Foundation DayRededicating for Development 16

EventsAdvancing DevelopmentBuilding Alliances 5

InterviewDemocratising Panchayats 11

MattersMonthly Development update from DHAN Collective

Development October 2007

Climate Change and Financial Services for Poor

Dialogue

MattersMonthly Development update from DHAN Collective

Development Vol. I Issue 1 October 2007

Centre for Development CommunicationDHAN Foundation18, Pillaiyar Koil Street, S.S. Colony

Madurai - 625 016. Tamil Nadu, INDIA

Tel.: +91-452-2610794, 2610805

Email: dhan@md3.vsnl.net.in

Website: http://www.dhan.org

In search of livelihoods...A migrant family led by a woman walks on the road in Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh

Dear Readers!

Happy to meet you again. DHAN Newsletter takes a new shape as

Development Matters from this issue. Going beyond news and events

this matters will update the readers about innovations and

developments in the themes of DHAN Collective. Our vision is to

expand its readership and make it a popular magazine in the

development sector. We look forward to your valuable suggestions,

critics and continuous feedback to improve its content and

presentation.

This issue features Madurai Symposium 2007, the biennial event

organised with the focus ‘Advancing Development – Building

Alliances’. Highlights of the eleventh foundation day of DHAN

Foundation, lecture on climate change by Toon Bullens ACJ,

interview with Singarayar on Democratising Panchayats, Kalanjiam

Meenavar Sangam are the other features. Look for more features in

the forthcoming issues.

To follow the ‘Practitioners to Write’ principle we cherish for very

long years, we encourage the DHANites to write their experiences,

innovations, best practices and their impacts, learnings from

implementation and so on.

Happy reading!

From the Editors’ Desk

Contents

1. Climate Change and Financial Services for Poor 1

2. Advancing Development: Building Alliances 5

3. Democratising Panchayats 11

4. Farming - My way of life 14

5. Rededicating for Development 16

6. Foundation Day - across regions 20

7. Water & People - Films for cause 22

8. Mobile Enabled Panchayats 23

9. World Water Week 2007 at Stockholm 24

10. Practitioner’s Diary 25

11. Overcoming Exploitation - KMS way 27

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Climate Change and Financial Services for Poor

There is, ladies and gentlemen,overwhelming scientific

evidence that climate change presentsquite some very serious risks for theglobal society. The scientific evidence-both on the causes as well as on futurepaths of climate change- is stillstrengthening all the time. Indeedscientists from all over the world haveclearly indicated that an urgent, globalresponse to climate change is needed.Their conclusions and advices arereported in various ways. Theyindicate the need to ensure thatsocieties -local, national, internationaland global- can adapt to theconsequences of climate change. Todeal with the effect of climate changewe will have to take an internationalperspective: climate change is a globalissue , both in its causes and itsconsequences. Thereforeinternational, collective action will becritical in reaching a response on thescale that is required to successfullyface this challenge for mankind. Theanalysis of the topic therefore must beglobal, deal with long time horizons,have the economics of risk anduncertainty at centre stage, andexamine the possibility of major, non-marginal changes. The approach willneed close, international co-operationin many areas, particularly for

developing countries. And at the sametime it will require the commitmentof numerous people, which probablyonly can be organized if we bring thechallenge as far as possible down tothe individual people.• Estimating the costs of climate

change is definitely not easy.There are various methods andapproaches that enable us toestimate the likely seize of therisks. Most scientists considerthree of these approaches: thephysical impacts on economicactivity, on human life and on theenvironment. Recentassumptions suggest that averageglobal temperatures will rise by2 - 3°C within the next fifty years

or so, and the numbers mayincrease if emissions continue togrow. The global warming willhave various impacts:

• Melting glaciers and increasedsea-levels will bring new floodrisks;

• Declining crop yields couldhave enormous impact onearning capacity of farming andlead to lack of food for millionsof people.

• Malnutrition and heat stresswill cause the death of manypeople. Vector-borne diseasessuch as malaria and dengue fevercan become more widespread.

Foundation Day Dialogue

Toon Bullens ACJ

Every year, the Foundation day celebrations of DHAN will be marked by lectures and dialogue on selecteddevelopment theme by eminent personalities. This is an opportunity for all DHANites and invitees from

collaborating institutions to dialogue on a specific theme to share and learn the subject. As part of eleventhFoundation day celebrations, two lectures were delivered by personalities; Toon Bullens ACJ, the President ofthe Micro Insurance Association of Netherlands (MIAN) lectured on Climate Change and Financial Services forpoor, and V.K Subburaj IAS, Secretary to the Government of Tamil Nadu lectured on the topic - DevelopmentAdministration: Insights from Practice based on his rich and wide ranging experiences in the Indian AdministrativeServices.

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• Ecosystems will be particularlyvulnerable to climate change,with around 15 -40% of speciespotentially facing extinction afteronly 2°C of warming.

• Warming may induce suddenshifts in regional weatherpatterns. These changes couldhave severe consequences forwater availability and flooding intropical regions and threaten thelivelihoods of millions of people.

Is not all bad news though, asclimate change also presents anunique challenge for mankind: it is thegreatest and widest-ranging marketfailure ever seen. Every single humanbody will have to deal with it one wayor another. On my way down toMadurai the day before yesterday Iread about a conference held last weekin Chennai, where it was concluded,that the right systems and the rightregulations can even turn naturaldisasters into opportunities. Indeed, ifwe carefully study the challenges ofclimate change holistically and if wemake use of the positive effects anddeal with the negative consequencesof it, climate change could eventuallyturn into an opportunity from aneconomic point of view.

Mitigation - taking action toreduce emissions – then must beviewed as an investment -a costincurred now and in the coming fewdecades- to avoid the risks of verysevere consequences in the future. Ifthese investments are made wisely,the costs will be manageable, andthere will be a wide range ofopportunities for growth anddevelopment along the way. To makethis work, such policy must promotesound market signals, help toovercome market failures and haveequity and risk mitigation at its core.

Mitigation is definitely needed toreduce the impact of climate change.But adaptation is the only responsepossible on the long run. Unlikemitigation, adaptation will in manycases provide local benefits, realisedwithin short times. It is thereforelikely that some adaptation will occurautonomously, as we see happeningalready. Personally I am convincedthat the drive to sustainabledevelopment itself will bring thediversification, the flexibility and theskills that are needed for adaptation.Indeed, much adaptation will simplybe an extension of good developmentpractice – for example, promotingoverall development, better disastermanagement and emergency response.

Many aspects of adaptationthough, will require deep insight,longer foresight and careful planning.Therefore they will have to be thedomains for public-privatepartnerships. And some aspects ofadaptation will only be possible byusing public goods whilst they aredelivering mainly global benefits.These benefits would includeimproved information about forinstance the climate system, about

climate-scenario’s, about climate-resilient crops and technologies.

Governments and internationalorganisations should play a role inproviding guidance to effectiveadaptation by individuals and firmsand local authorities. There are fourkey areas:

• Climate scenario: High-qualityclimate information and tools forrisk management will help todrive efficient markets.Improved regional climatepredictions will be critical,particularly for temperature,precipitation and storm patterns.

• Spatial planning: Land-useplanning and performancestandards should encourage bothprivate and public investment inbuildings, agriculture and otherlong-lived infrastructure to takeclimate change into account.

• Creating awareness:Governments can contributethrough long-term polices forclimate-sensitive public goods,including natural resources

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protection, coastal protection,and emergency preparedness.

• Financial security: A financialsafety net and accessiblefinancial services will berequired, especially for thepoorest in society, who are likelyto be the most vulnerable to theimpacts and least able to affordprotection (including insurance).

On the costs and benefits ofadaptation currently only limitedinformation is available. Studiessuggest however that the benefits ofadaptation will exceed the costs.Adaptation should be integrated intodevelopment policies and in planningat every level. The challenge ofadaptation is especially big indeveloping countries, where povertylimits the capacity to act. As indeveloped countries, the costs are hardto estimate, but are likely billions ofdollars. Societies that are responsive

to climate information though, willdefinitely strongly stimulateadaptation among individuals, firmsand governing bodies I will indicatelater that risk-based insuranceschemes may provide strong signalsabout the size of climate risks andtherefore trigger proper riskmanagement.

It is very likely, that the poorestdeveloping countries will be hitearliest and hardest by climate change.But they have hardly contributed tocausing the problem. Their lowincomes make it difficult to financeadaptation. The internationalcommunity has an obligation tosupport them in adapting to climatechange. Without such support there isa serious risk that developmentprogress will be undermined.

The international communityshould also support this processthrough investment in global public

goods, such as improved monitoringand prediction of climate change,better modelling of regional impacts,the development and deployment ofdrought- and flood-resistant crops,increase building of public-privatepartnerships for climate-relatedinsurance and strengthen mechanismsfor improving risk management andpreparedness, disaster response andrefugee resettlement. By failing to doso, the costs of adaptation will risedramatically. The key element forcollective action is developing ashared understanding of the long-termgoals for climate policy, buildingeffective institutions for co-operation,and to build trust with otherstakeholders.

Where does the financial sector come

in?

For this introduction we willdefine the financial sector as the sumof all private and public institutionsthat offer insurance and disaster relief,banking, and asset managementservices. All these services areintermediary services: they take inmoney from customers, hold it a whileor pass it on and later give it back.

Of course the financial servicessector is sensitive to climate change.But far more important is, that itenables adaptation and integrateseffects on other sectors. I would liketo put that even stronger: the financialsector is a key agent of adaptation: itwill for instance have to enabledevelopment of new building codesand new agricultural land-use.Financial services, such as insurance,represent risk-spreading mechanismsthrough which the costs of weather-related events are distributedthroughout society. Even moreimportant: they may play an important

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Toon Bullens ACJ

Toon Bullens ACJ has almost four decades of experience in the insurance industry.He is President of FOV, the Dutch association of mutual and cooperative insurancecompanies. He is with Eureko, the holding company of major insurance companiesfrom the Netherlands and has headed the Interpolis Reinsurance for many years. Heis also the President of the Micro Insurance Association of Netherlands (MIAN)and is championing the cause of social security for the poor in the developingcountries. Since inception of “Climate changes Spatial Planning” Toon has been onthe board of this national Dutch innovation project on climate change and spatial

planning. Climate change is one of the major environmental issues for the coming years, both regionally and globally.The programme “Climate changes Spatial Planning” focuses to enhance joint-learning between those to communitiesand people in practice within spatial planning. For United Nations EP Toon is member of the insurance workinggroup and the sub working group Micro-insurance, Natural Catastrophes and Alternative Risk Transfer.

role in promoting and enablingadaptation to climate change.

The effects of climate change onthe financial services sector in theshort term are likely related to changesin frequencies and intensity ofextreme weather events. The costs ofweather events have already risenrapidly. It is expected that this trendwill continue for some time. Thesedevelopments will further placeupward pressure on premiums andwill cause certain risks to bereclassified as uninsurable, withsubsequent withdrawal of coverage.That will further place pressure ongovernment-based insurance andrelief systems. As might be expectedboth insurers and governments alreadyare showing strain in many regions andare attempting to limit their exposures(e.g., by raising deductibles and/orplacing caps on maximum claimspayable). This will unavoidablytrigger many initiatives for risk-mitigation. Equity issues anddevelopment constraints will arise ifweather-related risks becomeuninsurable, insurance prices increase,or the availability of insurance orfinancing becomes limited. Thus,increased uncertainty will induce a

development to adaptation. Thereforemore extensive penetration of oraccess to insurance and disasterpreparedness/recovery resources willincrease the ability –especially ofdeveloping countries- to adapt toclimate change. However, insurance,whether provided by public or privateentities, also can encouragecomplacency and maladaptation byfostering development in at-risk areassuch as is happening already in someU.S. flood-plans and drought-insurance schemes in developingcountries.

