Official PDF , 75 pages

SOCIAL ASSESSMENT & SOCIAL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK Bihar Integrated Social Protection Strengthening (BISPS) Project

Pub

lic D

iscl

osur

e A

utho

rized

Pub

lic D

iscl

osur

e A

utho

rized

Pub

lic D

iscl

osur

e A

utho

rized

Pub

lic D

iscl

osur

e A

utho

rized

Pub

lic D

iscl

osur

e A

utho

rized

Pub

lic D

iscl

osur

e A

utho

rized

Pub

lic D

iscl

osur

e A

utho

rized

Pub

lic D

iscl

osur

e A

utho

rized

wb452162

Typewritten Text

wb452162

Typewritten Text

IPP589 v2

SOCIAL ASSESSMENT & SOCIAL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK – BISPS PROJECT 1

SOCIAL ASSESSMENT & SOCIAL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK

Table of Contents

1. Background ........................................................................................................... 3 1.1 Rationale & Objectives of Social Management Framework (SMF) ........................................... 3 1.2 Methodology ................................................................................................................................................... 4 1.3 Consultations and Disclosure .................................................................................................................. 5

2. BISPS: The Project Description .............................................................................. 7 2.1 PDO ..................................................................................................................................................................... 7 2.2 Project Components .................................................................................................................................... 7 2.3 Beneficiary Profile ........................................................................................................................................ 9

3. Social Profile ....................................................................................................... 11 3.1 Coverage of Programs .............................................................................................................................. 13

4. Social Exclusion Issues ......................................................................................... 14 4.1 Potential Sources of Exclusion – Existing Government Schemes & Programs ................. 14

5. Social Impact Assessment ................................................................................... 18 5.1 Potential Sources of Impact – Project Activities ........................................................................... 18

5.1.1 Buniyad Centers ............................................................................................................................................. 18 5.2 Social Impact Management .................................................................................................................... 19

5.2.1 Process of Site Selection .............................................................................................................................. 20 5.3 Social Screening - Summary of Findings .......................................................................................... 20

6. Social Inclusion Strategy ...................................................................................... 21 6.1 Strategies / approaches for social inclusion under the Project .............................................. 21

6.1.1 Social Inclusion Plan .................................................................................................................................... 23 6.2 Consultations at Various Levels ........................................................................................................... 24

6.2.1 Consultations at the State and District Levels ................................................................................. 24 6.2.2 Consultations at the Village Level .......................................................................................................... 25

7. Tribal Development Plan (TDP) ........................................................................... 27 7.1 Background & Context ......................................................................................................................................... 27

7.1.1 Scheduled Tribes in Bihar .......................................................................................................................... 27 7.2 Tribal Development Plan ........................................................................................................................ 28

8. Implementation Arrangements ........................................................................... 30 8.1 Overall Institutional Arrangements ................................................................................................... 30

8.1.1 State level: ......................................................................................................................................................... 30 8.1.2 District level: .................................................................................................................................................... 31 8.1.3 Block level: ........................................................................................................................................................ 31 8.1.4 Village / Community level: ........................................................................................................................ 31

8.2 Institutional Arrangement for ensuring compliance to SMF ................................................... 31 8.2.1 Grievance redress system ........................................................................................................................... 32

Annexure I ........................................................................................................................ 34

Annexure II ....................................................................................................................... 36

Annexure III ...................................................................................................................... 44

Annexure IV ...................................................................................................................... 49


Annexure V ....................................................................................................................... 53

Annexure VI ...................................................................................................................... 57

Annexure VII ..................................................................................................................... 61

Annexure VIII .................................................................................................................... 66

Annexure IX ...................................................................................................................... 68

Annexure X ....................................................................................................................... 71

Annexure XI ...................................................................................................................... 72

Annexure XII ..................................................................................................................... 74


1. Background The Bihar Integrated Social Protection Strengthening (BISPS) Project aims to strengthen institutional capacity to deliver social protection programs and services and expand outreach of social care services for poor & vulnerable, persons with disabilities, older persons and widows in Bihar. The project would focus on programs administered by the Department of Social Welfare (DoSW) including social pensions (cash transfers) and social care services for older persons, widows, and persons with disabilities, and by the Rural Development Department (RDD) which oversees the provision of MGNREGS and IAY. Specifically, the project would provide support for: (1) strengthening capacity to implement and monitor these programs at the state, district and block levels (Component 1); and (2) strengthening outreach and social protection service delivery (Component 2). The focus in the first year of the project would be on streamlining processes and capacity building in order to ensure clear allocation of functions and strong institutional oversight for effective functioning of the expanded services and outreach proposed under Component 2.

1.1 Rationale & Objectives of Social Management Framework (SMF) Equality of status and opportunity to all citizens of the country is guaranteed by the Constitution of India, which also provides that no individual shall be discriminated against on the grounds of religion, caste or sex. However, the Parliamentary Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes reported that "even after more than five decades of Independence, the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes people representing over one-fourth of India's population, endure social ostracization". During Census 2001, it was found that there were 13.05 and 0.75 million of SC and ST population respectively comprising 15.72 and 0.91 per cent of the total population in Bihar. In 20111, the population rose to 16.56 and 1.33 million of SC and ST population respectively comprising of 15.91 per cent of the total population. Amongst the districts, as per census 2011, Gaya has the highest SC population of 30.30 per cent, while Paschim Chamaparan has the highest ST population of 6.35 per cent, followed by Katihar which has a ST population of 5.86 per cent. This Social Assessment and Management Framework draws lessons from the social assessment of Bihar Rural Livelihoods Project (BRLP) and National Rural Livelihoods Project (NRLM) and several field-based assessments conducted by both RDD and DoSW. The Social Management Framework has been prepared with the following objectives: • To ensure the objectives of the BISPS are fully addressed especially for the most

vulnerable people in the project areas, including Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes; • To integrate social inclusion, accountability, safeguards, risk management and

sustainability strategies in the BISPS structures, institutions and interventions; • To ensure that the BISPS does not support any activities likely to cause significant adverse

social impacts and that all activities comply with the laws, regulations and policies of India and the social safeguard policies of the World Bank.

1 Source: Census of India, 2011


This Social Management Framework (SMF) has been prepared to facilitate the mitigation of possible adverse effects on these groups and to ensure that project benefits are culturally appropriate. The SMF provides a guidance tool for implementation, monitoring and supervision and will serve as a guide for addressing the specific social inclusion issues through the Social Inclusion Plan. A Tribal Development Plan is being prepared, specifically targeting the districts with scheduled tribe population. OP 4.12 (Involuntary Resettlement) is not applicable to the project as involuntary land acquisition and land purchase will not be done for any project activity, and are included in the project’s negative list. In some of the Blocks where the government land is not available, the project will not be undertaking construction of either Buniyad. There are 10 districts in Bihar having an ST population of more than 2 per cent of the total population, thus, the project triggers OP/BP4.10 (Indigenous People) safeguard policy of World Bank. The policy is triggered to ensure that any adverse effects of the project are avoided or minimized and that the indigenous people receive culturally appropriate social and economic benefits.

1.2 Methodology The following broad steps were undertaken for the preparation of this Social Management Framework: (i) Literature review: In order to understand the current status of social protection services

in the State along with their coverage, targeting mechanism, causes of exclusion, etc. as well as the relevant legal and regulatory provisions, compilation and analysis of information from secondary sources was undertaken. The literature review helped in identifying the key issues, experience and learning in integrating social management in relevant social protection programs in the State.

(ii) Field assessment & data collection: The Project staff carried out field assessment in the project districts to consult the respective Block Development Offices, DDRCs, a representative sample of MNREGS works and IAY houses and other key stakeholders with the view to inform the project design and ensure social inclusion of the vulnerable groups. Discussions with the relevant functionaries and other stakeholders including representatives of Gram Panchayats were also held. Further, learnings have also been drawn from the Social Assessment conducted by BRLP and NRLM.

(iii) Stakeholder consultation: During the process of the development of SMF various consultations were held at the State, district and local levels. The team engaged to work on the development of SMF held consultation meetings within the Project teams, as well as with the DoSW, RDD and other relevant line departments for identifying the strategy for involvement of community institutions in all its activities. The draft SMF was also circulated to all relevant state level line departments for feedback before finalization.

(iv) Field Studies: As a part of the Project preparation process, various field studies were

carried out that helped inform the Project design as well as provided inputs for the


development of the Social Inclusion Plan and other relevant strategies laid down in the SMF. Some of such major field studies included: Workshop on the experience of implementing IAY (cash transfers for rural housing)

in Bihar and other Indian states - including institutional models, package of benefits/support and use of new housing technologies (2009);

Communications needs assessment as part of the design and development of awareness generation and advocacy materials for MGNREGS and IAY (2011-2012);

Survey-based impact evaluation of MGNREGS in 38 districts and detailed process assessment in 6 districts (2009 - 2012);

Institutional assessment of the social welfare department including situational assessment of social protection for persons with disability, elderly and vulnerable children in Bihar (2010-2011);

Detailed case studies of good practices regarding the provision of care services to older persons and persons with disabilities, including an assessment of service provision in Bihar and Tamil Nadu (2011-2012);

Assessment of program performance and implementation constraints for social pensions, based on field-based studies and administrative data (2011-2012); and

Technical assistance on disability certification processes, including the field-based case study in three states (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu) and an assessment of the process in Bihar (2011-2012).

1.3 Consultations and Disclosure The Project organized several public consultations as part of the various studies carried out under the Project. Consultation workshops have been held at the state level2 twice (in July 2012 and in October 2013) and in the seven districts of Katihar, Madhubani, Buxar,Nalanda, Motihari, Gaya and Purnea3 to elicit comments and inputs on the draft Social Assessment report and Social Management Framework (SMF) document from key project stakeholders (representatives of RDD and DoSW), Department of Welfare (Tribal Affairs), representatives from NGOs, other World Bank projects etc. The following emerged from these Consultations:

• The construction of Buniyad Centres will not have any adverse impact on the vulnerable population. It is instead expected to have a positive impact on all sections.

• Awareness levels about government schemes and programs are generally low. • Baseline should cover information on the social characteristics and the access to

schemes and programs of the most vulnerable. • Mahadalit (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) groups are most vulnerable, apart from

women, widowed women, older persons and Persons with Disabilities. • Tribal population is found in small clusters / tola usually having limited access to

government systems and development programs in comparison with other target beneficiaries. In some cases mahadalit clusters/tola have special needs more than tribals;

2 Refer Annexures II and VII for report of state level consultation 3 Refer Annexures III, IV, V, VI, VIII & IX for reports of district level consultations


• There is a need to design specific strategies for tribal population due their

uniqueness both socially and culturally. • The tribals and general population in the context of districts having tribal population

have similar issues of exclusion. The reasons for limited access and deprivation are similar.

• Santhali language largely spoken by many tribals is different from the official language hindi and restricts direct communication and therefore the Project needs to be geared towards it;

• Community facilitators in tribal pockets should be from amongst them. Through field study in the project districts, the Project staff will continue to consult the respective District, Block and Gram Panchayat administration, scheme functionaries and other PRI representatives as well as communities. Consultations shall also be carried out as part of preparation of operations manual for service Centers, communication and awareness plan, training needs assessment, etc. The final SMF reports will be disclosed through the websites of the RDD and DoSW as well as on the Bank Infoshop. The Hindi version of the SMF will be developed and circulated to all the relevant implementing agencies, personnel and stakeholders at the districts and local levels, upon finalization. SMF will also be available at the District Public Library and / or at the office of the District Magistrate in all the Districts. RDD and DoSW will continue to disclose the following project manuals and project documents as and when they are prepared under the project: (i) Project Implementation Plans (PIPs) of BRDS and SSUPSW; (ii) Operations Manual / Guidelines of Buniyad Centers;


2. BISPS: The Project Description

2.1 PDO The Project Development Objective (PDO) is to strengthen institutional capacity of the Department of Social Welfare and the Rural Development Department to deliver social protection programs and services and expand outreach of social care services for poor and vulnerable households, persons with disabilities, older persons and widows in the state of Bihar.

2.2 Project Components The proposed project includes following two components: 1. Component 1: Strengthening Social Protection Systems and Capacity (total estimated cost US$32.9 million, of which US$23.0 million IDA financing). This component will strengthen core systems and capacity of the two implementing agencies – the Bihar Rural Development Society (BRDS) and the State Society for Ultra-Poor and Social Welfare (SSUPSW) at the state, district and block levels.. This component has two sub-components, reflecting support to each of the two state implementing agencies, as follows:

2. Sub-Component 1.1: Strengthening systems and capacity for safety net delivery (total estimated cost US$ 24.4 million, of which US$ 17.1 million IDA financing): Support will be provided to BRDS to strengthen the delivery of MGNREGS and IAY programs, focusing on: (i) Streamlining program delivery mechanisms by developing standardized procedures and tools for effective management of the benefits process, for outreach and communications to citizens, and for disbursement of benefits and grievance redressal. The creation of a Bihar State Resident Registry (BSRR) to track beneficiaries of selected social protection schemes will be supported. Strengthening financial management systems and capacity at the state, district and block levels for all central and state schemes and scaling up e-payments to beneficiaries will be supported; (ii) Strengthening staff capacity and performance incentives by developing a HR policy, performance management system, and training system for building staff capacity and for monitoring the quality of training delivered; and (iii) Putting in place monitoring and accountability mechanisms to enable program and project implementation, monitoring and evaluation. A comprehensive M&E strategy will be developed and capacity built to operate the management information system (MIS) as well as to undertake field assessments and social audits. Procedures for dealing with appeals/grievances related to selected social protection schemes, especially MGNREGS and IAY will also be developed. Consulting and non-consulting services, additional technical staff, required training and capacity building, goods, and incremental operating costs will be provided.

