Nird

Journal of
Rural Development
Vol. 31 April - June 2012 No. 2
CONTENTS
1. Factors Influencing Wage Structure of Handloom Workers in Assam 139
Alin Borah Bortamuly, Kishor Goswami
2. Institutional Arrangements for Farmland Development : The Case of Ethiopia 151
Abayineh Amare Woldeamanuel, Fekadu, Beyene Kenee
3. Employment of Rural Women In Sericulture - An Empirical Analysis 163
S. Lakshmanan
4. Indias Total Sanitation Campaign : Is it on the Right Track? 173
Progress and Issues of TSC in Andhra Pradesh
M. Snehalatha, V. Anitha
5. Political Inclusion and Participation of Women in 193
Local Governance : A Study in Karnataka
N. Sivanna, K.G. Gayathridevi
6. Risk Management and Rural Employment in Hill Farming - 211
A Study of Mandi District of Himachal Pradesh
Vinod Kumar, R.K. Sharma , K.D. Sharma
7. Impact of Micro-finance on Poverty : A Study of Twenty 223
Self-Help Groups in Nalbari District, Assam
Prasenjit Bujar Baruah
8. Capacity Building through Women Groups 245
Santhosh Kumar S.
BOOK REVIEWS
1. Social Relevance of Higher Learning Institutions 245
by G. Palanithurai
Dr. S.M. Ilyas
2. Economic Liberalisation and Indian Agriculture : A District Level Study 246
by Bhalla, G.S. and Gurmail Singh
Dr. V. Suresh Babu
3. Horticulture for Tribal Development 247
by R.N. Hegde and S.D. Suryawanshi
Dr. V. Suresh Babu
4. Women Empowerment through Literacy Campaign : Role of Social Work 248
by Jaimon Varghese
Dr. G. Valentina
5. Development of Special Economic Zones in India 249
Edited by M. Soundarapandian
Dr. C. Dheeraja
6. Bureaucracy and Rural Development in Mizoram 251
by Harendra Sinha
Pradip Kumar Nath
7. Rural Development Administration in India 253
by N.Sreeramulu
Dr. R. Murugesan
8. Land Policies for Inclusive Growth 254
Edited by T. Haque
Dr. Ch. Radhika Rani
Alin Borah Bortamuly,
Kishor Goswami
*
FACTORS INFLUENCING WAGE
STRUCTURE OF HANDLOOM
WORKERS IN ASSAM
Journal of Rural Development, Vol. 31, No. (2) pp. 139 - 150
NIRD, Hyderabad.
*
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur,
West Bengal -721302, E-mail: kishor@hss.iitkgp.ernet.in
ABSTRACT
The removal of import quota restriction for textile products opened up new
avenues and challenges for the Indian handloom industry, which infused competition
in recent years. As majority of the workers in the industry are women, who work mostly
as weavers, reelers and helpers, such competition often influences the nature and
pattern of earnings of women workers. Therefore, the present study attempts to
analyse the factors influencing the wage structure of the handloom industry from a
gender perspective. It examines the wage differential with respect to gender as well
as type of work the workers are entrusted with. The study is based on primary data
collected from 300 respondents in 13 districts in Assam. Multiple regression technique
is used to analyse the data. The results show that in case of contractual workers, there
is no gender discrimination in wages, whereas it is found in case of monthly rated
workers. Productivity of the workers is found to be significant both for monthly rated
as well as contractual workers. Factors like education and experience do not have any
significant influence on the wage structure of the workers in the handloom industry
in Assam. Thus, the government machinery should address the gender wage
discrimination for monthly rated weavers and reelers, and back up support facilities
for contractual workers of the industry in the State. The present study greatly extends
our understanding of the wage earnings scenario in Assams handloom sector from
gender perspective.
Introduction
The removal of trade restrictions in
textile sector from January 1, 2005 infused
more competition among countries such as
China, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and
others. These countries were initially affected
by Cotton Textile Agreement (CTA) and
thereafter by the Multi- Fibre Agreement (MFA)
of 1974 and the Agreement on Textile and
Clothing (ATC) of 1994. However, removal of
such restrictions infused intense competition
among the countries to expand their market
share. As a result, the Indian handloom industry
which is a part of the textile industry had to
face severe competition. As majority of the
workers in the industry are women, who work
mostly as weavers, reelers, and helpers, such
competition often influences the nature and
pattern of earnings of women workers more.
The industry is beset with manifold problems
such as obsolete technology, unorganised
producti on system, l ow producti vi ty,
inadequate working capital, conventional
140 Alin Borah Bortamuly, Kishor Goswami
Journal of Rural Development, Vol. 31, No. 2, April - June : 2012
product range, weak marketing link, overall
stagnation of production and sales, and above
all competition from powerloom and mill
sector (Sudalaimuthu and Devi, 2006). Women
in the industry share enormous work burden
with no commensurate compensation system.
Their living and working conditions are a
serious concern in many parts of India.
Whenever the industry is in crisis, the burden
of carrying through the crisis is mostly on
women weavers. Such burdens increase their
physical, psychological and social stress
(Reddy, 2006). Women weavers have been the
principal stabilisation force through years of
crises and problems for the handloom sector.
The pattern of employment has seen a
remarkabl e change worl dwi de after
globalisation. For example, the employment
in UK is increasingly taking a variety of work
time, benefits and entitlements are put
together for different groups of workers. The
growth i n sub-contracti ng and the
rationalisation of marginal activities by firms
and public agencies produced a situation in
which many workers, previously in secure jobs,
now face regular employment on a more
precarious contract labour basis (Allen and
Henry, 2001). Standing (1992) referred to this
trend as the growing contractualisation of
employment. In a similar manner, in India too,
there has been a clear indication of workforce
restructuring in the handloom industry in the
recent years. Analysing the textile and apparel
industry in India, Ramaswamy (2008) found
that those who were regular workers became
contractual workers in a number of cases along
with the new hires in the textile industry. In
the context of wage differentials in Textile and
Apparel, he found that the relative wage
disparity in Textile and Apparel has not
worsened in the years of greater global trade
participation. There was improvement in
relative position of female workers; male
workers were getting the same wage rate as
that in average urban informal sector industries.
Other employment benefits have declined as
suggested by the growth of contractual labour.
Thus, with the removal of quota restrictions,
there is a considerable change in the job and
wage pattern. Therefore, the present study
attempts to analyse the factors influencing the
wage structure of the handloom industry. It
examines the wage differential with respect
to gender as well as type of work the workers
are entrusted with.
Wage Differential and Factors Influencing
Wage Structure
Wage differential reflects discrimination
as well as differences in productivity related
factors such as education, training, and
experience (Bonnie & Harrison, 2005). It may
be the difference in wage between workers
with different skills working in the same
industry, or workers with similar skills working
in different industries or regions. Wage
differential with respect to gender means
whether there is any difference in the wages
of male and female workers with respect to
the work they are entrusted wi th. The
persistence of wage differentials between
males and females can be postulated from a
few theoretical standpoints involving both
competitive and non-competitive settings
within the labour market. Traditional human
capital explanations of wage differentials
involve two approaches based on free-market
setting. One is the competitive case, where
individual learnings are set according to the
labour market supply and demand interaction
under a flexible wage regime. In this case, the
i ndi vi dual s abi l i ty, ski l l acqui si ti on,
qualifications possessed, and productivity
levels together influence earnings. Another
approach under the competitive setting is the
efficiency wage effect, where firm sets wages
according to workers productivity and often
common in capital intensive (relatively high
technology) occupations, especially those
involving high skilled labour force (Darity,
1991; Dickens & Katz, 1987).
Factors Influencing Wage Structure of Handloom Workers in Assam ... 141
Several studi es are conducted
considering the concept of gender wage
differential at national and international levels.
Norsworthy (2003) said that women typically
earn lower wages than men for the same job.
Si mi l arly, Beri k et al . (2004) found that
competi ti on from forei gn trade i n
concentrated industries is positively associated
with wage discrimination against women.
Research on rural-urban gender wage gap
shows that, in comparison to urban zones, rural
areas have persistently lower incomes and
higher unemployment and underemployment
rates, especially for women (Stabler, 1999;
Lichter and Costanzo, 1987). Most notably,
women at the lower end of the income
distribution suffer the highest degree of
discrimination (Gerry et al., 2004). Most of the
studies which explain and measure the extent
of Russias gender wage gap since transition
were largely based on the Oaxaca- Blinder
(1973) decomposi ti on i n whi ch wage
equations are estimated separately for men
and women in order to allow for different
gender rewards to a set of producti ve
characteristics (Fairlie, 2003). The male
female wage differential is explained in terms
of the difference in average endowments
evaluated at the male (female) pay structure
and the difference in returns evaluated at the
female (male) average endowment. Thus, in
the absence of discrimination, men and
women will have the same return for similar
endowments, and hence the latter difference
is interpreted as discrimination (Gerry et. al.,
2004).
In an exceptional study conducted by
Cobb-Clark and Tan (2011), it was found that
non-cognitive skills have a substantial effect
on the probability of employment in many,
though not all, occupations in ways they differ
by gender. Consequently, men and women
wi th si mi l ar non-cogni ti ve ski l l s enter
occupati ons at di fferent rates. Women,
however, have lower wages on average not
because they work in different occupations
than men do, rather they earn less than their
male colleagues employed in the same
occupati on. On bal ance, womens non-
cognitive skills give them a slight wage
advantage. Thus, gender wage gap in particular
is often attributed to gender segregation
across occupations, industries or jobs (Blau and
Kahn, 2000; Groshen, 1991; Mumford and
Smith, 2007). This is because male jobs are
generally associated with higher wages, better
benefits, and more training opportunities.
Occupational segregation may result in an
overall gender wage gap, even if there is no
wage disparity between men and women in
the same occupation (Miller, 1994; Preston and
Whitehouse, 2004; Robinson, 1998). Others
however, argue that occupational segregation
may be relatively unimportant for womens
wages (Baron and Cobb- Cl ark, 2010).
Analysing the garment sector in West Bengal,
Ganguly (2006) found that the female workers
earn half the wage than that of male workers.
However, analysing the impact of globalisation
of silk industry in North East India, Goswami
(2006) observed lower wage discrimination
in handloom trade, since the works are mostly
done on contractual basis.
There are a host of literature on the
concept of wage structure and its determining
factors. Examining the determinants of urban
wages in China, Appleton et al., (2005) found
increased returns to education but a decrease
in returns to experience. Based on the notion
of efficiency wages, Harrison (2004) found a
two-tier situation that explains why rural wage
rates vary widely among workers and across
regions. He used factors such as number of
dependents, tri bal affi l i ati on wi th the
enterprises manager, sex, tenure, location,
marital status, education, incentives, per capita
cultivated land, season, land irrigation, price
level, etc., in his study on wage discrimination
in rural agricultural environment. Similarly,
working on the important determinants of
wages in Russias transition economy, Ogloblin
and Brock (2005) used factors like education,
experience, on the job training, tenure, etc.
They also considered factors that help to
capture the firm specific factors like industry,
type of firm ownership, occupation, and size
of the firm with two other variables like marital
status and secondary employment. Richard
(2007) mentioned that a lot of studies linking
gender and labour markets were conducted
in the developed world, whereas developing
countries have very few empirical studies.
Therefore, to examine the male- female wage
determination and gender discrimination in
Uganda, he used factors like age, monthly
wages, education, marital status, urban
residence, number of children, non-wage
payment and regions. The results implied that
education is particularly important for females
in order to increase their earnings and thus
has implications for poverty reduction efforts.
The Handloom Industry and the
Categories of Workers
Centre of attention of the present study
is the handloom industry in Assam. This is one
of the important States in the North-East (NE)
India. The NE States together have the highest
concentration of handlooms in the country.
Over 53 per cent of the looms in the country
and more than 50 per cent of the weavers
belong to the North-Eastern States (Ministry
of Textiles, 2010). The State contributes 99 per
cent of Muga silk and 63 per cent of Eri silk in
countrys total production of Muga and Eri,
respectively (India Brand Equity Foundation,
2010). The industry for generations has been
the major source of additional income for the
rural women of Assam. More than 60 per cent
of the workers are women in the industry
(Goswami, 2006).
The present study categori ses the
workers into weavers, reelers, and helpers.
Weavers here are ei ther contractual or
monthly. They normally use fly shuttle or throw
shuttle in Assamese type of loom. Apart from
them, there are two other types of workers,
namely reelers and helpers. Reelers are
involved in reeling activities in the industry
and are either contractual or monthly workers.
Helpers are mostly monthly workers and their
work is to assist the weavers. About one-third
of Assams 1.2 million weavers are organised
into about 3,744 societies registered under
handloom cooperative societies (Assam
Agricultural Competitiveness Project, 2008).
Single loom household units are common in
the State. Silk weaving is performed in almost
all the districts in Assam. The major weaving
districts of vanya (wild) silks are Kamrup (Rural),
Nalbari, Udalguri, Baksa, Kokrajhar, Nagaon,
Morigaon, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Golaghat, and
Mangaldoi. Products like silk, gamochas (towel),
sari s, mekhel a-chadar, scar ves, shawl s,
wrappers, etc., are produced for domestic as
wel l as commerci al purposes (Assam
Agricultural Competitiveness Project, 2008).
Sources of Data and Research Methodology
The study used both pri mary and
secondary data. Pri mary data of 300
respondents producing handloom products
were collected from 11 districts in Assam
through uniformly designed structured
interview schedule during June to October,
2010. Focus group discussions (FGDs) were
carried out to collect in-depth information and
to cross-verify a few parameters. Secondary
data were collected from different secondary
sources such as Assam Khadi and Village
Industries Board (AKVIB), Central Silk Board
(CSB), Assam Apex Weavers Arti sans
Cooperati ve Federati on Ltd (ARTFED),
Directorate of Sericulture, Government of
Assam, and Block Development Offices.
Respondent in the present study is
considered as the unit of analysis. The districts,
blocks, and villages were selected through
purposive sampling depending upon intensity
of workers and weaving activities. However,
the respondents in the selected villages were
identified through random sampling method.
Multiple regression of the following log-linear
form is used to study the influences of
different factors on the wage of the workers
in the industry.
LnW = lnA +
1
lnX
1
+
2
lnX
2
+
3
lnX
3
+
4
lnX
4
+
5
lnX
5
+ e
i
Where,
W

