National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Newsletter

No. 250 March 2016www.nird.org.in

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NIRD&PR Newsletter

National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad, India

MARCH 2016

Since the mid-1980s, there has beena growing consensus thatsustainable development requires anunderstanding of both women’s andmen’s roles and responsibilitieswithin the community and theirrelationship to each other. Improvingthe status of women is no longerseen as just a women’s issue but agoal that requires the activeparticipation of men and women.

Thus the gender and developmentmodel adopts a holistic approach andtreats development as a complexprocess influenced by political andsocio-economic forces. It uses‘gender relations’ rather than ‘women’as a category of analysis and viewsmen as potential supporters ofwomen. It offers a holistic perspectiveby looking at all aspects of thewomen’s life. Women are seen asagents of change rather than aspassive recipients of developmentassistance. This approach stressesthe need for women to recoginsethemselves for a more effectivepolitical voice.

Gender Mainstreaming Initiatives

Gender mainstreaming is acontinuous and dynamic process ofintegrating a gender perspective intoeach stage of development process,with a view to enabling equality andequity between men and women.This includes incorporating gendersensitivity into policy, legislation,planning, budgeting, programmesand schemes, implementation,monitoring, evaluation, auditing,research and advocacy. It is not anend in itself but is a process or meansto enabling equity.

Mainstreaming gender into thedevelopment planning process

essentially means viewing eachactivity that uses public resourcesthrough a gender lens to ensure thatit reduces (and does not exacerbate)existing gender disparities.

Gender Responsive Budgeting iswell recognised as an important toolfor enabling gender mainstreaming.In 2004-05, the Ministry of Financemandated the setting up of GenderBudgeting Cells (GBCs) in allMinistries/Departments as focalpoints for mainstreaming gender. Sofar 56 Ministries/Departments haveset up the Gender Budgeting Cells.

NIRD&PR Initiatives for GenderMainstreaming

In the Institute, there is a specialised‘Centre for Gender Studies &Development (CGSD)’, throughwhich several initiatives have beentaken in the past few years. TheCentre has implemented a UNWomen Sponsored project titled

‘Promoting Women’s PoliticalLeadership and Gender ResponsiveGovernance in India and South Asia’during 20-11-13. The aim of theproject was to create an enablingenvironment for the women tobecome change agents in politicaldecision making for promotion ofgender equality. This ensures genderequality and genuine democracy. Theprogramme focused mainly at thelocal government level because it ishere that a large number of womenhave already occupied elected seats.The project was supported by Ministryof Panchayati Raj, Government ofIndia. It has been rolled out initially inthe selected sixteen districts of theStates of Andhra Pradesh,Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odishaand Rajasthan.

A series of workshops and ToTprogrammes were conducted underthis project. About 600 master trainerswere trained. As an outcome of this

Gender and Development

Shri S.M. Vijayanand, the then Director General, NIRD&PR and Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj,Government of India and Shri Louis-Georges Arsenault, Representative, India UNICEF Country

Office, New Delhi exchanging an MoU.

Cover Story

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NIRD&PR Newsletter

National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad, India

MARCH 2016

� Gender and Development

� Dr. W.R. Reddy Assumes Charge asDirector General, NIRD&PR

� National Symposium on OrganicFarming

� International Women’s DayCelebration

� International Training Programme on'Rural Credit for Poverty Reduction'

� NIRD&PR-CIRDAP CollaborativeInternational Training Programme onICT Applications for RuralDevelopment Partnering forKnowledge Management in Rural

� Development : Heads of InstitutesMeet at NIRD&PR

� National Seminar on Strategies forWomen and Child Survival

� Initiatives of Change: FacultyDevelopment Programme

� ICT Applications for Management ofRural Development Programmes

� Book on Disaster ManagementReleased

� Book on Sustainable AgriculturalStrategies Released

� Hindi Workshop on Unicode

� National Seminar on ‘Dynamics ofRural Labour Relations in India’