3. Sub-Component 1.2: Strengthening systems and capacity for social pension and social care service delivery (total estimated cost US$8.5 million, of which US$ 5.9 million IDA financing): Support will be provided to SSUPSW to strengthen the delivery of social pensions and social care services for PWDs and older persons, focusing on: (i) promoting an enabling policy environment by developing policies, programs and operational guidelines for institutional and non-institutional care targeted to persons with disabilities, older persons and widows as well as developing models for family and community based rehabilitation; (ii)


Streamlining program delivery mechanisms by developing standardized procedures and tools for effective management of the identification, disability certification and enrolment of intended beneficiaries, for outreach and communications to citizens, and for disbursement of benefit payments, and for grievance redressal. Procedures for public-private-community partnerships would be developed and capacity would be built for contract and performance management of private sector service providers and other partners to support SSUPSW put in place a mechanism for partnership management. IT applications for social pensions and social care services will be developed to enable case management and tracking of all stages of service delivery; (iii) Strengthening staff capacity and performance incentives by developing a new HR policy, a new performance management system, and a training system for building staff capacity and for monitoring the quality of training delivered; and (iv) Setting up monitoring and accountability mechanisms to enable the monitoring of social pensions and social care services. A comprehensive M&E strategy will be developed and capacity built to operate the management information system (MIS) that will be developed as well as to undertake field assessments and social audits. Support for improving funds management by designing and piloting e-payments for social protection schemes will be provided. Consulting and non-consulting services, technical staff, required training and capacity building, goods, and incremental operating costs will be provided. 4. Component 2: Strengthening Outreach and Social Protection Service Delivery (total estimated cost US$ 87.1 million, of which US$ 61.0 million IDA financing). Under this component, the Project would support state-wide coverage of social care services by establishing 101 Social Care Service Centres. Pilots to support improving outreach through mobile outreach and therapy services, testing models of community based rehabilitation, and an “Innovation Window,” which would test innovative proposals to further improve social services, would also be supported. 5. Sub-component 2.1: Establish and Strengthen Social Care Services (total estimated cost US$ 69.5 million, of which US$ 48.6 million IDA financing): This sub-component would support establishing social care services across the state through Social Care Service Centers (referred to as Buniyad Centers) that would provide high quality care, support and rehabilitation services for older persons, widows and persons with disabilities. A Buniyad Center would be set up in each of the 101 sub – divisions across the state. From among the 101 centres, 38 centres would be further strengthened as District level Centres with additional human resource and infrastructure to undertake monitoring and supervision of social care services in each district. The services offered at the Buniyad Centers would include basic care and support, legal aid, therapy, counseling and rehabilitation, emergency outreach, assessment and disability determination, provision of assistive devices, and would be provided either in-house or through a referral network. This sub-component would finance the construction, maintenance and operations of the Centers. It would also finance renovations of select government buildings, which will house temporary centers where service provision will be initiated during the first year of the project. 6. Sub-component 2.2: Pilot Models in Social Protection Delivery (total estimated cost US$ 12.7 million, of which US$ 8.9 million IDA financing): Under this sub – component, the


Project would support strengthening access and outreach of select social protection services in the state through:

(i) Establishing mobile outreach and therapy services to improve coverage and

outreach of social care services and other social protection services for the target beneficiary groups. The project would support one mobile therapy service van in each district, fully equipped with diagnostic, therapeutic equipment and audio – visual systems.

(ii) Developing and piloting workable models for Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR)

of older persons, widows and persons with disabilities. This would involve provision of care and rehabilitation services in family and community settings for the poorest and most vulnerable individuals. Local community facilitators (identified through partnerships with community based organizations (CBOs) and NGOs) would be trained to serve as a focal service provider for these groups.

7. Sub-Component 2.3: Innovation window (total estimated cost US$ 4.9 million, of which US$ 3.4 million is IDA financing): This sub-component would finance small-scale pilots that contribute towards the project objectives. The pilots would be proposed by the two Societies with the objective of testing innovative service delivery mechanisms for increasing community level outreach for effective delivery of social protection programs and services at the local level; enhancing promotion and participation of stakeholders and project beneficiaries; and providing social protection for the poor and vulnerable during emergencies and disasters. This sub-component would be initiated in the third year of the project and would finance eligible expenditure (including goods, services and operating costs) the small-scale pilots.

2.3 Beneficiary Profile The social protection programs targeted under the Project are generally pro-poor and therefore do not discriminate / exclude any population group on the basis of caste.4 The beneficiaries of these programs generally belong to the most vulnerable sections of the population, which includes Scheduled Castes (SCs) including Mahadalits and Scheduled Tribes (STs), women, widowed women, persons with disabilities, older persons etc. From amongst the schemes that the Project will be working on, IAY is the only scheme that specifically prioritizes SCs and STs among others. Other schemes are either universal (MGNREGS) or by design target specific groups such as widowed (IGNWPS & Laxmibai Social Security Pension), older persons (IGNOAPS & Bihar Social Security Pension), persons with disabilities (IGNDPS & Bihar Disability Pension Scheme) etc. The Project does not intend to influence or work upon any design modifications of the schemes in terms of its targeting. However, through preparation of the BSRR and other community-based initiatives, the Project will strengthen mechanisms for beneficiary identification & enrollment. Such a registry will inform the project of specific groups (if any) that are excluded. The project aims to address the issue of exclusion by increasing awareness of entitlements, reducing

4 There is a separate Department of Welfare in the Government of Bihar that has the responsibility of undertaking schemes and programs for the welfare of the SCs and STs.


discretionary sanctioning and payment of benefits, increasing access to schemes, and maximizing coverage of schemes. The principal project beneficiaries are the intended target population of the programs being supported, i.e., vulnerable rural households, widowed women, persons with disabilities and older persons. Though the proposed systemic reforms in service delivery are applicable state-wide, the project would support the establishment 101 social care Buniyad Centres in all Sub-divisions of the State. In particular, there are about 5.5 million people aged 60 and above and about 1.9 million persons with disabilities (PWDs) in Bihar, and 2.0 million widowed, divorced and separated women who could benefit from the project, as well as over 50 million rural poor in Bihar. These groups are characterized by high levels of illiteracy and face barriers of access to services. The project focuses on building effective mechanisms for reaching these groups, ensuring their rights and providing them an effective and responsive safety net. By piloting innovative delivery mechanisms, the project also benefits government employees and others engaged in SP delivery through simplifying procedures and clarifying roles, building capacity and incentivizing performance. There are several social protection (SP) programs in place in Bihar, both centrally sponsored schemes and state schemes. These programs include social assistance programs providing in-kind or cash transfers, social insurance programs, and social care services for vulnerable groups, such as the following: (i) Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) - a

rights-based, demand-driven public works program that guarantees all rural households up to 100 days annually of unskilled public works employment on demand;

(ii) Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) - cash transfers to BPL rural households for building houses;

(iii) Social pensions - cash transfers in the form of social pensions for BPL older persons, widows and persons with disabilities through the Indira Gandhi National Old Age, Widow and Disability Pension Schemes (IGNOAPS, IGNWPS and IGNDPS respectively) as well as state social pension schemes;

(iv) Social Care Services for Persons with Disabilities – rehabilitation services for persons

with disabilities through District Disability Rehabilitation Centers (DDRCs). Sl. No.

Program Description Target Group

1 MGNREGS Each household entitled for a 100 days of guaranteed employment in a FY

Universal - Open to all rural households At least 30% women participation intended

2 Social Security Pensions (Central and State Schemes)

2a IGNOAPS (NSAP) Cash transfer to Older Persons @Rs.200/- per beneficiary per month @Rs. 500/- per beneficiary per month

60 years and above BPL BPL with 80 years and above

2b IGNWPS (NSAP) Cash transfer to eligible widows @Rs.300/- per beneficiary per month

Widow BPL 40 – 79 years


2c

IGNDPS (NSAP) Cash transfer to eligible PWDs @Rs.300/- per beneficiary per month

severe or multiple disabilities in the age of 18 – 79 years BPL

2d Bihar Social Security (Old Age) Pension Scheme

Cash transfer to eligible older persons @Rs.200/- per beneficiary per month

60 – 64 years Un-irrigated land ownership less than 1 acre Annual HH income less than Rs. 5000 & 5500 in rural and urban areas

2e State Widow Pension Scheme (Laxmibai)

Cash transfer to eligible widows @Rs.300/- per beneficiary per month

Age: 18-39 yrs (both BPL & Non-BPL) Age: 40 & above (non-BPL) Annual Income less than 60000 for all

2f State Disability Pension Scheme

Cash transfer to eligible PWDs @Rs.300/- per beneficiary per month

At least 40% disabled No income or age criteria

3 Social Care Services for Older Persons and PWDs

DDRCs to provide basic therapy and rehabilitation services to PWDs

Older Persons in need Persons with Disabilities

3. Social Profile Bihar is India’s third largest state with a population of 104 million, with approximately 54 million people currently living below the poverty line. Bihar is primarily rural and agrarian, characterized by high levels of landlessness and land fragmentation, high dependency on agriculture and high levels of seasonal migration. While Bihar lags behind the other Indian states in economic development terms, Bihar’s economy has grown rapidly at 11% per annum between 2004-05 and 2010-11, though agricultural and related activities grew much slower at 4% p.a. during this period. In the last decade, Bihar has made impressive improvements in human development outcomes in terms of access to schooling and health. However, illiteracy, under-nutrition and infant and child mortality continue to be sources of concern. In particular, poverty incidence has remained high throughout the 2000s – the share of the rural population living below the poverty line witnessed practically no change from 55.7% in 2004-05 to 55.3% in 2009-10. This suggests that there is a large population that needs to be reached out through welfare programmes and also that some groups are more vulnerable than others like the elderly, persons with disabilities, among others. In addition, certain groups, such as persons with disabilities, widowed women and older persons, are especially vulnerable to economic shocks and rising living costs. The 2001 Census estimated that there are about 5.5 million people aged 60 and above and about 1.9 million persons with disabilities in Bihar, constituting about 6.6% and 2.3% of the population respectively.5 According to census 2011, the population of people aged 60 and above has gone up to 7.7 million comprising of 7.4 % of the total state population. Data on persons wih disabilities of census 2011 is currently not available. Both older persons and persons with disabilities are likely to experience multiple deprivations. About 28% of Bihar’s disabled population was economically dependent on others, while the dependency ratio amongst the disabled elderly and among older women is even higher. Households with one or more

5 However, there is growing evidence that people with disabilities comprise between 4 and 8 per cent of the Indian population (World Bank 2009). Using this prevalence rate yields about 3.3 to 6.6 million PWDs in Bihar.


disabled members also tend to be poor. In 2002, 72% of households with at least one disabled person had a monthly per capita expenditure of less than Rs. 400 – the poverty line for rural Bihar was Rs. 433 in 2004-05. Poverty among the elderly is often not significantly different from the general population. However, one source of vulnerability for the elderly is the rising health expenditure at a time of declining incomes. In 2004, the majority of older persons lived with their families, but as many as 15% lived either alone or just with their (equally elderly) spouses, making them particularly more vulnerable. Discrimination based on gender and caste affecting the poor and vulnerable section is prevalent in the State. Gender, literacy, land ownership (or rather the lack of it), caste etc. are still visible factors that make specific population groups highly vulnerable and poor. Socially excluded sections of women especially widowed women suffer from many forms of discrimination and deprivation. The state on its part has initiated many programmes for development and welfare of these population groups. The state is divided into nine administrative divisions comprising of 38 districts. Division-wise break up of districts is listed below.

SL. No.

DIVISION HEADQUARTERS NO. OF DISTRICTS

DISTRICTS

1. Bhagalpur Bhagalpur 2 Banka, Bhagalpur 2. Darbhanga Darbhanga 3 Darbhanga, Madhubani, Samastipur 3. Kosi Saharsa 3 Madhepura, Saharsa, Supaul 4. Magadh Gaya 5 Arwal, Aurangabad, Gaya, Jehanabad, Nawada 5. Munger Munger 6 Jamui, Khagaria, Munger, Lakhisarai, Sheikhpura,

Begusarai 6. Patna Patna 6 Bhojpur, Buxar, Kaimur, Patna, Rohtas, Nalanda 7. Purnia Purnia 4 Araria, Katihar, Kishanganj, Purnia 8. Saran Chapra 3 Gopalganj, Saran, Siwan 9. Tirhut Muzaffarpur 6 East Champaran, Muzaffarpur, Sheohar, Sitamarhi,

Vaishali, West Champaran 38

These 38 districts are further divided into 101 administrative sub-divisions also called Tehsils and 534 Development Blocks. In pursuance of the 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Constitution, Bihar has 8463 rural local bodies and 141 urban local bodies towards strengthening grassroots governance. Districts-wise details of sub-divisions, blocks and urban and rural local bodies across the State are given at Annexure 1. The rural population below poverty line was surveyed and finalized in 2007. In order to revise this list, the Socio-economic Caste Census has now been conducted and the data is undergoing authentication. Based on the 2007 survey, 11.34 million households i.e., approximately 45.36 million people (based on an average of 4 persons per household) were


living below the poverty line. This comprises of over half of the population of Bihar. Five districts namely Kishanganj, Madhubani, Khagaria, Purnea and Supaul have over 70 per cent population below poverty line.

3.1 Coverage of Programs While significant resources are provided for the three major programs, the performance of these programs falls short of their poverty reduction potential due to low awareness and inadequate capacity to implement. For instance, one study estimates that, if MGNREGS was implemented as intended, the extra labor earnings from MGNREGS could potentially bring down the poverty rate in Bihar by about 10% points rather than its actual impact of closer to 1% point. The potential to increase program coverage and thereby to address deprivation and poverty in Bihar is high. For instance, in 2009-10, only 18% of rural households got work on MGNREGS worksites, 14% of rural households received IAY benefits and 8% of rural households reported getting at least one type of social pension (old age, widowed or disability). MGNREGS is designed as a demand-driven scheme, and only about one third of households that wanted to work on the scheme actually got work, though the number of days was short of the 100 day guarantee. Similarly, only 12% of the eligible PWDs are provided disability pensions. The evidence on other aspects of performance is somewhat mixed. Coverage of social security pension schemes has been reasonable. Further, quality related improvements in terms of timely and regular payments, timely approval of pension application etc., are necessary. As far as social care service provision is concerned, they are largely absent for older persons, persons with disabilities and widows, and policies to cover these groups are still under development. These groups are also underserved by existing programs - other than social pensions and some limited provision of institutional care, existing mechanisms

Table 1: SP spending in Bihar (2010-11)

Allocation (Rs. mn)

Expenditure (Rs. mn)

MGNREGS 31,938 26,320 IAY 34,151 30,226 Social Pensions 8,285 8,095 Total (3 main programs) 74,463 64,730 Other SP Programs 29,863 22,355 Total SP expenditure (all) 104,325 87,085 Expenditure on 3 main programs as % of total SP expenditure

71% 74%

Expenditure on 3 main programs as % of GSDP

3.49% 3.04%

Sources and notes: Administrative data, GoB. Other SP programs includes the Public Distribution System (PDS) among others.

Beneficiaries of Social Security Pension Schemes Sno. Scheme No. of

Beneficiaries 1. Indira Gandhi National Old Age

Pension Scheme 3887935

2. State Social Security Pension Scheme

71852

3. Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension

415532

4. Laxmibai Widow Pension Scheme 539176 5. Indira Gandhi National Disability

Pension Scheme 25878

6. Bihar Disability Pension Scheme 424837 Source: Annual Report, 2012-13, Department of Social Welfare, GoB


for care and support for older persons and persons with disabilities are very limited. Provision of non-institutional care is largely restricted to sporadic NGO-led interventions. Bihar is yet to formulate a state policy for Older Persons, has only recently adopted the national Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act (2007) and the state Disability Policy is still in draft stage. The draft Bihar State Integrated Older Persons Scheme (BSIOPS) is currently under discussion, and if introduced by GoB, would include a provision for social care services and facilitator-led home and community-based care for older persons.

