Role of Panchayats in Rural Livelihood Promotion

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Role of Panchayats in Rural Livelihood Promotion

• Waseem Akhtar
• Secretary Panchayat and Rural Development, GoMP

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Panchayat in MPs

• Focus of State has been to
• Strengthen Panchayats as vibrant institutions of
  local self governance
• Develop Panchayat as Principal Authority for
  planning and implementation of schemes
• To enable Panchayats to fulfill their
  constitutional obligations

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NREGS-MP

• Productive absorption of under employed and
  surplus labour
• Enhance income of the poor in short term
• Create durable assets
• Generate much needed productive infrastructure
• Provide safety nets to the rural poor

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NREGS-MP

• A rural household can demand at least 100 days of
  guaranteed employment in a financial year
• Household has to get registered with the Gram
  Panchayat. All names of adult members can be
  registered
• Gram Panchayat will issue a job card. Job Card is
  for the Household
• Within household entitlement of 100 days every
  registered household member will apply for work.

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NREGS-MP

• Work to be given within 15 days of the date when
  demanded for as many days as demanded (at one
  stretch not less than 14 days)
• Gram Panchayat will allot employment and keep
  record of it.
• Local Employment within a radius of 5 kilometers
  of local residence. If not, extra-wages at the
  rate of 10 of the wage would be provided towards
  additional transport and living expenses.

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Entitlements Humane Equitable conditions of Work

• Worksite facilities as drinking water, emergency
  health care, Creche (where 5 children come)
  timely payment of wages Within a week, not later
  than a fortnight
• Ex Gratia payment of Rs. 25,000 in cases of death
  or disability
• Timely payment of wages Within a week, not later
  than a fortnight
• At least 1/3rd beneficiaries - women

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Entitlements - Wage Rate

• Statutory minimum wage rates for agricultural
  workers fixed by the respective State Governments
  would be applicable
• The Central Government enabled to fix the wage
  rate, from time to time, for the purposes of
  this Act notwithstanding anything contained in
  the Minimum Wages Act.
• Present wage rate in State is Rs. 67 per man day
• The Central Government may notify different rates
  for different areas

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Role Responsibilities

• Village Level
• Gram Sabha
• Recommendation of works to be taken up
• Monitor execution of works by Gram Panchayat
• Social Audit

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Gram Panchayat Level

• Register the household,
• Issue Job Card
• Register Demand of Work
• Allotment of employment opportunities within 15
  days
• To execute at least fifty percent of the works in
  terms of cost in its area

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Block District Level

• Intermediate Panchayat
• Approve plan of works
• Monitor and Supervise gram panchayat woks
• District Panchayat
• Approve and finalize Block wise shelf of Projects
• Monitor Supervise

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Selection of Works

• Type of Work
• Water conservation and water harvesting
• - Drought proofing (including afforestation and
  tree plantation)
• - Irrigation canals including micro and minor
  irrigation works
• Renovation of traditional water bodies, including
  desilting of tanks.
• Provision of irrigation facility, horticulture,
  plantation and land development facilities for
  land holders of SC, ST, BPL, IAY beneficiaries,
  beneficiaries of Land reform
• Flood control and protection works, including
  drainage in water logged areas.

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Selection of Works

• Rural connectivity to provide all-weather access.
• Any other work which may be notified by the
  Central Government in consultation with the state
  Governments
• New works under the Scheme would be commenced
  only if (a) at least 10 labourers become
  available for that work, and (b) the workers
  cannot be absorbed in any ongoing work. Exception
  for works in hilly areas and afforestation works
• Material component of the works including the
  wages of skilled and semi-skilled labourers not
  to exceed 40 of the total cost
• Ban on Contractors and Discouraging use of Labour
  Displacing Machines

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Beneficiary Oriented Schemes

• Generated in Para (iv) of schedule 1 of NREGA
• Irrigation Facility Kapil Dhara Scheme
• Horticulture plantation Nandan Falodyan
• Land Development Bhumishilp

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Beneficiary Oriented Schemes

• Convergence
• Vanya sub scheme
• Sericulture

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Panchayats in NREGS

• Financial Management
• Regular flow of funds to GP, JP and ZP
• Regular flow and management of information to PRIs