= Wage of the i
th
respondent (weavers or
reelers or helpers),
X
1
= Sex dummy of the i
th
respondent, 1 for
male and 0 for female,
X
2
= Work experience of the i
th
respondent,
X
3
= Productivity of the i
th
respondent in
value terms,
X
4
= Number of years the i
th
respondent
spent in school,
X
5
= Age of the i
th
respondent, and
e
i
= Error term.
The descriptive statistics of the factors used in
the model are presented in Table 1.
Table 1: Descriptive Statistics of the Factors Influencing Wage of Contractual Weavers,
Monthly Weavers, Monthly Reelers and Helpers in Handloom Industry in Assam
Average Values
Factors Unit of Contractual Monthly Monthly Helpers
Measurement Weavers Weavers Reelers (N = 38)
(N = 151) (N = 55) (N = 13)
Annual Rupees 24,978.81 29,827.27 8,744.74 12,092.31
Income (7,695.75) (17,215.76) (6,471.80) (8,824.44)
Sex 1 for male, 0.23 0.12 0.05 0.54
Dummy 0 for female (0.42) (0.33) (0.22) (0.52)
Work Years 8.12 11.98 12.5 8.07
Experience (6.24) (7.53) (7.36) (8.65)
Productivity Rupees/ 63.17 98.85 46.73 42.15
Days (18.21) (62.46) (33.08) (30.17)
Education Years 6.02 5.62 3.92 4.15
(4.21) (3.52) (4.00) (3.65)
Age Years 27.95 31.81 35.34 25.77
(6.87) (8.44) (7.71) (13.15)
Note: Figures in parentheses represent standard deviation.
The productivity of a worker in the study
is measured by the annual income of the
workers generated from such activities divided
by the number of productive days of the
worker. The number of productive days is
measured by daily working hours multiplied
by the number of working days and divided
by eight hours. Separate regression is run for
the contractual weavers, monthly weavers,
monthl y reel ers, and hel pers. However,
because of poor number of responses (only
13), our attempt to analyse the influence of
different factors on wage of the helpers is
dropped. Although the number of respondents
in the category of monthly rated reelers is only
38, to throw some light in our analysis, we
considered the category for further analysis.
Results and Discussion
The influence of different factors on
wage structure of the contractual workers in
the handloom industry in Assam is presented
in Table 2. The sample size of the contractual
weavers is 151. The influences of different
factors on annual wage of the contractual
weavers are estimated by using ordinary least
square (OLS) technique. The value of F test in
OLS estimation indicates that the model is
significant at 1 per cent level with an F value
of 26.19. The value of R
2
is 0.50, which reveals
that the model explains 50 per cent of the
variation in average annual wage of the
contractual weavers.
In the handloom industry in Assam, wage
of a contractual weaver does not depend on
sex of the individual and sex dummy is found
to be not significant in case of contractual
weavers having a P value of 0.96. It is found in
most of the cases during primary data collection
that a male or a female weaver earns the same
wage for the same kind of work, if the work is
contractual. This finding is similar to the
Table 2 : Factors Influencing the Wage of Contractual
Weavers in Handloom Industry in Assam
Explanatory Factors Coefficients Robust Standard Error t-Statistics P>|t| VIF
Constant 7.256 0.460 15.78 0.000
Sex Dummy 0.002 0.048 0.05 0.962 1.27
Work Experience -0.001 0.025 -0.03 0.980 1.56
Productivity 0 .768 0.075 10.28 0.000 1.02
Education Level -0.093 0.018 -0.92 0.358 1.03
Age -0.093 0.088 -1.06 0.292 1.36
R
2
0. 501
Adjusted R
2
0.484
F Value (5, 145) 26.19
Observations 151
Durbin Watson 1.669
Note: i) Dependent variable is annual wage of the contractual weavers.
ii) 1%, 5% and 10% level of significance are considered.
findings of Goswami (2006), who observed
lower wage discrimination in the silk industry
in Assam. On the other hand, work experience
of a contractual weaver is found to be not
significant having a P value of 0.98. This implies
that the wage of a contractual weaver is less
dependent on experience of the weaver. It
means that, i rrespecti ve of the work
experience of the weaver, his or her wages
will depend mostly on the factors other than
his or her work experience. A weaver who
completes a stipulated amount of work in a
gi ven ti me gets more wage than an
experienced weaver who does lesser work in
the same time.
The influence of productivity on wage
structure of the contractual weavers is found
to be significant at 1 per cent level with a P
value of 0.000, which implies that, other
factors keeping constant, 1 per cent increase
in productivity leads to a 0.77 per cent increase
in wages of the contractual weavers. It means
that more the productivity of the worker, more
will be the increment in the contractual
weavers wages. In contrast, the influence of
education on the wage of the contractual
weaver is not significant (P = 0.36). This implies
that, whether the weaver is more qualified or
less, he or she will earn the same wage for the
same kind of work. As also found in FGDs, it is
the efficiency of the worker that matters in
the handloom industry in Assam rather than
his or her educational qualification. In other
words, what matters is his or her capability to
produce more in less time. Similarly, age of
the contractual weaver is also found to be not
significant on the annual wage of the weaver.
The VIFs (Variance Inflation Factor) of all the
independent factors are less than 1.6. This
implies that the multicollinearity problem
among the factors is almost negligible in the
above model.
An attempt is also made to see the
influences of the above mentioned factors on
the wage structure of the monthly rated
weavers. The sample size of the monthly rated
weavers was 55. The influences of different
factors on annual wage of the monthly rated
weavers were esti mated by usi ng OLS
technique. The model is significant at 1 per
cent level with an F value of 17.14 ( Table 3).
Table 3: Factors Influencing the Wage of Monthly Rated Weavers
in Handloom Industry in Assam
Constant 7.714 1.365 5.65 0.000
Sex Dummy 0 .432 0.160 2.71 0.009 1.09
Work Experience -0.085 0.099 0.86 0.393 1.75
Productivity 0 .653 0.201 3.25 0.002 1.19
Education Level -0.086 0.081 1.06 0.293 1.04
Age -0.074 0.336 0.22 0.826 1.60
R
2
0.418
Adjusted R
2
0.359
F Value (5, 49) 17.14
Observations 55
Durbin Watson 1.075
Note : i) Dependent variable is annual wage of the monthly rated weavers.
The value of R
2
is 0.42, which reveals that the
model explains 42 per cent of the total
variation in average annual wage of the
monthly rated weavers. It is found that the
influence of the factor sex on wage structure
of the monthly rated weaver is found to be
significant at 1 per cent level, which implies
that, other factors keeping constant, if the
respondent is a male, his average wage will
be more by 0.43 per cent. It is found in FGDs
that, if the weaver is hired on monthly basis,
for the same kind of job, a female weaver earns
relatively less than a male weaver. Since the
females also have domestic chores apart from
the weaving works, if given a choice, the
owners are reluctant to hire them on the same
monthly wage rate as that of male. Analysing
the implications of the neo-liberal reforms on
workers in the Indian garment industry in the
era of post-multi-fibre arrangement, Ganguly
(2006) also found that, in West Bengal, women
workers are paid much lesser than male
workers. Thus, in case of contractual weavers,
it is found that a male or female weaver will
earn the same wage for the same kind of work
related to weaving. Whereas, in case of
monthly rated weaver, a female weaver will
earn relatively less than a male weaver for the
same nature of job.
Anal ysi ng the i nfl uence of work
experience on monthly rated weaver, it is
found that the length of experience of monthly
rated weavers has no bearing on their wage. It
is found during FGDs that the owner fixes a
standard wage for workers who have
experience beyond a certain threshold level.
Owners are indifferent towards experience
beyond that level. Threshold level here means
a minimum level of work experience that an
owner looks for in a worker. It is mostly three
years in the study area as observed in FGDs.
These results are similar to the results found
in case of contractual weavers, where work
experience is also found to be not significant
on the wage structure of the weaver.
Looking at the influence of productivity
on wage structure of the monthly rated
weavers, it is found that the productivity has a
posi ti ve i nfl uence on the wage and i s
significant at 1 per cent level of significance.
This implies that, other factors keeping
constant, 1 per cent increase in productivity
leads to a 0.65 per cent increase in wages of a
monthly rated weaver ( Table 3). It means that
more the productivity of the monthly rated
weaver, more will be the increment in the
monthly rated weavers wage. It is observed
in the study area that the owners keep track
of monthly productivity of the monthly rated
workers based on their daily contribution to
their output. This implies that, if an owner
observes that a worker works for relatively
more than a stipulated period per day (usually
8 hours), then the owner prefers to reward
him with an increment in his wages. The
influence of productivity is very much similar
to that of contractual weavers. Thus, the
productivity of the workers is found to have a
significant influence on the wages of both
contractual as well as monthly rated weavers.
Whether the weaver is contractual or monthly
rated, an increase in productivity will bring
about an increment in his or her wages. In
contrast, the effect of education level on wage
of the monthly rated weavers is not significant.
Thus, it is found that the wages of both
contractual and monthly rated weavers will not
si gni fi cantl y depend on educati onal
qualification of the weavers. The influence of
age of the monthly rated weaver on annual
wage is also found to be not significant. Similar
result was also found in case of contractual
weavers. VIFs of all the independent variables
are 1. 75 or l ess. Thi s i mpl i es that the
multicollinearity problem among the factors
is almost negligible in the above model.
An attempt is also made to see the
influence of the factors on wage of the
monthly rated reelers. The sample size of the
reelers in the study is 38. The influence of
Table 4: Factors Influencing the Wage of Monthly Rated
Reelers in Handloom Industry in Assam
Constant 6.773 0.881 7.69 0.000
Sex Dummy 0.554 0.399 1.39 0.175 1.14
Work Experience -0.042 0.085 -0.50 0.621 1.33
Productivity 0.490 0.193 2.55 0.016 1.37
Education Level 0.015 0.075 0.20 0.840 1.40
Age 0.119 0.247 0.48 0.635 1.38
R
2
0.525
Adjusted R
2
0.452
F Value (5, 32) 4.24
Observations 38
Durbin Watson 1.212
Note : i) Dependent variable is annual wage of the monthly rated reelers.
different factors on wage of the reelers was
estimated by using OLS technique. The model
is significant at 1 per cent level with an F value
of 4.24 (Table 4). The value of R
2
is 0.53, which
reveals that the model explains 53 per cent of
the variation in the annual average wage of
the reelers. It is found that the influence of
the factor sex on wage structure of the
monthly rated reeler is not significant. It
means that a male or female reeler will earn
similar wage for a similar nature of work.
Analysing the influence of work experience
on wage of the reelers, it is found that the
length of experience has no significant
influence on wage of a reeler. The owners
mostly fix a standard wage for reelers who have
experience beyond a certain threshold level
and they are indifferent towards experience
beyond that level. Mentioned earlier, threshold
level here means a minimum level of work
experience that an owner looks for in a worker.
This is mostly 3 years, as observed in the study
area.
Looking at the effect of productivity on
wage structure of monthly rated reelers, it is
found that productivity has a positive influence
and is significant at 1 per cent level. This
implies that, other factors keeping constant, 1
per cent increase in productivity leads to a 0.49
per cent increase in wage. It means that more
the productivity of a reeler, more will be the
increment in his or her wage. As it is observed
in the study area, in case of reelers also owners
keep a track on monthly productivity of the
reelers based on their daily contribution to
output. This implies that, if an owner observes
a worker working for relatively more than a
stipulated period per day (usually 8 hours), then
the owner prefers to reward him with an
increment in his wage. These results are very
much similar to the results we found in case
of contractual as well as monthly rated
weavers. Thus, the productivity of the reelers
is found to have a significant effect on wages
of the contractual weavers, monthly rated
weavers as well as on wages of the reelers.
The influence of the level of education on
wage of a reeler is not significant. This implies
that education does not have any significant
effect on reelers wages. Thus, it is found that
the wages of the contractual weavers,
monthly weavers as well as reelers will not
depend much on the number of years the
worker spent in school. Reelers age is also
found to have an insignificant influence on
their annual wage. Similar results are found in
case of contractual as well as monthly rated
weavers. The VIFs of all the independent factors
are 1. 4 or l ess. Thi s i mpl i es that the
multicollinearity problem among the factors
is almost negligible in the above model.
From the results it is established that
there is hardly any gender discrimination in
case of contractual workers in Assam. The
women contractual workers are capable of
earning more than their male counterparts, if
they finish a particular work within a stipulated
period of time. As observed in FGDs, few of
the contractual reelers are found in Palasbari
(in Kamrup district of Assam), who are capable
of earning more than the reelers engaged in
the i ndustri es on monthl y basi s. These
contractual workers are in a position to work
for longer duration. It is also found in the FGDs
that the employment pattern in the handloom
industry in Assam has shifted from monthly
rated system to contractual system during last
15 years. Similar pattern was also found by
Ramaswamy (2008) in his study on the Textile
and Apparel industry at all India level. In
comparison to contractual weavers, in case of
monthly rated weavers and monthly rated
reelers, wage discrimination is found.
Conclusions
With the elimination of import quota
restriction and expansion of trade, wage
structure in the handloom industry in Assam
has taken a contractual pattern. Among the
factors such as age, producti vi ty, sex,
experience, and education, it is found that only
the productivity of the workers influence
wage structure of the contractual workers
significantly. In contrast, in case of monthly
rated weavers, along with productivity, gender
(sex) of the respondents influence significantly
on their wages. Gender wage disparity is found
crucial for monthly rated weavers and reelers.
Thus, government machinery should come out
heavily on addressing the problems related to
gender wage discrimination in monthly rated
weavers and reelers, and back up support
facilities for contractual workers of the industry
in the State.
Notes
1
Horizontal segregation refers to the distribution of women and men across occupations.
Vertical segregation refers to the distribution of men and women in the job hierarchy in
terms of status and occupation (Randriamaro, 2005).
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Abayineh Amare Woldeamanuel*
Fekadu Beyene Kenee**
INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS
FOR FARMLAND DEVELOPMENT :
THE CASE OF ETHIOPIA
NIRD, Hyderabad.
* Jimma University, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Department of Rural Development,
P.O. Box. 307 Jimma, Ethiopia.
** College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Department of Rural Development, P.O.Box.161,
Haramaya, Ethiopia.
The authors thank Ministry of Education for financing the research work, special thanks to Amigna District
Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development for their generous cooperation during data collection,
also thank Alemayehu Amare who was involved in organising and facilitating data collection in the
household survey. Special thanks go to all households who responded to the questions.
ABSTRACT
Land is an asset of enormous importance for billions of rural dwellers in the
developing world. Increased land access for the poor can also bring direct benefits of
poverty alleviation, not least by contributing directly to increased household food
security. In countries where agriculture is a main economic activity (e.g. Ethiopia),
access to land is a fundamental means whereby the poor can ensure household food
supplies and generate income. Therefore, this study aimed to sketch-out institutional
arrangements to get access to farmland and to empirically examine institutional
mechanisms to settle dispute arising from contracting farmland in Amigna district.
The result revealed that land rental markets appeared to be the dominant
institutional arrangement to get access to farmland next to Peasant Association
allocated arrangement. This created breathing space for short-term land acquisition
for landless and/or nearly landless farm households. Moreover, the dominant
transactions took place among a neighbour followed by transfers between friends in
the same peasant association, and relatives in the same peasant association. The
foregoing discussion with key informants revealed that such transfers are informal
and there are no formal rules and regulations to enforce land transfers to reduce high
risk that may arise from these transactions. Regarding the mechanisms used by the
sample respondents in order to resolve disputes, farmers claimed their rights through
local elders, religious leaders, and local institutions. This may be due to the perception
of legal uncertainty over landholdings particularly in the case of rental contracts,
which existed informally. Therefore, policy and development interventions should
give emphasis to improvement of such institutional arrangements that create venue
for land access.
Introduction
Questions about land markets are central
to development policy, as underlined recently
in 2008 World Development Report. The policy
immensely advocates liberal reform that
attempted to fortify private markets (primarily
152 Abayineh Amare Woldeamanuel, Fekadu Beyene Kenee
via rentals) in a way that enhance efficiency
and equity outcomes (World Bank, 2007).
Over the past two decades a wave of
proposals for land tenure reform in many
African countries raised questions about land
markets as a means of allocating land that have
profound political and economic implications
(Toulmin and Quan, 2000). However, until late
twentieth century, it was a perception of land
as being relatively abundant due to low
population densities in many parts of the
continent that influenced policy makers views
to give little attention for land markets in
development policy (Deninger and Feder,
2001).
Ethiopia is one of the largest countries in
Africa both in terms of land area (1.1 million
km
2
) and population (about 74 million).
Ethi opi an economy i s based mai nly on
agriculture which provides employment for 85
per cent of the labour force and accounts for a
little over 50 per cent of the GDP and about
90 per cent of export revenue (CSA, 2007).
Demeke (1999) and Belay and Manig (2004)
noted that access to land is an important issue
for the majority of Ethiopian people who, in
one way or the other, depend on agricultural
production for their income and subsistence.
Similarly, FAO (2002) pointed out that in areas
where other income opportunities are limited
(for example, rural non-farm employment
creation); access to land determines not only
household level of living and livelihood, but
also food security. The extent to which
individuals and families are able to be food
secure depends i n l arge part on the
opportunities they have to increase their
access to assets such as land.
However, as population grows, the
pressure on l and i s i ncreasi ng and
opportunities of getting land for allocating to
newly emerging households are quite limited
since then. As a result of increasing population
of young farmers who are often landless, there
will be unbalanced resource endowment
(Bezabih et al., 2005). In Ethiopia, the average
landholding is only about one hectare per
household and the population growth rate is
creating increasing pressure on land and other
natural resources (CSA, 2007). Nevertheless,
it is also felt that in area of no frequent land
redistribution, there is a skewed landholding
pattern that mi ght have resul ted i n
landlessness (Bruce, 1994; Hussein, 2001). The
cumulative effect of skewed landholding
pattern, heterogenei ty i n resource
endowment, and uncertainties and limitations
in credit and other markets leads to the
emergence of informal land transactions and
the opportunities to trade and exchange factor
endowments ( Teklu, 2004; Freeman et al.,
1996).
In Ethiopia, land has been owned by the
state since 1975. Following the 1975 land
reform proclamation, the derge regime (1975-
1991) prohibited both fixed cash rental and
sharecropping tenancy relations. The current
government lifted these restrictions (however,
the duration and area of land supplied to the
markets are limited) and at present there are
different institutional arrangements in place
that help to get access to farmland (Belay,
2004; Yared, 1995).
The objectives of the study were:
* To explore institutional arrangements
that facilitate access to farmland and
* To examine institutional mechanisms to
enforce rental contracts.
Framework of Analysis
This study was designed in the lines of
Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD)
framework developed by Ostrom et al. (1994).
The anal ysi s consi sts of three major
components such as initial conditions, action
plan, and outcomes. The initial conditions, in
this study context, refer to a set of issues where
Institutional Arrangements for Farmland Development : The Case of Ethiopia 153
explanatory variables are emanating from.
Action arena is influenced by a number of
exogenous variables, broadly categorised to
be physical/material conditions, attributes of
the community/household, and rules that
create incentives and constraints for certain
actions (Ostrom et al., 1994). Based on Ostrom
et al. (1994) components of initial condition
are explained as follows;
Physical/material conditions: Includes
livestock ownership, landholding, and financial
endowment that the households possess,
mobilise, use and exchange with others. It also
refers to the physi cal i nfrastructural
development in the district that has an
influence on the renting behaviour of the
households.
Community (household) attributes : The
community/household broadly involved in the
situation is another important variable. Several
attributes of the community/household may
influence the outcome of an action situation.
These include demographic attributes such as
education level, size of the household/
community, and employment level.
Rules in-use (formal and informal rules
or norms): Each action is influenced by sets of
rules-in use. These are the rules actually used
by the people to guide or govern their
behaviour in repetitive activities (Ostrom,
1992). Ostrom (1992) also noted that changing
the working rules of an activity could result in
changes to the outcome of the activity. In the
context studied, it refers to any rules or norms
in place that help to increase access to land.
As configured in Figure 1, the framework
considers the effects of all components in the
initial condition on the action arena in which
participation in informal land transactions is
viewed as dependent variable. Therefore,
assessi ng major reasons and degree of
influences of those variables on the initial
conditions in the action arena is the central
theme of this empirical analysis. In the action
arena, the deci si ons of househol ds to
participate in informal land transactions is
influenced by imperfection in credit market,
heterogeneity in the distribution of initial
wealth and specific human capital, and
rationing of off-farm labour opportunities
which are constituted in the initial conditions
(Skoufias, 1995; Sadoulet et al., 2001).
Figure 1: The Institutional Analysis and Development Framework
Source: Based on Ostrom et al. (1994),modified.
Physical
conditions
Community/
household
attributes
Rules in
use
Action arena
(participation in
informal land
transactions)
Outcomes
(improve
access to
l and)
Rural areas are commonly affected by
credit rationing. Asymmetric informations
together with dispersed location of potential
clients as well as poor rural infrastructure make
it very inconvenient for lending institutions to
provide their services. As a result, farmers are
left solely with their own capital, most often
insufficient to cover all necessary investments
connected with cultivation. Accordingly,
farmers limited by financial constraints,
notwithstanding their managerial abilities and
others endowment in their possessions, can
not engage i n l and market transacti on
(Sadoulet et al., 2001).
To examine determinants of household
participation in land rental markets, the range
and diversity of assets at ones own disposal
need to be a point of concern. Thus, the
decision of household to participate in these
markets is influenced by skewed landholding
pattern, imbalance livestock ownership, and
in-proportional labour force of the household
(Skoufias, 1995).
Land transactions can play an important
role for several reasons. First, it provides land
access to those who are productive but own
little or no land. Second they allow the
exchange of land as the off-farm economy
develops. Third, they facilitate the use of land
as col l ateral to access credi t markets
(Deininger et al., 2004). To benefit from these
outcomes of land rental markets, the existing
rul es or norms must ensure securi ty of
property rights. This is a prerequisite that
determine willingness of individuals to enter
the action arena (Deininger et al., 2004).
However, in conditions where poor
infrastructure development, lack of well
enforced property rights, and poor institutional
developments (credit market imperfection
that deny smallholders insurance against
shocks such as bad harvest or accident), land
markets lead to distress sale (Belay, 2004;
Deininger et al., 2004; Teklu, 2004). This is a
negative consequence where individuals
come across after evaluating the outcomes of
action arena. As indicated in Figure 1, the
result of evaluation of the outcomes will have
an implicit or explicit implication on both
action arena and initial condition.
Methodological Approach
The Study Site: This paper is based on
evidence from four peasant associations in
Amigna district in Arsi zone, which are
characterised by informal land transactions
that are predominant. It is located between
745' 807 N latitude and 3940' 40 38 E
longitudes. The total geographical area of the
district is about 134,372 ha with 21 per cent
Weyna-dega, and 79 per cent Kola, and consists
of 18 rural PAs and one urban PA (Addele)
(ABOARD, 2009). It is located at about 260 km
and 134 km far from Addis Ababa and Assela,
respectively along the main road to the
southeastern direction of Ethiopia. The altitude
of the area ranges between 560 meters at the
lowest to 2100 meters at the highest above
mean sea level. The mean annual rainfall of
the district ranges between 900 mm and 1200
mm with a mean temperature of 20 250C.
Central Statistical Authority (CSA) (2007)
indicated that the total population of Amigna
district in 2007 was 73224.
Referring to land use pattern of the
district, cultivated land constituted 23.62 per
cent of the total area in the district. On the
other hand, about 19 per cent of the district is
covered with forest. Moreover, substantial part
of the land in the district (6.86 per cent) comes
under non-agricultural use (ABOARD, 2009).
Sampling and Data Collection: The
research design was based on a two-stage
sampling procedure. In the first stage, among
the 19 peasant associations found in the
district, four PAs with similar agricultural
production systems and fairly similar access
to major road and urban centres were selected
purposively based on information from
ABOARD and other institutions found in district
offices. In the second stage, a total of 118
sample households were selected randomly
using probability proportional to sample size
technique ( Table 1).
Table 1 : Number of Households and
Sample Size by Peasant Associations
Peasant Total number Sampled
Associations of households households
Bammo 621 34
Gubbissa 449 25
Medewelabu 667 36
Dimma 412 23
Grand total 2149 118
Source: Own Survey, 2009.
Data Analysis : An in-depth qualitative
analysis of selected cases was performed by
looking into the specific factors that drive
farmers into informal land transactions. A
descriptive analysis was employed to analyse
qual i tati ve and quanti tati ve data. The
descriptive analysis such as frequency tables
were used to determi ne i nsti tuti onal
arrangements to get access to farmland in the
study area.
Emerging Institutional Arrangements to
Get Access to Farmland in the Study Area : Land
transactions have long provided a mechanism
for providing access
1
to land for those who
seek it and thereby for enhancing land
uti l i sati on. There were three notabl e
institutional arrangements to get access to
farmland in the district such as administrative-
based (PA allocated land and inherited land),
re-emerging informal market
2
based, and
informal non-market based arrangements.
Majority of farm households had land through
administrative based allocation (PA-land).
Hence, it was the dominant institutional
arrangement receiving largest share (78.1 per
cent) of total land cultivated of sample
respondents (Figure 2). Land rental transaction
was widely practised in the district agriculture.
Rented-in market was the preferred contract
in the district with an average of 8.857 per
cent of total cultivated area (Figure 2).
The surface reading of the survey result
also revealed that for farmers with no access
or less access to rental markets and PA
allocated land; there were also informal
arrangements akin to the customary based
systems in the district (e.g., inheritance, and
borrowing). Inheritance was the second major
means of acquiring land in the district as
indicated by about 9 per cent of cultivated
land of sample respondents (Figure 2).
There were other means for l and
acquisition (0.72 per cent) that are particularly
important for the growing landless farmers
who often seek land through the informal
markets but constrained by lack of cash and
equity capital such as oxen.
They borrowed
3
land from their parents
and close relatives. The foregoing discussion
also revealed that the institution of marriage
acts occasionally as a non-market device
(borrowing) for getting access to land and pool
labour, especially between landholder female-
heads and landless male labour. The remaining
0.18 per cent of land was acquired through
informal mortgaging.
Figure 2 : Share of Different Modes of Acquisition of Total Cultivated Farmland
(78.1%)
(9%)
(8.857%)
(3.143%)
(0.72%)
(0.18%)
Overview of Land Rental Market Activity in
the Study Area: From the 88 households
interviewed, 35 households are involved in
adjusting their operated farm size by renting-
in land (20 non-PA land allocated households
and 15 PA land allocated households) ( Table
2). This is due to the fact that they owned
4
little land in general; they need to rent land to
increase their farm operations. The survey data
Source : Own Survey, 2009.
Table 2: Frequency Distribution of Sample Households by Land Rental Markets
Household Frequency Per cent PA Non-PA
type allocated allocated
Not renting-in 53 60.2 53 0
Land renting in Total 35 39.8 15 20
88 100.0 68 20
Not renting-out 53 63.9 53 0
Land renting-out 30 36.1 30 0
Total 83 100.0 83 0
indicated that this happens mostly through
renting-in land. On the other hand, Table 2
shows that from 83 households interviewed,
about 36 per cent are involved in renting-out
(all are PA land allocated households) their
plots of farmland. In general, the size of land
rental market is high both in terms of the
number of market participants and size of land
supplied to the market.
Reasons for involvement in Land Renting-
in and Renting-out Markets: Of the 35
respondents who reported to have rented-in
land, nearly 94 per cent indicated that their
principal reason for renting-in land is the small
size of their landholding. In this regard, the
survey resul t reveal ed that the renter
households had an average landholding of 1.25
hectares. The respective figure for the non-
renter sample households is 1.77 hectares.
Other reasons cited by the respondents for
renting-in land include, availability of extra
Table 3: Percentage Distribution of Respondents by Reasons for Transfer-in Land
Reasons for land rent-in Responses % of responses % of cases
(N=76) (N=35)
Shortage of own land 31 40.8 93.9
Availability of extra cash 16 21.1 48.5
Availability of extra oxen 23 30.3 69.7
Availability of extra labour 3 3.9 9.1
To assist land right holder 1 1.3 3.0
Others not specified 2 2.6 6.1
Total 76 100 230.3
oxen, availability of extra cash, availability of
extra labour, to assist land right holders who
could not cultivate their land because of old
age, poor health, and lack of working capital.
The remaining 6.1 per cent failed to specify
the reasons for renting-in land ( Table 3).
Percentages of cases do not add up to 100 because of multiple responses.
Table 4: Percentage Distribution of Respondents by Reasons for Transfer-out Land
Reasons for land rent-out Responses % of responses % of cases
(N=83) (N=30)
Shortage of seed 23 27.7 76.7
Availability of extra cash 20 24.1 66.7
Availability of extra oxen 25 30.1 83.3
Availability of extra labour 8 9.6 26.7
Disability 4 4.8 13.3
Others not specified 3 3.6 10.0
Total 83 100 276.7
Percentages of cases do not add up to 100 because of multiple responses.
Tabl e 4 presents that the sur vey
respondents identified lack of oxen as the main
reason for renting-out their plot(s) of land
(about 30 per cent), followed by shortage of
seed (about 28 per cent). The survey result
revealed also that land is rented-out by some
farmers who had no sufficient labour, lack of
working capital, and who were disabled.
Land Access and Relationship Between
Actors: This was the role of the concrete market
setting, the constellation of actors, the
community in which the market is located and
the multilateral relationships between actors.
Some of the indications were trust and identity
between actors, but the topic had received
very little systematic analysis.
One interesting outcome of this survey
was that land rental transaction was made
among people who know each other very well.
More precisely, the dominant transaction took
place among a neighbour which accounts for
48.6 per cent followed by transfers between
friends in the same peasant association (17.1
per cent), and a relative in the same peasant
association (14.3 per cent). The foregoing
As per practice with whom land rent-out
was effected, most transfer arrangements
were limited to close kin because of mutual
trust among them. About 43.3, 36.7, and 6.7
per cent of households who rented-out their
land were exchanged among neighbours,
relatives or in-laws and friends, respectively
(Table 6). This was possibly because of the ease
at which arrangements were made (not
written, often without witness), their flexible
nature, and limited view of land tenure
security.
discussion with key informants revealed that
such transfers were informal and there were
no formal rules and regulations to enforce land
transfers to reduce high risk that may arise
from these transactions. The land policy of the
region declared formal operation of land rental
markets; however, sample households lacked
awareness of the policy reform. As a result,
farmers preferred their neighbours, friends,
and relatives. With respect to the location of
the rented-in land, the great majority of the
respondents (88.6 per cent) reported that land
they rented-in is located within their peasant
association. However, the fact that 11.4 per
cent of the sample respondents rented land
from other vi l l ages showed that rental
transaction was not completely confined to
the boundaries of the village ( Table 5).
Table 5 : With Whom Land Renting-in was Effected
Land transfer from Cases Per cent
A neighbour in the same PA 17 48.6
A relative in the same PA 5 14.3
A friend in the same PA 6 17.1
A relative outside the PA 4 11.4
Other person in the PA 3 8.6
Total 35 100
Table 6 : With Whom Land
Renting-out was Effected
Land transfer from Cases Per cent
A neighbour in the same PA 13 43.3
A relative in the same PA 11 36.7
A friend in the same PA 2 6.7
Neighbour and a relative 4 13.3
in the same PA
Total 30 100.0
Land Disputes and Dispute Settlement : As
stated above, the tasks of protecting and
enforcing use and transfer rights specified in
the Constitution as well as laws governing land
admi ni strati on are vested i n regi onal
government. Disputes arising with regard to
PA land were adjudicated in the PA-court,
which represents the lowest administrative
and jurisdictional level. However, even though
land transfer right through rental markets is
constitutional and legally valid in the recent
land reform of the Oromia region, these
markets were yet operating informally in the
study area. In fact, this was due to lack of public
awareness on their rights, structures, and
mechanisms to enforce those rights enshrined
in the recent land reform of the region.
From a total of 65 househol ds
participating in land rental markets, 39
households reported that they had cases of
dispute in land (Table 7). A general look at the
most frequently cited causes of land disputes
were likely to arise over violation of agreed
use of land, shirking in assessment of harvest
to be shared, trespass (boundary conflict), and
failure in payment of rent and renewing the
contract. Inappropriate utilisation of land such
as late ploughing, sowing, weeding, harvesting,
and inefficient use of fertiliser were reported
as causes for dispute between two parties in
the case of sharecropping arrangement. The
discussion with some sample respondents
revealed a positive contribution of recently
introduced land use certificate in reducing
trespass conflict.
Because operation in land markets was
perceived as informal by the respondents,
there was no much evidence on the extent to
whi ch di sputes arose from breachi ng
informally arranged contracts. Often such
contracts were arranged between close
community members and subject to societal
norms and values, and hence indigenous
institutions played an important role.
Regarding the mechanisms used by the
sample respondents in order to resolve
disputes which rose, nearly 59 per cent of the
responses claimed their rights through local
elders, religious leaders, and local institutions
(Table 7). This may be due to the perception
of l egal uncertai nty over l andhol di ngs
particularly in the case of rental contracts,
which exist informally. Another explanation
that has been used to account for the dominant
role of these informal institutions to enforce
the dispute was not only legal uncertainty but
also transaction costs associated with enforcing
land rights were high to those landholders who
were aware that land rental markets were legal.
A surface reading of households perception
on i nformal enforcement mechani sms
revealed that informal rules of enforcement
are transparent, and the institutions were in
pl ace to enforce the rul es than l egal
mechanisms to enforce the contract.
Moreover, the foregoing discussion with
key informants demonstrates that in the case
of disputes, the court system is working slowly
and generally not effective in enforcing or
solving rental or ownership disputes in the
district.
The resul t al so demonstrates that
informally arranged land rental markets are
tightening more likely between close relatives
and friends (as stated above). The major reason
cited by the respondent to the question why
they prefer close relatives or friends to rent-
out their land is due to fear of dispute that
may arise. In fact this shows us that rental
contracts are largely self-enforced. Therefore,
this tells us prevalent problems of land rental
contract enforcement in the study area.
The abi l i ty to sel f-enforce i s often
contingent on socio-economic status of the
household. The discussion with some selected
individual sample households reveals that the
poor are at a disadvantage in enforcing
contract because of the implied high financial
requirement. As a result, the burden of
enforcing the contract falls heavily on poor
households.
Moreover, unless enforcement of land
rental contract gives a guarantee for those
who comply with this rule, the incentive to
participate in land rental transactions will
decrease. In fact this will hamper emergence
of dynamic land rental markets that hinder
farmers to share the benefit emerging from
it.
Table 7: Institutions Used by Sample Respondents to Settle Dispute
Institutions used Responses Per cent of responses Per cent of cases
(39 valid cases*)
State court 12 12.5 30.8
PA administration 24 25.0 61.5
Local elders 33 34.4 84.6
Local institutions 9 9.4 22.1
Religious leaders 15 15.6 38.5
Social court 3 3.1 7.7
Total responses 96 100.0 ---
* Percentages of cases do not add up to 100 because of multiple responses.
Conclusions
The political and financial difficulties
with land redistribution have led to renewed
interest in finding other ways to make land
accessible to poor farmers. Land transactions,
whether through sales and share tenancies,
l oans or gi fts, have l ong provi ded a
mechanism for providing access to land to
those who seek it and thereby for enhancing
land utilisation.
The study first describes institutional
arrangements that help to get access to
farmland as well as tend to understand with
whom land transactions are effected. It
examines how the interaction of a great
number of factors can drive farmers in
informal land transactions. It develops insights
about particular drivers that drive households
to participate in informal land transactions
which are key to access farmland.
The study reveals, notwithstanding state
ownership and control, there are multiple
modes of acquiring arable land with different
bundles of rights governing access, use and
transfer. The rural communities are moving
towards market oriented multiple and flexible
tenure arrangements. However, the rights in
these informally arranged rights systems
may have social legitimacy and sanction,
but juridical uncertainty prevails because the
statutory law of the country prohibits market
transactions. Although some regions are
relaxing legal constraints, land marketing
remains illegal in the Constitution, which is
the supreme law of the country. For farmers
with no access to official channel or rental
markets, particularly those with little farm
experience, skills and cash, land access through
kinship and social networks, including the
transmission of land rights through inheritance
and within families are in place in the district.
The analysis on land rental contract
enforcement demonstrates that perception of
legal uncertainty over informally arranged land