4. Social Exclusion Issues

4.1 Potential Sources of Exclusion – Existing Government Schemes & Programs In Bihar, like most part of the country, there are groups of people who are disadvantaged because they are vulnerable and discriminated against often due to their socio-economic condition and even caste or gender. People who are discriminated against often end up excluded from society, the economic and political participation, as a result, they are more likely to be vulnerable. Such people are often denied access to income, assets and services and are socially excluded. For the purposes of this project, the specific groups considered vulnerable are: women, widowed women, older persons, persons with disabilities, Scheduled Caste including Mahadalits and Scheduled Tribes. A closer look at the existing social protection system in Bihar highlights the fact that apart from the current initiatives, there is scope for further measures to address the causes for exclusion of poor and vulnerable populations. Existing intitiatives can be further streamlined and made efficient in order to reach out to the most vulnerable and needy, especially in the area of beneficiary enrollment, management and benefit payments to citizens. The state operational guidelines and procedures for implementing for implementing various programmes can be better defined and made simple. It is important to note that there are many groups of people who do not have access to social protection services including social pensions, resulting in the need to further expand the reach of these schemes.. Specific groups of people may be specially disadvantaged and need to be reached in the delivery system as illustrated below.6 (i) Access to programs and enrolment: The assessments indicate that there are sources of exclusion in the process of accessing the selected social protection programs. These include the following:

• Several studies indicate that people with better local connections are more likely to be aware of and obtain their entitlements. The poor and vulnerable are likely to be excluded where there is discriminatory access to information and benefits, where application procedures are too complex or impose high transaction costs. For example, rural poor especially women are dependent on males / Panchayat Secretaries / Sarpanches for application, enrolment, payment and other

6 These observations are based on the studies noted above. These include qualitative field assessments, a survey-based evaluation and consultations with beneficiaries, government officials and village leaders undertaken under the Bihar Capacity Building Technical Assistance (BCB TA) program and preparation of this project.


entitlements. For social pensions, field assessments highlight that the applications process has until recently been largely dependent on the benevolence of the Panchayat Secretary (PRI official). In villages where the PRI official is active, s/he takes a personal initiative to include those eligible. Identification of beneficiary is therefore largely dependent on the PRI official taking cognizance. This leaves a large number of vulnerable people who are excluded and do not have access to the social protection service delivery.

• In addition, persons with disabilities (PWDs) need certification of disability in order to attain any benefits from these programs. Disability certification enables access, however, in the absence of proper systems it becomes a major factor for exclusion. The most vulnerable from amongst this population are those persons who are confined to their homes due to their disability. Most of the identification is done through camps. People with severe disabilities or people who may not have seen or heard the advertisement for the camp get left out. Amongst those who go to camps, there are several PWDs who are further referred to specialist for assessment followed by certification. In cases, where the disability is not visible, the person gets a degree of less than 40%. This excludes the person to benefit from SP programs due to their degree of disability.

• Field assessments have revealed that the widowed women have little access to information as well as ability to access social protection schemes. This is more so in the case of the elderly women amongst them. They are entirely dependent on the benevolence of any local community member or Panchayati Raj official to contact them, understand their need and accordingly link them to a service.

(ii) Benefit payments: All social protection benefits are paid through the banking and postal network. The banking network has low penetration in many blocks of the state, while the postal system has weak capacity. In the absence of real time financial management and monitoring systems, implementing agencies are unable to ensure sufficient funds in a timely fashion causing significant delays in benefit payments that are likely have serious implications for the very poorest and most vulnerable.7 In view of this, the State has recently initiated release of benefit payments in cash directly to the beneficiaries. This has also provided an opportunity for physical verification and authentication of beneficiary. However, in the long term, this may not be feasible to implement. Multiple channels to reach out to the beneficiaries may be required. (iii) Performance of the programs in the districts with tribal population: Interaction with the BDOs and Tribal welfare officers during the field assessments revealed that the tribals are doing at par with the other target beneficiary groups. This is confirmed by the survey-based MGNREGS evaluation in 38 districts. Their constraints are similar to other groups in terms of accessing these programs. However their needs in terms of awareness of entitlements and communication are different. (iv) Low level of Awareness & outreach: Awareness of rights and information about the processes remains low, especially among women and more so amongst widowed women. Insufficient efforts at communication and outreach by government agencies coupled with 7 For instance, field work during project preparation indicated that social pension beneficiaries typically received benefits once in six months, instead of Rs. 200 (approximately $4) every month.


social stratification, illiteracy and weak voice among the poor have limited their ability to know, demand & access their entitlements, and eventually leading to their exclusion. Most of the existing SP programs, especially those related to social welfare, lack effective community outreach and demand generation activities. This may often lead to exclusion of the most vulnerable (persons with disabilities, older persons, disadvantaged women including widows and other socially excluded groups like SCs including Mahadalits and STs) of the society. (v) Weak monitoring & accountability: Monitoring of performance is weak and there is poor accountability in service delivery, as current systems do not provide adequate support for planning and decision-making. At present, implementing agencies lack the requisite IT systems to track beneficiaries and benefits in a timely fashion. (vi) Social care service provision is practically absent for certain groups (i.e., older persons and persons with disabilities). Not only is there an absence of an enabling policy framework, these groups are underserved by existing programs. Other than social pensions and limited provision of institutional care, the existing mechanisms for care and support for older persons and persons with disabilities are very limited. In particular, provision of non-institutional care for older persons and persons with disabilities is practically non-existent other than sporadic NGO-led interventions. (vii) Lack of trained & skilled staff: In absence of the required mechanism both in terms of institutions and plans, training and capacity building of staff / personnel of all existing social protection programs in the State is totally neglected. As a result there is a dearth of trained and skilled staff to deliver quality service provision, especially for social care provision, in a manner sensitive to the specific needs of different groups. (viii) Lack of beneficiaries participation: During the various field assessments conducted during the Project preparation it was found that most of the existing social protection programs had almost no or minimal beneficiary participation in terms of planning, implementation, monitoring and supervision.

(ix) Grievance Redress: The current established systems for grievance redressal need to be communicated to the larger population widely.

In addition to the above systemic issues that can contribute to social exclusion of specific groups, the table below summarizes some of the sources of exclusion specific to program that generally takes place during the course of implementation:


Sl.

No. Program Target Group Source of Exclusion (In Implementation)

1 MGNREGS • Universal - Open to all rural households

• Each household entitled for a 100 days of guaranteed employment in a FY

• Provisions in the scheme to encourage women participation (at least 30% women participation intended)

• Awareness amongst women is lower; wages of women workers lower than male workers.

• Provisions intended to encourage women participation (crèche at worksite if sufficient number of children, worksite location within 5 km of village, equal stipulated wages, etc) are not yet in place.

2 Indira Awas Yojana (IAY)

• BPL households living in the rural areas (with preference to SC/ST households, freed bonded labourers, widows and families of defense personnel)

• Need a robust beneficiary database, database of beneficiaries in waiting list and potential beneficiaries.

3 Social Pensions

• 60+ years • BPL • Widows 40 – 79 years and for the

state scheme Age: 18-39 yrs (both BPL & Non-BPL) & Age: 40 & above (non-BPL) Annual Income less than 60000 for all

• BPL PWDs with at least 80% disability and for the state scheme all PWDs with 40% and above disability

• Older persons 60 – 64 years in the state with less than 5000 (Rural) & 5500 (Urban) HH income

• Exclusion due to difficulties in access and delay in application process.

• In absence of a comprehensive Disability determination & certification system, many eligible PWDs excluded.

4 Social Care Services for Older Persons and Persons with Disability

• Older Persons in need • Persons with Disabilities

• No service provision currently exists for older persons

• DDRCs set up with negligible or only minimal services.

• Exclusion due to coverage – Centers at the district level only caters (if functional) to those PWDs living in close proximity, largely excluding the predominant rural population


5. Social Impact Assessment

5.1 Potential Sources of Impact – Project Activities The principal project beneficiaries are the intended target population of the programs being supported, i.e., poor and vulnerable rural households, persons with disabilities, older persons and widows. The project proposes to provide social care services (Buniyad Centres) to older persons, persons with disabilities and widowed women, strengthen and streamline provision of social pensions and strengthen the Departments of RDD and Social Welfare towards better management of social protection programmes.

5.1.1 Buniyad Centers (i) Profile of the Buniyad Centers • Location and Scale: The Buniyad Centers will be located in all 101 sub-divisions of the

state. A total of about 101 Buniyad Centers are planned. Each Buniyad Centers is expected to be about 4000 to 5000 square feet in area. 38 district level Buniyad Centres will be of 5000 sq. ft., while the remaining 63 sub-division level Buniyad Centres will be of 4000 sq. ft.

• Description of Services: The Buniyad Centers will offer a package of quality care and rehabilitation services for older persons, widows and persons with disabilities (PWD). The services offered will include basic care and support, legal aid, therapy, counseling and rehabilitation, emergency outreach, assessment and disability determination, provision of assistive devices, etc. Referral services will be provided for beneficiaries needing more specialized services. Each Buniyad Centers will have technical personnel comprising of psychologists, therapists, trainers and technicians.

• Infrastructure: The Buniyad Centers will be equipped with specialized diagnostic and therapeutic equipment as well as mobile outreach infrastructure (one van per district) to provide outreach and emergency services. The design will ensure accessibility for women, widows, SCs including Mahadalits, STs, and follow guidelines and space standards for barrier free built environment of disabled and elderly persons.

• Land for Construction: The Government of Bihar will provide land for construction of the Buniyad Centers within the premises of existing Block Development Office (BDO) or health facility. It is proposed to operate 38 Buniyad Centers from existing buildings until the completion of construction of new buildings. However, the number of existing buildings is subject to their availability, more importantly suitability (to be determined by a technical assessment), and possible modifications to ensure accessibility.

• Design of the Building: The design of the Buniyad Centers will be developed as part of the preparation in the first year of the project. Along with this, a technical assessment of suitability of existing building will also be undertaken. This will be followed by design modification for making the building accessible to persons with disabilities.

• Construction and Maintenance: The construction and modification of existing building of the Buniyad Centers would be outsourced to a private vendor. Engineers from Bihar State Building Construction Corporation Limited will be engaged for technical supervision of the construction.


• Service Delivery: Services would be delivered at the Buniyad Centers by contract staff

hired by SSUPSW.

(ii) Social Impact of the Buniyad Centers The social impact is limited as the Buniyad Centres have a relatively small demand for land (4000 sq. ft. for district centres and 5000 sq. ft. for sub – divisional centres) and will not involve any change in land use as these Centers will be located on existing premises of the Block Development Office or a Health facility. Therefore, the Project does not envisage any adverse social impact from the construction of the Buniyad Centers.

5.2 Social Impact Management The Government of Bihar recognizes the need to assess the potential social impacts of the Projects and is committed towards responsible management of the same. These guidelines have been developed to assist the two Implementing Agencies (BRDS & SSUPSW) and the Project staff in the management of social impacts and other related issues for effective planning and execution of BISPS Project. The proposed Project activities are unlikely to have negative social impact in terms of displacement or resettlement. The project activity, i.e., 101 sub-division level Buniyad Centers, are unlikely to have negative social impact (displacement). These Service Centers have a relatively small demand for land (4000 to 5000 sq. ft. for Buniyad Center) and will not involve any change in land use or land acquisition. In order to avoid the need for land acquisition, the Service Centers will be located on existing Block Development Office or health facility. By making access to social care services for the vulnerable, the project is likely to have a positive social impact. Social Screening Flowchart


5.2.1 Process of Site Selection The following steps and processes will be accomplished through appropriate engagement of the Project staff from the two implementing agencies at all levels: (i) Exploration Survey and Social Screening: The list of potential sites available for the

Buniyad Centers are being inspected and the Social Screening Check list given at Annexure X is being completed by the concerned Block Development Officer (BDO). The concerned BDO is also specifying in the checklist whether the required space of 4000 to 5000 sq. ft. (5000 sq. ft. for 38 district level Buniyad Centres and 4000 sq. ft. for remaining 63 sub-division level Buniyad Centres) is available. Wherever the Government land for construction of Buniyad Centers is found to be encumbrance free the concerned BDO is certifying the same in the checklist. In case the said land is not encumbrance free the BDO will mention this fact along with nature and extent of encroachment, etc. in the prescribed checklist. In cases where no land is available within the Block premises, the Centers will not be constructed in those blocks to avoid any change in land use or land acquisition. Further, the social screening questionnaires will be physically verified in 20% Blocks. On basis of the checklist the site will be categorized into two categories: S-1 and S-2 as detailed described below:

• S-1 category: Sites where 4000 to 5000 sq. ft. land is available and it will require no

land acquisition. • S-2 category: Sites where there is an existing building that can be assessed and

modified to function as a Buniyad Centre until the construction of the new building is complete.

(ii) Design Adaption: In case of category S-1 and S-2 the implementing agency, i.e.,

SSUPSW will send the list of sites to construction agency for design adoption. The agency will conduct detailed survey and adopt the design for the site, prepare site-specific estimate, get necessary approvals before construction.

5.3 Social Screening - Summary of Findings The SSUPSW is currently undertaking the social screening in all 38 districts comprising of 101 sub-divisions of the state. As of now, SSUPSW had identified land in 52 Blocks from 26 districts across the state. A list is attached in Annexure XII. The social screening checklists along with photographs have been completed and collected from all these locations. Social screening process for remaining locations is under process and by the end of October 2013 it is expected to be completed. The Social and Environment Consultant engaged by the SSUPSW has started the physical verification of these sites and currently such locations had already been verified.


6. Social Inclusion Strategy The SMF is designed as a guidance tool for implementation, monitoring and supervision of interventions that address social issues and risks, including social safeguard risks. It therefore addresses the needs of the World Bank’s Operational Policy (O.P. 4.10) on ‘Indigenous Peoples’ (or Tribal Peoples, as they are known in India), and includes a Tribal Development Plan for districts having a tribal population of more than 2%. The SMF also provides a strategy to promote inclusion by gender and vulnerability as part of overall project design and identifies the procedures to be followed for selection of land for service Centers.

6.1 Strategies / approaches for social inclusion under the Project From its very design, the BISPS Project is geared to address the disparities and exclusion in its operations by promoting social inclusion of the most vulnerable and discriminated groups of society. Through following strategies, the Project would ensure total inclusion of the vulnerable populations including older persons and persons with disabilities: (i) Program Design & Targeting: The Project seeks to address this problem by strengthening core systems and capacity to deliver select social protection programs . In doing so, the project is expected to bring about greater participation, lower unmet demand, lead to efficiency gains facilitate timely and transparent wage payments. Moreover, the project will be directly working at the community level to bridge the gap between community and select social protection services. The Project will also focus on identifying the most vulnerable sections and facilitate their inclusion in social protection programs. The Project will also enhance inclusion of vulnerable older persons, widows and persons with disabilities through social care service provisions proposed under the Buniyad Centers. Considering that there is lack of information on the targeting of programs, the project through the baseline will collect disaggregated information on particular type of beneficiaries, caste, tribe, gender, geographical area etc. Underserved areas and the most vulnerable populations will be identified and targeted. Community based initiatives will have a special focus in these areas. Project initiatives in this regard will be monitored in line with the results framework that has specific indicators on reaching out to the vulnerable populations. (ii) Performance of the programs in the districts with tribal population: In order to enhance coverage and quality of social protection programs in tribal areas, the Project will work on enhancing the service provision as well as demand creation. The project through the baseline will collect disaggregated information on particular type of beneficiaries, caste, tribe, gender, geographical area etc. This information will also inform the Project on the underserved areas and populations. Equipped with this information that is further validated through field level verification, the Project will draw out specific plan to tackle exclusion. Apart from training the staff of Buniyad Centers, CBOs / DPOs will be sensitized in a manner that they understand the needs and culture of the tribal populations. In these tribal areas, the project will include the training of tribal population as community facilitators.


