As on 19th January, 2010, the Anganbadi statistics are as follows:
Table 6: Anganwadi Statistics (No. of Enrolled Children and Pregnant Women)
Though there are educational facilities available nearby the village, people don’t care much about the education of their children. The dropout rate is high as much as 50% in the schools and most dropouts are girls. The boys too contribute to this but in a slightly less frequency than that of girls. Absenteeism is also a major cause of the educational backwardness here. Though dropouts and absenteeism is prevalent here, the literate population is good. As I found out in the books of the Gram Panchayat, the male to female literate persons are as follows:
-
Literate Male - 209
-
Literate Female - 179
Total population – 428
Total literate population – 388
This means that 90.65% of the village is literate. Here literate would mean that they can write or sign their names and are above 7 years of age.
Fig 5. Literacy Status in Kolam
- Village Health
Health is always a concern for everybody whether they live in a city or in a village. Kolam doesn’t have any Public Health Centers (PHCs). The nearest PHC is in Rodopali which is 3 km from here. The people here suffer mainly from Protein Energy Malnutrition (PEM). It can be seen directly from their physique e.g. their hair colour and texture, skin smoothness, etc.
In case of illness, villagers generally contact quakes first, as they are available all the time in the village and they charge less compared to the government doctors. One quake, Chitru Patel, comes from Bhalumuda. He treats for general fever, cough, body ache, vomiting, etc. He doesn’t take major cases like pregnancy, malaria, etc.
Apart from village quakes, there are some faith healers, also known as Gunia in local terms. People contact them for most of their illness if not satisfied with the quakes. There are 3 Gunias in the village. They are:
- Injor Singh (Bhagwati Nagar)
- Dokri Manjhi (Bhagwati Nagar)
- Asadho Manjhi (Chirramuda)
There are two practicing doctors in the village and nearby. One is Dr Ashok Patel from Kolam Basti and the other is Dr B. Pandey at Saraidipa, who came from Gharghoda and opened his clinic in a rented house. If all fails, they go to Tamnar for further treatment.
The rainy season is the most problematic season for the villagers in terms of health problems. In this season, villagers generally suffer from fever, malaria, headache and water-borne diseases. (Source: PRA)
People here generally prefer quakes and gunias to doctors as they are available in the village easily and they charge less for their services in terms of money and sometimes they even accept their charges in kind which is not appropriate in a city hospital.
- Village Services
In terms of general services available in the village, whether it is commercial or government-run, the village has the following services available:
Table 7: Distance of Services from Village
The nearest bus stop from Kolam is in Saraidipa which is approximately 1 km away from the village. The Government Primary School is in Kolam itself, but the Government High School and the Private Primary School are in Saraidipa.
The Khad Society is situated at Gare which is 8 km away from the village. The nearest PHC is situated at Rodopali which is 3 km away from here. The Agriculture Department and bank (SBI and Raigarh Kshetriya Gramin Bank) are situated at Tamnar which is 14 km from here. The post office is situated in the village itself. There are 4 retail stores in the village of which 2 are in Bhagwati Nagar and 2 are in Kolam Basti.
The Anganbadi Center is in Kolam Basti where children from both the paras go. The Weekly Sunday Market also known as Haats take place in Saraidipa where people from nearby villages and from far too come to buy the necessities like vegetables, clothes, utensils, etc.
The nearest Animal Health Center is situated at Bajarmuda which is 4 km away from here. As this place is far away people don’t generally go there for the treatment of their livestock.
The nearest railway station is at Raigarh which is 55 km away from here and as such people don’t travel in railways as much. The State Forest Department is situated at Tamnar.
The Gram Sabha is situated at Chitwahi which is 1.5 km away from the village. The Village Control Shop is situated at Chitwahi where people having the BPL cards get provisions at a heavily subsidized rate. According to the MIS data of the panchayat there are 70 job card holders (NREGA) in Kolam and 69 BPL card holders. The particulars of the provisions available in the control shop are as follows:
Table 8: Village Control Shop
The nearest markets available here are Gharghoda and Tamnar. Also the accessibility to these markets is good as people now own their own bikes and some even have cars. This was not possible at least 3 years ago. People have recently sold their land to the industry, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, and have got at least Rs 3.5 lakhs/acre. But now they are accessible to the entire village.
