHETRA January 16, 1983

'I'

I.

Pr~-schooleducation in rural
areas : a.study
.

V. K. NATARAJAN
Faculty

o"l~lHuman Resouf(e~tDe\clo(.mt:Dl, N1RD, Hyderabad

' moulding the development

P- for
RE-SCHOOL

EDUCATION

..

is viewed as an. instru~e,;tt

of children for
leadership. Care of pre-school child, is now recog'" nised as an agency,,'for socialisation : of the child,
specially 'necessary for education of economically
under-privileged families and for children .of workirg
mothers in oider to protect jhem from neglect and to
provide opportunities for better physical and mental
development. .As per 1971 census, the!e are 18.6
million pre-school children of working mothers needing some kind of care and services. The need' for
such pre-school education is being felt ,with more
women coming .out of their houses and seeking jobs.~'
....

.....l'f.'.

Need of Balwadis
that most of the pre-sch901 education faciIlities.SEEMS
in India are provided under voluntary auspi.
T

cies. The Central Social Welfare Board (CSWB)chas

been actively supporting the voluntary agencies for
establishment of Balwadis. But the work of voluntary
organisations
is concentrated more in urban areas
whereas such services in rural areas are not encouraging. In urban areas, where considerable women are

working in the organised sector like factories, indn~tries, Government offices, ~tc.; pre-sch~l ce~tresare .
established. for children of working mothers as per
the Factories Act and other .legislations. But in tbe
un organised sectors, particularly in ~e rural areas
where agriculture is the main occupation and whee

both the parents are compelled to work either on' their

own farm or in other farms .as wage-earners, th~re ''is

no proper legislation for provision of day-<:areservices

for children of working mothers. Due to poverty,
. personal and social disorganisation,

the rural kids are ..

""""'" .<

the children In villages not shine upto their potentia!

.Ievel.
It is the imperative need of the day thaI, every village should have a Balwadi for the children because the
age-group between 2t-5 .is considered as an impor- _
tant phase of' formative period during which 90 per
cent of tbe knowledge tends to grow. Having realised
the importance of Balwadi for the children of working
mothers 'in the villages, a large number of voluntary
agencies workingfoi
the socio-economic development in rural areas, have included Balwadi or preschool education as one of their main programmes.
This paper attempts to analyse the 'implementation
of pre-school education programme by a . voluntary
organisation functioning in Gramdan villages in Tamil
N adu. The programme is being implemented ~s lPart
of the agencies' efforts at Integrated Rural Develop.mentbased on Community approach in a cluster of
Gramdan villages' in Tamil' Nadu; A. brief outline of
the organisatiori will precede the discussion of the
pro~ramme.

Meyer trust

M.

EYER Zv SCHWABDISSEN,
a German Industria- I .
.
list, who was inspired by the Gandhian approac .
to Rural Reconstruction and Vinobhaji's Bhoodan an L
',Gramdan movement founded the Meyer Trust by~i:
contributing 1/6th of his total profits with a view to .
assist the poor families'in Gramdan villages and those
who have settled at the Bhoodan Lands,' in Tamil
Nadu.
.

The Trust was established in 1974 and registered

uncter the Societies Registration Act, with. its Head-

left uncarcd without proper care and adequate food.

quarters, at Madi:rrai.

These factors along with the rural environment make

402 villages. located in

!!1

.Its 'activities are spread over .in

eight out

of the

fourteen

-t.:

KURUKSHETRA January"16,1983 "

'.


di,tricts in Tamil Nadu. ,.The main objectives of the,
Trust are to .raise the socib-etbnbmic status of small
land-holders provided with Bhoodan and Gramdan
lands, and also landless poor families by giving loans
,and grants in Gramdan villages.

l\

.' The main programmes of the Trust include providing at loan facilities for digging of new wells,
repairing of old wells, distribution of seeds, fertilisers,
purchase of farm equipment, milch animals and other
livestock 'such as sheep, establishment of small.cale and cottage industries, pre-'school education,
etc.
In the Gramdan villages where the Trust ,is
operating most of the families belong to the landless agricultural

labourers

or

marginal

farmers.

Hence, in many a family, both the parents are

compelled .to work to make both ends' meet. Under
,such circumstances they entrust their children either
'-'with their relatives 'or neigbbours when they leave
for work. In most cases, these young children are
left with inadequate care and wander in streets. In
, the remote villages, there. are no facilities available
for the care of very young ,children. Balwadi. (daycare centre) without much expenditure is therefore,
a boon to the low income faniilies. There are 41
- Balwadis run by the Meyer Trust with a strength of
2000 children. These pre-schools have been located
in' the remote and interior Gramdan villages which
cover the districtS' of Madurai,. Ramanathapuram,
Tirimelveli, Trichi, Tanjore, Chingleput, 'and Coim-"
...i batore.
.
The objeetives of the pre-school
stated by the Trust are :

pro:ramme

as

1. To take care of the uncared, young children

. by providing food and shelter in day time.
'2. To develop thesotial attitudes and.manners
towards group behaviou:s.

3. To, help the children to develop' their physique through indoor and outdoor games.
'4. To develop their aesthetic aspiration throul:h
crea~ve activitiei.
5. To make, the ,children ready for .chooling
.tage.
(.1-

~
Accommodation : The Trust with the cooperation
of 'local people. has constr~cted p~cca buildings for
housing the' pre-school centres in the villages with all
the facilitie~. Each 'centre-managed by two trained
teachers, one as a main teacher and the other an
Assist~nt-is equipped with a kitchen and the staff,
quarters for the teachers. The teachers having, been
recruited from far-off villages are staying in the centrc
itself. Besides the teachers, there are four Assistant
Supervisors and one Chief Supervisor. Each Assis.tant Supervisor is in charge 'of two district. or a

d>

KlJRUKSHETRAJanuarv
"'

'

.-

_,

'

'..

oJ.

:16 '1983
..,

_.

compact of villages where the pre-school centres are

functiorting.

Daily they visit one

centre,.

supervise'

and 'guide'tl\,,'teachers, check the daily accounts,

study the problems of childrcn relating to attendance
etc.

Main activities

HE

FOLLOWING

are the main

activities

of the

pre-schools.

Education : The, main activities of, these pree

schools, are centred on multisided approaches for the
total well being of the children. Primary importance
is' focussed' on the education of children such as the
induction

~f academic

knowledge,

instructing

the

basic principles of arithmetic, social studies, language

etc.,. in a very simplified form.

Nutrition Programme : As most of the children

are from poor families, they are provided lunch
daily. The Trust spends' 25 paise per child per day
under, its nutrition prog"ramme; milk .. groundDut.
seasonal -grains, cereals, leaves, vegetables, fruits and

nuts' are provided'

'hale! and healthy
Besides, now the
meals daily under
introdnced by the

for children so as to keep them,

and 'to prevent malnutrition.
children are provided mid-day
the nutrition. progromme recently'
Government of Tamil Nadu.