rental markets remains high. An important
lesson from the experience of the study is that
farmers preferred informal institutions to
resolve the disputes not only due to lack of
awareness on operation of formal land markets
but also due to fear of high enforcement cost
prevailing in the formal process.
This result sheds light on the room for
strengthening institutional mechanism to
enforce rental contract and reduce the burden
on sel f-enforcement wi th mi ni mum
enforcement costs in the long-run and further
improving the role of local institutions used
for dispute settlement even in the prevailing
informal land rental transactions in the short-
run.
Notes
1
Access to land refers to the ability to use land and other natural resources, to control the resources
and to transfer the rights to the land and take advantage of other opportunities . (IFAD, 2008: cited in
Yigremew, 2001).
2
Informal land transactions cover market-mediated (rental contract s such as crop-sharing and cash rental)
and non-market mediated transfers (for example, borrowing or gifts).
3
Borrowing is a temporary arrangement (often for one production season) of receiving the right to
cultivate land. This arrangement is often made between people who are related through kinship ( Teklu,
2003).
4
In the Ethiopian context, households do not formally own land, since the 1995 Constitution proclaims
all land to be the property of the people. However, land allocated by the Peasant Association has many
characteri sti cs of usufruct ownershi p, though l and may not be sol d or mortgaged and future
redistributions have not been ruled out in the region under study.
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S. Lakshmanan*
EMPLOYMENT OF RURAL
WOMEN IN SERICULTURE -
AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS
NIRD, Hyderabad.
ABSTRACT
Employment of rural women has become an important issue in the aftermath
of Economic Reforms in the country. As income and employment opportunities in
agriculture are becoming increasingly uncertain due to persons migrating from rural
areas in search of better income opportunities in urban areas, and escalation of cost
of critical inputs in recent years, allied activities like sericulture offer sustainable
income and employment for rural women throughout the year. In this context, an
empirical study has been taken up in Tamil Nadu to show the contribution of women
workforce in sericulture. The study also revealed that female labour participation is
not only high but also the share of own family female labour employment is high.
However, role of women in decision-making in sericulture has been limited, and not
adequately recognised. This paper attempts to address several issues and strategies
to empower women in sericulture.
* Scientist, Central Sericultural Research and Training Institute, Sriramapura, Mysore 570 008,
e-mail : tamillakshmanan@yahoo.co.in
Introduction
In India, women constitute about half of
the total population. They are involved both in
domestic as well as agriculture activities in
rural areas. Participation of women workforce
in the primary sector is more than 60 per cent.
They support agriculture as a labourer as well
as a deci si on maker. Al though thei r
contribution is noteworthy, still they are living
as an invisible force in the sector. Their role
has not been adequately recognised and
rewarded. Income earned by rural women is
generally utilised for domestic use as well as
for the socio-economic development of their
family.
It is observed that men migrate to the
nearby towns in search of higher income
oriented employment, leaving the total
burden of maintenance of households to
women. For the improvement of socio-
economic conditions of rural people, rural
women are to be empowered both in income
generating activities and in decision-making.
This has become necessary to sustain the living
conditions of the family in rural areas.
Several attempts have been made
through various development schemes to
increase their effective participation in the
decision making process in agriculture and
allied sectors. As a result, there has been a
perceptible increase in the participation of
women in agriculture. This has resulted partly
due to rise in the seasonal demand for labour
for operations traditionally performed by
women, and increase in employment of men
in non-agricultural activities.
164 S. Lakshmanan
Sericulture is labour intensive, and
assures employment opportunities round the
year. More par ti cul arly, women pl ay an
important role in sericulture. In this context,
an attempt has been made in this paper to
trace thei r contri buti on, i n terms of
participation and constraints faced by them in
this sector. Two hypotheses are proposed for
the study. They are: (1) Mulberry cocoon
producti on consi sts of women centri c
activities; and (2) Family women participation
is much higher than that of hired women in
cocoon production.
Methodology
The present study is based on primary
data collected at farm households level in two
districts of Tamil Nadu. Gobichettipalayam of
Erode and Udumalpet of Coimbatore districts
were selected for the study. 120 samples (60
each from the two settlements) were randomly
selected to collect the required information
by direct interview method. A Cobb-Douglas
type of model was used to find out factors
that contributed for employment generation
of rural women in sericulture. The study period
refers to 2005-06.
Work Participation of Women
Mulberry sericulture contributes more
than 80 per cent of total silk production in the
country. Production of silk cocoons at farm
househol ds l evel i nvol ves two major
economi c acti vi ti es, viz. , cul ti vati on of
mulberry leaf and silkworm rearing. The former
is on-farm activity, and the latter is off-farm.
Both the activities engage largely human
labour. Women are involved as farm workers
as well as decision makers in the art of cocoon
production. Their participatory role as workers
i s hi ghl y si gni fi cant; and thei r rate of
participation in silk cocoon production is much
higher than that of male counterparts.
Mulberry Cultivation
Cultivation of mulberry leaf involves two
major activities, namely, garden establishment
and mai ntenance. General l y, garden
establishment takes place for a period of 6 to
8 months depending on the mulberry variety,
and availability of resources. On the other
hand, maintenance of mulberry garden is a
regular activity, and could yield continuously
for 15 years. The data on women participation
Table 1 : Participation of Female Labour in Garden Establishment
(Mandays/per acre)
S.No. Activities Family labour Hired labour Total labour Male and
Female
participation
ratio
Male Female Male Female Male Female
1 Land preparation 3.56 2.10 2.35 1.65 5.91 3.75 1:0.63
2 Manuring 3.46 2.50 1.20 2.57 4.66 5.07 1:1.09
3 Cutting preparation 2.60 1.50 1.50 0.50 4.10 2.00 1:0.49
4 Plantation 3.35 1.50 1.45 4.50 4.80 6.00 1:1.25
5 Irrigation 6.75 3.54 1.20 0.75 7.95 4.29 1:0.54
6 Weeding 2.30 16.75 0.20 6.75 2.50 23.50 1:9.40
Source : Survey data.
Employment of Rural Women in Sericulture - An Empirical Analysis 165
in garden establishment are presented in
Table 1. It is evident from the Table that, of the
total labour engaged in garden establishment,
women employment accounted for about
58.74 per cent, indicating higher degree of
involvement than male labour. Like agriculture
crops, establishment of mulberry garden also
involves several activities, right from land
preparation to plantation of mulberry cuttings,
and application of inputs. For those activities,
women participation has been considered to
be crucial.
The activity-wise women engagement
indicates that employment of women was
higher in weeding operation (23.50 mandays)
followed by plantation (6 mandays), manuring
(5. 07 mandays), etc. Thus, out of 77. 56
mandays engaged in establishing mulberry
garden, about 45.56 mandays of female labour
were uti l i sed i n garden establ i shment
activities. This shows that female labour
participation is much higher than male labour
( 58.74 per cent). Another important finding is
that the share of own family female labour
was to the extent of 62.31 per cent to the
total women i nvol vement i n garden
establishment. The male and female labour
participation ratio has clearly showed that
mulberry garden establishment activities are
female centric, and their participation rate is
much higher than that of male counterparts
(1:1.42).
Unl i ke garden establ i shment,
maintenance of mulberry garden is round the
year activity. Generally, an average of six crops
are being harvested by farmers under irrigated
condition in the study regions. For every
alternative crop, inter-cultural operations like
weeding, application of chemical fertiliser
etc., are being carried out; whereas activities
like pruning of the garden and application of
farmyard manure are taken up yearly once. In
case of harvesting of mulberry shoots, it is a
regul ar acti vi ty as and when reari ng i s
conducted. All the activities are carried out by
human labour. Table 2 highlights the women
labour participation in garden maintenance.
Table 2 : Participation of Female Labour in Garden Maintenance (Mandays/per acre/year)
Female
participation
ratio
1 Inter-cultural 8.91 16.75 10.45 15.67 19.36 32.42 1:1.67
operations
2 Application of FYM 3.45 5.75 3.20 1.60 6.65 7.35 1:1.10
and NPK
3 Irrigation 28.70 2.60 6.21 0.75 34.91 3.35 1:0.09
4 Pruning 10.12 3.45 4.50 3.20 14.62 6.65 1:0.45
5 Shoot harvesting 20.45 38.20 15.35 38.60 35.80 76.80 1:2.14
6. Miscellaneous 15.10 12.60 3.40 5.50 18.50 18.10 1:0.98
Total 86.73 79.35 43.11 65.32 129.84 144.67 1:1.11
Source: Survey data .
166 S. Lakshmanan
Table 3 : Participation of Female Labour in Silkworm Rearing (Mandays/per acre/year)
Female
participation
ratio
1 Disinfection 7.60 4.15 4.85 2.35 12.45 6.50 1:0.52
2 Chawki rearing 11.95 4.25 2.02 0.63 13.97 4.88 1:0.35
3 Late-age rearing 24.87 28.00 29.69 17.45 54.56 45.45 1:0.83
4 Mounting 6.78 6.97 2.56 5.53 9.34 12.50 1:1.34
5 Cocoon harvesting 7.70 7.65 4.70 11.25 12.40 18.90 1:1.52
and cleaning
6 Marketing 8.42 0.58 5.14 0.00 13.56 0.58 1:0.04
7. Miscellaneous 3.46 3.78 4.67 1.89 8.13 5.67 1:0.69
Total 70.78 55.38 53.63 39.10 124.41 94.48 1:0.76
Source : Survey data.
It is reported from the Table that garden
maintenance activities involved 274.51 man-
days, of which 129.84 and 144.67 mandays
are employed by male and female workers,
respecti vel y. I n terms of percentage of
participation, it was 52.70 for female and 47.30
for male workers. It is to be noted that women
employment was very high in shoot harvesting
(76.80 mandays), and very low in irrigating the
garden (3.35 mandays). The male and female
participation ratio shows that women labour
engagement was marginally higher than male
workers. Activity-wise labour participation
ratio further reveals that higher number of
female labour are involved in harvesting of
mulberry shoots and inter-cultural operations
like weeding. Therefore, it can be inferred that
both garden establishment and maintenance
activities are female centric.
Silkworm Rearing
Silkworm rearing is the off-farm activity,
as it requires a separate rearing shed and
reari ng appl i ances. The data on l abour
employment in silkworm rearing ( Table 3)
reveal that out of 218.89 mandays engaged in
silkworm rearing, about 94.48 mandays are
utilised by women workers, accounting for
43. 16 per cent. The anal ysi s of women
participation activity-wise indicates that higher
number of female workers are employed in
cocoon harvesti ng and cl eani ng (18. 90
mandays) followed by mounting (12. 50
mandays). Further, rearing is skill oriented.
Hence, participation ratio of women was lower
in silkworm rearing (1:0.76) than male workers.
However, the share of own family female
labour involvement was much higher (55.38
mandays) as compared to hired female
workers (39.10 mandays).
Silk Cocoon Production
Cocoon production is an integral part of
leaf production and silkworm rearing. Both
activities are complementary to each other. As
was stated earlier, leaf production is on-farm
activity, and silkworm rearing is domesticated.
Al though cocoon producti on i s l abour
intensive, participatory role of women has
higher magnitude in general, and in particular
own family female labour involvement. The
aggregate data ( Table 4) on male and female
labour participation ratio for silk cocoon
production suggest that there is no doubt, on
higher female labour participation in garden
establishment and maintenance activities.
However, in silkworm rearing activities, their
workforce was much less than male workers.
Considering all the activities, including garden
establishment to silkworm rearing, there was
almost equal level of participation of women
to male workers (1:0.99). However, as far as
own family female labour participation is
concerned, their participation percentage was
more (57.29) than hired female workers.
Table 4 : Male and Female Participation Ratio in Cocoon Production (Per acre/year)
Female
participation
ratio
1 Garden Establishment 23.55 28.39 8.45 17.17 32.00 45.56 1:1.42
2 Maintenance 86.73 79.35 43.11 65.32 129.84 144.67 1:1.11
3 Silkworm rearing 70.78 55.38 53.63 39.10 124.41 94.48 1:0.76
Total 181.06 163.12 105.19 121.59 286.25 284.71 1:0.99
Source: Survey data.
Women in Decision-making
The foregoi ng anal ysi s on women
participation in various activities in silk cocoon
production clearly shows that women play a
greater role in cocoon production. It is also
observed that cocoon production activities are
female centric and involve higher participation
of own female labour. In spite of their higher
participation, it is viewed that women have
not been given adequate importance in
deci si on-maki ng process. For i nstance,
decisions on purchase of inputs, marketing of
cocoons etc., are largely decided by male
workforce. However, in the absence of male
workers, women would take decisions on
feedi ng, cl eani ng and appl yi ng bed
di si nfectants i n si l kworm reari ng. Such
activities are more crucial to ensure quality
and quantity of cocoon production. In other
words, women involvement in decision-
making process in cocoon production is viewed
to be limited.
Factors Contributing to Employment of
Women in Sericulture
To determine the important factors
contributing to women employment in silk
cocoon production, Cobb-Douglas type model
was used. There are five variables included in
the model, viz., family size, female literacy,
age, mulberry holding size, and number of
hired labour engaged, to find out their
168 S. Lakshmanan
influence on women employment in cocoon
production. The findings are presented in Table
5. It may be observed from the Table that
variables such as family size and mulberry
holding size not only influenced positively but
also were highly significant on employment
of women in sericulture. This shows that these
two variables were major determinants. It was
also reported by a majority of sample farmers
that non-availability of hired labour force led
Table 5 : Factors Contributing to Employment of Rural Women in Sericulture
S.No. Variables Regression SE t-value
coefficient
1 Family size 0.121 0.040 3.025**
2 Literacy -0.301 0.216 -1.393
3 Age -0.419 0.956 -0.438
4 Mulberry holding size 0.291 0.042 6.928**
5 Hired labour -0.328 0.052 -6.307**
R2 0.59
DW statistic 1.894
** Significant at 1 % level of probability.
to engagement of own fami l y femal e
members in cocoon production. However,
female literacy and age of female workforce
did not assist in employment of women. The
R2 value suggests that the variables included
in the model explained 59 per cent of total
variation. The DW statistic revealed the
absence of auto-correlation in the cross-
section data.
Constraints Faced by Women
Although women play a major role in leaf
production and silkworm rearing activities,
they have been facing many constraints. Some
of them are :
1. Low access to new technology
2. Low access to extension participation
3. Low access to marketing and income
earning from cocoon production
4. Low access to credit
5. Lack of training
6. Limited participation in decision making
process
Achievements made on Empowerment of
Women
Although women contribute significantly
in the process of cocoon production, yet their
participation and contribution is neither
adequately recognised nor rewarded. Their
access to technology, credit, marketing and,
income is limited. This is partly due to their
lack of awareness about their role in sericulture
and par tl y, they do not have adequate
knowledge about new technologies.
Women-friendl y Technologies in
Sericulture : Considering their disadvantaged
position, there are several women-friendly
technologies that have been developed in
seri cul ture. To upgrade thei r ski l l s and
knowledge in sericulture, several training
programmes are being imparted through
sericulture extension units. The tools and
machines developed aimed at improving
working efficiency of women workforce and
reducing drudgery. Table 6 shows the tools and
machines developed in sericulture to avoid
drudgery of women workforce. These are also
being popularised in the field.
Table 6 : Tools and Machines Developed for Women's Empowerment in Sericulture
S.No. Name of technology Tools and machines developed
1 Weeding Long handled weeding hoe, peg tooth weeder,
grubber and self-propelled weeder
2 Harvesting of mulberry shoots Pruning saw, sickle, and looping shear
3 Spraying Electrical sprayer, and foot operated sprayer
4 Silkworm rearing Hand operated deflossing machine, hand-cum-
motorised deflossing machine, chawki leaf
operated machine, and leaf chopping machine
5 Silkworm egg production Cocoon cutting machine
Source : Central Sericultural Research and Training Institute (2006), Annual Report 2005-06,
Mysore.
Training for Women in Sericulture : In
recent years, efforts are being made to
empower women in sericulture through
various training programmes. Some of the
training programmes conducted at CSRTI,
Mysore during 2006-07 are presented in
Table 7.
Table 7 : Women's Empowerment Through Training in Sericulture During 2006-07
S.No. Name of training programme Duration No. of women
(Days) trained
1 Integrated Nutrient and disease management 06 70
in mulberry by eco-friendly approach
2 Young age silkworm rearing 08 192
3 Composite silkworm rearing 35 18
4 Integrated pest and disease management- 10 88
an eco friendly approach with bio-pesticides,
bio-fungicides and botanicals
5 Value addition to by-products of sericulture 06 231
industry by better resource management
6 Drudgery reduction through ergonomically 06 26
sound appliances/hand tools
Source: Ibid.
170 S. Lakshmanan
Issues and Strategies
Not withstanding the fact that several
women-friendly technologies have been
developed to reduce drudgery and training
programmes in sericulture being conducted
to empower them, still there are some issues,
which need to be given prime importance by
the sericulture development agencies. Some
of them are discussed here.
(a) Credit Support : Important aspects for
womens devel opment are pri mari l y
knowledge-cum-skill development, and
viability. This has direct impact on women
empowerment as well as in reducing gender
bias. The present position has resulted in
womens disadvantaged situation arising out
of their lack of access to resources and
technology, low access to marketing, income
sharing, and decision-making. One of the
important missing links is lack of adequate
credit support to women farmers, as it directly
deals with accessibility of resources and
decision-making. Although micro-credit
mechanism in agriculture has become popular,
it is largely lacking in sericulture. Therefore,
efforts are to be made by NGOs and Sericulture
Development Agencies (SDA) to access credit
support through lending institutions to
promote women parti ci pati on more
effectively in decision-making process.
(b) Access to Technology and Extension
Support : Although many technologies were
developed to help the women workforce in
sericulture, their awareness and utility have
not reached extensively in the field. Therefore,
in order to educate rural women workforce in
the uti l i sati on of such women-fri endl y
technologies, SDA should train women farmers,
and if required, counseling can be organised
periodically in the event of crop failure.
(C) Access to Marketing and Income
Sharing : It is understood that women shoulder
higher responsibilities right from cultivation
of mulberry to cocoon harvesting. However,
they are denied access to benefits such as
marketing of cocoons, and income earned
from cocoon production. The prevailing social
and economic condition in rural villages and
fami l y customs prevent women from
participating in marketing directly. Therefore,
it is time to create marketing avenues for
women to sell their cocoons directly. This will
help both in social transformation and in
empowering the women workforce.
(d) Effective Womens Participation : There
i s need for a campai gn for effecti ve
participation of women in the participatory
role and decision-making process. Increasing
rural migration by male workforce to urban
places for seeking higher wage-oriented
opportunities created more work burden for
women. It has created a sort of compulsion on
rural women to stay back in villages to take
care of domestic works as well as farming.
Hence, to reduce their work stress relatively,
SDA should conduct health care campaigns
and motivational programmes to improve their
skills, and ensure their effective participation
in sericulture.
(e) Implementation of Women Oriented
Programmes: No doubt women contribute
extensively to improve their social and
economic conditions through increased
participation. Although several schemes/
programmes are being implemented in
agriculture to improve the working conditions
of rural women, similar developments are
lacking in sericulture. It is suggested that the
fol l owi ng schemes/programmes be
implemented in sericulture by the SDAs in
letter and sprit.
(1) Establ i shment of mul berry Ki san
nurseries by women managed self-help
groups (SHGs)
(2) Women-headed and women organised
technical service centres ( TSCs) to
provide technical support to women
workforce
(3) Health-insurance for women workers
who work for promoti on of bi o-
fertilisers and bio-pesticides
(4) Encouraging setting up of SHGs by
women through creation of sericulture
development fund by SDAs.
(5) Plan for long-term projects for women
development in sericulture.
Conclusion
The analysis on women participation in
cocoon production has proved the hypotheses
that mulberry cultivation and silkworm-rearing
activities are both women centric, and employ
higher degree of own family female labour.
Therefore, i n thi s context, i t woul d be
appropriate as well as mandatory to empower
them in sericulture, as women are not being
given importance in decision-making and
economic empowerment. In other words,
they are not adequatel y recogni sed i n
sericulture in important activities like resource
mobilisation and marketing. It is time to
implement women development oriented
projects by Sericulture Development Agencies
to recognise their contribution and, increase
their effective participation in silk industry.
References
1. Lakshmanan, S. (1995), Adoption of Technological Innovation and Productivity Behaviour of Sericulture
in Tamil Nadu : An Econometric Analysis, Unpublished Ph.D Thesis Submitted to University of Mysore,
Mysore (Karnataka).
2. Lakshmanan, S., B. Mallikarjuna., H. Jayaram., R. Ganapathy Rao., M.R. Subramaniya ., R.G. Geetha Devi. and
R.K. Datta.R.K. (1996), "Economic Issues of Production of Mulberry Cocoon in Tamil Nadu - A Micro
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172 S. Lakshmanan
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M. Snehalatha,
V. Anitha*
INDIAS TOTAL SANITATION
CAMPAIGN : IS IT ON THE RIGHT
TRACK? PROGRESS AND ISSUES
OF TSC IN ANDHRA PRADESH
NIRD, Hyderabad.
ABSTRACT
The Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) is the flagship sanitation programme of
Government of India to reach the Millennium Development Goals. But this programme
has not yet achieved its set targets. This paper raises some key research questions like
will India and Andhra Pradesh achieve the Millennium Development Goal of
Sanitation ?Are the TSC targets realistic? What is the coverage and usage status of the
sanitation facilities? etc. Analysis of field data reveals that Andhra Pradesh has
achieved a coverage status of 60 per cent but the usage of toilets by households is
alarmingly low. The major challenges include insufficient fund allocations as
compared to water, lack of effective strategies for demand creation, no or low
expenditure on the IEC components etc. For taking the TSC in a mission mode there is
an immediate need to restructure and strengthen the Village Water and Sanitation
Committees (VWSCs) and the Panchayats by decentralising powers and finances. The
Government should focus on public-private partnerships that can accelerate
solutions and enhance service provision. Proper steps are to be taken for demand
generation through mass awareness campaigns using the local media, mobile
networks and creative advertisements, keeping the principles of human dignity,
quality of life, shame and fame and finally the environmental safety at household
and community level as central focus. Demand generation, capacity building and IEC
strategies have to become the integral part of the system using the Non- Government
Organisations (NGOs) or local resource persons or centres. Further, massive
programmes like TSC require intense community support and involvement, hence
building community vision beyond construction is essential to sustain the sanitation
behaviour change.
* Country coordinator, and Research Scholar and Project Secretary, Respectively, for the WASHCost India
project at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS), N.O Campus, Begumpet, Hyderabad.
WASHCost is an ongoing international project being implemented by IRC, Netherlands in four countries.
Thanks are due to Dr. A. J. James (Environmental and Natural Resource Economist, ICRA Management
Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd) and Professor. V. Ratna Reddy (Director, Livelihoods and Natural Resource
Management Institute - LNRMI) for their useful comments on the earlier drafts of the paper. The authors
would also like to thank all our colleagues and field staff of WASHCost (India) Project for their valuable
support in collecting the information from the field which was very instrumental in compilation of this
article. Thanks are due to Dr. Charles Batchelor ( WASH Governance specialist, International Water and
Sanitation Centre - IRC) and Prof. Manoj Panda (Director, CESS) who supported to bring this working
paper. However, the usual disclaimers apply.
174 M. Snehalatha, V. Anitha
Introduction
Sanitation is vital for human health and
it is one of the important indicators that reflect
the quality of life of the people. It is a basic
necessity that affects everyone's life and is a
yard stick of socio-cultural and economic
development of a nation.
Over one billion people worldwide have
gained access to improved sanitation in the
past 14 years, with the global sanitation
coverage having increased from 49 to 59 per
cent between 1990 and 2004 (UNICEF, 2008a).
Yet, the world continues to be off the track to
meet the Millennium Development Goal
(MDG) to reduce by half the proportion of
people without access to basic sanitation by
2015. India stands second amongst the worst
places in the world for sanitation. The severity
of the problem in India could be judged from
the fact that hardly 33 per cent of overall
population has sanitation facility available. A
mere 14 per cent of people in rural areas of
the country had access to toilets in 1990, the
proportion had gone up to 28 per cent in 2006.
Interestingly, the coverage is 59 per cent in
urban areas (WHO/Unicef, 2004). In rural areas
of India, 74 per cent of the population still
defecate in the open and the latest survey
reveals that it has decreased to 65 per cent
which is still low (NSSO, 2008). Developing
countries like India, where the cash income is
very low and the idea of building a facility for
defecation in or near the house may not seem
natural. And where facilities exist, they are
often inadequate. India is losing billions of
dollars each year because of poor sanitation.
Illnesses are costly to families, and to the
economy as a whole in terms of productivity
losses and expenditure on medicines, health
care, and funerals (United Nations, 2008).
According to Hutton and Bartram (2008), it is
estimated that about US$ 42 billion for water
and US$ 142 billion for sanitation, a combined
annual equivalent of US$ 18 billion is required
to meet the MDG target worldwide. The cost
of maintaining existing services totals an
additional US$ 322 billion for water supply and
US $216 billion for sanitation, a combined
annual equivalent of US$ 54 billion.
Given these hard realities Government
of India remains committed to making India
open defecation-free by 2012 (MoHRD, 2002).
Such a strong commitment of the Government
can be wi tnessed through I ndi a' s TSC
programme with an outlay of ` 120 billion,
whi ch i s one of the l argest sani tati on
programmes in the world. Keeping this
background in view, this paper has tried to
address some of the key research questions
such as 1) what is the sanitation coverage
across India and in Andhra Pradesh? 2) is
sanitation getting enough attention in budgets
and in project implementation? 3) are the
Central and State Governments able to reach
the set targets of TSC and Mi l l enni um
Devel opment Goal s? 4) what are the
constraints and issues in implementation of
Total Sanitation Campaign etc.
Methodology
This paper is based on the secondary data
collected from online TSC monitoring website
and the data collected from Department of
Drinking Water Supply (DDWS) both from GoI
and Andhra Pradesh. Further, the Government
of India and Government of Andhra Pradesh
budget documents were used to assess the
allocations made specifically for sanitation.
Further, the field data from WASHCost study
are presented wherever appropriate to support
the analysis. The analysis is focused both at
National (India) and State levels (especially for
Andhra Pradesh).
History of Sanitation Initiatives : Water
supply and sanitation is a state responsibility
under the Indian Constitution. The first Five
Year Plan had allocated very negligible
investments to sanitation while the Sixth Plan
had considerable amount due to the launch
India's Total Sanitation Campaign : Is It on the Right Track? 175
of International Drinking Water Supply and
Sanitation Decade in 1980. The Ministry of
Urban Development (MoUD) was the nodal
agency for water and sanitation sector at the
beginning of the Seventh Plan. Subsequently,
Rural Water Suppl y and Sani tati on i s
transferred to the Department of Rural
Development (DRD). Rural water supply was
an important constituent of the State sector
during the Seventh Plan. In 1986, the National
Drinking Water Mission (NDWM), popularly
known as the "Technology Mission" was
launched in order to provide scientific and
cost-effecti ve content to the Central l y
sponsored Accelerated Rural Water Supply
Programme (ARWSP). Later in 1986, it was
decided that a portion of the funds, made
avai l abl e under the rural empl oyment
programme and the Indira Awaas Yojana, to
be utilised for rural sanitation. Rural sanitation
programme was also added to the State sector
MNP (Minimum Needs Programme) from
1987-88. In November 1986, a new Centrally
Sponsored Rural Sanitation Programme (CRSP)
was launched. The CRSP relied on providing
the hardware subsidies and did not focus on
other aspects resulting in just 1 per cent
increase of rural sanitation. The 2001 census
revealed only 22 per cent of the households
had access to a toilet with an investment of
over 6 billion to construct 9 million toilets.
Recognising the limitations of this approach,
the Total Sanitation Campaign was launched
in 1999. According to guidelines, the TSC
moves away from the infrastructure focused
approach of earl i er programmes and
concentrates on promoting behaviour change.
In addition, it includes a fiscal incentive
scheme, Nirmal Gram Puraskar that promotes
the rol e of Gram Panchayat and l ocal
communities in achieving community-wide
total sanitation status.
Total Sanitation Campaign ( TSC) : The
Central Rural Sanitation Programme (CRSP),
launched in 1986 and revised in 1992, was a
traditional, supply-driven subsidy-oriented
programme. I n Apri l 1999, CRSP was
restructured and l aunched as the Total
Sanitation Campaign (TSC) making it 'people
oriented' and 'demand driven'. TSC projects
have been sanctioned in 593 rural districts of
the country with a total outlay of `. 17,885
crore with a Central share of `. 11,094 crore.
TSC lays strong emphasis on Information,
Education and Communication (IEC), Capacity
Building and Hygiene Education for effective
behavi our change wi th i nvol vement of
Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs), Community
Based Organi sati ons (CBOs), and Non-
governmental organisations (NGOs), etc. The
key i nterventi on areas are I ndi vi dual
Household Latrines (IHHL), School Sanitation
and Hygiene Education (SSHE), Community
Sani tary Compl ex, Anganwadi toi l ets
supported by Rural Sanitary Marts (RSMs) and
Production Centres (PCs).
Although the concept of sanitation has
undergone qualitative changes over the years,
there has been slow progress in the sanitary
conditions compared to rural water supply. To
combat this, State Water and Sanitation
Missions (SWSM) were established as per
Government of India (GoI) guidelines to have
mission mode approach with an objective to
cover problem villages, improve performance
and cost-effecti veness of ongoi ng
programme.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Analysis of the secondary data reveals
that TSC has hel ped i n changi ng the
momentum of sanitation but unable to reach
the expected targets. Detailed findings are
discussed under the following sub-headings.
Status of Coverage of Physical Targets
under TSC Programme
The TSC programme had a herculean task
of providing access to the toilets in the rural
areas and accordingly the targets have been
fixed to reach every household by 2012.
Despite the full decade of continuous efforts
and incentives, the achievement percentage
is quite discouraging especially looking at the
Source : www.ddws.nic.in dt: 01:01:2010.
It could be seen from Fig.1 that the
targets reached in the last 10 years is below
56 per cent in IHHL for BPL though it is 79 per
cent in school toilets and 68 per cent in
Anganwadi toilets for all India, while the
achievement per cent for Andhra Pradesh is
62. If we look at the target of TSC which is
expected to reach the balance target (38 per
cent) to be achieved in just two years (i.e by
2012) seems to be almost impossible with the
existing institutional arrangements and the
approach fol l owed to reach the rural
households. At the all India level only Rural
Sanitary Marts target has crossed 124 per cent
and in Andhra Pradesh sanitation components
and Rural Sanitary Marts have reached targets
of 158 and 190 per cent, respectively which
seems to be unbelievable given the IHHL
coverage.
It could be seen from Fig. 2 that there
was good progress between 2003 and 2004
in terms of coverage providing the hardware.
target ahead. The physical target for Eleventh
Plan is to cover 69 million households with
IHHLs, 25769 sanitary complexes, 1,33,114
anganwadis and all the remaining schools to
be provided with safe sanitation facilities.
Fig. 1: Sanitation Component-wise Physical Targets and Achievements (2001 to 2010)
But it could be noticed that progress in the
last two years is declining, indicating the low
priority given to sanitation. Further, it is evident
from the graph that though the percentage is
little high in case of Andhra Pradesh, the
overall performance is similar to that of India.
This could have made the Government focus
more on the start up and IEC activities but the
achievement percentage for the last three
years (2006 - 2009) towards sanitation brings
back the question are the MDGs a myth? Or
are the TSC goals realistic? The hard realities
of reaching 40 per cent of households with
sanitation facilities in just two years with the
given institutional arrangements is not only
difficult but unrealistic.
Financial Targets and Achievements of TSC
Programme
The total project outlay for the TSC is
more than ` 12,580 million, out of this GoI
share is 783 million, States share is 2861
Source: www.ddws.nic.in dt: 01:01:2010.
Fig. 2 : Year-wise Physical Progress of Achievement in India and Andhra Pradesh
millions and beneficiary share is 1920 million.
It is projected that the full coverage of rural
drinking water supply is to be achieved by
March 2009 and 100 per cent sanitation
coverage by the end of Eleventh Plan (2012)
with mass awareness campaigns and Nirmal
Gram Puraskar (Eleventh Planning Commission
Report, 2007-2012). The outlay proposed for
Eleventh Plan is ` 7816 crore (` 6910 crore at
2006-07 prices). The allocation for AP in 2007
and 2008 is `1060 crore. The funds allocated
for water and sanitation are meagre (4-8 per
cent) compared to the budget allocations for
other sectors (Reddy & Batchelor, 2009).
Fig. 3 : Year-wise Allocations and Expenditure on Sanitation in India
d
Further, it could be seen from Fig.3 that
the year-wise approvals for the last three years
(2006 2009) were l ow and hence the
allocations and expenditure. It needs to be
noted that though the allocations were made
to the states, they are not able to spend the
amounts and reach the targets. The reasons
could be improper planning and lack of efforts
in demand creation, low or no staff members
speci fi cal l y dedi cated to promote the
sanitation activities.
It could be seen from Fig.3 that, from
2006 onwards the approvals got declined from
the Central budgets. While the budget releases
declined for the fiscal year 2009-2010 and
consequentl y the expendi ture, causi ng
concern to reach the full coverage of sanitation
and subsequentl y the Mi l l enni um
Development Goals.
Sanitation Component-wise Financial
Progress
If we analyse the financial progress
among the various sub-components of the
Total Sanitation programme it clearly reveals
that there is much more to achieve under each
component.
Fig. 4 : Component-wise Financial Progress (percentage)
in Andhra Pradesh and India under TSC
Andhra Pradesh
Fig.4 reveals that except under the
school sanitation and anganwadi toilets, the
expenditure is below 35 per cent which is an
alarming situation and it raises lot of concerns
over the realistic nature of the targets set to
achieve. Further, the reasons for the progress
in school sanitation could be attributed to the
fact that funds are released to the SSA (Sarva
Siksha Abhiyan) programme of Education
Department for construction of school toilets.
They take up construction of school sanitary
complexes as part of improving the school
infrastructure and facilities. Further, non-
provision of toilets within the school premises
were causing school dropouts especially in
case of girl children, hence the acceleration
to compl ete toi l et constructi on gai ned
momentum. But field reality is that the toilets
constructed are not being used by children,
they are either locked or not being used due
to lack of water and other cleanliness issues
(Snehalatha et al., 2010). The percentage of
achievement with respect to solid and liquid
waste management is least both at India level
(5 per cent) and in Andhra Pradesh level (6
per cent) indicating low importance given to
the task. Further, the Panchayats are to be
receiving the funds for undertaking activities
but the reality on the ground is that the
Panchayats often do not receive funds, even
if received, the priority is not given to using
the funds for the intended purpose, hence the
coverage is very low.
Expenditure on Soft Vs Hardware
Component
Expenditure on soft components like
Information, Communication and Education
(IEC) activities is very important and it is one
of the major shifts in policy through TSC. But
the Figure below reveals that the expenditure
incurred on this component is below the
sanctioned amounts.
The expenditure pattern for software
component (Fig. 5) reveals that a meagre or
negligible amount has been spent on the IEC
especially in case of Andhra Pradesh compared
to India. The administritative costs booked are
also less indicating the lack of staff working
for sanitation. During the secondary data
analysis for the State of Andhra Pradesh it is
revealed that out of the sanctioned 5380 posts,
1742 posts are vacant which is around 25 per
cent of the total staff (Source: Department of
Rural Water Supply and Saniation status note,
2009). The existing staff are stretching beyond
their capacity to work without any incentives.
It was revealed by some staff members that
Fig. 5 : Expenditure on Software
Components of Sanitation
they are working in five to eight divisions
i nstead of one or two. Fur ther, the I EC
component whi ch i s cruci al for the
behavioural change of the rural households is
given least priority leading to less demand for
toilets. Role of Non-Governmental Organisa-
tions in demand generation activities is
completely ignored.
Fig.6 reveals that the expenditure under
hardware is more than approved both for India
and Andhra Pradesh indicating the dominance
of engineering bias towards only construction.
But this is an incorrect approach of addressing
the most sensitive problem of India where 74
per cent of rural population considers that
open defecation is an accepted cultural norm.
Fig. 6 : Comparative Analysis of
Percentage of Expenditure on
Hardware and Software (2001-10)
Are the Targets Realistic?
I t can be noted that though the
Government of India has initiated all the above
programmes with new targets and dimensions
each year, the coverage seems to be picking
up at a very slower pace than anticipated. It
could be noted from Figure 7 that after the
launch of Total Sanitation Programme there is
consi derabl e i mprovement i n terms of
sanitation coverage levels mostly in rural areas.
The coverage is about 57 per cent until year
2008. The baseline coverage was 21 per cent,
Andhra Pradesh
Source : Govt. of India, Dept. of Drinking Water Supply.
which means that it precisely took eight years
to reach 57 per cent. Another 43 per cent is to
be achieved in just three years i.e. by 2012, to
reach the Millennium Development Goals,
which seems to be a highly difficult task given
the scale of operation.
Fig. 7 : Rural Sanitation IHHL Coverage in India
Fig. 8 : Year-wise progress of IHHL in Andhra Pradesh
In the case of Andhra Pradesh also the
year wise percentage of achievement is
almost similar to that of all India figures causing
concerns over the target that still needs to be
achieved.
Coverage Vs Usage
As it is, coverage of households with
toilets itself is an issue, but the usage of these
toilets is another major challenge. A number
Achievement percentage of IHHL in Andhra Pradesh
BOX 1: Access to
1
and Usage
2
of Individual Sanitary Latrines (ISLs)
Surveys in sample villages (20) across two agro climatic zones at household level
reveal that around 76 per cent of the households in NGP villages and 32 per cent of