Awareness campaigns and communication strategy will be sensitive and be customized to address their needs. (iii) Awareness Generation & Outreach: Considering the fact that vulnerable populations, are often unaware of their rights and entitlements that deprives them from receiving the benefits of various social protection initiatives, the Project will focus on developing and rolling out a comprehensive communication and public education strategy. As a part of this strategy, the Project will focus on designing and disseminating gender and caste sensitive IEC materials that targets specific population groups and focus on promoting their social inclusion. The specific consultations in the blocks with high concentration of Tribals shall be carried out to design customized plan for Tribals, particularly with respect to language and cultural sensitivity. With the focus on identifying and reaching out to the most vulnerable section who are not able to come to the Buniyad Centers for availing its service provisions, the Project will undertake outreach activities through mobile therapy units and village contact drives, with special focus in hard to reach geographical locations. Through these initiatives, the Project will also focus on generating greater demand for services by establishing community linkage with the active engagement of CBOs, DPO and community. These grassroots level institutions will work with families and communities to identify and organise the most vulnerable groups of people as well as link them with various social protection initiatives, as per their needs. (iv) Improved Monitoring & Accountability: The Project would support SSUPSW in building capacity for monitoring performance and in setting up appropriate external review mechanisms. An M & E Unit would be set up to develop a comprehensive M&E strategy Social Pensions, Social Care Services for persons with disabilities, widows and older persons, build capacity of staff to operate the management information system, undertake field assessments and promote social audits. This activity would also support the evaluation of the impact of reform actions supported by the Project including data generation and collection for monitoring social protection program outcomes such as awareness, coverage, targeting, and leakage and an evaluation of the project interventions, with particular attention on these groups. For instance, the indicators in the project results framework include coverage of vulnerable groups. (v) Introduction of social care provisions for older persons, widowed women and persons with disabilities: In order to ensure social inclusion of older persons, widowed women and persons with disabilities, the Project also specifically introduces provision of social care service that are currently not available. Through ‘Buniyad Centers’ located at the sub-division level, the Project will ensure quality social care and therapy services to these groups. Focus will be on making these services accessible to the most vulnerable older persons and persons with disabilities through Center-based care and support services provided at the Buniyad Centers by trained personnel. The design of the Buniyad Centers will be prepared to ensure that the vulnerable populations can access the facilities at these Centers freely without any fear. Such needs shall be ascertained based on the consultations carried out during preparation of building designs and will also be incorporated in


operations manual of these Centers. Further, widowed women will also be linked with various social protection initiatives. (vi) Capacity Building of Project Staff: All Project staff at the state, district and grassroots levels will be trained on mobilisation process as well as social inclusion for the poor and most vulnerable populations. Community members from these groups will be trained to provide appropriate services. They will be resources in the community that can be used by people directly as and when required. Besides, a Training and Capacity Building (TCB) Unit would be set up in SSUPSW for undertaking regular assessments of the training needs, developing training strategy and plans, facilitating and monitoring training delivery. The TCB Unit would also develop standardized training and learning materials on core thematic areas pertaining to social pensions, social care and rehabilitation services. (vii) Improved beneficiary participation: By promoting social audits, the project would promote greater community participation, including by excluded groups, in oversight of social protection programs. Specifically, with the aim to increase participation and social inclusion of older persons, widows and persons with disabilities in planning, implementation and monitoring of programs and services at the grassroots levels, the Project will facilitate formation of DPOs and Senior Citizen Associations / Vridha Sangha / Senior Citizen Clubs. This will be done with the active involvement of community members and CBOs at the Gram Panchayat level. Once established, these DPOs and Senior Citizen Associations will also be involved in identification of the most vulnerable and destitute older persons and persons with disabilities from their respective village / ward. (viii) Grievance Redress: As part of its overall design, the Project will develop detailed procedures and a system for grievance redress. Such a system will help in dealing with grievances and appeals related to all social protection initiatives in the state. The grievance redress mechanism will be integrated with the existing mechanisms / systems of different programs, in a manner consistent with the statewide grievance redressal system and program guidelines. The project would enable the excluded groups, including those with weak political connections, to register complaints.

6.1.1 Social Inclusion Plan The Project would support development of Social Inclusion Plans within the first six months of its implementation and will facilitate identification and coverage of most poor and vulnerable populations including BPL households, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, persons with disabilities, widows, older persons and other vulnerable groups. In order to deepen the coverage and impact of the social inclusion strategies, following specific implementation actions are identified: (i) Develop thematic monitoring studies on Social Inclusion, with focused tracking of

project outcomes for SCs including mahadalit, tribal, older persons, disabled, widows, women households and include relevant indicators in the program management information system (MIS) (Monitoring and Evaluation);

(ii) Systematic implementation of the strategy for identifying and mobilizing the left out excluded groups;


(iii) Design and implement communication and awareness program targeted for

habitation/clusters with mahadalits and tribal populations including intensive handholding and technical assistance to community professionals and project staff;

(iv) Undertake targeted implementation of interventions in Tribal Clusters, as detailed in the Tribal Development Plan;

(v) Develop and implement a Capacity Building program for project staff on Social Screening and Social Inclusion;

(vi) PIP chapter on Social Development and Safeguards to include year wise social inclusion action plan to be incorporated in project design and budgets.

The process of formulation and implementation of the Social Inclusion Plan will include the following: (i) Regular consultations with vulnerable groups and their community institutions, related

government departments and research agencies, and NGOs / CBOs / DPOs / Vridha Sanghas / local care givers;

(ii) Identification and prioritized targeting of the vulnerable groups and areas / pockets; (iii) Representation and participation of representatives of vulnerable / beneficiary groups

in community institutions, committees, etc., eg., CBOs / DPOs / Vridha Sanghas; (iv) Informed and locally-adapted project norms and mechanisms for project processes,

social inclusion as well as care and support services; (v) Support to community led traditional grievance redress mechanisms; and (vi) Periodic community meetings and feedback carried out by the staff of the district units. Social inclusion in the Project will be monitored on two fronts i.e. both from a program and human resource performance perspective. The project as part of its monitoring design will identify key indicators specifically on inclusion measured both through program M&E as well as other methods including social audits, impact studies, etc. Information pertaining to inclusion will be collected during the baseline. The project results framework will identify programmatic milestones that need to be achieved. Further, key performance indicators will be formulated for personnel responsible for monitoring social inclusion in the project.

6.2 Consultations at Various Levels In order to understand the various aspects concerning tribals in Bihar, specific issues were discussed in the consultations held at the State and District levels, specifically in Nalanda, Madhubani, Katihar and Buxar. Further, discussions were also held with communities in one tribal village in Manihar Block of Katihar. With a delay in project delivery, follow-up consultations were carried out. Follow-up consultations were carried out at the state level and in the districts of Motihari and Gaya. More consultations are being held at the district level. The methodology essentially followed was of free, prior and informed consultation with the Tribal community. The proceedings of these consultations are given at Annexures II to IX.

6.2.1 Consultations at the State and District Levels State and district level consultations were held in Patna and Katihar as part of the Social and Environmental Assessment and Management Frameworks in 2012. The consultations were attended by various government officials at different levels. Representatives of various NGOs also participated in the consultations. Government officials of the SC & ST Welfare


Department also participated and discussed various social and cultural aspects of the tribal population in Katihar. Some of the key findings from these consultations are as follows:

a) Tribal population found in small clusters/tola usually with little access to government systems and development programs in comparison with other target beneficiaries. In some cases mahadalit clusters/tola have special needs more than tribals;

b) Information and awareness on social protection programs is low in comparison with other target groups;

c) Santhali language of tribals is different from the official language hindi restricts direct communication and therefore the Project needs to be geared towards it;

d) Their unique behavioral pattern restricts them to mix up freely with other target groups;

e) Need to build capacities for the eligible tribal groups to be able to assert their rights; f) Need to engage with local tribals to establish trust. Any work with the tribal

communities would need to have engagement of facilitators from amongst them.

6.2.2 Consultations at the Village Level In order to get a ground level understanding of the issues pertaining to tribals in Katihar, consultations were held with a tribal community in Bochai Village in Manihari Block of Katihar in 2012. This village comprises of 31 households comprising of Santhal tribes. The list of participants is given at Annexure XI. Discussion were held on the issues pertaining to the knowledge and access to social protection schemes and programs including MGNREGS, IAY, Social Pensions, Disability Certification. The following issues emerged from the discussions:

• lack of awareness regarding schemes and programs; • complex procedures to access schemes; • inadequate bargaining power within local power structures (with the local PRI); • limited or no interaction with government officials at the local level; • people availing one service have no knowledge or access to another. For instance,

one of the old pensioners had a requirement of a hearing aid. However, he had no knowledge or access to one;

• mistrust with outsiders especially grassroots government functionaries. Among the group, discussions were also held with beneficiaries of different social protection schemes. There were 6 widowed women in the village eligible for social pension, but were not receiving it. There were also three Persons with Disabilities (PWD), who were not benefitting from any pension schemes for various reasons. The PWDs and a guardian (in one case) also shared their difficulties in the obtaining disability certification. One of them was declared 30% physically disabled. This person was further referred to the district hospital for assessing the mental disability, as written in the certificate. However, lack of ability to read and understand the medical board’s referral has resulted the person being deprived of proper certification that is necessary for access to schemes and programs. Out of the many older persons, there were three old age pensioners in the village. One of the pensioners was present in the discussions. He was receiving pension quarterly since 18 months, which he had to personally collect by walking to a post office located 3 to 4 km away. There have


been occasions when he had to go more than once to collect the pension. As in most cases, his form was filled and submitted by the PRI representative. Discussions were also held on the need for services for older persons and PWDs. Both groups felt that accessing government schemes were very difficult and cumbersome. Further, they mentioned that despite the need on many occasions they do not prefer to visit the health facility. Most of the households had access to the local quack. The group felt that if services are made available and more importantly accessible, they would prefer to avail it.


7. Tribal Development Plan (TDP)

7.1 Background & Context As per census 20011, in India the Scheduled Tribe population is about 8.61% of the total population. The tribal population of Bihar constitutes to 1% of the total population. The Scheduled tribes in the state have a distinct social and cultural identity. The BISPS project proposed to be implemented in the four districts of Madhubani, Nalanda, Buxar and Katihar triggers the World Bank OP/BP4.10 (Indigenous People) safeguard policy of World Bank. This is primarily since Katihar has 6.46% tribal population (as a proportion to the total rural population). The share of tribal populations in other three pilot districts is less than 1%. The World Bank’s O.P 4.10 on Indigenous Peoples also underlines the need to foster full respect for their dignity, human rights and cultural uniqueness. It emphasizes that the development process should ensure that indigenous people do not suffer adverse effects as a consequence of the development initiatives and that they receive culturally compatible social and economic benefits. In order to ensure that development initiatives reaches the tribal population, the Word Bank, recommends that ‘the strategy for addressing the developmental issues pertaining to indigenous peoples must be based on the informed participation of the indigenous people themselves identifying local preferences and indigenous knowledge and resources through direct consultation.

7.1.1 Scheduled Tribes in Bihar The Scheduled Tribe (ST) population in the State of Bihar is 13,36,573 as per 20011 census, constituting 1.28% of the total population of the State. The State has 29 Scheduled Tribes and 94.6% of them reside in villages. As per the 2001 census, out of 29 tribes, Santhal is the most populous tribe with a population of 367,612, constituting 48.5% of the total ST population of the State. Oraon and Kharwar are the second and third largest tribes, with a population of 120,362 and 100,735 respectively. Two other major tribes in the descending order are Gond and Munda. Santhal, Oraon, Kharwar, Gond and Munda constitute 86.8 per cent of the total tribal population. The overall sex ratio of the ST population in Bihar is 929 females per 1000 males which is considerably lower than the national average of 978 for the total ST population. The literacy rate amongst the tribal population is 28.2%, while the female (ST) literacy rate is 15.5%. As mentioned earlier, the tribal population of the state is about 1.28% of the total population scattered across different districts, with the highest being in Paschim Champaran. In terms of proportion of total district population, Katihar, Jamui, Banka and Purnia also have a relatively high proportion of tribal population. There are 10 districts that wherein more than 2% of the population is tribal.

Proportion of ST Population Sno. Name of the District % of ST 1. Pashchim

Champaran 6.93 2. Katihar 6.22 3. Jamui 4.84 4. Banka 4.59 5. Purnia 4.16 6. Kishanganj 3.99 7. Kaimur (Bhabua) 3.61 8. Bhagalpur 2.70 9. Siwan 2.66 10. Gopalganj 2.48 Percentage of STs is against rural population Source: Census of India, 2011


The Government of India is part of its larger mandate to provide special attention and resources to tribals offers support to State Governments under the Tribal Sub Plan for the development of the tribals as Special Central Assistance. However, considering the proportion of tribal population in the state, the Government of India assistance is minimal. Large part of this support is extended to states Jharkhand and Chattisgarh that have a higher proportion of tribal population. Moreover, the tribal population in the State of Bihar due to their low and scattered population, do not fall within the purview of the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 that guarantees specific rights and local resources to the tribals under the 5th Schedule of the Constitution. As far as the State Government is concerned, the Government of Bihar has a separate Department of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Welfare that implements all programs related to Scheduled Tribes in the State. The Plan budget for the year 2011-128 was Rs. 13.53 crore, out of which the sanctioned amount was Rs. 12.48 crore. More importantly, the Non-plan budget was Rs. 73.76 crore, out of which the sanctioned amount was only Rs. 30 crore. Apart from this, the State receives Rs. 3 crore from the Government of India under the centrally sponsored scheme for tribal welfare.

7.2 Tribal Development Plan To respond to the Bank’s O.P. 4.10 (Indigenous Peoples), the project shall ensure informed consultations with tribal people, their consent to and broad community support of its activities. The basic framework of the plan would aim at facilitating an enabling environment to ensure access and services that reduces vulnerabilities and shocks. It shall aim to provide equitable and culturally compatible benefits to tribal people and the other socially disadvantaged groups identified. Social development staff in SSUPSW shall be trained in socially and culturally sensitive ways of working with tribal people and others. A Tribal Development Plan (TDP) has been prepared, specifically targeting the scheduled tribe population in districts and more so in Blocks having more than 2% tribal population.

Component Activities Responsible agency

Actions under TDP Timeline

Developing simplified, standardized business processes and tools for program delivery

Identification and enrolment of beneficiaries for respective programs

BRDS & SSUPSW

Identification and mobilization of households in tribal clusters and their inclusion. Consultations and sustained handholding assistance to tribal groups.

First six months Start of the project and throughout the project implementation

Same as above

For outreach and communications to citizens about their entitlements

Communications Unit, BRDS & SSUPSW

Implementation of tribal-adapted IEC campaign, through local/folk artists and groups.

