CHAPTER-IV

Chapter-IV

THE CASE STUDY OF TWO VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATIONS The Issue of water

In the earlier chapters, we had a detailed discussion on various issues related to rural

development. Various projects and community level variables, relevant for understanding

and analyzing community participation in rural development were also spelled out in

detail. The failure of government machinery in successfully carrying out the task of rural

development gave way to the involvement of voluntary organizations at a larger level. At

the theoretical level, we have already established that voluntary organization is a better

agency to complement or even replace government agencies, in view of successful

implementation of rural development activities. However, this hypothesis still remains to

be tested at the empirical level.

Therefore, in this chapter, a detailed study of two voluntary organizations will be

undertaken. The selected VOs present two different cases and approaches of functioning.

People Science Institute (PSI) primarily specializes in developing innovative

technologies suiting local needs and conditions besides, it also plans and implements

micro projects at the community level. On the other hand, Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS)

represents a unique case of community based organization emerging from the grassroots.

These two VOs will be studied in detail. Before, we go on to study these organizations, it

will be useful to understand the issue of water and its related socio-economic, political

and legal issues. Particularly, the issue of water management, which has been the main

concern of the VOs selected for the study, will be outlined in detail.

4.1) ISSUE OF WATER

Water is essential to man, animals and plants and without water life on the earth would be

nonexistent. How aptly it is observed that life began in water and cannot exist without it.

The very presence of water in the earth has made this planet unique in the solar system

and perhaps the entire universe. A most precious natural resource of water, the sea,

covers almost three fourth of earth's surface. Its abundance as well as its scarcity has

been greatly instrumental in shaping the lifestyle and culture of the people inhabiting a

particular region. Depending upon the climatic regions and technology, there are different

sources of water and its usage. (Refer diagram: 4.1 & 4.2)

India is one of the countries in the world, which receive surplus mo~soon. On an average,

each year, about 120 em. rain (or snow) falls on every bit oflndia's landmass. The actual

distribution of the rainfall, however, varies widely over space and time. These variations

make regional and seasonal water shortages and floods, which is an annual feature. When

the prevailing political, social and economic disparities within the population are

superimposed on the natural water distribution pattern, the result is an even more unjust

and unfair access to water resources.

In addition to the 400 million hectare-meter (Mha-m) of rain and snow annually, India

receives another 20 Mha-m from rivers flowing in from other countries. At present about

84 percent of the water is used for irrigation purposes while power generation, domestic

and livestock consumption and industrial use compete for the remaining. Consequently,

providing water for irrigation has been the main thrust of water resources management in

independent India. 1

(Refer diagram: 4.314.4/4.5 for India's water resources and its utilization pattern)

Official estimates of the maximum amount of water available for use, also called the

ultimate utilizable potential, put the figure at about 105 Mha-m-just 25 per cent of the

total. 2 But this figure is based only on the surface and groundwater resources. It totally

ignores the largest component of India's water wealth-soil moisture. The neglect of soil

moisture as a major productive resource betrays the myopia of our water technocracy .

.. The technocracy's myopia is further revealed by its focus on the creation of large storage

capacities, i.e., big dams and distribution through canals. A secondary focus has been the

exploitation of groundwater with little thought to its recharge. In contrast, proper land

and water management practices to maximize water use efficiency, land productivity and

minimize social conflicts have been largely ignored. Thus, while over Rs. 50,000 crore

~ Ravi chopra ( 1998), Mitti aur Pani Mein sona Hai, People Science Institute, p. 2 R. ghosh (1987), Irrigation Development Through Surface and Ground Water sources in India.

WATER SOURCES

Diagram: 4.1

Traditional Sources Stream

Pond

Household Pond Consumption

Tap

Modern Sources Canal

Hand Pump

River

Stream

Traditional Sources Well Manual Lifting

Pond

Well Mechanical Lifting

Modern Sources PondsMechanical Lifting

Diagram: 4.2

WATER CONSUMPTION

~ Drinking Water , J Household consumption Sanitation

Kitchen

Irrigation

Non-Household consumption

Animal Husbandry

MANAGEMENT & COST OF WATER

WATER MANAGEMENT

&FUNDING

Centrally Managed and funded

Locally Managed and funded

Diagram: 4.3 -Where does water come from

Minor Irrigation-Can~~

~ajor Irrigation-Dam~

Tap Water

Hand Pump "_]

Pond

Well ] Stream

River J

[]From other Countires

..... ~'t:l s~ =-.. Q Q,) .::: ... = Q Q cu

c ·- "0 = Q,) == s e Si: Q Q uu

Diagram: 4.4 -Where does water go

El Soil Moisture ml Evaputation J D Groung Water II Surface ..._____ ___ _

Diagram: 4.5- Who Consumes How Much?

[]Immediate Evapuration m Irrigation l!i Domestic Use []Industry

were spent on major and medium irrigation projects between 1951 and 1995, only one

tenth of this amount was spent on forestry and soil and water conservation. The results of

this blinked approach have been disastrous: wastage of water, environmentally

destructive, socially disruptive and financially un-remunerative.3

Even though the country receives an annual rainfall of 1170 mm on an average, the

complex system of monsoon winds and peculiar orientation of mountains give rise to

some excessively low rainfall regions. This inequitable distribution of rains across

regions and seasons leads to droughts, floods, and other related problems.

4.1.1) Water Rights

Availability of water in plenitude in tropical countries like India makes us oblivious of its

crucial importance. This is even truer for people inhabiting urban areas where water is

made available by many means, often depriving the requirements of the multitude rural

population. Problems regarding availability of water, rules, laws, policies and acts linked

to water rights have grossly been ignored by academicians, development workers and

policy makers for different developing countries.4 Water laws are fundamentally linked to

future development in the Third World countries like India, specifically since it relates to

sustainable development with social justice. India is presently guided by the Water Policy

of 1987 and the existing legal framework linked to water use in this country draws

heavily from the Easement Act framed during the colonial period according to the

English Law. 5

Water right can be shown essentially as a natural right. The most reasonable belief about

water rights would be that, all people because they are people, whatever is their moral,

legal, social or civil status, have a natural claim to water. In the beginning, therefore, the

Indian State considered the water right as an essential right, meaning that people must be

allowed to enjoy what nature has naturally endowed for them and any external violation,

including that by the state, amounts to infringement of this right. The role of State then

3 Ravi chopra (1998), op.cit., p .2 4

C.P. Singh (1991), Water Rights and Principles of Water Resource management., pp. 15-17 5 Ibid., p.112.

becomes one of protecting people from any external intervention, which might lessen

rights to the people. However, with increasing problems in availability of water, it is the

state's responsibility to provide water in problem areas, utilizing its resources. Thus,

water right shall have to be considered as a 'positive' right of each and every citizen of

the State.

After shifting through the proprietary rights, right to pollute water, and group rights, there

has progressively been erosion of people's control over water resource management and

also an increase in the absolute control by the Government. In spite of water being a state

subject, the grip of the Central Government has been ever increasing since it is the latter

which provides the development funds through which dams, hydel projects and irrigation

programs can be undertaken. The absolute command of the Government over water

resources is true not only for India but many other third world countries. However, there

is an increasing trend in the industrial nations like England, of transferring water resource

management to commercial companies in private ownership.

4.1.2) Issue of Drinking Water and Water Resource Management

Gandhian model of rural development very well recognized the immediate need of

improving safe drinking water and sanitation facilities. However, such a basic human

need did not get enough recognition as it deserved in the early years of rural development

planning. It was only when Decade Approach of United Nations was adopted, issue of

drinking water got enough recognition and it was given due importance in rural

development planning. On the other hand, irrigation was considered as a part of macro

level centralized planning, which could be developed through major irrigation projects

like construction of big dams and canals etc. However, in recent years, the scope of

improving irrigation through minor projects (micro-village level planning) was

understood, and the Government of India in recent years launched various watershed

development projects.

Thus, provision of safe drinking water and development of watershed management, are

two well-organized water related issues, which are integral component of rural

development planning in India. A brief account of each one of these issues will be a

useful exercise.

1. Drinking Water and related socio-Economic Issues

A few liters of water each day is sufficient for a person's basic drinking and food

preparation requirements, depending on the climate and lifestyle. Much larger quantities

are necessary when water is used for other purposes such as personal hygiene, cleansing

of cooking utensils, laundry and house cleaning. Safe, adequate and accessible supplies

of water, combined with proper sanitation is a basic need and considered, rightly, as an

essential component of health care. Besides water is important for the control of many

diseases as it has been estimated that as many as 80% of all diseases in the world are

associated with unsafe water.6

India is a signatory to the resolution of the United Nations Water conference (1977) that

suggested a 'decade approach' to ensure water supply with realistic standards of quality

and quantity for urban and rural areas by 1990. Therefore, even though problem of water

supply is not as acute as of sanitation, maximum inflow of scientific and technical input

in the rural water supply sector was given priority. The Water Decade program,

consequently, was launched in India on 1st April, 1981 to achieve definite targets of

coverage of population by 31st March, 1991. Villages with problems were identified.