;'Medical and Hygienic care : The phvsical health

of. the children are periodically examined by ,the
n~arby Primary Health Centres Staff. Healtb Chart
for every child is being maintained. The 'Hv~ienic
"';re for cbildren is taken' care of by providing'them
soap,' hairoil, powder, towel etc.
Two pairs of
uniform dresses are provided to each, child in most
of the centres to meet their needs' and, to av.oid the
difference between the haves and h~ve-nots. The
ment~l abilities of the children and their family back~
ground are studied and analysed and their sociopsy'ohologicai deficiencies identified and are attended
to.

AU the centres are provided with enough play

materials for indoor and outdoor games.
Physical
eJ~cation is given for all the children both in the
m'Orning and evening in

order

-to

promote

their

physical development. To cultivate the moral and

intellectual development; the children are trained by
cqIlducting prayers' daily and celebrating the important local and national f~stivals. Interesting stories,
;hy~es 3nd simple dramas' are taught to these
children ane!':they are asked to repeat and sing ,.the
songs to develop their "communication skill, clear
e;pression

and rational thinking.

The Trust has pre-

pared syllabus and guidelines for the teachers. The

curriculum is flexible, naturally s~t Up, pragmatic in
approach and based on sarvodaya ideals. It is largely
child-centred, but not subject-centred.
7

What the teachers do

ROLE OF TEACHERS is multi-pronged. They
are functioning as pre-school teachers and Exofficio Secretaries of Local Mathar Sanghams. As.a
teacher, they are doing their regular routine work
such as preparing food for the children, looking after'
the children in the day time, maintaining records and
daily accounts of the expenditure. They also pre. pare the monthly reports arid send them to the Headquarters of the Trust.

HE

Besides the day-to-day activities, the teachers also

devote their time for the well-being of the womenfolk in th~ villages by organising Mathar Sanghams
(Mahila Mandals) meetings, conducting night classes
for all the children of school going age. They also
look after the small savings scheme.
As ex-officio Secretaries to Local Mathar.
Sanghams, the teachers motivate and encourage the
local women folk to partiCipate in the Mathar
Sanghams' activities in their villages.. Periodical.
Mathar Sangham meetings are condncted for the rural
women folk. As most of the women are illiterate
and lack the basic k;;owledge of child development,
they are brought together in a common place and
they are taught the importance of nutrition and.
health-care of the children. Through demonstrations
they are taught to learn as how cheap and .nutritious
food for the family can be prepared by using the
locally available food commodities' within their
budget. The Trust has provided one unit of poultry
birds to some poor families in each village as part of
economic development programme. The teachers are
also looking after this programme by helping: those
familiar in maintaining accounts and marketing of
eggs. Further '220 Sarvodaya. Vessels have been
distributed to some families in a few villages thr~ugli
the Mathar Sanghams.
The teachers undertak~
home visits and encourage the families provided with
Sarvodaya vessels to collect grain and rice which are
to be used for pre-school children. In addition they
. also motivate and encourage the women folk to
rais~ .backyard kitchen garden and poultry farm.

available palm-yiuh tree leaves. In this way, the

unemployed women from the poor families are helped
to earn a small amount daily while learning.

All the 41 centres are functioning with. the active .

and full cooperation of the local people.. It is stated!. .j
that. the local people participate in various ways in the
implementation of this programme. Their participa'
tion involves like the donating of land for the construction of pre-school centres, contributing paddy;
grains, vegetables, etc., at the time of harvest to meet
the food requirements. of children. They also under-'
take the responsibility of repairing of buildings.
When the children complete the pre-school stage,
the concerned teachers adniit them in the nearby
primary schools. The teachers also keep in contact
with those children and watch their progress even
after they le'tve the centres.
.

._~

In-service training programme'

MEETINGS
are conducted every
for the . pr<>-school teachers. Their
monthly progress, problems and programmes are discussed and experiences are exchanged, new plans and
activities are formulated to improve the standard of
their performance. Apart from this, the Trust
arranges two orientation courses at a common place
for all tIie staff, one in the beginning of the academic
year and the other in the end.
In these orientation
courses, special lectures are given with the latest information.

Dmonth

ISTRICT-WISE

The pre-school programme not only meets one of

the vital needs of the community, but also enables'
more women to work outside .their homes, It gives an
.opportunity for the educated unemployed girls in the
villages to work in the 'pre'scIiool cetitres. These centres also play an active role as a social agent in re- \.
moving the illiteracy and providing shelter to young- .
sters. Further these centres with good buildings open
space equipment for outdoor and indoor play, above
all with trained teacherS are in a position-to give further avenues and opportunities for the poor chidren to
grow and develop as adequate personalities.

,.

Vocational training programme

FEW

PRE-SCHOOL

centres

are

functioning

as

multi-purpose community centres where local .

women and unemployed girls are given training in
self-employment schemes such as tailoring,. embroi.dery, and in handicrafts such as' mat-making, basketmaking, kitchen aid-making, etc., with the locally

"

Still there are thousands of Gramdan villages which

lack and are searching for some agency's help to take
care of the young children belonging to those parents
who are compelled to be away from horne for the whole days. Thus, there is vast scope for the Govern-'

r-

. ment and on Government organisations to enter into

these remote villages and -develop care services for the

hundreds of poot and urihealthy children.

"

KURUKSHETRA January 16, 1983

How warehousing Can

help farmers
Deptt.:oflEco','"Admn.

AGRICULTURE
is the corner-stone of Indian
economy relatively greater e~phasis has been .laid
on this sector since 1947, when India got independence.
Nevertheless, it is agriculture which has more problems
to be tackled than any other single sector. of the coun"
try's economy.. In fact. that the .foremost task before
the national eCOIioniiststoday is to view the problems .
in this perspective and to adopt effective measures to
redress agriqIlture. from its rudimentary stage to
modern advanced' stage of production.
!NCE

It
, is a redeeming feature that after three decades of
suffering, we have now 'realised that for a prosperous
India, incentive to agricultural output to achieve self.sufficiency iiI food is' inevitable. Thus tho green revolution is in full swing to provide the producers with
., high yielding seeds, fertilisers, easy credit, irrigation
I facilities and fixation' of better prices.
It is a matter
. of satisfaction that our farmers have taken to improv- .
ed seeds arid mechanical implements whereby produc. tion I,,;s gone up sufficiently and the need to import
!J the foodgrains has s.ubstantially been reduced saving
considerable quantum. of foreign exchange which could
be utilised for other developmental programmes:

It is equally important that whatever we produce

_must be saved from damages caused by insects, rodents
'and. moisture etc. and by defective handling as any
increase in production will 'becom~ meaningless if it
is not saved from deterioration and damage. 'Right
now, 5 to 10 percent of foodgrains production in the
country is damaged dne .to'defective storage and handling resnlting in a great loss to the nation.
Besides this, the cultivator faces the problem regarding sale of his produce as Soon as he harvesti it. He
has not only to repay the loan taken front the money
lender,
at a high rate .of interest but money
isneeded
J
.

rl
KURUKSHETRA 'January 16,1983

B. R. CHOYAL
and Fin. Mgmt., University.ofRajasthao",
Jaipuc

'for his other needs too. Due to increased arrivals in

the market during harvesting season the prices generally run low. The.cultivator has no means and capacity.io withhold his produce during such unfavourable
period and is thus compelled to make distress sale.
Transport facilities are either lacking or inadequate',
Due to such various difficulties a considerable quantity
of his produce gets destroyed by rain', fire,'moisture,
rats and other insects causing huge naiural wastage,
for this we will have to solvethese problems of cultivators, the solution of which is sCientificstorage offered by warehouses. - With a view tei prevent the aforeme'ntioncd damages and to remove allied difficulties,
the Government established the warehousing corporations.