These facilities have helped the entire village as they don’t have to cover long distances for their daily needs.
- Village Livelihood
To assess the livelihood of the village, we have to look into the components of the livelihood like village agriculture, land distribution, crop preference, water resources, labour availability, livestock, forest produce and credit needs of the villagers.
- Village Agriculture:
Agriculture is the main livelihood activity of the rural people and same is true for my village too. Agriculture is the primary source of livelihood here. It is done primarily for their own consumption and some part for money. They don’t have large chunks of land to cultivate commercially. Agriculture is done mainly in the period of June – October i.e. the Monsoon season only. People are mostly engaged in single Kharif crop in their field per year except for those who have facilities like private wells, Nala or bore well.
- Land Distribution:
The total land available now in the village as per the books of the Panchayat is 296.587 acres of which:
Table 9: Land Distribution
Out of the total land of the village about 70% is owned by the Brahmins and the Patels i.e. about 208 acres are with the upper strata of the village and the rest 89 acres are with the rest of the village. This shows the uneven land distribution of the village and also a cause of poverty.
The village soil is Khundhra i.e. sandy soil. The quality of the soil is poor. One farmer called Mitru having 3 acres of dhondhia land told me that the production of paddy in this soil is not good and it is also decreasing year by year. The village has also one more type of soil called kanharo i.e. red clay soil. It is mainly found at tikras.
The village land is distributed into 4 types based on their agricultural usefulness and water holding capacity:
- Tikra (Plains/ No water)
- Khar (Dry Land)
- Dhondhia (Dry Land)
- Bahala (Down land/ Water abundant)
- Crop Preference:
The villagers mainly cultivate Kharif crops viz. Paddy, Urad, Moong, Tilhan and Arhar. And in Rabi crops, if water is sufficiently available then they cultivate Paddy, ground nut, sun flower and seasonal vegetables.
Table10: Crop Type
Rice is the staple food for the villagers and for this paddy is cultivated the most. The villagers sow many varieties of paddy but the most preferred variety of paddy here is Sona (Swarna), IR64 and 1001.
The villagers, except some, prefer broadcasting. It is called bunai in local terms. Transplantation is generally not used because of labour or money shortages. The common paddy diseases known to the villagers are Gangai, which happens due to water stagnation, Jhulsa, Mahu and Balmari.
- Water Resources:
The village has many water facilities. Some are natural while some are man-made. They are:
Table 11: Water Resources
To stop the rain water for agriculture, there is one check dam near Belkhonga, which is a dam – cum – bridge, built 5 years ago with the help of the panchayat. The villagers use it for drinking purpose throughout the year but during summer time, the water level drops. Even the wells’ water level goes down. The hand pumps installed in the villages are not fit for drinking as the water contains too much iron which is not good for health. Three ponds are used by the villagers for bathing purpose and one is used for bathing animals only. Though water for drinking is available, the quality is not that good as it contains too much soil. People don’t drink water by boiling it or by filtering it with a piece of cloth hence making them prone to water borne disease.
- Labour Availability:
The people in the village are eager to work but due to their lack of knowledge beyond farming, they end up doing work in their own or the fields of the Brahmins or the Patels as daily wage labourer earning Rs 45 – 50/day. Patels give their land on a lease basis to the villagers and in return they have to give a half of the production to the Patels. They are mostly available in the months between July to November. Women labourers get the same amount in terms of money as the male labourers but in kind they get 5 Tamis of paddy/day whereas males get 7 Tamis of paddy/day (1 Tami = 750 grams approximately).
Table 12: Labour
Some villagers also go to Jindal Steel and Power Ltd as daily wage labourers and earn Rs 100/day. One of the village boys is also a computer operator in the plant.
- Livestock:
Livestock is a very important asset to the villagers. They are used by the villagers as food but mainly used to sell for money to buy staples. Its wastes are used as manure or fuel. But generally here it is used as manure only as most villagers cook by wood only.
Most households own livestock here. It is also their important secondary source of income. The village has mostly cows, he – buffaloes, oxen, goats, sheeps and hens.
