On the Road!

 A great deal of progress has been made in these villages in preventing or discouraging early, adolescent marriages. But, I would still keep hearing about this girl, or that, who had got married when she was 15,16, 0r 17. This remained a niggling question in my mind until that Eureka moment, while I was with the Deepshikha group – a group of 30 girls in Jagalpur sub-center.
This is an organized group that meets together for one hour each on Saturdays and Sundays to discuss health and social issues that affect their lives. The group meetings are facilitated by Anita, who underwent a 10-day training run by Unicef.
As an observer and participant in this particular meeting, I heard that this group has been in existence for several months now, but it has had its share of ‘floating’ population, as some girls have left to get married, while new entrants have come in after getting married into this village. It was evident that many of these girls had got married well before they had turned 18, and I couldn’t get clear reasons even though I probed.
Then the discussion turned to education, and I popped the question as to why girls were dropping out of school after Class 10, and not continuing to study further. That’s when it emerged that girls drop out of school because the senior secondary school is now in the next village which is 4 km away. Parents naturally dislike the idea of their daughters walking all the way, or hitching a ride. As a result, the girls stay at home, and as a natural corollary, are persuaded to get married.
The immediate answer was cycles ! If the girls had cycles, would they be able to continue schooling? When I offered this suggestion, there was an immediate, excited outburst of chattering. So, I went a bit further, and offered two cycles if they could guarantee that four girls would indeed attend Class 11-12. I certainly didn’t expect the group to burst out applauding, but they did, and it told me that this could well be the answer to empower these young girls, with mobility and freedom.
It was clear to me that a large scale project, to make cycles available, would have to be an essential ingredient in any rural initiative that Growth-for-All would roll out in the coming months.
( An interesting aside: none of the 30 girls has ever learnt or used a computer)

On September 19th, we walked into the CM, Sheila Dikshit’s residence( thanks to a meeting fixed by my friend, Kanika Mathur, and her mother, Mrs Rajni Mathur) to describe the Growth-for-All model, and seek her advice for using this in Delhi. We hardly thought things would move so fast. But, the CMO quickly arranged for us to meet various stake-holders and before we knew it, we were in Savda Ghevra.

( As an aside, I must add that all our interactions with the CMO have been so dynamic that it goes contrary to popular perceptions that governments move slowly. Just about everyone-Principal Secretary to CM, Mr P.K Tripathi; Addnl Secretary to CM, Mrs Alka Diwan; Jt Secretary, Mr Kulanand Joshi; SuperintendentBhagidari, Mr Manoj Jain-has completely welcoming and responsive)

Its been an hectic, but energizing period for the team at Growth-for-All. We’ve spent the past few months creating the building blocks that will give shape to our ‘movement’ that helps achieve inclusive’ growth & faster socio-economic development through an integrated, scaleable model.

Thanks to the CM’s Office, we’ve had the opportunity to launch our first pilot project at Savda Ghevra, the large re-settlement colony in North-West Delhi. Several week-ends and holidays were spent at Savda Ghevra, and it soon became apparent that this would be truly a test-case for the Growth-for-All model, which believes that each poor neighborhood or local community needs to have multiple ‘inputs’ dove-tailed simultaneously: livelihood, health, education, women’s empowerment, and whatever else is required.

With most Savda Ghevra families desperately looking for livelihood, this became the first focus for Growth-for-All. We quickly introduced Dr Reddy’s Foundation (DRF)to the community, and their livelihood program for the first batch of youth got underway. Three months from now, 100-150 youngsters will find jobs in hospitality, retail, sales, customer service, and auto repair. Repeat batches will then begin. A big ‘thank you’ to the dedicated, committed team at DRF-Amit Sharma, Sunil Sharma, and Gaurav- who’ve spent countless hours and road-miles with us, giving shape to this.

Meanwhile, I was joined by two exciting people as full-time members of the team- Shakti Callikan, and Mathew Mathai. My 3-month-long search for the ideal team-mates had ended, with Shakti and Mathew coming on-board, in February.