The importance of warehousing

~;.

':l""HE

.'

WAREHOUSING

SCHEME,

as a national 'scheme,

.1 was started as per recommendations of the Rural

Credit Survey Committee of the Reserve Bank of
India. One of the suggestions' was that the scheme
should .be implemented on the basis of a three-tier
programme. Accordingly, the Central Warehousing
Corporation would establish its Warehouses in the
Mandies of all-India importance and the state Warehousing Corporations would establish Warehouses in
the mandies of the state and at district level." The
third important thing in the storage progfam~e would
be the Cooperative Institutions who would make avai1~
able rural. godowns at the village level. The import~nce of storage rises mainly from continuous consumption of agricultural products. We read in daily
reports that the consumers draw the
attention
of
Government for the poor quality of foodgrains marketed. This is because of improper storage or lack of
it. For a long time the measures for scientific storage
9

of foodgrains remained at the laboratory stage: Defiriite footing was given by the Central and State Warehousing Corporations with the twin .objectives of providing easy credit facilities to the farmers and scientific storage of foodgrains.' The importance of preservmg stocks is realised and steps are undertaken to save
grains from the natural enemies, v.jz. insects, rats aDd

moisture.

The endeavour of all the Warehouses is to

the proces.s mad~ difficll1t "itJ:r'a result the petty producer, for whom' this ',cheme was originally moanl
takes little interest to .avail of the opportunity. In my
opinion the R.B.I. ~hould revert to .prior' 1962 position at least in advancing against warehouse receipt
in case of those Warehou~es, operating in surplus areas '.
if the R.B.I. things that such advancCll would encour-'
age hoardiRjl in deficit areas.'

restrict and destroy. these enemies froni taking the mor~

sel from our mouths. . Moreover, insect infected and

fungi invaded foodgrains not only lose their value commercially and nutritionally, but also deprive the get- .
minatior: power.

_"~Scientific storage
T rS A FACT, we .lack . storage facilities. Ware- housing Cotporations and food Corporation
of
I
India are tackling the problem. But the resources
are limited: The physical and biological losses due
to the' lack ef post-harvest c'are are Himalay'an and the
appointment of the expert co=ittee On storage by the
Planning
Commission
is ~.
a leap forward. The ' com.
,'~.
.- ....
mittee has drawn up a programme for the locatiolt of
the storage capacity to hand)e'. a procurement of 11.1
million tonnes of foodgrains and distribution of 10.50
milliontonnes by the eod of Fourth Plan in 1973The committee has worked out the requirements of
storage for each_district in the country for foodgrai~~
and fertilisers. The committee has also recommend~.d.
for the introduction of an improved "save grain campaign" in selected areas.
.
,t-,p;.
Another aspect of warehousing is easy credit to the
farmers. When the Warehousing Corporations were,
asked to play a m~jor role in pr.::,vidingcredit faciliti~s
to the Agriculturists, the Reserve Bank of India wanted the Primary Co-operation Societies and the'i'Marketing Societies to link credit with marketing. Unfo;!
tunately this remained on paper. It also' wanted that
the marketin2
societies' ar~ irlcluded
in scheme of ad.
~
.-,'
'h
vance agamst the pledge of Warehouse receipts. But
it did not materialise and thopgh the Bank, .especially
the State Bank of India were' very co~operative in the
formative years advancing- loans.:._ag~inst the _ Warehouse Receipts. ,The 1962 and 1965 conflicts !lnd
the then existLng food position compelled the Reserve
Bank of India to impose curbs on the advances on Hfe
pledge of Warehouse Receipts arid after' 1962 the
quantum of advances was gradually reduced and tlie
Warehousing Corporations, .thus were compelled
to
turn to Government and ot~er .agencies fpr customeRS
to make both. endsineet..
The R.B.I. was requested
time and again for liberalisatiori and though the curbs
were lifted to some extent, .the margin wa, reduced.,~fld

i4.

Warehousing

and credit

11N ORDER TO make the scheme lItore viable, the CoJ.operative Banks, Commercial Banks and the Mar.'
.keting Soct"tics should be asked to advance to producers against the pledge of warehouse receipt. This
has got so many advantages. First, the produce again't
which the advance is made will be scientifically stored
in the warehouses, thus safeguarding its nutritive and
co=ercial
value, Secoruily, it saves the
marketing
societies from constructing godown to acco=odat<::.,.l
such stocks involving heavy expenditure. Moreover,'this would give an impetus to the cooperative sector'
. (if the scheme is implemented in full scale) as the
losses due to shortage and mismanagement will be
.greatly reduced. Also liaison between the procuring
agencies. (may it be Govermnent or EC.I.) and;i~e
cooperallve socrelles could be established so that sale
and delivery of foodgrains is performed without.th.e
stock being actually brought out as the Warehousing
Receipts is a negotiable instrument. In this way'the
role of middle men'can be availed and a belter priCe
to the producer is ensured.
j~

\'l.

'.:n.

The warshouses should also provide market intelli~'"

gence service by evolving suitable machinery to inform
the depositors about the fluctuations in price of their
produce especially when the fluctuation become favour. able to them. This will certainly give belter averiii~ '\
for marketing to the small cUltivators and. also relieve ).
them to a great extent from the ~lutches of the traders ~
. or mlddlem~n who always exploit the advantages of
better price.
,
\
J.

'T'

As our main objective is scientific storage" it may

be repeated that with the recognised importance' of

such- storage, the need for reorientation for orderly pre"
servation of foodgrains to meet present-day demands
. is felt and by establishing warehouses, as pointed out
before in every sub.division we can meet any emergenr
des and calamities like cyclone, flood etc. and save'
necessary expenditures on handling and transport which
sometimes impairs timely distribution to the victims. of
suell hazards. We should not forget the modern concept 'of "A Grain Saved is a Grain Produced"..,,1

un,-

.,ilL,.

.'

"

'0<.

10

:l'URlJ:I'SHETRA'January

16,11983

,'

..

-,

'.

...