As per communication plan schedule

Human Resource

Training and Capacity Building

Training and Capacity

Sensitization and training of project staff on tribal

As per the Training

8 http://scstwelfare.bih.nic.in/docs/data/Budget2011-12.pdf as on 22.08.2012

http://scstwelfare.bih.nic.in/docs/data/Budget2011-12.pdf


Building Unit, SSUPSW

culture, policy provisions. Engagement of tribal professionals in tribal clusters. Engagement of those familiar with specific languages of the tribal groups identified and involved in sharing of information and their sensitization and training.

schedule


8. Implementation Arrangements 8.1 Overall Institutional Arrangements

8.1.1 State level: The Rural Development Department (RDD) and Department of Social Welfare (DoSW) of the Government of Bihar (GoB) will be responsible for the overall implementation of the BISPS Project. Both the RDD and DoSW work with specifically mandated societies, which will function as the implementing agencies for the purpose of the BISPS Project. Respectively, the Bihar Rural Development Society (BRDS) and the State Society for Ultra-Poor and Social Welfare (SSUPSW) would serve as the focal points for day-to-day management as per Government of Bihar and IDA policies and procedures. The Executive Committee of both State Societies headed by their respective Secretary / Principal Secretary would provide guidance. The Development Commissioner would provide management oversight and streamlined coordination between the activities of both Societies. Other than for core administrative functions, BRDS and SSUPSW would have specialized units for monitoring and evaluation, communication, training, e-governance and partnerships, as essential elements in implementing their respective mandates and supervising Project operations, as well as domain specialists for their respective areas of business, i.e. programs and services targeted to the rural poor and vulnerable, older persons, widows and persons with disabilities. The project particularly with reference to BRDS will primarily focus on strengthening of financial systems at the state, district and block levels. The abovementioned units would largely be engaged only in SSUPSW with project funds. In BRDS, these units are part of their own institutional set up and are not funded by the project. The diagram below provides an overview of the institutional

Development Commissioner

Dept. of Social Welfare Dept. of Rural Development

SSUPSW (SAKSHAM)

District level Social Care Centre (Buniyad)

Sub – divisional Social Care Centres (Buniyad)

BRDS

District Unit (Financial Management & Internal Audit)

Block level accountants


arrangements for the project as well as the various units of the two implementing agencies with their reporting channels.

8.1.2 District level: Implementation of the social care provision model through the Buniyad Centres at the sub-division level would be facilitated by District Units. Staffing would consist of contracted staff. Senior officials at BRDS and SSUPSW would oversee the District Units. In turn, the District Units would supervise daily functions of the sub-division level service Centers.

8.1.3 Block level: The Project would finance 101 sub-division level Buniyad Centers in the state. The institutional arrangement at the sub-division level is primarily aimed towards service provision to the target population through 101 Buniyad Centers operated by SSUPSW.

8.1.4 Village / Community level: At the village/community level, the project would rely on the regular government functionaries and PRI representatives, apart from CBOs. The project would also partner with existing intermediary organizations (eg., CBOs) to identify local community member, who would be trained to serve as the focal service provider at the community level for these groups. However, it is important to note that the project would only provide training. There is no provision for employment either temporary or permanent.

8.2 Institutional Arrangement for ensuring compliance to SMF The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SSUPSW will be responsible for overall implementation, oversight and ensuring compliance with National and WB procedures. associated with screening of Buniyad Center sites to ascertain need for any resettlement and rehabilitation, and reporting the same to Bank. The concerned Secretary / Principal Secretary of the RDD and DoSW will clear the Social Assessment and Management Framework Report along with suggested measures / strategies. The Program Director, Social Audits supported by an official in his / her team in BRDS and the Senior Administrative Officer in SSUPSW, will be responsible for day-to-day implementation and monitoring of compliance of the SMF. At the District level, the Centre Manager cum District Coordinator of SSUPSW district unit will be responsible for the implementation and supervision of the SMF. The scope of work of BRDS is only the provision of a pre-audit team, that addresses issues related financial strengthening and preparing the district for programme, process and financial audit. At the sub-division level, the Center Manager of the Buniyad Center will have the responsibility of implementation and supervision of the SMF. In the block with high tribal population, the official at the block level will have knowledge and sensitivity towards issues related to tribal population. The implementation of SMF at the Gram Panchayat and village levels will be the responsibility of the relevant CBOs / DPOs / Vridha Sanghas.. In order to ensure effective implementation of the Social Management Framework and related strategies, the Project may put in place the following implementation arrangements:


8.2.1 Grievance redress system The grievance redress mechanism for compliance of the SMF is a crucial area of concern. Instead of a standalone grievance redress mechanism, the project will integrate it with grievance redress mechanism laid down for the RDD and DoSW. Grievances arising out of the implementation of the SMF would also be logged through the grievance redress mechanism that would be put in place and integrated in each of the implementing agency i.e. BRDS and SSUPSW. This would ensure sustainability and mainstreaming of the concerns of these groups into overall program design. Further, the helpline / call centre established under the project will support registration of grievances. In order to deal with the grievance and complaints, a Grievance Redress System will be set up at State, District and Block levels. The following major steps will broadly guide the Grievance Redress System:

1. The first point of acceptance of complaints for all functions related will be the BDO. However, written (or register them orally) complaints can be sent at even the district or state levels. The community can send their grievance to the BDO. The BDO will be required to address the grievance.

Sl. No.

Level Responsible Entity / Person Responsibility Time line

BRDS SSUPSW 1. State Program

Director, Social Audits & other relevant PIU staff M&E Unit

Senior Administrative Officer & other relevant PIU staff M&E Unit

Clearing Social Inclusion Plan and related activities as part of process manual for Buniyad Centers and preparation of communication and training Plan. Overall monitoring to ensure compliance with SMF; Commissioning regular checks and audits as mandated by the SMF. Maintaining beneficiary database

First 6 months of project implementation

2. District Centre Manager cum District Coordinator other relevant staff

Identifying specific pockets of vulnerable populations.

After collection of disaggregated data by gender, tribe and vulnerability.

3. Block Buniyad Center Manager other relevant staff

Identifying specific pockets of vulnerable populations.

After collection of disaggregated data by gender, tribe and vulnerability.

4. Gram Panchayat / Village

CBO / DPO / Vridha Sangha / Community Members & care givers

Social Screening Supervision of SMF Implementation and all related activities.

At the time of identification of site for construction of Buniyad Center During construction and operation of Centers.


2. At the Block level, the BDO will be the Grievance Redress Officer (GRO), while at the

district level the Assistant Director – Social Security will be the GRO. At the State level, the Senior Administrative Officer SSUPSW will be the GRO.

3. With the aim to put in place a system of appeal to deal with grievances at each level, the Assistant Director Social Security will be designated as the appellate authority for the Block level, while the District Magistrate of respective district will be designated as the appellate authority for the district level complaints. At the State level, the Principal Secretary / Secretary of DoSW will be the final appellate authority for grievance redress.

4. A petitioner may choose to submit his /her complaints either in writing (on a plain paper) or orally by presenting himself before the concerned GRO. Complaint boxes at conspicuous places in the different relevant offices will be installed to facilitate submission of complaints.

5. At each level, there will be a Grievance Redress Register, where nature and date of complaints along with the name and address of the petitioner can be entered.

6. All grievances registered at the Block level should be disposed within 15 days, failing which the petitioner can appeal before the appellate authority.

7. Once a grievance has been disposed of, the date and nature of disposal will be communicated to the petitioner.

8. Monitoring of disposal of the complaint will be done regularly and at each level.


Annexure I

Administrative and Local Governance Units in Bihar

S No.

District Name9

Sub Division Name No. of Blocks10

No. of Panchayats11

1 Araria Araria, Farbisganj 9 218 2 Arwal Arwal Sadar 5 68 3 Aurangabad Aurangabad, Daud Nagar 11 203 4 Banka Banka 11 185 5 Begusarai Begusarai, Manjhaul, Ballia, Bakhari,

Teghara. 18 257

6 Kaimur (Bhabhua) Bhabhua, Mohania 11 151 7 Bhagalpur Bhagalpur, Kahalgaon, Naugachhia 16 242 8 Bhojpur Ara Sadar, Jagdishpur, Piro 14 228 9 Buxar Buxar, Dumraon 11 142 10 Darbhanga Darbhanga Sadar, Benipur and Biraul 18 330 11 East Champaran Motihari Sadar, Areraj, Raxaul, Sikarahna,

Pakridayal 27 410

12 Gaya Gaya Sadar, Neemchak, Bathani, Sherghati, Tekari

24 332

13 Gopalganj Gopalganj, Hathua 14 234 14 Jamui Jamui 10 153 15 Jehanabad Jehanabad 7 93 16 Katihar Katihar Sadar, Barsoi, Manihari 16 238 17 Khagaria Khagaria, Goghri 7 129 18 Kishanganj Kishanganj 7 126 19 Lakhisarai Lakhisarai 7 80 20 Madhepura Madhepura, Uda Kishanganj 13 170 21 Madhubani Madhubani, Jaynagar, Benipatti,

Jhanjharpur, Phul Paraas 21 399

22 Munger Munger, Haveli Kharagpur, Tarapur 9 101 23 Muzaffarpur East Muzaffarpur, West Muzaffarpur 16 387 24 Nalanda Bihar Sharif, Rajgir, Hilsa 20 249 25 Nawada Nawadah, Rajauli 14 187 26 Patna Patna Sadar, Patna City, Barh, DanaPur,

Masaurhi, Paliganj 23 331

27 Purnea Purnea, Banmankhi, Dhamdaha, Vaishi 14 251 28 Rohtas Sasaram, Bikramganj, Dehri 19 246

9 Source: Directorate of Economics & Statistics, Planning & Development Department, Government of Bihar, http://dse.bih.nic.in/personnel.htm 10 Source: Directorate of Economics & Statistics, Planning & Development Department, Government of Bihar, http://dse.bih.nic.in/personnel.htm 11 Source: Annual Report 2009-10, Department of Panchayati Raj, Government of Bihar.

http://dse.bih.nic.in/personnel.htm

http://dse.bih.nic.in/personnel.htm


29 Saharsa Saharasa Sadar, Simri Bakhtiyarpur 10 153 30 Samastipur Samastipur Sadar, Dalsinghsarai, Patori,

Rosera, 20 381

31 Saran Chapra, Marhawrah, Sonepur 20 330 32 Sheikhpura Sheikhpura 6 54 33 Sheohar Sheohar 5 53 34 Sitamarhi Sitamarhi Sadar, Belsand, Pupri 17 273 35 Siwan Siwan, Maharajganj 19 293 36 Supaul Supaul, Birpur, Nirmali, Tribeniganj 11 181 37 Vaishali Hajipur, Mahnar, Mahua 16 290 38 West Champaran Bettiah, Bagaha, Narkatiyaganj 18 315 101 534 8463


Annexure II State Level Consultation Workshop on Social and Environment Assessment

for

Bihar Integrated Social Protection Strengthening (BISPS) Project

6th Aug. 2012, Patna

Organized by

State Society for Ultra Poor and Social Welfare (SAKSHAM)

(Department of Social Welfare, Govt. of Bihar)

Bihar Rural Development Society (BRDS)

(Department of Rural Development, Govt. of Bihar)

Introduction

The State Level Consultation Workshop on Social and Environment Assessment was

organized at Conference Hall, SC/ST Welfare Department, Old Secretariat, Patna on 6th

August 2012. The objective of the workshop was to share the findings of the Social and

Environment Assessments of BISPS and present the Social and Environment Management

Frameworks designed for the project with a view to elicit stakeholder feedback.


Participant profile

The participants of the workshop included Principal Secretary, Department of Rural

Development (DoRD); Secretary, Department of Social Welfare (DoSW); CEO, Bihar Rural

Livelihood Promotion Society (BRLPS); District Development Commissioners (DDC); Block

Development officers (BDO); Circle Officers (CO), Officers from DoRD & DoSW, State Society

for Ultra Poor and Social Welfare (SAKSHAM) team members, representatives of NGOs,

representatives of the World Bank, etc. The workshop has about 55 participants in all.

Overview of proceedings

The workshop started with introductory remarks by the senior Government officials

conveying the objective of the workshop. An overview of the project was then given by

SAKSHAM team members including details on the various components and the planned

activities. This was followed by a detailed presentation and discussion on the findings of the

Environmental Assessment (EA) and on the Environmental Management Framework (EMF).


Key discussion points and suggestions

Construction activity:

• The main construction activity under the project is the construction of the Adarsh

and Buniyad Centres. These buildings are about 1000 and 5000 square feet in area

respectively. The existing Government laws and regulations relevant to construction

activities need to be followed to avoid any kind of environmental impacts.

• As both the centres are planned to be constructed within the existing Block

Development Office campuses, there are unlikely to be any issues relating to change

in land use and land acquisition. Block-wise information on land availability is to be

urgently compiled for corroborating this finding in all cases.

• Good buildings involve resource-efficient design, material safety, etc., and can

contribute to a healthy and more productive working environment. Integration of

environment-friendly elements such as use of solar power in the buildings needs to

be explored.

• Block level offices have frequent power cuts. The design of both centres should be

such that enough sunlight penetrates the building for adequate lighting.

MNREGA Works:

• The main concern with regard to the social forestry under MGNREGA is the poor

survival rate. After-care of the plantation is weak even though the scheme provides

for a care taker (Van Poshak) for a unit of 200 saplings. The wage of the Van Poshak

is quite low and reducing it further on the basis of the percentage of saplings that

survive is not always feasible. The need to explore alternatives such as the use of

more mature saplings that will be hardy was emphasized. Also, local species of

plants need to be promoted for plantation so that they provide multiple benefits to

communities and sustain interest in after-care.

• While water conservation and harvesting structures are required, proper planning

and technical support is critical – especially in the case of marginal land owners with

limited agriculture land.


• Works involving water bodies (ponds, lakes) cannot be taken up under MGNREGA

without the permission of the Fisheries Department. Permission is difficult to secure

as these assets are usually auctioned off to fisherperson’s cooperative societies.

IAY Housing:

• Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) amount (Rs. 45,000/-) is not sufficient to build a house as

the cost of construction materials has increased. To resolve this issue, the use of low

cost and locally procured material should be promoted.

Protected Areas:

• Protected areas such as wildlife sanctuaries will not be involved in any kind of

construction activity under the project. The example of the Goga Beel – a wetland in

Katihar district – was shared in this context. The wetland that was once rich in

migratory birds has seen a severe decline in the bird population and diversity in last

5 years. Disturbance of the habitat due to fishing and agriculture in the area is

probably the cause.

Human Resources:

• In the case of both IAY and MGNREGA, the human resource requirement is more

than the available staff. So adequate number of people should be engaged at Block

and Panchayat level for delivering these programmes.

• A Natural Resource Management specialist will be appointed in BRDS to provide

technical support to MNREGS works.

SOCIAL ASPECTS

• ADARSH and BUNIYAD Centres are planned to construct within the premises of Block

offices so that every social group can access the services from these centres. There

will not be any kind of exclusion of any social group in these centres.