Our collective energies are now deployed in exploring a range of micro-enterprise options for the residents of Savda Ghevra, especially women. These include – carpet weaving, food products, assembly of kitchen appliances, running sales kiosks, offering community services, BPO services, and lots more.While livelihood programs get underway, detailed blueprints have been drawn up for upping the ante on health services - additional doctor(s) and clinic(s), specialized health camps and consultation, an ambulance service. In education, innovative education formats for school drop-outs, and adult illiterates are being explored.
While basic, and tangible areas like livelihood, health and education are vital priority, the socio-cultural environment cannot be ignored. Hence, Music & Sports - as a means of recreation & enjoyments, as well as away of building self-confidence and camaraderie. My friend, Hemu Javeri, flew down from Mumbai one week-end, to commit his support for a Music academy where 100 or more young girls will be provided formal training in music. The really-talented ones will be given special, individual coaching, as well as scholarships.

Watch out for more updates from Savda Ghevra as these programs get rolled out. And also, from Alwar district where our second- rural- project gets underway soon.
 

It was the day after Gandhi Jayanti that I got on to a train to Deoghar, in Jharkhand. My friends at Pradan (Delhi-headquartered NGO, active in seven states) had been nice enough to help me plan this trip.
Deoghar district, like neighboring Godda & Dumka, figures in the ‘Most Backward 100 districts’ list, published by India Today few years ago.
So, it was a fascinating coincidence that, as the CII-sponsored ‘India @ 60′ celebrations got underway in New York – the epicenter of the globalized economy- here we were, in Jharkhand, about to witness an experiment in home-grown Gandhian model of economic development.
Without sounding hopelessly romantic or impractical, I must say I came away reasonably convinced that Pradan’s Gandhian-style economic model, juxtaposed with the western-style market economy, can actually be a recipe for inclusive growth. I got a glimpse of how Pradan has organized 100,000 families into 5300 Self-Help Groups (SHGs), to enhance their livelihood options, and escape poverty.
Although most families in Jharkhand own 1-2 acres of land, but they are constrained by the uneven terrain, quality of land, and lack of irrigation. In such a situation, Pradan identifies and develops enterprises suitable for local needs, provides resource persons, and creates linkages with government and financing agencies. So you have Tasar plantations, poultry, dairy, horticulture, and vegetable farming becoming available as options. Also, through better ‘watershed development’, farmers can improve the yield from their land holdings.

In Titariya village (Banka district, Bihar), Pradan’s Pranjal Saikia (a veterinary scientist from Assam) introduced us to the Village Watershed Committee (VWC). He has been working with the VWC to bring in a set of revolutionary innovations that are transforming waste land. Whether upland, mid-land, or low-lands, these districts have a lot of land rendered waste due to their inability to retain water for cultivation. In such a situation, innovations like ‘5% Method’, ’30 ft by 40 ft’, ‘Staggered trench’, and ‘Drip Dams’ now enable farmers to prevent soil erosion and retain water. The outcomes are unbelievable – a 2nd paddy crop; mango, lemon and papaya cultivation.

This is an interesting sidelight of my trip to Jharkand and Bihar. On the last day of the trip, we drove from Jharkhand’s Deogarh district (where I was staying) to Banka district in Bihar. As we started the journey, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the narrow, straight road was in very good shape. Conditioned by my recent experience with rural roads in Western Orissa, I had anticipated a rough, bumpy ride, but this was different.
The first hour was wonderfully smooth…..until we reached Bihar!

The same straight road suddenly turned unbelievably pot-holed, and I could not but resist capturing this contrast, for posterity.
Apart from the superior condition of roads, I also saw and heard other evidence in Jharkhand that the government machinery does deliver results. One such example was the Dairy initiative being run by the Tribal Welfare Council which grants a shed and two cows to tribal families, thereby enabling them to earn an additional income of over Rs 1000/- p.m.
Notwithstanding political jugglery and the usual kinds of administrative corruption, Jharkhand seems to be delivering better governance than its elder sibling, Bihar.
Couple of years ago, my friend Shankkar Aiyar (Managing Editor, India Today) did a path-breaking feature on India’s 100 most-backward districts, and asked whether smaller states were the answer. He wrote, “In recent times, politicians such as Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and former finance minister P. Chidambaram have argued passionately to reorganize states in smaller sizes so that those left behind in the maze of development can be helped……. But will creation of smaller states help? On paper it seems so, since smaller states have done better. But the acid test would be a study of Chhattisgarh, Uttaranchal and Jharkhand. The jury is still out on that”.
In my view, the verdict seems clear. Jharkhand has made progress beyond what Bihar offered. Unless Nitish Kumar does a brilliant job, and Madhu Koda messes things up, it is likely that the junior sibling will keep moving ahead.

Sensible governance & politics! 