However, not all problem villages could be covered by 1991 and the program is still

continuing with additional vigour to ensure safe drinking facility in each and every

village in India. The National Drinking Water Mission (NDWM) launched in 1986 has

been renamed as Rajeev Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission with additional

scientific and technical inputs.

For a significant socio-economic development of a community, an adequate supply of

safe water is a prerequisite. Factors such as time and energy saving in the collection of

drinking water, and a substantial reduction in the incidence of disease can contribute to

development, provided the time and energy gained are utilized in economic activities.

6 E. H. Hotkes ( ed.) (1983), Small Community Water supplies: IRC for community Water Supply, p. 9

In the industrialized countries, community water supply systems were first provided in

the urban areas, particularly in larger cities.7 Similar is the case with India and most of

the developing countries. In rural areas, community water supplies· were installed much

later in India. The economic disparity between rural and urban owes a great deal to this

neglect. High mortality, morbidity and ill health seriously affect agricultural

development. Moreover, inadequate supply of water also does not provide opportunity to

the rural poor for vegetable growing or livestock keeping. Increased water supply,

therefore, in . rural areas can stimulate productive work thereby improving personal

hygiene, food preparation and health care. Thus a community water supply can be

expected to have a positive socio-economic development impact. In addition, there

emerges a possibility that water supply systems, in combination with complementing

health and economic development programs, could reduce the migration rate from the

rural areas to urban areas, which is one of the major problems of development in

contemporary India. 8

Furthermore, water supply systems can be used to encourage, over a period of time, the

grouping of dispersed populations into village units of some size. The more concentrated

the population to be served, the more likely a financially viable and properly maintained

water supply system can be provided. However, in areas where hand pumps and dug­

wells are _the only appropriate means to supply water, in those areas even a well

maintained supply system may not help in bringing sentiments into some precise siz.e.

Water supply involves gender and caste related problems in Indian context. The harijans,

the former untouchables, are not allowed to use water source that is commonly used by

the higher castes. Nor do they share equal rights with fellow villagers on village ponds

etc., even though that are considered property of the village community as a whole

(Common Property Resources). Moreover, it is the woman, irrespective of her caste, who

bears the burden of routinely collecting water for the whole family, for washing and

cooking and for the animals (live stock). Therefore, in a rural social order where men folk

7 E.H. Hofkes (ed.) (1983), op.cit, p. 13. 8 Ibid, p. 14

dominate, the problems faced by women are unconsciously and at times, consciously

neglected. Centuries of oppression have made women to identify within the socially

accepted role in society, reflecting the existing divisions as a more equitable society.9

Therefore, despite the neglect of their felt need they rarely voice their protest.

Women's involvement in water and sanitation sector activities springs logically from

their traditional roles. Women are most often the users, providers and managers of water

in the household and are usually the guardians of household hygiene. Women and to a

lesser degree children are generally the ones who obtain water for the home, transport it,

store it, and then use it for various household purposes. Because of this, they may have a

great deal of knowledge about water sources, their quality and reliability, restrictions and

advantages of their use, acceptable storage methods, etc. Thus in any water supply

system, women become the mainstream interest group and without their involvement,

projects risk remains high. Further, the benefits women may receive with improved or

new water sanitation facilities can be classified into health and socio-economic progress.

Thus, in a nutshell, implications in a positive sense and such kind of interventions mainly

in rural area could resort to gender sensitive programming, creating conducive

environment for women to actively participate in it.

Though drinking water has always been at the top priority list of the social consumption

items, the objective of providing safe drinking water to all sections of the people still

remains a distant goal. The rural-urban disparities in access to drinking water still persist.

In urban areas, in the absence of progressive pricing, the higher income groups use a very

large proportion of subsidized water. 10 Public distribution of drinking water is highly

skewed in favour of urban areas and the rich. The distribution pattern is more equitable in

rural areas when compared to urban. 11 In the light of the policy pronouncement of

agriculture getting the status of industry, provision of basic amenities in rural areas is .,

very crucial. Lack of clean drinking water facilities is detrimental to the healthy growth

of society and it adversely affects the productivity and efficiency levels of the people.

9 Wendy Wakeman (1995), "Gender Issues: Source both for Water and Sanitation Project. P.5.

10 V. Ratna Reddy and M.S.Rathore (1993), "bias in social Consumption: Case of Residential water in

Rajasthan", Economic and Political Weekly, Aug 7-14, p. 1645. II Ibid, p. 1648

2. Water Resource Management

Since independence, India's water management policies have emphasized large rainwater

storage reservoirs, canal distribution and the increasing exploitation of ground water with

little thought to its recharge. The results have been wastage' of water, which is

environmentally destructive, socially disruptive, financially un-remunerative and

ultimately unsustainable. The failure of water management strategy has various

dimensions. Most of these dimensions of water resource management and

mismanagement have been widely discussed by scholars from different streams, some of

them will be discussed here.

a) In post-independent India, massive investments were made in dams and other irrigation works. But despite these investments, both the drought prone and flood prone areas in India have increased. Until 1960, 10 million hectares (Mha) of drought prone districts also increased from 74 in 1970s to 100 in 1980s (Centre for Science and Environment: 1987)

b) The large scale inappropriate utilization of available water is evident from the fact that on an average, only 50 percent of water released at the canal head works reaches the farmers field (L. Abbie et al: 1992). One study has estimated that 60 percent of rice cultivators apply excessive water (J.K. Kanwar: 1988).

c) Water logging and soil salinity are an inevitable result of canal irrigation in poor drainage areas. Between 1980 and 1989, the area thus affected increased from 13 Mha to 17.6 Mha (B.B. Vohra: 1989).

d) Though there is strong evidence that ground water irrigation is more productive, at the same time, it also leads to over exploitation of water. This over-exploitation is more critical in low rainfall areas where alternate sources of water are relatively limited.

e) Construction of big dams in India has proved to be very expensive. The burden of big dams are largely borne by the rural poor. Tribal constitute the major fraction of the total displaced people, which has been estimated from a few million to 20 million (E. G. Thukral: 1992). Other social conflicts rooted in the construction of big dams and the exploitation of ground water include urban-rural conflict, rich farmers vs. poor farmer, sand regional imbalances etc.

f) An increasingly large proportion of available ground and surface water is being withdrawn for non-irrigation purposes. Only a small fraction of it is consumed, the rest is returned back through drains, sewers and soakpits to the ground, stream or river. In the absence of a holistic approach to water management, the excessive non-·

irrigation withdrawal is increasing the conflict between rural-urban areas and even between states.

There are a lot of reasons for the failure of official water management policies. The first

and most significant reason is probably the nature of development planning model that

India has adopted after independence. As an out-cum of "Trickle Down' approach most

of the benefits are usually availed by few privileged ones at the expense of the poor and

natural environment.

Ravi C/wpra12 considers indiscriminate construction of big dams as the main cause of

failure of water management system. By concentrating on big dams, traditional irrigation

systems have been badly neglected. The area irrigated by them has been reducing

steadily. Though, construction of big dams have consumed a large share of resources, it is

. their poor performance that is largely responsible for the lower than the anticipated

benefits from the irrigation sector. Some reasons for this poor performance are listed

below. 13

1. The planning and design of dams is based on poor data and basic design parameters are also incorrectly determined.

2. The project design and execution emphasis is usually lopsided as they concentrate mainly on the construction of the dam and less on the water delivery system.

3. Project planning and management staff does not represent the best of the lot. Their approach is irresponsible a'nd casual. Therefore, failure of conventional water resource management strategy demands for an alternate strategy, which would bridge various gaps of the earlier approach and ensure maximum benefits to the needy and poor masses. At the same time, water resources should be conserved to ensure the ecological health of our water resources.14 The major operational thrusts of various alternative approaches for rational land use and water management will be discussed below.

A. Priority for Drinking Water: Despite fifty years of constant efforts, we have not been fulfilled with the basic need of safe drinking water, particularly in rural areas. The problem is acute in the arid and semi-arid districts. Pollution of available resources is further reducing access to portable water. Hence, pollution control should be an essential component of water management policy.

12 Ravi chopra (1998), op.cit., pp. 11-12. 13 Ibid. 14 Ibid, pp. 16-17.

B. Reducing Non-Irrigation Demands: A significant saving can be made in the industrial and power generation sector by conservation, more efficient water utilization and recycling. These savings can augment the water available for irrigation by about fifteen percent.

C. Promoting Rainfed Agriculture: We have totally neglected to use the productive capacity of our most well distributed water resources (soil moisture). Maximizing water use where it falls saves enormous amounts of energy and money. Since many of the rainfed areas are in hilly tracts where canal irrigation and ground water boring has limited potential, our water use planners have grossly neglected these areas. With the collapse of community based resource management systems after independence, these regions have suffered adversely. Development of rainfed lands on a watershed basis appears to be the most appropriate approach.

D. Extending Water Use: growing low water consuming crops in a large area can also extend water use. In case of food grains, this would mean cultivating more c.oarse cereals in place of wheat and rice. Such a shift is required from nutritional point of view also (G. Singh: 1990).