• Tribal population found in small clusters/tola usually with little access to government

systems and development programs in comparison with other target beneficiaries. In

some cases mahadalit clusters/tola have special needs more than tribals.


• The Scheduled Tribes remain within their own communities and have little

interaction with others. Their language is different and on most occasions

communication is difficult especially among the Santhals.

• On issues pertaining to the exclusion of tribals, it was observed that the tribals have

similar issues of exclusion as that of the general population. The problem increases

further because they have little awareness of rights and entitlements (especially

women among them) coupled with a lack of voice to demand.

• Level of awareness about various Government programmes is low in Bihar. Special

awareness drive for the local community should be planned to deliver services to

beneficiaries. Particularly for the tribal pockets communication should be

customised to cater to their needs and in their language.

• In order to make in-roads into the tribal communities and build trust, it would be

necessary to engage with representatives from within their communities.

Community Facilitators engaged in tribal villages or tribal majority Gram Panchayats

should be from amongst the tribal communities.

• All the 4 plot districts are different from each other in Socio-cultural aspects.

Planning should be made on the basis of existing situations in these districts. For an

example Katihar district has highest population of Schedule Tribes (STs) and they use

their own language “Santhali” instead of Hindi so the local level project activities

should be communicated in Santhali language for better understanding and people’s

participation in project activities.

• Low Literacy rate among target groups in the proposed districts is a bottleneck for

delivery of project outputs. The project should take the steps to communicate

objectives and also involve target groups to get benefits for the success of project.

• Reaching of Social Security Pensions (SSP) to beneficiaries in right time is an issue.

Delay in payments affects the poor the most. The Department of Social Welfare has

initiated data digitalization work of SSP beneficiaries’ and proposes to pilot payment

mechanisms.


• Baseline survey should disaggregated information on vulnerable population groups

for the project and updated on regular basis.

At the end of the workshop, participants were agreed for the requirement of such Social

Protection project in Bihar.

Mr. Bishnu C. Parida, Dy. CEO, SAKSHAM offered vote of thanks to participants and

informed that such types of consultative workshops will be organized at district level to get

feedback and suggestions on the BISPS project.


List of Participants

SI. No. Name Designation Department /

Organization Location

1 A. Santosh Mathew Principal Secretary Rural Development Patna 2 Sandeep Poundrik Secretary Social Welfare Patna

3 Arvind Kumar Choudhary CEO, JEEViKA BRLPS Patna

4 Vinod Singh DM Buxar Govt. of Bihar Buxar 5 Srinivas Varadan Consultant, So. Care The World Bank New Delhi 6 R.S. Trida Officer Govt. of Bihar Katihar 7 Sangeeta Kumari Social Dev. Specialist The World Bank Patna 8 Pravesh Kumar Consultant, So. Care The World Bank New Delhi 9 Ashing Aziz Operations Analyst The World Bank Delhi

10 Yashwant Kr.Azad Monitoring & Evaluation BPSP, DOPR, GoB Patna

11 Upendra Kumar Sr. A.O SSUPSW, DoSW Patna 12 Animesh Pandey Project Officer RDD Patna

13 Mahnaz Fatma PM -Nutrition SSUPSW Patna

14 Abhishak Singh Programme Manager NGO - AKF Patna

15 R.Rjha CPO Social welfare Buxar 16 Kalyani Kandule Consultant World Bank New Delhi

17 Indu Bala Sinha ADSS DoSW Patna

18 Alok Patnaik Operations Specialist World Bank Patna 19 Nitya Nand Pandey BDO RDD Madhubani

20 Moti Kr.Dinkar BDO RDD Buxar (Rajlons)

21 B.K. Prabhakar BDO RDD Buxar (Brahmpur)

22 Md.Sajjad Zehil PO RDD Buxar (Chause)

23 Jivan Chandra Programme Officer RDD Madhabani 24 Md. Shamsuzzaha PO RDD Madhabani 25 Sanjit Kumar PM- Prog. Mgmt BTAST Patna

26 Saurabha Trividi PM- C & R SSUPSW Patna

27 Narendra Kumar BDO RDD Katihar (Hasanganj)

28 Ruhal Fatma ADSS DoSW Nalanda 29 Soumya Project Manager WDC, Bihar Patna 30 Irina Sinha project dissector WDC, Bihar Patna 31 Dr. Sushma Kapoor Nutrition BTAST BTAST Patna 32 Puja V Dutta Sr. Economist World Bank New Delhi

33 Neha Vyas Environmental Specialist World Bank New Delhi


34 Kumar Subhash Programme officer RDD Rajpur Buxar

35 Arvind Kumar Srivastava Block welfare officer SC & ST Welfare Manihari Katihar

36 Neeha Sharma Nutrition Expert B-TAST SWASTH Patna 37 Dheeraj Kumar Programme Officer RDD Katihar 38 Sanjay Prakash Singh Programme officer RDD Katihar 39 Ajit Kumar Sinha DWO. SC & ST welfare Katihar

40 Ashwini Kumar Choudhary BWO SC & ST welfare Katihar

41 O.P. Rai DDC Madhubani RDD Madhabani 42 Kishan Kumar Singh DDC Katihar RDD Katihar 43 Kaushlendra Pathak DDC Buxar RDD Buxar 44 Fazle Rabbani PM - PwD SSUPSW Patna 45 Bishnu C Parida Dy.CEO SSUPSW Patna 46 Hasnain A.Warshi PM - OP SSUPSW Patna 47 T.P. Singh APM- BP SSUPSW Patna 48 Vishal Singh SPM – C & R SSUPSW Patna

49 Avinash Kumar PM- BP SSUPSW Patna

50 Naresh Kr. Srivastara Programme Officer RDD Nalanda 51 Savita Kumari PO RDD Nalanda

52 Vivek Anand M & E Officer NGO - AKRSP Muzaffarpur

53 Archana Gupta Block Dev. officer RDD Patna 54 Satish Ranjan Sinha Planning officer RDD Patna


Annexure III

District Level Consultation Workshop on Social and Environment Assessment for Bihar Integrated Social Protection Strengthening (BISPS) Project

Organized by: State Society for Ultra Poor and Social Welfare (SAKSHAM)


Bihar Rural Development Society (BRDS) (Department of Rural Development, Govt. of Bihar)

Introduction: The District Consultation Workshop on Social and Environment Assessment was organized at Vikas Bhawan, Katihar on 17th August 2012 in which a total of 45 key stakeholders participated. The objectives of the workshop was to share the findings of the Social and Environment Assessment of BISPS and project and present the Social and Environment Management Frameworks designed for the project with a view to elicit stakeholder feedback. Participant Profile: The participants of the workshop were DDC, Katihar; Under Secretary from DoRD Patna; designated SC & ST Welfare; Block Development officers (BDO); Circle Officers (CO); Consultant World Bank; representatives of NGOs; consultant from BRDS and SAKSHAM team members Overview of Session: The workshop began at 11 am sharp with the welcome address by SAKSHAM team member followed with introductory remarks by the chief guest Mr. Keshav Kumar Singh, DDC, Katihar., who explicitly explained the the importance of this workshop and encouraged the participants for their active participation. In the first session, SAKSHAM team member briefly presented the overview of the BISPS-Project including the project background; objectives and source of finance; strategic context; project components; the KBKBS model and service provision at Buniyad Centres In the second session, the findings of the draft documents including Social and Environment Assessment and Social and Environment Management Frameworks were shared with the participants and suggestions were sought. Key discussion points and suggestions: Each of the above presentation anteceded with discussions and suggestions were sought from the participants. The following are the key highlights of the discussions and suggestions: Social Inclusion


• On issues of social exclusion, BDO of Kudwa shared his view that in recent past people

have become more aware about social security programs and are beginning to benefit from them.

• DDC suggested all the BDOs to take account of the ground realities and take the challenges. He emphasized that without addressing the issues of social exclusion Social Protection programs is not going to be successful. He said “even one tribal or mahadalit or women or person with disabilities is left then we are failed.”

Tribal Plan • On issue of performance of program in pockets with tribal population participants

actively shared their views and experiences. The discussions have generated lot of insights on the lives culture and uniqueness of tribal people in comparison with other target beneficiaries, mahadalits. Information on SP programs is inadequate in comparison with other target groups. Language is another problem which restricts direct communication. Besides, their unique behavioral pattern restricts them to mix up freely with other target groups. These are some of the most important causes of their exclusion which need to be looked at different perspective and approaches were views expressed by the participants.

• • Considering the socio-cultural background of the tribal people, the need for adopting

different approaches and strategies and tribal development plan were the majority views expressed by the participants.

Social Issues and Management Framework: • Experience reveals that the information needs to be made available at the local level at

the right time in a right perspective and in a manner that can be used by the populace. This is required so that the people in general and vulnerable groups in particular are able to articulate their needs. Lack of information at the local level inhibits their active participation in the development process.

• For the weaker sections and vulnerable groups, who have been suppressed in every

aspect of life for the last couple decades by the local influential and hence have lost self-confidence. It would be totally unrealistic to assume that they would take initiatives to avail the facilities of the developmental schemes even if they are told about these facilities. First of all it is essential that they develop confidence and self-respect among themselves so that they can fight for their betterment.

• For this they need to be organized in homogeneous groups. Meetings, discussions,

training etc. need to be carried out with them at regular interval for quite some time, than only confidence building and awareness generation among these most vulnerable groups can be made possible.


Reflecting on the on the above issue, another view was: • So far, the issue of social inclusion in the SP program is successful in demonstrating a

few innovations of RTPS centres, convergence of various programs and efforts to strengthen manpower, but the efforts were not adequate and systematic to have desirable results. While the results of the initial stages are encouraging, the challenge lies ahead is to scale up efforts which are still in its infancy. Better coordination and strategies will be needed to evolve a system based on people centric and determine long term development perspective.

MNREGS Works • Participants representing NGO remarked about the poor quality of work carried out

under the MNREGS works and the lack of scientific design and technical supervision relating to works done on water harvesting and conservation.

• A large number of MNREGS works particularly those related to water conservation, remain incomplete or failed to conserve water, either due to lack of technical support to GPs or insufficient rainfall, affecting the most vulnerable.


Program Schedule

District Level Consultation Workshop on Environment and Social Assessment of BISPS Project Date: 17-08-2012

Venue: Vikas Bhawan, Katihar Time Session Key Person Responsible for

Presentation / Anchoring Discussion

10.30 am to 11.00 am Registration SSUPSW 11.00 am to 11.30 am Welcome and Introductions:

Introduction to the Workshop Introduction of Participants

DDC, Katihar Representative from SSUPSW and BRDS

11.30 am to 12.15 pm Introduction to the BISPS Project: Objectives, Components

Mr. Vishal Singh Mr. Tribhuwan Singh

12.15 pm to 01.15 pm Introduction to the Environment and Social Assessment and Management Framework

Mr. Abdul Qayum Consultant

01.15 pm to 02.30 pm Open House Discussion & Feedback from participants

SSUPSW and BRDS

02.30 pm Lunch

List of Participants: SN Name Designation Department/ Organization 1 Keshav Kumar Singh DDC, Katihar RDD 2 Muni Lal Jamadar Director, NEP DRDA, RRD 3 Jitendra Kumar Singh BDO, Kadwa RDD 4 Dr. Rakesh Kumar BAHO Animal Husbandry Deptt. 5 Ratan Lal BDO, Azamnagar RDD 6 Shiv Shankar Ramani Secretary NGO - KKVVBKS 7 Madan Kumar Accountant NGO - KKVVBKS 8 Satish Prasad CO, Pranpur Revenue 9 Rudrakant Dube Secretary NGO – MPEW Society 10 Rakesh Kr. Srivastav Secretary NGO - MJSS 11 Shakun Verma CO, Hasnganj Revenue 12 Srinivas Varadan Consultant The World Bank 13 Abdul Qayam Consultant BRDS 14 Ravindra Kumar BDO, Pranpur RDD 15 Arvind Mishra CO, Barsoi Revenue 16 Indrajeet Singh DHO Horticulture 17 Dr. Jagdish Chowdhury Under Secretary RDD 18 Dr. Om Prakash ACMO Health 19 Narendra Kumar BDO, Hasanganj RDD 20 Rajesh Kumar Singh Secretary NGO - APSS 21 Randhir Singh BDO, Balrampur RDD 22 P.C. Das Assistant DRDA (RDD) 23 A.K. Jha Assistant DRDA (RDD) 24 A. Ram DOP, Katihar Education


25 Archana Gupta BDO Dandkhora RDD 26 S. K. Jha DAO, Katihar Agriculture 27 R. N. Pandey CO, Sameli Revenue 28 Parshu Ram BDO, Falka RDD 29 S. K. Sahay CO, Kursela CO 30 Madhu Kumari BDO, Katihar RDD 31 Jaishankar Kumaar DO DRDA (RDD 32 Nuzhat Manzur BDO & designated for SC & ST

Welfare, Block Manihari RDD

33 Bibha Kumar BDO, Amdabad RDD 34 Ashutosh Jha CO Falka Revenue 35 S. Singh CO, Amdabad Revenue 36 Arun Kumar Choubey BDO, Barari RDD 37 S. Kumar CO, Barari Revenue 38 Mahesh P Singh CO, Manihari Revenue 39 Kishor K Mandal Secretary NGO - SGV 40 H. K. Das Assistant DRDA (RDD) 41 Sandeep Kumar Assistant DRDA (RDD) 42 S. Singh Assistant DRDA (RDD) 43 Amit Chubey Secretary NGO - MPES 44 Usha Devi Assistant NGO – MPES 45 Pradeep Kumar Assistant NGO – MPES


Annexure IV District Level Consultation Workshop on Social and Environment Assessment for Bihar

Integrated Social Protection Strengthening (BISPS) Project Organized by:

State Society for Ultra Poor and Social Welfare (SAKSHAM) (Department of Social Welfare, Govt. of Bihar)

Bihar Rural Development Society (BRDS)

(Department of Rural Development, Govt. of Bihar) Introduction: The District Level Consultation Workshop on Social and Environment Assessment was organized at DDC office premise, Madhubani on 16-08-2012 in which a total of 39 key stakeholders of the project participated. The objectives of the workshop was to share the findings of the Social and Environment Assessment of BISPS and project and present the Social and Environment Management Frameworks designed for the project with a view to elicit stakeholder feedback. Participant Profile: The participants of the workshop were District Development Commissionaires (DDC); Under Secretary DoRD, Patna; Circle Officers (CO); Asst. Director Social Security; Block Development officers (BDO); DAO (Agr. Dept.); Dist. Horticulture Officer; Civil Surgeon; Community development, NABARD; DPM, Jeevika project and representatives from NGOs; team members SAKSHAM and consultant from BRDS. Overview of Session: The workshop began at 11 am sharp with the welcome address and introduction of participants followed with inaugural address by DDC, Madhubani. This has followed with a presentation on an overview of the BISPS Project wherein the project objectives and project components were explained. The Social and Environment Assessment and the proposed management framework were shared with participants and suggestions on the approach to include the most vulnerable of the society in the project were sought. Key Discussions and Suggestions: Reflecting on the social aspect of IAY, DDC approved the idea and suggested the following:

• IAY is a cash-transfer scheme. It is not possible to prescribe any design to the

beneficiaries unless there are policy level changes. However, rather than imposing a top-down scheme, the focus must be on empowering the beneficiaries to contribute some additional amount to construct their dream house.