� Technology and InstitutionalArrangements for Water ResourceManagement in IWMP

� Training Programme on SustainableProduction and Income Generationunder IWMP

project, Trainers’ Manual on ‘Promoting Political Leadershipand Gender Responsive Governance’ and Trainers’ Moduleson different areas viz. agriculture, horticulture and animalhusbandry, fisheries, NTFP, non-farm enterprises, healthand sanitation, food and nutrition, child rights anduniversalisation of primary education, inclusive developmentplanning and leadership were developed. These manualsand modules are now being used for training of electedwomen and men representatives and rural development andPanchayati Raj officials through State Institutes of RuralDevelopment and Extension Training Centres all over thecountry.

The second phase of the project is under progress. As partof it, a brainstorming workshop was arranged with SIRDsand UN Women representatives on 29.01.2016 on the theme'From Opportunities to Capabilities: A Multi-SectoralApproach to Enhancing Gender Responsive Governance.'

Another initiative of the CGSD is development of curriculumfor capacity building of officials from multi-sectors, on thecritical importance of nutrition for survival, growth anddevelopment of children and women. In this regard, Shri S.M Vijayanand, Director General, NIRD&PR, and Shri Louis-Georges Arsenault, Representative, India UNICEF CountryOffice, New Delhi, signed an MoU on 17 June, 2015.

The Centre also initiated women empowerment through childsurvival strategies, under which a series of NationalConsultations were held on the subject and a manual is underpreparation for capacity building of rural development andpanchayati raj functionaries in collaboration with GlobalHealth Strategies.

Sensitisation on Gender Budgeting for RuralDevelopment and Panchayati Raj

A series of National Workshops have been organised duringthe last three years in collaboration with Ministry of Womenand Child Development, Government of India. In theseworkshops, altogether more than 300 senior and middle levelofficials and faculty of SIRDs, ETCs and other National levelinstitutes were trained. As follow-up, these institutes havebeen organising several programmes on gender relatedthemes. One of the recommendations of these workshopswas to organise workshops at different levels to facilitategender awareness for mainstreaming in rural developmentprogrammes. One such programme was organised during10-12 February, 2016 at North Eastern Regional Centre ofNIRD&PR at Guwahati.

In addition to above, the CGSD has initiated severalspecialised capacity building initiatives on the new themeslike gender mainstreaming in MGNREGS and otherflagship programmes, women empowerment and livelihoodfor rural women based on the detailed module developedon the subject.

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NIRD&PR Newsletter

National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad, India

MARCH 2016

Dr. W.R. Reddy, IAS (86 Kerala batch)has assumed duty as DirectorGeneral, NIRD&PR on 10.03.2016(FN). His last posting was additionalChief Secretary, Taxes, Governmentof Kerala. He worked in undividedAndhra Pradesh for five years during1990-95 as Project Director, DRDA,Cuddapah and Joint Secretary inIrrigation and Command AreaDevelopment

He worked in different assignmentsin Government of Kerala andGovernment of India. Some ofthe prominent areas of workare Managing Director, KeralaCooperat ive Mi lk Market ing

Dr. W.R. Reddy Assumes Charge as the Director

General, NIRD&PR

Federation, District Collector ofKannur, Pallakkad (Palghat) &Kollam District of Kerala and JointSecretary, Ministry of Agriculture, GoI.He has interest in agriculture, ruraldevelopment and upliftment of poorersections of the people.

Dr. Reddy is a native of Abdullapuramvillage, Kurnool district and he studiedin Government high school, Velpanurof Kurnool district and GovernmentJunior College at Atmakur. Hecompleted BSc Agriculture at Tirupati,MSc Agriculture and PhD from IndianAgriculture Research Institute,PUSA, New Delhi.

