The project lays a great stress on
building capacities of local institutions and communities and convergence of resources,
schemes and efforts at the village level. It involves Panchayat Raj Institutions, civil
society organisations, government agencies and formations of villagers in all its
activities. The emphasis is on seeking active partnership of people and their groups,
civil society organisations and non-governmental organisations in planning, mobilising,
execution and monitoring of different programmes for widening livelihoods of people on a
sustainable basis.
The working strategy has core elements of
cross-learnings and sharing of experiences by incorporating institutional mechanisms at
district and state levels. The project operates at village, district and state levels
promoting innovation and convergence of resources in responding to people’s
livelihood choices.
State Level
For implementation of the Project a
Madhya Pradesh Society for Rural Livelihood Promotion headed by the Minister for Panchayat and Rural Development under the Madhya
Pradesh Societies Act has been registered. To discharge the executive functions and
monitor the progress of project activities at state level, State Project Management Unit
(SPMU) at Bhopal headed by the State Project Co-coordinator has been established. The
State Project Coordinator leads the State Project Management Unit comprising a small team
created for developing the necessary horizontal and vertical linkages with other
governmental, non governmental agencies and institutions, and coordinating the project at
State level. The SPMU consist of a core team in-charge of the following areas:
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Agriculture and
Watershed Development |
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Animal Husbandry
and Veterinary |
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Finance and
Administration |
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Gender &
Equity and Social Development |
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Information and
Communications |
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Micro-enterprises
Development |
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Monitoring,
Learning & Evaluation |
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Training and
Capacity Building |
The project has been integrated within
the Department of Panchayat and Rural Development. An executive committee under the
principal secretary Panchayat and Rural Development Department has been set up for
providing guidance to the SPMU in planning and implementation of the project. For
providing strategic direction, inter-departmental coordination and reviewing progress of
the project, there is an Empowered Committee headed by the chief secretary having
secretaries and heads of major departments handling activities related to the project as
its members.
There is a Livelihoods Forum at
state level to provide a link between action and experiences at village and district
levels with policy and programme development at state level. A Steering
Group with project coordinator as its member secretary facilitates
functioning of the
Livelihoods Forum. The Livelihoods Forum will evaluate experiences from rural livelihoods programme in the state, commission analyses and recommend actions to address constraints
in policy, institutional and regulatory framework. The project supports the state
government to more effectively use the resources from the various schemes aimed at wage
employment, rural asset development and self-employment. Effective integration and
coordination of the project at state level is ensured through the Empowered
Committee and the Steering Group of the Livelihoods Forum.
District Level
District is the key level for
implementation of the project. There is a Project Management Committee (PMC) chaired by
the district collector, supported by the chief executive officer of Zila Panchayat and
heads of departments in the district of Forests, Agriculture, Tribal Welfare, Industries,
Lead Bank Manager, co-opted experts and members of legislative assembly of the project
area. The PMC reports to the Zila Panchayat periodically and the latter is responsible for
coordination and monitoring of the project.
The chief executive officer of the Zila
Panchayat is the member-secretary of PMC and project coordinator for the district, taking
guidance from the PMC for project implementation. This ensures effective
co-ordination of the project, as the CEO is in charge of all rural development programmes
and schemes in the district. The PMC seeks to develop the convergence of resources and
efforts.
A District Project Support Unit (DPSU)
works under the supervision of the CEO. The DPSU is the main resource centre for handling
the operationalisation of the project in the district.
At the district level, a process approach
is adopted to institutional development. Initial support to be identified through
a detailed mapping of available skills and resources within and outside district
governments and systems that are necessary for the Zila Panchayat to converge resources
and effectively respond to poor people’s livelihoods opportunities.
Village Level
Multi-disciplinary Project Facilitation
Team (PFT) have been established at a village cluster level to support village development
committee, community groups and livelihood promoters to undertake the micro planning,
source technical inputs and identify capacity building needs. The PFT supports
community groups and committees to develop proposals, source capacity building and access
technical expertise from the most appropriate agency. The DPSU ensures that the PFTs
have the necessary social mobilisation and micro-enterprise skills to be able to support
community groups and committees. This is achieved through a combination of training/
exposure and contracting in additional livelihoods related skills to Project facilitation
teams.
The team is responsible for
supporting the work of livelihood promoters and play an active part in capacity building,
awareness generation, mobilisation and organisation of people for collective action. It
also assists the villagers in the preparation of their development plans and
facilitate appropriate backward, forward and horizontal linkages. Each PFT
is
responsible for facilitating interventions in a cluster of about 10 villages. Although NGO PFTs
is paid from the project funds located at the district level, all development
activities within targeted villages are funded from the Gram Kosh account.
The project builds on village level
institutions and natural capital created through earlier or current schemes for
conservation and development of natural resources such as the watershed mission and the
joint forest management programme. Linkages between these institutions and the village
development committees of Gram Sabhas are to be established for the approval and
co-ordination of development plans.
Micro planning
is to be undertaken by the
village level institutions and associated common interest groups, focusing on the poorest
groups to identify appropriate livelihood opportunities and interventions. The approach
promotes convergence at village levels, levering funds from existing schemes wherever
possible.
Livelihoods Promoters
The project develops village level
workers in the sectors of forestry, agriculture, animal husbandry and micro-enterprises as
‘livelihood promoters’ (Ajivika Mitra) and support coalitions of these workers within and across
villages. These village specialists are be employed by the Gram Sabha and supported by
the project. Selected livelihood promoters would be given training in community
mobilisation and other skill-sets (e.g. in soil and water conservation, crops, livestock,
and micro-enterprises). Incentives for the promoters depends on their skills.
In the area of micro-enterprises,
livelihoods promoter is the key resource persons at the local level for the various
district and state-level agencies involved in imparting training to people, helping people
identify appropriate activities and relevant linkages.
Core functions of livelihood promoters
are:
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Facilitate the
process of community and group-level planning, monitoring and implementation, including
targeting the poor. |
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Facilitate
improved access to livelihoods-related information by the poor
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Help in the
formation of affinity based groups and SHGs centred around different activities.
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Assist village
development committee and affinity groups to source relevant expertise from a range of
service providers, including NGOs, private sector, and government line-departments.
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Act as a link
between the community, implementing agencies and the market.
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Relay lessons
through the PFT and DPSU to the Livelihoods Forum.
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Fund Flow
Funds for the project flow from the
State to the Zila Panchayat to the Gram Kosh held by the village development committees of
the Gram Sabhas of selected hamlets/villages. For watershed related activities funds would go from the Gram Kosh to the watershed committees for planning and
implementation while the PFT, whether government or non-government organisation, would be responsible for facilitating the process. The same system of fund
flow is followed for community forest management with Gram Sabha giving money to the
existing JFM committee or new committee to undertake forestry related works. Similarly,
the Gram Kosh also hold funds for funding proposals from SHGs and individuals for
micro-enterprise and other livelihood related activities.
The institutionalisation of the Gram
Sabha at the heart of rural development programmes will create a new potential for
downward accountability to the village assembly for the project and other resources
invested by the state and central government in rural development. It will also put a new
level of demand on district bodies and line departments to act in a responsive way. The
project will attempt to learn what level of impact is achieved by routing the flow of
funds to the Gram Sabha.
There is a separate Innovation Fund
in the project to be utilised for supporting innovative proposals capable of generating
livelihoods. At different levels: state, district and village, funds would be retained for
capacity building, institution development and related activities, which would help in
effective participatory planning and improved targeting.
The project receives funds from the
state government for undertaking various activities, which are reimbursed by the DFID
through the government of India.