• However, a model of low cost housing must be created and adopted. This is already being adopted in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. However, the cash amount must be enhanced from the existing Rs. 45,000. Also, to resolve this issue, low cost material and locally procured material should be promoted by the implementing agency.


Reflecting on the issues of social inclusion of vulnerable groups in relation to MNREGS the following idea and suggested were emerged: • • MNREGS is an important entitlement among all the social protection components

because it seeks to achieve multiple objectives. It not only provides employment opportunities during lean agricultural seasons but also in times of floods, droughts and other natural calamities. Such provisions have at least ensured a minimum level of employment and stability to the incomes of the poor and give them an opportunity to develop their collective strength. It would help to improve their economic position, reduce vulnerability and discourage migration to facilitate their continued access to health, education and welfare facilities available in the village. But the challenge is that the same is not performing the way it has been thought.

• • The challenge is to ensure meaningful participation of the social excluded communities

in the program. How this can be done is a real challenge in the existing scenario where corruption and malpractices are rampant at all level. An improved systems and their effectiveness with equal emphasis on transparency and accountability (which is lacking at present time) would work to meet such challenges.

• • The other important issues discussed and suggestions shared are: • At district and block levels, heavy workload has affected the quality of work. There is an

acute shortage of man power to deal with the mammoth work at their disposal of a few. Hence, the need for making provisions of sufficient man power to deal with the kind of work the project is expected to do is very much needed.

• • For result oriented project, it is necessary to have a project monitoring units at district

level for effective and timely implementation of project activities and monitoring inclusion of socially vulnerable populations.

• • The cash amount under the Social Security Pension schemes need to be changed

because the current amount is not enough to meet the bare minimum requirement of the beneficiaries.

• • The availability of Social Security Pensions fund is a not regular. It affects the most

vulnerable populations. To resolve this issue, Department of Social Welfare is taking an initiative to digitize the SSP beneficiaries’ data and link them with bank directly and remaining (those who have not any bank account) will get the amount in cash. Towards this effort, as has been reported, till date (i.e. 16-08-12) a total of 1, 17,000 out of the total 2, 25,000 beneficiaries unique ID has been generated and the process of distribution of unique card will be carried out in the near future.


Program Schedule


Venue: DDC office premise, Madhubani Time Session Key Person Responsible for




DDC, Madhubani, Bihar SSUPSW and BRDS


Mr. Avinash Kumar Mr. Saurabh Trivedi



01.15 pm to 02.30 pm Open House Discussion and Feedback from participants

SSUPSW and BRDS

02.30 pm Lunch Participants List

SN Name Designation Department/ Organization 1 O.P. Rai DDC RD Bihar 2. Jagdish Choudhary Undersecretary DoRD, Patna 3 Raj Kumar Vishwatarma Community Development WECP, Priyadars NABARD 4 Barun Kumar DPM BRLPS/ Jeevika project 5 Rajesh Gupta TM BRLPS/ Jeevika project 6 Praveen Kumar Singh DPO Office of DEO MDD 7 Ravi Shankar Pandey CO CO, Madhubani 8 Krishna Kant Jha DAO Agriculture Department 9 Sunil Kumar BDO BDO, Jhanjharpur 10 Lakshmi Kant Jha DHO Dist. Horticulture Officer 11 Amrendra Narayan Executive Marinate - 12 Hari Prasad BDO BDO, Rajnagar 13 Kusum Lal Paswan Circle Officer C.O. Jay nager 14 Kusum Lal Paswan CO C.O Kaluahi 15 Kushi N. Singh BDO BDO. Phulpraj 16 Aswani Kumar CO CO, Phulpraj 17 Ashok Kumar BDO BDO, Pandoll 18 Shallder Kumar Jha CO Pandoll 19 Avdhesh Kumar Srivastava CO CO, Rajnagar 20 Ashok Kumar CO CO, Madhubani 21 Sunil Kumar CO CO, Khajanahi 22 Ashwani Kumar Sinha CO CO, Basopatti 23 Baidyanath BDO Block, Basopatti


24 Nitya Nand Pandey BDO Block 25 Bijay Kumar BDO Block, Karernari 26 Mandau Mishra BDO Block, Basopatti 27 Raman Kumar Jha BDO Block, Lakhriturt 28 Upendra Prasad BDO Block, Raheka 29 Raj Bahuahier Gupta BDO Block, Jainagar 30 S.P. Verma BDO Block, Bahuarhi 31 Ashuik Singh - SWD 32 Abdul Qayum Consultant - 33 Dr. Sudhir Kumar Sinha Civil Surgeon Dist. Hospital, Madhubani 34 Rajeev Rajan Sinha - Revenue 35 Babu Yadav Sr. Dy, Collector - 36 Mukesh Kumar Jha DIA, NIC NIC 37 Sunil Kumar Mihra Press - 38 Raman Kumar Mishra Press Prabhat Khabar 39 Shyam Sunder Jha Press Dainik Jagran


Annexure V


Organized by: State Society for Ultra Poor and Social Welfare (SAKSHAM)



Introduction: The District Level Consultation Workshop on Social and Environment Assessment was organized at District Collectorate, Nalanda on 13-08-2012 in which a total of 33 stakeholders participated. The objectives of the workshop was to share the findings of the Social and Environment Assessment of BISPS and project and present the Social and Environment Management Frameworks designed for the project with a view to elicit stakeholder feedback. Participant Profile: The participants of the workshop were DDC, Nalanda; Joint Director, DoRD, Patna; Director, agriculture Dept.; Asst. Director, Social Security; Director, welfare office; Block Development officers (BDO); Circle Officers (CO); representatives of NGOs; District representative Jeevika Project, Officials from DRDA; consultant of BRDS and SAKSHAM team members Overview of Session: The discussion initiated with introduction of the participants followed by a presentation on an overview of the BISPS Project wherein the project objectives and project components were explained. The Social and Environment Assessment and the proposed management framework were shared with participants and suggestions on the approach to include the most vulnerable of the society in the project were sought. Key discussion points and suggestions: The reflection on Social Assessment findings of the proposed project, the following discussions and suggestions were shared by the participants: Delay in distribution of job cards: • Though job cards have been prepared, in many cases they have not reached the people,

thereby restricting their right to demand work. The reason for this is the workload of the panchayat sevak who undertake the task of distribution. It revealed that each panchayat sevak has two or three panchayats under him/ her, thus making the making the task extremely difficult.


Absence of worksite facilities: • MNREGS beneficiaries entitled to various facilities at the worksite such as a clean

drinking water, shade for period of rest; emergency health care and crèche. In many cases it was observes that these facilities are altogether absence at the worksite. As a result, especially women are hesitant to bring their children to the worksite. It also forces them to think about applying for work in the first place.

The following important suggestions on Social Management Framework shared by the participants: • As the literacy rate is low, people are unable to fill applications and hence it was

suggested that the Panchayat Sevaks, Vikas Mitras of Mahadalit Aayog and the Community Resource Persons promoted by Jeevika to be involved in the process. The resource pool can be beneficial for beneficiary identification in the Buniyaad Centre and social mobilisation.

• Considering low literacy and background of the vulnerable groups, innovative methods of creating awareness that catch the imagination of the critical mass is required.

• The Departments are short of manpower and hence it was suggested that the

departments may be strengthened. It was suggested to involve NGOs for enhancing outreach.

• It was suggested to utilise the existing resources (each Panchayat is allocated a sum of

Rs 2 Lacs for infrastructure development) for installation of the internet interface.

• On issue of social inclusion it was suggested that innovative ways of awareness creation must be undertaken to improve awareness level of beneficiaries entitled for various welfare schemes.


Program Schedule


Venue: District Collectorate, Nalanda Time Session Key Person Responsible for




DDC, Madhubani, Bihar SSUPSW and BRDS


Ms. Mahua Mr. Hasnain Ansari


Mr. Abdul Qayum

01.15 pm to 02.30 pm Open House Discussion and Feedback from participants

SSUPSW and BRDS

02.30 pm Lunch Participant List SN Name Designation Department/ Organization 1 B.Kartkey DDC Nalada - 2 Arshad Ali Director N.E.P DRDA 3 Sundama Mahto Director Ag. offices Agriculture 4 Ruhul Fatma Asst. Director Social Security Social Security 5 Surendra Ram Director Welfare office Welfare 6 Dr. Satish Pd. Joint Director R.D. Depart. 7 Rajesh Kumar Gupta B.D.O Rural Dept. 6 Ashok Kumar B.D.O Rural Dept. 7 Suresh Kumar C.O Revenue Dept. 8 Rajiv Kumar Mehta B.D.O Rural Dept. 9 Chit Ranjan Pd. Singh B.D.O Rural Dept. 10 Ramesh Kumar B.D.O Rural Dept. 11 Sanjay Kumar B.D.O Rural Dept. 12 Nirmal Kumar B.D.O Rural Dept. 13 Vijay Kumar Singh B.D.O Rural Dept. 14 Dhirendra Kumar Singh B.D.O Rural Dept. 15 Shambha Kumari B.D.O Rural Dept. 16 Nand priharde B.D.O Rural Dept. 17 Binod Kumar Rajak B.D.O Rural Dept. 18 Ved Kumar Singh B.D.O, Tharthari Rural Dept. 19 Shri Kant Singh B.D.O, Parwalpur Rural Dept. 20 Amresh Kumar Project, DRDA Nalanda 21 Samir Kumar District Manager Jeevika Nalada


22 Sarita Dungdung Young Processional - 23 Chandani Prakash YP(MNREGA) Nalanda 24 Punam Kumari Block Project Manager Jeevika Nalada 25 Sujeet Kumar Assistant DRDA, Nalanda 26 Abhishek Kumar Clerk, DRDA Nalanda 27 Anoop Kumar Clerk, DRDA - 28 Bhupendra Bihari Clerk, DRDA Nalada 29 Abdul Bahab DRDA Nalanda 30 Ashok Kumar DRDA Nalanda 31 Satish Chand Prasad DRDA Nalanda 32 S.M. Alam Rojnama Rashtriya Sahar Media 33 Binod Kumar Sinha A.E. DRDA Nalanda 34 Parwez Alam B.D.O Rural Dept.


Annexure VI


Organized by: State Society for Ultra Poor and Social Welfare (SSUSW)



Introduction: The District Level Consultation Workshop on Social and Environment Assessment was organized at Collectorate Office, Buxur on 14th August 2012 in which a total of 46 key stakeholders participated. The objectives of the workshop was to share the findings of the Social and Environment Assessment of BISPS and project and present the Social and Environment Management Frameworks designed for the project with a view to elicit stakeholder feedback. Participant Profile: The participants of the workshop were DDC, Buxur; Joint Director (DoRD) DAO, (Agriculture Dept.); ADSS (Social Welfare); Civil Surgeon (Health Dept); Block Development officers (BDO); Circle Officers (Revenue); DHO (Dist. Horticulture); Asst. Engineer (Water Resource Dept and Minor Irrigation); representatives of NGOs; consultant of BRDS and SAKSHAM team members Overview of Session: The workshop began at 11:15 am with the welcome address by SAKSHAM team member followed with introductory remarks by DDC. In the first session, SAKSHAM team member briefly presented the overview of the BISPS-Project including the project background; objectives; strategic context; project components; the KBKBS model and service provision at Buniyad Centres In the second session, the findings of the draft documents including Social and Environment Assessment and Social and Environment Management Frameworks were shared with the participants and suggestions were sought. Key discussion points and suggestions: Magnitude of corrupt practices in MNREGS and IAY • Although the act clearly states that no contractor is permitted in the implementation of

MGNREGS, yet their presence is rampant, though this may not very apparent on the surface, yet they have created their comfortable space into the system.

• The introduction of payments through bank/ post office accounts has made corruption difficult, yet three ways of siphoning off money by contractors has been observed: i)


wages are withdrawn by beneficiaries/ labourers from their account, the middleman takes a share; ii) Beneficiaries and the middleman agrees to share the inflated wages that are credited the beneficiary’s account; and iii) middleman open and operate account on behalf of beneficiaries and pay them cash. Biometric-enabled UID authenticate identity can only help to prevent the third type of ‘fraud’, but is of little use in preventing second and third types of malpractices. Hence, a comprehensive systems need to be created to stop such practices.

Transparency and Accountability: • The Act provides various provisions for transparency and accountability such as regular

social audits by the GS, mandatory disclosure of muster rolls, public accessibility of all documents and accounts; regular updating of job cards etc are not in place and malpractices are rampant. Hence, grievance redressal mechanisms need to be put in place for ensuring a responsive implementation process.

Issues related to integration • There is lot of scope to integration the total sanitation program with IAY. Although

efforts have been made in this regards but the result is insignificant. The reasons are many, the most important of which is lack of awareness among people. The need for awareness-raising through regular contact and meetings to explain various negative aspects of defecating in open and how it could benefit them should be promoted.

Human Resources: • Manpower support must be provided at village/ GP level to increase number of persons

for social security pensions. Presently, Panchayat Sevak is looking after it but unable to cover large number of population because he has to see several other programmes of the government.