households in non-NGP villages have access to household toilet facilities. The higher
access in NGP villages may be due to long-term efforts on sanitation promotion which
is probably absent from non-NGP villages. Access levels vary across villages depending
on household income, water availability, awareness, support from government
schemes, etc. Despite the subsidy provided through the government programmes,
sanitation is poor and requires intensive efforts from both Government and
communities. Factors such as low awareness levels, lack of space to construct toilets,
resistance to changing a traditional practice of open defecation, and non-affordability
act as major constraints to gaining access to toilets (Snehalatha et al., 2010).
1
An individual sanitary toilet (ISL) is designed to provide safety, privacy and dignity and
is usually located within the house premises.
2
Usage means use of the toilet by all the family members at all times. This paper does not
discuss in detail WASHCost data on hygiene behaviour in families.
Inter-State Performance in Achieving
TSC Targets
The percentage of achi evement of
di fferent components of sani tati on i . e
Individual Household Latrines (IHHLs), school
toilets, anganwadi toilets and sanitary complex
across the states in India is indicated in Table
1. It is observed that, Goa achieved 100 per
cent target regarding IHHL, whereas Manipur
and D&N Haveli were least in percentage of
achievement. The performance of states like
Bihar (15.54 per cent), Rajasthan (11.6 per
cent), Maharashtra (25.43 per cent) and
Jammu & Kashmir (8.36 per cent) is low. States
such as Sikkim (105.02 per cent), Gujarat (101.7
per cent), Mizoram (97.49 per cent), Kerala
(98.27 per cent) and Haryana (98.24 per cent)
were achieving good targets with respect to
school toi l ets. At al l I ndi a l evel , the
achievement targets of IHHL (35.34 per cent)
was much l esser as compared wi th the
achievements of school toilets (69.75 per cent)
and anganwadi (63.46 per cent).
of studies pointed that though there is
coverage, lots needs to be done to make these
toilets used by the intended beneficiaries
through awareness creation. Snehalatha and
Reddy (2009) reported that though toilets are
present in majority of households, they still
defecate openly. Further, the school toilets
are either used by teachers or under lock. Even
the adolescent girls reported that they do not
have access to the toilets even in a single
school of the study area and have to urinate in
the open. The difficulty in changing the
mindset of the people remains a major
challenge for the successful implementation
of the TSC programme. The main reasons for
non-use of the constructed toilets under TSC
are cultural and traditional beliefs, scarcity of
water, lack of awareness on health benefits if
using toilet, myths about filling of pit etc.
Further, the box provided gives the reality on
the ground.
Table 1: Component-wise Achievement in TSC Across the Different States (in per cent)
S. No. State Name IHHL School Anganwadi Sanitary Complex
1 Andhra Pradesh 36.85 67.6 20.15 95.18
2 Arunachal Pradesh 12.67 82.07 46.16 7.12
3 Assam 11.85 58.51 26.14 2.22
4 Bihar 15.54 52.34 15.31 9.03
5 Chhattisgarh 32.51 91.49 75.92 29.82
6 D & N Haveli 0.36 0 0 6.67
7 Goa 10 1.68 18.37 9.1
8 Gujarat 47.77 101.7 87.6 82.02
9 Haryana 62.49 98.24 79.45 75.47
10 Himachal Pradesh 12.89 38.83 30.36 7.53
11 Jammu & Kashmir 8.36 46.55 7.51 9.96
12 Jharkhand 23.29 78.46 32.98 6.4
13 Karnataka 23.69 64.83 94.11 43.8
14 Kerala 84.85 98.27 67.29 58.15
15 Madhya Pradesh 32.9 73.65 78.03 42.93
16 Maharashtra 25.43 82.14 91.95 20.85
17 Manipur 3.52 27.59 79.79 18.95
18 Meghalaya 17.15 32.84 19.16 17.19
19 Mizoram 89.41 97.49 96.2 46.66
20 Nagaland 19.75 54.51 49.3 26.55
21 Orissa 21.74 68.65 41.99 2.84
22 Puducherry 7.33 0 100 0
23 Punjab 1.44 25.49 0 9.83
24 Rajasthan 11.6 59.48 36.81 16.66
25 Sikkim 344.5 105.02 117.65 58.56
26 Tamil Nadu 57.02 94.23 105.56 56.49
27 Tripura 83.49 71.07 82.32 109.31
28 Uttar Pradesh 69.94 83.8 73.36 97.28
29 Uttarakhand 22.85 41.96 13.7 2.09
30 West Bengal 53.44 47.36 30.13 29.46
Grand Total 35.34 69.75 63.46 35.08
Table 2: Categorisation of States Across the Sanitation Components
Achievement IHHL Sanitary School Anganwadi
percentage Complexes Toilets Toilets
Andhra Pradesh,
Arunachal Pradesh,
Assam, Bihar,
Chhattisgarh, D & N
Haveli, Himachal
Pradesh, Jammu &
Kashmir, Jharkhand,
Karnataka, Gujarat,
Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra,
Manipur,
Meghalaya,
Nagaland, Orissa,
Puducherry, Punjab,
Rajasthan and
Uttarakhand
Arunachal
Pradesh, Assam,
Bihar,
Chhattisgarh,
D & N Haveli,
Jammu &
Kashmir,Jharkhand,
Karnataka,
Manipur,
Meghalaya,
Nagaland, Orissa,
Puducherry,
Punjab, Rajasthan
and Uttarakhand
Arunachal Pradesh,
Assam,Bihar,
Chhattisgarh,
D & N Haveli, Goa,
Himachal Pradesh,
Jharkhand,
Karnataka,
Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra,
Manipur,
Meghalaya, Orissa,
Puducherry,
Punjab, Rajasthan,
Uttarakhand and
West Bengal
D & N Haveli,
Himachal Pradesh,
Jammu & Kashmir,
Manipur,
Meghalaya,
Nagaland,
Puducherry and
West Bengal
Below 50%
50-75% Haryana, Tamil
Nadu and West
Bengal
Andhra Pradesh,
Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra and
Uttar Pradesh
Jammu & Kashmir,
Mizoram, Nagaland,
and Tripura
Assam, Bihar, Goa,
Rajasthan and
Uttarakhand
Above 75% Sikkim has the
highest % of 344.5,
followed by Goa,
Kerala, Mizoram,
Tripura and Uttar
Pradesh
Goa, Gujarat,
Haryana, Himachal
Pradesh, Kerala
Mizoram, Sikkim,
Tamil Nadu, Tripura
and West Bengal
Andhra Pradesh,
Gujarat, Haryana,
Kerala, Sikkim,
Tamil Nadu and
Uttar Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh,
Arunachal Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh,
Gujarat, Haryana,
Jharkhand,
Karnataka, Kerala,
Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra,
Mizoram, Orissa,
Punjab, Rajasthan,
Sikkim, Tamil Nadu,
Tripura and Uttar
Pradesh
Further, inter-state comparison is done
by classifying the percentage of achievements
into three categories such as below 50 per
cent, 50-75 per cent and above 75 per cent as
shown i n Tabl e 3 whi ch i ndi cate the
forerunner states in terms of their progress
towards total sanitation. It could be noticed
that when the performance across all the
states on the IHHL progress is seen, more than
15 States are bel ow 50 per cent of
achievement and around 5 States are between
50-75 per cent of achievement. There are
about 6 states which have achieved above 75
per cent.
Source : ddws.nic.in
IHHL Coverage Status Across India : Under
IHHL coverage across the different States in
India, Arunachal Pradesh , Assam, Bihar,
Chhattisgarh, D & N Haveli, Himachal Pradesh,
Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka,
Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur,
Meghalaya, Nagaland, Orissa, Puducherry,
Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand fall under
the category of below 50 per cent of IHHL
coverage. In the States of Haryana, Andhra
Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, the
coverage status is in between 50-75 per cent.
Notable feature is that Sikkim has the highest
percentage of IHHL coverage accounting to
344.5 per cent which implies the importance
given for the IHHL in the mindsets of people
and care for the health and environment,
followed by Goa, Kerala, Mizoram, Tripura and
Uttar Pradesh. Further, all these states are very
small in geographical area except Uttar
Pradesh, hence reaching the households to
motivate on IHHL access and usage could be
easy.
Sanitary Complexes Coverage Status
Across India : Sixteen States have less than 50
per cent of coverage under the sanitary
complexes component, which is a clear
indication that focus is not given to this area.
The poor who do not have enough space and
money to construct toilets depend on these
complexes and low coverage on this area
would increase the number of households not
having accessibility to toilets which makes
MDGs much more di ffi cul t to achi eve.
Between 50 to 75 per cent of coverage is seen
in Andhra Pradesh (67.6 per cent), Madhya
Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh
implying the role played by the respective
State Governments towards total sanitation.
Ten States i.e Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal
Pradesh, Kerala Mizoram, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu,
Tripura and West Bengal have a coverage of
above 75 per cent which clearly puts forth the
fact that these states are focusing more on
sanitation coverage. The achievement could
be attributed to the literacy levels and priority
given to the agenda by the state Governments
etc. But as reported earlier, the coverage does
not mean the usage and many studies ( TARU
(2008), have reported that despite access,
household members are not using the toilets.
School Toilets Coverage Status Across
India : Nineteen States fall under the category
of below 50 per cent coverage. The reasons
that can be attributed partly could be the
disproportionate use of funds, diversion of
funds to some other sector, lack of interest
amongst the elected as well as the community
members to build toilets in school premises
etc. States of Jammu & Kashmir, Mizoram,
Nagaland and Tripura have been pooled in the
category of 50 to75 per cent coverage, could
be that these states have realised the need
for the construction of school toilets. Andhra
Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Kerala, Sikkim, Tamil
Nadu and Uttar Pradesh have more than 75
per cent of coverage of the school toilets.
Reasons that can be attributed are State
Governments involving Education Department
for construction of toilets and also the massive
drives combined with girl child education etc.
Anganwadi Toilets Coverage Status Across
India : Eight States are categorised under below
50 per cent coverage. More than 75 per cent
coverage is seen in 18 States (Andhra Pradesh,
Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat,
Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya
Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Orissa, Punjab,
Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, and Uttar
Pradesh). This is mostly due to the promotion
of the self-help groups and Anganwadi centres
across the States for the upliftment of women
groups. But it can be noted that in States of
Assam, Bihar, Goa, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand
coverage is between 50-75 per cent.
Status of Sanitation in Andhra Pradesh
As per the Report of the Department of
Rural Water Supply and Sanitation in Andhra
Pradesh, 60 per cent of the rural households
were covered with sanitation facilities by the
end of the year 2009. Out of this majority had
Individual Sanitary Latrines (66 per cent)
outside their houses while 34 per cent had
attached latrines. About 36 per cent of
habitations have drainage facilities. Forty five
habitations are covered with solid waste
management facilities in an unscientific way.
Thirty two per cent of people are dumping in
front of houses and 44 per cent are dumping
on the road side (source: Progress Report of
ENC and PD SWSM, 2009).
Table 3: TSC Achievements in Andhra Pradesh (up to 2009 March)
Component Sanctioned Achieved Balance % Achievement
programme
up to 2012
ISLs to BPL 65,21,091 39,39,689 25,81,402 60.41
ISLs to APL 36,29,688 17,28,680 19,01,008 47.62
School toilets 1,14,861 96,823 18,038 84.29
Anganwadi toilets 15,645 4,789 10,856 30.61
Sanitary complexes 575 443 132 77.04
Source : Project Director, SWSM, RWSS, GoAP 2009 (Please note that the online data and state
report data differ slightly).
It can be inferred from the above Table
that the percentage of achievement of ISLs to
the total sanctioned ISLs for BPL families in
Andhra Pradesh is around 60.41 (up to March,
2009) and a balance of 39.59 has to be
achi eved by 2012. The percentage of
achievement of sanitary complexes is around
77.04 indicating a balance of only 22.96 to be
achieved by 2012. But the Government has
decided a slow down on the community
complexes as O&M is becoming very difficult.
In fact it was learnt from the district offices
that they are dismantling the filled toilets as
the communities are not managing them
properly. The school toilet coverage is the
highest (84. 29 per cent) among all the
components. The reasons for the success
could be that the Education Department takes
up the work and the school sani tati on
committees are formed for O&M and the
special drive for girl child education which is
linked to toilet construction etc. On the
contrary, the percentage of achievement
under anganwadi toilets is only about 30.61
indicating no focus on this component. This
might increase the morbidity rate among the
children who attend the anganwadis. Further,
the children are losing an opportunity to get
themselves trained on sanitation and hygiene
practices due to lack of facilities. Apart from
these, the unit costs ( ` 25,000 ) provided for
school toilets and anganwadi toilet complexes
is much lower than actual costs (ranges
between 40,000 to 50,000) which might be
the reason for slow progress in many cases.
The families whoever have constructed the
ISLs with Government incentive (` 2500) had
to invest their own money to ensure the
quality of the structure. The toilets constructed
with subsidy without awareness generation
have been converted as storage room,
bathroom, livestock/ fuelwood storage room
etc. There is a need for a special drive for
bringing awareness among both BPL and APL
households on the importance of hygiene and
sanitation to avoid the unaccounted major
expenditure on medical treatment to combat
the diseases due to bad sanitation practices.
Table 4 : Component-wise Progress of Sanitation in Andhra Pradesh (per cent)
S.No. State/ IHL- IHL- Total - Sanitary School Anganwadi
District BPL APL IHL Complexes Toilets
1 Adilabad 37.81 26.6 33.61 0 85.57 32.55
2 Anantapur 100 2.21 68.04 0 100 100
3 Chittoor 68.37 55.89 62.82 0 85.75 100
4 Kadapa 70.36 7.71 39.04 0 70.38 89.17
5 East Godavari 49.09 27.66 41.79 72 92.88 34.28
6 Guntur 51.57 17.18 35.67 0 67.21 62.33
7 Karimnagar 40.93 20.65 33.31 0 92 70.47
8 Khammam 64.68 100 65.57 0 100 62.38
9 Krishna 53.79 30.8 46.12 17.65 71.07 100
10 Kurnool 51.88 100 72.6 0 71.77 9.62
11 Mahabubnagar 40.5 100 89.31 100 86.47 39.78
12 Medak 57.18 31.21 51.05 6 48.64 26.43
13 Nalgonda 94.9 55.16 78.15 0 86.9 100
14 Nellore 53.23 4.01 36.51 0 80.87 14.11
15 Nizamabad 90.98 100 100 0 100 100
16 Prakasam 43.97 59.36 49.1 0 90.71 80.13
17 Rangareddy 57.85 49.78 55.81 0 93.24 68.09
18 Srikakulam 30.53 36.52 33.09 15 71.48 32.71
19 Visakhapatnam 59.47 19.47 44.18 10 100 0
20 Vizianagaram 71.14 62.06 66.35 50 100 8.03
21 Warangal 100 100 100 0 91.34 6.31
22 West Godavari 98.21 100 99.21 100 100 62.41
Total 61.76 57.47 60.23 100 86.45 35.96
The progress across different districts of
Andhra Pradesh across different components
of sanitation is presented in Table 4.
Per cent of Total - Sanitary School Anganwadi
achievement IHHL Complexes Toilets Toilets
Adilabad, Kadapa,
East Godavari,
Guntur,
Karimnagar,
Krishna, Nellore,
Prakasam,
Srikakulam and
Visakhapatnam
Krishna,
Srikakulam,
Visakhapatnam,
Vizianagaram,
Medak
0% or No -
Sanitary
complexes in
Adilabad,
Anantapur,
Chittoor, Kadapa,
Guntur,
Karimnagar,
Khammam,
Kurnool,
Nalgonda, Nellore,
Nizamabad,
Prakasam and
Rangareddy
Medak Adilabad, East
Godavari, Kurnool,
Mahabubnagar,
Medak, Nellore,
Srikakulam,
Vizianagaram and
Warangal
Below 50%
50-75% Anantapur, Chittoor,
Khammam, Kurnool,
Medak, Rangareddy
and Vizianagaram
East Godavari Kadapa, Guntur,
Kri shna, Kurnool
and Srikakulam
Guntur, Khammam,
Karimnagar,
Rangareddy and
West Godavari
Above 75% Mahabubnagar,
Nalgonda, West
Godavari,
Nizamabad (100%)
and Warangal
(100%)
West Godavari and
Mahabubnagar
Adilabad,
Anantapur,
Chittoor, East
Godavari,
Karimnagar,
Mahabubnagar,
Nalgonda, Nellore,
Nizamabad,
Prakasam,
Rangareddy and
Warangal
100% - School
toilets in Anantapur,
Khammam,
Visakhapatnam,
Vizianagaram and
West Godavari
Kadapa, Prakasam
100%- Anganwadi
toilets in
Anantapur,
Chittoor, Krishna,
Nalgonda and
Nizamabad,
Table 5 : Inter-district Comparison of Various TSC Components
Source:ddws.nic.in
The inter district comparison is done by
classifying the percentage of achievements into
three categories such as below 50 per cent, 50-
75 per cent and above 75 per cent to indicate
the forerunner districts in terms of their progress
towards achieving total sanitation.
IHHL Coverage Status Across Andhra
Pradesh : From the above Table it can be inferred
that for physical achievements under different
components of TSC when IHHL coverage across
different districts in Andhra Pradesh is taken,
districts of Adilabad, Kadapa, East Godavari,
Guntur, Karimnagar, Krishna, Nellore, Prakasam,
Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam have below 50
per cent coverage and Anantapur , Chittoor,
Khammam, Kurnool, Medak, Rangareddy and
Vizianagaram have the coverage ranging
between 50-75 per cent and the districts of
Nizamabad and Warangal have 100 per cent
coverage and Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda and
West Godavari have coverage above 75 per cent.
Sanitary Complexes Coverage Status Across
Andhra Pradesh : There are no sanitary
complexes in Adilabad, Anantapur, Chittoor,
Kadapa, Guntur, Karimnagar, Khammam, Kurnool,
Nalgonda, Nellore, Nizamabad, Prakasam and
Rangareddy districts of Andhra Pradesh and
below 50 per cent coverage is seen in Krishna,
Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, and
Medak. East Godavari is the only district which
has coverage of about 72 per cent and it falls in
the category of 50-75 per cent. West Godavari
and Mahabubnagar have 100 per cent coverage
of sanitary complexes in the districts which
speaks in volumes about the community and
the GP initiatives for a safe, clean and hygienic
environment for the people.
School Toilets Coverage Status Across
Andhra Pradesh : Medak (48.64 per cent) is the
only district which has a coverage of below 50
per cent for school toilets construction. Kadapa,
Guntur, Krishna, Kurnool and Srikakulam have
coverage status percentage ranging between
50-75 per cent and districts of Adilabad,
Anantapur, Chittoor, East Godavari, Karimnagar,
Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda, Nellore, Nizamabad,
Prakasam, Rangareddy and Warangal have
coverage above 75 per cent and Anantapur,
Khammam, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and
West Godavari have 100 per cent coverage status
for school toilets.
Anganwadi Toilets Coverage Status Across
Andhra Pradesh : Adilabad, East Godavari, Kurnool,
Mahabubnagar, Medak, Nellore, Srikakulam,
Vizianagaram and Warangal have < 50 per cent
and Anantapur, Chittoor, Krishna, Nalgonda and
Nizamabad have 100% anganwadi toilets.
Guntur, Karimnagar, Khammam, Rangareddy and
West Godavari have coverage between 50-75
per cent and Kadapa and Prakasam have > 75
per cent of coverage status.
The above findings show that the
coverage is quite good but the real picture on
the ground is something different which is
represented in Box-2 from WASHCost research.
BOX-2 : Access and Usage in Six
Districts of Andhra Pradesh
As part of the WASHCost project, field
survey was conducted in six districts of
Andhra Pradesh and the findings revealed
that the access to toilets is very low
especially in the non-NGP villages. The
coverage of toilets is quite low compared
to the figure indicated in the above Tables.
Further, even those households who own
the toilets are not using the toilets which is
quite evident from the percentage of open
defecation. Open defecation in villages
like Chennipad, Maliala, Kamkole,
Machireddipally etc. is so alarming that
reaching the coverage target of
Millennium Development Goal seem to be
very distant. Further, the usage in some
villages despite having the toilets causes
more concern and confirm the findings
(Fig. 7) of low amounts spent on the IEC
activities.
District Village % of HHs having IHHLs % of open defecation
Ranga Reddy Godamkunta (NGP) 89 12
Munirabad (NGP) 88 9
Ramdaspally 50 10
Khanapur 76 22
Tulekalan 42 62
Nalgonda Bandasomaram (NGP) 79 22
Malkapur (NGP) 73 15
Gopalapuram 47 48
Mahabubnagar Kistaram(NGP) 44 78
Chennipad 9 90
Warangal Gangadevipally (NGP) 88 0
Maliala 13 88
Pembarthi 30 70
Khammam Mangalithanda 40 58
Medipally (NGP) 91 8
Jagannadhapuram (NGP) 84 17
Venkatapuram 76 20
Medak Kamkole 11 89
Machireddipally 16 86
Enkepally 37 65
Source : WASHCost Survey 2010.
Challenges for Total Sanitation Campaign
(TSC)
As seen from the above discussions it
can be noted that achieving total sanitation is
a very complex problem and there are various
types of constrai nts to i mpl ement the
programme. It is important that policymakers
and implementors need to strictly adhere to
programme principles when planning and
implementing the strategies to solve the
sanitation problems. As identified by Lenton
et al. (2005) as well as Tipping et al. (2005), the
problems with governance are one of the main
impediments of sanitation sector. The ever-
changing political system makes it challenging
to create a lasting progress especially since
the investments may not yield results during
one term (Lenton et al., 2005). The major
challenges observed are:
* Sanitation coverage across all the TSC
components is low, and reaching TSC
targets by year 2012 is difficult.
* There are huge variations across the
States in reaching the targets indicating
that there is no cross learning and
sharing between the States on how to
take this agenda forward. Similar results
are found across the districts within the
State of Andhra Pradesh.
* Though TSC allocated huge amounts for
Information, Communication, Education
(IEC) and start up activities, the amounts
have not been spent reflecting the low
priority given to the software against the
hardware components.
* The allocated amounts for building the
ISLs and school sanitation blocks and
anganwadi complexes were perceived
very low (actual costs Vs unit costs) and
ensuring the quality is a major challenge
using these unit costs. Further, the
allocations for sanitation were declining
from Central Government budgets.
* The funds for drainages and solid
disposal are either limited or non-
existent at the Panchayat level making
the sanitation incomplete and difficult
to cover.
* Generating awareness and building the
capacities of local institutions on the
Operati on and Mai ntenance and
monitoring the sanitation behaviour
change are percei ved as a major
challenge. Further, the department does
not have specialised staff/ experts for
undertaking these promotion campaigns
and trainings.
* Village Water and Sanitation Committees
(VWSC) do not exist in the villages and
the water and sanitation component is
given least priority by the Panchayat.
* To achi eve TSC targets vari ous
departments are brought in, but inter -
departmental coordination among the
implementing agencies is completely
lacking leading to less coverage as many
of these activities are interlinked and
require a sequence in implementation.
* The staff vacancy in the department is
very high and given the workload it is
very difficult to focus on the sanitation
where they are trai ned more for
technical engineering rather than the
social engineering which is essential to
reach the sanitation coverage.
Conclusions and Way Forward
Proper sanitation is the basis of a healthy
environment. For reaching the Millennium
Development Goal of Halve, by 2015, the
proportion of people without sustainable
access to safe drinking-water and basic
sanitation, the Government should take
proper initiatives to make people aware about
the impact of improper sanitation on the
envi ronment and shoul d make some
emergency programme to achi eve the
Millennium Development Sanitation Goal.
Since usage is the major issue than
coverage, the Government should take proper
steps for demand generation through Mass
Awareness Campaigns using the local media,
mobile networks and creative advertisements,
keeping the principles of human dignity,
quality of life, shame and fame and finally the
environmental security at household and
community level as central focus. For taking
the TSC in a mission mode, efforts have to be
made in establishing the Village Water and
Sani tati on Commi ttees ( VWSC) and the
Panchayats have to be strengthened using the
Non-Governmental Organisations or local
resource persons or centres. Further, behaviour
change messages have to be disseminated
across various stakeholder groups by making
individual household contacts and also by
using the local bodies or community based
organisations such as Self-Help Groups (SHGs),
Rythu Mitra groups etc. For undertaking these
acti vi ti es the Department shoul d hi re
specialised staff by providing necessary
facilities like transport and audio-visual
materi al to di ssemi nate the messages
effectively. Further, for any programme to be
successful there needs to be a continuous
monitoring and learning. The NGP villages and
the households which have constructed the
toilets need to be monitored for a certain
period of time to stabilise the behaviour
change. Department must take initiatives in
this direction and accelerate the monitoring
process by hiring additional staff which is very
crucial. The District Water and Sanitation
Mission has to be rehabilitated and their
functioning may be initiated on the model of
Water and Sani tati on Management
Organisation (WASMO) in Gujarat and Tamil
Nadu Water and Drainage ( TWAD) Board in
Tamil Nadu.
Further, massive programmes like TSC
require community support and involvement
is essential, hence it is critical to build the vision
of the community beyond construction and
towards ownership and management. The
communities need to build their capacities
towards good governance, operation and
mi nor repai r management, systems for
generating the income at community level in
the form of user charges etc. The community
should take active responsibility in solid and
liquid disposal systems following the slopes
and contour lines etc. Further, the funds need
to be allocated for undertaking the drainage
systems in a systematic manner. For effective
implementation of TSC there is an urgent need
for convergence and sequence of activities,
i.e. demand generation followed by fund
disbursal followed by regular monitoring for
ensuri ng effecti ve resul ts i n sani tati on
behaviour adoption at household, school and
community levels.
Notes
1. Guy Hutton and Jamie Bartram (2008), "Global Costs of Attaining the Millennium Development Goal for
Water Supply and Sanitation", Bulletin of the World Health Organization, Vol.86 No.1, 86:13-19. Water
and Sanitation Program, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
2. Lenton Roberto., Albert M. Wright and Kristen Lewis (2005), "Health, Dignity and Development: What
Will It Take?" Earthscan, London.
3. MoHRD (2002), "The Indian Child", New Delhi.
4. Snehalatha. M, Ratna Reddy. V and N. Jaya Kumar (2010), "Pumps, Pipes and Promises -Assessing Sanitation
Costs and Services in Andhra Pradesh, India", Paper Presented at the IRC Symposium, Netherlands.
5. Reddy V. Ratna & Batchelor, C.,(2009)."Can Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Services be Improved by
Mainstreaming Life-cycle Cost Approaches (LCCA) into Planning and Other Governance Processes? Initial
Assessment of LCCA in Andhra Pradesh". Working Paper 7, Centre for Economic and Social Studies,
Hyderabad.
6. Tipping David C., Daniel Adom and Anna K. Tibaijuka (2005)," Achieving Healthy Urban Futures in the
21st Century: New Approaches to Financing and Governance of Access to Clean Drinking Water and
Basic Sanitation As a Global Public Good", Publications of Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Helsinki.
7. TARU (2008), "Impact Assessment of Nirmal Gram Puraskar Awarded Panchayats", Study Conducted by
TARU for UNICEF.
8. Unicef (2008a), "Gearing up for International Year of Sanitation", Unicef Media Centre, NewYork.
9. United Nations (2008), "The Millenium Development Goals Report", New York.
10. WHO/Unicef (2004), "Joint Monitoring Programme Estimate for 2004 Based on the 2001 Extrapolation
of Previous Trends", Geneva.
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N. Sivanna*,
K.G. Gayathridevi *
POLITICAL INCLUSION AND
PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN
LOCAL GOVERNANCE : A STUDY
IN KARNATAKA
NIRD, Hyderabad.
* Adjunct Professor, Ramakrishna Hegde Chair, and Associate Professor, Centre for Ecological Economics
and Natural Resources , Respectively, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Nagarabhavi, Bangalore
Karnataka, India. sivanna@isec.ac.in, gayathridevi@isec.ac.in
This paper is based on the data collected for the larger research study "Engendering Rural Governance:
A Study in the State of Karnataka" conducted by the ISEC Team in collaboration with TISS, Mumbai.
ABSTRACT
The paper examines the situation of Elected Women Representatives (EWRs) at
various levels - political, social, economic and personal. More particularly, it aims to
understand the ways in which the EWRs use their agency to address and negotiate
issues like feminisation of invisibility, proxy governance and politics of exclusion. The
paper also critically looks at the participation and performance of women and thereby
attempts to understand the process of their attaining confidence in undertaking
responsibilities in the public sphere. The paper, while documenting the women's
participation in panchayats, discusses such criticisms levelled against these women.
Examples are the beliefs and prejudices that there is proxy rule in the panchayats by
these women; it is their husbands or other male relatives who exercise power and
responsibility on their behalf. The findings of the study reveal that there is dearth in
literature as to and inadequate understanding of, the ways by which women have
succeeded in combining their multiple roles in performing their duties in the
panchayats. The study on which this paper is based, significantly demonstrates that
at best, these women have been inevitably travelling between genuine participation
and proxy participation. It was observed that women's contribution, true to their rights,
has to come from their knowledge and further empowerment and not by mere
affirmative action in their favour alone. Only this inner transformation and learning
can make them contribute better towards democratic decision-making and
participation and also lead to substantive difference from what they are today.
Introduction
Decentralisation is a key concept in the
on-going progressive reform strategies in the
developing world, aiming at promoting
qualitative governance (Villadsen 1999). The
process is expected to contribute towards
increased quality and quantity in the context
of service delivery and public participation.
Decentralisation is defined as transfer of
competenci es and responsi bi l i ti es for
performing public service obligations for
planning, management, raising and allocation
of resources from the Central Government and
its agencies to their field units and regional
authorities and to democratically elected
institutions (Cheema and Rondinelli 1983:
Cohen and Peterson 1999: Smith 1985). In the
194 N. Sivanna, K.G. Gayathridevi
Indian context, it is also seen as a process of
empowerment and a way for hitherto deprived
groups to reach mainstream social, economic
and political life (Aziz 1996: Mathew 1995).
Furthermore, democratic decentralisation is
expected to facilitate expanding the space for
the participation of subordinated groups and
as also being responsive to their interests. Such
participation becomes even more significant
and critical for women as a subordinated
group for two reasons: proxi mi ty and
relevance of local government to the lives of
ordinary people (and women) and lack of
democracy in gender relations resulting in the
exclusion of women from participation in
governance and in considering their interests
in the business of governmental decision-
making.
In a country like India, where a complex
set of caste-gender-class-based discrimination
continues to exclude the great majority of
people from the process of governance,
gendering becomes one of the critical and
structural pre-requi si tes for the
democratisation of Local Self-Governance
(LSG). In fact, if there is one notion that is
gaining almost universal acceptance in recent
ti mes - even i n the face of neo-l i beral
onslaught, which is devouring every inch of
democratic space across the country - it is
perhaps the idea that governance is being
increasingly oriented towards gendering
through state agenda. State agenda for
gendering governance envisages political and
statutory mandate to El ected Women
Representatives (EWRs) and empowers them
to use their agency to stamp their collective
political identity in governance.
A Silent Revolution
The last two decades have witnessed a
silent revolution of decentralised system of
governance i n the country as a whol e,
especially after the passing of 73rd and 74th
Amendments to the Constitution. These two
amendments provided the much-needed
constitutional and statutory status to the
hitherto neglected and much-maligned
institutions, viz., panchayats as rural local self-
governments and municipalities as the urban
local self-governments, and thereby enabled
the process of making them an integral part
of our Indian federal polity. One of the more
radical and liberal aspects of these two
amendments is the provision of providing
reservation to Scheduled Castes (SCs) and
Scheduled Tribes (STs) (in proportion to their
population) and earmarking reservation of a
minimum of one-third of seats to women in
membership and offices of chairpersons (like
president and vice-president) in all the tiers
of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). As a result
of this highly progressive measure, at present,
there are more than one million women
representatives (Panchayati Raj Ministry 2008))
on these bodies shouldering the complex
responsibilities of local governance in India.
As of now, in a congenial environment, more
and more members of socially disadvantaged
groups of the society are getting into the
political process in the normal course and
participating in decision-making. At the same
time, they are organising themselves and
lobbying for their rightful share in all walks of
life - a development that has succeeded in
creating political awareness among these
groups.
Situation in Karnataka
The 73
rd
Constitutional Amendment has
greatl y contri buted to the pol i ti cal
empowerment of women and marginalised
communities in the rural society. It has thrown
open pol i ti cal opportuni ti es to these
disadvantaged sections. It is well said that
democrati c decentral i sati on woul d be
rendered meaningless as long as gender-
equi ty i s not ensured. The pace of
development in any civil society would be slow
if women, who constitute about 50 per cent
of the popul ati on, are l eft out of the
development process.
Political Inclusion and Participation of Women in Local Governance ... 195
In the State of Karnataka also, reservation
of seats and offices of Chairpersons in their
favour has brought a large number of women
to panchayats as members and presidents. The
enhanced quota for women (compared to the
previous regime) and the category-wise
reservation has also brought into panchayats
a large proportion of first generation elected
representatives ( Table 1). Women member-
ship outnumbers the assigned quota of one-
third reservation. Together for all the three
panchayats, 42.91 per cent (almost 43 per cent)
of the membership is occupied by women. As
regards schedul ed castes, they have a
membership of 18.58 per cent, followed by
scheduled tribes with 10.74 per cent. Of the
total membership, members belonging to
other backward classes (group-A) are to the
tune of 26.60 per cent and to group-B 6.59
per cent. It is significant to note here that
dominant castes like Lingayats and Vokkaligas
come under the category of reservation called
Group-B, though the members of these two
castes also contest elections under the general
category.
The increased presence of EWRs in PRIs
which had otherwise been an exclusive male
domai n, brought about by vi gorous
implementation of State initiatives has given
a semblance of political identity for women in
the landscape of governance across the State.
One of the underlying philosophies of the State
towards engenderi ng governance i s to
empower women a process that will enable
them to overcome the traditional barriers
whi ch pl ace certai n handi caps i n thei r
participation and performance as elected
representatives.
Women in Local Governance
The patriarchal norm that women's place
is at home (private sphere) and not outside
the home in the public realm, has laid several
barriers to women's political empowerment
and even to members of those few families
who try to overcome them. The feeling that
women are meant only for home is being
replaced by a feeling of equal partnership
between the two sexes (Singh 2009). A
significant departure from traditional notion,
in the context of evolving strategies or best
ways to break the barriers, is not to force
women to fit into the political arena; it is rather
to make the political system more women-
friendly (Strutlik 2003).
The avai l abl e l i terature on the
participation and performance of women in
rural governance paints both a positive and
negati ve pi cture. However, there are
Table 1: Membership Representation of SCs, STs and Women in Karnataka PRIs
S.No. Panchayat Total members Women SC ST BC-A BC-B General
1 Zilla Panchayat 1005 373 184 84 268 66 403
2 Taluk Panchayat 3695 1555 678 361 983 248 1425
3 Gram Panchayat 91402 39318 16997 9880 24316 6028 34181
4 Total 96102 41246 17859 10325 25567 6342 36009
5 Percentage to 100.00 42.91 18.58 10.74 26.60 6.59 37.46
the total
Source : Government of Karnataka.
pronounced apprehensions that disabilities
like illiteracy, continued and haunting domestic
responsibilitie, poverty, lack of experience,
poor exposure and communication skills of
women as compared to men come in the way
of effecti ve parti ci pati on of women i n
decentralised planning and governance. Seen
in terms of positive outcomes, several micro
level studies point out that about 80-90 per
cent of women attend panchayat meetings
regularly. Given their sheer numbers, one
might conclude that democracy has become
more participatory than before at least at the
grassroots level (Mohanty 2001; Sivanna,
1998). A study conducted in Kerala upholds
that despite facing numerous problems,
women' s performance on the basi s of
qualitative and quantitative indicators is in no
way inferior to that of males. A sizable
segment of society has come to accept the
fact that women are perhaps more suitable
for running village panchayats than their male
counterparts (Chatukulam and John 2000: pp
66-101). Experiences from some states reveal
that "The women elected to these bodies
(panchayats) have shown startling results in
performance, particularly in the sectors of
health, education, access to basic services and
in ensuring a significant change in the living
conditions of their respective communities.
Even in strong patriarchal culture, one-third
reservati on has encouraged women to
demonstrate their leadership" (Singh 2005: Kot
2007).
Structural and Functional Constraints
Notwithstanding the above mentioned
posi ti ve aspects of women i n l ocal
governance, there are some issues which
centre round the negative aspects, seen
mainly in terms of constraints in the path of
effective and meaningful participation of
women in governance related activities. To
be specific, patriarchal culture and social
stri ctures seem to i nhi bi t women' s
participation in local governance through
panchayats. A woman may access the position
of a sarpanch through reservation in her favour.
But her deputy is usually a man. Often, it is
found that he joins hands with other members
and gets a vote of no-confidence passed
against her, and starts acting as sarpanch in
her place. Thus, what is given by law and the
Constitution is taken away by intrigue and
chicanery (Baviskar 2003).
Despite the documentation of women's
parti ci pati on l evel s and l eadershi p i n
panchayats, the belief persists that women in
the reserved seats are there by proxy and that
their husbands and male relatives exercise
power and responsibility on their behalf. There
is inadequate understanding of the way
women combine their multiple roles and
per form their panchayat functions. The
epithets of 'sarapanch-pati' and 'pradhan-pati'
have become part of the panchayat lexicon
though there are husbands who do not
interfere in their wives' panchayat work and
are in fact supportive of their work (Buch 2009:
pp 8-9).
The above di scussi on puts i nto
perspective the major outline of this paper and
its theoretical framework. A review of existing
literature on the subject has enabled shedding
l i ght upon the concepts of genderi ng
governance, empowerment of women etc. It
has also led to a few questions that have been
moderated into objectives of the paper. The
specific objectives of the paper are as follows:
Objectives
* To critically understand the situation of
Elected Women Representatives (EWR)
at multiple levels- political, social,
economic and personal,
* To understand the ways in which EWRs
use thei r agency to address and
negotiate issues like feminisation of
invisibility, proxy governance and politics
of exclusion, and
* To critically look at the notions of the
concept of 'performances of elected
women representati ves' and to
understand the process of learning
leadership roles by women in the public
sphere.
Methodology
The study on which this paper is based
has used a combination of qualitative and
quantitative approaches. However, primarily
qualitative methods were used to analyse the
parti ci pati on of el ected women
representati ves. The househol d (HH)
questionnaires comprising multiple sections
were administered to 300 respondents (200
ERs and 100 HHs) to obtain both qualitative
and quantitative data. Five districts, Gulbarga,
Bagalkot, Bellary, Mandya and Dakshina
Kannada were selected for their distinct socio-
economic and cultural profiles. Similarly, two
GPs in each district were selected based on
the criteria, viz.,Upper caste male-headed;
Upper caste female-headed; OBC_A/B/
Musl i m mal e-headed; OBC_A/B/Musl i m
female-headed; OBC caste female-headed;
OBC mal e-headed; Mahadal i t/ST mal e-
headed; Mahadalit/ST female-headed; SC
male-headed and SC female-headed; in total
ten gram panchayats were selected for
conducting the study.
Engendering Governance: Process and
Implications
Governance needs to be considered as a
means of social construction, which includes
ways of inclusion, equity and equality in order
to be meaningful to the lives of ordinary
peopl e. The pl ural i ty of domai ns i n
governance also suggests that governance is
a process based and not structure based, and
the players include a range of organisations
and stakehol ders, as wel l as compl ex
relationships among them. The following
paragraphs will take a critical look at the status
of engenderi ng governance vi s--vi s
representation of women in Gram Panchayats
(GPs) and their situation in their respective
democratic institution in the five sample
districts of Karnataka State.
Women Membership in PRIs
The presence of a large number of
el ected women representati ves i n the
institutions of local governance in Karnataka