Several innovative efforts undertaken in different parts of the country reveals that the

above mentioned ideas are practical and desired by the people. Couple of these

innovative projects will be mentioned below:

• Anna Hazare mobilized villagers in Ralegon Siddhi to collectively plan and implement micro-watershed in a semi-arid area. The emphasis in this project was on (I) people's participation, (2) voluntary contribution from the beneficiaries, (3) equity (4) sustainability by growing low water consuming crops. Ralegan Siddhi village of Anna Hazare is a living example of Gandhi's self-sufficient village.

• Vilasrao Solunkhe has experimented with the implementation of participatory management and equity iri lift irrigation schemes in Pune district. The unique feature of this effort was to delink the right to water from land ownership. ln these 'PaniP{mchayat' villages, lift irrigation schemes entitle all the villagers to the same quantum of water, irrespective of their land holdings.

• SEWS has mobilized women in Banskantha district ofGujarat to develop and manage their scarce local water resources.

• Mahila Mandals organized by Dasoli Gram Swarajya Manda! have undertaken afforestation works in Alaknanda river valley in Chamoli district for past 20 years.

• People Science Institute has operationalized three ways partnership between the local administration, the people and voluntary organizations for successfully harvesting rain water, as a part of effort to drought prone Palamani district of Bihar.

• Tarun Bharat Singh in A/war district has assisted villagers to build hundreds of low cost rainwater harvesting structures using their indigenous knowledge for siting and designing them.

A common feature of all the above-mentioned approaches is that, all of them are ' community-based effort with strong reliance on people's knowledge and management.

Besides, involvement of government machinery seems to be minimal as most of these

works seem to be innovative and committed efforts of voluntary organizations.

The most crucial element in micro-level management system, particularly in case of

watershed development, is people's participation. But for villagers to manage project

would require building their organizational capacity, providing them adequate and

appropriate technology inputs, training in project management, accounting procedures

and maintenance, developing process of open decision making. For this, voluntary

organizations can be very effectively utilized to play a catalytic role as motivators and

facilitators.

The role of NGOs in promoting people's participation particularly in case of watershed

management projects needs to be assessed in an empirical situation. Therefore, now we

will discuss the role of two voluntary organizations, selected for the case study, in

developing micro level community based approach for water management. Later on, in

the fifth chapter, these empirical findings will be analyzed to answer our research

question, mentioned in the introductory chapter.

4.2) THE CONTEXT

Before we go on to discuss and analyze the work of two NGOs, it will be useful to briefly

understand the socioeconomic and geo-climatic context in which these VOs were

operating.

4.2.1 Geographical & Water Resources Profile

Alwar

The region of Alwar is mainly comprised of flat-topped hills, which become more

prominent in the south-western district. Within these hills, fertile valleys have been

enclosed and they have provided sanctuary to the wild life region in the forest of Sariska.

There are two seasonal rivers in the district and they are Ruparel and Sabi. The soil of the

district is Sandy-loam. Water is available at a depth ranging between 4.6 metres to 24.6

meters.

Out of the total area of inhabited villages of the district, 68.32 per cent is cultivable and

out of the cultivable area only 48.95 per cent is irrigated area. The main sources available

for irrigation in this district are wells and tanks. Out of the net area irrigated in 1989-

1990, 210178 hectares was irrigated by wells and tube wells followed by 9325 hectres by ·

other sources and again 3247 hectares by tanks. The barrages at Siliserh and Jaisamand

feed canal irrigation.

In local language tanks are called Johads. Traditionally, Johads have been the main

method of irrigation. However, with the advent of modernization and large-scale mining

in hilly areas, Johads started drying up leading to drastic down fall in water table as well

as productivity of land. The deteriorating condition of water resources had not only

adverse economic implications but it also gave rise to a series of social and political evils.

These social and political issues will be discussed in greater detail later in this chapter.

Palamau

The most fertile land is a strip of alluvial soil on the bank of Sone river and the most

extensive areas of cultivation are in the valleys of the Koil and of the Amanat, which

flows into the Koil frorh the east a few miles north of Daltonganj. Otherwise, most parts

of district consists of the hilly, broken country covered with jungle and cut up in all

directions by numerous streams and torrents which dry up driving the hot weather and

come down in spate during the rains. The main rivers flowing through this district are

Sane, Kanhar, Koil, Auranga, Amanat and Sadabah.

The uncertainty of a well-distributed monsoon in this area has placed the importance of

artificial method of irrigation in the forefront for successful crop raising. There are, it is

true, a large number of rivers and streams in the district, but in most of them the supply of

water diminishes rapidly or fails entirely soon after the end of the rains. The landscape

being undulating and abnormally sloping, the rivulets and rivers rising from the hillocks

and hills send out torrential currents during the rains which generally run to· waste,

cutting deep ravines and gorges in the basis tracts.

Given the difficult topography, artificial irrigation has always been a regular practice . •

However, the growing emphasis on larger irrigation systems has undermined the

importance of traditional and time-tested methods. Some of the traditional systems of

irrigation used in this part of Bihar are given below.

The Bandh is a diversion embankment constructed across a small depression along the contour level having a flood escape and an irrigation channel. As it runs along the contour level, it lengthens for miles together till it is broken by some river or great depression. As it proceeds on in length, the area of its catchment goes on increasing. At places, it may require more pucca flood escapes to let out floodwater. Such flood escapes are called locally Chahakas. Here and there throughout the embankment and irrigational channel Bhaos (wooden or current concrete pipes) are fitted to let out water for irrigating lands below. Such bandhs mainly depend upon rainwater. Their irrigation channels do not function if the rains cease for a week or a forthright.

The Ahar is a temporary monsoon reservoir fed by the irrigational channel or pyne emanating from a perennial river or a reservoir bandh. The water from the ahar is let out through Bhawas fitted at the bottom of the embankment. The ahar is the oldest system of artificial irrigation scheme still proving to be very successful for paddy cultivation. After Hathia rains, water in the ahar is completely dried. It is then ploughed for rabi crop sowing. It grows bumper rabi crops.

The Pvne is the cut out channel across an upheaval stretch of land from the riverbed down to the adjoining tract situated in lower level. It is a means for distributing river water into the fields.

The Karaha is a small irrigation channel which emanates from the main channel to effect more branching of the latter to facilitate distribution of irrigation water more widely and judiciously than otherwise.

4.2.2 Education & Demographic Profile

Alwar

The literacy level in this district, which is 43%, is much below the national average. The

striking feature in this regard is significantly low female literacy in rural areas, which is

as low as 8.9%.

A high proportion of88% ofthe total population ofthe district resides in rural areas. The

district is doubly thickly populated than rest of the state as it has only 2.4% land area of

the state while it accounts for 5.5% ofthe entire state's population. The district sex ratio

[~

of 904 also indicates poor status of demographic indicators. Strikingly, only 19.5 % of

the villages have access to primary health facilities.

Palamu

Urban literacy is comparatively high with 78.2% male and 64.1% female literacy while in ·

rural areas female literacy is as low as 27.6%. The percentage of population attending

school in the age group of 6-10 years is 26% and in the age group of 11-13, it is 41.8%.

The graduate population in the district is only 2.1% out of which only 0.2% female are

graduate.

Population Profile: According to 1991 census, the total population of Palumu district is

1,269,807 out of which 1,198,666 reside in the rural areas while 71,141 reside in the

Urban areas. The maximum numbers of people living in this district are Hindus forming

86.42% ofthe total population followed by Mu~lims, 11.49%. The Christian form 1.76%,

the Sikhs are 0.04%. While the Hindu, Muslim, and Christian mainly inhabit in the rural

areas.

4.2.3 Social Profile (Caste Configuration)

Alwar

The Schedule Caste form 18% of the total population of this district while the scheduled

tribes are 9%. Muslims and sikhs form 8% and 2% respectively. Ahirs are 12% while

Gujjars are 6%. Among the higher caste Vaishyas constitute 10%, followed by Brahmins

who constitute 8% of the total population. Chamars (12%) among the scheduled castes

and Minas among the scheduled tribes are dominant.

Traditionally, in Alwar district, caste has not been the main factor in deciding class

relations. Village level power dynamics has not been as asymmetrical as it is in many

other parts of Rajasthan. The main reasons behind this could be the size of land holdings,

which is by and large even. Secondly, poor water resources have also played a major role

in giving dominance to a particular section of society merely on the basis of economic

superiority.

Palamu

Palamu is dominated by the Scheduled Castes, their percentage being 27%, and the

Scheduled tribe form the 14% of the population, followed by Ahirs being 7%. The !

Brahmins, Kahars and Rajputs are around 5% each. Among the Scheduled Castes, the

prominent castes are Bhujors (10%), Chamars (7%) and Dosadhs (51%). Among the

Scheduled Tribes, Draons and K.harwars are most numerous being 5% each.

Unlike Alwar, in Palamau, society is marked by apparent class differences. Traditionally

determined Zamindari system still plays a major role in micro level power dynamics. The

concept of dominant and dominated caste is still very prominent. Even the recent

upcoming of middle castes has not changed power equations at the village level. Many of

the naxalite organizations of Bihar have their roots in this district, which is indicative of

the extent of class and caste conflict.