Table 13: Livestock
In Kolam there are 23 families who have cows. The villagers keep milk for their own consumption, and if left after that they sell it for Rs 15/ltr. About half the families in Kolam have either a pair of he – buffaloes or oxen. They are mostly used for ploughing the fields. One buffalo costs about Rs 10000 and one ox costs around Rs 7000. In the months of July – October, their prices touch to its peak. Sometimes they sell them for higher money.
Goats and sheeps are anytime money for the villagers. In the times of festivities and marriages their cost increases to Rs 1500 which is Rs 500 more than the usual price of Rs 1000. In Kolam almost all the households have hens. There is also one chicken farm in Bhagwati Nagar. Each house has 8 – 10 chickens on an average.
- Forest Produce:
The village is situated near the base of a mountain forest known as Silot Pahad Jungle in local terms. It is about 7 km away from the village. It is abundant in natural resources.
The villagers are largely dependent on this forest for fire wood. Villagers bring wood for their own consumption as well as to sell. A block of wood having the dimension 12ft X 3in X 5in would give Rs 200 locally but at Tamnar or Raigarh it gives around Rs 500. A bundle of wood here fetches around Rs 60 but at Tamnar it fetches them around Rs 150.
It also provides them with NTFP i.e. Non-Timber Forest Products. They are:
- Tendu leaves
- Mahua
- Chaar Seeds
- Dori
- Saal Seeds
Tendu Leaves: Tendu leaves are mostly available throughout the year but the desired quality leaves are available in the month of May. These leaves are purchased by the State Forest Department or a Government appointed contractor on their behalf. They sell 200 gaddis of leaves for Rs 100. Each gaddi has 50 leaves.
Mahua and Dori: Mahua trees are found mostly in forest and tikras. Villagers go to the forest to collect it in the months of March and April then sold after 6 months. In summer time it costs around Rs 10 – 15/kg but in the winter time its cost shoots up and sells for Rs 20 – 30/kg. 30% of the village population is directly engaged in Mahua collection. The total production of Mahua in the village is around 300 quintals. In the month of October – November, the demand for Mahua is very high. Mahua is used to make local liquor called Mand. Its seed, locally known as dori, is also collected in the month of May – June for oil. It is sold for about Rs 10 – 12/kg in the market.
Chaar Seeds: It is collected by the villagers in the forest to sell it to the traders to make oil. It costs about Rs 400 – 500/kg. Traders in Gharghoda, Saraidipa and Kudumkela demand it most. In Kudumkela, it costs around Rs 700/kg. Its seeds are collected in the summer time.
Saal Seeds: Villagers also go to the forest to collect Saal seeds and sell it to the State Forest Department for around Rs 8 – 10/kg. It is done mainly in the summer time. Due to less return very few people in the village are engaged in Saal seed collection.
- Credit Needs:
Micro finance caters to commercial needs of poor to raise their income level and improve their standard of living. It is not the lack of skills that makes poverty continuous but the lack of opportunity and lack of planned credit.
I observed significant differences in the borrowing behavior of members and other households who are not the members of any Self Help Group (SHG).I asked them how many times they were in urgent need of cash in a year prior to my stay at their village. I asked 10 families each from Kolam Basti and Bhagwati Nagar. About 60% from each para reported such need i.e. 6 families from Bhagwati Nagar and 5 families from Kolam Basti. While only 3 families from Bhagwati Nagar could find funds to meet these needs, 7 families from Kolam Basti reported to find funds for urgent needs.
It is found that the SHGs provide their members with credit to meet emergencies and that those households who did not have access to such credit had to go to private money lenders. Medical emergencies were by far the most important reason for urgent need for money. The next most important urgent need was for agricultural expenses like fertilisers, phosphate, urea etc. Also people resort to credit when they are facing food shortage at home.
The most striking difference between members and non – members of any SHG is the frequency of borrowings. Members borrow more frequently. It is also the case that monthly interest payments are much lower for members i.e. 2% per month. The non - members borrow mainly from traditional sources like relatives, money lenders, shop keepers, land or jewellery mortgage.