is indeed significant. The past five years has
witnessed a remarkable, if not phenomenal,
increase in the presence of women in GPs.
Seen across the districts there has been an
increase of 10.3 per cent over the last five
years in the number of HHs having EWRs. It is
equally heartening to note here that most of
the GPs covered by this study had EWRs in
excess of the quota for women in GPs.
Despite the prevalence of patriarchy and
male dominated political system, an increasing
number of women are entering the electoral
fray at local level in almost all the sample areas
of the study. There is a significant improvement
in the support extended by the families to their
female members - especially in the backward
district of Gulbarga to join political parties,
where the support extended by HHs had
shown an increase of 16.7 per cent as against
an overall 10 per cent increase across the
districts (Table 2). However, when we look at
their participation in politics vis--vis their
political affiliation, there has only been a
marginal increase of 5 per cent in the number
of HHs havi ng femal e members havi ng
affiliation with political parties (see Table 3).
Even those having political affiliation, a very
small percentage of respondents were the
office bearers of political parties either at local
or district levels.
Table 2 : Details of Households Having Female Members with Affiliation to Political
Parties and Nature of Affiliation
Response Gulbarga Bagalkot Bellary Mandya Dakshina Kannada Total
Yes, Affiliated 6 7 8 5 10 36
Percentage 10 11.7 13.3 8.3 16.7 12
No 54 53 52 55 50 264
Percentage 90 88.3 86.7 91.7 83.3 88
Total 60 60 60 60 60 300
Nature of membership
a) Office Bearer 0 0 0 0 1 1
at District/
State Level
Percentage 0 0 0 0 10 2.8
b) Active but 0 1 1 0 2 4
Ordinary
Member
Percentage 0 14.3 12.5 0 20 11.1
c) Member 5 6 7 5 7 30
Percentage 83.3 85.7 87.5 100 70 83.3
d) Other Specify 1 0 0 0 0 1
Percentage 16.7 0 0 0 0 2.8
Total 6 7 8 5 10 36
100 100 100 100 100 100
Table 3 : Support Enjoyed by Women from their Family Members to Join a Political Party
Yes 25 32 41 39 35 172
Percentage 41.7 53.3 68.3 65 58.3 57.3
No 35 28 19 21 25 128
Percentage 58.3 46.7 31.7 35 41.7 42.7
Total 60 60 60 60 60 300
100 100 100 100 100 100
It is very significant to note here that
despite being drawn into village politics
consequent to their entry into GPs and despite
enjoying a better support from the family
members to join any political party, women
have, by and large, remained alienated from
the mainstream politics or continue to remain
obscure in the larger politics. This is not to
suggest that women contesting GP elections
have remained non-partisan or were above
political leanings; as a matter of fact a vast
majority of women had expressed clear
political leanings. The picture that emerges
from the foregoing discussion suggests an
overwhelmingly male dominated political
process where women continue to play a
useful but non-descript or secondary role in
the larger politics.
Politics of Exclusion
Since the existing legislative measures
concerning the local self-governments (LSGs)
have an inclusive approach towards local
governance, it can safely be assumed -at least
theoretically-that there can be no exclusion in
the context of LSG. The fi el d based
observations and the recent developments in
the politics in the State reveal a different
picture.
It has been seen from the study that far
from inaugurating an era of inclusive politics,
the process of democrati sati on and
decentralisation seems to be emerging as a
kind of 'contra-indication' for all the ills that
has been affecting this society. True, neither
patriarchy nor hegemony (all kinds) can be
uprooted overnight. But reinforcement of
hegemonic power structures and polarisation
of the society along caste and religion is the
least expected unfortunate development that
has taken pl ace duri ng the post-
decentralisation phase in Karnataka. Some of
the examples can be cited here:
A complex interplay of both social and
economic hegemony as witnessed during the
recently concluded elections to GPs provides
ample proof about politics of exclusion that
present an overwhel mi ng chal l enge to
gendering and inclusive development. It is
quite alarming to note from recent gram
panchayat elections that, in the name of
conducting GP elections on non-partisan and
consensus basis, the seats of ERs were either
put up for auction or were 'sold'. The seats
were ei ther sol d or decl ared el ected
uncontested. Usually, auction takes place in
the temple premises and there are reports of
seats being allotted to the highest bidders. The
amount of bid was in the order of ` 2-3 lakh
(field notes). In any village of Karnataka, only
the landlords and moneylenders can spend
such large sums on elections. These trends can
potentially preclude possibilities for women,
especially from the poorer families, of having
any role in the affairs of local governance.
Untouchability is still being practised in
almost all the villages of the gram panchayats
in Gulbarga, Bellary, and Bagalkot and Mandya
districts (see Table 4). Denial of access to public
places like drinking water taps, barber shops,
hotels, temples, etc. are some of the caste-
based discriminations that can be seen in the
villages even now. Furthermore, dalit women
were made to sit separately in gram sabha (GS).
These practices have been noted in all the
three northern districts of the State (Bellary,
Gulbarga and Bagalkot).
Table 4 : Practice of Untouchability
Districts Response EMR EWR Ex-EMR Ex-EWR Total
Gulbarga Yes 5 4 2 2 13
Percentage 33.3 28.6 28.6 50 32.5
No 10 10 5 2 27
Percentage 66.7 71.4 71.4 50 67.5
Total 15 14 7 4 40
Bagalkot Yes 4 9 5 2 20
Percentage 28.6 69.2 71.4 33.3 50
No 10 4 2 4 20
Percentage 71.4 30.8 28.6 66.7 50
Total 14 13 7 6 40
Bellary Yes 12 8 6 5 31
Percentage 85.7 61.5 75 100 77.5
No 2 5 2 0 9
Percentage 14.3 38.5 25 0 22.5
Total 14 13 8 5 40
Mandya Yes 4 5 5 1 15
Percentage 22.2 41.7 62.5 50 37.5
No 14 7 3 1 25
Percentage 77.8 58.3 37.5 50 62.5
Total 18 12 8 2 40
Dakshina Yes 7 3 1 2 13
Kannada
Percentage 50 25 11.1 40 32.5
No 7 9 8 3 27
Percentage 50 75 88.9 60 67.5
Total 14 12 9 5 40
Proxy Governance and Invisibility
If we were to go by the definition of
proxy governance as exerci se of
Constitutional powers by persons not enjoying
the constitutional mandate (Aziz 2002), we
would end up taking an innocuous view of a
phenomenon which had potentially defeated
the very vision behind state initiatives towards
engendering governance. There are others
who contend that proxy governance is not
confined to EWRs alone but could be seen
among elected male representatives (EMRs)
as well. In both the cases, we are confronted
with a situation where governance is getting
more and more hegemonic. The entire issue
of proxy governance revol ves around
systemati c subjugati on of women by
according symbolic status in governance.
While it is either husbands or other male
members of the family who not only help the
EWRs but also play the role of ERs on behalf of
EWRs.
Some cases in the above context are as follows:
Case 1
The female president of Perne Panchayat of Bantwal Taluk, Dakshina Kannada district belongs
to a rich family of agriculturists owning about 10 acres of fertile and irrigated land. She was
formerly with BJP (elected as ER with support from BJP during 2000-2005).In the second
term she switched over to Cong (I) and won the GP election with support from Cong(I).She
is active, knowledgeable and regular to GP meetings. She can speak fluently and
authoritatively about various government programmes. She took personal interest in
implementing MGNREGA - in a district where the scheme holds little appeal to the working
class but- in her GP which provided employment to women who were till then dependent
on seasonal work in the paddy fields. She is assertive and can dictate terms to other male
members of the GP.
This is a case of a rich and successful
housewife who had an almost armchair raid
during her tenure as GP president on the sheer
strength of her status as a rich land lady. But
the sad reality is majority of women in the
rural households continue to lead a non-
descript and an invisible life. What makes the
situation sadder is the fact that even after
becoming prominent individuals in their
respective villages (on the strength of being
elected as GP member and being made the
office bearer), they still continue to remain
alienated from the public sphere.
Case 2
EWR and President of Halagali GP of Mudhol taluk, Bagalkot district is a typical rustic woman
belonging to ST community. She cannot work independently and is entirely dependent on
her son who attends to most of the GP-related activities. She merely puts her signatures on
papers placed before her. As a president of the GP she never had the opportunity to interact
with the government officials. She informs that her son is well accepted in the GP and gets
the necessary cooperation in discharging his mother's responsibilities. She is financially
sound and has 12 acres of irrigated farm land. She is aged but not weak. But she is meek,
docile and least assertive as an ER/President. She does not enjoy equal status with other
EWRs who belong to upper caste Lingayath families. She was not offered a chair to sit in nor
invited inside the homes of upper caste families.
This is another instance of invisibility
where the president of a GP who is a well
settled farmer continues to remain invisible
in her participation. Both political power as
head of a panchayat and economic power with
farmi ng have not gi ven her the ri ght
perspectives and abilities to perform her roles
independent of male support.
Gender Perceptions
The EWRs and EMRs have shown
progressive perception by stating that they do
not consider men to be more efficient than
women (for details see Table 5). There is not
much difference in the responses of ex EWRs
and ex-EMRs on this. A large majority have
disagreed with the statement that men are
more efficient than women. The percentage
of women who have disagreed is higher (83
per cent PRI women and 82 per cent ex PRI
women) than that of mens on this (62.7 and
76.9 per cent, respectively).
Table 5 : Responses to Gender Relations and Equality
S. No. Response PRI- PRI- Ex-PRI- Ex-PRI- Total
Men women Men Women
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)
1. Men are more efficient Yes 28 11 9 4 52
than women per cent 37.3 17.2 23.1 18.2 26
No 47 53 30 18 148
per cent 62.7 82.8 76.9 81.8 74
2. For effective functioning Yes 30 25 17 8 80
of society, a patriarchal per cent 40 39.1 43.6 36.4 40
structure is necessary No 45 39 22 14 120
per cent 60 60.9 56.4 63.6 60
3. There are equal Yes 49 39 22 16 126
opportunities available per cent 65.3 60.9 56.4 72.7 63
for men and women to No 26 25 17 6 74
access the resources per cent 34.7 39.1 43.6 27.3 37
4. A family should have one Yes 38 48 26 11 123
male child per cent 50.7 75 66.7 50 61.5
No 37 16 13 11 77
per cent 49.3 25 33.3 50 38.5
5. Men have to look after Yes 31 20 14 10 75
the economic matters of per cent 41.3 31.3 35.9 45.5 37.5
the family No 44 44 25 12 125
per cent 58.7 68.8 64.1 54.5 62.5
6. Women have to look after Yes 26 22 11 10 69
the domestic chores per cent 34.7 34.4 28.2 45.5 34.5
No 49 42 28 12 131
per cent 65.3 65.6 71.8 54.5 65.5
(Contd..)
(Contd..)
7. It is not advisable for men Yes 36 14 13 12 75
to sweep the house per cent 48 21.9 33.3 54.5 37.5
No 39 50 26 10 125
per cent 52 78.1 66.7 45.5 62.5
8. Politics is not a womans Yes 25 8 6 7 46
forte per cent 33.3 12.5 15.4 31.8 23
No 50 56 33 15 154
per cent 66.7 87.5 84.6 68.2 77
9. Since women are not able Yes 57 50 29 16 152
to take-up work that per cent 76 78.1 74.4 72.7 76
demands hard physical No 18 13 9 6 46
labour, there is no problem per cent 24 20.3 23.1 27.3 23
in women having low wages No Response 0 1 1 0 2
per cent 0 1.6 2.6 0 1
10. With my given position, Yes 30 44 17 11 102
I would have got more per cent 40 68.8 43.6 50 51
acceptance had I been a man No 37 19 17 11 84
per cent 49.3 29.7 43.6 50 42
No response 8 1 5 0 14
per cent 10.7 1.6 12.8 0 7
11. Only women have to look Yes 19 14 11 8 52
after the kids per cent 25.3 21.9 28.2 36.4 26
No 56 50 28 14 148
per cent 74.7 78.1 71.8 63.6 74
12. Girls should not study in Yes 1 2 0 2 5
co-ed schools per cent 1.3 3.1 0 9.1 2.5
No 74 62 39 20 195
per cent 98.7 96.9 100 90.9 97.5
13. Dowry is a social evil Yes 75 63 39 22 199
per cent 100 98.4 100 100.0 99.5
No 0 1 0 0 1
per cent 0 1.6 0 0 0.5
Total 75 64 39 22 200
per cent 100 100 100 100 100
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)
Table 5 : (Contd..)
To the question if a patriarchal structure
is necessary for the effective functioning of a
society, again those who have disagreed are
larger in proportion than those who were in
agreement (all above 60 per cent). This is again
encouraging since the women who are
elected to PRIs have realised that they are also
important to run a democracy. They have also
come to learn about male-female equality, and
are clear that patriarchal structures are
exploitative and oppressive of women. That
such a realisation has come about among male-
ERs is a welcome trend. They live in a society
where women are given reserved seats to
contest elections. Besides this, the self-help
group (SHG) revolution has mobilised many
women to come out of their homes and
participate in meetings of the group.
In todays society, due to many reforms,
there is equal opportunity for men and women
to access resources like land, livestock,
property, etc. Whether this was agreeable to
men is the question. When asked about their
views on this statement, 65.3 per cent of males
in PRIs said yes to this question and it was a
lesser proportion of 60.9 per cent for the
females. Taking the members who are ex-EWRs
and EMRs, we find that more than males (56.4
per cent), it was the females or ex-EWRs who
have answered in the affirmative that there is
better equity between gender today to access
resources (72.7 per cent). About 43.6 per cent
of ex-PRI men however felt that it is not so
which is the highest among all responses.
To the question, whether all families
should have at least one male child, first of all
there is consensus among all that it is so.
Interestingly, taking negative answers to this
question, we find that it is the young male
members who have not agreed to thi s
statement than their counterparts in the
category of ex-EMRs. If not by practice, at least
by perception, the ERs are concerned about
gender equal i ty. A majori ty of them,
irrespective of sex, have appreciated that
household work is not the responsibility of
only the females while men have to look after
the economic matters of the household. More
than 60 per cent of both men and women from
both categories of present and past ERs denied
that household work is the burden of women
alone, and that women also should take care
of economic matters. Moreover, even in the
case of such notions that men should not
sweep the floor, surprisingly 45.5 per cent of
ex- PRI women, agreed that it is not correct to
expect men to sweep the floor.
Having been exposed to reservations to
women in PRIs, it is expected that majority of
both males and females from both categories
of current and ex-members, are very
vehemently supportive of womens political
participation at least for experience. To the
question about wage discrimination between
males and females, both men and women,
irrespective of their duration of position in PRIs
(past or present) have vociferously supported
wage discrimination on the ground that
women are not physically equally capable of
hard work as men are. Therefore, giving them
wages lower than that of men is nothing wrong
and is quite justified.
Despite their struggles and toil, women
have been longing for more empowerment
and freedom from gendered discrimination.
This is clear when we refer to the Table where
women have felt that the ERs would get better
acceptance in the position of ERs if only they
were men (EMRs). Gender discrimination on
grounds of ones capacity to participate was
experienced by all of them. This is clear when
we see that a majority have answered in the
affirmative to the question and wished they
were born as men to get the certificate of
being good leaders.
There are three other questions as seen
in the Table above that were posed to the
women. All of them hint at the gender relations
in the household and signify how they should
have molded the thinking of men and women.
For the question of child care by both father
and mother also, there was an overwhelming
response involving men or father in childcare
activities. While the responses of present EMRs
(74.7 per cent) is lower than that of the present
EWRs (78.1 per cent), it is not so in the case of
former members. Here, the number of ex-
EWRs is lower (63.6 per cent) than their male
counterparts (71.8 per cent).
Another area of gender discrimination is
in choosing educational institutions for girls
vis-a-vis boys in rural households. Normally,
restrictions are placed on girls by disallowing
them to attend co-education schools. But this
traditional practice is held as conservative and
illogical by our respondents. More than 90 per
cent of both men and women from both
categories of old and new members have
negated the statement and denied that it
should be put to practice. They feel that girls
should study in co-educational schools and mix
with the opposite sex that helps in building
their personality. It enables developing a sense
of understanding between sexes, and prepares
them to face life better.
Lastly, being the worst social evil of the
present times, dowry system is condemned
by one and all, and there is almost 100 per
cent response that it is a social evil. There are
no male female differences in such response.
On the whole, we find that the ERs,
whether past or present, or male or female,
are equally progressive. We found that social
and economic processes that are in vogue in
the rural areas in the last few decades have
prepared men and women equally well in at
least developing an opinion or attitude about
gender equality.
Participation and Performance
The most outstanding feature of the 73
rd
and 74
th
Constitutional Amendments is the
visibility and space that it has provided to
women. Reservation of seats to women from
all caste and class categories and all levels of
administration - village, taluk and district - is
an i mpor tant i ndi cator of womens
empowerment through decentralised bodies
that have opened up the gates of political
power and status to hi therto such
unrepresented sections of our society. One of
the most posi ti ve outcomes from the
increased representation of women in PRIs is
expected to be thei r soci al el evati on.
Representation of women and other weaker
sections apart from their ability to participate
in decentralised governance and planning
process is another issue that they have to
tackle as soon as they are elected to power.
Being novices to politics and political activities,
these women needed time and support to
real l y pi ck up the threads of effecti ve
participation. After more than two decades of
experience in panchayat system one expects
them to have picked up the art or skill of
participation. Yet the ever-complex process
of political administration in a regime of
panchayats being shielded by party politics, it
is presumed that such participation by these
new entrants is still difficult. Participation
i nvol ves taki ng ri ght deci si ons at the
appropriate time and place. The ERs, male or
female, are expected to understand the needs
of the people in their constituency better as
they are elected as one among them for this
purpose (Gayathridevi 2004).
When asked if the ERs were interested
in launching any special plans for making
panchayat devel opment more gender
sensitive, 66 per cent of our respondents have
replied in the affirmative. A majority of
respondents in the districts of Mandya (72.5
per cent), Dakshina Kannada (DK) and Gulbarga
(70 per cent) and Bellary (60 per cent) stated
to make panchayati raj system gender-friendly
(see Table 6). A very large percentage (73.5 )
of them have also informed us that women
from their constituency approach them for
help in solving their problems. It is the highest
in Mandya with 87.5 per cent, followed by
a) Have you under-
taken initiatives to
empower women
in your Panchayat?
Yes 20 20 23 19 15 97
Percentage 50 50 57.5 47.5 37.5 48.5
No 20 20 17 21 25 103
Percentage 50 50 42.5 52.5 62.5 51.5
Total 40 40 40 40 40 200
b) As an ER would you
like to make the plans
for Panchayat
Development more
Gender Sensitive?
Yes 28 23 24 29 28 132
Percentage 70 57.5 60 72.5 70 66
No 12 17 16 11 12 68
Percentage 30 42.5 40 27.5 30 34
Total 40 40 40 40 40 200
c) Do women folk
approach you for
solution to their
problems?
Yes 28 31 27 35 26 147
Percentage 70 77.5 67.5 87.5 65 73.5
No 12 9 13 5 14 53
Percentage 30 22.5 32.5 12.5 35 26.5
Total 40 40 40 40 40 200
100 100 100 100 100 100
Table 6: Initiatives by ERs to Empower Women
Bagalkot with 77.5 per cent and Gulbarga with
70 per cent. Thus, while nearly 49 per cent of
the respondents stated that they are
undertaking initiatives to empower women in
their constituencies, when it is decoded as to
how they are doing so, the responses are
rather skewed.
Table 7 : Issues that are Generally Brought Before the ERs by Women
Issues Gulbarga Bagalkot Bellary Mandya Dakshina Kannada Total
a) Apathy or
discrimination in
government offices 5 8 7 13 4 37
Percentage 13.9 20.5 18.9 28.9 12.5 19.6
b) Dowry 2 4 7 9 1 23
Percentage 5.6 10.3 18.9 20 3.1 12.2
c) Harassment at
Work place 9 6 8 8 8 39
Percentage 25 15.4 21.6 17.8 25 20.6
d) Sexual harassment 2 5 5 6 12 30
Percentage 5.6 12.8 13.5 13.3 37.5 15.9
e) Travel Related 3 1 2 0 0 6
Percentage 8.3 2.6 5.4 0 0 3.2
f ) Any Other 15 15 8 9 7 54
Percentage 41.7 38.5 21.6 20 21.9 28.6
Total 36 39 37 45 32 189
100 100 100 100 100 100
Furthermore, upon questioned as to what
are the general issues of grievance that
women in the constituency bring to the notice
of their ERs (male or female), there were
several types of problems that women in the
area state to have actually encountered. These
responses could be categorised for purposes
of analysis here into those falling into the
public and private spheres. Matters relating to
availing of benefits of the government
schemes meant for them belong to the former
while issues like demand for dowry and sexual
harassment fall into the latter domain.
Put together, about 20 per cent of all ERs
in the selected and about 20 per cent of
respondents (Table 7) have stated that women
from their constituencies approach them for
reasons of exclusion in the government
programmes. Apathy and discrimination in
government offices is reported to be the
highest according to some of our respondents
from Mandya (28.9 per cent), followed by
Bellary (18.9 per cent) and others.
That problems like dowry system are not
very significant in few places in the State is
perhaps evident when we look at the Table
where DK district has one ER saying that dowry
harassment i s an i ssue for thei r voters
approaching them. Mandya has registered the
highest number of responses (20 per cent)
followed by Bellary (18.9 per cent), Bagalkot
(10.3 per cent) and Gulbarga (5.6 per cent).
Both harassment at work place and
sexual harassment are stated to have been
present in the selected districts. About 25 per
cent in Gulbarga and DK, 21.6 per cent in
Bellary, 17.8 per cent in Mandya and 15.4 per
cent of the ERs in Bagalkot have admitted that
their voters come to them with complaints
about harassment at work place. DK has topped
the list (37.5 per cent) among other districts
as far as people complaining and seeking the
help of ERs is concerned. The other districts
also have it to some extent as is visible from
the number of people who are approaching
the ERs for redressal. However, panchayats
have no right to solve this kind of problem. So
what happens to rehabilitation problem? Just
reporting will not work!
On the whole, the study has shown that
the ERs are aware that legal provisions made
have to reach the needed sections without
fail. They are aware of the shortcomings,
including corruption and other irregularities.
They have also observed that funds earmarked
for development works do not reach the
panchayats on time and this delay also adds to
the inefficiency in performing their duties.
Although many have said that they were able
to fulfill election promises, there is a void in
the performance.
Concluding Reflections
The foregoi ng anal ysi s shows that
although Constitutional provisions relating to
women in rural areas have done substantial
good for their exposure and empowerment,
women continue to encounter a number of
chal l enges and constrai nts i n thei r
participation in the social and political spheres.
Despite several years of introduction of
reservation of seats in their favour, women
continue to depend on male relatives and
officials in playing their roles and discharging
their responsibilities. Thus, proxy governance
is seen in almost all GPs under the study.
Untouchability is still being practised in almost
all the villages of the GPs in Gulbarga, Bellary,
Bagalkot and Mandya districts. Denial of access
to public places like barber shops, hotels,
temples, etc., are some of the caste based
discriminations that can be seen in the villages
that come under the present study. Dalits are
obeying an unwritten code by not daring to
enter hotels run by the upper caste Hindus.
The paper also highlights that women are
caught between genuine participation and
proxy participation.
Policy Suggestions
The following are a few suggestions for
ensuring better empowerment of women in
and out of the PRIs. Leadership by women
needs to be a continuous process stretching
beyond the official position in the panchayats.
They have been travelling between genuine
participation and proxy participation. Their
contribution, true to their rights, has to come
from thei r knowl edge and further
empowerment. Only that can make them
contribute better and make substantive
di fference than what they are today.
Transformative politics is countered by
patriarchy that is directed by issues of power,
authority, hierarchy and control which affect
changes in power structures and gender
relations. Concerted efforts are needed to
enable the above. A few suggestions in this
regard are as follows:
1. Formation of EWR collectives/forums to
help develop strategies to empower
women as leaders.
a) This would provide platform for women
to share their real life experiences as
leaders
b) Creation of awareness about their roles
and responsibilities
c) Awareness about right to information
(RTI), right to education (RTE) etc. that
woul d enabl e thei r further
empowerment with knowledge and
security
d) Enhance their role as stakeholders in
gender budgeting
e) Self-analysis of the potential impact of
womens participation on the function-
ing of the PR institutions.
2. Women leaders have to understand their
role in improving the living conditions
of fellow women, especially women
from the weaker sections. EWRs can make
a di fference i f they are trai ned i n
understanding the constraints of poor
women in accessing essential services
like public distribution system (PDS),
drinking water, equal wages, social
security for health, childrens education,
child labour etc.
3. Training of EWRs is felt to be inadequate.
The State government has to take steps
to look into the contents of training
modules offered both by state training
institutions and the government.
4. Organi si ng crash programmes for
illiterate EWRs is of utmost necessity.
5. Formation of womens associations and
groups at different levels to act as
pressure groups on all fronts-community-
education, better law enforcement and
deterrent punishment for continuing
social evils like female foeticide, dowry,
violence on women at home and work
place etc.
6. Empowering the EWRs to implement
equal wages to women is important.
7. Ensuring equality and efficiency in
gender budgeting to achieve complete
gender autonomy in leadership.
References
1 Aziz, Abdul (ed.). (1996), Decentralized Governance in Asian Countries, New Delhi, Sage Publications.
2 Baviskar, B S. (2003), Impact of Women's Participation in Local Governance in Rural India, October 20-21,
New Delhi: ISS.
3. Bidyut, Mohanty. (2001), The Daughters of the 73rd Amendment, New Delhi, Institute of Social Sciences.
4. Buch, Nirmala (2009), 'Reservations for Women in Panchayats : A Sop in Disguise?', EPW, XLIV ( 40): 8-9.
5. Cheema, G. Shabbir and Dennis A. Rondinelli (ed.s). (1983), Decentralization and Development: Policy
Implementation in Developing Countries, Beverly Hills, Sage Publications.
6. Cohen, M. John and Peterson, B. Stephen. (1999), Administrative Decentralization: Strategies for
Developing Countries, Kumarian Press.
7. Gayathridevi, K G. (2004), Development through Decentralization: The Role of Women Presidents in the
GPs of Karnataka, Bangalore : ISEC.
8. Government of Karnataka. (2006), 'Institutional Reforms for Human Development: Panchayat Raj' (Abdul
Aziz) in Karnataka Human Development Report 2005, Bangalore: Department of Planning and Statistics.
9. Jos, Chathuculam and M.S.John. (2000), 'Empowerment of Women Panchayat Members: Learning from
Kerala (India)', AJWS, 6 (4): 66-101.
10. Lokendra, Singh Kot. (2007), 'Women in Rural Democracy- A Changing Scenario', Vikas Samvad Fellowship
2007, Bhopal : People's College of Medical Science and Research Centre.
11. Mathew, George (ed.). (1995), Status of Panchayati Raj in the States of India, New Delhi : Concept.
12. Ministry of Panchayati Raj. (2008), Study on Elected Women Representatives in Panchayati Raj Institutions
: Report (Year of Survey 2007-2008), New Delhi : Government of India.
13. Meenakshisundaram, S.S. (1994), Decentralisation in Developing Countries, New Delhi: Concept.
14. Singh, Dharam Pal (2005), 'Women in Grass-root Democracy in India : Experiences from Selected States',
Conference Paper - 3rd International Conference on Women and Politics in Asia, 24-25, November,
Islamabad, Pakistan.
15. Sivanna, N. (1998), 'Decentralised Governance and Planning in Karnataka: A Historical Perspective', Social
Change, 28(1).
16. Sivanna, N. (2009), 'Reservation (fifty per cent) for Women in Panchayats: Myths and Realities', Critique,
IV (3). Bangalore: ISI.
17. Smith, B C. (1985), Decentralization: The Territorial Dimensions of the State, London: Allen and Unwin.
18. Stefanie, Strulik (2003), 'Demonstrating "Proxy" Women' in A Decade of Women's Empowerment Through
Local Government in India, Workshop Report, October 20-21, New Delhi, Institute of Social Sciences.
19. The Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act, (1993), 2004, Bangalore: Karnataka Law Journal Publications.
20. Villadsen, Soren (1999), Good Governance and Decentralization, Public Sector Reforms in Developing
Countries, Copenhagen.
Vinod Kumar, R.K. Sharma
K.D. Sharma *
RISK MANAGEMENT AND RURAL
EMPLOYMENT IN HILL FARMING -
A STUDY OF MANDI DISTRICT OF
HIMACHAL PRADESH
NIRD, Hyderabad.
* Research Associate, Professor and Sr. Scientist, Respectively. Department of Agricultural Economics,
Extension Education and Rural Sociology, CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur-176062,
India.
ABSTRACT
The study was carried out in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh during 2002-03
to examine the labour employment in hill agriculture under risk. Stratified two stage
random sampling technique was adopted to select the sample. A total of 150
households were selected from different sub-ecological regions viz. Low Hills, Mid Hills
and High Hills. The risk efficient farm plans were developed using the Minimisation of
Total Absolute Deviation (MOTAD) Model. The plans were existing resources with
existing technology,( Plan I) and existing technology with augmented resources (Plan
IV). In addition, two plans in between these two were developed. The study revealed
that the per farm as well as per hectare labour use was higher during kharif season as
compared to rabi season, as more labour intensive crops (paddy and vegetables) were
grown during kharif season. With the introduction of dairy, the human labour
employment increased by 59 per cent in plan-I whereas in plan-IV, it increased by 60
per cent in low hill region. In mid hills, this increase was estimated as high as 162 and
148 per cent. The corresponding figures in high hills were to the extent of 74 and 58 per
cent. This clearly indicates that crops + dairy farming provided higher farm labour
employment than crops enterprise alone. It was important to examine that the dairy
activity with crops enterprise also reduced the risk. Thus, to increase the employment
and minimise the risk in hill agriculture, emphasis needs to be given to encourage
mixed farming. The crossbred cows were found to be the best dairy animals in the
study area in terms of profitability as well as employment generation. Vegetables
were found to be important in the cropping pattern particularly in plan IV. Thus, there
is a need to popularise cultivation of vegetable crops in which the role of the
Department of Agriculture is crucial in promoting scientific cultivation and orderly
marketing to reduce risk.
Introduction
Generation of adequate and sustained
employment opportunities has become the
focus of attenti on of the devel opment
paradigm since the inception of planning era.
Ever since the introduction of economic
reforms in 1991, there has been an immense
debate on the impact of economic reforms
on employment, poverty and well-being of the
poor in India, especially in the rural areas. In
hi l l y regi ons, there i s l i ttl e scope for
212 Vinod Kumar, R.K. Sharma, K.D. Sharma
employment generation outside agriculture
due to l ack of non-farm avenues of
employment as well as abundance of unskilled
labour force crowding in farm sector.
It is trite observation that the production
process itself is extremely susceptible to the
capri ces of the weather. The weather
uncertai nti es i n terms of pauci ty/
superabundance of rainfall, its lack of proper
correspondence with the various stages of
production, technological uncertainties in
terms of fai l ure of new vari eti es, non-
availability of plant protection measures for
diseases/insect pests, etc., contribute greatly
to an uncertain production. In Himachal
Pradesh, farming is fraught with risk and
uncertainty where the performance of the
monsoon directly governs the economy of
about 83 per cent of cropped land. Owing to
low, erratic and uncertain rainfall, crop yields
in rainfed areas are low and highly variable
and risky (Mruthyunjaya and Sirohi, 1979). Risk
and uncertainty in production have also been
recognised as important constraints in the
process of rapid adoption of the high-yielding
variety (HYV) technology in agriculture
(Sasmal, 1993 and Saha, 2001).
Add to this the fact that product prices
at the end of the cropping season vary
significantly from what they were at the
sowing time. All these reasons result into a
considerable amount of revenue uncertainty.
In addition to this, labour employment in
agriculture particularly family labour, is
seriously affected. In the absence of well-
developed insurance and capital market in less
developed agriculture, producers often use
diverse mechanisms to mitigate the impact of
this revenue uncertainty through various
alternatives including crop and employment
diversification. Of course, the extent to which
the farmer can do so effectively will also
depend on the uncertainty attaching to labour
market employment. This is particularly true
in hill agriculture.
Within agriculture also, it needs to be
diversified by incorporating land-based and
allied enterprises to enhance the employment
avenues and reduce income variability,
especially in hilly areas having fragile agro-
eco-systems. Risk analysis showed that there
i s scope to enhance empl oyment and
minimise risk at farm level by enterprise-mix
incorporating judicious-mix of crops and
livestock enterprises (Sekar and Palanisami,
2000). The crop farming alone has been proved
much risky under severe resource restrictions
while crop-cum-livestock combination has
been found to enhance the buffering capacity
of the farm by reducing risk and increasing
land-labour productivity in agriculture (Singh
and Sharma 1988). Even under irrigated
conditions, vegetable plus dairy was the most
appropriate choice for the farmers as the pure
vegetable farming was found to be more risky
and less remunerative (Kumar et al., 2002).
Hilly regions are characterised by small,
scattered, fragmented and rai nfed
landholdings, weak market infrastructure,
traditional production practices, etc. More than
70 per cent of the population of hills earn their
livelihoods directly from farming business.
Due to low level of education and skill, the
movement of labour force from land based
activities (farming) to urban oriented activities
(industrial production) is low. All these factors
affect the economy and livelihoods of hill
people under some mountain specificities
which separate the hilly region from other
areas (Jodha, 1996). Thus, there is a need to
study the labour employment under existing
si tuati on and expl ore possi bi l i ti es for
enhancing gainful employment through
alternative farm plans. These plans would be
more useful if studied under varying degrees
of risk so that farmers can choose the plan as
per their risk bearing capability. Keeping this
in view, the present study was undertaken with
the following specific objectives.
Risk Management and Rural Employment in Hill Farming ... 213
1. To examine the existing employment
pattern for different farm situations in
Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh
2. To study the changi ng pattern of
employment under risk efficient farm
plans for different farm situations in the
study area
3. To suggest suitable policy measures for
enhancing employment in agriculture.
Methodology
Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh was
purposively selected where 74 per cent of
total population is directly or indirectly
dependent upon agriculture. The district has
been divided into three distinct sub-ecological
regions viz. (i) Foot hills areas (ii) Mid hills areas
(iii) High hills areas (Anonymous, 1981).
Strati fi ed two stage random sampl i ng
technique was adopted to select the sample
for the study considering sub-ecological
regions as strata. In the first stage of sampling,
five villages were selected randomly from
each sub-ecological region. In the second
stage, a compl ete l i st of al l the farm
households in each of the selected villages
was compiled and 50 farm households from
each sub-ecol ogi cal regi on were
proportionally allocated in the selected
villages. Thus in all, a sample of 150 farm
households of different sub-ecological regions
was selected. Both cross section and time
seri es data for the present study were
col l ected through personal vi si t to the
households. Commensurate with the set
objectives of the study, cross sectional data
collected during 2002-03 and time series data
(1998-99 to 2002-03) were collected on area,
production and prices of different crops and
number and production of livestock from
households. To study the employment pattern
under risk, risk efficient farm plans were
devel oped for di fferent sub-ecol ogi cal
regions using Minimisation of Total Absolute
Deviation (MOTAD) Model. The model used
was of the following form;
s
Minimise Z = Y
h-
(Objective Function)
h=1
n
(C
hj
- g
j
) x
j
Y
h-
0 (Linearity
j=1 constraints)
n
f
j
x
j
= ? (Parametric constraints)
j=1
n
a
ij
x
j
b
i
(Resource constraints
j=1 viz, land, peak labour use,
capital)
n
a
ij
x
j
b
i
(Minima constraints)
j=1
x
j
, and Y
h-
0 (Non-negativity constraint)
Where,
Z = Sum of the absolute values of deviations
of the returns of various enterprises from
their mean values
Y
h-
= Absolute values of the negative total
returns deviation of various enterprises
in the hth year from their mean (h = 1,
2..,s)
C
hj
= Returns of jth farm activity in the h
th
year
g
j
= Mean value of the returns of the j
th
farm
activity
x
j
= Level of j
th
farm activity
f
j
= The expected returns per ha of the j
th
activity
= Parameter showing total Returns to
Fixed Farm Resources (RFFR) from all the
farm activities. Parameter to start from
minimum prescribed income (l) under
restricted supply to maximum (m)
attainable income under unrestricted
supply of resources
a
ij
= Technical requirement of the jth activity
for the ith resource
b
i
= The constraint level of the ith resource
s = Number of time-series observations
n = Number of farm activities
The risk efficient farm production plans
were obtained under the following two
situations :
1. Situation-I: Crop enterprises
2. Situation-II: Crop-cum-dairy enterprises
Four risk efficient farm plans were
developed at different levels of farm income
(determined under above two situations for
each sub-ecological region). To determine the
extent of employment, labour hiring was
included in all these plans. These farm plans
are as follows:
P1: Risk efficient farm plan minimum (l)
level of income
P2: Risk efficient farm plan for l + level of
income
P3: Risk efficient farm plan for l+ 2 level
of income
P4: Risk efficient farm plan for l + 3 level
of income
Where, , 2 and 3 are the additional
income levels in the successive plans at
varying degrees of risk and is computed as;
Optimised income Optimised income
with augmented - with restricted
= resources (m) resources (l)
3
Occupation Pattern : Occupati onal
pattern of working population has been
presented in Table 1. It was observed that 76
per cent of the total working persons were
engaged in agriculture in the study area as
majority of the family workers did not prefer
to leave their homes in search of off-farm
avenues of employment. Dependence on
agriculture was found to be higher in high hills
(93 per cent) as compared to other two
regions, which can be attributed to the reason
that the high hills were less developed and
majority of the population had poor access to
education and other infrastructural facilities.
Service including daily paid labour was next
to agriculture in employment generation.
Similar results were found by Singh and Singh
(1999). It is interesting to note that all the
females were engaged in agriculture except
in low hills where 3 to 4 per cent were in
government services.
Existing Labour Use : The human labour is
the crucial input in farming, especially in those
regions where farm mechanisation has not
taken pl ace. The exi sti ng use of l abour
employment in different regions of Mandi
district is depicted in Table 2. Results of the
study showed that the use of total human
labour employment on the farm was observed
to be higher (31.03 mandays) during kharif
season as compared to rabi season (22.45
mandays). Similar trend was noticed in
different hills which were mainly due to the
fact that kharif crops like maize, paddy and
vegetables required more labour for inter-
cultural practices. Further, it is interesting to
note that existing use of human labour was
121 and 51 per cent higher in low and high
hills over mid hills. Such results might be due
to cultivation of more vegetable crops in low
and high hills as compared to mid hills. Lowest
exiting use of human labour was found in mid
hills due to the small landholdings of the
respondent farmers as well as less area under
T
a
b
l
e