4.2.4 Political Scenario

AI war

No single political party has dominated the politics of Alwar. All three major political

fronts (Congress, BJP, and Third Front) have got their turn. This indicates its political

stability and consciousness among the people. Therefore, people in this district may not

be economically so well of but they understand their rights and responsibility. Such

political situation provides a perfect breeding ground for a voluntary action.

Palamau

Palamau has been in the center stage of naxalite movement in Bihar. These extremist

organizations are running a parallel government in the district. The deepen hostility in

people's mind is an expression of age long class conflict and suppression of weaker

sections of the society. The basic theory of Gandhi and volunteerism does not give any

space to the violent expression of conflict. Therefore, the political context of the Palamau

was never encouraging for voluntary action.

4.2.5 Employment Profile

Alwar

In this district, maximum number of people are employed as the agricultural labourer,

followed by the people employed in manufacturing, processing, servicing and repairs in

other household activities. Significant numbers work in the household industries. The

maximum number of female work as agricultural labourers, while mining and quarrying

forms the occupation of a very few people. The people involved in the other services are

mostly from the urban background. The people belonging to the rural areas are mostly

involved in the agriculture and transport and communication industries.

Palamau

The rural class structure gets reflected in employment profile also, as the majority of

dependents on agriculture are either land-less labourers or marginal farmers. The

maximum numbers of population in this district earn their livelihood by cultivation. Their

percentage being 48.2% of the total population; followed by the agricultural laborers who

constitute 3 7.6% of the total population. 2.8% of the people are engaged in the

manufacturing, processing and responds in household industry and 1.8% in non­

household industry. The rest 0.5%, 0.6% and 0.3% are engaged in livestock, fishing,

hunting and mining and construction respectively. 6.1% of the people are engaged in

other services.

4.2.6 Agriculture Profile

Alwar

Alwar is one of the mineral rich districts of the state and is endowed with a number of

important minerals, which contributes large revenue to the state annually. The major

minerals found in the district are barytes, building stones, and copper. Kharif and Rabi

are the main crops in the district. Among Kharif crops are mainly bajjra, jowar, maize,

tur. Some other cereals and millets are also grown both as Rabi and Kharif crops. Fruits

and vegetables are also sown throughout the district where the soil especially suits this

type of cultivation and also where suitable irrigation facilities are available.

Palamu

Geologically soil formation in the district is the outcome of the natural work of the rivers

Koil, Amanat and Sone. There are two main zones of soil for agricultural purposes. The

first consists of river valley basins of Amanat, Koil and Sone and contains stretches of

fertile alluvial soil covered with varieties of rice and to a less extent of sugarcane, wheat,,

barley, gram, Kulthi and surguja. The second comprises the hilly tracts where the soil

formed is of thin loose and gravelly type. This area is mostly covered with jungles and

cultivation is mainly carried on in the valleys lying among the hills and in the long

stretched narrow basins formed on both sides of the hills, rivulets and rivers.

The distribution of the area of the holdings is not uniform. It appears that there had been

progressive decline in the average size of a holding. This is only expected because of the

Law of Inheritance, as on every 4eath of the karta (family-head) of the family there will

be a further partition of the holding. Extension of cultivation in this district has been

rather slow in comparison with the other districts. This is mainly due to the poor

economic incidence of the common man. The first reclamation was obviously done by

the Adibasis and the indigenous population who, however, were gradually reduced to the

position of serfs, agricultural labourers or small cultivators by the zamindars. The

incentive for extension of cultivation was thereby partially lost.

4.2. 7 Infrastructure Profile

Alwar

Hundred per cent rural population of the district has drinking water facility in their

villages. Post and telegraph facilities are available to 48.27 per cent rural population of

the district. Only 2.1 0 per cent rural population of the district has market/hat facilities in

their villages. The communication facility is available to only 38.97 per cent rural

population of the district. Approximately half of the rural population (48.20%) of the

district is connected by Pucca road. Electric facility is available to 86.60 per cent rural

population of the district.

Palamu

The percentage of households having electricity in the district is 6.34, out of which only -

3.87% are in the rural areas while 50.43% are in the urban area. Safe drinking water is I

available to only 21.87% of the population out of which 19.47% are in the rural area

while 64.67% are in the urban areas. But, the over all situation of water and electricity is

pathetic, as the supply of water and electricity is irregular and erratic.

Thus, the above discussion gives us some understanding of the context in which these

NGOs operate. If we closely analyze the profile of two districts we find some very

pronounce differences. Some of them are:

);> On one hand Palamau is a class-ridden society, while in Alwar class differences are not so apparent

);> Like the rest ofthe Bihar, in Palamau also caste plays a very important role in most of the social and economic processes, while Alwar presents a very different case.

);> The dominance of extremists gives very little scope for a voluntary movement within the constitutional framework in Palamau. On the other hand, relatively peaceful political environment of Alwar does not present any inherent threat to voluntary action.

);> Palamau has been experiencing several artificial irrigation projects, even big dams in the past, while Alwar's irrigation was always by and large based on Tanks (Johads), no macro level irrigation project was implemented in this area. Thereore, building and rejuvenating community level water resources was easier in Alwar than in Palamau.

Having discussed the profile of the two districts now we will discuss the work of the two

NGOs.

4.3) PEOPLE SCIENCE INSTITUTE

People Science Institute (PSI) was established in 1983 as a non-profit, public interest

research and development organization. PSI was established to undertake research and

provide technical support services to social action groups. Therefore, initially, PSI was

undertaking only hard task of rural development as it had specialized staff with

engineering background. However, as it developed as an organization, relevance of

human factor was realized and 'soft task' of rural development was incorporated in its

agenda. Presently, PSI is knovm not only for its exceptional innovative skills in

technology development but also for conceptualizing and implementing community­

based programs. Therefore, PSI presents an ideal case of voluntary organization having

experience and specialization both in 'hard' and 'soft' task of development. PSI supports

and undertakes programs in Water Resource Management with focus on flood and

drought affected areas, Environment Quality Monitoring and Post-Disaster

Reconstruction.

PSI has adopted system approach to scale up projects from the village to a district level,

this is done by using creative methods of communicating scientific concepts,

technological details and social messages to literate and illiterate population. PSI's

activities can be categorized in three broad categories.

4.3.1) Activities

The following are the PSI's activities in the context of water resource management:

a) To optimize the rainwater harvesting.

b) To ensure its equitable distribution amongst competing uses so that conflict are minimized.

c) To inculcate conservation ethos, PSI's work in water resource management is inter­disciplinary and participatory in nature. It provides assistance to the poor, and their organization, by:

~ Gathering data on local water resources and related parameters ....

~ Undertaking engineering analysis of big dams.

~ Developing critiques of eurrent water policies and projects.

~ Undertaking research on feasible technological and management alternatives.

~ Designing and implementing participatory water resources development projects.

~ Providing training iii micro-watershed development.

Besides water resource management, PSI specializes in giving technological inputs for

several other development activities, the most significant of them are:

1) Environmental Quality Management: Besides providing low cost pollution monitoring methods, it trains NGOs also.

2) Post Disaster Reconstruction: PSI has excelled in designing and building earthquake prone low cost houses. PSI trains local artisans als'o in building this kind of houses.

The above mentioned activity profile of PSI might give a wrong impression of the nature

of work it focuses on. Having a strong professional and infrastructure base in engineering

aspects of water management enables it to come up with innovative technical ideas.

However, PSI is equally competent in conceptualizing and implementing these ideas with

optimum community support and participation.

One of the most remarkable achievements of PSI is successful implementation of the

project 'Sukha MuktiAbhiyan' in Palamau District ofBihar.

4.3.2) Sukha Mukti Abhiyan

1. The Project Area

Sukha Mukti Abhiyan was implemented in Palamau district of Bihar. A detailed account

of the project area has already been discussed earlier in section 4.2.

2. Vulnerable People

In Palamau, the most vulnerable people are the Harijans (SCs). Most of them are

agricultural laborers with marginal land holdings. The Advasis (STs), who are generally

agrarian, are another vulnerable group. Much of their farmland is marginally productive

due to poor irrigation facilities. The Harijans and Adivasis largely depend on daily wage

labor for their livelihood.

The employment opportunity for these vulnerable groups is normally scarce between mid

November and February due to poor cropping intensities. Any failure of end monsoon

rain can affect the employment opportunities from mid-September onwards and also

reduce rabi acreage, due to poor ground water recharge. Out-migration of the

marginalized people usually begins soon after Diwali. The out migrant laborers return

back around HOLI, when collection of minor forest products provides renewed earning

opportunities.

3. Rain Water Harvesting

Harvesting surface water run-off is essential to ensure employment and food secunty for

vulnerable people of Palamau. The nature of rainwater harvesting structures that are

required depends on (I) the rainfall - pattern and (II) the agricultural system practiced.

