Documenting the risks/ problems existing in the Project Villages with respect to Infrastructure

An Exploratory Study
Submitted By: GauravChandakkar 9/12/2010

Contents
Background ................................................................................................................................................... 3 Problem Identification and Problem Justification ........................................................................................ 4 Review of literature ...................................................................................................................................... 4 Goal and Objectives ...................................................................................................................................... 5 Study Location............................................................................................................................................... 5 Data Collection .............................................................................................................................................. 6 Plan of analysis.............................................................................................................................................. 6 Plan for dissemination .................................................................................................................................. 6 Ethical Considerations................................................................................................................................... 6 Budget ........................................................................................................................................................... 7 Work Schedule .............................................................................................................................................. 9 References .................................................................................................................................................. 10

Background Despite the significant advancement in industrial development in India, Bharat is still not able to enjoy fruits of this advancement. India still has vast amount of population residing villages wherein the economy is still dependent on agro-based activities. With the view of having standard of living for the rural areas similar to that of urban areas, Government of India has undertaken many schemes as well as projects that address rural development issues. To empower grass-root level governance, the role of Gram Panchayat, in implementing almost all the development programs launched by the Government, was made predominant with the 73rd Amendment of the Indian Constitution. The intention of the government was to empower the local bodies to promote micro-level planning, initiate need based development programs and ensure transparency. The reasons for the rural poverty or can be attributed to the lack of resources, lack of confidence among poor people and lack of management for implementing the rural development programs (N.G. Hegde). To sort out the aforementioned problems, apart from mobilizing people, infrastructure development at various levels is equally important in order to balance input cost and expected outcome of development programs. While infrastructure is recognized as a crucial input in development, there is no clear definition of infrastructure according to the current usage of the term in India. Various committees as well authorities, such as Dr. C. Rangarajan commissions notion of infrastructure (2001), Dr. Rakesh Mohan Committees Report (1996), Central Statistical Organization (CSO), Reserve Bank of India (RBI) circular on definition of infrastructure, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), Income Tax (IT) Department, World Bank and the decision of the empowered sub-committee of the Committee on Infrastructure on definition of infrastructure (2008), have tried to define termed and sectors that could be included under infrastructure (Secretariat for Infrastructure, Planning Commission, India). The common sectors included in defining infrastructure are a road/a bridge or a rail system, highway projects, a water supply project, irrigation project, water treatment system, sanitation or sewerage system, solid waste management system, telecommunication services whether basic or cellular, an industrial park or special economic zone, power generation and/ or distribution system, construction relating to projects involving agro-processing and supply of inputs to agriculture, construction of educational institutions and hospitals, housing, oil and gas production, mining and sea port and airport etc. Policies that are designed for infrastructure development have to be dynamic in nature especially at the backdrop of climate change condition. The report named Climate Change and India: 4X4 Assessment that was published by the Indian Network on Climate Change Assessment (INCCA), Government of India in November, 2010 outlines the impact of climate change on the four main sectors viz. Agriculture, Forests, Human Health and Water. When we critically look at these four sectors as well as sectors which are included in defining infrastructure, the need for having dynamic planning for infrastructure development would be clearly understood as all the sectors mentioned earlier would be impacted by the climate change and climate variations. The main