In summary, ladies and gentlemen,adaptation to climate change presentscomplex challenges, as well asopportunities, for the financialservices sector. In the face of climatechange, the role of each player shouldfurther be triggered to the changesneeded. Some financial institutionsalready support sustainabledevelopment and climate changeadaptation objectives. For instancethey would support energy-efficiencymeasures that make buildings moreresilient to natural disasters.Rabobank issues a so called “climate-credit-card” so that all spending isCO2-compensated. More widespread

introduction of financial instruments,such as micro-financing and micro-insurance schemes and developmentbanking also will be an effectivemechanism to help developingcountries and communities adapt toclimate change.

Most important however is to myopinion that financial institutions willhave to play a leading role in creatingawareness for the need of adaptation.They may want to do that by providingand pricing their services in such a waythat their consumers are faced with theneed to adapt on an ongoing basis. Andat the same time they will have toprovide the financial possibilities toenable people to adapt. In doing so,the sector could support the potentialincrease in demand for adaptationfunding in developed and developingcountries, to spread and reduce risksfrom climate change. Needless to saythat especially cooperative and mutualentity in this respect will fulfil apivotal role that will turn out to bemost important for mankind.

I like to end this introduction witha sincere wish for DHAN Foundationin their thrive to support theirbeneficiaries in this respect.

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T he much awaited MaduraiSymposium was organised

successfully from 24-29th September2007 in Madurai. The biennial eventis envisioned to be a developmentarena, where all stakeholders ofdevelopment – communityinstitutions, civil societies,Government, NGOs, FinancialInstitutions and academic wouldconverge at Madurai for theconventions, conferences andcarnival. This year it was a commonplatform for the developmentstakeholders to come together to shareand learn from each others experienceand practices. Conventions wereconducted on Water Movement,microfinance movement, Panchayats,Development Innovations andinitiatives (livelihood, health,Philanthropy and Rural tourism),Development education, Researchand Communication, developmentconferences on multifaceted themeslike Rain fed farming, coastal areaconservation and development,effective Panchayat system and stronglocal governance, information andcommunication technology tools inaddressing various social anddevelopment issues, professionalizingthe NGO sector, developmentmanagement education and researchand film festivals were the threedistinct streams of events of theSymposium.

Water and Environment

Gundar Basin Area WaterDevelopment Partnership: Theprevailing development issues forirrigation water, drinking water, failureof the Neerkatti method, and theprevalent transformation of ground

water to saline water in the Gundarriver basin were discussed. A basinlevel area water partnership has beenlaunched as an out come.

Tank based watersheddevelopment in South India:Challenges and way forward for tankbased watershed areas, uniquecommunity managed tank basedwatershed development programmesin Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Naduwere highlighted.

First National Convention onTank Based WatershedDevelopment in India: Emphasiswas made to face the need forpromoting a national level networkamong the people organizations toimprove the tank based watersheddevelopment activities in India.

Farmer’s convention onRainfed Agriculture: Experiencesharing and importance of rain fedagriculture and organic farming was

the focus of the convention.Achievements and best practices wereshared by a gathering of 340 farmersfrom three districts.

Showcasing JSYS: role andrelevance of integrated tankdevelopment in reducing poverty:DHAN Foundation and JalaSamvardhane Yojana Sanga (JSYS)programme of Government ofKarnataka have jointly organised thisevent to mutually share theirexperiences gained in the tankrenovation works executed andsynthesized learnings to take forward.

Provision of safe drinking waterthrough the use of affordable watertreatment technologies athousehold level: The need andprovision of safe drinking water,different alternatives for getting safedrinking water, advantages anddisadvantages of various technologieswere discussed in this event. Thediscussion focused on alliance

Advancing Development: Building Alliances

Events

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building between different stakeholders locally and globally throughnetworking and reinforcement.

Alliance building withNeerkattis (water managers) forwater management: Need forincreasing the efficiency of waterdistribution through employment ofneerkattis by the farmers wasemphasized in this event. Compulsoryplacement of Neerkattis, recognition,assured income, providing accessoriesto protect them while at work andensuring family security were theareas suggested by the participants.

Workshop on sensitizing safedrinking water concept throughyouth programme: Ways and meansfor involving the youth in promotingsafe drinking water were explored atthe workshop organised with collegeand school students.

Microfinance

Third national Convention onWomen SHG federations: SHGmembers are no more poor was thecatch line of the convention. SHGmembers were advised to initiatesmall scale industries, which in turnwill ensure sustainability of self helpmovement. About 400 leaders from 95SHG federations assembled todeliberate on sustainability andchallenges. Based on the achievementof SHGs the participants of thedeliberation stressed on the ways andmean to sustain the movement.

Leaders Retreat for communitybased organisations: Womenrepresentatives from SHG federationsparticipated in the retreat, where theleaders have shared their views, ideasand enriched the discussion onleadership. A twenty point charter wasbrought out at the end to buildeffective leaderships at grassroots.

National seminar onsustainability of SHGfederations: The seminarfocused on sustainabilityof SHG federations. It wasemphasized thatmicrofinance should beseen as a good tool fororganizing people, but it isnot an end itself; sinceMFIs typically focus onfinancial issues,sustainability is uncertain.Importance ofgovernance, structure andstability of the groups tosustain the federationswere stressed.

National seminar onMF and Healthintermediation: The facilitators andparticipants of the seminar sharedways to collaborate with thegovernment to improve access tohealth services and take up“Behavioural Change Communication(BCC)” interventions. Microfinanceis a tool to reduce poverty, at the sametime; it has the potential to do muchmore. In the subgroups, the discussionwas focused on convergence ofmicrofinance and health; mechanismsand methods; BCC in SHGfederations; enhancing peopleparticipation and implementation; andimplementing BCC issues,challenges, and the way forward. Itwas concluded that the existingmicrofinance can promote savingsproducts in SHGs to meet healthexpenditure, insurance products tocover the cost and health literacy tothe members.

Financial Inclusion throughMicrofinance: While themicrofinance sector has grownsubstantially in the past decade, accessto affordable financial services is still

quite limited. Reasons for exclusioninclude physical and geographicalfactors, lack of access to formalservices, financial literacy andfinancial counseling. The workshopdebated on transparency, both formicro finance and for banking, curbingexploitative informal markets,enlarging livelihood opportunities forthe poor and empowering them to takecharge of their lives through 100%financial inclusion.

Emerging Trends in Policiesand Practices related to SHG andmF management: The seminarfocused on basics of Microfinancesuch as affordable pricing, financialproducts capacity building, SHG –Bank linkage, research &documentation and polarization of mF.Apart from SHG - Bank linkage modelother emerging models in mF werediscussed.

Mutuality & Insurance

Workshop on contextual Riskand vulnerability mapping: Theworkshop stated that risk can be

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classified into three categories:preventing risk, mitigating risk, andmanaging risk. Suggestions weremade to develop a tool kit andparticipants agreed that efforts needto be made to try and understandcoping mechanisms and vulnerability.The workshop participantshighlighted the need for identifyingrisk and vulnerability for rural, coastaland urban contexts.

Workshop on visioning ofmutual insurance to cover risks intheir entirety: The workshop cameout with suggestions on how risks canbe addressed by individuals, thesociety, insurance companies, andmutual insurance. It was generallyagreed that the gaps in governmentand private insurance policies can beovercome by mutual insurance.

Appreciation Programme onaccessing Insurance to the poor:Effective communicationmechanisms to ensure timely claimsand accurate database to enhancequick decision making was discussed.Insurance literacy in rural areasthrough campaigns and developuniform policies to all locations werestressed by the participants.

Knowledge Building Workshopon Mutual Insurance: Theworkshop showcased the importanceof mutual insurance, especially for thepoorer section of the society. Microinsurance plays vital role in reducingrisks and vulnerabilities of the poor.Efforts to include those who are leftout, and work with government toinfluence the policies and developinnovative products for the poor andlearn from best practices of others todevelop context specific products toreduce the risks and vulnerabilitieswere discussed. Suggested tocollaborate with others and set upplatforms for knowledge andinformation sharing among membersof various federations and Self helpgroups (SHGs).

Agriculture & Livelihoods

Convention on MedicinalPlants: Medicinal plant collectors andgrowers from many districts of TamilNadu attended the convention, whichfocused on the importance ofmedicinal plants in local economy andlivelihoods security for marginalized.Medicinal plants have always playeda major role in India, especially inrural and tribal areas. In recent years,there has been a surge in the demand

and consumption of these plants.However, the plants, while theyprovide livelihoods to many villagersand tribal people, are in danger ofextinction due to improper growingand harvesting techniques and poormarket facilities.

Precision Farming – a modelCooperative: The Directorate ofExtension Education of Tamil NaduAgricultural University which hasimplemented Precision Farmingproject organised this event todeliberate on some of the problemsfaced by farmers in precision farmingand proposed several solutions.Precision farming irrigation process,sand filters, and maintenance of theseirrigation machines were the mainhighlight of the sessions.

Crop specific issues andstrategies: A seminar on contractfarming highlighted the needs foracquiring better farming skills,appropriate soil managementpractices, effective buy backarrangement, assured price, qualityseeds, management of price risk,access to inexpensive credit and farminputs and effective marketing ofproducts. Roles of banks andinsurance companies wereemphasized.

Workshop on Developmentperspectives of Krishi VigyanKendras (KVKs): Challenges to beaddressed by the KVKs such as gendermainstreaming, climate andenvironmental changes, ICT inagriculture, supply chain management,quality production procedureparticipatory farming and exportsystem were discussed.

Enhancing rainfed farminglivelihoods - Need for policychanges: This seminar focused on theneed for strengthening community

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organizations as foundation of theexperiment, building on theindigenous knowledge and practicesof the community to enhance thesustainability, introduction of land andwater related technologies to improvethe land productivity and facilitateintegration of access to credit throughmicrofinance, promotion of alliedfarm activities and implementation ofappropriate technologies throughcollaboration with research, academicand extension institution.

Workshop on promotion ofrural industries to eradicateunemployment: The workshopaimed at creating a platform for Khadiand Village Industries Commission(KVIC) for rural enterprises to shareand gain experience on various ruralincome generating initiatives andactivities for creating employmentopportunities for the poor. Importanceof co-ordination within theorganization, particularly the linkagewas stressed.

Conference on MedicinalPlants: “How to improve the incomeof poor by cultivating medicinal plantswas discussed in the conference. Alsodiscussions on the existing policy andenvironment related to medicinal

plants, conservation, patents, rights,fair market were debated.

ICT for Development

Information need assessmentfor designing e-services in watersector: The ICT for the Poor themeof DHAN Foundation organised thisevent to assess the information needsof different category of people toprovide effective e-services. HowThagavalagam helps in providinginformation about women based,agriculture, education and forfishermen community andinformation need assessment invarious contexts like rural, urban andcoastal were discussed.

Strengthening E-servicesthrough Village InformationCentres: Strengthening the existingservices in the VICs was stressed atthe seminar organised with the usersand operators of VICs. It wassuggested to strengthen e-servicesrelated to disaster preparedness andmanagement.

Software for Developmentprojects and the NGO sector: Theseminar has gained importance andprominence in the present daysconsidering the information andtechnological advances. Need forsoftwares to provide information tofacilitate business decisions for thesuccessful implementation ofmicrofinance institutions andfederations of SHGs was highlighted.

Designing E- Health services:The seminar focused specifically onservices which need to be providedto the group members of themicrofinance SHGs through VICs.The seminar emphasized more on e-health, health insurance, counselorsparticipation and their importance. Italso enumerated the variousintermediations on health institutionsthrough ICT theme.