Table 14: Sources of credit in the village
Table 15: Purpose of Loan
- Rural Entrepreneurship Status and Scope
The village is small with 428 people who are mainly engaged in agriculture and wage labour. There are 6 SHGs formed by PRADAN. These SHGs are engaged in reeling of Tasar silk from the Tasar silkworm cocoon. Though these are positive signs of entrepreneurship, the village lacks motivation in pursuing this activity for their own profit. Still there are entrepreneurs who seem to have grabbed the opportunity at the very moment they saw one, such as:
- Grocery Shop
- Chicken Broiler
There are 4 shops and one chicken broiler in the village. The biggest shop is in Kolam Basti near the Gharghoda – Chitwahi Link and as such reaps the benefit of being near a busy route. The shop belongs to one Bhuru from Kolam Basti itself.
The chicken broiler belongs to Uttara Chouhan from Bhagwati Nagar. He is the only person in the whole village where one finds broiler chicken and as such he enjoys monopoly when there is any marriage or festivities when the demand for chicken is more.
Scope: There are a few families here who own diesel and electric pump sets. They can give them on rent and enjoy the benefits even when they are not using the set themselves. Also goat rearing here can be a profitable business opportunity here as almost all the families have goat here which fetches good price in the market during festivities.
- RURAL ACTION COMPONENT (RAC)
- Organisation Profile
PRADAN is a voluntary organisation registered under the Societies Registration Act of India.
Established in Delhi in 1983, PRADAN was pioneered by a group of young professionals, all of whom were inspired by the conviction that individuals with knowledge resources and empathy for the marginalised must work with communities at the grassroots in order to help them overcome poverty.
PRADAN believes that the path towards conquering economic poverty is through enhancing the livelihood capabilities of the poor and giving them access to sustainable income earning opportunities. In the process, the poor must be enabled to break free from their past, develop an alternative vision of their future and set achievable goals. They must be equipped with the technical, organisational, negotiating, and networking skills that will facilitate the fulfillment of their goals.
Today, some 268 lakhs highly motivated and skilled professionals under PRADAN’s fold are working in the remote villages of India, immersing themselves directly with target communities. These young professionals are recruited from universities and hold specialised degrees in subjects like management, engineering, agriculture, and the social sciences.
PRADAN professionals, divided into 30 teams, work with over 180,000 families in 3,429 villages across eight of the poorest states in the country. A majority of the families that PRADAN works with belong to the Schedule Tribes and Schedule Castes.
6.1.1. PRADAN follows a four-pronged approach to achieve its goals:
- Promoting and nurturing Self-Help Groups (SHGs) of poor women and strengthening them as organisations to leverage institutional finances for members’ livelihoods.
- Developing and introducing locally suitable economic activities to increase productivity and incomes among SHG members; building synergic collaboration with a wide variety of stakeholders.
- Mobilising finances for livelihood assets and infrastructure from government bodies, donors, banks, and other financial institutions.
- Setting up mechanisms to sustain the livelihood gains made by the poor communities.
- Challenged by the abysmal poverty of millions of people across India, PRADAN has resolved to reach out to 1.5 million poor people in the next 10 years as a part of its vision, PRADAN 2017.
6.1.2. Vision
PRADAN seeks to enable poor rural families to live a life of dignity.
6.1.3. Mission
Impacting Livelihoods to Enable Rural Communities
PRADAN’s mission is rooted in a clear understanding of the societal contexts that make poverty in India complex, a phenomenon which thrives in various interrelated factors including:
- The rural poor’s view of themselves;
- Their understanding and skills to deal with outside systems;
- Their access to resources;
- Their technical knowledge to use the resources that they have;
- The existence of feudal or semi-feudal agents which deprive the poor of their surpluses; and,
- Other causes that are rooted beyond the local context
Over the many years that it has worked with India’s rural poor, PRADAN has learned valuable lessons that serve as a guide to fulfilling the organisation’s mission. Among those learnings are the following:
- Alleviating rural poverty is an extremely challenging task. Development efforts must be conducted with the collaboration of different and equally interested actors in order to make an impact.
- Rural communities are fragmented along caste and class lines. These tend to restrict the effectiveness of joint action for development.
