When the Kudumbashree programme was launched, the government of Kerala presented it as one aimed at eradicating poverty within ten years. The deadline has passed without achieving the goal, but the programme has won high praise for giving new hope to the poor.
Kudumbashree was born out of a Central government scheme designed to reduce poverty by encouraging those belonging to the weaker sections of society, especially women, to organise self-help groups (SHGs), which will promote the habit of thrift and organise credit to take up activities that will supplement the family income.
To begin with, SHGs were formed in selected areas in different States. In Kerala, pilot projects were taken up in Malappuram district and Alappuzha town. Encouraged by their success, the Centre asked the States to extend the programme.
The previous Left Democratic Front government redesigned the programme and christened it Kudumbashree. A Local Self-government department order, issued in October 1997, envisaged the formation of Neighbourhood Groups (NHGs) comprising women from families below the poverty line, area development societies (ADSs) at the ward level and community development societies (CDSs) at the panchayat or municipal level for the conduct of the programme.
At the State level, responsibility for the programme vests in the Poverty Eradication Mission, headed by an IAS officer. It has an advisory committee headed by the Chief Minister and a governing body headed by the Local Self-government Minister.
The State government widened the scope of programme and introduced additional elements into it. Going one step ahead of the Centre, it set the goal of poverty eradication in ten years.
Kudumbashree was formally inaugurated by then Prime Minister A. B. Vajpayee at a function at Malappuram on May 17, 1998. As the ten-year deadline has passed, Mission documents now speak only of poverty reduction, not poverty eradication.
Today Kudumbashree is a big institution with 185,071 NHGs, with a total membership of 3.65 million women, 16,950 ADSs and 1,058 CDSs. The members have mobilised more than Rs. 9 billion by way of small savings and received nearly Rs. 25 billion as loans from financial institutions.
The massive enrolment indicates that the programme now covers the entire population below the poverty line, with at least one member of each BPL family enrolled in a neighbourhood group. In the tribal areas, too, enrolment appears to be complete, with 2,347 NHGs covering 40,572 families.
There are also 44,241 children's groups with a membership of 776,000.
The NHGs are involved in a variety of activities from garbage clearance to small enterprises of different kinds. The enterprises cover such fields as information technology, hotels, food products, readymade garments and furniture.
A souvenir brought out to mark Kudumbashree Mission's tenth anniversary lists a number of success stories.
The Mission has demonstrated considerable skill in innovation. Its Ashraya scheme to help destitutes has rehabilitated 56,389 people. Its Santhvanam groups visit homes to check blood pressure and blood sugar levels.
Under its rural micro-enterprises scheme, 3,893 units under group ownership and 1,268 under individual ownership have come up. It is encouraging NHGs to play an active role in the development of responsible tourism.
In the context of the steady decline of agriculture in the State during the past three decades, Kudumbashree's entry into farming is a hopeful development. It has brought nearly 250,000 families in 820 panchayats into agriculture. They are cultivating 54,513 acres of land.
The State government, which is working on a scheme to bring more land under the plough with a view to ensuring food security, is looking up to Kudumbashree units to make it a success.
The Mission's Bhavanashree project is helping BPL families to build houses. The CDSs received 61,026 applications for assistance under the scheme, of which 52,604 were forwarded to banks. So far the banks have advanced Rs. 1.86 billion to 44,586 applicants and 38,449 of them have completed their houses.
The Kudumbashree programme is closely linked to the panchayats. As the party which dominates the panchayats, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) is able to wield considerable influence over it. This has prompted the Congress party to form its own micro credit project, styled as Janashree.
The CPI (M) has criticised the move, viewing it as an attempt to divert Central grants which may otherwise go to Kudumbashree. The appearance of partisanship in this area bodes ill for the future. –Gulf Today, Sharjah, June 30, 2008.
Showing posts with label Kudumbashree. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kudumbashree. Show all posts
Monday, June 30, 2008
Monday, September 24, 2007
Poverty eradication programme falls behind schedule
THE last Left Democratic Front government launched the Kudumbashree programme in 1998 with the proclaimed objective of eradicating absolute poverty in 10 years. While the State Poverty Eradication Mission, which is in charge of the programme, has many achievements to its credit, it appears unlikely to achieve the target.
Kudumbashree now covers 3.77 million families. It has spawned many schemes in different fields. Its biggest achievement is perhaps in the area of micro-enterprises.
Kerala already had one of the lowest poverty rates when the programme was launched.
A World Bank-supported study showed that among the states it had recorded the highest decline in poverty between 1957-58 and 1993-94. Rural poverty in the State fell from 69 per cent in 1970-71 to 19 per cent in 1993-94.
The World Bank attributed the net gains to the poor since the early 1970s mainly to economic growth since there was little change in the distribution pattern during this period. It saw this as supportive of the view that a stable macro-policy environment, combined with micro-policy reforms conducive to economic growth, can help greatly in reducing absolute poverty.
In theory, the Kudumbashree programme aims at eradicating poverty through concerted community action under the leadership of local self-government institutions "by facilitating organisation of the poor for combining self-help with demand-led convergence of available services and resources." However, for all practical purposes, it is a network of self-help groups of women below the poverty line.
To begin with, the programme was confined to the rural areas. It now extends to the whole State.
According to National Sample Survey Organisation data, in 1999-2000, a year after the programme got under way poverty in Kerala was 12.72 per cent as against the all-India average of 26.30 per cent. While in the other States poverty was more in evidence in villages than in towns, Kerala presented a different picture. Here, while rural poverty was only 9.35 per cent urban poverty was 20.27 per cent.