National Symposium on Organic Farming

A National Symposium on ‘OrganicFarming for Farmers’ Prosperity,’was jointly organised by EkalavyaFoundation, National Institute of RuralDevelopment and Panchayati Raj,Central Research Institute forDryland Agriculture (CRIDA) atNIRD&PR, Hyderabad during 19-20March 2016. As many as 200delegates, including organic farmingpractitioners, researchers andrepresentatives of NGOs promoting

organic farming and enterprisesmarketing organic productsparticipated in the Symposium.

The themes for deliberations in thesymposium were pre and post-harvest research and technologyneeds of organic farming, role ofNGOs in promotion of organicfarming and organic schools forenhanced livelihood opportunities,market development and marketinterventions for enhanced farmers’

profitability, practitioners’ perspectiveand knowledge management.

Dr. W.R. Reddy, Director General,NIRD&PR welcomed the guests. HisExcellency Shri Acharya Dev Vrat,Governor of Himachal Pradeshinaugurated the programme. ShriRadha Mohan Singh, HonourableUnion Minister of Agriculture andFarmers' Welfare delivered thevaledictory address.

His Excellency Shri Acharya Dev Vrat, Governor of Himachal Pradeshinaugurating the programme

Shri Radha Mohan Singh, Honourable Union Minister of Agriculture andFarmers' Welfare at valedictory session

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NIRD&PR Newsletter

National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad, India

MARCH 2016

social, economic and political levelsin the society. She was of the viewthat everyone must work towardswomen’s rights in a patriarchalsociety. Women have specialresponsibility and can change thesociety for faster development.She cited the example of the CRP’swho have been doing a commendablejob on women issues at thecommunity level.

S o c i e t y f o r S o c i a l A u d i t ,Accountability and Transparency,Department of Rural Development,Government of Telengana was thespecial invitee.

Ms Anita Ramchandran, whilea d d r e s s i n g t h e g a t h e r i n g ,emphasised on continuous andconcerted efforts towards achievinga gender just society. She reiteratedthe need for women emancipation at

International Women’s Day Celebration

Nat ional Inst i tu te of Rura lDevelopment and Panchayati Rajcelebrated International Women’sDay on 8 March, 2016. IWD is beingcelebrated to highlight the women’sachievements across nations. It isalso known as the United Nations(UN) Day for Women’s Rights andInternational Peace. Much progresshas been made to protect andpromote women’s rights in recenttimes. But nowhere in the world canwomen claim to have all the samerights and opportunities as men.

As per the UN, the majority of theworld's 1.3 billion absolute poor arewomen and on an average, womenreceive between 30 and 40 percentless pay than men earn for the samework. Women also continue to bevictims of violence with rape anddomestic violence. These are listedas significant causes of disability anddeath among women worldwide.

On the occasion of InternationalWomen’s Day on 8 March, 2016, theCentre for Gender Studies andDevelopment (CGSD), NIRD&PRHyderabad, honoured severalwomen who contributed a lot ascommunity resource persons andbrought change in the life of womenby mobilisation through self-helpgroups. They shared the i rexperiences on this occasion, whichwas very inspiring.

Ms Anita Ramchandran, IAS,Commissioner, Telengana StateInstitute of Panchayati Raj & RuralDevelopment, Government ofTelangana, was the chief guest andMs.Sowmya Kidambi, Director,

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NIRD&PR Newsletter

National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad, India

MARCH 2016

Ms.Sowmya Kidambi in her addresssaid, real empowerment is possibleonly when we put an effort to changeour mindset and work togethertowards a gender just society. Shealso highlighted the importance ofcreating conditions for elimination ofdiscrimination against women andfor their full and equal participation insocial development.

Earlier, Dr. C.S Singhal, Prof & Head,CGSD while welcoming theguests, stated about 2016 theme forInternational Women’s Day i.e.“Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up forGender Equality”. He pleaded forachievement of sustainabledevelopment goal of Gender Equalityand Empowerment of Women andGirls by 2030.

International Women’s Day is a timeto reflect on progress made, to callfor change and to celebrate acts ofcourage and determination byordinary women who played anextraordinary role in the history of theircountries and communities.