Program Schedule

Time Session Key Person Responsible for




DDC, Buxar Mr. Bishnu C Parida Dr. Satish Prasad, BRDS


Mr. Bishnu C Parida Mr. Fazle Rabbani Siddiqui

12.15 pm to 01.15 pm Introduction to the Environment& Social Assessment and Management Framework


01.15 pm to 02.30 pm Open House Discussion & Feedback from participants

SSUPSW and BRDS

02.30 pm Lunch List of Participants

SN Name Designation Department/ Organization 1 K. Pathak DDC, Buxur RDD 2 Dr. S. Prasad Jt. Direcctor RDD 3 Shankes Pd. singh BDO RDD 4 SharafatHusan BDO RDD 5 Ajay Kumar Singh BDO Hawanagar RDD 6 Moti Kumar Dinkar BDO Rajpur RDD 7 A.S. Misra BDO Buxar RDD 8 RajendaraKuamr BDO Simari RDD 9 SumantNath CO, Semari Revenue 10 Shahid Jamal BDO, Chaugai RDD 11 Dr. B.K. Prabhkar BDO Brahndser RDD 12 SiddhNath CO Chaugain Revenue 13 Vinod Kumar Sinha BDO Chausa RDD 14 Sanjay Kumar PO Buxar RDD 15 KrishnaKanhaiya Prasad BDO, Ftorhi RDD 16 K.K. Singh CO Dumraon Revenue 17 Umesh Kumar CO Nawanagar Revenue 18 Jitendra Kumar PO, Itharhi RDD 19 TusharkantChanda PO Simri RDD 20 Ram Bhajan Ram CO, Rajpur Revenue 21 BharatBhushanTiwari CO, Itharhi Revenue 22 Satish Chandra Anand PO, Brahmpur Revenue 23 Rajesh Kumar PO, Chakki Revenue


24 KhaedAkhter PO, Bumraon Revenue 25 Md. SajjadZahil PO, Chause Buxar RDD 26 Jitendra Kumar PO, Nawanagar RDD 27 Kr. Subhash PO Rajpur RDD 28 Dr. Harish Chandra Hari Civil Sergeon Heath Dept. 29 Dr.K.K. Misha - - 30 Prem Shankar Ram DAO, Buxar Agriculture 31 Deepak Kr. Sinha DHO, Buxar Agriculture 32 S.N. Singh EO (Assistant Engr) Water Resource Dept. 33 B.N.Pathak CO, Chausa Revenue 34 Anil Benet cruz Asst. Director NGO- BWDS 35 Ajay Kumar Supervisor NGO- Chirag 36 Poonamej Secretary NGO- Chirag 37 Riya Chaurasia Co-ordinator NGO- Monalisa 38 Binad Kumar Singh Secretary NGO- Monalisa 39 S.Shankar Member NGO- Sahara 40 Abdul Qayam Consultant BRDS 41 Fazle Rabbani PM (Disability) SSUPSW 42 Bishnu C Parida Dy. CEO SSUPSW 43 Vijay Kumar Singh CO, Buxar Revenue 44 Ram vinodkumarsha Assistant Engineer Minor Irrigation 45 Sumankumari PO, Chaugain RDD 46 Alok Kumar ADSS Social Welfare


Annexure VII State Level Consultation Workshop on Social and Environment Assessment for Bihar Integrated Social Protection Strengthening (BISPS) Project Held on

01.10.2013 Organized by:

State Society for Ultra Poor and Social Welfare (SAKSHAM) (Department of Social Welfare, Govt. of Bihar)


Introduction: The Department of Social Welfare and the Department of Rural Development jointly organised a State level Consultation Workshop on Environmental and Social Assessment of Bihar Integrated Social Protection Strengthening Project on 1st October 2013 at Hotel Patliputra Ashok, Patna The objectives of the workshop was to share the findings of the Social and Environment Assessment of BISPS and present the Social and Environment Management Frameworks designed for the project with a view to elicit stakeholder feedback. Participant Profile: The participants of the workshop were Secretary ICDS; DDCs and other officials from Districts; ADSS; representatives from World Bank; representatives from NGOs and CSOs; SAKSHAM team members. In all there were 57 participants.


Overview of proceedings: The program was led by Senior Administrative Officer, SSUPSW Sri K K Sinha who marked the beginning of the event by welcoming Secretary, Social Welfare Department Sri Rajit Punhani. He emphasized on the project objectives and its scope and coverage. The project would support state wide coverage of social care services and improvement of departments’ capacity to deliver the social protection programs through: 101 social care service centres, one in each sub division; 38 mobile outreach and therapy vans, one in each district; Financial management strengthening support to RDD in all 534 blocks and strengthening capacity to implement and monitor social protection programs and social care services. The project would be implemented over six years, with a total cost of Rs 600 crore, including 420 crore loan from World Bank. There was a presentation on BISPS project proposal by Dy CEO, SSUPSW Mrs Mahua Roy Chowdhary. She elaborated the objective of the project and how to go about the objective; the target group and the expected project outcomes. She also shared the project cost and the sustenance. She requested participants from various streams for their inputs as the project is in an initial stage and the inputs could be valuable. In subsequent presentations, the findings of the draft documents including Social and Environment Assessment and Social and Environment Management Frameworks were shared with the participants and suggestions were sought.

To mark ‘World Old Persons Day’ a play was performed by participants from CHAMAN, an NGO working for mentally challenged.


Key Discussion Points and Suggestions: Each of the presentation was followed by discussions and suggestions from the participants. The following are the key highlights: Social Issues:

• Honourable secretary elaborated the significance of Buniyad centres saying that it will cater to need of destitute at local level through well paid specialists or referred to empanelled centres which need not necessarily be government hospitals. This will disperse the enormous load on state hospitals. In the long run Government also aims at creating a panel of private doctors who will be entitled to certify for disability. Thus the involvement of Health Department in this project is quite high.

• Director Pensioners’ Society pointed out that while every medical college in Bihar has Paediatricians, none of them has Geriatrician. In India, there are 30 lakhs pensioners as against 50 lakhs people working in government. Yet in Bihar, these are neglected lot as unlike other states it doesn’t provide medical security to retired people. This needs to be looked into.

• Some disabled people are completely bed ridden. They might be deprived of services provided at Block level centres. There should be a toll free number for each Buniyad centre so that totally disabled or helpless people can at least call and seek help. Social Management Framework

• Buniyad centres to be constructed within the premises of Block offices so that every social group can access the services from these centres. There will not be any kind of exclusion of any social group in these centres.

• While identifying the centres no one should be disturbed or displaced.


Tribal Inclusion:

• The participation of tribal is poor because they don’t buy the theory of outside agencies approaching them as they might influence their existing social structure. So the approach should be very sensitive. Someone from among them on whom they can confide, like the ward member in the Panchayati Raj elected by the tribes themselves, can be involved in the committee to approach them. Community Facilitators engaged in tribal villages or tribal majority Gram Panchayats should be from amongst the tribal communities. Particularly for the tribal pockets communication should be customised to cater to their needs and in their language.

• As strategies for social inclusion of tribal population, there should be focus on the blocks with tribal population with respect to awareness generation and improved monitoring and accountability, capacity building of project staff and improved beneficiary participation.

• The location of Buniyad center should be selected in such a way that it is easily accessible to Tribal and Mahadalits. Structural and Locational Issues:

• The centre should preferably be at ground floor to avoid inconvenience for old and disabled people in climbing up.

• District officials suggested that there should be a prior lease agreement with the concerned department before investing further. This suggestion was appreciated by World bank representative

• Honourable secretary suggested preference should be given to an already existing building ( preferably from Health department as compared to other department) so that the project can be kick started immediately

• But if the space selected is a land, preference should then be given to Sub division or block office campus

• Space from irrigation department, any other department and court premises can be acquired only if DM/court approves that in writing

• Also as a pilot, the building of Buniyad centre could be utilized in some other productive ways also based on ideas and suggestions from participants. One such suggestion was to start organic farming as mostly the premise was big and there was plenty of land.

• Good buildings involve resource-efficient design, material safety, etc., and can contribute to a healthy and more productive working environment. Integration of environment-friendly elements such as use of solar power in the buildings needs to be explored.

• Block level offices have frequent power cuts. The design of both centres should be such that enough sunlight penetrates the building for adequate lighting.


Environmental Issues:

• The ecosystem thriving in the premises should not be disturbed by cutting of trees or filling up of pond or drainage system.

• In context of MNREGA, key environmental issues while constructing roads and canals should be kept in mind. The impact on land productivity, plantation and natural habitat has to be taken care of.

Human Resource: • JEEVIKA is working in all 38 districts of Bihar and will be present in every

block by 2014. Jeevika has already done capacity Building of village women as community resource person. We can utilize the same human resource. Coordination between departments is required so that there is no duplicity of work and the progress is at faster pace.

• There are about 12-15 recruitments to be done at every Buniyad center. In addition, 4 technical people will be present in each 38 vans. This totals to more than 1500 people. We can involve people from community level. Local care-givers can be trained and provided recognized certificates at the Buniyad centres.

• Most of the persons with disabilities are uneducated or less educated. Providing employment to them is also a challenge and we might take support from MNREGA in this regards.

Honourable secretary Mr Rajit Punhani offered vote of thanks to participants and informed that such types of consultative workshops will be organized again after Oct 31, 2013 at district and subdivision level to get feedback and suggestions on the BISPS project.


Annexure VIII

Proceedings of District Consultation Held in East Champaran (Motihari)


Annexure IX

District Level Consultation Workshop on Social and Environment Assessment for Bihar Integrated Social Protection Strengthening (BISPS) Project, District Gaya on 07.10.2013

Organized by: State Society for Ultra Poor and Social Welfare (SSUSW)


Introduction: The District Level Consultation Workshop on Social and Environment Assessment was conducted at Collectorate Auditorium, Gaya 7th October 2013 in which a total of key stakeholders including government’s district and block level officials; representatives of NGOs participated. The objectives of the workshop was to share the findings of the Social and Environment Assessment of BISPS project and present the Social and Environment Management Frameworks designed for the project with a view to elicit stakeholder feedback. Participant Profile: The participants of the workshop were DM, Gaya; DDC, SDO, ADSS (Social Welfare); Block Development Officers (BDOs); representatives from NGOs; World Bank and SSUPSW and SAKSHAM team members. Overview of Session: The workshop began at 03:00 PM with the welcome address by ADSS (Social Welfare) followed with self introduction by the participants. In the first session, SAKSHAM team present the overview of the BISPS Project that includes the project background; objectives; strategic context; project components with special emphasis on social care centre- Buniyad Centre. In the second session, overview of the World Bank’s Safeguard Policies was shared by the WB team. This has followed with presentation of the findings of the draft documents including Social and Environment Assessment and Social and Environment Management Frameworks were shared with the participants and suggestions were sought. Key discussion points and suggestions:

• While reflecting on the presentation, DM emphasized that stakeholder consultation at the beginning of the project is important in analyzing and understanding resource available that can be contributed to the project by the various stakeholders.

• He reiterated that that since the project intends to provide services to older persons, widows and persons with disabilities needs serious reflections around the identified issues by the key stakeholders of the project. He was in the view that today’s consultations would hold more meaning when it is supported with intensive sharing and deliberations in the near future. He announced 22nd November 13, for the follow-up consultation meetings with the key stakeholders in Gaya.

• On issue of identifying existing structure/ building for the social care service centre/ Buniyad Centre, DDC appreciated the idea. He gave his consent to find out one or two existing building from where the service centre can be started after necessary renovation.


• On the issues of environment impact of Buniyad centres, the officials were of the view that

such impacts are negligible and if there is any problem of water logging, wetland or ditches found near the proposed sites/ lands that can be managed.

• On the issues of social concern of the beneficiaries of the Buniyad Centres is concerned, the officials feel that since all the service centres are coming up in campus of the block the environment is conducive for the people to visit the centre. They reiterated that public feel more comfortable to visit the block for various services and they would not hesitate to visit the service centres either.

• One of the most important health problems of the elderly is the cataract and the problem gets compounded in case of disadvantaged, vulnerable or destitute elderly. Therefore, project aim at providing services through Buniyad Centres can also be included under the intervention.

• There was yet another view to improve preparedness and resilience among the older people, widows and persons with disabilities at risks through formation and strengthening of Community Based Organizations is need to be integrated with the services for beneficiaries of the project. This would provide them aspirations to fight for being powerlessness by realizing own potentials and less dependent on others or family members.

• There was another view also shared by one participate that this centre should also provide services to the leper. On this it was replied that since such persons need different types of care and rehabilitation and for this several government’s schemes are there and hence they cannot be included under the services of Buniyad Centre.


1. Program Schedule: Time Session Key Person Responsible for


2.30 pm to 3.00 pm Welcome, Inauguration and Introductions: Introduction to the Workshop Introduction of Participants

Mr. Avinash Kumar , SSUPSW

3.00 pm to 3.15pm Introduction to the BISPS Project: Objective, Components

Mr. Avinash Kumar, SSUPSW

3.15pm to 3.30 pm Introduction to the Environmental and Social Assessment Studies: Overview of the World Bank’s Safeguard Policies; Study Methodology

Mr. Abdul Qayum, Consultant, SSUPSW

3.00pm- 3.45 pm Presentation of findings of Environmental Assessment, followed by discussion and feedback from participants

Mr. Abdul Qayum, Consultant, SSUPSW

3.45 pm to 4.00pm Presentation of Social Assessment followed by discussion and feedback from participants

Mr. Avinash Kumar, SSUPSW

4.00pm to 4.15 pm Presentation of Environmental and Social Management Framework

World Bank Team & SSUPSW

4.15pm to 4.30 pm Discussion SSUPSW 4.30 pm to 4.35pm Closing remarks SSUPSW 4.35 pm to 4.40 pm Vote of thanks ADSS , Gaya 2. Photographs


Annexure X

Bihar Integrated Social Protection Strengthening (BISPS) Project

ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL SCREENING CHECK LIST FOR THE PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF BUILDING

1. Name of District:

2. Name of Sub - division:

3. Type of Service Centre to be constructed: Buniyad Centre

4. Existing Building/New Building:

5. If New Building, Land Area Required:

6. Type of Land identified & Ownership details:

7. (a) Current usage of the land: Yes/No (b) If yes, Purpose and Duration of usage of land:

8. (a) Is there any water logging problem? Yes/No (b) If yes, then suggest corrective measures

9. (a) Do the identified site has approach road? Yes / No (b) If not, then suggest suitable arrangements

10. Is the location of Land identified for Service centre is suitable for fearless and comfortable visit by one and all, specially for Women, persons of Dalit and weaker sections? Yes / No

11. (a)Is there any encroachment or any claim on land? Yes/No (b)If yes, from when and which kind

12. Is map/Schematic layout of land site enclosed: Yes/No

13. Is the photo of the identified land enclosed: Yes/No

14. Any other specific information related to land: Yes/No This is to certify that the field visits have been conducted by me on dated…………. and found that the above information is as per my best knowledge. Name:………………………………. Place:……………………………….. Date:………………………… Designation: SDO / District Magistrate


Annexure XI List of Participants in the Village Level Meeting at Bochai, Manihari Block,

District Katihar


Annexure XII

Sub-divisions Completing Screening Check List

S.No. Name of District Sub-division Total Sites

1 Araria Araria, Farbisganj 2 2 Arwal Arwal 1 3 Aurangabad Daudnagar & Aurangabad 2 4 Buxar Dumraon, Buxar 2 5 Bhagalpur Sadar, Kahalgaon & Naugachia 3 6 Bhojpur Jagdishpur & Piro 2

7 Gaya Sherghati, Tekari, Sadar & Neemchak Bathani 4

8 Gopalganj Hathua 1 9 Jamui Jamui 1

10 Jehanabad Jehanabad 1 11 Kaimur Mohania & Bhabua 2 12 Katihar Katihar, Manihari & Barsoi 3 13 Khagaria Gogri & Khagaria 2 14 Kishanganj Kishanganj 1 15 Munger Sadar Munger & Tarapur 2 16 Nawada Nawada & Rajuli 2 17 Sheikhpura Sheikhpura 1 18 Sheohar Sheohar 1 19 Siwan Maharajganj Siwan 2 20 W.Champaran Bettiah Sadar, Bagaha & Narkatiyaganj 3 21 Begusarai Ballia 1 22 Purnia Baisi, Purnia Sadar, Banmankhi & Dhamdaha 4 23 E.Champaran Sikrahana & Chakia 2 24 Sitamarhi Belsand, Sitamarhi Sadar & Pupri 3 25 Vaishali Mahnar 1 26 Nalanda Biharsarif, Rajgir & Hilsa 3

Total Sub-Division 52

Official PDF , 75 pages

Documents

Transcript of Official PDF , 75 pages