The status of above two conditions in Palamau suggests:

A. There is no dearth of average annual rainfall and hence no need for cross year storage for water.

B. The surface run off from the July-August rains can be harvested to provide protective irrigation in case of failure of the end-monsoon rain.

Given the above condition and dispersion of population, there was a need to build a

number of small rainwater harvesting reservoirs to ensure adequate availability of

irrigation water.

4. Need of the People's Participation

A crucial element in such a drought proofing strategy, based on developing hundreds of

micro projects, was people's participation. The sheer spread ofthe program in a region,

with often-inaccessible villages, would make it impossible for the government

departments to manage and maintain them. Devolution of maintenance responsibilities on

villagers means that they must feel a sense of ownership of the projects.

People's involvement was also considered essential for regeneration of vegetation in the

catchment. The local villages in this case have to promote stall-feeding and curb grazing

of cattle in the catchment. This would require highly motivated and united people

organizations. But for villages to manage such a program would require building their

organizational capacity providing adequate and appropriate science and technology

inputs, training in project management. For this voluntary organization were needed to

play a catalytic role. This is where People Science Institute (PSI) extended much needed

engineering and organizational support and led the 'Sukha Mukti Abhiyan '.

~]

5. The Project (Sukha Mukti Abhiyan)

In 1992-93, Palamau faced its worst recorded rainfall failure. The district administration

decided to construct 400 check dams for rainwater harvesting and ensuring long term

food security. Driven by a desire to curb leakage of government funds from development

projects, the district administration decided to make the program a people based one.

Hence Pani Panchayats were constituted. It was decided that Pani Panchayats, village

based people's organizations, would execute the project, thus bypassing the established

construction lobbies and minimizing the sponsoring of project funds.

The 'people's participation' was the top most priority in the project. But since the project

was hurriedly conceived, the concept of people's participation was unclear to the

planners and implementers. Therefore, it could not be effectively implemented and at

many sites, contractors hijacked the projects from Pani Panchayats. This was the time

when PSI made midway interventions. An information campaign was conducted by PSI

to inform the villagers about the nature and operations of the Pani Panchayat. This

midway intervention by PSI could only make limited dent as the damage was already

done. Finally, 356 dams were constructed.

In 1993-94, a more comprehensive program of participatory micro-wastershed

development in predominantly SC and ST villagers was prepared by PSI in consultation

with district administration. This program spreading across 125 villages was named

'Sukha Mukti Abhiyan' (SMA). It was a partnership effort in which the district

administration was the funding agency and had the overall responsibility for the program

implementation. Pani Panchayats (PP) were the project manager and the PSI led 'Pani

Chetna Manch' (PCM) was the facilitating organization. The project was implemented

in two places.

Phase-1

The main activities of the first phase have been discussed below:

1. Formation of Pani Chetna Manch (PCM): Nearly 45 activists from local NGOs were mobilized and trained to carry out the program. PCM included diploma holders in civil engineering and women. These people were trained about both soft tasks

(communication skills) and hard tasks (basic knowledge of water resource management) of the project. Six PCM teams were set-up to cover the entire district.

2. Program: A program guide line titled "Sukha Mukti Abhiyan" was evolved in a joint effort of the district administration and PCM. This guideline was distributed among all the program partners. '

3. Awareness Campaign: PCM conducted a large scale awareness campaign among the people. The awareness campaign included issues like need for developing Pani Panchayat (PP), voluntary labor, Gram Kosh and the potential of people technology. Over 600 meetings were conducted in 500 village.

4. Formation of Community Organizations: Over 125 PPs were formed. Elections were held to form the executive body of each Pani Panchayat in the presence of PCM observers.

5. Site Selection: The PCM team visited over 500 SC/ST dominated villages and identified about 250 sites for the construction of water harvesting structures. A rapid assessment of these potential sites was done along with the villages. After checking villagers' suggestions and interests, final site selection was done at village meetings.

6. Training of PP: In order to make PPs an effective project management institution, extensive training programs were organized for them. Primarily, the training of PPs included two aspects: engineering components and accounting components.

7. Women Involvement: A concerted effort was made to enhance women's active participation in the whole program, particularly in the PPs and Grarnkoshs. Once the construction work took off, a special women's team was formed at PCM to have the Grarnkosh entirely managed by women's committees.

8. Construction Monitoring: The PCM teams monitored the construction process at all the sites. They facilitated regular interaction between the villagers and the block level and district administrators to resolve problems. To minimize any potential leakage of funds, the entire process was sought to be made an open one. The project estimates were summarized in Hindi and explained to the Pani Panchayat.

Phase-2

With completion of phase-1 activities in several villages, phase-2 works were started. The

thrust areas of phase-2 were (i) participatory macro-watershed development in 35

selected villages (ii) evolving benefits - sharing agreements in these villages, (iii) women

empowerment programs; (iv) capacity building and strengthening of PPs; and (v)

Geographical diffusion of the program in Palamau.

1. Participatory Micro-Watershed Development: The main activities involved are: (a) micro-watershed; (b) evolving benefit sharing agreements; (c) land treatment works in irrigated land and catchments; (d) tree plantation on farm lands and afforestation in the catchment. Two teams within PCM were formed to look after watershed development. These teams were given special training about community participation

· campaign and technical inputs. An awareness campaign in selected villages was conducted.

2. Women Empowerment Program: As envisaged in the program, women's participation in PPs and Grarnkosh was much lesser than the desired level. But mobilizing them in time of crisis e.g. during the floods and in organizing public meetings has often been easier. The high women illiteracy turned out to be the major handicap in involving them in management committees. -

Women's team was formed within the PCM to promote women's empowerment

activities. Many awareness campaigns were conducted which led to the formation of

Mahila Vikas Sanghs (MVS) in 25 villages. MVS identified nursery raising as an income

generating activity for village women. In about ten villages, Mahila Vikas Kosh were

also set up. As their confidence was building up, MVS were beginning to discuss issues

important for women e.g. illiteracy, liquor consumption by men, health, saving etc.

The partnership process between the government, PSI and community can be

summarized in following way.

~ A village with a majority of SC/ST population is selected. It is then located on a survey of India's topographical map. Probable sites for check dams I ahars are marked.

~ A visit is made to the village and probable sites are selected in consultation with the villagers. Issues like developing people's organization, Sharamdan, Gramkosh etc. are discussed with the villagers using appropriate IEC devices such as posters etc.

~ Various technical observations of the proposed sites are made and if it is found satisfactory, proposal is forwarded to DRDA.

~ DRDA forwards the proposal to the respective block office. A block level J.E. visits the site to measure the profile.

~ Estimate for the proposed structure is prepared by the PSI. Then it is sent to DRDA for approval.

};> Once the technical and financial proposal is approved, the village is informed and series of meetings are held. The relevance of the Sukha Mukti Abhiyan, Pani Panchayat, Gram Kosh is explained once again. The functionaries of Pani Panchayat are formally elected in the presence of PCM volunteers. Members of Gramkosh are also selected and then PP is asked to initiate for the Shramdan.

};> In the meantime, sanctioned funds are transferred to the respective block office. On the completion of Shramdan, the PP informs the block office and joint account of BDO and PP is opened. The Gramkosh account is also opened simultaneously with the help of membership fee paid by the villagers.

};> The value of Shramdan is assessed and equivalent amount is transferred to the Gram Kosh.

};> A PCM engineering team lays out the design of the dam. Then the construction work begins formally.

};> The PCM and block official do monitoring of construction on a regular basis.

};> Once the construction of dam is completed, it is handed over to the PP and now onwards PP is responsible for its 0 & M.

Thus, the "Sukha Mukti Abhiyan" represent a top-to-bottom approach of development.

Where, project was conceived at the district level and an outside agency (TBS) was

called to implement it. This could be one of the main reasons behind the failure of project

in producing long term sustainable results. In the later part of this chapter a comparative

analysis of PSI & TBS will make this point clearer.

4.4) TARUN BHARAT SANGH

Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS) was established in 1975 to help victims of fire accidents in

Rajasthan University Campus. It started its activities by providing health, water, and

rehabilitation services to forty-four slum dwellers victimized by this accident. TBS was

supported by student union and student organizations in pursuing the task. During initial

days, only a limited number of enthusiastic youths continued TBS 's activities by

organizing service camps to take up various problems of urban poor. Therefore, the

beginning of TBS was very humble, however, its vision was noble and had the ambition ..

to work for the upliftment of the deprived sections of the society, particularly in rural

areas.

In the beginning of 80s, TBS made its entry in the rural areas by organizing literacy

classes for rural youth involved in carpet industry in the Alwar District of Rajasthan.

Simultaneously, it started organizing Ghia mining workers in Jamnaramgarh wildlife j

sanctuary and succeeded in mobilizing them to fight for the realization of minimum

wages act. ItJurther penetrated the rural areas by organizing camps in the tribal areas of

Dausa. By the year 1983, a lot of rural youths had come in contact with TBS. With the

help of these rural youths, TBS closely studied the rural society and its development

needs. Findings of study suggested that the traditional occupations of Gurdalia Lohars

were taken over by the big companies, producing iron utensils, knives etc. Therefore,

Gurdulia Lohar community became an immediate concern for TBS. This was the initial

learning experience, which made TBS understand the value of traditional occupations and

practices and with this experience, the flaws of techno-centric development approach was

also exposed. Now onwards, Gram Swaraj through conservation of traditional resources

and promotion of traditional practices became the ultimate objective for TBS.