- Among the rural poor, women are generally marginalised, yet they prove to be more effective agents of social change. Sadly, however, such potential is not well-recognised.
- There are plenty of resources in the rural areas – including human resources – which remain largely untapped.
- There is need for innovation in the social and technical spheres for generating ideas that can affect the rural poor on a large scale.
- The government remains the biggest and most dominant actor in development, but its efforts have had a limited effect on alleviating rural poverty. This could be due to various factors, including:
- Lack of access of people to government;
- Government programmes that have little relevance to rural communities;
- Inappropriate design of some government programmes and schemes;
- Low quality of human resources at the implementation levels of government; and,
- Lack of recognition among government personnel that they have a stake in the poor’s development.
- The context in which PRADAN operates is changing fast.
With all this in perspective, PRADAN seeks to define the space in which it can be most effective, as well as the approaches that can best help the rural poor enrich their lives.
PRADAN’s core competency is in the area of sustainable livelihoods. By addressing issues of livelihood, PRADAN has been able to make an impact in the lives of poor communities. Having access to sustainable livelihood opportunities, the poor become less vulnerable to adverse natural and man-made forces. Control over their source of livelihood improves the poor’s image of themselves. Livelihood is a tangible instrument around which rural poor people can be organised, opportunities to deal with outside systems be created, and a greater impact on the fight against poverty be attained.
PRADAN looks for concrete livelihood interventions in the local context after a scientific evaluation of the specific environments. PRADAN constantly seek to extend intervention that is sharper and more relevant, aided by a thorough process of action, reflection, and learning. PRADAN strives to share its experiences with other development workers, recognising the unfortunate fact that knowledge about processes in addressing rural poverty is severely limited.
PRADAN carries out all of these programmes with the collective hard work of its highly skilled and dedicated workforce. The organisation recruits and deploys high-quality human resources at the grassroots, inducting, nurturing, and developing professional development workers who are able to operate in a wide spectrum, are capable to reverse roles, are self-regulating, and continually seek excellence in their tasks.
6.1.4. Outreach
PRADAN’s outreach is in 8 states i.e. it works in 8 states viz. Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal and Assam. The following gives the details of the place of interventions and the type of interventions by PRADAN:
-
Assam – Bongaigaon
-
WB – Bankura- Improved agriculture, watershed development,
horticulture
Purulia- Improved agriculture, irrigation and watershed
programmes
Banka- improved agriculture, irrigation, watershed,
vermicompost
-
Jharkhand - Godda and Dumka- Improved agriculture, Tasar cocoon,
horticulture, Tasar yarn, lac cultivation
Deoghar- Improved agriculture, Tasar cocoon, Tasar yarn
production, dairy
Koderma and Peterbar, Bokaro- Improved agriculture, Tasar yarn, poultry
Barhi, Hazaribagh- Improved agriculture, irrigation, dairy,
poultry, Tasar yarn, vermicompost
Khunti, Ranchi- Improved agriculture, irrigation,
vermicompost, horticulture, poultry, lac cultivation, fisheries
Lohardaga- Improved agriculture, irrigation, dairy, poultry,
vermicompost,mushroom, horticulture
Gumla- Improved agriculture, irrigation, horticulture, poultry,
goat rearing, lac cultivation
Chaibasa, West Singbhum- Improved agriculture, irrigation,
horticulture,Tasar cocoon, lac cultivation
Jamshedpur, East Singbhum- Improved agriculture,
irrigation, watershed, poultry
-
Orissa - Rayagada and Kalahandi
Karanjia, Mayurbhanj- Improved agriculture, irrigation,
watershed, vermicompost
Keonjhar- Improved agriculture, irrigation, watershed,
vermicompost, goat rearing, horticulture, fisheries
Balliguda, Kandhamal- Improved agriculture, goat rearing,
leaf plate
-
Chhattisgarh - Dhamtari- Improved agriculture, irrigation, watershed, dairy,
vermicompost, petty trading
Raigarh- Improved agriculture, poultry, tasar yarn
Sironj/Vidisha- Improved agriculture, irrigation, watershed,
dairy, goat rearing
Kesla, Hoshangabad- Improved agriculture, irrigation,
watershed, poultry, horticulture, mushroom, vermicompost,
mulberry sericulture, ericulture
Dindori- Improved agriculture, irrigation, watershed,
horticulture, mulberry sericulture, poultry
Sidhi- Improved agriculture, irrigation, watershed, poultry,
goat rearing, vermicompost
-
Rajasthan - Dholpur- Improved agriculture, irrigation, watershed, dairy,
goat rearing
6.1.5. Livelihood Promotion Programmes (Activities & Approaches)
PRADAN is the pioneer in the promotion of Self Help Groups (SHGs) in India. The first SHG promoted by PRADAN was formed in Alwar, Rajasthan in 1987. As of March 2009, PRADAN has worked with some 11,406 SHGs across eight states, representing a total membership of 150,349 rural poor women. These SHGs have mobilised a total savings of 459 million Rupees.