In this context, rural women workingat the grassroots level as CommunityResource Persons from far-offStates like Bihar and Chhattisgarhand Andhra Pradesh were invited tohonour and share their experience.They spoke at length on the strugglesfaced by them at every level forsurvival and how they weredetermined to fight inequality andinjustice meted out towards themwithin family and the society toachieve the social position andrecognition and respect from theirown community.

These women started working asSelf-Help Group (SHG) members andworked on a range of issues,focusing on education, drinking water,

prevention of child marriage andfinancial management of SHGs intheir respective communities,constantly training and motivating thecommunities in their endeavourtowards bringing about significantchange in several areas ofcommunity development.

A brief background of the CommunityResource Persons, along with theirindividual achievements is mentionedbelow.

S m t . M a m t a D e w a n g a n ,Community Resource Person fromChhattisgarh

Smt . Mamta Dewangan , acommunity resource person comesfrom Aarla village of Surgi cluster ofR a j n a n d g o a n d i s t r i c t f r o mChhattisgarh. She is 32 years old andstudied up to 12th standard. Smt.Mamta started as an SHG memberin 2007 and went on to become bookkeeper to a community resourceperson, helping in group formation.Ms.Mamta having a poor familybackground, faced number of socialhurdles in the family and the

community. To give her family socialhonour and status, she decided to joina SHG group in her village. After shelost her first child immediately afterdelivery, due to lack of care, she wasdetermined to have her seconddelivery in the hospital. After a lot ofconvincing, and criticism from familymembers she joined the SHG. Whenpeople appreciated her writing andspeaking skills, family members alsounderstood her talent, andencouraged her to contribute moretowards village development. Sheencouraged the community men andwomen to send their children toschool. She motivated elders in thevillage about girl child education. Shealso monitored the Anganwadiworkers' work informally, looking afterthe cleanliness and hygiene of thefood prepared, helped the poorest ofthe poor women in the village intoforming SHG groups. Since shestudied only up to intermediate level,she aspires her children to attainhigher levels of education.

Mrs. Nurjaha, Community ResourcePerson from Bihar

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NIRD&PR Newsletter

National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad, India

MARCH 2016

Mrs. Nurjaha Khatun is from Jhikatiavillage of Gaya district in Bihar.Starting her career as presidentof Gulab Jeevika SHG in 2006,Mrs. Nurjaha Khatun went on tobecome the president of a villageorganisation in 2007. She alsoserved as member of Social ActionCommittee of village organisation. Asa member, she took up manydevelopmental issues of her villageand with that experience, she gotelected as President of PanchayatSamiti of Jhikatia as well and hasbeen serving her community indifferent development activities.

She comes from a very poor family,gone through many hardships, couldnot even feed children three times aday and sometimes slept withouthaving food. Gradually she joined aSHG group, after facing lot of hurdlesfrom the home front. Coming from aMuslim community, she was notencouraged to go out in the public andwork. People dissuaded her fromstepping out of the house. However,after lot of persuasion and convincingin-laws that she will be working forthe development of the village, shegot an opportunity to work for the

community. After being a part of theSHG, her economic status improvedand that helped her feed her childrenthree times a day. Her consistentefforts to change the attitude of hercommunity men and women towardswomen and work, eventually gave hersocial recognition also. She couldfund her children’s education andsend them to English mediumschools. She also earned respectfrom her husband. Nurjaha feelshappy about the recognition, nameand popularity that have come afterjoining a SHG and the confidenceshe has gained thereafter.

Smt. Baijanti Devi, CommunityResource Person from Bihar

Smt. Baijanti Devi is a communitymobiliser of Bhusia village in Gayadistrict of Bihar. She is a lady whohas the courage to keep herpromises, she is committed to thecommunity and hopes to achieve thegoal for equal rights for women in thecommunity. She goes to motivate atnew places on her own, fights for therights and justice, moves on tractorsto collect the ration quota for the

members, and trained the communitywomen on various aspects.