Community based contentdevelopment for enabling

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livelihoods: The seminar focused ondeveloping contents to enable thelivelihood of the poor. Importance ofdeveloping context specific contentsin rural areas to suit to the informationrequirements of different age groupswas discussed.

Emerging themes

Convention on Panchayat RajInstitutions: The need for training thePanchayat Raj representatives tostrengthen the performance of PRI,the problem existing since theevaluation of PRIs, leaders have totake the responsibilities andbreakdown the problems to smallerone and try to resolve them were thetopics discussed in the forum.

Community based disasterpreparedness: The discussionsfocused on disaster and itsimplications, disaster preparedness,best practices in disaster managementand the role of Government, NGOs,local bodies and civil societies.

Pollution abatement in thewater bodies of the coastal zonemanagement: It was a joint endeavorof the Department of Environment,Government of Tamil Nadu and

DHAN Foundation. This seminar wasfocused on type of work undertakenby the Department of Environment,Environment Information Systems,pollution in water bodies and coastalzone management.

Tourism Development throughcommunity participation: Theimpact of tourism on livelihoods oflocal community was discussed in theseminar. Discussions were centeredon different experiences of tourism inrural areas, utilization of this tourismopportunity for promoting livelihoodsof poor people and the mode ofcommunity managed tourism. Theworkshop came out with resolutionson preserving tradition, continuouscapacity building training for SHGs tobenefit tourism allied activities.

Focus on Madurai

Issues of water and wastewaterin Madurai: This seminarhighlighted the dire conditions ofrivers, tanks, and supply channelswhich are situated in and aroundMadurai city. It also focused on themanagement of water resourcesespecially rainwater harvesting andconservation. Water planning systems

and waste water conservation methodswere discussed in depth.

Slum development planningwith Community: The workshopfocused on improving slums bycollaborating with the Government.Participants suggested for enhancingthe interaction between thecommunity in slum with theGovernment at three levels, slums,wards and corporations to take up slumdevelopment activities and to createstrong baseline to create awarenessabout existing Government policiesand programmes on slumdevelopment.

Clean and Green Madurai: Theseminar focused on the need andscope for greening Madurai City.Number of ways and means wassuggested by the participants toachieve green cover in Madurai. It wasemphasized that the community hasto be educated and involved in theinitiative to take responsibility.

Vision for a Greater Madurai:The workshop was jointly organisedby City Technical Advisory Groupconstituted as part of Jawaharlal NehruNational Urban Renewal Mission(JNNURM) in Madurai city.Participants from different NGOs,Government departments, academicinstitutions, private institutions andpublic have stressed on changemanagement and thematicinterventions such as water, land,transportation and slum developmentin Madurai in 2025.

Rediscovery of MaduraiHeritage: under the JNNURM, avisioning workshop was organised onrediscovering Madurai Heritage.Challenge to sustain the heritage, needfor sensitizing the public to achieveit, involving the youths and organisingvarious stakeholders were discussedin detail.

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Disaster Risk Reduction

Flood Mitigation: Communityinitiatives and Practices: Roles ofPeoples’ Organisations (POs) inaddressing flood mitigation werediscussed. Need for creating a floodmitigation funds as revolving corpusat the Pos to immediately respond toflood situations was stressed. ThesePOs resolved to collaborate with thegovernment and other agencies tomanage flood situations.

Agricultural risks: Behavioural,Adaptational and policy issues: Theseminar was jointly organized byCARDS, TNAU, Coimbatore andASKMI of Tata-DHAN Academy(TDA) with a focus on defining theresponsibilities and role of differentstakeholders in agricultural sectorparticularly the academic institutions.Agriculture is subject to risks that areclassified as production risks, marketrisks, financial risks and institutionalrisks. Many crop insurance models aredeveloped to overcome these risks.

Strengthening Early warningSystems through VillageInformation Centers: The need tostrengthen the early warning systemsthrough Village Information Centersand Community Radio were

discussed. Building the capacity of thepeople and making them aware aboutaccess to information was stressed. Itwas emphasized to involve the state,central governments, NGOs, district,village level administration andagencies to play a greater role in it.

Knowledge building workshopon disaster Risk Reduction: Theparticipants of the workshophighlighted the need for preparednessand dissemination of information,integrating Disaster Risk anddissemination of information,integrating Disaster Risk Reduction(DRR) programmes with other

ongoing developmental programmesand undertaking a holistic approach.The need for capacity building ofvarious stakeholders was stressed.

Research and Advocacy

Dialogue on Pro-Poor policiesfor poverty reduction: The dialoguefocused on sustainable livelihoods inrural areas, where the opportunitiesare very limited and problems are verycomplex. Pro poor policies to addressissues holistically with a long termvision and community ownedstrategies were emphasized.

Seminar on Social ScienceResearch in India Conference onMedicinal Plants: The seminaremphasized the issues incontemporary social science researchto cover the emerging socio –economic issues in the society andaccordingly able to facilitate actionamong development practitioners andpolicy makers. The forum emphasizedon mechanisms of collaboration insocial science research.

Detailed reports, media releasesand declarations are available atwww.maduraisymposium.in

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What enabling environment isneeded for the Panchayat leadersto perform better?

As per Tamil Nadu PanchayatsAct, Panchayat Presidents are

expected to perform two roles atPanchayat level. Firstly, as an honoraryhead of the Panchayat council, theyhave to lead the council, conductmeetings and represent theirPanchayat in the Government system.Secondly they also have the executiveroles. They are the executive authorityof the Panchayats. With these roles itis expected that, they have to monitorday to day activities, communications,facilitate implementation of theprogrammes and look after thePanchayat administration. To performthe role of public leadership they needmore life experience, good intentionand attitude, good relationship withcommunity. But to perform theexecutive functions, they requiremanagement and implementationskills.

The state government has to investon building capacity of PanchayatPresidents and members. Basic

orientations and Panchayat educationare very much needed to make themunderstand the Panchayat systems andprovisions of the Panchayat act, rolesand responsibilities of all thestakeholders and managerial tools andtechniques to administer thePanchayats more effectively. Beyondtraining, the State government shouldcreate an enabling environment tofacilitate the Panchayat leaders toapply what they have learnt. Moreimportantly, the community shouldhave right understanding on thefunctions of Panchayats and roles ofthe people to cooperate with thePanchayat administration andcontribute in all its initiatives. Theyshould act like watch dogs andfacilitate smooth functioning ofPanchayats. Only the positive energyand constructive criticism by thecommunity will encourage the electedrepresentatives to work efficiently.

The District administration shouldtreat the Panchayat presidents aspartners in the progress. But, in reality,the officials are treating Panchayatrepresentatives with lots of mistrustand do not respect them as peoples’representatives. The officials havegreater role in building enablingenvironment for better Panchayatadministration through giving properguidance, flexibility in extendingfinancial and other supports for goodinitiatives, encouraging the betterperforming leaders and organisingregular technical trainings. As a whole,both the community and the State

Democratising Panchayats

S. Singarayar*

Government should play an enablingrole to encourage the Panchayats forbringing a lot of innovations indesigning and implementingdevelopment programmes. The localNGOs and voluntary organisation cancontribute in building such positiveenvironment among all thesestakeholders.

Do you think the Voters need tobe trained to exercise theirfranchise in an effective way?

Certainly, the voters need to betrained on it. To elect right candidates,the people forums like SHGs andother traditional systems of villageforums should have healthydiscussions and decide to elect orselect right persons for assuming thepost with out any consideration ofpolitical affiliation, caste, money,nativity and relationship. Voters needto be trained on Panchayat system andtheir roles before and after theelection.

The Voters have greaterresponsibility in our democracy toelect right kind of candidates forPanchayat governance. It is obviousthat, good governance can be possibleonly when we elect right kind ofpeople, with right attitude andcommitment. So, the citizens shoulduse their franchise ethically. InPanchayat systems, a voter has to electfour representatives for the three tiersystem of Panchayat administration.Before voting the voters shouldevaluate the candidates for their

*S. Singarayar is the Program Leader in DHAN Foundation coordinating ‘Working with Panchayats’ a new theme being piloted by it.

Interview

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honesty, attitude for public service,efficiency to manage, sensitivity tolocal problems and developmentissues. More importantly they shouldsee whether the candidate is open towork with all the people beyond caste,religion and politics. Unlike assemblyelections, the candidates contestingPanchayat elections would be morefamiliar, their characters are wellknown to everybody in the village.Definitely they can ensure that theyvote for a good candidate.

In what ever theme or area we areworking, as development practitionerswe need to work towards creatingawareness among the communities onthese aspects. Unless grassrootsdemocracy is ensured with greaterparticipation of the communities,whatever efforts that we are makingin our respective themes or areaswould not yield desired results.

How do you see the relevance ofthe ‘Working with Panchayats’theme of DHAN with Povertyreduction?

The history of the village-levelPanchayat institutions in India goesback hundreds of years. Afterindependence, the Panchayat systemwas neglected. DHAN has realisedthat these institutions need to bevibrant and responsive to the needsof the people to bring about lastingprogress, benefiting all. The theme of‘Working with Panchayats’ wastherefore conceived for piloting.Poverty Reduction is the overarchinggoal of all the initiatives taken up byDHAN. The Panchayat theme takesthis as the central focus of its design.We need to understand howPanchayats can impact on poverty.

Panchayat governance atgrassroots level has more roles to playin poverty reduction. Several studies

conducted by internationalcommunities like World Bank, UnitedNations Development Programme,and other bodies of United NationsOrganisation have proven that, thegood governance has direct impactover poverty reduction. Ourneighboring state Kerala is a goodexample in this case. So, goodgovernance can able to contributedirectly for poverty reduction atPanchayat level. The Panchayats haveto work towards ensuring necessarycivic infrastructure in the villages.They should also create infrastructurefor strengthening livelihoods activitiestaken up by the local communities.The Panchayats should also takeutmost care in finalizing the list ofBelow Poverty Line families forensuring the reach of all the relevantpoverty alleviation programmes of thesatate and central governments.

National Rural EmploymentGuarantee Programme is an excellentopportunity for the eligible Panchayatsto facilitate poverty reduction in thevillages. So, the Panchayats havedirect role in poverty reduction. It isthe core responsibility of thePanchayat administration too. What isneeded to ensure poverty reductionwill be transparent design andimplementation of schemes,community participation, effectiveand efficient administration andsupportive environment from theGovernment.

The ‘Working with Panchayats’theme is working towards promotingand strengthening of village-levelinstitutions as functional groups in thePanchayat to ensure people’sparticipation and sustaining thePanchayat institutions to accessresources and reduce its dependenceon the State.

What changes will you advocatein the policies and practices ofPanchayat Raj Institutions to makethem self – sufficient?

Panchayat institutions inTamilnadu are highly dependent onthe State Government for financialsupport and strategic guidance. Butconstitutionally Panchayat governanceis a legitimate third tire of IndianGovernment. It needs to performindependently at Panchayat level forthe development of the village.Panchayats need financial resourcesfor not only its management, but alsofor designing and implementing needbased development programmes forthe villages. If we see the incomesources, many Panchayats aregenerating very meager income fromits own sources. For every plan theydepend on the allocation from theState Government. In our experience,if Panchayats gain financial freedom,they will get the pressure of using thatfreedom judiciously, they will look forvarious alternatives for raisingresources; they will pay attention inplanning and implementation. Moreimportantly if the local communitiesare contributing, they will act likewatchdogs. All these are veryimportant for bringing sustainabilityto any Panchayat, which is what highlylacking now.