A very interesting  advertisement caught my eye last Sunday. A large ½-page ad in Hindustan Times announced the ‘Community Participation Fund’ that the government was offering to urban neighbourhoods across the country.

Simply put, residents of a neighbourhood can get together and ask for an amount upto Rs 10 lakhs, to address a local problem – maintenance of local drains, solid waste management, slum improvement, or whatever the people believe is important.

As a concept, this offer represents a milestone. For long, we have been used to complaining that the government and its officials are unresponsive, don’t address real issues, and money gets wasted. Here, now, is a ‘scheme’ that hands the funds over to citizens.

But, as with many other well-meaning programs( e.g. Rural Employment Guarantee), the real problem, once again, will be with the implementation. Simply reading the fine-print in the ad, and trying to navigate through the JNNURM website, here’s what I anticipate:
• Problem 1: Residents have to prepare a relevant project proposal with signed approval of 51% of voters in the local polling station(s)
 (What’s the structure of the proposal that will satisfy the sanctioning authority? In the absence of a ‘template’ it’s a sure-shot case of being made to run around in circles. How does one determine which voters need to be polled, and how does this polling take place?)
• Problem 2: Proposal to be approved by local municipality, and the Ministry of Urban Development.
 ( Will there be transparent criteria? A time-limit for approvals?)
• Problem 3: The community has to deposit 10% of project cost as its contribution first, and then the government releases balance money to the implementor.
 ( This, to me, is the toughest. Which brave soul will undertake to run the collection drive, and be held accountable for it? I am not sure our neighbourhoods have strong, structured bodies which can wield the stick and do this)

A simplified, transparent implementation process needs to be detailed out. Without that, any well-intentioned community is likely to get frustrated quickly and give up. That would be a tragedy, because this scheme is brilliant in terms of what it sets out to do.

Governance and Politics! 

It was one of the most amusing interactions I’ve witnessed. But for the fact that the underlying issue is such a critical one, it was almost funny.

The occasion was the annual ‘State Of The States Conclave’ organized by India Today, last Friday. While the event recognizes and honours states that have done well on various socio-economic parameters, it is also a good time for state and central leaders to debate on current issues. This time, the focus was on ‘Inclusive Growth’.

Hearing Chidambaram and the CMs speak on this topic, one could easily conclude that they were from different planets. Their views seemed to be set apart both in time and space.

Want a sampler? Read on… (Note that these are not verbatim quotes, but instead reflect the gist of the statements made)

Poverty & trickle-down effect

• Chidambaram: “if we continue to grow at 9%, as we’ve been doing, for another 20 years, we can get rid of abject poverty”
• Prakash Singh Badal, Bhupinder Hooda, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, and Tarun Gogoi: “Not happening. Economic growth is not impacting the poor, especially in villages. Disparities are widening”

Money for development

• Chidambaram: “thanks to high growth, funds are not a problem. States have almost Rs 53,000 crores available for them to utilize”
• All CMs( with sole exception of Virbhadra Singh): “where’s the money? Not in my state! We are neck-deep in debt”

Poverty alleviation programs

• Chidambaram: “there is no shortage of poverty alleviation programs. The weak link is in the implementation, which is in the hands of the states”
• Badal: “next year, we should have this discussion under a tree, in a village, so that all of us understand the real issues faced by rural folks. There is no point creating these programs in air-conditioned rooms in Delhi”

Focus on farmers and agriculture

• Chidambaram: “we have focused strongly on agriculture as well. The UPA government has raised procurement prices like never before”
• CMs: “Farmers are burdened like never before. Procurement prices are low, inputs prices are high, and credit is limited. They are under severe pressure”

Some of the CMs’ rhetoric may have been mere posturing in order to get the FM to loosen his purse-strings. But discounting for that, it was still evident that the FM’s planet presents a rosy picture, and is almost flowing with milk and honey. On the other hand, the CMs belong to a plane where the denizens are still impoverished, and pessimistic about the future.

Which is the real India?

Sensible government & politics !

After BSP’s stunning success in forging an unbeatable Dalit-upper caste alliance in UP, the real question was whether Mayawati could sustain the momentum via sensible governance & politics.
Last week’s UP announcement of 30% reservation in private sector – not by dictat, but with dangled carrots – offers real evidence that she possibly can. The issue of private-sector reservations.. which has inflamed passions & generated heated debates, has for the first time, seen a pragmatic solution being offered.
Indian Express, in its lead story last week, described this as a “unique give & take formula”.