Smt. Baijanti has studied till 8th class,is a confident motivator, whomanages the records at SHG, trainedcommunity mobilisers. In her ownvillage, she made efforts to includeall the desirous left outs, ensureentitlements of the members likePDS ration quota, job card, etc., andboosted the morale of the communityfor fight against odds.

Smt. Baijanti Devi focused on girlchild education, emphasising onequal status for boys and girls inschools in her village. She alsoworked towards stopping alcoholismin the village. As she started workingin the Gram Sabha, she had a higherlevel of confidence. After joining SHG,her economic status improved. Shementioned how earlier she startedwith saving rupees five, and today theSHG members are earning up to fivelakh rupees. Today whenever shegoes to the BDO or the Commissioneror any government official, she getsa lot of respect and social honour.

Mrs. Zubeida, Differently Abled RuralEntrepreneur

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NIRD&PR Newsletter

National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad, India

MARCH 2016

Mrs. Zubeida Begum hails fromSanga Reddy of Medak district andis an orthopedically challengedperson. With great difficulty shecould go to school up to 5th standard,thereafter studied on her own, takenSSC examination privately andqualified. Despite being physicallychallenged, she could establish atelephone booth in the year 2003 andsuccessfully run the same. Shestarted realising the need to bringawareness among the physicallychallenged and started motivatingthem. She started ‘ChaitanyaSangam’ in 2007 for physicallychallenged people and mobilised thephysically challenged of all sorts, sheimbibed a spirit of confidence by skilldevelopment training to improve theireconomic condition.

The district legal service authorityrecognised her counseling talent andappointed her as ‘Para LegalVolunteer’ for the resolution of thefamily disputes. She along with 13other physically handicappedpersons from Kandi village nearSanga Reddy, Medak district,Telangana has taken training at RuralTechnology Park (RTP) of NIRD&PRin the assembling of solar lanternsand with the support of the districtadministration and the technologypartner of RTP viz., M/s. ThriveEnergy Solar Pvt Ltd., started thesolar assembling unit at SangaReddy.

Smt. Chennamma, Solar Bare FootEngineer, NIRD&PR

Smt. Chennamma is the Presidentof ‘Women Solar Barefoot Engineers

Ms. Naina Jaiswal, InternationalTable Tennis Player

Born in Hyderabad, Ms. Naina is amulti-talented girl. She is the firstAsian girl who completed hermatriculation at the age of 8 years.At 10 years, she completed herIntermediate. At 13 years, she passedher graduation and at 14 years of age,she entered into post-graduation. Sheis the youngest graduate injournalism in India. At the age of 7years, she recorded a CD by singingRamayana Slokas. She verbalisedGita at very early age. She is a singercum piano player. She writes withboth hands. She is world championat Jr level of international table tennis.

Association’, supported by NIRD&PRand associated in the electrificationof tribal habitations by installing SolarPV lights. She comes from a stonecutters family and is an illiterate. Shewas volunteer and undergone trainingin skill development in solar energyat Rural Technology Park,NIRD&PRin 2003. She was sent by NIRD&PRin 2004 to Tilonia, Rajasthan fortraining in solar assembling for sixmonths. Her efforts of becoming a‘Solar Barefoot Engineer ’ wererecognised and she was felicitated byLate Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy,Former Chief Minister, Andhra Pradesh.

She is illiterate, but she managed toexplain how the six months trainingin Rajasthan helped her gainconfidence. She left behind herparents, child and husband, and wentall the way to Rajasthan. Shementions that itself is a bigachievement for her. After her trainingin Rajasthan, she was also sent fortraining to other villages in her districtwhere she trained other women inelectrification of tribal habitations byinstalling Solar PV lights.In 2013 shereceived an award and a cash prizefor her work in her community.