'

~-...,. 4"

,'~,
'

',",.,',,'

,"

'A8tudy

in Andhra Pradesh

The usefulness of
weekly rural markets
,
T. JOGAIAH
Lecturer in Cominerce, Arts and Science College, Warangal (A.P.>

to ..

in rural areas has greater importance

from socio-economic point. of view" since our
country lives in villages. The assemblies through
which the various marketing activities are carried out
Can ,be broadly classified as fairs, hats and markets.
A fair is one, where a large number of people gather
ap regular intervals in certain fixed places, generally
:..J. around shrines or other religiou's centres., Hats ar~
the"places where people gather at more ,frequent
intervals regardless of religious background. Incase
of markets, business is transacted daily at fixed places.
Hats' are also usually called 'markets'
by adding
prefix such a's '~eek1y"-, 'fortnightly', 'monthly', _etc.,
\J depending on the span of interval,

MARICE T

'Importance of rural markets

ij

'loc~ted in rUralmoreareas,than attracting

2,000 fairs, mostly
fairly large
T
gatherings., In addition to this, there' are countless
HERE

ARE

fairs of very small size,,' There 'are over 25,000 hats, ,

majority of. which deal- with, agricultur31 ,produce
whereas' others handle livestock or _both livestock and
~,agricultl1ral produce. There are more than' 4,000
agricultural assembly markets to deal with agricultur~1
produce, though the 'livestock markets are attached .to
. verY few of them. India has about . '130 million
heetBIes of cultivated land divided amongst 60' million holdings spr'ead over, about six Iakh villages. .If.
means, on an average, about 300'villages have ,a fair,
24" villages possess a hat and an .agricultural assembly
market covers about 150 villages.
Tho~gh the primary purpose of fairs is worship
of
, the diety , a lot' of economic' activity takes place,

i
,

depending upon the she of gathet1ng, area and duration

~f fair.' People spend money mostly for rituals and
"entertainment and the busineSs activity, in fairs
can be so, construed as largely of unproductive
'nature,
The regulated agricultural markets are inadequate 'and inaccessible to' the rural majority,
where miqdle men ,are , still, ,dominating. On, the
contrary, 'the'periodic market' or hat exists relatively
within, the,reach of rural people and serves better their
buying and selling needs. '
'_i"f:""

" .The wheels of.-production, distribution and,consumption of the economy cari:run smoothly" only with the
help of.sufficient and effiCient marketing levers. Avail'ability' of ,adequate
lind _ proper i'nfrastructure to
.peyel'Op -marketing a:ctiVj.ti~sin ~rural areas i;n s4Je
qua non' for the development of Rural India. Progress in'the developnientof ,marketing facilities in rural
regions has been deplorably, at 'a snail's pace. What.ever scant. atterition is: paid m' this' -direction, it
,~.:. only. towards ' the' :deve~opment . of agricultural
assembly markets, while neglecting the other two
types of. markets mention,d above. But the cost of
neglecting the' hats is enormous:
'

ili~'

; This explains the f~ct' h~w

hats are playing
'a unique role in Indian rural, scene. Most <if these
'Hats are weekly .mar~ets, These hav,e proved to be
very' potential, and useful- business centres. It is not
ifucommon that a 'maj,?rity of, rural, people ,residing
in nooks and corners link all their activities of buying
and selling to the nearest weekly markets and rarely
visit the cities or district centres. These .markets by ,
virtue of being situated:: at taluk or block or district
headquarters acquire more importance on account' of
<

,,[(

:KURUKsHE1RA

,
1_,

January -16, 1983

II

Sixth plan and the'work

.of rural development
.Research

B. SAMBASIVA RAO
Scholar, Dept~:of Coop.~and Applied Econo~ics, Andhra University, Waltair

J,~,

(/R

DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAMMES
are'unav~id~"
able in a vast rural economy like India where:
almost three-fourths of the total population live' in
villages. Experience shows that after the dawn 'of
Independence whatever development has taken place,'
its fruits have been enjoyed by the comparatively more
resourceful among the rural people. In the process'
of growth, high priority has )leen given to emancipation
of rural population with the major emphasis on eradication of poverty and reduction of inequalities.
Poverty'in intensity and magnitude is concentrated in,
rural areas where 80 per cent of the population lives,
out of which 72 per cent are engaged in agriculture.,
While analysing the magnitude of poverty in India, '
about 350 million or about 50 per cent of the popu-~
lation in India are below the poverty line. They did.
not have Rs.' 76 per capita monthly expenditure (at.
1979"80 prices) in rural areas. While the proportion'
of people below the poverty line to total population.
remained at 'around 50 per cent for the past 20 years;'
the total numbet of 'poor people has been increasing
by at least 5 million a year due to population growth.
In view of this, it is imperative that ,these people be
brought above the poverty line and a coordinated
effort. made to ameliorate the conditions of the pooi'
through proper implementation of meaningful programmes and policies. aiming at rural development.'! '
URAL

In the past, various approaches like multi-purpose

approach, target sector approach, target group approach, area development approach and multi-level.
district plannmg approach have been tried to achieve
rural development..
.
'0
In March, 1976. the, Government of India !,utlined"
a ,trategy for Integrated Rural Development aiming
at systematic, scientific and integrated use of' all our
natural resourcell enabling every person to engage
~
14

himself in a productive and socially useful occupation.

Its aim is not just to increase production or bring
larger numbers of poor people under Institutional
credit fold or help the poor by subsidies but to bring
"
.
about all-round development
of rural areas
and to
solve' the problem of unemployment over a period' of
time. Now, we will examine the Rural Development
Programmes mentioned in the Sixth Five Year Plan.

The work to be done

lays down rural development as'
T' its prime objective.
The main objective of the
HE

SIXTH

PLAN

Integrated Rural Development Programme will be to~'

evolve an opertlltionally integrated strategy for' the
purpose on the one hand, of increasing production' and
productivity. in agriculture and allied sectors based on
better use of. land, water and Sun light and 'on the
other, of the resource and income development of
vulnerable. sections of population in all the blocks of
the country. .
.

..

.!

In pursuance of this laudable objectives enunciated

in the sixth plan, three. speeiaJ programmes' namely
'Integrated Rural Development Pro'gramme', . 'Minimum Needs Programme' and 'National Rural .Em~
ployment. Programme' have' been launched, The pliri
allocated huge amounts of money to these programmes. The' total sum of Rs. 9,000 crores is allotted to h
these special programmes and coupled with a loan .
assistance of Rs. 3,000 crores under Integrated Rural
Development ProgranIl!'e (which
may / exceed
RS.. 6,000 crores) it. amounts to Rs. 15;000 crores.Besides, the plan has envisaged an outlay of Rs. 5,695
crores and Rs. 14,400 crores to agriculture and allied
activities and village and small scale industries respectively. The Integrated Rural Development PrOo'
gramme, village and small industries and dairy, development programmes : are estimated to' benefit" 15

~
KURUKSHETRA January 16, 1983 ~

_on
<;) nNiliOHand 15 mlliion families re.pectively.
The n~r1l1ll1agric~ltural programme. also benefit a
large number of families. The National' Rural Employment Programme is to provide lean .eason employment at the rate of 90 to, 100 days to 3 to 4
(~ million persons each year.
'

/'

./

\1

"

. Integrated Rural Development Programme prol'0ses

to cover 500 families scattered in about 100 villages
in a block, in each of the 5000 blocks in the country.
This requires .the existence of transport facilities to all
the villages, at least kntcha roads, to enable various
personnel connected, with these programmes to Teach
tho poorest of the, poor. And also. over 4 lakh
villages in the country are not connected by road and
many others which are cut-off during the rainy season.
Lack of proper roads have prevented several regional
rural banks from opening their branches in the remote
areas. It is .also analysed that a large number of
people put in charge of programmes are either averse
to rural development or not serious about the programme ,?r they are incapable of tackling the problems. It is necessary that a cadre of Rural Development managers who have a sense of devotion to the
CIluse should be developed. Planning, implementation and monitoring of an rural development programmes from the district level to the centre may be
entrusted to the professionally trained;
meritorious
managers for the successful implementation of the
programme.
Dairy development is one of the important schemes
under this programme: It is estimated that the requirement of high yielding animals at the rate of 2
animals per family for 500 families for each of the
5000 community development blocks may work out
to 5 ,million. But the relationship between this programme and the normal animal husbandary,
and
dairy programme and the Operation Flood II is not
clearly spelled out although they are closely interrelated. The target for increasing the availability of crossbred cows by 3 to 8 million is itself very ambitious.
If the requirement under Integrated Rural Development Programme is to be additional, the supply of
cross-bred and improved milch animals an over the
country during the plan period is likely to become a
serious bottleneck. The supply of feed, green and
dry fodder, the facilities for collection, transportation,
chilling, processing, packing and distribution of milk
and milk products requires a tremendous amount' of
coordination.