Since Panchayat is a smaller unit,as compared with other levels ofGovernments, it is highly possible toattain financial sustainability. InTamilnadu, we have proven examplesof few Panchayats (like Nalukottai,Odanthuari, Semmipalayam,Koothampakkam, etc) are movingright direction in attainingsustainability at a Panchayat level. Thepreconditions for attaining financialsustainability are attitude change

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among the Panchayat councils andpeople in that Panchayat ondemocratic practice; creation of goodenvironment and efforts to generateregular income for Panchayats; assetcreation and resource mobilisationfrom various sources such as private,public and philanthropic agencies;convergence of Government and NonGovernment initiatives etc. The StateGovernment should support andencourage through providing financialresources and enabling policies andacts. The Presidents should build trustamong the public through transparentsystems and practice to gaincooperation from them.

Panchayats need to bestrengthened by the way of ensuringfinance, delegating functions andproviding functionaries according to29 areas enlisted in the 11th scheduleof Indian constitution. As of now thesecontrols are vested with the stategovernment, which treats thePanchayat institutions as its agents forimplementing development projects.The mind set has to be changed. ThePanchayats need to be given withmore freedom to perform at grassrootslevel and to take independentdecisions for development of therespective Panchayats.

The people are to be re orientedto perform their roles andresponsibilities to strengthen thePanchayats. The Panchayats shouldhave more democratic practices in allits functions and real democracyshould be there in all the activities ofthe Panchayats. Representatives frommarginalized sections such as women,scheduled caste and scheduled tribesshould be trained to perform theirroles with adequate insulation fromdominant sections.

What qualifies a Panchayat asthe best performing?

Best performing Panchayat is theone, which has visible and voluntarydirect democratic practices in all it’sactivities, regular and qualityfunctioning of Panchayat council,working committees and gramsabha;Active participation and higher levelof stake and ownership among thecommunities; Transparentadministration; Self – sufficientresources and less dependence on theState Government; Community ledmicro planning and implementation;Availability of basic civic amenities;apolitical leadership guided by valuesand ethics, trusted by all the people.

Can you elaborate more aboutmicro planning, its significance andreception by the government andpeople?

As per the Panchayat acts and itsprovisions, micro planning for socialdevelopment is a mandatory functionof a village Panchayat and to facilitatemicro planning, at district level, adistrict planning cell is operatingunder the guidance of the DistrictPlanning Officer, Presently it is the ex-officio post held by the DistrictPanchayat Secretary in Tamil Nadu.Micro plan exercise is a unique eventwhich gives more opportunities for thepublic at Panchayat level to share theirviews, experiences and the needs.Unfortunately, these Panchayat plansare not getting adequate importanceand it is not practiced in its real spirit.

All the plans drawn at the Centraland State level do not match with feltneeds of the community. Thereforereversal of planning process, which isprescribed by the Governments needto be implemented at grassroots level.If done as perceived this micro

planning will be more realistic andwill be owned by the people who arethe most important stakeholder in theprocess. This micro plan exercise ispracticed in all the 25 Panchayatsbeing piloted by us for the last threeyears. We pay more attention on theprocess of planning, rather than theoutcome or product. In our experienceinvolving community in the all thestages of plan preparation is criticalelement, which will yield betterparticipation while implementation. Itwas a new experience for all thePresidents and council members.Though there was hesitation initiallywith the elected representativesgradually they realised its importanceand benefit. The plan would bepresented at the PanachayatParliament – an informal system weinnovated in our theme, where thepeople will ratify it. .

The district administrative systemis neither encouraging nordiscouraging the micro plans.Wherever the District Collector isactive and interested in this initiative,the micro planning process getsattention. Even when they encouragesuch planning, due to inadequate statepolicy and lack of legitimateacceptance, mobilizing funds as perthe micro plan is still a majorchallenge for us.

What is Panchayat Parliament?How it works?

Panchayat parliament is aninformal alternative forum atPanchayat level designed by us afterseveral rounds of experimentation.The idea is to simulate the experienceof our Parliamentary system atPanchayat level. The outcome of theforum is to facilitate betterparticipation of the community inlocal governance and bring vibrancyin the gramsabha meetings. Theinformal associations and traditional

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panchayat bodies in the Panchayatwould become institutional membersof the forum, so that they would getintegrated with legitimate bodies tofoster synergy.

In a typical Panchayat Parliament,all the elected representatives of aPanchayat (Presidents and Wardmembers) and working committeemembers of that Panchayat will sit inone side like ruling governing bodyof the Parliament. Representativesfrom traditional Panchayat, SHGs, andother functional groups will sitopposite to them like opposition partyof the Parliament. An educated personfrom among the villagers, accepted byeveryone will be facilitating the wholeprocess like Speaker. The Panchayatcouncils will present their workperformance item by items and theopposition group will makeclarifications, questions and critics.The public will be observing thewhole event. All the Panchayatactivities would be reviewed by thestake holders of that Panchayat. Thispractice would lead to the Panchayatto create good awareness among thecommunities and build goodrelationship with the Panchayatadministration.

In our experience, this systemworks well, it strengthens thedemocratic systems and inculcateshow to participate in the Panchayataffairs. Intensive and meaningfuldiscussion happening in the meetingwould clarify many of the doubts ofthe people and set a tone fortransparent administration.

What synergy is needed amongdifferent stakeholders of PRI?

Development of Panchayatgovernance greatly depends on theperformance of four stakeholders,namely, the elected representatives,public (voters), State Government(District Administration) and informalPanchayats / other civil societies. It iscrucial to synergize the views, efforts,initiatives and cooperation of thesestakeholders of the Panchayat. Properunderstanding of their respective roleand responsibility in Panchayatadministration is a prerequisite formaking significance in theircontribution. Especially the public hasto play a greater role in Panchayatactivities which is now mostly absentin many of the Panchayats. The Stateis always operating with feudalisticmentality rather than facilitating the

Panchayat for good governance. Theelected representatives are mostlylacking good visioning and servicementality. Frankly speaking, most ofthe elected representatives have notunderstood their roles andresponsibilities in true sense.However the SHG movement whichis growing faster in the villages isseemed to be a positive factor tostrengthen the Panchayat concept infuture. The NGOs are also anindispensable constituent in localdevelopment.

We have come out with an idea ofestablishing Center for PanchayatAffairs and Development – C PAD.This centre would try to motivate allthe stakeholders towards collectivefunctioning. This Centre would createawareness among the voters,orientation & networking of theelected representatives, taking upresearch studies and conductingworkshops with Panchayatstakeholders to share their experienceand advocating policies both at theState and Central level. We have todo a lot of experiments with this idea.We are looking for interesting insightsfrom this experiment.

Farming - My way of life

Voices from the Grassroots

Mr. Duraipandi is a 42 years oldfarmer, practicing rainfed

farming, hails from Sengappadaivillage of Madurai District, TamilNadu. He is a member of Rajiv GandhiUzhavar Kuzhu (farmers’ group). Heowns three acres rainfed land andleased in 1.66 acres of land in the dryland area. He shared his experiencesin one of the knowledge buildingworkshops focused on livelihoods anddevelopment:

“The practice of rainfed farmingis not a new one in our area. We aredoing this for many generations. Manyof the traditional rainfed farmingmethods are still relevant and usedwidely by farmers. We exchange ourideas and experiences in our UzhavarKuzhu meetings organised by DHANFoundation.

Gambling of Monsoon: Rainfedfarming is a gambling with uncertain

rainfall and menace of pests anddiseases. Only those involve familylabour could manage the situation atleast in no profit-no loss condition.Otherwise farmers would face severeloss. I myself spend most of the timein the field doing one or the otherworks, my family members includingmy sons and daughters get involvedin activities whenever needed. Whenwe use hired labour, they are moreconcerned about the timing, rest,

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wages and tea-snacks. Moreover theywould work very superficially andwhen it is done by a family memberthe works is done with ownership andcommitment and the efficiency wouldbe high at no extra cost.

Apart from monsoon failure, pestattack is the major challenge forrainfed farming. In our area Red HairyCaterpillar is a menace every year. Theswarming RHC eats away the foliagesof the entire standing crop includingpulses, groundnut, cotton etc. Even ifspray hundreds of tanks of pesticidethe RHC from neighboring fieldsdevour the crop.

Our Collective efforts: There aretwo ponds in our village, one pond hadonly one supply channel but it was notsufficient. Another pond had only onesupply channel but it was not in usedue to encroachment. We expressedour need for a new supply channel andclearance of existing channel in ourgroup meeting and gave ourwillingness to share our contribution.Professionals from DHAN thenconsulted us and desilted the existingone and constructed a new one. Nowthe ponds meet water requirements ofthe entire village.

Our village has around 600 wellsand each house in this village has awell. Previously all the wells were dryin most part of the year, after theconstruction of supply channel, andsufficient storage of water in the pondswater tables in the wells got increasedsignificantly. Now all of us in thevillage get sufficient water forcropping.

My experience: I have got a loanfrom my group for purchase of inputsfor farming, purchase of a countryplough and a bullock cart. I also gotloan for purchasing a pair of draughtanimals. I would use the plough andanimals to plough my field and on

other days I would spare it to near byfarmers for hire. Through this I haveearned Rs 15,000 in the last year. Thisyear I cultivated maize and cotton, ofwhich only maize yielded goodharvest and the cotton crop wasdamaged completely due to dew. Inour area pulses and cotton crops arethe victims to RHC. Peacock causesdamage to pearl millet and Jowar.

Usually I would till my land atleast ten times during summer usingcountry plough. I know theimportance and uses of summerploughing, especially under rainfedfarming, where the fine ploughedwould be very critical to receive andretain water during rainfall. The otheradvantage of this summer ploughingis the larvae and pupae of variousinsects would get exposed to the sunand killed by heat. I prefer countryplough instead of tractor with discplough as the latter would result in theloss of topsoil and the surfacebecomes undulated resulting in lossof water and soil when there is rainfall.

Adopting to Change: Our villageis known for intercropping. Wecultivate minor millets, groundnut,pulse etc. We have started growingMaize in our area, which is a new cropfor us. To avoid the pest and diseaseattacks we encountered in earlier cropswe have gone for a new crop from thelast year. We would continue this cropfor next three years to overcome thepest incidence. It was suggested tocultivate Sunflower instead of theroutine crops to pest control.

We are seeing sudden sifts inconsumption of minor millets. Thesedays fodder sorghum is gainingmomentum which is well received bycattle growers, and minor millets likekudiraivali, and varagu are gettingimportance. Market value is

increasing for these grains. Especiallykudiraivali costs Rs.900 per quintal.

Committed Farming: In ourfield, last year I cultivated Varagu andmaize as a single crop in one acre each.Also I allocated half an acre forcoriander 66 cents for sorghum. Icultivated Cotton as the main cropwith black gram and green gram asintercrops in the other 1.5 acres. Tothe maximum possible extent, I didnot go for chemical fertilizers andpesticides. I have applied organicinputs such as farm yard manure orcompost. Totally I have spent aboutRs. one lakh to cultivate these cropsand got regular returns at the end ofevery season. I have ploughed theincome back to raising other crops;thereby I could earn a net profit of Rs.50,000 apart from taking the pulsesand coriander needed for my family.

Farming not a profession: Idon’t see farming as a profession; it ispart of our life. I enjoy doingagriculture as it engages me all thedays in the field, continuously fromland preparation till harvesting. Manyfarmers are leaving out farming, sayingthis as poorly paid job and lessprofitable. I would say proudly to suchfarmers that successful agriculture ispossible only with hard work, personaldedication and commitment toagriculture.

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The foundation day celebration is an occasion for

DHANites to reaffirm theircommitment to the mission and valuesof DHAN Foundation. Sharing of thesignificant achievements, newlaunches, dialogue session are theregular events in each foundation day.The eleventh foundation day wascelebrated on 2nd October 2007. Thestaff, representatives from the publicand private organizations and specialinvitees participated in thecelebrations.