Ms. Naina emphaised on the strengthof the woman, and the immensecapabilities a woman possesses.She spoke towards ending genderbased violence and to join handstogether to fight for equal status ofmen and women in our society.Historically women have beensubjected to violence and torture bothin the private and the public space,which must end now. Success andaccomplishment can come throughand all of us must work hard towardsachievement of gender equality.

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NIRD&PR Newsletter

National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad, India

MARCH 2016

International Training Programme on

‘Rural Credit for Poverty Reduction’

The In te rna t i ona l Tra in i ngProgramme on “Rural Credit forPoverty Reduction”, sponsored byMinistry of External Affairs,Government of India was conductedby the Centre for Rural Credit andDevelopment Banking from 1 to 28March 2016. The main objective ofthe programme was to motivate theparticipants to learn from micro-financing experiences of India inbringing the poor people into groupfold for successful management ofcredit and thereby improving theirstandard of living.

Seventeen participants from 11countries, namely Afghanistan,Ecuador, Fiji, Krygyzstan, Nigeria,Peru, Sudan, Tajikistan, Tanzania,Togo and Turkey attended theprogramme. IT was organised toincrease the knowledge and skills of

the participants from developingcountries in the field of microcredit.

The course was designed keeping inmind the need to give maximumexposure to the participants onvarious issues of rural developmentin general and microcredit in

particular. Sessions on importanttopics were taken by experiencedfaculties of NIRD&PR and guestfaculties from outside on subjects likeIndian Experiences with RuralDeve lopmen t , M ic ro f i nanceDevelopment through BangladeshJoint Liability Model, Livelihood

Ms.Sowmya Kidambi who was thespecial invitee on the occasion,worked with the Mazdoor KisanShakti Sangathan (MKSS) based inRajasthan, since 1998. She playedan important role in the formulation

and passage of the Right toInformation (RTI) Act, and theemployment guarantee laws inIndia. Prior to joining SSAT in hercurrent role, she was associatedwith the Strategies andPerformance Innovations Unit,Department of Rural Development,Government of Andhra Pradesh asSocial Development Specialist,where she was actively involved ininstitutionalising the Social Auditprocess as part of the NationalRural Employment GuaranteeScheme. On this occasion onbehalf of NIRD&PR, Smt. AnitaRamachandran, IAS, Chief Guest

and Ms. Sowmya Kidambi and allthe women guest invitees werehonoured by CGSD team as a markof respect and appreciation.

The programme ended with vote ofthanks to the chief guest and allinvited guests by Dr N.V. Madhuri,Senior Assistant Professor,CGSD,who coordinated the programmeunder the guidance of Prof. C.SSinghal, Professor and Head,Centre for Gender Studiesand Development, NIRD&PR.Dr Sucharita Pujari, Asst.Professor of CGSD helped infacilitation of the programme.

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NIRD&PR Newsletter

National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad, India

MARCH 2016

Options in Developing Countries,Rural Technologies, Gender Issuesin Microfinance, Social Mobilisation,Federating SHGs, etc.

As a part of the programme,participants were taken on a studytour to Bidar in Karnataka for fourdays. Participants were exposed tothe workings of MFIs which areworking in various blocks forempowering SHG members. Theparticipants visited various SHGs andgot first-hand information about thegroup meetings, book keeping, loancollection and repayment proceduresfollowed in the group including theprocess of decision makings. Theywere exposed to groups which areengaged in business and agriculturerelated activities. Participantsenquired about the raw materials andmarketing of finished products and

the role of MFI in providing supportservices like procurement of rawmaterials, availability of timely creditand marketing of products. Theparticipants were also exposed to askill based training programmeconducted by the District CentralCooperative Bank (DCCB), Bidar forthe group members. They interactedwith the group members freely andthereafter were taken to the DCCBHead Office located at Bidar. Theparticipants earlier discussed aboutthe functioning of Rural Self-Employment Training Institute (R-SETI) established by the DCCB atBidar regarding the type andeffectiveness of various self-employment training programmeswith the Director and the trainingparticipants. During their field visit,they visited the Mailoor PrimaryAgricultural Cooperative Society and

various Self-help Groups at Halbargaand Nawad area as well as gainedpractical experiences of functioningof joint liability groups, procedures ofrecord keeping, working of smallsugar mills and running baby foodunits in a modern and scientificmanner.