• Support in Technical Management
• Ensure availability of engineers
• 1 sub-engineers on a cluster of 10 GPs
• 1 assistant engineer at JP level
• 7 trained technical assistants at GP level
  (Mates)
• they are trained by RD and certified by CIDC

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Panchayats in NREGS

• Support for Administrative Management
• GP secretary as nodal officer
• GP has powers of Administrative Sanction up to
  Rs. 5 lakhs
• System of exit protocol
• record of works from beginning to completion
• handover this to users group

• Support in Executive Management
• 3 to 4 trainings for GP representatives
• Decentralisation of IEC at the level of JP
• Powers of Social Audit
• to the Gram Sabha
• Constitution of Vigilance committee at GS level
• random social audit

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Learnings Involvement of Panchayats in
Implementation

• Less complaints about violation of rules and
  guidelines
• 15245 Gram Panchayats have completed 118361 works
  
• More employment for SC and ST community
• 51 percent of total employment to ST
• 18 percent of total employment to SC
• More employment to Women 44 percent of the
  total work generated

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Comments on Phase one Implementation

• Sarpanch and Secretary centric implementation
• Low awareness among people about the procedure
• Planning of work not through Gram Sabha
• Inadequate administrative and technical staff
• DPCs and PO not accountable to Panchayats
• Insufficient sub projects
• Lack of transparency and accountability
• Wage payments delayed and less than minimum wages
  paid
• Works implemented under the scheme useful but not
  in consonance with their priorities
• Panchayats are more interested in implementation
  but limited role in identification and planning

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Social Audit

• Nomination of outsource agency
• Selection of GP on random basis
• 7 GP per block month in each districts
• Role of outsource agency
• helping hand to the stakeholders of social audit
• Imparting training to members of VMC
• Community mobilizations
• Providing guidance to GP for record maintenance

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Impact of NREGS

• Increase in ground water level
• Increase in net irrigated area
• Control over distress migration
• Decrease in irregular felling of forest
• 83 percent of total works were given to Gram
  Panchayats
• Panchayats have been able to complete 87 percent
  of the total works allotted

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One Bank one Scheme

• SBI Indore Nodal Banker
• Vigilance and supervision of transaction through
  bank
• Supervision on three parameters
• If expenditure of GP is more than 3 lakhs per
  month
• If there is no expenditure in a month
• If balance amount in the GP account is less than
  1 lakh than to top-up by Rs. 3 lakhs

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Progress

• Total allocation 3500 Crore
• Expenditure 2865 Crore
• Job card Holders 72 lakhs
• Household received employment 32 lakhs
• Creation of durable assets 2.10 lakhs
• Works completed 1.20 lakhs
• Works in progress 0.90 lakhs

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Madhya Pradesh Rural Livelihoods Project
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Madhya Pradesh rural Livelihood Project

• Funded by DFID
• First phase has just completed in 822 villages
• Second phase started on 01.07.07 - aims to cover
  3000 additional villages
• Aims to enhance and generate sustainable
  livelihoods in selected tribal villages
• Gram Sabha has the central role in its
  implementation
• Gram Sabha is responsible for preparing plan for
  sustainable livelihood development

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Madhya Pradesh rural Livelihood Project

• Project funds are transferred directly in the
  account of Gram Sabha
• Gram Sabha is empowered to take decision on
  nature of financial support subject to
  livelihoods
• to groups as well individuals
• loan or grant or a combination of both
• rate of interest and repayment schedule
• share of contribution in case of grant

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Learnings of MPRLP

• Investment needed in building capacity
• The institutional set-up is allowing poor and
  marginalised to participate effectively
• Community able to articulate and assert their
  voices
• Empowered members have better access to
  entitlements
• Transparent and cost effective as an institution
• Natural platform for integrated developmental
  planning
• Gram Sabha more effective in smaller villages.
  PESA provision of more than one Gram Sabha can be
  used in larger villages.

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Development of New Policy Framework in MP

• Based on the learnings from special projects -
  MPDPIP and MPRLP - integrated rural livelihoods
  programme by GoMP from October 4, 2007
• Uniform structure in the state for implementation
  of all RD activities in a convergent manner
  through creation of State Livelihood Forum
• Forum also to implement policy for promotion of
  Self Help Groups/ Activity based Federation
• Employment oriented Training Policy in place
• Creation of Labor Net for Pre and Post Placement
  Services

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Thank You