The Rural Development Interventions in Uttarakhand..

BY : ANON. Ever since the formation of Uttaranchal, developmental interventions at a substantial scale are being carried out, mostly in specialized sectors. The infancy phase of the state, the social and economic marginality of the community living in this mountainous region and the government’s strong livelihood promotion policies have drawn considerable investments from bilateral, multi-lateral and ministerial agencies for improving the socio-economic and cultural well-being of the communities. The state has been receiving ample amount of loans from the World Bank in developing specific sectors such as agriculture, water and sanitation, watershed, health and education. Bilateral agencies like USAID (United States Agency for International Development) and CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency) have even prioritized the state of Uttaranchal in their list of focal states for providing development funding. The Delegation of the European Union represented by the European Commission has been supporting programmes in watershed development and, recently, in health sector reforms. UN agencies such as WFP (World Food Programme) and UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) have collaborated with the Department of Women Empowerment and Child Welfare and Disaster Management Unit of the Government of Uttaranchal respectively.The Ministry of Human Resource Development has launched welfare schemes and programmes such as the Swa-Shakti Programme, Rastriya Mahila Kosh and Swamyasiddha, which are functioning either independently or jointly with state government and NGOs and promoting one or all aspects of livelihood development in Uttaranchal.At the state-level, various units of the state government are also involved in implementing livelihood promotion programmes. The Rural Development Department is at the forefront in putting into operation Central Government Schemes such as the SGSY (Swarnjayanti Gramin Swarozgar Yojana), which has been funding micro-enterprise initiatives (mushroom production, wool production, handicrafts, poultry, medicinal plants etc) of the rural community. The Department has lead banks in almost all the districts to help the community access credit and it has also collaborated with the National Life Insurance Company and Oriental Insurance Company to provide micro-insurance services to marginal farmers. Other programmes of the Department include: Sampoorna Gramin Rozgar Yojana (SGRY), Indira Awaas Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana- Gramin Awaas, Credit-cum-Subsidy, Unnat Chulha, Biogas, Drought Prone Area Program (DPAP), Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) and Integrated Wasteland Development Programme (IWDP). The Department also leads state sponsored schemes such as Vidhayak Nidhi, Sansad Nidhi and Community Development Programme. Some of these programmes are implemented in selected districts and some others on experimental basis. The Department has also instituted training centres to organize capacity building programmes for rural communities. At present, there are: 1 State Institute for Rural Development at state-level, 5 Regional Institutes for Rural Development and 3 District Institutes for Rural Development.In the Cooperative Sector, Uttaranchal has a State Cooperative Bank as an apex institution in the state, following District Cooperative Banks at district-level and at the village-level, smaller units called PACS (Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies). Other cooperative institutions include the Uttaranchal State Cooperative Marketing Federation Limited and the Uttaranchal Cooperative Sericulture Federation Limited. The Cooperative Department coordinates projects such as the Sahakari Rrun avam Adhikoshan Yojana, Sahakari Krya-Vikraya Yojana, Sahkari Upabhokta Yojana etc. The state has about 763 PACS and 103 Primary Consumer Cooperative Societies. There is also the Institute of Cooperative Management, providing training and management services to cooperators. The Department has recently collaborated with ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company for provision of micro-insurance services to rural farmers.The Uttaranchal Rural Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation (SWAJAL) Project, supported by the World Bank, has begun its phase II programme covering all the thirteen districts of the state. The SWAJAL project has a focus upon delivering sustainable health and hygiene benefits to the rural populations through improvement in water supply and environmental sanitation services and promoting long-term sustainability of rural water supply and sanitation. The project has considerable focus on livelihood promotion as it emphatically focuses upon SHG mobilization, income generation, savings and thrift, women empowerment, time saving technologies and general awareness.The Agriculture Department’s Watershed Management Directorate is currently implementing the Integrated Watershed Development Project (Phase II) in all the thirteen districts of Uttaranchal with the objective of improving the productive potential of the project area, using watershed treatment technologies and community participation approaches and contributing towards decreasing soil erosion, increasing water availability and alleviating poverty. The Department is also carrying out other