Minimum needs programme

INl1\11UM

NEEDS

PROGRAMME

encompasses elemen-

tary education, adult education, rural health,

rural water supply. rural electrification, housing for
rural landless labourers, environmental improvement
of 'slums and nutrition. ,The programme was first
introduced in the Fifth plan with a provision of
,

Rs. i,6D? crores and it is continued with basically

the same components through Sixth Plan with a total
provision of Rs. 5,708 crores. The concept of minimum nee-js programme emerged and crystallised out
of the experience of the previous plans that neither
growth nor social consumption can be sustained, much

less accelerated without being mutually

supportive .
Inspite of the importance given to this programnie, the
achievement in terms of financial targets' fall below
40 per ce~t of the allotted outlays. In the Sixth Plan
document, the objectives laid down were to provide
the safe water supply system to all villagee,
access roads to all villages with the population of
thousand
or
more
and
to
provide
electricity connections to 60 per cent of all villages by
1990. In addition, an children in the age-group were
to be brought into appropriate educational scheme by
1990. It is also proposed to have community health
< centre for a population
of one lakh, one primary
health centre for 30,000 population and one subcentre 'for a population of 5,000 by 2,000 A.D. and
to provide !t0using assistance to landless -labour households by 1990. The minimum needs programnie is
vitally important for the reduction of mass poverty
because it has e1normous employment potential,
it
creates basic infrastructure in .the poverty-stricken
areas' and it brings basic health and educational facilities to the poor. But some doubts have been expressed about the usefulness of some of the schemes
contained in the programme. It is a well-known fact
that a large percent of the children of the poor arc
not enrolled in primary schools and occasionally members of the scheduled caste, who are depressed people,
are not even allowed to draw water from wells can'
structed at public expenses. The benefits of Rural
E1e<:trification accrue mostly to the aflluent, sections
of the rural society while the rural poor are not in a
position to utilise power for agricultural or industrial
purposes or even for lighting their homes. Similarly,
roral roads are not likely to confer much benefit in
So far as they do not have marketable surplus' and do
not need much of purchased inputs ..

National rural employment programme

T is conceived to take care of a part

HE

NATIONAL

RURAL

EMPLOYMENT

PROGRAMME

of the rural
poor who do not own any assets need to be provided
wage employment. The grograinme will be . implemented on 50 : 50 sharing basis between the centre
and the states. The wage paid under the programme
Should be on par with the minimum agricultural wage
prescribed for the areas. The quantum of food grains
as part of the wage should be such as to be adequate
for the family's needs. Contractors and middlemen
are to be totally excluded from the execution of rural
works. About the perfonrulllce of the programme
some people who are deeply involved on a voluntary
ba.is in rural, development are highly critical regard-

~J

lC{JRlJ~HETRA J2Il.1Iary

16; 198}

15

different types were taken up either in the selected

villages or in their vicinity. Twenty tribal households
were selected at raridom in each of the six villages.
.The sample 'households .included' tribal who exclusively
depend on income from labour and also farmers of
small and unecononiic holdings who seek employment
during off-season to supplement their meagre income
from 'agriculture ..

Wage rate and differentials

URtNG1971-72 to 1978.79 there was a significant.
. increase in the daily wage rate of labour engaged
both .in faim ~nd'off.fafIri employtnent, In the case 01'\ ..
farm employment, the average wage rate rose from
Rs. 1.50 in 1971.72 to Rs. 4.50 in 1978,79. But
tribals employed. in off.farm works got Rs. 5.75 per
day on average in 1978.79 as against Rs. 1.50 in
1971.72. .Many factors contributed for such a spurt
in the wage rate. The development works had created ~.'
a constant demand for semi.skilled and unskilled tribal
labour. Private contractors incharge of construction
works like roads buildings, housing colonies, etc. a-i:tracted tribal labour by offering a fairly high wage rate.
At times, some competition was observed to have prevailed between the _private contractors and landlords.
During thc agricultural season, the agriculturists had to
pay a competitive wage rate in order to get the required
number of workers to carry out their works. The tradi~
tionalnexus and bondage between th~ landlord and trio
bal 'workcrs had become 1<;sseffective and triballabout
could be easily drawn to non-agricultural works where
Hie -wage rate was attractive. Besides~ the effort. of .

..

the district administration to enforce minimum . wage'

. regulations. in the case of labour engaged in work's'

sponsored by Government helped in R great measure to
increase the wage -rate.
r
As in the case of plain areas wage differential. based
on sex wasprevale'nt

in,tribal areas also:

Without re'H

gard. to the nature of work, ,the wage rate of female,workers was less than that of males' rate by about .one
rupee. .
.It is interesting to note thAt the proportion of women
employed in agricultural works (otper- than own farm)"
litile higher than men: About 55 per cent. of .
women labour were engaged in agricultlWdl works'
against 45 per cent of men .. However, the composition,
of labour employed i!! off-farm work) was observed t9;
be the other way. '\Yhile about 60 per cent of labou!,!.
in ~hese wo.rks \vas ~omposed of .by' meJl the rest be.:longed to the other sex. The reason is.that traditionally
tribal women are accust9med to do agricultural work.';
Some of them are found disinclined to carry_out other
types of work, which may be attributed to theirignor-,
a~c~. and fear 'of exc;essive 'strain,'in ne:v. jobs.,'

was';'

,As regards, working hau'rs, tribals engaged-in' agri~'

cultur,,! works are found to. have .been exploited more'
~'J

18
...

than those in other types of works. While the labour

in off-farm employment were working eight houis
daily their counterparts in farm were made to work
for 10 hours a day. Obviously, tribal labour employed
in. development works other tha.! agriculture enjoyed :(,
the benefit of higher wage by working relatively for less
number of hours.