Narender Kande, ProgrammeLeader of DHAN welcomed thegathering. In his welcome address hesaid when Gandhiji saw Madurai, hegot identified himself with thesufferings of the poor and he decidedto wear only loin cloth and decidednot to visit the temples as he believed“God lives among the poor”.Gandhiji’s way of life especially non-violence has made United Nations todeclare October 2nd as UN day of Non– Violence. Though there were saintsproclaiming non – violence before

Gandhiji, his way of living was morepractical and meaningful.

Soukeyna Ndiaye BA, PresidentINAFI International lighted the lampjointly with V.K. Subbraj IAS,Secretary to Government of TamilNadu and Toon Bullens ACJ,President MIAN, the Netherlands.

M.P. Vasimalai, ExecutiveDirector of DHAN shared thehighlights of the significantachievements of last year. He said thatthe DHAN Collective of Institutionshave reached out to about seven lakhspoor families through its programmesacross the country and they could raiseand use Rs.379 crores including theirsavings, credits, funds, grants etc. Hespoke about the philosophiespracticed in the works of DHAN.They were drawn from the spirit ofGandhism. Mothering developmentinnovations, building professionals fordevelopment works, creating people’sidentity, building partnership withmainstream institutions to have strongimpacting and reaching out poverty

reduction, influencing policiesthrough practices in the grassroots,leadership development in people andprofessionals, knowledge sharingwithin and across the country,promoting practice of giving orphilanthropy, building solidaritythrough people movements. He calledall the DHANites to rededicate theminto development.

DHAN Foundation is expandinginto few more countries like Senegal,Malaysia, Tanzania and Cambodia.Tsunami rehabilitation works have

Rededicating for Development

Events

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gained wider appreciation from all thepartners. Collaborations with themainstream institutions were furtherstrengthened in the states of TamilNadu and Andhra Pradesh for Tankworks. The new themes have madesignificant improvement in theirworks such as model building andexperi-mentation.

The newly graduating 112DHANites received their certificatesfrom V.K. Subbaraj I.A.S. andSoukeyna Ndiaye BA.

After delivering inductioncertificates, V.K. Subburaj appreciatedthe Foundation for the rigorousselection and grooming process beingfollowed. “Human resource is the bestresource, and we need to learn a lessonfrom Japan, which suffered a lotduring Second World War, lack ofnatural resources, minerals, poor soiland vegetations in addition to frequentdisasters, how the country recoveredand became a super power in theworld. Similarly we need to learnfrom the resurgence of Israel andSouth Korea despite its internalproblems. The chief reason for allthese was only because of effectiveand efficient human resourcemanagement”.

He lauded the efforts of DHANand said Government of Tamil Naduwill work with DHAN, especially theHealth Department has already joinedhands with DHAN in addressing theissues of anemia in five districts. TheGovernment has funds and DHAN hasstrategy, based on this experience thestate will take this project to otherdistricts as well.

Representatives from theinstitutions with whom DHAN isworking have shared their experiencesin working with DHAN,

I am hailing from a small villagenear Thenkasi in Thirunelvelli

district, Tamil Nadu. I completedB.E. (Agri) in Tamil NaduAgricultural University in 1999.Every year there will be a campusinterview from PRADAN. Mr.Premanand, who is presentlyheading the ICT for Poor theme ofDHAN Foundation, came to ourcollege for campus interview. Fromour batch, twelve of us joined inDHAN Foundation. A single batchof 12 students from a class in acollege campus recruited to DHANFoundation, I hope it was the firsttime in DHAN, from a singlecampus this many professionals gotrecruited. In the past eight years wegot rich and varied experiences. Iwas sent to Theni region forexposure visit to observe Kalanjiamand Vayalagam works. At that timeSingarayar was the RegionalCoordinator. After my exposurevisit, I was placed in Kodaikanal asa Development Associate.

Whenever I shared about my workin Kodaikanal federation, my friendsused to ask me jovially whether theoffice is located near ‘suicide point’.The office is located in a remoteplace which needs a travel of aboutthree hours travel interior ofKodaikanal town. Tribalcommunities like Paliyar, Pulayarwere dominant in this area. To visita village one should walk atleast half

an hour to one hour inside the coffeeestates. Most of the villagers arewomen labourers of coffee estates.The Self Help Groups were formedwith those women. One of thecomponents in the DevelopmentApprenticeship period is village stay,but a separate village stayprogramme was not needed there; ifyou visit a group meeting you haveto stay there. The women labourerwould work from morning and returnin evening from estates. There wasa practice of weekly meetings. Themeeting would end only by seven oreight o’clock at night, by that timethe last bus in the route would havegone. So I had to stay, eat and sleepthere.

There were 44 groups at that time.The associates at that time were nottrained like these days. There wereonly two associates. I and Mr.Senthil Kumar who was working asa Community Accountant had toattend and supervise all these groups.The associates if comes for a day maynot turn back for three-four days. Ifwe were strict they would not cometo work at all. Working with groupsand starting new groups dependedupon how we relate with them andadjust accordingly. When we livewith them, there were many changeswithin ourselves. Many of thefamilies would not buy vegetableseveryday, instead they would plucka Chow- Chow or an unripe jack

R. KarthihaiselvanRegional CoordinatorMadurai Rural

Reflections...

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from garden on their way back tohome which they cook and eat. Tobe content with what facilities wehave was a big learning from them.

The role of Singarayar is worthmentioning here. How to behave,relate and build rapport with thepeople were the lessons I have learntfrom him. These helped to managethe situation even if there were manyproblems in organising thecommunities. My age is hisexperience in this sector. He also hadthe skill of communicating withcommunities in a pleasing manner.Once I submitted my Apprenticeshipexperiences in a booklet form, heglanced through the pages andreturned the report with smile sayingthe wrapper was excellent. I took themeaning from his words that thecontents should be improved. Thiskind of speaking with sense ofhumour helped me to solve manycritical problems in an easy manner.The first one year of working withhim helped me a lot to develop myskills in working with thecommunity.

After that I worked in Nilakottai forfive years coordinating the SHGs.Nilakottai is one of the mostbackward blocks in Dindigul districtwith more SC and ST population.Coordinating the alcohol addictedvillagers and making them to thinkabout savings, credit and insuranceby changing their habit was a big

challenge. When I joined there, therewere about 100 groups, we haveorganised another 150 groups andregistered as a federation. Nilakottaiis known for NGOs. At least 15NGOs will work in a village. Withonly 62 families in a village, therewould be about 30 SHGs! Even ifwe assume ten members in a group,there must be at least 300 members!There were frequent conflicts amongthe villagers due to membership inmany groups and competitions. Itwas a big learning to work in such acompetitive environment for fiveyears, convincing the peopleclarifying them about the truepurpose of SHGs and promoting afederation.

Since last one year I am working asa Regional Coordinator of MaduraiRural region. This is also a goodexperience. There are 12 federationsranging from one year to 15 years.Coordinating all such federations isa real challenge that I am presentlyfacing. Managing the humanresource is very crucial, which needscloser guidance and hand holding.Since I am coordinating withprofessionals I need to demonstratemany things to gain their confidenceand acceptance for my ideas.

From the past eight years experienceI have learned a lot. Context specificguidance, supportive leadership,team work and commitment workwell. I feel happy about the way Iwas groomed, which I am followingin my present role. Thank You.

Balakrishnan, Senior Manager, CanaraBank reflected upon the works ofDHAN from his experience. He saidDHAN has proved beyond doubt poorare bankable. Canara Bank works withDHAN Foundation from the earlyyears when the concept of SHG Bank

linkage evolved. We have jointlycarried out a number of experimentsand many of them have given goodresults and taken forward by manyother bankers. Dr. Mohan, Professorof Agricultural College and ResearchInstitute Madurai, spoke about how

Tamil Nadu Agricultural University iscollaborating with DHAN in variousresearch and development activities.

New launches

The Foundation day was markedby a number of new launches and newcollaborations. A Memorandum ofUnderstanding between INAFISenegal and Asian Knowledge Centrefor Micro Insurance (ASKMI),promoted by DHAN Foundation wassigned. This collaboration is aimed atexchanging expertise in microinsurance gained from the field.Similar MoU was signed betweenASKMI and INAFI Asia and INAFIBangladesh. Another launch was donemarking cooperation betweenCenturian Bank of Punjab, which isan agent of Western Union Bank of150 countries and KalanjiamThozhilagam Limited. This wouldfacilitate easy money transfer for easyand legal transfer of remittances fromIndian migrant labourers working invarious countries. Toon Bullensinaugurated the Advanced Centre forEnabling Disaster Risk Reductionsetup by Tata-Dhan Academy. Thiscentre would work on variousresearch, advocacy and trainingsrelated to disaster risk reduction.

Celebrating for the Cause

A new collaboration betweenDHAN Foundation and a Canadabased Christmas Future was launched.The Centre for FacilitatingPhilanthropy within DHANFoundation is working on raisingresources from individuals andphilanthropic institutions to supportdevelopment initiatives beingimplemented by DHAN and Peoples’Organisations promoted by it. Raghini,Programme Leader of this Centre said“Apart from our own members, we arereaching out to the common public,

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I completed my B.Sc. B.Ed. fromAndhra University at Vizag. After

my graduation I worked as a schoolteacher for two years. I thinkteaching is a noble profession andreally enjoyed my profession at thattime. In the mean time I heard aboutDHAN Foundation through Ms.Rama Prabha. Later I got anopportunity to work as a ProgrammeAssistant for ICT for Poor theme atVizag since January 2006. Now Ihave completed one year and ninemonths successfully as a DHANite.

I proudly say that I am a part of theteam right from the initiation of theICT theme in Vizag. I got involvedin every process of the programmestarting from exploration. I movedaround the slums of fishermencommunity. This was my firstopportunity to work with thecommunity directly. Interaction withthe community helped me tounderstand their behavior and needs.Before coming into DHAN I never

the corporates, Indian Diaspora andpeople in other countries to worktogether for poverty reduction. Todaypoverty is such a complex thing thatmany of us need to come together, putin our strengths, our resources, ourenergy and efforts to make it a reality.And if we take India as a country withrich and varied heritage of giving andthe same we could see with othercountries too. In India especially thereare various kinds of dhan (donations)which has various benefits to the giver- that is the kind of heritage we arecherishing. Shramdhan is giving ourlabour, Annadhan is giving food andVidhyadhan is giving knowledge.These were the various ways availablein the past. But today and for thefuture, especially in the presentcontext we have to come with variousfeatures of giving. This is what theefforts this centre is involved with.And as one of the effort of this centrewe have partnership with anorganization called Christmas futurebased in Canada”

Jay Baydala, the ExecutiveDirector of Christmas Future has senta recorded video message felicitatingthe launch. He said “The focus ofthe Christmas Future is to inspire andempower the North Americans torefocus one portion on one trilliondollars in the Christmas season andmake North Americans spend towardsprojects and developing initiatives inthe developing countries for bringingout of poverty in lasting way. The wayfor doing this – we are using an easytechnology of putting the databasepool of development projects into ourwebsite. And in the website gift giverscan select a project and give their giftto the selected project during holidayseason and track the progress of it asit changes the world. Of course, whenI met DHAN Foundation last yearwhen I was in India I was absolutelyamazed by the integrity with which

had an idea about the needs of thepoor and how to address them. Afterjoining DHAN Foundation I cameto know how to impact poverty in asystematic way. I feel theresponsibility given by theprogramme has made me to thinkDHAN as my own family. I thankmy regional team for providing methe space to learn and perform.

I was very hesitant to speak withothers due to lack of communicationskill. But now I am comfortable andI could communicate with thepeople. I got opportunities to meethigher officials from theGovernment, which motivated andencouraged me to work and relatewith many places. I learnt differentneeds of the people of differentplaces. So I would like to work inthis development sector. Thechanges in me are positive andencouraging. I would like to makemy location as a role model.