The participants presented reports oftheir filed visits and on the status ofmicrofinance activities of theircountries during the last week of thetraining programme. Some seniorfaculty members interacted with theparticipants in the valedictorysession. The programme wascoordinated by Dr.B.K.Swain,Professor and Head of the Centre forRural Credit and DevelopmentBanking and supported by projectconsultants working in the Centre.

NIRD&PR-CIRDAP Collaborative International Training

Programme on ICT Applications for Rural Development

NIRD&PR-CIRDAP CollaborativeInternational Training Programme onICT Appl icat ions for RuralDevelopment which was sponsoredby the Ministry of Rural Development,Government of India was conductedat this Institute during February29 - 9 March, 2016.

As many as 18 participants from 10CIRDAP Member Countries includingthree women took advantage of theprogramme. The participants weremostly senior officials with variedbackground in the fields of Agriculture& Irrigation, Rural Development,Information Technology, DisasterManagement, Education, LandReforms, etc. The main focus was

on the application of ICTs, itsinterventions in Rural Developmentcovering key areas such as

e-Governance Projects, Role ofSoftware Technology Parks, RecentTrends in Networks, ICT Innovations

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National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad, India

MARCH 2016

in Health, Rice KnowledgeManagement Portal, ElectronicService Delivery, Application ofWireless Sensors in Groundnutproduction, e-Governance Scenario,Communication Media, CommunityRadio, Sustainable AgricultureManagement at Grassroots, Geo-Informatics Applications in RuralDevelopment, e-Marketing ofAgriculture Products, Rice Portal,InDG Portal, Vikaspedia and DataCentre, etc.

Dr. D. Rama Rao, Director (NAARM),Hyderabad in his opening remarksemphasised the major role thati n f o r m a t i o n c o m m u n i c a t i o ntechnologies are playing these daysin every sphere and as aconsequence, people at large arebenefited mostly. Especially its reachneeds to penetrate further in ruralareas to help the farmers in villages.New gadgets have really transformedthe way people interact andc o m m u n i c a t e t h e s e d a y sdiminishing space, time anddistance.

The Resource Persons / SubjectSpecialists explained the applicationof emerging technologies and bestpractices evolved from time to timeand also given examples / casestudies followed by demo / live audio/ presentations concerning National

and International situations. After thesession / discussions, participantswere provided ample opportunity toclear their doubts. The success andits implementation impressed theparticipants to have a thoroughunderstanding of the techniques andusage of these applications inrespective areas.

Participants were taken to variousService Centres including, NIC,ICRISAT, STPI, NISG, C-DAC, etc., inand around Hyderabad city whichprovided them an opportunity to goaround the important ICT institutionsof repute in the State of Telangana.

With a view to acquainting theparticipants with the field levelexposure, a study tour was arrangedto Deccan Development Society,Zaheerabad, Medak district wherethey had the opportunity of knowingthe state-of-art-happening inCommunication Media and SocialChange, Community Radio, MobileTelephony followed by case studies.They got the first-hand informationabout the activities and technologiesbeing adopted at the grassroots in thearea of Sustainable Agriculture, SeedConservation, Vermi-compost andSangam activities pertaining tolivelihoods and use of communityradio.

On 9 March, 2016, Shri ChiranjeevChoudary, IFS, Commissioner andEx-Officio Secretary, Horticulture andSericulture, Government of AndhraPradesh, addressed the participantson Women & Child Developmentusing E-Sadhan software foreffective monitoring of ICDSprogramme. Later he interacted withthe participants and sought detailsabout the usefulness of theprogramme and its application inback-home-situation. He stressedthe importance of smart phone,tablets being used these days inevery sphere of life especially in thedigital world.