In 2005, when the United Democratic Front was in power, the State Planning Board called for re-focusing attention on the poverty issue. Board vice-chairman CV Padmarajan said 12 million people, mainly farm labour, fishermen, workers in the traditional industries and casual workers in urban areas were struggling under the burden of poverty.
In May this year, the ninth anniversary of the Kudumbashree programme was celebrated with fanfare. At that time NSSO was conducting this year's socio-economic survey, which has since been completed. Its findings suggest that in the past nine years rural poverty has gone up from 12.72 per cent to 13.28 per cent while urban poverty has gone down from 26.30 per cent to 20.2 per cent .
These figures indicate that the Kudumbashree programme will not be able to achieve the aim of wiping out absolute poverty by next year, as originally envisaged.
Significantly, the skewed pattern of more poverty in urban areas than in rural areas persists. Prabhat Patnaik, who is now vice-chairman of the Planning Board, attributes this to migration of the rural unemployed to urban areas.
Patnaik's explanation raises several questions. Migration from villages to towns in search of employment is a trend discernible all over the country. Why is it that in Kerala alone it has upset the rural-urban balance? Also, does the higher decline in urban poverty indicate a slowing down of migration from rural areas?
Patnaik's refutation of the general impression that acute poverty does not exist in Kerala merits serious notice. He points out that when the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme was extended to Palakkad and Wayanad districts, many thought it would have no takers. Yet 200,000 people had registered under it.
NREGP was conceived to help poor unemployed households to rise above the poverty line. The responsibility for its implementation rests mainly with local self-government institutions. Its fate in the State offers a clue to understand why such schemes fall behind schedule.
The Centre, which is required to provide 90 per cent of the funds under the programme, released Rs113.42 million in 2005-06 and Rs217.95 million in the first half of 2006-07. The State, which is required to contribute 10 per cent, did not provide a single rupee during this period.
Actual expenditure under NREGP in the first year was nil. In the second year a sum of Rs 18.88 million was spent. This was just six per cent of the funds allocated by the Centre. At that time the authorities had still not drawn up a perspective plan for the two districts. -- Gulf Today, Sharjah, September 24, 2007.
Kudumbashree now covers 3.77 million families. It has spawned many schemes in different fields. Its biggest achievement is perhaps in the area of micro-enterprises.
Kerala already had one of the lowest poverty rates when the programme was launched.
A World Bank-supported study showed that among the states it had recorded the highest decline in poverty between 1957-58 and 1993-94. Rural poverty in the State fell from 69 per cent in 1970-71 to 19 per cent in 1993-94.
The World Bank attributed the net gains to the poor since the early 1970s mainly to economic growth since there was little change in the distribution pattern during this period. It saw this as supportive of the view that a stable macro-policy environment, combined with micro-policy reforms conducive to economic growth, can help greatly in reducing absolute poverty.
In theory, the Kudumbashree programme aims at eradicating poverty through concerted community action under the leadership of local self-government institutions "by facilitating organisation of the poor for combining self-help with demand-led convergence of available services and resources." However, for all practical purposes, it is a network of self-help groups of women below the poverty line.
To begin with, the programme was confined to the rural areas. It now extends to the whole State.
According to National Sample Survey Organisation data, in 1999-2000, a year after the programme got under way poverty in Kerala was 12.72 per cent as against the all-India average of 26.30 per cent. While in the other States poverty was more in evidence in villages than in towns, Kerala presented a different picture. Here, while rural poverty was only 9.35 per cent urban poverty was 20.27 per cent.
In 2005, when the United Democratic Front was in power, the State Planning Board called for re-focusing attention on the poverty issue. Board vice-chairman CV Padmarajan said 12 million people, mainly farm labour, fishermen, workers in the traditional industries and casual workers in urban areas were struggling under the burden of poverty.
In May this year, the ninth anniversary of the Kudumbashree programme was celebrated with fanfare. At that time NSSO was conducting this year's socio-economic survey, which has since been completed. Its findings suggest that in the past nine years rural poverty has gone up from 12.72 per cent to 13.28 per cent while urban poverty has gone down from 26.30 per cent to 20.2 per cent .
These figures indicate that the Kudumbashree programme will not be able to achieve the aim of wiping out absolute poverty by next year, as originally envisaged.
Significantly, the skewed pattern of more poverty in urban areas than in rural areas persists. Prabhat Patnaik, who is now vice-chairman of the Planning Board, attributes this to migration of the rural unemployed to urban areas.
Patnaik's explanation raises several questions. Migration from villages to towns in search of employment is a trend discernible all over the country. Why is it that in Kerala alone it has upset the rural-urban balance? Also, does the higher decline in urban poverty indicate a slowing down of migration from rural areas?
Patnaik's refutation of the general impression that acute poverty does not exist in Kerala merits serious notice. He points out that when the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme was extended to Palakkad and Wayanad districts, many thought it would have no takers. Yet 200,000 people had registered under it.
NREGP was conceived to help poor unemployed households to rise above the poverty line. The responsibility for its implementation rests mainly with local self-government institutions. Its fate in the State offers a clue to understand why such schemes fall behind schedule.
The Centre, which is required to provide 90 per cent of the funds under the programme, released Rs113.42 million in 2005-06 and Rs217.95 million in the first half of 2006-07. The State, which is required to contribute 10 per cent, did not provide a single rupee during this period.
Actual expenditure under NREGP in the first year was nil. In the second year a sum of Rs 18.88 million was spent. This was just six per cent of the funds allocated by the Centre. At that time the authorities had still not drawn up a perspective plan for the two districts. -- Gulf Today, Sharjah, September 24, 2007.
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