PRADAN works to revive a dying traditional livelihood by helping to enhance incomes of lac rearers. PRADAN’s intervention in Lac cultivation programmes has reached 2,659 families. PRADAN works collaboration with the Jharkhand Government and the Indian Lac Research Institute (ILRI) and provides technical trainings on modern rearing techniques.
PRADAN began its Siali leaf plate-making livelihood intervention in April 2002. It is a supplementary income for poor people living near forests in South and West Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh. PRADAN’s strategy is to help producers – mainly women – to increase incomes; organise them into SHGs to pave the way for access to credit; create storage facilities and upgrade products to close-stitched and machine-stitched plates. The returns are expected to be around Rs. 6,000 per year for every family.
Sericulture – or the production of silk – involves the rearing of silkworms to produce cocoons, and then processing those cocoons to make yarn and fabric. There is constant demand for tasar silk, estimated – both for domestic consumption and the international market – at 1,500 metric tonnes (MT) per annum of raw silk fibre. PRADAN works with Tasar rearers – about 6,106 families so far, almost all of whom are tribals – at various intervention levels. The rearers have been provided with trainings in improved rearing techniques developed by the Central Silk Board (CSB). Those techniques have reduced the risks and increased overall productivity.
- Natural Resource Management
Over half of PRADAN’s livelihood programmes are focused on agriculture, its improvement. Enhancing productivity and diversification are the core strategies of PRADAN’s agriculture programmes. Specific activities are increasing the productivity of the main cereal crops to improve food security, and diversification into cash crops such as pulses, oil seeds, and vegetables.
Horticulture is gradually emerging as a significant livelihood programme in the high-rainfall regions where PRADAN is engaged. PRADAN teams, fielded in the undulating and hilly terrains, are working to encourage farmers to take up vegetable cultivation on their small-scale homesteads and near dug wells. These activities provide the poor families with a dependable source of income. PRADAN has taken up fruit tree plantation programmes on private lands. Over 6,000 families are currently involved in PRADAN’s horticulture programme.
PRADAN takes the integrated approach to resource management and has demonstrated ways to promote the development of natural resources. PRADAN’s integrated approach to natural resource management (INRM) calls for the efficient management of soil, water and vegetation resources, yet maintaining a livelihood focus. INRM not only optimises the productivity of land and water resources, but also helps fight mass poverty.
PRADAN provides assistance for the induction of new animals, while giving attention as well to better housing and veterinary care, especially the provision of immunisation against diseases. PRADAN also assists participants in accessing funds from various sources such as centrally sponsored schemes, donor-aided programmes, and state governments. At present, the Dairy programmes reach out to nearly 2,269 families.
PRADAN is promoting goat-rearing programmes in Rajasthan and Orissa. The focus is on assisting women in optimising their livestock resources. It assists poor women in goat rearing as a potential livelihood supplement. The programme enables women to obtain credit to buy goats and provide improved shelter and veterinary support. PRADAN’s goat-rearing programmes currently reach out to some 1,047 families.
- Micro Enterprise Promotion
PRADAN’s intervention in Tasar yarn production equips rural poor women with skills and provides them with infrastructure, inputs, and marketing support for yarn production as an independent enterprise. This helps ensure for them a steady and sustainable income. In 2009, PRADAN’s Tasar yarn production activities impacted on 2,468 families.