In 1985, a group of five volunteers decided to establish TBS in rural areas of Alwar

district of Rajasthan. These five individuals reached "Kishori" village, they landed here

without any concrete ideas except that they have to help rural people through whatever

way possible. This was the starting point of the more than one decade long journey and

struggle. From then onwards, these TBS volunteers started mixing around with the

villagers to understand their problems. It will be meaningful to mention one incident of

the village Gopalpur. Once in Gopalpur, volunteers visited Mangu and Badari, member

of a humble rural family, whose forefathers used to be one of the most prosperous people

in this village. While discussing their problems, they said, "when our forefathers built

this big house, our ponds (Johad) were full of water and there was enough water for

agriculture and cattle. If our ponds-Dams (Johads) can be rejuvenated, we will get a

new life."

The above mentioned case made TBS understand the value and need of water for the

people of this area. Hence, TBS decided to take up the task of water conservation and

management for the villagers. The vision was to bring about total development of the

villages through the water. Johad (ponds) had been the traditional source of water for the

people of this area. Therefore, TBS decided to dig Johads and use them as reservoir for

rainwater harvesting. This technology suited them the most as development through

traditional resources and technology had been its top priority.

Now the question was how to mobilize resources to construct Johads. Gandhi's concept

of volunteerism, people's participation and Shramdan for Gram Swaraj immediately

struck the mind of TBS volunteers. It was decided that Johads would be constructed in

Gopalpur with the help of "Sitramdan" (voluntary labor) from the villagers. Finally, two

Johads were constructed in Gopalpur. After noticing the happiness of_ Gopalpur due _to _

these Johads, people from the surrounding villages started approaching TBS to help them

in digging Johads in their villages. Henceforth, Johad construction work, which started

from Gopalpur started multiplying and spreading all over the area.

In the second phase of expansion of its activities, Sariska wildlife sanctuary was targeted.

As reported by TBS, fifty-two villages, settled in this area, have been experiencing

exploitation and extmiion due to new legal order imposed on them after the declaration of

this area as a 'wildlife sanctuary'. Various sanctions, which were imposed on them, had

severely affected their life style. Due to lack of clear demarcation of village land and

forestland, conflict between the villages and the forest department started. Besides,

villagers reported that they were used by the employees of forest department for illegal

smuggling of wood and other forest products. TBS took-up this issue and fought several

legal battles on behalf of the villagers to restore the peace and happiness of the area. The

battle is still continuing.

Besides water management through Johads, rejuvenation of forest and wildlife was

another step towards the conservation of Jai Jangal Aur Jameen (water, forest and land).

TBS has been simultaneously undertaking several other activities also. Some of these

activities, taken up in recent year, will be discussed below:

4.4.1) Activities ofTBS

I. Education Related Projects:

Some of education and awareness generation activities ofTBS are listed below:

);> Balshala and Shishu Palan

);> Discussion Forums

);> Documentation

);> Women awareness camps

);> Vocational Training to Rural Youths

);> Workshops and Meetings

);> Rural Community Awareness Camps

);> Training of Gram Sabha and Lok Samiti Members

II. Health Programs:

Health related programs primarily concentrate in promotion of indigenous system of

medicine. A special program was implemented to identify indigenous medicines and

herbs in the surrounding hills and jungle. Demonstration of impact of these medicines

was done in many villages to restore villagers' faith on indigenous system of medication.

Training camps were organized to train some enthusiastic villagers about the use of these

medicines so that they could provide an immediate and low cost treatment to poor

villagers. This effort ofTBS has a particular significance due to two reasons.

);> Villages are located in far-off jungles, therefore, in case of emergency, availability of treatment in the village was desperately needed.

);> Due to poverty, villagers can not afford to meet expenses of modem system of medicine.

III. Water and Soil conservation

As we discussed earlier, programs related to soil and water conservation constitute TBS's

core activity. Water management and conservation projects will be discussed in more

detail in the later part of the chapter.

IV. Training and Extension of Indigenously made Fertilizers

It was re~lized by TBS that the use of chemical fertilizers is not only expensive but its

long-term impact on soil is also harmful. Therefore, TBS started campaigning for the use

of indigenously produced manure and fertilizers. Besides the low ~ost, this system helps

in disposing household, cattle and farm waste.

V. Promotion of Indigenous Seeds

This is done through organizing ~amps and extension services.

VI. Promotion of Animal Husbandry

Animal husbandry has been the main occupation of the people in this area. On an

average, 55% of the household earning comes from animal husbandry. However, due to

unavailability of doctors, animal husbandry had become a very risky business. This need

was realized by the TBS and under the 'Pavari Project', several villagers were trained on

the treatment of some common animal diseases.

VII. Forestry and Plantation

Forest conservation and promotion of plantation has been an integral part of TBS's

overall development strategy. TBS has got its own nursery, from where it distributes free

plants among the villagers.

VIII. Opportunities for Women Employment

This program was another step towards Gandhi's conception of 'Gram Swaraj'. Women

were trained about the production of 'Khadi'. Besides Khadi, cotton weaving and carpet

weaving was also promoted. It was estimated that in 1995-97, about ten thousand meter

cloth were produced by women.

IX. Alternate Employment Opportunity for Mine Workers

Unrestricted rock mining has severely affected the natural environment. In some places,

leaking and seepage, due to excessive mining, had made some of water management and

conservation efforts of TBS ineffective. TBS started organizing villagers to fight against

it and filed several cases against the mine owners. In some cases TBS could succeed also.

Due to the closing down of the mining industries,. lots of workers were left unemployed.

These unemployed mine workers were provided employment by involving them in Johad

digging. In addition the increasing employment in agricultu~e also, provided alternatives

to these mine workers.

Besides, the above mentioned activities which are carried on regular basis it will be

useful to document some of the remarkable success stories of TBS, which would be

useful in documenting some of the distinctive feature ofTBS.

Case of Lilunda Village: Lilunda is a remote village located across a hill. One has to cross seven kilometers long stretch of jungle and hills to reach here. The village had been facing acute water problem. During summer, villagers used to migrate to other places where they could get water for themselves and for their cattle. Daraki Mai, an old widow, had seen Johad digging in a neighbouring village and since that day she was dreaming of having a Johad in her village. She decided to approach TBS for help in digging the Johad. TBS responded positively and constructed two Johads in Lilunda .. Lilunda is a classic example of (1) how individual effort can lead to community action: (2) if a voluntary agencies succeeds in identifYing the real community needs, community will itself come forward to join hands with the VO.

Cost Sharing: case of Angari Village: During the initial phase, TBS constructed a Johad in Angari village in 1988. The site for Johad digging was selected by the villagers themselves. Before the commencement of construction, only some financial support was promised by the TBS. During the construction 2769 man days employment was generated. The value of total labor was Rs. 41,535. Out of this only Rs. 11,055 were paid to the villagers rest came in terms of "Shramdan" or paid in kind. Thus, almost 7 5 per cent of the total cost could be recovered.

Gram Swaraj: Case of Lolas In the year 1989, TBS assisted Lolas village in digging a Johad. After the construction of Johad, the villagers have been prospering due to the improved agriculture and animal husbandry. None of the disputes among the villagers are settled outside the village court, Gram Sabha is responsible for solving all these cases. Alcohol is prohibited and forest conservation is the duty of every villager. Whoever violates these norms has to pay fine in cash. There is no government school in the village. Gram Sabha runs 'Shishu Palan Grah' and a school. All the community needs are met through 'Gramkosh funds', in the event of crisis, Gramkosh is opened for poor villagers also. To conclude, Lolas is a classical example of 'Gram Swaraj' in modern world.

Jangal Jeevan Bachao Yatra: To raise awareness for a continuous destruction of forest and wild life in Aravali range, 'Jangal Jeevan Bachao yatra' was organized by the TBS in 1994. The journey began from Gujarat and passed through Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Chandigarh before reaching Delhi. A wide range of activities and voluntary organizations participated On its way, meetings and rallies were also organized to spread the message. This yatra could be considered as a mile· stone activity of TBS in its advocacy efforts for the protection of forest and wide life.

4.4.2) WATER MANAGEMENT: A Community Based Effort

As we discussed earlier, water conservation and water management has been one of the

major activities ofTBS. It will be worth discussing this program in a detailed manner.

I. The Project Area

A detailed account of the project area has already been given earlier.

It was reported that before the arrival of the TBS in this area, acute poverty and difficult

living conditions which prevailed in the area, used to drive people out of villages leading

to a large scale out migration. Wells had dried up, rivers were waterless around the year.

The area was declared as 'Dark Zone' (when water consumption is more than water

recharge).