G.V. Satya KumariProgramme Assistant, ICTTheme, Vishakapatnam

they work, the passion they approachand their philosophy with which theywork. They naturally fit with ourorganization. So we really get excitedabout working with DHANFoundation, getting communities outof poverty and work towardssustainability. Our dreams come trueof bringing poverty out of the world. Ialso wanted to mention a few of themain principles of operating likecollaboration, transparency,innovation, truth and grass root action.

These are the things made us to worktogether. We look forward toNovember first when NorthAmericans can refocus their gifts tothe projects of DHAN in India. Hopeyou have enjoyed this conference andtalk to you soon.

Asuntha Dorothy, from OxfamIndia appreciated the Foundation forits contributions to the sector and forbringing more credibility to Oxfam’ssupport in India.

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An audio CD on KalanjiamMovement was released and the firstcopy was given by Ms.Chinnapillaiand received by Asuntha Dorothy Itwas followed by the MovementLeader, Revathi’s speech on

Movement and Leadership. SoukeynaNdiaye BA expressed her wish toreplicate the model of SHG and grassroot level works in Senegal.

Results of the III DevelopmentFilm Festival organised as part of

Foundation Day - across regions

DHAN Foundation’s eleventhfoundation day was celebrated

in 12 regions spread over five statesviz, in Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry,Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka andMaharashtra. Each celebration wasunique in one or the other way.

Karaikal

Nearly 175 participants gatheredfor the foundation day celebrations inKaraikal. Lakshmanan, the RegionalCoordinator of Karaikal Regionpresented a report on two year’s workafter Tsunami with benefits realizedby the affected people. A RegionalResource Centre was launched as partof the celebrations. Ganesan, SubCollector, in his speech said “Eventhough I am an officer at higher leveland sanctioning various funds I am notsure that the benefits are ensured atthe grassroots effectively. Whereas Icould see how DHAN is working hereand maximize the impact up to lastmile last post. We are pleased tocontinue our support in all the possibleways for your work” Mohan, the JointDirector of Planning and Research,Karaikal, in his speech after launchingthe Regional Resource Centreemphasized the importance of theCentre and qualities needed forcommunity leaders like skills,attitudes and good values at variouslevels. It was followed by screeningof a film on “Community BasedDisaster Risk Reduction”

Virudhunagar

In Virudhunagar,DHAN team celebratedthe day at Virudhunagarwith more than 200leaders from Kalanjiamsand DHANites. Officialsfrom the healthdepartment, Banks, LICof India, Policedepartment and otherNGOs also took part inthe celebration. Purposeand philosophy of DHAN and itsworks in the Virudhunagar andTuticorin districts were shared to theparticipants. Moreover, the status ofself regulation mechanisms beingimplemented in the peoples’organisations were reviewed andclarified. Finally the participants tookthe pledge for ensuring self regulationin their respective organisations.

Cuddalore

In Cuddalore, the Chief GuestRajendra Ratnu, IAS, DistrictCollector, felicitated the celebrations.He appreciated the works that DHANis doing in the district. He said“Gandhian thoughts and principlesresemble DHAN’s principles andphilosophies. During tsunami lot ofNGOs emerged but only few of themare still working with the affectedcommunities. Now, we are going to

re-evaluate the NGOs supported bythe Government and eliminate theNGOs that are not seriously concernedon the needs of the community. I amconfident on what DHAN is doing andwe will work together and make ourdistrict as a model for similarrehabilitation initiatives in thecountry. Ganesan, AGM Indian Bankspoke on the bank loan and povertyreduction through NGOs. He said“Only a few NGOs are workingclosely with communities. DHAN isone such organisations, which needsto expand its reach and cover the blockfully. Indian bank is ready to lend toany number of groups which are ofgood quality. Women SHGs arefunctioning better than the men SHGswhere we could see good cooperationamong them. Few federation leadersshared their views and experiencesand took pledge for poverty reduction.

Madurai Symposium 2007 by theCentre for DevelopmentCommunication were announced.Finally, Palanisamy, ProgrammeLeader, DHAN Foundation gave avote of thanks.

Mohan, Joint Director of Planning andResearch, Karaikal, Ganesan, Sub-Collector, Karaikal.

21

Salem

Community leaders and staffattended the event. Celebrationsstarted with prayer and the regionalcoordinator deliberated on thesignificance of Foundation day. Laterthe participants were made in to subgroups to discuss on focus of the year,ways and means to achieve the goalsresolutions were made on thediscussed areas.

Vizag

Various stakeholders took part inthe celebrations at Vishakapatnam. Allthe guests and speakers appreciatedDHAN’s works and promised toextend their fullest cooperation andsupport. Annual report of the regionwas released. Leaders from alllocations, few members and seniorassociates, and DHANites shared theirexperiences. About 20 participantsfrom GMR Varalakshmi Foundationcame on exposure on that day; theywere taken to four clusters. They wereexplained about our works and theyagreed to take up our tank programmein their working area. Local TVchannels covered and broadcasted theprogramme and local news papersfeatured the event.

Maharashtra (Solapur)

Nearly 150 leaders fromKalanjiam participated in the

celebrations. Niranjan Bhoomkar,Sarpanch of Vairag area felicitated theevent. Bhagawat Shinde, RegionalCoordinator reinforced the DHAN’scommitment towards povertyreduction through people’sinstitutions and various themes andthematic institutions. Niranjan, in hisspeech appreciated various works ofDHAN in Vairag area (Barshi) and heexpressed his willingness to supportfrom the Gram Panchayat. Participantswere shown two documentary filmsviz. ‘Build People to Build People’and ‘Effective Links’ in Marathi.Kalanjiam grading exercise was doneon certain functional and financialparameters with the leaders whichhighlighted strengths and weaknesses

of the groups. In theafternoon, BhagawatShinde facilitated adialogue session on“Leadership & a goodleader”. Participantsdiscussed on leadershipin SHGs. Many leadershave shared theirexperiences.

Mysore Region

Foundation day wascelebrated in Mysoreregion with zeal and

enthusiasm with more than 200participants. S. Uday Shetty, RegionalManager, Vijaya Bank, Mysore,B.K.Shivaram, Assistant GeneralManager, State Bank of Mysore, Prof.M.S. Venugopal, Retd. Principal, JSSLaw College and Director,Vivekananda Institute for LeadershipDevelopment, K.P. Pradyamna, LeadDistrict Manager, State Bank ofMysore, Jagdeesh, Manager, LIC ofIndia, Mysore, Bijesh, Coordinator,Birla Sunlife, Mysore and bankmanagers from all the branches ofMysore region were the dignitaries.

DHANites and field associatesfrom all the locations and board ofdirectors from all the federations, tworepresentatives from each cluster andpublic were the other participants ofthe function. In his Inaugural addressUday shetty and Shivram haveappreciated DHAN Foundation’swork and expressed their happinessover good repayment by all theKalanjiams. They assured timelylinkage by all the branches beyondtheir service area. Pradyumnaappreciated the systems in thelocations and people’s conviction fornot accepting subsidy and using theloans in an effective way forgenerating income.

Saravanan, Tsunami Policy Cell , Chennai,Rajendra Ratnu IAS, District Collector,Ganesan, AGM, Indian Bank andVaithiyanathan, Regional Coordinator,Cuddalore.

22

The Centre for DevelopmentCommunication of DHAN

Foundation organises Film Festivalevery year on a selected theme indevelopment. In every alternate yearthis would go as a part of MaduraiSymposium, which is organisedbiennially. The third DevelopmentFilm Festival on ‘Water and People’was organized from 25-28 September2007 at Thamukkam Grounds,Madurai. Exciting images ofdevelopment interventions on Waterwere displayed through screening ofdevelopment films in the evening ofall the days.

The First edition of the festivalfocused on poverty, from a largerperspective on water, environment,gender, education, health and culture.The second festival focused on Waterand life. Both the festivals received awider acclaim and participation fromthe film making community. The third

edition of the Festival was againfocused on ‘Water’. There is a needfor empowering poor people, andespecially women, children and othervulnerable groups, to be meaningfullyinvolved in decisions over servicesand management of water resources.Raising the public awareness andpolitical will is imperative to promotesustainable water governance. Itrequires multi - media strategiespromoting the values of water, itsefficient use, disaster mitigation, andthe protection of water resources.These made us to take up water as thetheme for the festival.

The response from the filmmakersfor this festival was overwhelming.The were about 56 entries receivedranging from one minute animationfilm to 80 minutes documentary film,carrying various dimensions of water.Sixteen films were from othercountries, eight in Tamil and 32 were

Water & People - films for the cause

in other Indian languages. The filmsfor screening were selected by a panelcomprising of film makers, waterexperts and academicians. Sixteenfilms from among the 56 have beenselected for screening at the festival.Three films were again shortlisted bya panel for the award. The filmsselected as the best documentarieswere Erosion (Bengali, 60 minutesduration, directed by Sourav Sarangi)Faecal Attraction (English, 32minutes, directed by Amit Shankar)The Story of Water (English, 36minutes, directed by Biju Toppu &Meghnath)

A collection of documentaryfilms participated in the festivals isavailable in the Centre forDevelopment Communication,Madurai. If interested in screeningthem in the meetings, trainings andpublic events please contact us atdhanfoundation_tn@airtelbraodband.in.

Festival

Film Maker: Amit Shankar, Centre for Science & Environment Language: English Duration: 32 min.

This film is about the absurd relationship between rich people’s shit and poor people’s water. The whole world isabout growing urban. And often we talk about what we should be doing with our excreta. We also talk about water alot but never on sewage. There is growing disconnect between access to sanitation along the class divide. Since wehardly talk about it, we thought of taking a witty look at the subject. Can we have enough water if we cannot clean upour shit?

I Prize: Bhangon (Erosion) Film Maker: Sourav Sarangi Language: Bengali Duration: 60 min.

This film focuses on erosion of the banks of Ganga and the Padma. A large number of people have fallen victim tolarge scale erosion that takes place almost every year along Ganga and Padma rivers in Malda and MurshidabadDistricts, West Bengal, India. Innumerable villages are being lost houses, schools, orchard and field due to the rivererosion. The situation is worsening each year. Concerned authorities have been callous, negligent; even they areperpetuating the problems for obvious political and monetary gains. Local inhabitants have been alleging this for along time to deaf ears. ‘Bhangon’ is a one-hour account of audio-visual discourse that captures and seeks to disseminatethe pains and penury, the anger and resoluteness of the sufferers of erosion.

II Prize: Faecal Attraction: Political Economy of Defecation

III Prize: The Story of water

Filmmaker : Biju Toppo Meghnath / AKHRA Language: English Duration: 36 min

This film documents the mission of SPWD and Sevabrata and their work in the Olivia which has thedrought land, the poorest district of West Bengal.

23

We are living in the world ofopportunities and innovation.

Revolution is taking place in almostall the fields, especially the ICT hasmade our lives more simple anddynamic. Our Governments are beingforced to accept advancements inscience and technology. This haspaved way for electronic governance,popularly known as e – Governance.The e - Governance is aiming for userfriendly, ICT enabled and citizencentric government system. As thePanchayat institutions are part ofgovernance system, they are alsomarching on in the path of changetowards e – Governance. To take upthis idea in to next levels, the use ofmobile phones for information sharingand creating space to citizens toparticipate with the Panchayat systemwould create ‘Mobile E-nabledPanchayats’.