Pattern of employment

IGNIFICANTCHANGEShad been noticed in the size

and pattern of employment during the last 8 to 10
vears. Efforts to modernise agricultural economy .of
(his block not only resulted in' a substantial raise in the
demand .for work force but also a considerable expansion in the period of agricultural ope~tions.
Land
development, shaping construction of aew irrigation
lifts, anicuts,- wells on one hand and crop rotation,
manuring, pest control, etc. on the other resulted in "
both extensive and intensive cultivation in tribal ar~. -:l, I
Consequently, tbe size of tribal labour employed III
agriculture inc'reased from 51 per cen~ in 1971-72 to 58
per cent in 1978-79. In addition, the duration of farm
employment rose from 68 days in 1971-72 to 99 days
i'n 1978-79.
'.
,

'The study.also revealed that the size .of tribal worl(

force -engaged in off-farm employment had increased
from 15 to 34 per cent during 1971-72 to 1978-79.
Programmes for the development .of infrastructure. such
as arterial and link roads, bridges. housing colonies,
primary health centres, electrification etc. by rther
'~overnment age_nci,s created job opportunities to semi- ,,_
skilled and unskilled tribal labour especially duri,,~ oll'season. Another <funension in the pattern of employment was that the period of off-farm employment in~
creased from 43 days in 1971-72 to 63 day>inI97980. Thus tbe cumulative' impact of various development programmes both in agricultural and oiher -sectOI'
of the Bhadragiri Tribal Block resulted in a substantial
increase in the working days of tribal labour from 111
iri 1971-72 to .182 in 1978.79.
. Consegu,ent upon an upward 1ll;0vementin the .age
rate and :duration of working days, tribals' income_froOl.
manual labour went up from about Rs. 168 in 1971-72
to aboui Rs. 950 ;n'1978-79. Wage income. constituted
th~ se~o~d 'major component of household .income
with 40.64 _percent next to agricultural income (42.14
p~r sent) __ Incom,e from,' collec.tion of minor.' forest
produce which was the second major component till
recently had been relegated' to third place with 15.02 .
per ce!!t of contribution to total household income ..
.r, .

r-

Conclusion
"'

,.

IN~.E'
?H~ .T~IllA.LS~efe_ eng~'ged

iati'l both fa~ and

. off'fatm 'jobs for quite a good number of daY",
they were found to have ~ven Ie importance -to their "
. ,.,(l'ont.
On p.21)'

, KURU&SfflB!RA' JanuaI:. 16,.,1983'

.t

.'..

",
j'

,.
,("

Panchayati nlj, participation

and rural development
r

KUSHAL SHARMA
Rescar~ Assi,stant, Indian Institute. of Public Administration, New Delhi '-..

.;

I.

ANDHIJIwrote.in "Hind Swarai" that "which you

consider to bc the Mothcrof parliaments is like
a sterile woman and a prostitute. . ... .. .. if India
copies England, it is my firm conviction that she will

-~,

aucracy which ultimately resulted into the hostile attitude. of ~)ureaucracy towards the~e. institutions.
'

What ails P,R, institutions

be ruined".
V'.

Gandhiji was aware of the oppression that would

como from a centralised power state building itself
mainly on heavy industry,

armament

and. advanced

technology. This was the reason why he advocated

that India should go the other way and follow the system' 0'
chayats.

selfgovernrnent'

...-

functioning

through

Pan-'
.; i ~ i .!

When the republican constitution was introduced, it

was soon realised that it had elitist bias. It was becoming aparadise for the upper class and the common
man was mostly left out of it. When the syst~m worked for a few years late Pt. J awahar Lal Nehru realised
this phenomenon

and was quick in appointing a com-

mittee on decentralization, popularly known. as Balwant Rai Mehta Committee. The Committee recom mended a three-tier system for self-government at the
grassroot; level. On the basis of the recomm'endations
of Mehta Committee, when the Panchayati Raj insti0-

tutions were introduced in cady sixties, they were _assigned tb;ee major tasks, viz., developmen~l, administ-

rative and political.

Th; Mehta Committee Report assigned greater 'importance .to developmental tasks. However, the
three tasks were. supposed to maintain a mutual inter-relationship. But the greatest hindrance with
Panchayati. Raj Institutions with regard to developme~tal task turned oilt to be that they had no financial resOurces at their disposal with the result that they

. 1;

starte9 TIlOullting pressures' on the district

KURUKSHETRA January 16, 1983

level burc-

THE SAMETIME in the course of. time the

MLAs and MLCs and other politicians also
gradually realised the importance of Panchayati Raj

and .:visualised"their -future rivals in the representatives

of l'anchayati

Raj I~stitutions.

As such .they also

launched virtually a non-cooperation

movement

with

.Panchayati' Raj Institutions. This resulted in fast

de<:linein the performance of Panchayati Raj bodies.
This sudden decline in their performance changed the
hasic character and objectives of Panchayati Raj Institutions. Due to the decrease in support from political
decision-makers supplemented by indifferent attitude' of
lOcal level. bureaucracy, the developmental role of
P~lnchayati Raj receded in the background and political role became more prominent.
What had beell the basic ,error. with the experiment
of Panchayati Raj Institutions is that it was treated as
means to strengthen. the bourgeois democracy. But
the fact is that the two are incomp.atible. What is
needed in the present context is that the middle class
parliamentary system has to be replaced by deIIlOcratic institutions which will arise from the bottom. The
Panch'ayati Raj Jnstitutions should be treated as catalyiic to change and be allowed to operate without any.
hij-jdrance in every walk of our rural society-social,

cultural, economic and political. If properly. equipped with all resources and expertise and permitted to
take maximum

initiative, the Pancbayati Raj Institu-

tions could certainly deliver goods to our rural soc~Pty..

19

. Spearheading growth processes

,
'T" HE BASIC PHILOSOPHY behind Panchayati Rlij'
W Institutions was to ensure people's paruclpation~
lJnless participation of general masses is not ensureu;
at. every level of our political and administrauvc
system, we can not think ill terms of real democracy
and development. If ailowed to lunctwn propeny
l:'anchayatl Kaj Institutions could be tile most elfec~'
tive weapon against the extrellllst fo~ces of right ';iili'
left, i.e~ co~~aliSm ~d commumSrn. .
-;l~"

These institutions were primanly intended,to unlash

the arr~sted pro.c~s~ at change and grOWth.
Wlil:mel."
rancnayau kaj is re&3:n1ed as represenUng an exten-,.
tion of the Co=urlity Development Progra=e
or an
instItutIonaIm!lton of tile concept of rural local-selL
government in tile counU'y We lact remains that as an
lllstrument of development
It generates iaetors and
forces leading to fresh tensions and new dlSorderspoh~cal '!Ud social.

~lJ'..

Due to the non-performance of these institutions, in

the seventies a felling started developing that Pll11cnao
yat! KaJ l~ like .~ goo. tllat latlea'.

nowever, U WOUlU

be wrong to take the extreme view. At least it had'

tne Imnrectiat elfect of galvanizing the average citizen
in rural lnc1Ia and in the place where tile system strucK'
roots, it helped in narrowing the gap. between bure- '
ucracy and the people.
At the same it also suceed"'
ed in drawing a development goal for the people. ,,"
A Committee was appointed under the chainilan",
ship of Shri Ashok oehta to look into the maladies
of Panchayati Raj Institutions, wl,ich reco=endetl
some definite steps to re-structure and strengthen thein
,so that they could function as an effective instrument;,
of rural development.
., '
T'

Whilc examining the issne and suggesting steps for

revitalising them, the principal ulesis, betore the
Committee was the functional necessity for decentrac
lizatIon of ~dministraton. It may be .called 'ne(~
approach' towards Panchayati Raj, One may feel
that' such a 'philosophy' or 'approach' conceives of
l:'anchayati Raj in some what narrow terms, It gives
one a feeling that Panchayati Raj, is a mere administrative cP'ntrivance whose jl:lstification lies omy ~jn"
terms of rural deve\op=nt.
It may have the secular,
touch if Panchayati Raj, or rural local government
was regarded like its 'counter parts at the State and
Ceiiiiiil levels as a system ot" government having;'~
, measure of autonomy in the matters of its functioning
'f":.
and existing in its own right,
"
1'"