II. Water conservation Efforts ofTBS

As we discussed earlier that immediately after TBS's arrival in the project area, its

volunteers undertook in-depth study of socio-economic condition and needs of the

people. It was found that water is an immediate requirement and if it is made available,

half of the villagers' problems will be solved. TBS started investigating traditional water

management and conservation techniques, which were practiced in the past and were

destroyed due to the negligence. TBS was more interested in reviving traditional systems

due to the following reasons:

);> Cost effectiveness

);> Sustainability of traditional systems

);> Easy and familiar system of Operation and Maintenance

);> People did not take time to adopt it, as they were familiar with this system.

After an intensive and depth investigation, it was found that, digging Johad would be the

most appropriate technique. A Johad is a semi-circular earthen water pond. It is built • j

along the contours of hill slopes for stopping and storing rainwater. A Joltad has a wide

base to collect runoff water from tiny streams and rivulets. Since Johads are made of

earth, most of the construction cost is taken up by labor.

Go pal pur of Thanagazi area was the first village where the TBS 's volunteers initiated

Johad digging. After few days of hesitation, villagers also joined hands and finally a

Johad was dug. Next year after the monsoon, Johad had enough water to fulfill irrigation

and household water requirements of villagers in Gopalpur. The news of Johad digging

and its impact on villagers' life spread like a wild fire in the surrounding areas. Requests

to undertake same work in other villages started multiplying year after year. By the year

1996, the number of Johads constructed by TBS reached up to 600. Efforts are still

continuing. Some of the specific features of Johad digging and related activities will be

described below.

a) Village Selection

As far as village selection is concerned, a very distinct strategy was adopted by the TBS.

After the initial efforts of awareness generation camp, TBS volunteers never visited a

village with the proposal. TBS believes that once, need has been realized and demand has

been created, aVO's role is over. Now, VO can only support and assist the community in·

its efforts. Therefore, TBS never undertook the task Of village selection. Villagers

themselves have been approaching TBS to help them in digging Johads.

b) Site Selection

Once TBS agrees to help a village in digging Johad, a team of TBS volunteers visits the

village. TBS volunteers generally play the role observers only, the site selection is

primarily done on the basis of suggestions from elders in the village. TBS believes that

villagers are themselves the best people to take decisions on the site selection as they

have been living in the village for a long time and were familiar with agro-climatic and

geographical conditions.

It will be useful to site the case of Lolas village, which will support the stated argument. '

In Lolas village, a Johad was dug in an uphill site in north direction from the village.

It took nine months to dig the Jahad. After the completion of work, a civil engineer

(Executive Engineer from Government) visited the site and said "the Johad has not

been constructed properly, once it rains, it will be swept away. However, against the

prediction of technically trained engineer, Johad is still intact even after nine years

construction. The above-mentioned case supports TBS's philosophy of revival of

traditional technology and its belief that the villagers are the most knowledgeable people

t9 help them.

c) Johad Construction and Cost Sharing

As we discussed earlier, Johad digging is purely based on indigenous technology. It is

low cost and labor intensive. In most of the cases, only soil is required. However, in some

villages, where villagers are better off and Johad has a large catchment area, few bags of

cement and rock particles are required for the construction.

As a matter of principle before taking up the responsibility of Johad digging in a village,

TBS seeks commitment from the villagers to contribute at least 25 per cent of the total

estimated expenses. In the last couple of years, minimum share of villagers in the total

cost has been fixed to 33 per cent. These numbers are only a matter of principle,

however, in reality, as reported by TBS volunteers, villagers' contribution works out to

be more than 33 per cent. In some cases it went up to 75-85 per cent also.

The villagers' share in construction cost is received in three forms, namely (1) Shramdan,

(2) Payment in kind, and (3) Payment in cash. Most of the villagers' contribution,

however, comes in the form of Shramdan. In case enough laborers are not available in the

village, laborers are called from outside. Giving them food grains makes partial payment

to these laborers by the villagers.

According to Shri Rajendra Singh (Secretary TBS), the sustainability of any community

based development project, largely depends on the beneficiaries' contribution in the

project. He strongly feels that TBS's projects could sustain for more than a decade just

because most of the project cost is being borne by the villagers themselves.

(d) Operation and Maintenance

Once again, operation and maintenance of Johad does not require any high level of

technical skill. It involves only two activities, which are undertaken only once in a year.

These activities are:

+ Just before the arrival of monsoon Johads are cleaned, excessive soil and rock particles are removed to ensure that Johads are deep enough.

+ Repairing of Johads edges, particularly in case of Bandhs.

Gram Sabha, a village level committee represented by people from all section of the

society is generally responsible for the operation and maintenance of Johads. It is

constituted immediately after the project is initiated and is supposed to keep account of

all the project details such as costs and the amount of Shramdan. While commenting on

Gram Sabha, Shri Rajendra Singh said, "we decided to name village assembly, Gram

Sabha, because we did not want to introduce any new concept or term to villagers".

(e) Grants for the Project

As far as grant is concerned, TBS once again has a very different approach. It does not

believe in submitting proposals and receiving grants in a very structured fashion.

Commenting on the subject, Shri Rajendra Singh said, "I do not believe in going through

a very structured and imposed proposal submission mechanism, rather, I prefer to tell the

potential funding agency about the kind of activities we take up and request them to

provide funds to pursue these activities". Over the years, TBS has received enough

amounts of funds from various national and international agencies to carry out its

activities. However, there is no denying the fact that the beneficiaries themselves met

most of the expenses.

(t) Gram Kosh

Villagers' money is deposited in Gramkosh and the Gram Sabha is responsible for

looking after it. The following are the sources of money for Gram Sabha:

+ One member from each family of the village contributes towards common village resources; the value of this Shramdan is deposited in Gram Kosh.

+ Various fines are imposed on villagers who break village norms.

+ Voluntary contribution from the villagers.

The Gram Kosh money is spent on three types of activities.

1. Construction and maintenance of Johads.

2. To meet expenses of community works such as school, sanitati_on, drainage etc.

3. Helping poor villagers in case of emergency.

To conclude, over more than a decade long efforts of TBS have started showing its

results. Once, declared as 'Dark Zone', Thanagazi has now been declared as 'White

Zone'. Five small rivers of this area namely Arvari, Bandi, Sarsa, Jahaswali and Buja

have started flowing around the year. Water table has gone up and wells have enough

water for irrigation and other household purposes. Villages have enough water to rear

animals. Women have been the main beneficiaries, as now they do not have to wander

around for several hours to fetch water for household needs. Now they can put their man­

hours in other productive activities. Therefore it would not be inappropriate to say,,

"Tarun Bharat Sangh is strongly marching ahead of its mission of water, forest and

soil conservation (Jai Jangal Aur Jameen Sanrakshan) and Gram Swaraj"

4.5) A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TWO VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATIONS

The two voluntary organizations covered under the study present two very different

cases. PSI based is Dehradun, does not appear to be a classical case of grassroots

organization. The organization was started to provide need based innovative technology

support for micro level project. However, PSI can not be called merely a technical

institute as it works in very close association with the community. Our case study

indicates, though PSI does not belong to Palamau, yet, its functionaries could succeed in

developing a very strong community base in the project areas.

On the other hand, TBS seems to be a reflection of people's movement as it has grown as

an organization with the initiatives and support from the local people. When TBS entered

in Thanagazi (Alwar), it had a single aim of liberating poor villagers from the age long

poverty and misery. It did not come with predetermined set of ideas and activities rather

its activities were shaped by people's needs and demands.

The nature of organizational set up, priorities and the way they have grown is also very

different in two VOs. However, the kind of ideology they share and the way they operate

seems to be very identical in both the cases. Both believe in the Gandhian model of

development and give priority to strengthen and mobilize local resources, promoting

indigenous technology and community empowerment. It will be worthwhile to compare

the two VOs on the basis of some of the distinct characteristics of voluntary

organizations.

4.5.1) Accountability

In principle, both the organizations share the same viewpoint on the question of

accountability as they claim that they are accountable to the community only. However,

in reality, they appear to have gone through a different process. Accountability to the

community seems to be greater in case ofTBS because:

a) TBS made long term promises to the community.

b) Due to the local base, TBS has continuous interaction with the community.

While PSI is like a visiting organization, they do not have any long-term commitment to

the community, which makes them less accountable.

As far as accountability to sponsoring agency is concerned, both the organizations are

differently placed. None of the money in Palamau was routed through PSI rather it was

directly given to the community. On the other hand, the nature of funding was very

different in Thanagazi. TBS has never received any money for specific projects, rather,

funds are used when and where required. Moreover, the community's share in the total

cost of the project was considerably high, which kept the funds' requirement very low

particularly in case of TBS. Since the project was low cost, there wa's no scope for the

VO to prove their integrity as far as utilization of funds was concerned.