1

:

O
c
c
u
p
a
t
i
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n
a
l

P
a
t
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r
n

o
f

W
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k
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s
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(
1
6
-
6
0

y
e
a
r
s
)

i
n

D
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f
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n
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R
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g
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s

(
p
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(
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(
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)
(
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(
2
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)
(
2
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(
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)
*

B
u
s
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s
s

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n
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l
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g

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.
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i
g
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s

i
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s

s
h
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S
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:

F
i
e
l
d

S
u
r
v
e
y
,

2
0
0
2
-
0
3
.
Table 2 : Existing Labour Use in Different Regions of Mandi District
(Mandays/farm)
Particulars Low Hills Mid Hills High Hills Overall
Kharif season 40.55(50.13) 19.30(43.65) 32.96(43.49) 31.03(46.25)
Rabi season 34.33(42.79) 14.57(32.78) 18.35(28.12) 22.45(35.46)
Total 74.89(46.48) 33.87(38.20) 51.31(36.38) 53.48(41.01)
Figures in parentheses show per hectare labour use.
Source : Field Survey, 2002-03.
Labour Employment Under Different Farm
Plans : The peak season-wise human labour
utilisation under different plans in low, mid and
high hills has been shown through Table 3 to
Table 5. While estimating peak seasons labour
availability, family labour (male and female)
was converted into mandays. A period of eight
hours of work was consi dered as one
manday.In the present study four human
labour peak periods were identified during the
year as Peak-1 (April 15-30), Peak-2 (July
1-15), Peak-3 (Sept. 15-30) and Peak-4 (Oct.
15-31). The labour use was estimated by using
peak period labour constraints through MOTAD
model.
It is evident from the Tables that there
was shortage of human labour in all the peak
periods under all the plans in situation-II (crops
+ dairy farming) in all the three regions.
Human l abour uti l i sati on i ncreased
successively from plan-I to plan-IV in all the
peak periods in both the situations. These
Tables further revealed that except peak
period-1, there was surplus human labour
under all the plans in situation-I in mid and
high hills. There was marginal increase in the
human labour employment during different
peak periods under different farm plans. As
far as total labour use per farm is concerned,
in situation-I it varied from 83.07 to 89.88
mandays in low hills, 33.69 to 36.64 mandays
in mid hills and 56.76 to 72.28 mandays in
hi gh hi l l s i n pl an-I to pl an-I V. Wi th the
introduction of dairy the human labour
employment per farm increased by 59 per cent
in plan-I whereas in plan-IV, it increased by 60
per cent in low hills. In mid hills, the increase
in situation-II over situation-I for plan-I and
plan-IV was estimated at 162 and 148 per cent.
The corresponding figures for high hills were
74 and 58 per cent. This indicated that crop +
dairy farming was more labour intensive than
crop enterprises. Further, it can be inferred
from the results that dairy activity with crop
enterprise reduced the risk which was clearly
shown by the comparison of respective
coefficients of variation in situation-I and
situation-II. This implied that the combination
of crop and dairy was most useful in stabilising
farm income and reducing associated risk.
Results of the study further indicated that
human labour employment for different risk
efficient plans increased with the increase in
the risk under different plans. Utilisation of
human labour in peak period -1 was higher as
compared to peak period -2, peak period -3
and peak period -4 in both the situations. Peak
period -1 was found to be the most critical
peak period for land preparation for sowing of
vegetables that took more time of labour and
sowing of other kharif crops and harvesting of
rabi crops in the study area hills. There was
marginal increase in the human labour
employment
labour intensive vegetable crops. As far as per
hectare labour use is concerned, it was found
highest in low hills followed by mid and high
hills in both kharif as well as rabi seasons.
T
a
b
l
e

3

:

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T
a
b
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4

:

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,

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5

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Table 6 : Human Labour Employment Per Farm Under Different Farm Plans in Low, Mid
and High Hills of Mandi District
Situations Particulars Farm Plans
PI PII PIII PIV
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
Low Hills
I Human labour requirements 83.07 86.45 88.15 89.88
Crop (MD)
Enterprises Increase over plan-I (%) - 4.07 6.12 8.20
Increase over plan-II (%) - - 1.97 3.97
Increase over plan-III (%) - - - 1.96
(Contd..)
during different peak periods under different
farm plans. As far as total labour use per farm
is concerned, in situation-I it varied from 83.07
to 89.88 mandays in low hills, 33.69 to 36.64
mandays in mid hills and 56.76 to 72.28
mandays in high hills in plan-I to plan-IV. With
the introduction of dairy, the human labour
employment per farm increased by 59 per cent
in plan-I whereas in plan-IV, it increased by 60
per cent in low hills. In mid hills, the increase
in situation-II over situation-I for plan-I and
plan-IV was estimated at 162 and 148 per cent.
The corresponding figures for high hills were
74 and 58 per cent. This indicated that crop +
dairy farming was more labour intensive than
crop enterprises. Further, it can be inferred
from the results that dairy activity with crop
enterprise reduced the risk which was clearly
shown by the comparison of respective
coefficients of variation in situation-I and
situation-II. This implied that the combination
of crop and dairy was most useful in stabilising
farm income and reducing associated risk.
Results of the study further indicated that
human labour employment for different risk
efficient plans increased with the increase in
the risk under different plans. Utilisation of
human labour in peak period -1 was higher as
compared to peak period -2, peak period -3
and peak period -4 in both the situations. Peak
period -1 was found to be the most critical
peak period for land preparation for sowing of
vegetables that took more time of labour and
sowing of other kharif crops and harvesting of
rabi crops in the study area.
Increase in Human Labour Employment
Under Different Farm Plans: The increase in
human labour employment under subsequent
farm plans in low, mid and high hills has been
analysed and presented in Table 6. It is clear
from this Table that increase in human labour
employment over plan-I was 8.20 per cent in
low hills, 8.76 per cent in mid hills and 27.34
per cent in high hills in plan-IV under situation-
I. In situation-II, the corresponding figures were
worked out to be 6.41, 1.82 and 12.11 per
cent. The results indicated that the human
labour employment increased even under risk
efficient farm plans. The maximum increase in
human labour employment was found in high
hills in both the situations due to introduction
of more labour intensive crops (garlic) in
cropping pattern.
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
II Human labour requirements 168.34 176.89 178.47 179.13
Crop + Dairy (MD)
Mid Hills
Crop (MD)
Crop + Dairy (MD)
High Hills
Crop (MD)
Crop + Dairy (MD)
Table 6: (Contd..)
Conclusion
Agriculture was found to be the main
occupation absorbing more than two-thirds of
the working population in all the three regions.
The risk efficient farm plans formulated on
different hill situations with crop and crop +
dairy farming revealed that dairy activity
created additional employment opportunities
in all the three regions. The introduction of
dairy activity reduced the coefficient of
variation associated with each level of income
(RFFR) thereby indicating its role in stabilising
farm income. Thus to increase the employment
and minimise the risk in hill agriculture,
different risk efficient farm plans need to be
adopted by farmers by incorporating judicious-
mix of crops and dairy activities with prudent
guidance from the extension officials of
department of agriculture. Emphasis needs to
be given to maintain cross-bred cows for
generating additional employment to the
farmers. During survey it was observed that
there is fodder scarcity in the area. For this,
there is need to establish fodder storage for
adequate suppl y. I n addi ti on to thi s,
introduction of green fodder trees as well as
exotic grass species will also help in fodder
availability.
References
1. Anonymous (1981), District Census Handbook, Census Operations, Himachal Pradesh.
2. Jodha, N.S. (1996), Sustainable Mountain Agriculture: Some Predictions, In: S.L. Shah ed. Agricultural
Development in Hilly Areas, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics.
3. Kumar, A., Sharma, S.K., and Vashist, G.D. (2002), Profitability, Risk and Diversification in Mountain
Agriculture: Some Policy Issues for Slow Growth Crops, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 57
No. 3, pp 356-365.
4. Mruthyunjaya and Sirohi, A.S. (1979), Enterprise System for Stability and Growth on Draught-prone Farms:
an Application of Parametric Linear Programming, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 34 No.
1, pp 27-42.
5. Saha, A. (2001), Risk in HYV and Traditional Rice Cultivations : An Inquiry in West Bengal Agriculture,
Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 56 No. 1, pp 57-70.
6. Sasmal, J. (1993), Considerations of Risk in the Production of High Yielding Variety Paddy: A Generalized
Stochastic Formulation for Production Function Estimation, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics,
Vol. 43 No. 4, pp 694-701.
7. Sekar, I. and Palanisami, K. (2000), Farm Planning Under Risk in Dry Farms of Palladam Block of Coimbatore
District in Tamil Nadu, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 55 No. 4, pp 660-670.
8. Singh, J. and Singh, A. (1999), Implementation of Employment Generation Programmes: A Study of JRY in
Rajouri District of J&K, ICSSR Seminar on Poverty and Income Distribution in North-Western States of
India, Organised by Department of Agricultural Economics, Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya,
Palampur May 28-29.
9. Singh, R. and Sharma, A.C. (1988), Farm Production Plans for Risk Averters : A Case Study of Small Peasant
Farms, Indian Journal of Economics, Vol. 69 No. 272, pp 59-70.
IMPACT OF MICRO-FINANCE ON
POVERTY : A STUDY OF TWENTY
SELF-HELP GROUPS IN NALBARI
DISTRICT, ASSAM
NIRD, Hyderabad.
* Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Dispur College, Dispur, Guwahati, Assam - 781006.
Email: prasenjitbb@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
This paper is an empirical study conducted in Nalbari district, Assam about the
impact of micro-finance on poverty. It examines the nature of loans provided by the
SHGs to its members, and finds that the amount of loans provided under the
programme to its members is too small to help them cross the poverty line. Again
these loans were utilised mainly for consumption purposes, followed by expenditure
on current productive activities. Thus, there were only a few capital investments. But
these capital investments were also not enough to provide the members full
employment opportunity and sufficient income to cross the poverty line. Again it was
seen that still the members of the SHGs go either to the moneylenders or to the banks
for higher amount of loan. Moreover, it was found that a large segment of the SHGs
are closed down. The closing of SHGs was found more in case of those formed under
NABARD-sponsored SHG- Bank linkage programme and those formed under SGSY.
Actually these SHGs were formed with the motive to have subsidised credit from the
government sponsored schemes. When they found that they would not get any more
subsidised credit, they closed the SHGs. It is proposed that perhaps providing higher
amount of credit by banks to the SHGs will enable the SHGs to provide more and higher
quantum of loans to the members. The most important thing for the success of SHG-
Bank linkage programme is that the members of SHGs must be made aware of the
concept of self-help.
Introduction
Easier credit to the poor is identified as
an instrument to fight against poverty. Again,
it is frequently stated that poor are not
bankable, and the formal financial institutions
in developing countries often fail to meet the
credit requirements of the poor. It makes it
necessary for the government to interfere with
the credit market directly or indirectly to
channelise credit to this vulnerable section of
the society. The government of India too in
the past six decades took various initiatives to
provide easier credit facilities to the poor. But
most of these policies were unable to achieve
their goals; which led to the emergence of
micro-finance programme as an alternative
instrument to provide credit to this venerable
section of the society in India; along with the
rest of the world. The mi cro-fi nance
programme in India is popularly known as the
Self-Help Group - Bank Linkage Programme
and NABARD sponsored SHG - Bank linkage
programme is the single largest micro-finance
programme in the world. Along with an
Prasenjit Bujar Baruah*
224 Prasenjit Bujar Baruah
alternative source of credit, presently micro-
finance is also seen as an instrument to
alleviate poverty. Especially when Md. Yunus
won the Nobel peace prize, the belief on
micro-finance as an instrument to eradicate
poverty increased tremendously. At the same
time it is also one of the most debated issues
considering whether micro-finance has the
capacity or not to eradicate poverty. According
to the Nobel committee, micro-finance can
help the poor to come out of poverty, which
in turn is seen as an important prerequisite to
establish long lasting peace in the world
(Nobel Committee, 2006; cited in Hermes et
al.). Again providing support to the view that
Micro-finance is an instrument to fight against
poverty, the UN declared 2005 to be the year
for micro-finance. The World Micro-Finance
Summit held in Washington, DC in February
1997, in its declaration and action plan, among
other objectives, reaching to the poorest of
the poor and helping them so that they can
come out of the grip of poverty was kept as
the first objective. About the coverage of the
poor by the programme, one segment of
literature states that micro-finance programme
has succeeded in covering the poor (Basu and
Srivastava, 2005; Murthy et al, 2006), while
another segment tells that this programme is
unable to include the poorest of the poor
(Satish, 2001). About the impact of the
programme on poverty, one segment of
literature states that this programme has
helped the members of Self-Help Groups
(SHGs) to cross the poverty line (Galab et al,
2003; Dev et al, 2007; Singha,2000) while
another segment states about the falling of
non-poor SHG members into the grip of
poverty (Dev et al, 2007). According to Vijay
Mahajan (2005), the amount of loan provided
by the mi cro-fi nance programme to i ts
members is so small that it is unable to take
the members above the poverty line. Bujar
Baruah (2009) stated that although micro-
finance has emerged as an alternative source
of credit, it has limited impact on poverty. He
further states that the loans taken by the
members from SHGs were mai nl y for
consumption purposes. Although some
investment activities were undertaken by a
few members, these activities were such that
they are unabl e to provi de them ful l
employment opportunities or enable them to
cross the poverty line. Moreover, this paper
stated that a large number of SHGs were going
to be closed. Thus from the existing literature,
it is not clear about the impact of micro-
finance on poverty. The main argument against
micro-finance as an instrument to alleviate
poverty is that this programme provides too
small amount of loans to the borrowers that is
unable to take them above the level of
poverty. But along with the amount of credit,
information about the utilisation of credit is
also important to comment on its impact on
the level of poverty. At the same time queries
arise in mind about the causes of the closure
of SHGs, at the time when micro-finance is
considered as an instrument to alleviate
poverty. This paper tries to analyse the nature
of loans taken by the members of SHGs and
also find out the causes of the closure of the
SHGs. Thus, there are two objectives covered
in this paper.
This paper studies the loans taken by the
members from Self-Help Groups and it tries to
examine the causes of closure of SHGs.
Methodology
Study Area : The present study was
conducted i n the Bori gog-Banbhag
Development Block of Nalbari district, Assam.
Nalbari is one of the relatively backward
districts in the State. It is assumed that perhaps
SHGs can play a major role to fulfil the credit
needs of the people of this area. Moreover,
this district is familiar to the researcher. This
district has thus been purposively selected for
the study.
Data Source : This study is based on
secondary as well as primary data. Secondary
Impact of Micro-finance on Poverty : A Study of Twenty Self-Help Groups in ... 225
data were collected from sources like NSS
Report, Stati sti cal Handbook of Assam,
Economic Survey of Assam, various research
articles and papers, the Block office, Banks and
NGOs concerned with the promotion of SHGs
in the concerned area, and internet.
Pri mary data were col l ected by
conducting a field survey in Borigog- Banbhag
Development Block of Nalbari district, Assam.
Data were collected at two stages. At first,
block officials dealing with the SHGs and NGOs
concerned, with the formation of SHGs were
met, and the list of SHGs, those they formed or
nurtured were collected. Then twenty SHGs
were selected from these lists to study them
as saving and credit groups. These twenty SHGs
were sel ected usi ng strati fi ed random
sampling; so that SHGs consisting of people
from each section of the society could be
selected. At the second stage, eight out of the
twenty SHGs were selected to study the credit
behaviour of the members; i.e., to know about
the borrowing and utilisation of credit by the
members. These eight SHGs consist of eighty
eight members, and data were collected about
all of them. Schedule/questionnaire were used
to collect these data. Again to know about
the causes of the closure of SHGs, focus group
discussions were held among the members
of SHGs, and discussions were also conducted
with the officials of the NGOs.
About the Self-Help Groups
Assam is one of the relatively backward
States of India. According to the Census Report
2001, Assam with 2.39 per cent of the total
land of the country has to support 2.6 per cent
of the total population of the country. The
density of population in this State is 340 per
square km as per the 2001 census. As per
2011 provi si onal popul ati on, Assam' s
population is 31.2 million (2.6 per cent of the
population of the country) with growth rate
of population during 2001-11 declined to
16.93 per cent compared to 18.92 per cent in
the previous decade. Density of population per
square km is 397 persons, and sex ratio
(females per 1000 males) is 954 compared to
935 i n 2001. Assam i s sti l l one of the
industrially backward States. Except the four
oil refineries, large industries are totally absent
in the State. Over and above this, Assam still
remains predominantly an agrarian economy
where 53 per cent of her total population
depend on agriculture and allied activities
(Assam Government, 2006). Moreover, it is
frequently affected by the occurrence of flood.
The agricultural sector of this State mainly still
depends on monsoon, and lower percentage
of the gross cropped area (13.33 per cent) has
irrigation facility. Thus, although Assam
Economy depends on agri cul ture, the
condition of agriculture itself is very poor. It is
assumed that the poor people frequently need
credit for consumption purposes as well as for
production purposes. But the data about the
indebtedness of rural households indicate that
the percentage of indebted rural households
as well as the average amount of credit per
rural household was very low in this State. Thus
there is a need for an alternative system to
provide credit to the rural people of this State.
The literature indicates that the SHG-Bank
Linkage Programme has emerged as an
alternative source of credit for the rural people
all over the country, and also enables the
members to get income generating assets. In
Assam too this programme has the potentiality
to play an active role in the rural areas. It seems
to be important to have an empirical study
about the impact of micro- finance on the level
of poverty of the SHG members in Assam.
Moreover, only a few studies have been
conducted in Assam about the Self- Help
Groups. The present study attempts to have an
empirical study about the SHGs in Assam.
Again within Assam, Nalbari is one of the
relatively backward districts. Up to 2008, the
registered number of unemployed in the
district was 97,622, which indicates a high
pressure of unemployment in the district.
Moreover, the occurrence of flood causes
huge damage to the agriculture of this district.
In such a situation where there are lesser
number of industries available, only self-
employment activities undertaken by the
youth can play a major role. In such a situation,
the SHGs can play a major role.
The field survey was made in Borigog
Bonbhag block of Nalbari district, Assam. In
this area the block authority is concerned with
the formation of SHGs under the government
subsidised credit programme, Swarnajayanti
Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY). According to
the block authority, up to April, 2009 more
than one thousand SHGs were formed in this
particular block. A large segment of them were
able to complete first grading, and got
revolving fund amount up to `10,000. Some
of them are also able to succeed in achieving
second grading, and have received higher
amount of credit.
A number of NGOs are also working in
this area and concerned with the formation
and nurturing of SHGs. While conducting this
study, three NGOs, viz. Weavers Development
Society (WDS), Nalbari; Gramya Vikash Mancha
(GVM), Nalbari; and DREAMS, Dhurkuchi were
met. All these NGOs are concerned with the
formation and nurturing of SHGs; while
additionally, WDS and GVM are providing
micro-credit to the SHGs through their micro-
finance wings. GVM formed 100 SHGs under a
NABARD sponsored SHG-Bank linkage project,
and linked them to banks. Additionally, they
formed 20 SHGs under another project
sponsored by TATA TRUST. In addition to these
120 SHGs, it helped a large number of other
SHGs. It is to be noted that all the SHGs formed
by GVM are registered at the block under SGSY.
Thus these groups are also included in the list
prepared by the block authority. WDS reported
to form about 300 SHGs, and link them to banks.
But it was able to give a list of 80 SHGs only.
DREAMS formed about 25 SHGs. Out of the 20
SHGs this study covers, nine come under SGSY,
five formed by WDS, and the rest six were
formed by GVM under NABARD's SHG-Bank
Linkage Programme. Again, six SHGs are male
SHGs, and the rest 14 are female SHGs.
All the SHGs under study were more or
less homogeneous considering all the aspects
like caste, religion, landholdings, etc. Most of
the SHGs consist of members from single
religion and caste. Moreover, they are the
habitants of the same locality. Of course, there
i s a great vari ety among the members
according to the level of education. Lesser
numbers of SHGs under SGSY qualify the norm
that SHGs should have 70 per cent of members
from BPL. The SHGs initiated by WDS contain
lesser members from BPL. Those SHGs initiated
by WDS are found to be more homogeneous
than those come under SGSY. Those SHGs
initiated by GVM contain poorer families but
they are not the poorest of the poor.
The monthly savings mobilised by the
members of the SHGs ranges between ` 20
to ` 100. Highest nine groups save ` 30 p.m.
and only one group is saving `100 p.m. The
cumulative funds with the group also range
between `1,650 and ` 50,000. Out of the total
20 SHGs, four SHGs had stopped their savings.
Of these four groups, three are male SHGs, and
another is a female SHG. Out of 14 female SHGs,
13 are continuing saving; only one has stopped
savings. But in case of the male SHGs, only
three out of the six SHGs are continuing saving.
Thus it seems that among SHGs, female is a
better saver than the male.
The present amount of l endi ng
circulated among the members ranges from 0
to ` 42,000. The zero lending by the SHG
means that those SHGs had stopped lending
among the members. The cumulative amount
of lending by the SHGs is between ` 6,200
and ` 76,800. One SHG is able to provide the
cumulative amount of lending at ` 76,800,
and another one provided ` 72,400. In case of
four SHGs, the cumulative lending is more than
` 50,000; and in case of other three SHGs, it is
more than ` 40,000. The cumulative amount
of loan seems to be directly related to the age
of the SHG. The cumulative amount of lending
indicates the huge demand for credit by the
members. The interest rate on lending ranges
between 24 and 36 per cent.
All the SHGs under study have their
account with the banks; and all the SHGs
except one have some form of financial
transactions with banks or MFIs. All the SHGs
under SGSY got financial help from the
government either in the form of revolving
fund or in the form of subsidy with credit.
Beyond this `10,000 revolving fund, one SHG
has also qualified for the second grading and
could get an amount of loan ` 2,50,000 from
the bank with subsidy of ` 1,25,000. About
the repayment of loan by the SHGs, the bank
authority told that the repayment rates of the
SHGs are more than 90 per cent, which is far
better compared to that in case of individual
lending. The WDS and GVM also stated to have
100 per cent recovery while lending to the
Self-Help Groups. This point proves the
effectiveness of the SHGs as an alternative to
the government subsi di sed, credi t
programmes; where lower repayment was the
main problem.
Out of the 20 SHGs, nine undertook group
investment activities. But most of the groups
were unabl e to make profi t from thei r
investment activities. Only a few groups were
making some amount of profit. Actually, the
SHGs undertook investment activities under
SGSY only to get subsidised credit; as SHGs
under SGSY have to undertake some group
activities to avail of subsidised credit. And
when they came to know that they would not
be able to get subsidised credit in future, they
stopped their activities. Thus, those activities
were undertaken without any commercial
motive. Even after starting their activities, they
did not pay adequate attention to those
aspects which may be the causes of their
failure. The important point is that most of
them measured their profit from investment
as (Total loan amount- total repayment -other
costs of credit* + Subsidy). Thus, there was no
business motive in their investment. Of course,
a few groups are continuing their activities
efficiently and have the motive to continue
those activities irrespective of whether
getting the subsidised credit or not. Those
SHGs initiated by WDS need not necessarily
undertake investment activities; only one of
those fi ve SHGs undertook i nvestment
activities. And this group was making some
amount of profit from the investment. All the
SHGs initiated by GVM are registered under
SGSY. Al though these groups need to
undertake investment activities according to
the rules of SGSY, only two SHGs did it.
Thus, most of the SHGs were working
efficiently as saving and credit groups; and a
few of them stopped their saving and lending
activities. However, while considering the
point of group investment it is to be mentioned
that only a few SHGs seem to have succeeded.
Borrowing by the Members from SHG
Basically SHGs are saving and credit
groups. Initially the NABARD sponsored SHG-
* These costs include mainly the bribe they have to pay to the bank and block authority to get credit. All
the SHGs stated that they provided bribe to the bank and block authority. To have the revolving fund of
`10000 these SHGs provided bribe to the block officials ranging between `500 to `1500. In case of the
loan of ` 2.5 lakh, the SHG stated to provide bribe of ` 45000 to the block officials and also to the bank
manager. One SHG gave `60000 to the block authority to get a tractor under flood area relief programme.
Even when asked to the block officer in charge about it, he did not deny about such type of corruption
prevailing in the programme. These types of corruption do not have any proof.
Bank Linkage programme was started with the
motive to provide easier credit facilities to the
poor who are unable to have credit from the
formal financial institutions due to lack of
physical assets to provide collateral. Thus, it
has emerged as an alternative source of credit
after the failure of the government sponsored
subsidised credit programmes to make the
poor free from the grip of moneylenders.
Presently along with an alternative source of
credit, micro-finance is also seen as an
instrument to alleviate poverty. But the main
cri ti ci sm agai nst mi cro-fi nance as an
instrument to alleviate poverty is that this
programme provides so small amount of credit
to its clients which is unable to take the poor
above the poverty line. Thus it is important to
have an idea about the amount of credit the
members borrow from the SHG and also have
an idea about the utilisation of credit. This
secti on expl ai ns about the borrowi ng
behaviour of the members from SHGs based
on the information collected from the 88
members of the eight SHGs under study. The
borrowing behaviour of the SHG's members is
explained in Table 1.
Table 1: Borrowing Behaviour of the SHG Members
Name of the SHG Total No. of Total members Cumulative Interest rate
members who took Amount of on lending to
loan Lendings members
(in `) (per cent)
Ramdhenu SHG 10 7 45,000 36
Arunodai SHG 10 6 14,000 24
Naba MilanSHG 10 10 72,400 36
Surujmukhi SHG 13 8 16,000 36
Milanjyoti SHG 10 10 76,800 24
Rangdhali SHG 10 9 12,000 36
Shiva Shakti SHG 15 11 30,000 36
Ujala SHG 10 10 27,350 36
Total 88 71 2,93,550 -
Source : Field Study, August, 2009.
The above Table indicates that out of the
total 88 members from ei ght SHGs, 71
members took loan from the SHGs at least
once. The rest 17 members never took loans.
All the members of three SHGs, viz., Milanjyoti
SHG, Naba Milan SHG and Ujala SHG took loans.
The cumulative amount of loans provided by
these SHGs to their members ranges between
` 12,000 and ` 76,800. The total amount of
loans provided by these SHGs is ` 2,93,550.
Among the SHGs Milionjyoti SHG provided
highest amount of loans to its members;
followed by Naba Milan SHG. The lowest
amount of loan is provided by Rangdhali SHG;
followed by Arunodai SHG. Presently Arunodai
SHG has stopped its lending activities. The
cumulative amount of loan provided by the
SHG is directly related to the age of the SHG.
The size of the single loans ranges between
` 100 and `15,000. The rate of interest on
these loans ranges between 24 and 36 per
cent. Some members of Milanjyoti SHG took
loan also from the micro-finance wings of GVM
at the rate of interest 18 per cent.
During the study it was seen that many
members of the SHGs took loans from outside
the SHG. It was seen that the members went
to the SHGs when they needed smaller
amount of loans; but for higher amount of
loans, still they go either to the moneylenders
or to the banks. The loans taken from outside
the SHG seemed to be taken for some
specialised purposes, while most of the loans
from the SHGs were for current consumption
expendi ture or expendi ture on current
productive activities. The rate of interest on
loans taken from outside the SHGs ranges
between 36 and 60 per cent. Over time, there
Table 2 : Distribution of Loans Taken by the Members from SHGs
Size of the ` 100 to ` 501 to ` 1001 to ` 2001 to >5000 Total No.
loans ` 500 ` 999 ` 2000 ` 5000 of loans
No. of 34 28 61 27 4 154
loans (22.07%) (18.18%) (39.61%) (17.53%) (2.59%) (100%)
Source : Field Survey, August, 2009.
Thus from the above Table it is clear that
the size of 80 per cent of the loans taken by
the members from the SHGs is less than or
equal to ` 2000. Out of 154 loans, 22.1 per
cent fall in ` 100-500 range, only 17.5 per cent
range between ` 2001-5000. Only four loans
(2.6 per cent) are above ` 5000 level. Among
these four loans, the maximum for one person
` 15,000, and another is of ` 10,000; and the
other two are slightly above ` 5,000. The
average size of the loan is ` 1906.17, and the
average amount of loan per borrower is `
4134.50. Thus it is clear from the above
analysis that the amount of loan provided by
the micro- finance programme to its borrowers
is so small that it cant help the members cross
the poverty line. Of course, there should be
no doubt about the role of micro-finance as
an alternative source of credit. It is fulfilling
the small and frequent credit needs of the
borrowers.
Utilisation of Credit Taken by the Members
from the SHGs : Along with the size of the loan,
it is also important to have an idea about the
utilisation of loan taken by the members, to
know about its impact on the economic
condition of the members.
is a fall in the interest rate on loans provided
by the moneylenders. This fall in interest rate
is due to the increase in the number of
moneylenders, and not due to the presence
of SHGs. Thus it seems that SHGs have lesser
and lesser impact on the moneylenders.
Size of Loans Provided by the SHGs : The
micro-finance programme is widely criticised
on the ground that the size of loans this
programme provides to the clients is too small
to help them in undertaking any productive
activities, and finally, unable to help them to
cross the poverty line. Thus it is important to
have an idea about the size of the loans this
programme provides to the clients. Out of the
88 members of the eight SHGs, 71 took loans
at least once. There are some members who
took loans more than four times. Altogether
154 loans were provided by these eight SHGs
to the clients. The size of the loans the SHGs
provided to the members can be seen in
Table 2.
While talking about the utilisation of loan,
Debraj Ray (2000) classified the purposes of
loans into three categories. These are Capital
Expenditure, Working Capital Expenditure, and
finally, Consumption Expenditure. According
to him, Capital Expenditure is that part of
expenditure made to start up new businesses
or for large scale expansion of the existing one.
Worki ng capi tal i ncl udes the ongoi ng
production expenditures like raw materials or
labour cost. Finally, the consumption loans are
needed to bri dge the gap between
consumption period and income receipt
period or sometimes due to win fall losses in
businesses. Here in this study the consumption
expenditure is divided into two categories.
One is current consumption expenditure, and
the other i s expendi ture on consumer
durabl es. Thus whi l e tal ki ng about the
utilisation of credit; here the purposes are
divided as current consumption expenditure,
expenditure on consumer durables, current
production expenditure (working capital
expenditure), capital expenditure and other
expenditure. The utilisation of loan itself will
determine whether micro-finance programme
is contributing towards poverty alleviation or
not. If the loan taken from the SHG is invested
in some productive activity then surely it is
contributing towards alleviation of poverty.
Again if the loan is spent on consumer durables
like houses, then also it is contributing towards
alleviation of poverty. But simply if the loan
amount is spent on current consumption, then
it may deteriorate the economic condition of
the clients. In case of current consumption, if
the loan is to link the gap between the
consumption and income periods then it may
not deteriorate the economic condition of the
client, as he will be able to repay the loan from
his future income. On the other hand, if the
consumption loan is taken due to lack of
income, then it will deteriorate the economic
condition of the client. The structure of
utilisation of loan is explained in Table 3.
Table 3 : No. of Loans from SHGs for Different Purposes
Name of the No. of loans No. of loans No. of loans No. of loans No. of loans Total
Self -Help for current for Capital for Current for Capital for others No. of
Group consumption Consumption Production Expenditure purposes Loans
expenditure Expenditure Expenditure
Total 55 42 44 8 5 154
(35.7%) (27.27%) (28.58%) (5.19%) (3.24%) (100.0%)
Source : Field Study; August, 2009.
The Table indicates that altogether 55
loans from SHGs were taken for current
consumption purposes, i.e., 35.7 per cent of
total loans were meant for this purpose.
Current consumption expenditure includes
mainly the consumption expenditure, medical
expenditure, educational expenditure on the
children etc.
Capital consumption expenditure or
expenditure on consumer durables mainly
includes expenditure to build new houses or
to repair old houses or expenditures on
marriages etc. Out of the total number of loans,
42 were taken for the expendi ture on
consumer durables. Thus this head accounts
for 27.27 per cent of the total loans provided
by the SHGs. The expenditure on building or
repairing of houses, definitely contributes
towards the economic well-being of the poor
members.
Again out of the 154 loans, 44 were
taken for current expenditure on production.
Thus this head accounts for 28.58 per cent of
the total loans provided by the SHGs to their
members. Current production expenditure
includes mainly the expenditure on variable
inputs of production such as on labour or
agricultural inputs like fertiliser or seeds. Here
the group members under study took loans
for current production expenditure mainly for
expenditure on agriculture and to buy variable
inputs for weaving. Some of the members took
loan to meet the current expenditure in their
family business, and returned the loan with
the sales realisation from the investment. Most
of the members who took loan for agricultural
expenditure are mainly cultivators and wage
employed. They repaid the loans from wage
income; and most of them did not keep any
record regarding repayment of loans. Those
female members who took loans for weaving
repaid the loan either from their family income
or return from weaving. It is to be noted here
that current production expenditure seems to
be the dominant cause of borrowing next to
the current consumpti on expendi ture.
Although it is the expenditure for productive
purposes, it is not able to take a family above
the poverty line.
The most important purpose of credit
taken by the SHG members is the capital
investment of loan amount. Only such type of
credit has the capacity to take the poor above
the poverty line. Capital investment is that
investment which creates some income
generating asset for the investor. Thus if the
credit amount is invested in capital asset,
there is a future flow of income to the investor.
And there is little chance for the investor to
face any problem while repaying the loan, and
his economic condition will not deteriorate in
future. Eight loans were taken for capital
expenditure, made by the members. Thus this
purpose accounts for 5.19 per cent of the total
loans the SHGs provided. Thus, this head, which
is most important for the members to have
income generating activities accounts only for
a small amount of the total loans.
Although these eight members had gone
for capital investment, the loan did not enable
most of them to be fully employed. Only one
woman belonging to the Milanjyoti SHG took
` 15,000 from that SHG and `10,000 from the
micro-finance wings of GVM. With that money,
she started a shop. Additionally, she invested
` 20,000 from her own. Moreover, most of
them were doing these as their subsidiary
business. For example, a woman who bought
a sewing machine, along with operating the
machine she also works at the paddy field, and
does domestic works as housewife. She
operates the machine hardly for half an hour a
day on an average. Another one who went for
micro business left the business when he got
a temporary job in a government department.
Thus, it is questionable about the return from
these investments and how far it will help
them to be lifted above the poverty line. The
impact of this programme on the level of
poverty of the borrowers is thus questionable.
Closure of Self-Help Groups
During the field survey it was found that
a large number of SHGs were closed down.
The block authority gave a list of SHGs
registered under SGSY programme. But during
the field survey it was found that about 70 per
cent of these SHGs were closed down. But
officially these are considered working. These
SHGs have their accounts in the banks. But in
reality neither they save any money nor they
provide any loan to the members. All the
group activities these groups started are no
longer functioning. Similar is the problem with
those SHGs started by the Gramya Vikash
Mancha (GVM). As per the i nformati on
provided by GVM officials, 60 per cent of the
SHGs they started were closed. Twenty per
cent are working irregularly and going to be
closed; and only 20 per cent of the SHGs are
working efficiently as saving and credit groups.
All these SHGs of GVM were formed under
NABARD sponsored programme. Agai n
although they are closed down, the matter is
not informed to NABARD, and still NABARD
takes these groups into account when they
provide data about the cumulative number of
SHGs. Thus it raises questions about the success
of NABARD sponsored SHG-Bank linkage
programme as well as of Swarnajayanti Gram
Swarozgar Yojana. In case of the SHGs started
by Weavers Development Society (WDS), it was
found that sometimes if such a situation arises
that some group is going to be closed, the
WDSs workers come and discuss about the
situation with the members, and take possible
steps. They replace those members who do
not want to continue with the group with
some new members. Sometimes it so happens
that all the existing members are replaced by
new members. Thus the active presence of
the WDSs workers saves these groups. But if
such a situation arises in a SHG formed under
SGSY, and those initiated by GVM, that group is
closed down.
During this study it was found that the
main problem with the groups was that the
SHG members were not aware of the concept
of Self Help. They did not start the group to
help themselves. Rather they considered SHG
as an instrument to have some benefit from
the government sponsored subsidised credit
programmes like SGSY. Most of the male SHGs
were started with this motive; and almost all
of them are closed down. The story is similar
to the female SHGs too. The female SHGs were
started wi th the moti ve ei ther to have
subsidised credit or to utilise their surplus time,
after completing their works at home. Those
female SHGs started with the latter motive are
working properly as saving and credit groups;
but those SHGs formed with the former motive
are closed.
Almost all the SHGs registered under
SGSY got the revolving fund. After having this
revolving fund, some of the SHGs were closed.
Some others tried to have higher amount of
credit; but when they realised that they will
not be able to get the same, they wound up
the group. Some other groups got higher level
of credi t wi th hi gher l evel of subsi dy.
Thereafter when it became clear that they will
not get any more credit, they closed the SHG.
Another point to be noted here is that
although the SHGs are closing down, there is
another form of saving and credit groups
continuing with prosperity. These groups are
popularly known as Sanchaya which mean
saving institutions. These groups are also
informal groups. The total number of members
of such groups ranges from 10 to 20 or 30;
someti mes the maxi mum number even
crosses 100. The members monthly save some
definite amount of money with the Sanchaya
and lend to the members according to their
needs. Sometimes they even lend to the
people outside the Sanchaya. After a specific
period, they distributed the total funds among
the members. The Sanchaya may or may not
have a bank account. The main difference
between a Sanchaya and a SHG is that the SHGs
have the option to have credit from the banks,
while a Sanchaya never applies for a bank loan.
Again the maximum number of members of a
SHG is fixed at 20, but there is no such limit in
case of a Sanchaya.
It was seen that although a SHG and a
Sanchaya are more or l ess si mi l ar
organisations; most of the members of SHGs,
are leaving the SHGs; but the same members
generally do not leave a Sanchaya. Here the
question arises as to why some members leave
the SHG, but do not leave the Sanchaya. It
seems to be an area of research. The causes
behi nd thi s may be that general l y the
members of SHGs consider a SHG as a part of
government programme. So they do not give
much importance to it; and consider it to be
an instrument to have some benefit from the
government. But at the same time they
consider Sanchaya to be their own institution.
Moreover, they save lesser amount of money
with the SHG to show themselves to be from
below the poverty line, so for a person from
higher income level, the importance of such
saving decreases. But as there is nothing such
with Sanchaya, the members save as much as
they can afford. Thus it is clear that although
SHGs are not performing well, self-help is
performing well.
Conclusion
The above discussion reveals that as
saving and credit groups, some of the self-help
groups are working properly, and some others
stopped all their activities. As an alternative
source of credit, although SHGs were able to
fulfil the credit needs of the members to some
extent; it was unable to fully satisfy their credit
needs. The amount of loans provided by SHGs
to their members is so small that it cant help
the members to fi ght agai nst pover ty.
Moreover, the loans taken by the members
from the SHGs are mainly for consumption
purposes, and for expenditure on consumer
durables. Although some capital investments
took place, these are not of that kind that can
help the members to cross the poverty line.
Moreover, it was seen that a large number of
SHGs are closed down or going to be closed.
But at the same time Sanchaya, another type
of saving and credit group is working properly.
Thus there is the failure of SHGs, but not the
failure of self-help.
It is clear from the above discussion that
to be able to enable the members to fight
against poverty, self-help groups should
provide larger amount of loans to the members.
More and more loans should be provided to
the SHGs by the formal financial institutions
for on-lending. Moreover, the most important
point is that to be a successful programme,
the members of the SHGs need to be
educated about the concept of self-help, and
the pattern of working must be demonstrated
through exposure to successful groups in
nearby areas.
References
1. Basu, Priya and Srivastava (2005), 'Scaling-Up Micro-finance for Rural Poor', Policy Research
Working Paper 3646, The World Bank, South Asia Region, Finance and Private Sector
Development Unit, June, 2005.
2. Bujar Baruah, Prasenjit (2008), 'Self-Help Group and Asset Creation : A Case Study of Deharkuchi
Gaon Panchayat of Nalbari District, Assam', M. Phil. Dissertation, Submitted to Department of
Economics, University of Hyderabad, August, 2008 (Unpublished).
3. Bujar Baruah, Prasenjit(2009), "Self-Help Group and Asset Creation : A Case Study of Deharkuchi
Gaon Panchayat of Nalbari District, Assam", The Micro-finance Review, Vol.1, No.1, Journal of the
Centre for Micro-finance Research, Bankers Institute of Rural Development, Lucknow, January-
June.
4. Dev S. Mahendra, Galab S. and Ravi C. (2007), 'Indira Kranthi Patham and Poverty Reduction in
Andhra Pradesh', International Conference on Andhra Pradesh Experience with Membership-
Based Organisations of Poor, June 5-6, 2007; Organised by Centre for Economic and Social
Studies, Hyderabad, India
5. Galab, S., Rao N. Chandrasekhar (2003), 'Women's Self Help Groups, Poverty Alleviation and
Empowerment', Economic and Political Weekly, Vol.38, No.12 & 13, March, 23-29, Pp.1274-1283.
6. Government of Assam (2006), 'Statistical Hand Book of Assam, 2006', Directorate of Economics
and Statistics, Government of Assam, Guwahati.
7. Hermes, Niels and Lensink Robert (2007), "Impact of Microfinance : A Critical Survey", Economic
and Political Weekly, February-10, 2007.
8. Mahajan Vijay (2005), 'From Micro Credit to Livelihood Finance', Economic and Political Weekly,
October 8.
CAPACITY BUILDING THROUGH
WOMEN GROUPS
NIRD, Hyderabad.
* Associate Professor, Post Graduate and Research Depar tment of Commerce, St. Peter s College,
Kolenchery, Ernakulam, Kerala, India.
ABSTRACT
Structured efforts for women empowerment and poverty alleviation should
involve capacity building of the targeted group parallel to the provision of economic
means to them. The Self-help Groups (SHGs) formed nation-wide for the
empowerment of poor women pool small savings of their members to begin with
and supplement the financial requirement of the members by associating with banks
and other financial institutions. To enable the group members to handle micro-credit
with care, manage micro-enterprises, and involve in social and political activities with
confidence, capacity building programmes of varied nature are inevitable. The paper
examines the capacity building programmes undertaken through women groups in
Kerala by Kudumbashree, the State Poverty Eradication Mission (SPEM), launched by
the Government of Kerala, India.
Santhosh Kumar S.*
Introduction
Empowerment of women constituting
nearly fifty per cent of the population in India
has been considered as an important issue
seeking remedies through varied means.
Women Reservation Bill to remedy political
backlog among women and formation of Self-
help Groups throughout the country aiming at
soci al and economi c empowerment of
women, especially poor women, have been
well appreciated as significant movements in
this direction. The poor women are deprived
of capabilities to lead the kind of lives they
value, to be free of fear and able to express
themsel ves. Therefore, any form of
empowerment of poor women demands basic
awareness and literacy from the part of target
groups on different fields of normal life.
Moreover, i denti fi cati on, trai ni ng and
sharpening of skills possessed by the groups
also assume significance. Therefore, capacity
building is a prerequisite for any genuine
practical empowerment of poor women in the
country. Capacity building, in a sense, is the
process of equipping the individuals to
improve their skills, knowledge and access to
information, which enable them to perform
effectively. For poor women capacity building
is intended to inculcate basic awareness on
financial, social, environmental and law related
concepts. It may also include training of poor
women to run micro ventures and its basic
accounts keeping.
Capacity Building
In general terms, capacity building is a
process or activity that improves the ability of
a person or entity to carry out the stated
236 Santhosh Kumar S.
objectives. The existing body of literature
presents a wide range of definitions for
capacity building and also many arguments for
why capacity building is important. Capacity
building often refers to assistance that is
provided to entities, usually societies in
developing countries, which have a need to
develop certain skills or competence, or for
general upgrading of performance ability.
Capacity building enhances the ability and
skills at the individual level to realise their full
potenti al and l i ve a more happy and
meani ngful l i fe. The Uni ted Nati ons
Development Programme (UNDP) defines
capacity building as, the creation of an
enabling environment with appropriate policy
and legal frames, institutional development,
including community participation (of women
in particular), human resource development
and strengthening managerial systems. The
UNDP also recognises that capacity building
is a long-term, continuing process in which all
stakeholders participate (ministers, local
authorities, non- governmental organisations
and water user groups, professi onal
associations, academics and others). As a
process that improves the ability of a person,
group, organisation or system to meet its
objectives or to perform better, capacity
building initiatives are all the way important
for sustainable development.
Evidently, capacity building is closely
related to empowerment. Brews (1994) rightly
observed, if empowerment is the value, then
capacity building is the content. Empowerment
is a process to gain strength, confidence and
vision to work for positive changes in life.
Women groups functioning in the third world
countries like India and Bangladesh are
embraced with the key word empowerment
to remedy the poverty and poor condition of
women. Different measures for poverty
alleviation and empowerment could catch the
desired result only if the target group is
equipped to receive the different inputs for
empowerment with reasonable amount of
confidence, background knowledge and
positive attitude. Training programmes are
nowadays the popular means among the
women groups in these countries for capacity
building. Imparting awareness, skills and
knowledge through training programmes
along with other economic provisions have
been given more thrust today especially in
developing nations as part of empowering
poor women to bring them to the mainstream.
Review of Literature
Domestic and international studies on
capacity building at the institutional level are
many, but at the community level are rare
especially studies relating to the poor women.
Therefore, search for a gap in the available
literature is not meaningful. However, the
avai l abl e l i terature can pave ways for
proceeding with tentative assumptions
regarding the capacity building process in
general. Moreover, conceptualisation of
capacity building by reviewing existing
literature better convey the process of building
capacity. Some of the relevant studies on
capacity building are reviewed below.
Brown and others (2001) in their report
Measuring Capacity Building review the
current knowledge and experiences from
ongoing efforts to monitor and evaluate
capaci ty bui l di ng i nterventi ons i n the
population and health sector. The report
pursues a review of current approaches to
measuring capacity and the effects of capacity
building interventions, develops a working
definition of capacity building and a conceptual
framework for mapping capacity.
Mayer (1995) i n hi s work Bui l di ng
Communi ty Capaci ty: The Potenti al of
Community Foundations describes that a
variety of community groups and institutions
contribute to community capacity. Each
community group or institution is a potential
partner in the work of strengthening the
viability and vitality of communities. The
Capacity Building Through Women Groups 237
author establishes that, in partnership, each can
gain in capacity.
Ofei-Aboagye (2000) in his seminar paper
titled Promoting the Participation of Women
in Local Governance and Development: The
Case of Ghana describes the initiatives in
Ghana to promote the participation of women
in local governance and the role of the
European support. Local governance i s
interpreted as the active involvement of the
l ocal popul ati on wi thi n the terri tori al
boundaries of a local government in ensuring
improved quality of service and leadership at
the local government level. It includes greater
participation by civil society in decision-
making processes and involves consensus-
building and civic awareness. In view of this,
the paper focuses on efforts to increase
womens participation as councillors and as
well as initiatives to enhance the involvement
of women and women groups in decision-
making, requiring accountability and accessing
support from local governments. It also
presents interventions promoted through local
governments to reduce poverty and promote
socio-economic development targeted at
women and seeking to bridge gender gaps
and the European support in these efforts.
The ILO (2006) repor t, Bui l di ng
Entrepreneurial Capacity for Returnee and
Refugee Women in Angola and Mozambique
describes the activities being implemented to
resettle and reintegrate the returnees from
neighbouring Zambia through capacity
building. Creation of the right conditions for
starting various income-generating activities
at the community level has been discussed in
the report. The report includes the findings
from the economic mapping exercise; a
description of the capacity-building process
that was facilitated by the ILO.
Kudumbashree and Capacity Building
Beginning from the mid-eighties of the
past century, provision of micro-credit has
become a key strategy for poverty alleviation
and women empowerment in Kerala, India.
Women have begun to organise themselves
into Neighbourhood Groups (NHGs) or Self-
Help Groups (SHGs) to free themselves from
the clutches of usurious moneylenders and
perennial poverty. Kudumbashree, the State
Poverty Eradication Mission (SPEM), was
launched by Government of Kerala in 1998
with the active support of Government of India
and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural
Devel opment (NABARD) for wi pi ng out
absolute poverty by 2008. Within a span of ten
plus years, Kudumbashree could bring about
considerable change in the lives of women in
Kerala by converging resources, ideas and
programmes. About forty lakh women in the
State have been organised into nearly 2 lakh
grassroot l evel NHGs. Apart from thri ft
mobilisation and informal banking, the mission
has given birth to vibrant micro-enterprises
maki ng women owners of these uni ts.
Kudumbashree vi ews mi cro-enterpri se