The idea of using mobile phonefor effective governance is really agreat idea and very pragmatic too. Tomy knowledge, the rural areas ofTamilnadu have better coverage andthe access to mobile phone service isalso quite good. I could observe thisphenomenon in one of the Panchayats,where we are implementing ourprogramme ‘Working withPanchayats’, the number of peoplehaving mobile phones was higher thanthe quorum for a gram sabha meeting.This made me to think how best thistechnology can be capitalised towardsdeliberative democracy.. Sharing ofmonthly income expenditure details,development work details, resolutionsof monthly council meeting, gramsabha meetings etc can be sharedthrough SMS. (Language may not bebarrier, because local language can be

transformed into a picture image).Among local council members andofficials, group id may be created tohave unlimited inter-personalcommunication. Further, any toll freenumber can be created for seekinginformation relating to Panchayatupdates. The toll free number can beoperated by cluster of Panchayats orat union level for reaching scale.

To supplement e-Governanceefforts in the Panchayat and RuralDevelopment Department the mobiletechnology can be experimented in theremote areas for dissemination ofvarious types of information. Servicesthat could be useful for the people -like alerts for important fund releases;events such as health camps and poliovaccination camps; disaster alerts etc.using ‘push technology’, where theWeb Server “pushes” information tothe user rather than waiting for the userto request for information. At the sametime, the citizen and the Panchayatfunctionaries and staff will also be ableto inform government and the higherlevels of Panchayat Raj Institutionsregarding their problems and issuesand could also send requests forinformation under the RTI Act. Thereis a potential for deploying simputer-like hand held devices for updatingrural household survey data etc.

Mobile technology and computernetworks have so far been used forG2G (government-to-government)transactions. Experiments on this linesuch as Lokvani in Sitapur district ofU.P. gives us hope for ‘Mobile E-nabled Panchayat’ initiatives.

Considering the scope of ‘MobileE-nabled Panchayats’ we also need tolook at the suggestions highlighted by

United Nations DevelopmentProgramme for facilitating bettergovernance through such initiatives:

• Use an integrated ‘UnifiedCommunication SecureGateway’, a device thatintegrates Internet Protocol (IP),Public Switched TelephoneNetwork (PSTN) and GSM/CDMA networks to leverageexisting networks of mobilephones to help generate alertsand send messages from PersonalComputers (PCs) and vice versa.

• Create a neutral web enabledplatform, from the village to thenational level, to enable two-waycommunication (Government toConsumer and Government toGovernment) and rendering ofservices, thus providing a singledelivery window for manygovernment services.

• Use Interactive Voice Response(IVR) alongside the SMS/MMSfacility, because voice drivenTechnologies will likely findgreater acceptance for delivery ofinformation / services.

• Simultaneously adopt ‘push’ and‘pull’ mechanisms, so thatcitizens can receive criticalinformation / services andrequest the information/servicesthey want.

At this early stage, thinking ofBlackberry technology or Wi - Fi maynot be feasible. But we should start touse the technology at a lower end orsmaller level mainly to create interestamong the community towards suchtechnological changes. Always, smallis beautiful.

Mobile Enabled Panchayats

Janakiraman. N*

* N. Janakiraman is working as a Project Executive in the ‘Working with Panchayats’ theme

Food for Thought

24

The focus of this year’s WorldWater Week was “Progress and

Prospects on Water: Striving forSustainability in a ChangingWorld”

The World Water Week beganwith a call for Governments, NGO &Private organizations around the worldfor better management of theirexisting water resources.

The World Water Week concludedon August 18 with more than 2,500participants from about 150 countries.The major conclusion was that thereis progress, but in context of globalpoverty, there is lack of focus onsanitation, water scarcity and climatechange and thus all of us need to dowork in collaboration than in isolation.You can find the complete informationincluding paper presentation,outcomes of the discussion, etc in thewebsite www.worldwaterweek.org

Two of us (M. Palanisamy &P.Premanand) from DHANparticipated in the World Water Weekevent. The event has given us lot ofinsights and learnings. Some of theimportant points we gathered from theevent are given below.

To meet the MilleniumDevelopment Goals set for 2015,better sharing of experience andknow-how in agriculture and watermanagement is vital. This waspresented in the seminar on‘Addressing the MDGs throughExchange of Knowledge andTechnology’. Here the mechanism forinternational stakeholders to improve

Festival, etc. The organisers of the 5th

World Water Forum to be held inIstanbul in 2009 made a briefpresentation during the lunch timeside event. Expressing their intentionsto make the World Water Councilevent more multi-stakeholder and realworld focused, they announced thatthere will be a political componentthat encourages direct interactionbetween policy makers and thoseworking with water issues. There werealso high level panel discussions onvarious topics. Ms. Sunita Narain,Director of Centre for Science &Environment, New Delhi was thepanelist for two such discussions. Thehigh level panel discussion on ClimateChange, Water and Vulnerabilitydebated on what we should do now.This was moderated by Mr. AdrianFinighan of CNN Television

World Water Week 2007 at Stockholm

M. Palanisamy & P. Premanand*

* M. Palanisamy is leading the ‘Rainfed Farming Development’ theme and P. Premanand is leading the ‘ICT for the Poor’ theme in DHAN Foundation.

Visit

North-South knowledge exchange ofsustainable water management wasstressed and discussed. The Watersector consists of drinking water,water for domestic use, sanitation,agriculture & its allied activities,industrial use, etc. More focus wasgiven for sanitation and was reflectedin many seminars/workshops. Withthe upcoming International Year ofSanitation in 2008, global attentionwill focus on the critical need forimproved health and hygiene.Sustainable Sanitation was stressedand discussed in the seminar on‘Sanitation and Hygiene: Approachesfor Sustainable Development’.

During the world water weekevents, a lot of side events took place.To mention a few like World WaterCouncil meeting, Global WaterPartnership meeting, Water & Film

25

International. The speakers madeappeals for a shift in global attitudes,priorities and development models,and called on governments to takeclimate and water issues moreseriously. Climate risks are waveringheavily on the lives of the poor, andthose living in poverty are not able towithstand the shocks. Measures toincrease adaptive capacities amongvulnerable populations, coupled withdeeper commitments to mitigatecarbon emissions, were put forward asimmediate ways to minimise presentand future devastation.

Urban development and slumupgradation with focus on water wasgiven priority in many discussions/seminars. Nearly one billion peoplelive in overcrowded urban areas thatlack adequate shelter, water supplyand sanitation. In one of the sessions- Integrated Slum Upgrading: Meetingthe Water and Sanitation Needs of thePoorest of the Poor, speakers

presented current work underway toimprove the conditions and planningin destitute areas throughout Asia,Africa and the America. Much stresswas given on engaging localgovernments and empoweringcommunities through people’sparticipation and micro-financeinitiatives. At the workshop BuildingCapacity for Future Challenges, focuswas placed on tapping the greatestrenewable resource we have: humantalent and ingenuity. Participantsdiscussed ways to improve knowledgesharing and networking activities inthe water sector. Building teams withdiverse talents was recommended toreduce internal competition andimprove organisations’ abilities tocommunicate important messages.

Some of the Way forward at theregional and national levels discussedduring the GWP events focused onworking at regional and national levelto ensure that all stakeholders are

helped to understand the specific localchallenges of climate change for theirwater management. The ongoingIWRM planning process shouldprovide a foundation for thisengagement. It will however beimportant to ensure that climatechange is addressed in a structuredway. For this to occur, complementaryassistance will be needed not just tosupport climate change adaptation butto ensure that water resourcemanagers, particularly in poorerdeveloping countries, are equippedand helped to use the new tools andapproaches that will have to bedeveloped. Both of us also visited andinteracted with organizations likeWorld Water Council, Global WaterPartnership, SPIDER (Royal Instituteof Technology – ICT for Developmentteam), KomTek, a community trainingcentre, etc for forging partnership withthem. It was a good learningopportunity for both of us and awonderful experience.

Exciting Experiences

T. Sujatha*

Practitioner’s Diary

* T. Sujatha is working as a Regional Coordinator of Vellore Region Kalanjiam Community Banking

I am working in DHAN Foundation for the past nine

years. Earlier I was working inKuppam Kalanjia samakhya asManaging Director for five years. Atpresent I am working in Ambur blockof Tamil Nadu as a Block Integratoras well as the Regional Coordinatorfor Vellore region.

Looking back Kuppam experience

I was placed in Kuppam as aDevelopment Apprentice and I wasasked to revive the government groupspromoted by District RuralDevelopment Agency. Initially I washesitating to take charge of such a risky

job as I was very new to this sector.But the encouragement given by Mr.Narender made me to take it as achallenge and took charge of Kuppamlocation with enthusiasm. I had to facea lot of problems initially to regularizethe basic systems of the groups, as they(groups) were habituated to their oldsystems. Convincing the groupmembers to adopt and implementsimple policies was a Herculean task.

We registered the federationwithin one and half year andconducted “MAHASABHA” withparticipation of more than 4500members. Though I had more tension

& struggles before the function, itdisappeared soon after the functiondue to the feed back given byVasimalai and the other chief Guest,Project Director of DRDA, whoquoted that “it was the second biggestfunction in the district itself withwomen SHG’s”. I felt very happy forthe success of the function and it wasthe first achievement in my career.

I had to face more problems withthe political leaders and localgovernment officials after theMAHASABHA as we have notinvited them to the stage; they took itas a prestige problem. They felt that

26

DHAN is getting good name from thepeople and people are giving respectto DHAN staff instead of politicalleaders and government officials andthey were not getting identity asbefore. They started spreading falsepropaganda against DHAN during“gramsabha” that “if you are withDHAN, you won’t get any benefitsfrom Government.” Most of my timeand efforts has gone for convincing thepeople. At one stage we have receivedletter even from DRDA also that “yourperiod is over for revival and you canleave Kuppam” and even staff werein dilemma whether DHAN willcontinue in Kuppam or not. Some ofthe staff and groups have joined inVelugu programme, a Governmentproject. I struggled a lot during thatperiod and put more efforts toovercome the hurdles. Later I cameto know that the federation couldagain gain confidence of theGovernment and started working withit. Now I feel proud that Kuppam isone of the best federations and hasgrown as 100% self sustainablebecause of the hard work of the staffand good support from the members.Though I left Kuppam, the affectionof the members and the staffdrenching me is everlasting and evenI have a feel Kuppam location as mymother’s home.

It was a very good opportunity forme to work in Kuppam withgovernment collaboration. I have gonethrough many happiest and difficultsituations which molded me to copeup with any type of situations and toimprove my skills to deal withgovernment officials, bankers andpolitical leaders.

Exciting experiences in Ambur:

I am working in Ambur for the pastthree years. As I got first handexperience in all aspects in Kuppam,I could develop my capacities inbuilding smooth relations withbankers, people, government officials,political leaders etc. Thoseexperiences help me a lot to convincepeople, resolve conflicts and buildnew collaborations in my presentresponsibility..

We have celebrated 100th groupevent successfully by involving allstakeholders with around 1700members, which made our staff andmembers feel very happy.Involvement of Municipal Councilors(MCs), teachers and informal leadersduring scholarship distribution to thestudents and movement daycelebrations increased interest on thelocation among the members.

The celebration of IndependenceDay this year is a very memorable day

for me. We celebrated in all clustersby collecting social development fundfrom the groups. The involvement ofthe leaders was excellent as they tookwhole responsibility to celebrate theevent successfully. All clustersmobilized around Rs.25,000/- and wasspent on this day by distributingnotebooks, pens and uniforms toschool children, distribution of rice topoor families and mats to balwadis.All the members have felt very happyas the event was celebrated withschool children by inviting Chairmen,MCs, Nattamai and other informalleaders. By this, the Kalanjiams havegot good identity among the electedrepresentatives, teachers and theinformal leaders and they appreciatedvarious initiatives of Kalanjiams.

Grooming younger colleagues

I feel greater responsibility is onmy shoulders and I have to guide theyounger colleagues properly. I shouldbe a role model for them. I need to befriendly with younger colleagues,listen to their ideas / concernspatiently and guide properly by givingneeded inputs in time, create comfortsin workplace, enable them bydemonstration, always make them todevelop positive thinking.