PRADAN provides poor women – through the cooperatives – hands-on training and assistance in securing finances from either the banks or government programmes. These women rear a batch of 300 to 400 birds in rearing sheds built on their homesteads. In around 32 days the birds are ready for sale. At present, PRADAN works with 5,320 families organised into 15 cooperatives, the largest conglomeration of smallholder poultry in India.
6.1.6 Masuta PCL and PRADAN
PRADAN identified the potential to generate livelihood opportunities among the rural poor in Jharkhand through the production of Tasar silk yarn. To manage the reeling centers, clusters of women yarn producers from SHGs came together to register as a Mutual Benefit Trust (MBT), a primary yarn producers group at the village level. Groups of MBTs then formed Masuta Producers Company Ltd. (registered under Section 581C (5) of the Indian Companies Act) to procure raw materials (Tasar cocoons) and buy yarn from MBTs in bulk, which are then sold directly in the market or converted into fabric.
Fig 6. Evolution of Masuta PCL
During the transition, 86 producer groups from the savings and credit groups became shareholders of micro-enterprise units. Below is a timeline of this transition:
Table 16: Timeline of Masuta PCL
Upon the formation of the producers company, seed funding of 1 lakh was transferred from PRADAN to support Masuta’s working capital requirements and support the acquisition of revolving loans (generally 15x current savings can be obtained).
Currently, Masuta works with 2400 producers and has sales of over 10000 kgs of silk yarn totaling to about 2 crore in 2007-2008. Eco Tasar utilized about 5000 kgs and notched up a turnover of approx 2.64 crore from sale of value added items like fabric and off the loom made ups.
Fig 7. Masuta PCL Organisational Structure
- Objective of the Action
- To access the gravity of problems arising in the Self Help Groups promoted by PRADAN
- To identify the problems faced by groups engaged in Tasar yarn reeling
- Methodology
The methodology included in the study was both quantitative as well as qualitative. The primary data collection was done by questionnaire and informal meetings. Also one – to – one interview was used to collect the required information.
- RAC Period and Place
The RAC was carried on in the village Kolam in Tamnar block of Raigarh, Chhattisgarh. It took 30 days to complete the activity as it included meetings with individual SHG members and also meetings in SHG weekly meetings.
- The Process
The RAC was carried out in two phases:
- In the first phase I built a rapport with the SHG members by visiting the SHG meetings and observing their activities.
- On the first day of my visit to the field I attended an informal meeting where the SHG members engaged in Tasar yarn reeling discussed about their problems.
- According to the meetings and various other follow up I observed that though they wanted to do the reeling process no one was ready to take the initiative on their part.
- The problems faced by them were as follows:
- The threading machines provided to them were not working properly.
- There was lack of motivation.
- The Tasar silkworm cocoons were not of good quality i.e. the cocoons had holes which made them unfit for reeling the yarn.
- Many were thinking to sell their reeled threads to other threading companies.
- There was a misconception between the reelers and the NGO officials. When they were under training they were told that an A Grade silk yarn would earn them around Rs 1200 but when they got Rs 300 for their yarn their interest decreased and they again lost their motivation.
- In the second phase I went to individual SHG members, both Tasar yarn reelers and non – reelers, and interviewed them about their problems in reeling the yarn or working of their SHGs, which was not being done for almost 4 months now.
- Interviewed SHG members and found the followings:
-
The SHGs viz. Laxmi and Saraswati were active and also the reelers of the group were also active in the reeling process.
-
The SHG Santoshi were also active in their SHG but needed a small discussion for their part in the reeling process.
-
The SHGs viz. Gayatri and Jai Chandrahasini were inactive for the last 1 year and they were not showing enough interest in doing so too. The outcomes of the meeting were as follows:
- Meetings were not held for the last 1 year for both the SHGs.
- No trust amongst the members.
- They were not serious about the motive of the intervention.
-
The SHG Durga which was formed nearly 1 year ago was also not working as 4 of its 9 members are now not living in the village.