Therefore,. it can, however, be concluded that the VOs accountability to community

depends on two factors:

A. Commitment to the community B. Involvement of community

On the other hand, the level of interaction of the sponsoring agency with the community

and the feed back about the status of project, largely determines sponsoring agency's

control over the funds and the VO. (refer diagram 4.6)

Sponsoring Agency

DIAGRAM: 4.6

Greater Interaction with Community

Lesser Interaction with Community

~Hioh ~oun~ability

------------------~ Commitment to

community & greater communitv involvement

Less commitment to community & lesser

communitv involvement

~Low ~-countability

4.5.2) VO Functionaries

Field visit to Thanagazi and Palamau revealed that VO functionaries in both the places

(PSI in Palamau, TBS volunteers in Tanagazi) were highly motivated and had adequate I

skill to discharge their duty. The source of motivation seems to be different in both the

cases. In case of PSI, the spirit of professional social workers was operating which was

based on moral as well as professional duty. While, TBS volunteers were pushed by true

voluntary spirit, primarily due to two reasons.

~ TBS is known as 'Sanstha' and association with Sanstha is a matter of pride in Thanagazi area.

~ The local base of volunteers gives them a sense of belonging with the people as they have themselves seen misery of the people. Therefore, first hand experience of the problem and attachment with people imbibes a greater sense of voluntary spirit.

Thus, depending upon the sources there could be three basis of motivation, namely

community based, individual based, and organization based. All these sources are

interdependent on each other. (Please refer diagram 4.7)

DIAGRAM: 4. 7

I SOURCE OF MOTIVATION I Community Based I I

Organization Based I , I l Individual Based

Identification Professional Support from with ~ ~ Ethic __.. Organization

Community

Incentives from Sense of Pride ~

__.. Moral Ethic ~ Organization

Commitment to Commitment to Ideology of the Community +-- 4 the Global Organization ~

Cause

The motivation sources and interest of functionaries largely determine the direction in

which a VO heads. The founder of PSI was a trained engirteer who started this

organization with the initial motive of doing only engineering work by inventing

community friendly technologies. However, of late, PSI has shown interest in working

with the community, but still technology remains its first priority. The founder of TBS,

on the other hand, had the service of people as a motive without having even a vague idea

of doing it. This spirit of service was the main driving force behind the desire to work for

and with the community. Therefore, if we compare the two VOs, it becomes cleat that the

background and interest of the VOs largely determine the specialization of a voluntary

organization. In these two cases, PSI specialized in the engineering aspects of micro­

development while TBS is ahead of PSI in community mobilization. None ofthe two can

be labeled as better that the other. Both have their own expertise and specialization

arising out of training and interests of the functionaries.

4.5.3) Strategy of VO

As we discussed earlier, micro level planning and promotion of local resources and

indigenous technology gives greater scope of success to the VO. Both the VOs seem to

have followed the same strategy. To answer the question that can VOs take up large-scale

projects? Theoretically speaking, for better outcomes and true nature of functioning, VOs

take-up only small projects spreading over a limited geographical area. The field

experiences, however, indicate that depending upon the nature and popularity of activity,,

nature of organization, and level of community support, VOs can take up a project at a

large level also. The following field experiences would be worth mentioning to

substantiate the argument.

I. TBS could implement the same project in a couple of other districts also because the concept of Johad became very popular in the rzeighbouring districts. TBS did not put any additional efforts to gain this popularity. Outside people visiting their relatives in Thanagazi area and went back to their villages with the message of Johad. Once the concept gained popularity and its need was felt by the people, the community itself approached TBS to help their villages. Once there is a community driven need, the

community itself becomes manager. At this stage, VO is required only for technical support and if necessary for financial support also. (refer diagram: 4.8).

DIAGRAM: 4.8 People Visiting Original site

Went back with the conce

Original Project Area

VO-Project Manager

vo

2. In case of PSI, it was giving technical support for both engineering and social component and operated through the PCM Thus, PSI could create the same type of PCM in any district and implement the project, however, similar support from the community and government will be required, which reflects on NGOs dependence on government agencies. (refer diagram: 4. 9)

DIAGRAM: 4.9

'. PCM PCM

Community Community Community

Government Support

4.5.4) Resource Mobilization and Sustainability of1he Project

Both the VOs feel that the problem of resources can to some extent be solved by the

community contribution. Since community lacks material resources, their contribution '

can be sought only in the form of Shramdan (free labor). Therefore, the VOs suggested

that projects should be low cost, based on indigenous technology and local resources, and

it should also be labour intensive. The proportion of community's share in the project

cost largely determines the sustainability of the project.

In Thanagazi, where community contribution ranges from 30 to 80 per cent, more than

ten years old "Johads" are still intact. Creation of Gramkosh in this regard was a

successful experiment. In Palamau, where community contribution is relatively less, the

success rate in terms of completion of construction as well as in sustainability of created

structures is less.

4.5.5) VO's dealing with Socio-economic and Political Environment

Our experience from both the project areas has indicated that the socio-economic and

political environment and NGOs strategy to deal with it has a lot of bearing on the

performance ofNGO.

Palamau represents a feudal and class oriented society, where rich dominant class is

likely to play a very crucial role in any activity involving money. For instance, the nexus

of rich contractor lobby & district administr.ation had an adverse impact on longevity of

success story of "Sukha Mukti Abhiyan". Thanks to the District Collector (DC) who had

not fallen into the trap of this nexus and had extended a full cooperation to PSI. However,

while district administration was in its favor, PSI could not develop a strategy of its own

to deal with this lethal nexus, rather they were entirely dependent on the DC. Therefore,

the transfer of the DC, entirely handicapped the PSI and they could not sustain the

pressure of contractor lobby and the entire project fell apart. Besides the government,

community is another source of strength for the NGO. PSI was not so strong even in this

sphere. Though, they worked with the community, they could not develop a strong

community base so that they could fall back on them for support.

On the other hand, we have a different story from Alwar. TBS was never dependent on

the state rather in many occasions they had to fight against the state to safeguard the

interest of the villagers. In all these occasion when TBS' s intere~t contradicted with that

of state, community always strongly stood by it. Though there is not a very strong feudal

lobby in Alwar, due to immense scope of mining, mining contractor from outside having

strong connection with the government official had contradictory interests with TBS's

activities. In this case also TBS did not bow down to them and found its way out.

However, in all these struggles; strong affiliation with the community and its consistent

support was the main factor behind the success ofTBS.

Therefore, taking lead from the above two cases, we can strongly argue that a voluntary

organization, in its true sense, can not fight out with its socio-economic environment,

which it has to do very often, without a strong community base. The success of aVO and

realization of community benefits, which is its main objective, are largely determined by

the extent of mutual understanding and ties between the VO and the community.

4.5.6) Community Participation

The community participation in a rural development project can be assessed at the level

of context and process.

i. Technology: "Simpler the technology, greater the community participation", we have noticed in both the projects that the use of indigenous technique was the main driving force behind high community participation. Particularly, in the case of TBS where Johad were adopted because of community demand only. Therefore, before the adoption of technology, VOs should study the community and consider their view in all possible ways.

ii. Resource Mobilization: As far as local resource mobilization is concerned, community generally does not come forward to contribute until and unless there is a felt-need. Therefore, in order to seek community resources, VO has to first create a demand. Once demand is created, community itself comes forward. TBS successfully created demand for Johads, therefore, the community took initiative from its own and approached TBS. In addition, community was ready to contribute more than what TBS had fixed as a precondition for selecting a village. The case was different in Palamau, where the level of felt need was much less, PCM had made consistent visits to motivate villagers to come forward. However, in Palamau

project, the cost of Shramdan was paid back to the villagers by depositing the same amount of money in Gramkosh. Therefore, the above findings clearly indicate a proportionate relationship between the felt need of the community and local resource mobilization.

DIAGRAM: 4.10 High Participation Land Resources

vo

High Participation COMMUNITY

GOVERNMENT

Govt. Functio naries

iii. Nature of Benefits: The nature of benefits (tangible or intangible) decides the level of community participation to a great extent. Advocacy efforts of voluntary organizations play a decisive role in communicating the tangibility of benefits to the community. In Thanagazi, need of water and prospective benefit were deeply rooted in the community's mind, however, they were not confident of achieving it. TBS successfully did the job of restoring the confidence of the community by putting up some exemplary cases of Johad digging. Similar was the case in Palamau.

iv. Socio-cultural Environment: As we discussed earlier that traditionally in India, water resources management was a responsibility of the community bodied (Panchayats). Therefore, the traditional socioeconomic environment supports a VO's effort working for water management. Thus, some time nature of project and related traditional practices also determines the scope of V 0' s success in mobilizing community support.

Thus the cases of People Science Institute and Tarun Bharat Sangh strongly support the

views that voluntary organizations are the best agencies to facilitate rural development,

though the strategies and approaches may differ in a particular context. However,

effectiveness of ·a particular VO may also be different in realizing their goal, but one

thing is certain that they can produce much better results than a government agencies,

particularly where community support is needed.

If we take the case of water management, both the VOs adopted revival of traditional

techniques through micro level planning. This strategy turned out to be most effective

primarily due to:

1. familiarity of the community with these techniques

2. low cost

3. least dependence on outside support

The empirical findings of the above, presented two case studies ofVOs and their projects

will be used to analyze our research question in the following concluding chapter.