development as an opportunity for providing
gainful employment to the people below
poverty line and thereby improving their
income and living standard.
Kudumbashree i s a three-ti ered
hierarchial system of organisation. At the
lowest level are the neighbourhood groups
(NHGs), same as self-help groups (SHGs). These
groups are then federated at the ward level
into Area Development Societies (ADS). The
highest level is the Community Development
Society (CDS). Although all women in the State
are eligible to participate with NHGs, only
those members who are considered to be
below the poverty line (BPL) are eligible to
receive financial incentives. This programme
has cut across the ideological divide and
women have truly been empowered using the
Kudumbashree model of poverty eradication.
Since the women who had not been involved
in any activities, home bound and shy to
interact with outsiders turned out into more
confident and articulate decision makers, the
programme has been found very effective.
Even though the pri mary obj ecti ve of
Kudumbashree is to bring down the poverty
by improving the status of poor women,
empowerment of women through all possible
means were gi ven no l ess i mportance.
Attainment of these objectives necessitates
building up of the required amount of skill,
knowledge and decision making power
among poor women. Kudumbashree conducts
various capacity building programmes for the
benefit of its members to develop the skill
and knowledge of group members. The
present study is a micro attempt to assess the
effectiveness of different capacity building
training programmes of Kudumbashree on a
Gram Panchayat level.
Methodology
The study i s descri pti ve i n nature
pursui ng i nto the assessment of the
effectiveness of capacity building training
programmes covering financial literacy, law
literacy, accounts keeping and entrepreneur-
ship of Kudumbashree based on the opinion
of members of NHGs of Aikkaranadu Gram
Panchayat in Ernakulam district, Kerala. The
population for the study comprises all the
members of NHGs of Kudumbashree in
Aikkaranadu Gram Panchayat in Ernakulum
district. The details of determination of sample
size, selection of sample, constructs and
variables for measurement, data collection and
data analysis follow.
a) Determination of Sample Size : The
population for the study is the 1120 members
of NHGs in Aikkaranad Gram Panchayat of
Eranakulam district. A sample size (n) of 60
respondents from the finite population is
determined by the formula;
Where; N = Size of population (i.e. 1120);
n = Size of sample; Z is confidence level at 5
per cent i.e. 1.96;
2
= estimate of standard
deviation of population i.e. 0.19893; e =
acceptance level of sampling error i.e. 5 per
cent.
Table 1 : Sample Selection Process
Selection of Wards Selection of NHGs Selection of Respondents
4 Wards 12 NHGs 60 women members
(out of the 14 Wards) (3 each from each Ward) (N + S) n*
Ward Number Total No. No. of NHGs Total No. No. of
of NHGs Selected of Members Members
in Selected Selected
NHGs
Ward 2 7 3 42 16
Ward 5 6 3 36 14
Ward 7 4 3 38 14
Ward12 7 3 43 16
Total 24 12 159 60
Note : * denotes, N = Number of members in each of the selected NHG; S = Total number of
members in all the selected NHGs; n = Sample size determined.
b) Selection of Sample Units : The sample
size of 60 respondents was selected at random
from among the 1120 members of the 84 NHGs
spread among the 14 wards in the Panchayat.
The multi-stage selection process is given in
Table 1. Members having at least 2 years of
experience with NHGs were included in the
sample.
c) Constructs and Variables for
Measurement : The constructs measuring the
effectiveness of training programmes are
shown in Table 2. Altogether, a set of 13
vari abl es was used to measure the
effectiveness of training programmes given
to members of the NHGs. The responses of
the members are anchored on a three- point
scale (Likert Type Scale.)
Table 2 : Constructs and Variables for Measurement
Constructs No. of Description Response Scale
Variables of Variables Anchors
A. Financial literacy training 13 1. Contents of training
2. Daily timing
3. Communication &
Presentation of trainer
4. Interest & Involvement
5. Quality of study material
6. Physical facilities in place
7. Applicability in usual life
8. Accommodative number
of participants
9. Sufficiency of duration
of training.
10. Scope for involvement
of trainee
11. Scope for increasing
knowledge and skill
12. Scope for increasing
confidence level
13. Leisure facilities in
place of training
B. Law literacy training
C. Accounts keeping training
D. Entrepreneurship Development training
Low to High
(3 point Likert
type scale)
Profile of Sample Respondents
Table 3 : Profile of Respondents
S.No. Profile Frequency Per cent
1 Age of Respondents(Yrs) 40 45 5 8.3
46 50 25 47.7
51 55 26 43.3
55 -60 4 6.7
Total 60 100
Average age 50.6
2 Years of Association with NHG 1-5 4 6.7
6-10 56 93.3
Total 60 100
3 Education Below SSLC 35 58.3
SSLC 25 41.7
Total 60 100
4 Marital Status Married 39 65
Widowed 21 35
Total 60 100
5 Number of Members in the Family 4 27 45
5 33 55
Total 60 100
6 Prime Earning Member of Family Herself 6 10
Husband 48 80
Others 6 10
Total 60 100
7 Occupation Daily Labour 30 50
Agriculture 15 25
Small trade 5 8.3
No Occupation 10 16.7
Total 60 100
8 Officiating Capacity Volunteer 33 55
Non- volunteer 27 45
Total 60 100
Source : Authors Data.
d) Data Collection and Analysis : The
primary data required for the study were
col l ected usi ng a structured i ntervi ew
schedule. Tools like percentage and weighted
average were used for analysis. Students t-
test (one sample t- test) was used to test the
hypotheses. Equal weight was given to each
of the variables assessing effectiveness.
e) Hypothesis : The Financial Literacy
Training programme, the Law Literacy Training
programme, the Accounts Keeping Training
programme and the Entrepreneurshi p
Devel opment Trai ni ng programme of
Kudumbashree possess moderate
effectiveness.
Moderate Effectiveness: is a condition that
the mean value of the summated score of the
opinion of the respondents on attributes
assessing the effectiveness of each training
programme being equal to the central value
of the expected score (i.e. 2).
The results of the analysis of the views
expressed by the respondents regarding the
di fferent trai ni ng programmes of
Kudumbashree are given in Table 4. The mean
score of each variable against each of the
training programme and the summated mean
score of the thirteen variables against each
training programme exceptionally report that
the training programmes are effective. The
summated mean scores on effectiveness are
2.68, 2.66, 2.66 and 2.67, respectively for the
financial literacy training, legal literacy
training, accounts keeping training and
entrepreneurship development training
programmes. The students t test results
obtained by comparing the summated mean
score of each of the training programmes with
hypothetical mean value, i.e. 2 (central value
of the three-point scale) confirms that all the
training programmes have above moderate
effectiveness. All the thirteen variables have
been rated by the respondents without giving
any scope for hesi tati on regardi ng the
effectiveness of the programmes.
Conclusion
Kudumbashree in Kerala endeavours
many efforts, both direct and indirect, for the
alleviation of poverty and empowerment of
women i n Keral a. As part of equi ppi ng
members of the women groups (i.e. NHGs) to
handle micro-credit with care, manage micro-
enterprises, and involve in social and political
activities with confidence, capacity building
programmes of varied nature are periodically
undertaken by Kudumbashree. The present
study, based on the opinions of the members
of the NHGs, clearly reveals that all the training
programmes have been assigned with above
moderate ratings regarding its effectiveness.
This is a strong indication that the training
programmes could achieve their objectives to
a great extent. Therefore, these types of
training programmes to the members of
women groups will serve as a support to the
noble goal of poverty alleviation.
Table 4 : Mean Scores of Training Programmes
S.No. Variables Mean Score
FLT* LLT* AKT* EDT*
1 Course Contents 2.83 2.72 2.68 2.83
2 Daily Timing 2.61 2.52 2.5 2.48
3 Communication & Presentation of Trainer(s) 2.83 2.82 2.72 2.71
4 Interest and Involvement of Trainer(s) 2.52 2.47 2.48 2.48
5 Quality of Study Material 2.47 2.5 2.46 2.56
6 Applicability in Usual Life 2.93 2.86 2.91 2.81
7 Accommodative Number of Participants 2.53 2.45 2.45 2.52
8 Sufficiency of Duration of Training 2.51 2.56 2.56 2.55
9 Scope for Involvement of Trainees 2.61 2.52 2.78 2.68
10 Scope for Increasing Knowledge and Skill 2.85 2.88 2.86 2.88
11 Scope for Increasing Confidence Level 2.87 2.86 2.86 2.85
12 Physical Facilities in the Training Place 2.68 2.72 2.27 2.6
13 Leisure Facilities in the Training Place 2.76 2.78 2.76 2.75
Summated Mean Score 2.68 2.66 2.66 2.67
* FL Financial Literacy Training; LLT Law Literacy Training; AKT Accounts
Keeping Training; EDT Entrepreneurship Development Training.
Source : Authors Data.
Table 5 : One Sample Students t Test Results
Constructs N Mean Std. t df P value
Deviation
Financial Literacy Training 60 2.68 .13276 40.095 59 0.000
Law Literacy Training 60 2.6671 .13644 37.870 59 0.000
Accounts Keeping Training 60 2.6641 .13802 37.272 59 0.000
Entrepreneurship 60 2.6718 .13500 38.545 59 0.000
Development Training
Source : SPSS results computed from Authors data.
References and Select Bibliography
1. Anand, J. S. (2002), Self-Help Groups in Empowering Women : Case Study of Selected SHGs and
NHGs - Discussion Paper No. 38, Thiruvananthapuram, Centre for Development Studies.
2. Beatriz Armendriz de Aghion, J. M. (2000), Microfinance Beyond Group Lending, The Economic
Transition, 401-420.
3. Bhatnagar, A. (2008), Rural Microfinance and Microenterprises - Informal Revolution Overview,
In Bhatnagar, Rural Microfinance and Micrenterprises - Informal Evaluation, New Delhi :
Concept Publishing Company.
4. Brews, Alan (1994), The Capacity Building Debate, Mulbery Series, Olive (Organisation,
Development and Training), 23 Acacia Road, Glenwood, Durban, 4001.
5. Brown, L., LaFond, A., & Macintyre, K. (2001), Measuring Capacity Building, Chapel Hill, University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
6. Ghate, P. (2006), Micro Finance in India - A State Sector Report.
7. Ghate, P. (2006, May 18), State Assault on Micro-finance, New Delhi, Economic Times.
8. ILO. (2006), Building Entrepreneurial Capacity, ILO.
9. Kerala, G.o. (2004), Economic Review, Thiruvananthapuram, State Planning Board.
10. Kerala, G.o. (2007), Economic Review, Thiruvananthapuram, State Planning Board.
11. Mayer, S. E. (1995), Building Community Capacity, The Potential of Community Foundations.
Minneapolis, Rainbow Research.
12. Ofei-Aboagye, E. (2000, October March 8), Promoting the Participation of Women in Local
Governance.
13. Pathak, N. (2004), Operating Expenses in Micro Finance, Sa-Dhan.
14. Punnoose, A. (2008), Micro Finance Scenario in Kerala, Southern Economist.
15. Thurman, E. (2007, November 8), Microcredit is Effective for Women in Self-employment, The
Hindu Business Line.
16. Vasudevan, P. (2009, January 3), Microfinance Needs Regulated Growth, The Hindu Business Line.
Book Reviews 245
NIRD, Hyderabad.
BOOK REVIEWS
Social Relevance of Higher Learning
Institutions, by Prof. G. Palanithurai, Concept
Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, Price ` 550.
The author, a self-proclaimed watcher of
the higher education scenario in the country,
has done well to compile his articles on higher
learning institutions in India which have
reflected on his varied experiences gained
from various assignments he took in India and
briefly in Germany and Canada.
Most would agree that not only the
higher education, but education itself is in great
mess today. The crass commercialisation of
education has been the major, but not the sole,
reason for taking it to such low depths.
The author dwells on the opportunities
provided by globalisation in economy which
calls for creating large competent manpower.
With the increase in the number of institutions
of higher learning, the number of passed out
students has been increasing, but in this race,
quality is the worst sufferer.
India has been, through ages, known for
its superior education system which was
emulated widely. However, in view of our
belief that whatever is done in West is superior
and must be copied here. So, instead of
bri ngi ng out superi or manpower, our
universities are churning out graduates and
post-graduates whose quality, to say the least,
is questionable. They are definitely literate,
but are they educated ? While our graduates
should be worthy of market requirement,
many of them should also become thinkers,
poets, artists, scientists, technologists and
above all outstanding teachers. But, is it
happening ? The answer would be a big NO !
There could not be any argument against
the entry of private sector in education. But it
should not be seen as a mere business
opportunity for making huge profits through
huge capitation fee (especially in medical
colleges) and high tuition fee right from
Nursery classes. The argument that the quality
comes at a cost is taken but should this so-
called quality manifest in terms of showing
buildings and infrastructure alone but also in
helping the student to grow up the knowledge
ladder smoothly. Further, it should also not
happen that their doors should be shut on the
resource poor children. It has also been
observed that many medical colleges who
charge unimaginable capitation and tuition
fees, often l ack the requi red l earni ng
infrastructure in terms of faculty and labs/
operation theatres etc. The author argues in
favour of education being either in Central or
State level but not in concurrent list. This needs
to be debated.
In Chapter 3, the author describes about
the system and stakehol ders i n hi gher
education. There is a plethora of stakeholders
which obviously gives birth to plethora of
problems. There is a need to put in place an
effective and responsive system which would
not only remove the anomalies but will also
take the higher education system forward.
Like any other sector, education sector is
becoming very important in rural socio-
economic scenario. But for the sector to be
effective and responsive, the people have to
develop strong stake rather than simply being
bystanders. If the rural life has to be rescued
from present misery, education, especially
higher education, has to play an important
role. For this to succeed, the academics and
scholars have to pay more attention to the
knowledge generation, application and
transmission with specific aim of changing rural
society. Further, the role of Panchayati Raj
246 Book Reviews
institutions and NGOs also is highlighted to
join the force. In this effort, supreme care has
to be taken to maintain high standards, second
to none.
The government often loudly expresses
its intent to create World Class institutions of
higher learning. But more serious efforts will
be needed to realise the dream of every Indian
(rich or poor) to be educated and possibly
obtain graduation. The youth, especially rural
youth, who should become the nuclei of rural
development and empowerment process,
should be prepared for the important job of
rural transformation and governance. A lot of
i mportant tasks l i ke educati on, heal th,
infrastructure, food and nutritional security are
waiting for the competent youth to manage.
Our institutions of higher learning should be
prepared to create this critical mass.
The author is a prolific writer of books,
articles etc., and has genuine interest in curing
the ills of higher education. His critique on
the ongoing system is quite incisive. The book
is good reading and should be of interest to all
those whose heart is in this area and who
dream to clear the augean stables with the
fastest pace.
Dr. S.M. Ilyas
Economic Liberalisation and Indian
Agriculture : A District Level Study, by
Bhalla, G.S. and Gurmail Singh, 2012, Published
by SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd., B1/I-1
Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area, Mathura
Road, New Delhi - 110 044, (India), pp. 360, `
795 (Hardback).
The book under review is an outcome of
a research study conducted by the authors on
'Growth of Indian Agriculture : A District Level
Study' to update the district-wise data from
1990-93 to 2003-06 with a view to comparing
the performance of agriculture during the
post-liberalisation period from 1990-93 to
2003-06, with the pre-liberalisation period
from 1980-83 to 1990-93 and from 1962-65
to 1980-83. Adopting a comparative analysis,
the book brings out the spasmodic transition
of Indian agriculture from pre to post-green
revolution and the deceleration from pre - to
post-liberalisation period of over five decades
consolidated in six chapters. The study was
carried out in 17 states covering 281 districts
on 35 crops for a comprehensive discussion
of the croppi ng patterns and l evel s of
agricultural output at the state and all India
levels during the reference period.
After a brief introductory chapter, about
the methodology adopted in conducting the
massive study, second chapter is confined to
the growth and productivity performance of
agriculture which have been meticulously
analysed and compared with those of the
green revolution period. The author explains
that the long-term (1962-2008) growth rate
of crop production at 2.46 per cent per annum
was achieved mainly due to cropped area and
i rri gati on expansi on i n the pre-green
revolution period. The authors have indicated
that the pace of growth rate achieved in crop
production during the green revolution period
could not be sustained in the post-reform
period. The decline was on account of a
slowdown in the expansion of irrigation due
to the decline in public investment and the
fai l ure to have fresh breakthrough i n
technology.
Chapter 3 is devoted to analysis of yield
levels of all the crops taken together at the
disaggregated district level. During 1962-65,
the yield levels in most of the districts in India
were abysmally low. An analysis of data on
regional variations at the district level during
1962-2008 brings out the impact that the
introduction of new technology has made in
rai si ng yi el d l evel s i n vari ous di stri cts.
Breakthrough in oilseeds technology under
aegis of the Technology Mission on Oilseeds,
leading to notable rise in productivity levels
of oilseeds was noticed during 1980-93. The
success of the new technology in raising yields
is intimately related with the use of modern
Book Reviews 247
Horticulture for Tribal Development,
by R.N. Hegde and S.D. Suryawanshi, 2011,
Published by BAIF Development Research
Foundation, Dr. Manibhai Desai Nagar, Warje,
Pune 411 058, Maharashtra (India), pp. 126,
` 120.
The book under review is an outcome of
the work done by BAIF and MITTRA through
the Adi vasi Devel opment Programme,
Maharashtra (ADPM); which was the basis for
the doctoral study by Dr. R. N. Hegde. This
doctoral research is the basis for bringing out
this document in the form of book with 10
chapters. The book describes the tribal
situation in India, policies and government
programmes for tri bal devel opment,
importance of horticulture with regard to food
security, economic prosperity and mitigating
global warming. The authors have attempted
to analyse the project concept, design and
process of devel opment i n converti ng
degraded lands into lush green orchards by
small farmers. Further, the results of various
impact assessment studies conducted by
various academicians and research scholars on
agri-horti-forestry (Wadi) approach have been
documented.
The authors have laid emphasis on
introducing the subject to the readers with
tribal profile, development issues, culture and
heritage, Nehrus vision of tribal conservation,
historical perspectives and policies, tribal
educati on and hostel faci l i ti es, tri bal
devel opment programmes and thei r
implementation and Central and state plans.
They have also discussed about the major
organisations involved in tribal development
such as National SC and ST Financial and
Development Corporation (NSFDC), National
Scheduled Tribe Financial Development
Corporation (NSTFDC), Large Sized Multi-
Purpose Cooperative Societies (LAMPS), Tribal
Research Institutions, Tribal Cooperative
Marketing Development Federation of India
(TRIFED).
inputs like fertilisers, tractors and tubewells.
Authors have emphasi sed the need for
strengthening rural credit institutions for not
only spreading technological modernisation to
backward regions, but also enabling small and
marginal farmers to purchase costly inputs and
machinery.
In Chapter - 4, growth rates of output
and productivity have been analysed for the
overall reference period. An attempt is also
made to analyse the association, if any
between growth rates of output and intensity
of use of modern farm inputs. There is some
evidence to believe that agricultural trade
liberalisation has impacted the cropping
pattern more than the productivity. It is also
indicated that trade liberalisation provided
favourable opportunities for export crops like
fruits, spices and cotton, it has posed a serious
challenge in maintaining competitive edge in
the global market.
Chapter - 5 analysed the levels and
growth of agricultural workers productivity at
the state and di stri ct l evel s duri ng the
reference periods. The regression estimates
suggest that the prevailing inter-district
differentials in per worker productivity in
I ndi an agri cul ture can be bri dged by
expanding per worker cultivable land by
promoti ng more i ntensi ve use of l and
resources, improving education and skill level
of the rural labour force and the development
of rural infrastructure such as rural roads and
agricultural markets in the hitherto lagging
regions (Bihar, MP, Maharashtra and eastern
UP).
The strength of this book lies in the fact
that it combines theory and practice, tabular
and econometric techniques, as well as
statistical measures to analyse significant
issues related to agriculture in India. This
volume is of immense benefit to students,
researchers and practitioners in the field of
Agriculture Economics.
Dr. V. Suresh Babu
248 Book Reviews
Authors have focused on horticulture
devel opment to address the mul ti pl e
challenges of ending poverty, improving
nutrition and sustaining rural communities in
the tribal areas. They have discussed various
issues of Horticulture in India, production
features of horticulture and reasons for BAIF
model replicability.
In the third chapter, BAIF genesis is
discussed at length. Further, they presented
the history of orchard (Wadi) development
with emphasis on wasteland development,
food securi ty duri ng gestati on, women
empowerment, timeline on evolution of the
orchard (Wadi) and status of orchards in six
States viz., Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan,
Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.
I n the fi f th chapter, authors have
presented the Wadi project concept and
design with details on activities for orchard
programme and development intervention for
the entire tribal community including micro
watershed development, value addition and
market linkages and demystification of
technology for adoption (with checklist of
year-wise activities).
Authors have emphasised on planning
for gainful employment through cluster
approach, evolution of BAIFs approach such as
process of micro-level planning with techno-
economic parameters of fruit crops, capacity
building and micro credit disbursal and
repayment facilities. In the seventh chapter,
six success stories have been discussed.
Considering the global experiences, BAIF
has initiated building grassroot institutions for
sustai nabi l i ty. Formati on of peopl es
organisations and Self-Help Groups, their stage-
wi se devel opment are di scussed wi th
reference to BAIF Model.
The approaches discussed above are
location specific and would offer deep insight
to extension development for effective
transfer of technol ogy i n wastel and
devel opment programmes. Thi s i s
recommended for students, fi el d
demonstrators, extensi on offi ci al s and
researchers.
Dr. V. Suresh Babu
Women Empowerment through
Literacy Campaign : Role of Social Work
by Jaimon Varghese, Concept Publishing
Company Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi, Pages 294, Price
` 750.
Participation in the literacy campaigns
is a challenge for the literacy workers. Despite
active participation and involvement in the
literacy campaigns, if the literacy workers
engaged i n the advocacy of l i teracy
programmes are not empowered, all efforts
to affect a literacy programme would be a
futile exercise. In this publication the author
has made substantial efforts to provide an
understandi ng on the efforts made to
empower the women literacy workers who
were trained by providing Special literacy
classes in the literacy campaign mission before
spearheading them for the literacy campaigns.
These classes were provided with a twin
strategy to improve the capabilities and
development of the personality of the women
literacy volunteers as they engage and involve
in literacy campaigns.
The author has systematically followed
the chapterisation of the study by footing in
eight chapters with an additional chapter on
conclusion. The first chapter presents the
status of the women in Rural India while the
subsequent chapters unti l chapter fi ve
consti tute the chapters on research
methodology. Chapter six has eloquently dealt
with the role of Literacy Work and the process
of empowerment of the women literacy
workers. Chapters seven and eight have
powerfully brought out the problems and
impact of literacy on the lives of the women
literacy workers and the participants of the
National Literacy Campaign. However, through
Book Reviews 249
these chapterisations the author has tried
vehemently to show that women literacy
volunteers have been empowered socially,
economically and politically, in the process of
being trained for the literacy campaigns. The
author has resorted to the quantitative
epistemological findings to study the extent
of empowerment of women literacy workers.
Through the various chapters, the author
has constructed the existing status of women
and is of the opinion that literacy has not
contri buted to the achi evement of
empowerment. From the discussions in
phased manner through various chapters it
emerges that women literacy workers though
educated and trained in addressing the
campaigns go through similar restrictions and
constraints that women in general in the rural
society undergo. The author also admits that
the established codes of conduct which are
potentially exploitative in nature are loud and
actively followed undisputedly in the rural
society. The author also opines that there is
no difference in the gendered discriminatory
practices while comparing the pre and post-
training period. However, there is an enhanced
social empowerment in terms of decision
making in household affairs. But in specific
circumstances especially those that are
associated with the purchase and ownership
of property, womens voices are throttled and
their representation does not cross the
boundaries of the house, nevertheless here
and there spurts of empowerment are seen
or experienced as voices of very few women
are heard and considered for owning property
and gaining registration in their name in the
study area.
Apart from socio-economic and political
empowerment of women literacy volunteers,
the author sees a remarkable change in the
personalities of the trained literacy workers as
they have gained courage to come out of their
houses and conduct the campaigns and
gradually in the process, they are accepted as
leaders. According to the author, the political
empowerment has been significantly faster as
there has been a cogni ti vel y i mproved
parti ci pati on of women i n gram sabha
meetings. Therefore, the author concludes
that l i teracy empowers women and
unhesitatingly considers this stage as a pre-
condition for volunteering for literacy work,
which built in an assured self-confidence to
participate in the post-literacy campaigns. The
other practical outcomes of the participation
in the campaigns were vivid in terms of the
enhanced abilities of the women to read, write
and to do little mathematic, withdrawal from
observing purdah system, improvement in
interactions, satisfaction in teaching the
mothers-i n-l aw whi ch are the vi si bl e
consequences of the participation in the
campaign and have helped them as they
campaigned.
Findings documented by the author on
the impact of the campaign on the women
literacy workers and his findings in terms of
the empowerment of women are more
generic in nature. These findings supporting
the decision making powers of women in the
modern times confining only to the kitchen
seems to be limited since women have gone
far ahead from the kitchen empowerment and
these days are into social and economic
empowerment.
By and large, the author of the study has
followed the usual requirements of the
research and has established his findings
systematically by concluding on some relevant
suggestions. The book has been well organised
and published by the Concept Publishing
Company.
Dr. G. Valentina
Development of Special Economic
Zones in India, Volume 1, Edited by M.
Soundarapandian, 2012, published by Concept
Publishing Company, A/15-16, Commercial
Block, Mohan Garden, New Delhi-110059, pp.
344, Price ` 2000.
Few selected papers presented in the
seminar on The Prospects and Implications of
250 Book Reviews
Special Economic Zones in India are edited
into a book of two volumes and titled as
Development of SEZs in India. Volume I deals
with policies and issues of SEZ and Volume II
analyses impact and implications of SEZs. The
present volume I is the compilation of 30
articles which discusses the issues relating to
Special Economic Zones (SEZs).
A.Ranga Reddy in his article SEZs A
Step for Quality Industrialisation presented an
overview about the SEZ act, its objectives,
incentives and facilities and benefits offered
from SEZ and impact of SEZ. He also highlighted
the controversies against SEZ.
I n the paper on Theoreti cal
Understanding of SEZ Strategy in India; a Case
Study of GMR SEZ of Hyderabad, the writers
Tamali Chakraborty and Barun Kumar Thakur
gave theoretical framework for SEZ and related
it to the case of GMR SEZ of Hyderabad and
drawn the similarities in theory and reality and
drawn a conclusion that SEZ policy negatively
affects the agriculture and Government has to
relook its policy.
Through the article Economic Trends of
SEZs in India, K.B. Nidheesh and P. Palanichami
analysed the secondary data available from
Ministry of Commerce, India, website to study
zone-wise the employment trends, export
contribution and percentage share of FDIs in
total SEZ investment. It was concluded that
SEZ policy contributed to the economic
development of the nation in terms of exports,
employment and investment from time to
time.
A. Chandraprabha in her paper on SEZs
in India; Problems and Prospects presents and
discusses about the progress and performance
of the SEZ, rehabilitation and resettlement,
labour laws, implications and problems and
challenges in SEZ development etc.
In the paper on Impact of SEZs on
Employment in India, S. Natchathira Jothi
focuses on employment generated through
SEZs. Author anal yses the empl oyment
generated both in Government as well as
private SEZs and state-wise distribution of
empl oyment. He al so tri ed to make an
assessment about the employment that can
be generated through upcoming SEZs in India.
K.Vanitha and D. Kumar in their paper on
Special Economic Zones in India- Policy and
Growth gave an introduction about the
objectives, rules, incentives and facilities
provided to units in SEZ. They discussed in
detail about the institutional evolution of SEZ.
In their paper on Land Resource Conflict
Resolution - A Study of Indian SEZs, authors
N.M.P.Verma and Vinit Kumar focus on land
acquisition for SEZs.
Through their paper SEZs - A Theoretical
Anal ysi s, M. Bal aji Nai k and S. Sai pogu
Ramanjaneyulu gave introduction to SEZs with
special focus on Andhra Pradesh. In the same
way T. Rajendra Prasad and H. Sudhakara in
their paper on Performance of SEZs in India,
analysed the performance of SEZs in Andhra
Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and as
such overall southern zone in the areas of
status, l and al l ocati on, exports and
employment provided through SEZs.
From the paper titled A Comparative
Study of SEZ and EPZs in India, authors, P.
Senthil and S. Asaithambi gave phase-wise
description of history of EPZs/SEZs in India with
l i sti ng out of rel ati ve advantages and
disadvantages of both types. In the article
What are SEZs? Provisions Governing Such
Zones, authors, G. Sathis Kumar, S. Ramaswamy
and G. Kavitha talk of different types of zones
and some features of SEZs and the gap
between the ideal and reality. M. Subramanian
and Karthick Raja in their paper RAPID Model-
SEZ : Issues and Strategies again focus on the
history of SEZ and some facts and figures about
SEZs in India.After analysing the issues they
have come out with strategies for betterment.
Tourism as a Potential Sector for Growth
under SEZ is a paper by S. Gopalakrishnan,
Book Reviews 251
where the writer gave detailed description of
the only one SEZ presently in principal
approved in tourism sector at Himachal
Pradesh.
By reading the articles in the book, an
individual develops knowledge on the issues
related to the SEZs. But there is lot of repetition
in the content of the papers as most of the
authors analysed the secondary data available
in the website of the Ministry of Commerce
and Industries. There are very few articles
based on empirical studies. In many articles
authors focused on probl ems of l and
acquisition, challenges that the SEZs face and
the benefits that the SEZs get from the
Government etc. The editor of the book should
have ensured that there is no repetition in the
content. Overal l i t i s i nformati ve and
readability and presentation is good. However,
in the overall assessment, this is a good
resource book on various aspects pertaining
to SEZ and their impact on people. The present
volume has great relevance of time to the rural
development too.
Dr. C. Dheeraja
Bureaucracy and Rural Development
in Mizoram, by Harendra Sinha, Concept
Publishing Company Pvt Ltd, New Delhi-
110059, Published 2012, ` 700.
The book on Bureaucracy and Rural
Development in Mizoram has been a fine
addition to the process of governance and
related problems in implementation of rural
development programmes and schemes.
Though the methodology adopted and
the findings recorded do not speak anything
new, not revealed till date by other authors,
empirical research findings of this kind are
very rare these days. Any empirical research
per se, based on primary questionnaires and
the analysis of data give credence to the
subject researched upon.
The book is divided into eight chapters
with appendices as addendum. The first six
chapters viz. (1) Introduction (2) Bureaucracy
and Rural Devel opment (3) Democrati c
Decentralisation in Mizoram (4) Bureaucracy
and Rural Devel opment i n Mi zoram (5)
Problems and Prospects of Rural Development
in Mizoram (6) Block Level Bureaucracy: Their
Role and Responsibilities are at best a good
compilation and collation of existing literature
- a typical characteristic of many publications
on Indian Research Studies. Herein the reader
has the benefits of glancing at a large number
of references of books, general articles, web
based i nformati on on the theme of
bureaucracy and rural development. The
dichotomous views of writers have hardly been
analysed to give credence to the writers own
understanding of the relevance of quoting
them.
The cream of the book is placed at
chapter eight i.e. Findings and Suggestions
constituting a meagre thirteen pages, followed
by a preparatory ground work in chapter seven
i.e. Assessment of Block Level Bureaucracy.
Necessarily these two readings constitute the
real interests of any kind to the discernible
subject specialist on grassroots governance
and related problems in India.
Though the chapter seven is named as
Assessment of Block Level Bureaucracy, there
are very few earmarked sentences which
make any judgement about the bureaucracy
of four blocks (constituting the study area)
mentioned above. In a span of nearly four
pages (P 182-186), there is hardly a sentence
which makes a critical judgement of Lunglei
bureaucracy. The author has fai l ed to
understand the di fference between
compilation of facts and figures and making
judgement out of the same data. While
assessing on bureaucracy of Hanhthial block,
statements like development of transport and
communication as the most important means
in achieving development of this mountainous
block-serve no specific purpose when the
cause of absence of this is not analysed.
Stereotype facts like absence of Extension
252 Book Reviews
Officer at the block level in the districts which
are most backward in India serve no purpose
without analysing why political will and public
pressure at large could not be raised to
mitigate the same issue. Specific spatial
anal ysi s coul d have brought out some
meaning to the research findings. While
assessi ng about Bunghmun bl ock the
stereotype sentences like Rural artisans
shoul d be encouraged wi th marketi ng
facilities (P. 190-191) do not elicit any interest
to a genuine researcher. Absence of any
banking facilityhighlighted by the writer as
the only block (i.e. Bunghmun) of this type in
the country definitely raises the eyebrow of
the reader, but cause of the same could have
been elicited from the lead district manager
Mr. S.K. Bhattacharjee, State Bank of India,
Lunglei and could have been recorded in the
research findings.
Neither the snake be killed nor the stick
be broken the crux of a non-committal
bureaucracy has been highlighted again in the
data analysis elaborated in Page 196 to 205.
Without being answerable or accountable to
the omission and commission of ones work
as a government servant, it hardly matters
whether the villages benefited from the rural
development programmes or not, the method
of selection of beneficiaries, information
dissemination about rural development
programmes to the villages, whether or not
the grassroots bureaucracy visit the villages.
Non-availability of block functionaries in the
service of people in motivating and assisting
the rural folk is nothing new, though the
respondents percentage may vary from block
to block. Role of village level worker (VLW) is
equally disheartening in Mizoram which is not
a significant departure from the national
scenario.
One of the most important findings is
about the role of village councils as described
in P. 207. In the absence of PR institutions of
the all India types, the village councils are held
supreme against the all India guidelines
dictum of putting Gram Sabha as supreme in
programmes like IAY. With the personal
interviews by the writer of Mr. K. Lalthlamuna,
village council president, Thualthu, Lunglei
block, it is revealed that in the absence of PRI,
people from the urban area frequently made
attempts to produce rural resi denti al
certificates bribing the Presidents of Village
Councils.
The last chapter (i.e. chapter eight
Findings and Suggestions) speaks about
continuous assessment and evaluations of rural
devel opment programmes by the
independent bodies. The writer also suggests
about fi ve per cent out of the rural
devel opment funds for research and
documentati on to provi de feedback to
decision makers for better implementation,
identification of reasons for success and
failures and possible modifications. The scant
electronic and print media coverage for the
issues, problems and prospects for rural
development programmes in India by the
writer is not true, though this might be of some
rel evance to Mi zoram. After the
implementation of MGNREGS, hardly a single
day has been missed out when an inquisitive
reader didnt find the coverage of a story in
any vernacular print media.
The study by the writer reveals that the
village councils do not enjoy decision making
power as in the case of PR institutions. The
absence of an intermediary body at the block
level (between the two extremes of district
council and village council), makes the block
level bureaucracy overriding the council
thereby creating a huge gap between district
councils and village council.
Lastly with all the limitations as pointed
out above, the book by Harendra Sinha is a
valuable addition to the understanding of
grassroots development functionaries. In
infrastructurally backward states like Mizoram,
doing a research work of this kind demands
Book Reviews 253
extraordinary labour and patience which
makes the reader enthusiastic to read the
whole book. The language is very lucid and
can be grasped by any common reader. The
book wi l l defi ni tel y gui de the future
development functionaries in carrying out
assigned tasks more effectively provided they
care to take a leaf out of this book.
Pradip Kumar Nath
Rural Development Administration
in India, by N.Sreeramulu, Serials Publications,
New Delhi, 2011, pp. 411, ` 1495.
The book under review is based on
outcome of the doctoral study aimed to
investigate rural development administration
in India, particularly of the dynamics of
devel opment admi ni strati on i n Andhra
Pradesh.The author, at large, concentrates on
existing development administration system
in Andhra Pradesh, PRIs role in planning and
implementation of various rural development
programmes, organisation and working pattern
of administrative system under the PR at the
District, Mandal Parishad and Gram Panchayat
levels before and after the introduction of 73
rd
Constitutional (Amendment) Act in Andhra
Pradesh; rol e of the devel opment
functionaries and the procedures for most
effective administration etc.The author has
chosen three districts viz. East Godavari,
Chi ttoor and Nal gonda of whi ch one
development Mandal each was taken as
sample for his study that covers all three
regions of Andhra Pradesh. The collected data
were analysed in the light of the objectives
using suitable classifications and the available
data were arranged under different heads and
sub-heads meaningfully.
The researcher has organised this book
into Six Chapters. In the first chapter, he
provi ded the background, need and
importance of rural development, presented
the brief evolution of the present institutional
arrangements for rural devel opment
administration. Also, in general, he provided a
review of literature on rural development
administration in the country as a whole and
Andhra Pradesh in particular. In the second
chapter, the author discussed the evolution of
rural development administration in Andhra
Pradesh, starting with the administrative
arrangements under Firka Development
Scheme and Communi ty Devel opment
Programmes. This chapter also highlighted the
democratic decentralisation phase the
Panchayati Raj, discussed the changes in the
administrative set-up at three levels Zilla
Parishads, Panchayati Samitis and Gram
Panchayats and the steps taken to strengthen
the PR system after introduction of the Andhra
Pradesh Mandal Praja Parishads, Zilla Praja
Parishads, and Zilla Pranalika Abhivruddi
Mandals Act 1987.
By discussing the provisions of the 73
rd
Constitutional (Amendments) Act and Andhra
Pradesh Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, the third
chapter examined the Gram Sabha at GP level,
Mandal Maha Sabha at MP level, Zilla Maha
Sabha at the district level, the composition and
reservation of seats for the members as well
as office bearers of GP, MP and ZP etc. This
chapter also analysed various approaches to
rural devel opment and i ndi cated the
programmes undertaken in each of the
approaches and analysed the performance of
various rural development programmes.
The author devoted the fourth chapter
solely to study the organisational aspects of
existing arrangements for rural development
administration at various levels and also
explained the powers and functions of PRIs,
elected representatives and other official
functionaries relating to PRIs at different levels
specifically to Chittoor district of Andhra
Pradesh.
In the fifth chapter, the author analysed
the responses of officials and non-officials on
various aspects relating to the organisation and
worki ng of the rural devel opment
administration, the relations between officials
254 Book Reviews
and non-officials in the implementation of rural
development programmes at the district,
mandal and gram panchayat levels. This
chapter also provided the views of officials and
non-officials about the need for coordination,
the need for finances and their resource
mobilisation, role of PRIs in the development
of agriculture, education, role in providing rural
water supply, role in laying new roads and
maintaining old roads etc. In the sixth chapter,
the author presented a summary of findings
and conclusions, thus drawn, to suggest
remedial measures for strengthening rural
development administration in the State of
Andhra Pradesh. The author also analysed the
view of the respondents about the importance
of peoples participation and the need for
training to all the stakeholders of rural
development.
Obviously, this book covers various
aspects of rural devel opment and
administration particularly in the State of
Andhra Pradesh. This volume is very useful for
research scholars, especially those engaged
i n pol i ti cal sci ence and devel opment
administration arena, social workers, non-
governmental organisations, and other social
scientists who look forward to impact of rural
development administration not merely
confined up to reducing the poverty but also
reducing the regional imbalances of the
country.
Dr. R. Murugesan
Land Policies for Inclusive Growth,
Edited by T. Haque, Published by Concept
Publishing Company Pvt ltd Pages : 495, Price:
` 1200.
Among the four factors of production,
land is the only factor which is finite and
limited. Therefore, it is always subjected to
special treatment in the history of agrarian
economy in India. Land policies adopted by
the government have been playing a role in
provi di ng equi tabl e justi ce as wel l as
enhancing the income of the rural poor.
However, there have been many controversies
surrounding the land in the context of its
distribution as well as acquisition. Tenancy is
another aspect of land , the case for legalisation
of which is gaining momentum in the context
of its potentiality to enhance the production
base of landless , marginal and small farmers.
The book under review is a compilation of
various papers presented in a National Seminar
j oi ntl y organi sed by Counci l for Soci al
Devel opment and Rural Devel opment
Institute, New Delhi. There are about nineteen
papers in the book which made an in depth
analysis on i) Redistributive Land Reforms : Old
and New Approaches ii) Tenancy Reforms iii)
Land Rights for Women and Tribals V) Land
Acquisition and Inclusive Development.
There are seven papers which made an
i ndepth di scussi on i n the secti on on
Redistributive Land Reforms. The paper on
Land Reform i n the 21st Century: New
Challenges and New Responses by Roy L.
Porsterman and Tim Hanstad discussed about
the potential benefits of land reforms on
increased crop production and economic
growth. The paper by T.Haque on Land Policies
for Social Inclusion in India discussed at length
on the three different phases in the evolution
of land policy in India and championed the
need to have an appropriate land use policy
for the country. The paper by Robert Mitchell
and Tim Hanstad on Small Home Garden Plots
and Sustainable Livelihoods for the Poor
examined the ways in which the poor can use
small extent of land to establish home gardens
to advance their livelihood objectives. In his
paper on Access to Land : Some Issues, Srijit
Mi shra presented a matri x of i ssues
confronted by the tillers of the soil and
suggested some measures such as provision
of some l and for ki tchen garden whi l e
providing homestead plots which may need
some serious thinking under Indira Aawas
Yojana. Shri. K.N.Nair and Shri Arindam
Book Reviews 255
Banerjee in their paper on Structural Changes
in Land Distribution and its Implications for
Improving Access to Land provided some
insights into the changes in the pattern of
land distribution and the factors shaping it .
Perceiving Land Bank as a logical Extension to
the SHG movement in the country, B.K.Sinha
in his paper on Land Bank : An Institutional
Mechanism for Improving Access to Land by
the Rural Poor presented the concept ,
objectives and the instrumentalities of the
Land Bank .
There are eight papers in the section on
Tenancy Reforms all of which have strongly
vouched for institutionalisation of tenancy.
The Paper by T.Haque on Agricultural Tenancy
Reform in India : Policy, Practice and Impact
analysed the positive and negative aspects of
post-Independence tenancy reform policy in
India and presented a case for legalisation
and liberalisation of land leasing. Sankar Kumar
Bhaumi k i n hi s paper on Legal i si ng
Agri cul tural Land Leasi ng i n I ndi a : An
Assessment of Possible Consequences and
Some Suggestions conducted an extensive
state-wise study on land tenancy based on
secondary data. In the paper Equity and
Efficiency Impacts of Land Leasing Restrictions
: Evidence in India Klaus Deininger etal
assessed the ability of different groups of
producers to gain access to land through
market mechanism and explored the impact
of rural rental restrictions as a factor that
increases the costs of market participation on
land market functioning and outcomes. In the
paper on Changing Tenancy Relations in Rural
India : A Case for Legalizing Tenancy the
author H.R. Sharma strongly advocated for
separating the ownership rights of the land
with user rights, the policy of which has taken
its roots in Andhra Pradesh now. In the paper
on Land Leasing, Poverty and Inequality,
Naresh Sharma addressed the problem of
influence of the institution of tenancy on the
rural poor and concluded that prohibiting or
severely restricting the land lease market is
counter-productive both by equity and
productivity criteria. The paper on Legalising
Agricultural Tenancy : A Study in Odisha
examined the tenancy practices and its impact
on agriculture and observed the implications
for sustainable productivity and equity. The
paper on Land Leasing by Women in Andhra
Pradesh by Vakati et al examined the actual
leasing practices of poor women- cultivating
leased land in groups or as households and
recommended that improving credit access
for women tenant farmers by organising them
into RMGs or SHGs can make this livelihood
option to many more women.
The only paper on land rights of women
by Hina Haque in the third section highlighted
the constraints to womens land rights such as
legal, institutional, socio-economic and
suggested an action plan for achieving gender
equality in land rights. Fernandezs paper on
Tribal customary and formal law interface in
North Eastern India revealed the role that
the formal individual based law plays in causing
shortages, impoverishing the communities and
thus causing ethnic conflicts in the north east.
The LA act being the chief instrument of
land acquisition has come in for a sharp attack
on grounds of the large scale displacement it
has unleashed in the name of public purpose
in the recent past and on the grounds of its
inconsistency with democratic governance
and principles of equity and social justice. K.B.
Saxena in his paper on Land Acquisition and
Peasant Resi stance : Cri ti que of Pol i cy
Interventions presented the salient features
of the land acquisition acts in the country in a
comparative setting. P.V. Indiresan in his paper
on Land Acquisition : Compensation and
Inclusive Development concluded that the
aim of compensation for Land Acquisition
should not be mere financial compensation
for the displaced but the development of
entire population.
256 Book Reviews
Land issues are coming to the fore again.
In the context of stronger dissent against
exploitative methods with which fertile
agriculture land is being acquired in the
country and the building up of the case for a
land use policy, the book has come up at a
right time which will be useful for the policy
makers, academicians , civil society and the
students who are working in this area.
Dr. Ch. Radhika Rani
Book Reviews 257
Journal of Rural Development
(Quarterly Journal of NIRD)
INSTR INSTR INSTR INSTR INSTRUC UC UC UC UCTIONS TIONS TIONS TIONS TIONS T TT TTO AUTHORS O AUTHORS O AUTHORS O AUTHORS O AUTHORS
Procedure
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is the name of the country/state and the name of the Ministry/Department, separated by
a colon.
6. Arrange references in the Reference List in the alphabetical order by the surname of the
first author and then his/her initials. When ordering more than one reference by the same
author, list the earlier publication before the later publication. References by the same
author with the same publication year are arranged alphabetically by the title, and suffixes
a, b, c and so on are added to the year.
The Institute supplies 25 reprints of the paper free of cost to the author(s). Additional
requirements of reprints, if any, should be communicated to the editor within ten days of
receipt of notification of acceptance for supply on payment, as per the rates charged by the
printers from time to time.

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