threats presented by climate change to infrastructure assets/ sectors include damage or destruction from extreme events, changes in the pattern of water availability, and effects of high temperature on operating costs (James Neumann, 2009). Problem Identification and Problem Justification Infrastructure, by various definitions, encompasses vast number of fields which are always at center during sustainable development discussions. By its very nature infrastructure invades boundaries of many other fields which are necessary for making village a place better for living. Hence infrastructure when looked at critically helps in adopting holistic view by establishing its links to five capitals viz. economic, natural, human, physical and social of a particular village. The present study is aimed at documenting the risks and/or problems with respect to infrastructure that exist in villages at present. The importance of this exploratory study cannot be overrated but findings of which would feed into formulating strategies for disaster risk reduction and fail safe methods that would be undertaken in the next phase. Review of literature The report published by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD, 2004) give findings of the study that was conducted in four states viz. Gujarat, Punjab Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu for four rural projects and Orissa and Andhra Pradesh for rural bridge projects. The study observed that these projects led to the improvement in access to modern agroeconomic practices, improved accessibility to input market, reduction in the cost of transportation, operating cost and travel time, increased employment availability in terms of mandays per year, net benefit from the investment in rural roads averaged to `2.29 lakh per acre and positive changes in intangible benefits included changes in asset holding pattern, increase in job availability, increased credit absorption, improvement in access to education and health, improved quality of life. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), Women, children and young people perform a substantial part of the work of transportation (water, firewood, bringing the harvest in, grain to the mill, harvest products to market, sick children to the doctor, etc.) While an inadequately developed infrastructure considerably increases demands on people's time and strength, a well-developed infrastructure saves both for other activities. In words of Ursula Schaefer-Preuss, Vice President, Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development, Asian Development Bank (ADB, 2010), Information and Communication Technology has an important role to play in creating an enabling environment by fostering the development of innovative sector policies, strengthening public institutions, and building human resources to improve knowledge and skills. Studies have also been conducted to stress the importance of the electrification of the villages. in terms of economic benefits, electricity can be used for irrigation pumps processing agricultural

outputs, storing perishable agricultural goods etc. It also makes it possible for rural entrepreneurs to start small business. As for social benefits, it allows kids to study at night; it contributes to health as switching from biomass fuels to electricity produces clearer indoor air (Barnes et al, 1997). Availability of electricity also helps in making womans lives better as they can use it for cooking or pumping water thereby giving them more free time for other activities (Hisaya Oda and Yuko Tsujita, 2010). A working paper by Shashanka Bhide et al (2009) observes that there is real paucity of common or village (non-agricultural) land for meeting the housing needs of the poor; whatever little is available is put to stress by challenging demands from other sectors. This leads to the collapse of the governments social housing development program Indira Awas Yojana (IAY). The absence of adequate and comprehensive land records creates a forbidding situation for institutions interested in rural housing finance. Goal and Objectives The aim of the present study is to list down the risks/problems, with respect to the availability of infrastructure in the villages, which people face/ have at present. The objectives are as follows: To document risks/problems with regard to the transport facilities in villages To document risks/problems with regard to the communication facilities in villages To document risks/problems with regard to the waste management facilities in villages To document risks/problems with regard to the availability of electricity in villages To document risks/problems with regard to the housing facilities in villages To document risks/problems with regard to the availability of institution structures such as schools, hospitals, government institutions etc. facilities in villages

Study Location The proposed study will conducted in the Pathar I cluster in Sangamner block of Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra. Ahmednagar district that lies in the direct rain shadow of the Western Ghats is the largest district of Maharashtra covering 5.66% of the area of the state. The Sangamner Pathar I cluster consists of eight villages. According to the baseline survey conducted by an organization, the whole cluster covers an area of about 6325 hectares. The total population including all the villages is about 8215 out of which 48% are females.

Data Collection The data collection will be done through participatory exercise in which risks/problems will be identified by the villagers themselves. The idea is to have a group of participants who will list out the existing risks/problems related to infrastructure they face in their daily lives which may also include preference ranking by the participants. The whole exercise will be facilitated by the researcher. The data collection will also include observation as one of the tools. This would be helpful in collecting the first hand information about the infrastructure facilities available in these villages. Occasionally interviews of the respondents will also be conducted, if necessary, in order to understand more about particular risk(s)/ problem faced by the entire community or a section of the community. Plan of analysis Data collected through participatory exercise will be analyzed with the help of ANTHROPAC, which is a menu-driven DOS program application. The program helps in analyzing data including freelists, pilesorts, paired comparison and ratings. Data collected by observation and interviews will also be analyzed and supplemented for triangulation purpose. Plan for dissemination The present study is a part of the larger study for documenting the risks/ problems related to infrastructure, health, social sphere, livelihoods, finance and natural domains that exists at present in all the study villages. Hence the findings of present study will directly feed into this larger study report. These findings will also help in designing disaster risk reduction strategies and safe fail methods, which will be taken up in the next stage. Ethical Considerations The purpose of the study will be made clear to all the participants and respondents before data collection starts. Prior consent will be taken from all the participants and respondents before making use of data given by them.

