In the Indian context, rural development is significant as majority of the people in the country lives in rural areas. As per the 2011 Census, the rural population in India was 68.86 per cent (833.75 million). The corresponding proportion in Kerala was 52.30 per cent (17.47 million).
A number of schemes are being implemented in rural areas for poverty reduction, employment generation, rural infrastructure development, waste management, sanitation, provision of basic minimum services and capacity buildings. All these programmes are directly or indirectly related to the overall development of the rural areas in the State. A brief review about the major schemes of the Rural Development Sector is given below.
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme
(MGNREGP)
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA) notified on September 7, 2005, mandates that at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment be provided in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work resulting in the creation of productive assets of prescribed quality and durability. Further, the Act aims to strengthen the livelihood resource base of the poor, proactively ensures social inclusion and strengthens Panchayat Raj institutions. From 1st April 2017 onwards, the wage rate under this programme in Kerala is 258 per day. From 2017-18, there have been areas of convergence between MGNREGP and the "Haritha Keralam Mission."
The expenditure under MGNREGP in 2016-17 was 2,426.33 crore which is 96.5 per cent of the total release in the year. A total of 6.85 crore man days were generated, of which 1.16 crore were for Scheduled Castes and 0.28 crore were Scheduled Tribes. In 2017-18 (till August 31, 2017) 393.48 crore was expended and 0.99 crore man days was created. The financial and physical progress of MGNREGP in 2016-17 and 2017-18 (till August 31, 2017) are given in Appendix 6.2.1, Appendix 6.2.2, Appendix 6.2.3 and Appendix 6.2.4.
Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana Gramin – PMAY (G)
Safe and secure shelter is one of the basic needs for human being. Therefore, construction of houses was included as one of the major activities under the Rural Development Sector.
Beneficiary selection for PMAY-G will be from Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC - 2011) data. The minimum unit (house) size is 25 sq. mt. including a dedicated area for hygienic cooking. Unit assistance is 1.20 lakh in plain areas and 1.30 lakh in hilly/difficult areas from 2016-17 onwards. The unit cost is to be shared between central and State governments in the ratio 60:40. The beneficiary if he/she so chooses, would be facilitated to get institutional finance up to 70,000. Construction of toilet has been made an integral part of the PMAY-G house, for this fund is being provided from the scheme "Swachh Bharat Mission (G)" or "MGNREGS" or any other dedicated financing source.
In order to unify the rates for the construction of houses at Local Governments level, the additional amount over and above the unit cost fixed by the Government of India has to be met by Grama-Block-District Panchayats in the ratio of 25:40:35.
In 2016-17, an amount of 184.70 crore was expended and construction of 46,166 new houses were completed. In 2017-18 (up to August 31, 2017), an amount of 64.04 crore was expended and the construction of 6,377 new houses under the scheme PMAY–G have been completed. From 2017-18 onwards, the activities of PMAY–G in Kerala is taken as a part of "LIFE Mission." Financial and physical achievements of the programme in 2016-17 and 2017-18 (up to August 31, 2017) are shown in Appendix 6.2.5 and Appendix 6.2.6 respectively.
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)
PMGSY was launched on December 25, 2000 as a 100 per cent Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) with a view to establish rural connectivity and connect unconnected habitations. The objective of the scheme is to provide good all-weather access to eligible unconnected habitations. From 2015-16 onwards, the sharing pattern has been changed to 60:40 between Central and State government. At the State level, Kerala State Rural Roads Development Agency (KSRRDA) is the nodal agency for implementing the scheme.
Since Government of India funds can be utilised only for the actual estimated cost of construction of roads under the scheme, State support for PMGSY for meeting tender excess, shifting of utilities and maintenance provision for assets already created was included in the State Budget from the financial year 2010-11 onwards.
Under "PMGSY (CSS)" 218.50 crore and under "State support for PMGSY" 90.15 crore was expended in 2016-17. In 2017-18 (up to 31st August 2017) an amount of 84.42 crore was expended under PMGSY (CSS). In 2016-17 and 2017-18 (up to August 31, 2017) the total length of roads completed was 5,753.59 km under the scheme.
Pradhan Manthri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) - Watershed Component
From July 1, 2015 onwards, Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) has been renamed as Pradhan Manthri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) - Watershed Component. The sharing pattern between Central and State Government is in 60:40 ratio.
Effective management of runoff water and improved soil and moisture conservation activities such as ridge area treatment, drainage line treatment, rain water harvesting, in-situ moisture conservation and other allied activities on watershed basis is included in the programme. Converging with MGNREGS for creation of water source to full potential in identified backward rainfed blocks including renovation of traditional water bodies are also included.
From 2016-17 to 2017-18 (up to August 31,2017) an amount of 581.97 crore has been expended and 616 micro watersheds have been constructed under the scheme. From 2017-18 onwards, PMKSY - Watershed Component activities of the State is included as a part of ‘Haritha Keralam Mission’.