With regard to rural developm'Cnt, as' said earlier;"'

the Zila Parishad would be first point ,of decentraliza~
tion, and the basic unit of Panchayati Raj, involve"t
with a comprehensive range of developmental respon-~
sibilities, At the grass-roots level, the Mandai Panchayats will be the hub of development activities.
, ':~;::

One of the knotty problems that defied satisfactory

solution in Panehayati Raj has been its functions, Vcry
few State government have given careful thought to
this sublect, The committee adopted a-rational approach. It felt that an exhaustive list of functions to
, ue perromed by'l'anchayati Kaj msut~tions III ail 'the}
stat'os can not be prepared, for It felt that these IDSU-,
tutians had to tackle "]ocationof
specific progra=es",
It should be adopted On basic criterion
and Wat is "Wat development being a dynamic process,
lunctions cannot remarn static; periooic adjustments
would be necessary to snit the changing requirements".
Decentralization snould be genuine and "adequate, It
should be regarded as a functional necessity and not
as an act of f'olitical Clarity. All development functions relating to districts which are now being performed
by tne ~tate government should be placea under Zila
Parishad, ' It would be the responsibility of Zila Parishad to plan. the developm'Cnt programme and imple'
mentation would be left to Manda! Panchayats, 'fh~
State governments, however, would handle such fnnc- hons as agricultural research, medium irrigation projects, college and university education etc, The reguIalVr)' functions would' continue ~o remain with the
collector but the long run, the go~l to be persued is
that all the, regulatory functions should be transferred
, to local bodies ,and that the collector should be under
the Zila Parishad, One may apprehend serious consequences of this arrangement (administrative dyarchy)
for a collector has to please two masters, the elected
non-official chairman of the zlIa Parlshad and government high ups in the hierarchy,

With regard to participation, it 'may' be assumed that

the end product of the politeal system or for that matter sub-system is the anthoritative allocation of values
for the entire society geared to solving local. problems
tbrough its major constituents, viz; local leaders, officials and the masses. In order to deliver the goods,
the constituents' of sub-system are expected to interact with one ano~her and work it;l union.

Unifortunately actuated by egoistic political culture,

political leaders, in collusion with local level officials,
exploit the situation, Consequently, the benefits of development scheme have gone to the ehte section of, our
rural society, As the masses exhibit the characteristics
of subject culture and' the benefits did not percolate
to them, they are not responsive to development programmes. For the. successful implemen.tation of the
programme of integrated rural development, the needy'
and weaker sections of society should not only been
encouraged to participate in. the decision-making process in various ways and at different levels but also be
stimulated to have their share in the benefits of development .programmes.

KURUKSHETRA

January 16, 1983

r-

~t

?~

"
of 'people's participation' lies in
view of long term effects of the process of modernization. The, planned intervention in this process
is the sine qua nou of integrated development. With
~ a view to forestalling the dangers of bureaucratic eli,tism and totalitarianism, people's participation becomes
imperative. Its importance cannot be overstressed
1ll the wake of the moral degeneration of the political
leadership. As for integrated rural development a
case may be made out for the structural arrangement
based on territorial and functional representations reconciling community, issues with group's interests in
order to make people's participation more meaningful
and effective. As su"h people's participation may be
made effective at different stages, of programmes forTHE

IMPORTANCE

m,ulation, execution,

monitori.ng and evaluation. Such

an arrangement would, through the process of political

sOCializationmanifest and latent, spin off a process of
Mte and nation building. .
'
In order that the presence of poor in participation
might be felt,' it is necessary to draft them on comJ!lunity action agencies. In fact, even after thirty-five
);~~rsof independence, the masses are not aware of
their rights and privileges. They should, therefore,
be first of all made conscious of their rights. This
can be achieved only if the political leaders and the
bureaucracy identify themselves with the problems of
the people and educate them to inculcate the feeling
of' citizen culture.

."...-

..

(Contd. from p. 5)

)co~tact!
Why not m~~e a bank resp,;msible for the
,whole Panchayat Sam,"?
It would also put an end to the problem of the
operational area. This would ensure belter services
to the beneficiary. Belter supervision by banie will also
remove duplication. Co-ordination becomes easy in
such a situation.
Co-ordination 'between banks arid other financial
gencie-CO-ordination
between Government agency
d bank.is the kevto the successful implementation
, any anti-pciverty programme.
Government
ncies are suoposed to create conditions conduve to smooth implementation. It should begin at
.J the level of identification of the target group. It has
-- haopened many times that our target group is outside the operational area of the bank located in that
area. This wonld go automaticallv if we associate
~ the Bank while selecting 'the beneficiary. It may be
argued that the poor beyond the operational area
would remain poor or would not be benefited. Once
banks are associated with the task of identification
a major battle is won. Co-ordination would start
flowing automatically.
It is also necessary to associate banks at the time
cif formulating individual schemes.
Most. of our
schemes are said to be unbankable. The allegation

is correct to a verv large e~ent. I have ~me across

mses where the Gram-sevaks have collected applications from farmers whose lands fall in the grey
area. We have collected applications for poultry
from villages where touching egg is a taboo. and fair
price shops have been proposed in blocks where they,
are in surplus. This would go if we associate banks
at the time of formulating the schemes. This, however, will not be the end of the problem; putting' up
of application itself requires a lot of co-ordination.
k doz~n or so have to say yes before the application
reaches the Bank Mana!'er's table for sanction. If
the applications are made to move from one office
to'lanother, it may take a very long time and many
of them may get lost. ' It may be expensive for the
beneficiary to run from pillar to post.
It will be
extremely useful if we organise "Credit Workshops"
where we may cali all concerned on a particular day
and ftet all the 'Columnsfilled in. The Bank can sanction few cases if possible. This should not end here
and they must join hands to implement the scheme.

Review and evaluation, also requires a lot of coor9ination. , We. should not be satisfied with the
disQursementof subsidy. We must be after the bene- .
fi~':iary'and whether he has really "rossed poverty line.
The target should not be only to spend Rs. 8 lakhs
ner block but to raise 800 people above the poverty.
line.