Budget I. Manpower Requirement Number of persons required 1 1 (at each village) Salary (Rs.) Total (Rs.)

Particulars Principal Investigator Field support staff

10000 10000 1500 per field staff 12000 per village Principal investigator will be involved throughout the period and 75% of his work hours will be denoted for this particular research project. One field investigators will denote 25% of their work hours towards this research project. They will be required for initial rapport building and holding a community meeting.

II. Training of researcher Particulars Cost (Rs.) One day training for researcher on how to 2500 collect data through participatory exercise as well as how to use ANTHROPAC program for analyzing the data. A one day training program will be arranged for the researchers in order to brief them about participatory methods for data collection. Training will also involve some of the PRA techniques which will be used in data collection. Researchers will also be briefed on ANTHROPAC program and the kind of data that is required in order to use this program. III. Travel Expenses Particulars Traveling DA

Cost (Rs.) 5000 5000

This research will involve extensive traveling in eight villages.

IV. Miscellaneous Expenses Particulars This will include any miscellaneous expenses that will be incurred during the research

Cost (Rs.) 5000

V. Administration cost Particulars Cost (Rs.) Administrative cost 2835 Researcher will require continuous support from administration department for the entire study period.

VI. Dissemination cost Particulars Cost (Rs.) The dissemination at this stage will be only at 1000 organizational level Dissemination of the findings will be done at organization level and accordingly next stage of the project will be planned. Total budget estimated for the research project= ` 43,335

Work Schedule Month Task Making instruments for data collection and preliminary testing of the same After 10th of January till 26th of January In the first week of February It will take minimum 16 days of field work First week of April Second week of April Second week of April January February March April

Training of researcher

Data Collection

Data processing, analysis and interpretation

Report writing and submission of final report

Dissemination of findings

References

(n.d.). Retrieved 12 9, 2010, from Food and Agriculture Organization: http://www.fao.org/inpho/content/documents/vlibrary/gtzhtml/x0285e/2.htm (WOTR), W. O. (2009). Feasibility Study Report. Pune: Watershed Organization Trust. Douglas Barnes, R. v. (1997). Tackling the Rural Energy Problems in Developing Countries. Finance and Development , 34. Hegde, N. G. (1999). Development of Infrastructure for Rural Prosperity. Proc. of the National Seminar on Rural Prosperity and Agriculture: Policies and Strategies. Infrastructure and Institutional Support (pp. 1-5). Hyderabad: National Institute of Rural Development. Importance of the Role of ICT for Development. (n.d.). Retrieved 12 9, 2010, from ADB (Asian Development Bank): http://www.adb.org/Documents/Speeches/2010/ms2010028.asp (2004). Infrastructure for Agriculture and Rural Development. Department of Economic Analysis & Research. Mumbai: National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development. Secretariat for Infrastructure, P. C. (n.d.). Definition of Infrastructure. Retrieved 12 9, 2010, from Secretariat for Infrastructure, Planning Commission: http://infrastructure.gov.in/ Neumann, J. (2009). Adaptation to Climate Change: Revisiting Infrstructure Norms. Washington DC: Resources for the Future. Shashanka Bhide, D. G. (2009, November). Roof Above the Head. Tsujita, H. O. (2010). The determinants of rural electrification in Bihar, India. Institute of Developing Economics.