Suchitwa Mission
Suchitwa Mission is functioning as the nodal agency for assisting Municipal Corporations, Municipalities and Grama Panchayats in all waste management aspects including sanitation, solid and liquid waste management.
Innovative initiatives
Green Protocol- Green Protocol which helps to reduce waste generation, was successfully introduced in National Games 2015 and is now being followed in different events and functions, both government and private. In 2016-17, Green Protocol was observed in major events held in the State viz: - School arts festival, Attukkal Pongala, Honourable Chief Minister’s mass contact programme etc.
Suchitwa Mission is the implementing agency for the schemes Suchitwa Keralam and Swachh Bharath Mission (Gramin) in rural areas.
1. Suchitwa Keralam
Suchitwa Mission is the implementing agency of the comprehensive action Plan, Malinya Mukta Keralam (MMK). This has been prepared for tackling the issues and challenges in the seven components of sanitation which are accepted universally i.e., safe disposal of human excreta, home sanitation and food hygiene, personal hygiene, solid waste management, liquid waste management, safe handling of drinking water and community environmental sanitation. The scheme comes under the broad umbrella of "Haritha Keralam Mission" from 2017-18 onwards.
In 2016-17, a sum of 26.00 crore was earmarked but the release was only 15.00 crore and the expenditure was 11.21 crore. In 2017-18, an amount 51.67 crore was earmarked and 3.71 crore was expended (up to September 30, 2017).
2. Swachh Bharath Mission (Gramin)
To accelerate the efforts to achieve universal sanitation coverage and to put focus on sanitation, the Government of India launched the Swachh Bharat Mission on October 2, 2014. The Mission aims to achieve a Swachh Bharat by 2019, as a fitting tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary. In Rural India, this would mean improving the levels of cleanliness through Solid and Liquid Waste Management activities and making villages Open Defecation Free (ODF), clean and sanitised. From 2015-16 onwards, the sharing pattern between Central and State Government is 60:40.
For this scheme, 100.00 crore and 102.50 crore (including Central and State share) were earmarked and 154.27 crore and 153.32 crore were expended in 2016-17 and 2017-18 (up to September 30, 2017) respectively.
The District-wise Open Defecation Free (ODF) Status of Rural Kerala is given in Appendix 6.2.7.
Rastriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA)
Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA - erstwhile Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Sashaktikaran Abhiyan-RGPSA) was introduced to help Panchayati Raj Institutions develop governance capabilities to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals. The restructured scheme aims at addressing the challenges put forth before Panchayati Raj Institutions in the new scenario by way of following:
The State Government declared rural Kerala as ODF on November 1, 2016. The State of Kerala became the third State overall and the largest State so far to be declared ODF under the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) (Gramin). 174,720 toilets have been constructed in rural Kerala including critical areas like remote Tribal hamlets and water-logged areas under the ODF programme. Unit cost of individual house latrine is 15,400 of which 12,000 was released from SBM (Gramin) in rural areas and the balance amount is met by the Local Governments.
In 2016-17 and 2017-18 (up to September 30, 2017) an amount of 10.82 crore and 5.48 crore respectively (including Central share, State share and opening balance) was the expenditure under the scheme. Assistance was provided for construction of 22 new Grama Panchayat buildings. 33 Virtual Class rooms have been established and 14 Virtual Class rooms are in progress. Also 25,000 trainee days through Capacity Building Programmes have been created.
Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA)
Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) is an autonomous institution engaged in the capacity building activities for local governments (both rural and urban) in the State. Since its establishment in 1990, KILA has been engaged in capacity building interventions on local governance and decentralisation; including training, action-research, publications, seminars and workshops, consultancy, documentation, hand-holding and information services.
The training institutions viz; State Institute of Rural Development (SIRD) (renamed as Centre for Human Resource Development), Attappady Hills Area Development Society - Centre for Comprehensive Participatory Resource Management (AHADS - CCPRM) and the three Extension Training Centres have been integrated with KILA.
In 2016-17, an amount of 22.00 crore and 2.00 crore was earmarked for KILA and Centre for Human Resource Development (erstwhile SIRD – including Central and State share) and the expenditure was 5.65 crore and 2.51 crore respectively. In 2016-17, 76 Training Programmes in 1,383 batches were conducted by KILA with a total number of 79,160 participants utilising 98,088 person days. Out of this, 12 training programmes are exclusively for national and international training, workshops and conference. Details of various training programmes conducted by KILA in 2016-17 and 2017-18 (up to August 31, 2017) are given in Appendix 6.2.8 and Appendix 6.2.9 respectively.