programmes such as the Micro-mode programme providing subsidies to rural farmers in accessing agricultural technology, seeds and pest management. Innovative programmes such as crop insurance are also being experimented in pocket areas. Financial assistance to marginal farmers is given through crop-based programmes such as Makka Vikas Programme, Dalhan Uthpadan Vikas Programme etc.The Department of Industrial Development has allotted certain schemes for rural masses such as the Pradhan Mantri Rozgar Yojana (PMRY) to provide financial assistance to agriculture and industries in rural areas. The Department has a specialized unit of Khadi and Village Industries with multi-disciplinary training centres in different parts of the state. These centres provide regular training to rural entrepreneurs in small industries such as woolen hosiery, embroidery, bee keeping, diamond cutting, candle making etc. The unit also runs financial assistance schemes such as interest-cum-subsidy scheme and margin money scheme in the interest of small-scale rural industrialists.Other departments such as the Horticulture and Livestock Departments have also various programmes for livelihood improvement in Uttaranchal. The State Government’s development focused activities have also led to formation of autonomous bodies, initially promoted by the government itself, on specific sectors such as organic farming, bamboo, livestock etc. The boards in place at the moment are Forest Development Board, Bamboo and Fiber, Livestock and Cattle Development, Uttaranchal Mandi Vikas Parishad and Organic Boards.The Department of Women Empowerment and Child Development is carrying out ICDS (Integrated Child Development Scheme) programmes with the support of WFP and the World Bank to improve the nutritional security of the community. The programme is currently implemented in 40 blocks of the state and has created a force of community-based aaganwadi workers and has established 6378 aaganwadi centres to cover about 15000 habitations all over Uttaranchal. Mahila Samakhya is another major programme of this Department implemented for working towards women empowerment in the state.In the health sector, the Department of Medical Health and Family Welfare has recently established the Uttaranchal Health and Family Welfare Society (SCOVA), an autonomous organization working to carry out health sector reforms and improve the efficiency of the management systems of the health programmes. SCOVA is implementing Sector Investment Programme (SIP) of the European Commission covering Fixed Day (immunization) services, policy reforms, emergency obstetric care, Chikitsa Sudhar Samiti, drug policy and other health management-led concepts such as IEC, (Information, Education and Communication), logistics etc. It is also in the process of planning programmes focusing upon integrating SHGs with community health services and creating a large cadre of trained community health workers at hamlet-level or village-level, as the need be, all across the state.NABARD, the apex institution for rural credit is providing investment and production credit for promotion of various developmental activities in Uttaranchal. It is working towards institution building for improving capacity of the credit delivery system, including monitoring, formulation of rehabilitation schemes, restructuring of credit institutions, training of personnel, coordinating the rural financing activities, preparing rural credit plans for all districts, undertaking monitoring and evaluation of projects refinanced by it and promoting research in the fields of rural banking, agriculture and rural developmentThe Community Based Economic Development Project (CBED) is an important project implemented by NGOs (CECI, KAGAS and HSC) and funded by CIDA. The project is working to reduce poverty in 250 villages of Pithoragarh and Champawat Districts. The four-year tenure project is being implemented on pilot basis, replicating a similar model successfully experimented upon in Nepal. CBED has a focus upon promoting self-reliant institutions and has played an active part in advocating and promoting the Uttaranchal Self-Reliant Cooperative Act, upholding community-owned cooperatives for economic upliftment of the hill communities. CBED has also promoted NTFP production, agricultural technologies, CBO management, institutional strengthening, responsive development funds, economic literacy, gender development and sub-sector analysis. The project has been working closely with the Government of Uttaranchal and has been actively providing policy feedback.The Department of Energy established the Uttaranchal Renewable Energy Development Agency (UREDA), as a nodal organization working on non-conventional energy. It has established solar units and solar fencing in remote villages of the state for provision of lighting facilities and supply of electricity for cottage-based industries. It also develops the capacities of rural communities in managing solar units. Rural workshops have also been set up and village youths have been trained in repairing and maintenance of solar technology. In addition to this, village-level funds are mobilized to cover the maintenance costs of the systems and village-level solar committees have also been formed to supervise their functioning. UREDA has offices in all districts of the state.

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