Many people whom I have guidedfeel happy about the guidance andfriendly support received from me andI also feel happy that I am doingjustice to my role in this aspect. Theinteresting fact is that the professionalI groom are ready to take newresponsibilities in a shorter period oftime and prove (put into action) whatthey learnt from me in their newlocations.

“The affection from themembers, support and guidancefrom the colleagues and values andculture of the organization mademe to continue in this sector forlonger period”.

27

Livelihoods

Overcoming Exploitation - KMS way

Rajan. P*

* P. Rajan is working as a Regional Coordinator of Gulf of Mannar region covering Ramanthapuram and Tuticorin districts of Tamil Nadu.

Along with farming, fishing is oneof the oldest occupations of

humankind. Fishing provides a richand easily available source of proteinand plays a vital role in improving thedietary standards. India is one of theseven fish producing countries of theworld. In India, TamilNadu is one ofthe important Maritime States withrich Inland and Marine resources. Ithas a Coast line of 1000 KMs. andaccounts for 15 percent of the total fishlandings in India. Roughly one fourthof all Marine exports from the countryare from TamilNadu.

Located on the southeastern tip ofthe subcontinent, the Gulf of Mannar(GoM) is known to harbor over 3,600species of flora and fauna, making itone of the richest coastal regions inAsia. 117 hard coral species have beenrecorded in the GoM. Sea turtles arefrequent visitors to the gulf as aresacred sharks, dugongs, and dolphins.The GoM alone produces about 20%of the marine fish catch in Tamil Nadu.More than 50,000 fishermen living onthe coast of the GoM directly dependon the fisheries resources of thereserve for their livelihood. Fishcatches have declined, as have pearloyster, gorgonian coral, and acornworm populations. Local fishermenrely on the reef to feed their families,but destructive fishing methodscombined with the stress of pollutionand coral mining have meant both nearshore and offshore catches havedecreased. Endangered species

include dolphins, Dugongs, Whalesand Sea cucumbers.

Fishermen’s plight

The tsunami is only the latestmisery in the lives of fishermen in thecoastal TamilNadu. The grip thattraders, moneylenders and othervested interests have on these peoplehas always kept them downtroddenand powerless. The GoM is not anexception to it. The destruction of theold social order based on theegalitarian principles of traditionalhunter-gatherer communities into aclass-based exploitative economy, inthe short span of a few years, has hada tremendous impact on the peoplewho, unwillingly, became victims ofthis transformation. Contributing to

these, drainage of income due toalcoholism, expenses due to poorsanitation and health seekingbehaviour, lack of education has madethem to fall into the trap of trader’snetwork for many generations.

Indebted for generations

In the coastal villages of GoM,when a fisherman gets a debt to meethis emergency needs or to purchaseinputs for his business activity, hewould fall into the vicious cycle ofindebtedness. He would never be ableto break this cycle and come out of it.He has to sell all his catches only tothe merchant from whom heborrowed. Apart from fixing very lowprices for their catch the merchantswould use improper weighing scales.

28

They reduce one kilogram for every100 kg and garner 100 rupees as profitfor every thousand rupees of theirbusiness. The trade brokers on theother hand sell it to the exportcompanies for enormous profit. Theborrower would be never allowed toclear off his debts with the merchantand many a times this wouldaccumulate for many years. In manyfamilies, the debts have been passedon to successive generations.

Tsunami and aftermath

The Tsunami in 2006, affectedRamanathapuram district. Eventhough, there was not much of loss tolives, many people lost their crafts,gears and nets, which were earningtheir livelihoods. DHAN Foundationentered in a big way to work with theaffected fishermen families with along term focus of rehabilitation andrestoration of affected livelihoods.Building peoples’ organisations andenabling them to restore theirlivelihood activities by organisingsavings, credit and business supportservices was the approach followed byDHAN. On seeing the web ofrelationship between the exploitativetraders and poor fishermen, it wasdecided to intervene in theexploitative marketing system in asystematic way. Keeping itscommunity organisation principles atthe centre, it was decided to promoteKalanjia Meenavar Sangam (KMS)with fishermen.

Kalanjia Meenavar Sangam

Kalanjia Meenavar Sangam(KMS) was conceived as a PrimaryProducer cum Marketing Group -promoted, owned and managed by thefishermen. The KMS operates on theprinciples of self help, mutuality andcollective action. It creates amarketing platform to its members by

collecting, preserving and resellingthe daily catches. It is promoted basedon the PPG concept. Each and everymember would a share capital of Rs.1000 in the KMS. It was not easy toorganise the fishermen who were inthe clutches of traders, the team hadto face a lot of resistance from thetraders. Helplessness and anguish overthe exploitation in which they werevictimized have made the fishermento breakout of their bondage and jointhe KMS.

Objectives of KMS

Wellbeing of the fishermen,development of fisherman villages byremoving exploitative trading system,conservation and sustainable use ofmarine resources, addressing civic andother development issues of thevillages are the basic objectives ofKMS. Savings, credit and insuranceservices, collective marketing andlinkages are the activities carried outby the KMS. Creation of marketinginfrastructure, establishing backwardand forward linkages, transparentbusiness, proper accounts andauditing, equitable sharing of thebenefits are the features of the KMS.Self regulation and local control for

following appropriate fishing practicesfor conserving marine resources is thevalue system cherished by theSangams. From Meemisal village ofPudukottai district till PerudhalaiVillage of Tuticorin district, 23 KMShave been promoted covering 864fishing families and organised intofour producer companies.

Relieved from the clutches of

Merchants

Through KMS, the fishermenstarted to pay back their loans that theyhad with the merchants. Memberswere given Rs. 5,000 to 30,000depending on their debt burden. Inmany places the Sangams entered intonegotiations with the merchants toreduce the amount to be repaid, aftercalculating the actual benefits reapedby the merchants 10 to 20 times morethan the actual amount borrowed.They were asked to repay the loan ateasy installments. In many places themerchants have started persuading thefishermen who have joined KMS bytelling them that they would increasethe rates for the fishes and advancemore money. Almost all the membershave been relieved from their debtburden.

29

Krishnan, president of ChinnaErvadi KMS says, “I worked under amerchant for 17 years for Rs. 45,000 Iborrowed. I sold all my catches onlyto that merchant for the rate fixed byhim. After joining the Sangam, all themembers went to that merchant andnegotiated for the settlement. Finallyhe accepted to deduct Rs. 15,000, andrepaid Rs. 30,000 from the loan I wasgiven by the Sangam. I never dreamtthat I would get out of this trap. Butthe KMS saved me. Now I am gettingthe fair price for my catch and earninggood income. I am also happy that myloan is slowly repaid. I am free now.”

Financial Services through KMS

The KMS lays equal emphasis forsavings and insurance besides credit.The fishermen would pay Rs. 20 forevery hundred rupees of their sales toKMS, out of which Rs.15 is deductedtowards repayment of his loan, Rs. 3for savings and Rs. 2 for Sangam’sadministration expenses. Savings is arare practice among the fishermen.They never had a surplus in theirhome, which has made them morevulnerable to debt when they becomesuddenly ill. Savings through theirKMS has brought them not onlyconfidence in them, but also trust andownership with their Sangams. Afisherman who catches 10 kgs of crabsand kanavai (squid) will be able tosave Rs. 60 and his monthly savingwould be around Rs. 900. Sangamsprovide loans to its members to cleartheir debts and issue short terminterest free advances up to Rs. 2000for their business or any familyexpenses.

Thinking beyond Sangams

With the confidence gainedthrough collective identity of KMS,the members have started to think

beyond their Sangams, for thedevelopment of the villages. In manyvillages they have constructedcommon infrastructures such asauction yard, telephone booths etc.The schools in Sadaimuniyanvalasai,Ervadi and Muthaiayar Nagar, therewere no sufficient number of teachersthat resulted in poor result andattendance of students. KMS in thesevillages agreed to appoint educatedlocal youths as teaching assistants andpay their honorarium. Also theSangams have made it mandatory thatdrunken members will not be allowedto attend the Sangam meetings andthey are sending such members for deaddiction programmes forrehabilitation.

Moving towards conservation

The fishermen are well aware ofthe issues of conservation as they arealso part of the Gulf of Mannar BioReserve Conservation projectimplemented by the GoI, in whichDHAN Foundation played a key roleof community organisation. Membersof KMS have resolved to conserve themarine resources and laid down anumber of conservation centeredfishing practices, such as not to catch

sea creatures which are banned by thegovernment, not to use the netsbanned by the government, releasingendangered species caught into netsback to the sea, etc. Also they employlabourers to clean the sea shore atperiodic intervals.

The Sangams have just startedaddressing the issues of theirmembers. Their families who werestruggling in the clutches of exploitersand toiling in deprivation forgenerations have slowly began tobreak the shackles with the support ofSangams. Still there is a long way togo to achieve a condition where thereis no exploitation, resources are usedjudiciously and benefits aredistributed equitably. That is thevision of each Sangam.

Number of KMS: 23

Producer companies: 4

Members covered: 864

Monthly sale: Rs. 15 – 25 lakhs

Members’ share: Rs. 6.57 lakhs

Purchase so far: Rs. 346 lakhs

Sales so far: Rs. 3 56 lakhs

Net profit Rs. 8.73 lakhs

Tata-Dhan Academy (T-DA)Induct and Groom Young Graduates for Development Action

Admission NoticeNinth Programme in Development Management

(PDM - IX) 2008 - 2010

Application can be obtained at the below mentioned address in person or by sending a demand draft for

Rs.300 (Three hundred only) in favour of Tata Dhan Academy payable at Madurai. This includes

application, registration and DMAT fee. Application downloaded from the academy website can be sent

along with the DD as mentioned above. Applications can also be submitted online.

thLast date for receiving filled in application forms: 20 January 2008

Admissions Coordinator, Tata-Dhan AcademyBoys Town Campus, Pulloothu, Madurai - 625 016. Tamil Nadu, INDIA

Tel.: + 91- 452 - 2475318/219 Email: tatadhanacademy@satyam.net.in

www.dhan.org/tda

Tata-Dhan Academy, Madurai, announces its Ninth Post Graduate Diploma Programme in Development Management (PGDDM). Applications are invited from candidates who wish to take up a challenging career in development sector as mission of their lives.

The programme is designed to groom young graduates as development professionals. The Two year residential programme builds the knowledge and inculcates the appropriate skills and attitudes required for working with poor and disadvantaged communities through a unique mix of academic theory, field practice, and interactions with India’s development leaders.

Almost 50% of the time, students undertake fieldwork in villages, tribal areas, slums and coastal contexts across India to understand the lives and livelihoods of the poor. Students are guided in the field by experienced faculty.

The programme also teaches students to organise communities to address development issues in villages/slums.

The Academy provides a holistic learning environment. Yoga, cultural programmes, regular field visits, and other development related activities help students to build on the skills, knowledge, and attitudes required for any development professional.

Eligibility

Any graduate or post graduate below the age of 26 (as thon 30 June 2008) with a minimum of 50% marks (or

equivalent) can apply for the programme. Those completing their courses on or before th 30 June 2008 can also apply.

Fellowship

It is the endeavour of the Tata-Dhan Academy that no student be denied opportunity to pursue the programme for want of adequate financial resources. Hence, selected candidates receive full fellowship support for the entire programme which includes tuition, reading materials, accommodation, and food expenses. It is given to those who agree to served designated development organisation for three years after completion of the programme.

Placement

All the PDM graduates are provided placement in designated development organisations (NGO’s) after completion. The remuneration for the graduates is at par with the best in the development sector.

Selection Procedure

The Academy administers a twostage election procedure. The first is through the Development Management Admission Test (DMAT), to be held at various centres across India on 17 February 2008. The second is through final selection camps between 21-30 April 2008 at various centres across India.