Kudumbashree
Kudumbashree, the State Poverty Eradication Mission, was formulated with the objective of poverty eradication through the empowerment of women. It is an innovative, women based, participatory poverty alleviation programme launched by Government of Kerala in 1998 for the eradication of absolute poverty within a period of 10 years. The Mission focuses all its activities at three angles - the social, economic and overall gender empowerment of women. The Mission follows a process approach rather than a programme approach to meet its objective of poverty eradication. Unlike the traditional approaches, the Mission perceives poverty in a different perspective defining it ‘as any deprivation’. The Mission strives to provide employment and address root causes of poverty thereby helping in social, economic and gender empowerment. Today 43.07 lakh women participate in the Kudumbashree movement in the State cutting across political ideologies and religious faiths. In 2016-17, an amount of 130.00 crore was earmarked to Kudumbashree for the State scheme and the expenditure was 124.25 crore.
Kudumbashree is also a nodal agency for implementing various Centrally Sponsored Programmes in the State. The programmes like National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDUGKY), Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP) and Mahila Kissan Sasakthikaran Pariyojana (MKSP) were successfully implemented in rural areas through Kudumbashree.
Following are the major innovative programmes implemented through Kudumbashree Mission in the State.
Gender Resource Centre
It is a space established in collaboration with Local Self Government Institutions to coordinate the activities for gender development and women empowerment under local government.
Micro-Placement Drive
Micro placement drive is an endeavour which helps in arranging one or two employer at a small place for small number of job seekers. This concept also helps the DDUGKY candidates in obtaining jobs in their own locality.
Community based tracking system for DDUGKY
DDUGKY is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme started in 2015-16. It aims at skilling rural poor youth and providing them with jobs in the organised sector. Kudumbashree through its CDS-ADS-NHG structure has organised numerous camps at the Grama, Block and District Panchayat level. Through this active participation in mobilisation and follow up, Kudumbashree could complete training for 21,617 students and placement for 12,000 candidates. Kudumbashree has launched a new scheme in which a pool of community based volunteers are involved in community tracking and mobilisation. As part of this scheme each Community Development Society is advised to select one community volunteer and delegate the responsibility of mobilising, tracking and maintaining "Naipunya"register (skill register).
Livelihood – Kudumbashree Micro Enterprise (ME)
Kudumbashree is well known for its micro enterprise activities. It has more than 30,000 micro enterprises. Among the micro enterprises, canteen units and tailoring units are the prominent ones. Kudumbashree plays a significant role in activities such as housekeeping services at Cochin Shipyard; services for Kochi Metro like housekeeping, ticketing, customer and crowd management, parking and canteen; services as front office staff in Regional Cancer Centre and fee collection and upkeep of the parking centres in Ernakulam and Thrissur railway stations etc. Such ventures have ensured revenue for Kudumbashree women and attracted public attention. Management of waiting halls of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Ernakulam and Thrissur railway stations is now being done by Kudumbashree groups. Kudumbashree has a tie-up with Southern Railways in Thiruvananthapuram division for managing their parking areas and premium A/C waiting hall. This initiative provides employment to 82 persons providing monthly income in the range of 8,000 to 10,000 depending on the stations.
Micro-finance activities
Micro-finance activities include Matching Grant, Linkage Banking, Thrift and Credit, Interest Subsidy Scheme, Financial Literacy Campaign and Yuvashree. There are 277,175 Neighbourhood Groups (NHGs), 19,854 Area Development Societies (ADS) and 1,073 Community Development Society (CDS). In 2016-17, 25,082 number of NHGs were graded and 35,689 number of NHGs were linked with various banks and 1,334.75 crore was disbursed to NHGs as loan. An amount of 542.91 crore was disbursed as internal loan and 1,963.79 crore was provided as thrift. District-wise details about linkage banking and thrift and credit operation are given in Appendix 6.2.10 and Appendix 6.2.11 respectively.
Balasabha
In 2016-17, there were 44,234 functional balasabhas with the involvement of 6.47 lakh children. The District-wise details of balasabha are given in Appendix 6.2.12.
Tribal Special Intervention
Attappady Skill Training Programme- Under DDUGKY, Kudumbashree started a training centre in the Attappady settlement and offers domestic electrician, welding and plumbing courses. In this training centre, 60 students are currently undergoing training in these trades.
Tribal Mobilisation- Kudumbashree started "Door to Door"campaign and covered around 48 settlements (up to August 31, 2017). This helped Kudumbashree to enhance awareness to the community and attract more candidates to DDUGKY programme.
Bridge School and Bridge Course in Attappady- Bridge Schools were opened to bring dropout children back to the mainstream of education. There are three Bridge Schools functioning in the area with 63 students and TTC qualified teachers. Residential facilities are provided to the students. At present they are being registered to appear for the Equivalency Exams conducted by the Literacy Mission of primary, upper primary, 10th and 11th standard.
Bridge courses are conducted at hamlet as daily tuition for the day scholars. Here apart from the curriculum, students learn the daily hygiene practices and are also provided food from the community kitchen.
Conclusion
There are numerous agencies and projects working in the domain of the livelihood enhancement and poverty reduction. Cross functionality and convergences of these agencies and projects have to be strengthened.