- Outcome and Impact
The RAC helped the organisation understand the problems faced by the SHG members. Here I alongside an executive from PRADAN discussed their problems and suggested measures to counter them. Some of them were as follows:
-
The SHG members of Laxmi and Saraswati were serious about their activities and the reeling and hence there is scope for them to increase their capacity of reeling and the NGO can provide them with better cocoons and inputs in the reeling process in an affordable cost.
-
The SHG Santoshi were also interested in reeling but there was a problem of lack of input i.e. washing soda which is needed in the preparation of the Tasar yarn. So we discussed with them about this problem and a local shopkeeper was asked to keep a stock of washing soda with him as there will be a great need of washing soda here.
-
The SHG Gayatri and Jai Chanrahasini had same set of problems.
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The members of SHG Gayatri said they wanted to have a meeting about the existence and working of their SHG but the Head of their SHG, Mrs Urmila Sidar was not ready to have one. One of the members said that she is not having the meetings because she has taken many loans from their bank i.e. Raigarh Kshetriya Gramin Bank, and has not returned the loan amount.
- Many members of SHGs have recently sold their land and as such had money at their expanse and hence showed lack of interest in the working of the SHG or the reeling yarn. Same is the case with both the SHGs here.
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The accountant of the SHG Gayatri, Mrs Rekha Mahant didn’t have the books of their group. When asked who has the books, she said a member; Mrs Padmabai Chouhan has the books. She said that the group’s savings box was with Mrs Urmila Sidar. When asked Mrs Padmabai said that she took the books to raise a loan from the Raigarh Kshetriya Gramin Bank. This showed how they were not serious about the norms of the SHG. I discussed this with the executive responsible for this cluster and asked him to take appropriate action.
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The SHG Durga had somewhat a very different set of problems. Within 6 months from its initiation the members of the group started showing lack of interest in the proceedings of the SHG. 4 of the 9 members of the SHG are now not living in the village and have relocated elsewhere. Of the remaining 5 members no one is interested to carry on the workings of the SHG as the books and the savings box of the SHG are taken by the members not present in the SHG and when they asked about them they said that it’s lost. Now the fate of the group is in the hands of the NGO. Till now it has not held any meeting.
- Key Success Factors
The key success factors achieved in my study are as follows:
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The problems faced by the SHGs cannot be understood unless one stays with them for a while. The executives of PRADAN cannot have that much time and hence my inputs on these problems gave them insights about the gravity of the problems faced by them.
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The Tasar yarn reeling machines were not working properly and needed repairing. The meetings paid off when PRADAN sent one mechanic to repair the machines and within 4 days the reeling of the yarn started.
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The SHG Durga now wants to reform their group but due to shortage of members cannot do so. Also when asked whether they would like to learn the reeling, they said they’d like to but they don’t have the machines and also don’t have the skill to do so. So I discussed this with my field officer and he affirmed that he’d look forward to it.
- Lesson Learnt
The major challenge before me was to interact with the SHG members. But during my stay in the village I learnt that what we conceive of others is not always the right impression.
- People here are as sophisticated and as intelligent as a person in any city.
- They’ve their own technology and means to do their jobs.
- I learnt how to conduct a meeting with the target population.
- How to motivate and mobilize the people for a common cause.
- Looking at things from their prospective i.e. what is important for us may not be important for them. Therefore we should not harp upon what we want to do rather what they want to be done.
- The need of understanding the effect of culture and tradition while undergoing certain change.
- My Experience as a Grass root Level Change Agent
To me rural development is a grassroots approach where rural people work together and plan ahead to make balanced decisions to enhance their social and economic conditions of their community. The goal of rural development is to achieve long term viability of a community. My experience as a grass root level change agent was enriching as well as educating. Though I’ve been brought up in urban region I’ve always felt this pull from my village. People here are more hard working and honest. When there is a need to intervene in the livelihoods of these people, they readily accept them, but not before probing the pros and cons of the intervention.
My urban upbringing didn’t bother them from interacting with me. I was apprehensive about the response they’d give to me but when they started to interact with me my inhibitions gave way to a very beautiful bonding with the villagers. This village study segment not only made me more confident but also made me aware of the fact that people are more sociable in a village than in a city. I’ll go from the village with more than I came with.