,.
--,..l" (Contd. from p. 18)
t)

subsidiary occupations like fishing, hunting, etc. The

acuteness of unemployment of tribal labour and the
consequent suffering had been mitigated to, some extent
during the period when the development works were
carried out. Tribals could augment their household
income by dint of a noticeable raise in the wage rate
, coupled with expansion in the period of agricultural
operations

and relatively

more remunerative:

off-farm

employment during off-season. Thouoh there was a

perceptible rise in the wage rate in tribal areaS during
, the past one decade, efforts need to be iutensified so as
,110 equate it with the.rate pre~a!lingin the neighbouring
IJplain areas. DespIte multISIded devel')pment proKURUKSHETRA Jaiiuary 16, 1983

gra,!!mes the tribal labour force is still found unemployed,for six months in a year. As such the problem of unei'hployment in tribal areas need to be tackled through
a two-pronged aJl!lroach. ,Firstly, since the .development of the total economv mav help ameliorate the lot
of-tribals, employment-oriented works like the above,
sliO"uldbe continued with much more vigour in 'agriculfural and tertiary sectors. Simultaneously, labourintensive cottige and small scale industries which depend on forests. for their raw materialS, have to be
established in a phased ,manner so fhat a sizeable number of tribal labour could be provided gainful employment ana permanent basis.
21

'1;..' '
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This feature is. based on s*s'

stories 'vlz. achieveme711' gained in various
spheres .of rural development
institutions, experimenters and individuals. There is hardly an argunili,li over the fact that dedication and zeal to
put in hard work can. achieve anything, And one achievement ihspires and shows'
, /I;e,way to others!
.,.~
:: ....
'"
.

bE...iI;n;ers,

~_ ....~t

~,

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t_~,

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.

, ' '.: We hope our esteemed readerrwill send 'u; their own experiences ill the
field so that others can benefit by them to usher in a better life for our rural
people, (Editor)

, Helping women to be self-reliant

,

to take up 'further projects, which will not only he

the trainees to earn a"living or add to family's inca
but also make 'them. socially more usefuL

,.,.,.

"

ITS ,~CEPTION,
Karnataka Welfare Society,
of Chickaballapur, is carrying out various~vities to equip women In various' crafts and was',able
to collect more thanRs, 50,000 'as douation to.run
the training-cum-rehabilitation centres for women.lin
distress durin" the years 1980-81 and 81-82.\, "I':.
, ,d tv

INeE

"'~~'
-C. K. H. DASVo
"
Exec. D/TJt!-~
Karnataka Welfare Sm,~,
Chickaballk/iir

"--

Naujawan Sabha helps in development

The organisation is running two centres, one in

tailoring and the other in sericulture, under the Central
Government Scheme. By.the, end'of 30th November,
1982, 200 women have been' ,trained,in tailoring':iire
provided with ,sewing machin'es,free' of cost; as siich'
every one of them is now able to 'earn :Rs~'6 toRs, :12
per day.
~
. ";"..~
".,f-

The second centre which'imparts seri~ulture:tr~g"

to 40 women in distress is running' anil the trainees
will be rehabilitated in the 10c~Vndustries, "
-"W

".

~-

It is proposed to establish ,such ,centres'in otl,er,

places of State, natnely Kolar:,;Bariga*t; M.ad~,'
Kanakapura, so that more'.and)Dore ii,*uy w6meli"'al "
benefited,
,
,'," , . ' ',',
.'

T, ,mental worklaKen

dedication to developup by the Naujawan Sabha

of, Chak:Kalan in .,Nakodar Block of Jullundur
District, ihe villag~ 'got a special development grant
of'Rs. 1.70 lakhs..from the Punjab Government.
HANKS T~ THE _SELFLESS

'/"

,,'

Chak ,Kalan no", has pucca lanes and drains,

There is a ,Civill Dispensary, a ,Govt, High School
and a Panchayat. Ghar. These institutions have come
up with't6;, active'wbik of the Naujawan Sabha arulr'
the, fu!1.involvel)1Cnt,ofthe villagers themselves, The
villa-geh~s rightiy ear'ned the title of "Model Village".
.

,~
...
t ...

)'

_.",'

Chak Kalan has a historic past.

Kartar Singh
'Babbar,
'a
freedom
fighter,
who
Was
hanged
by the
~~'.',: .:~"'>."' ;'~~,,"",~:\", ~~,"
:Biitish
ii)
1938
for
his
national
activities,
belonged
, Besides, it has been decide<;l;:!(j:.slart::a,vmf"ijlg
ffi"~.
'to ''this' village,' Naujawan Sabha' has raised a statlle
men's hostel at ChickaballapiJr.for 'which ,the murrici'and a library ,jn thc village to perpetuate his memory.
pa.Jityhas given us a bigsite,:,~;h~:ve
appJied}fOi'The::S~bl)a-:is..now. striving to construct a stadium in
the sanction and it is under c"",side,ration,'.', :.~,
m~mor~ of this gfeat)nartyr .
The Org~nisation'has
'~~:~1
.. ~~
..;.
and experience to run t!:Ie.Centres 'SuccessfUllY',and
-DFP, Chandigar~'

f;~ii~ti~s~;~~~'s~~~~_s:

22

"

'~

'~:

:i:

,KURUKSHETRA January 16, 1983

i,

The Bharat Electronics has

launched a massive drive to
accelerate the pace of
indigenisation of electronic
. equiPments.

The. new 20-point programme :

Public'enterprises'
The basic soundness of the policy of assigning a dominant .role to ; the.
public sector has been .demonstrated by the progress made in .the. country
during the last three decades. .The structural transformation that h~ been
brought about would not have been possible but for the initiative taken by
the St<lte, especially in the field of basic and heavy industries. The
State is also instrumental in creating the necessary infrastructure which
is so vital for rapid growth. It. is. this "heavy investment in economic \and
social overheads combined with the vigorous growth of basic and heavy iltdustries in the pub'ic sector thot has forced the pace of industrialisation
and created the necessary
tion in the pl'il'ate sector.

enviroltmeltt for siimu.'ating

industria! produc.~

St(,Ps have been laken

bring structural transformation in the field of
electronics,
(0

.
'J

/'
!

/
~:.:
--

Regd. No. D(DN)/39

(Licenced under U(D)-54 10 post wilhoufprepayment at Civil Lines Post Ollie<: Delhi).

RN 722/5''- -

~.

Public sectOr enterprises

have helPed 10 a'~hieving
lh~goal of self-reliance.

The new 20-pQint

program!J1e':
Public'"enterprises

/'~

~~

Pl,bUe sector
enterprises have mu:tip.'e goals such as tlte achievement of national self-reliance,
import substitutioll, reduction of reglO/wl and soRial imbalances, stahUty of prices, etc. There is
. lIeed for substalltial improveme1!l ill the workiltg of 1he Celtlral OIIdSlale public seftor ulIderlakings,
~ parlicu/ady
Rai:ways, PoslS and Telegraphs, Electricily Boards altd Transporl Corporatians. Tlze
prospeclS of rapid growlh are critically dependellt
Ihe obiiily of p"blic lI,iderli/kings to gelterale
resource;;.- There -is .need to, iJ1lp;O~e,TllmU1gement .practices so as to impart a greater con Cent for
optimai ulilisalio,i of capacily alld highl!r levels'of-efficiet!cy.
Modem teclzniques of projecl mOIl;lor;Ilg attd cOIlSlruclion managemenl will be illlroduced 10 avoid slippages ill lime 'schedules alld cosl
escalatioll. Delegatioll of aUlhority will be promoted. Greater inl'O!>'ement of workers will befoSlered.

0/;

A booster fap worKing

underground.in a mine.

~.
PUBLiSHED
AND

B.Y THE. DIRECTOR.

PRINTED

BY THE

-~l:;:.,iCATIONSDIVISION. ~w DEun~110001

MANAGER. 'i0VERNMENT

OF INDIA.

PI'

FARIDABAD
/