Participants appreciated theprogramme design, content, readingmaterial, sequencing of sessions,lecture-cum-demos delivered by theresource persons, case studies,exposure visits including study tour,cultural programme, etc. Dr. VasanthiRajendran, Director (ICD), CIRDAPin her vote of thanks, thanked the DG,NIRD&PR, DG, CIRDAP and Ministryof Rural Develpment, Government ofIndia for sponsoring this programme.

The programme was organised byDr. P. Satish Chandra, Shri G.V. SatyaNarayana of Centre for InformationTechnology of the Institute whileDr. Vasanthi Rajendran coordinatedon behalf of CIRDAP.

Partnering for Knowledge Management in Rural

Development : Heads of Institutes Meet at NIRD&PR

Rural Development Sector in termsof financial investment, knowledgeand information have been expandingdramatically, in the present worldtowards bringing equity in regional

development, improving quality of life,providing basic amenities, socialsector development, enhancement ofthe productivity of resources, creatingeconomic and employment

opportunities. There has beenexpertise and rich experience evolvedby numerous institutions engaged inthe promotion of rural developmentincluding agricultural research &

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National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad, India

MARCH 2016

National Seminar on Strategies for Women and

Child Survival

As a mark of celebration ofInternational Women’s day, a NationalSeminar on “Strategies for Womenand Child Survival” was organisedduring 8-10 March, 2016 atNIRD&PR, Hyderabad. The purposeof the seminar was to share theefforts made for survival of womenand children through differentprogrammes and to recommendinterventions for policies andprogrammes related to survival ofwomen and children.

The seminar received anoverwhelming response from theparticipants of different States andmore than 100 abstracts were

training, extension, entrepreneurshipin Hyderabad. There is an urgentneed for networking of theseinstitutions to strengthen theexpertise and resources available, foraccelerated rural development inknowledge sharing, training,research, action research andacademic programmes. Thenetworking of local institutions canprovide professional assistanceto the Central Ministries, StateG o v e r n m e n t s , a n d o t h e rstakeholders including the rural poor,and attend to the issues related torural development and wouldundertake and facilitate research andcapacity development in acollaborative way in the interest of thesociety.

Heads of Institutions - NAARM,MANAGE, ICRISAT, CRIDA, TSIRD,ICM, WALAMTARI, IRR, NIPHM, EEI,TASK, etc., participated in thedialogue. Dr. W.R. Reddy, Director

General welcomed the heads /representatives of institutions anddelineated the areas for partneringand networking amongst theinstitutions. These include policy andaction research, collaborative trainingand capacity building, providing aplatform for knowledge management,developing innovative mechanismsfor creating a resource pool, sharing

infrastructure and resources forgreater synergy and mutually act asthink tank.

The participants appreciated theinitiative of Director General,NIRD&PR and indicated that they arelooking for continued relationship formutual learning and strengthenefforts for sustainable development.

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National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad, India

MARCH 2016

received. Out of them, 40 abstractswith full papers were selected andinvited for presentation fromacademic ians , researchers ,p r a c t i t i o n e r s , c i v i l s o c i e t yorganisations. The presenters werefrom prestigious universities andinstitutions of India such as TataInstitute of Social Sciences, Mumbai,International Institute for PopulationSciences, Indian Institute ofTechnology, Mumbai, Indira GandhiNational Open University, New Delhi,Institute of Economic Growth,Dr.B.R.Ambedkar University, NewDelhi, Guwahati University, Assam,Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi,University of Pune, M S SwaminathanResearch Foundation, Chennai,Centre for Economic and SocialStudies, Hyderabad, Visva BharatiUniversity, West Bengal, etc.

Dr. A Laxmaiah, Head, Division ofCommunity Studies, National Instituteof Nutrition, Hyderabad delivered thekeynote address in the inauguraladdress. In his address he dweltabout the various issues related tomaternal and child survival andsuggested several strategies toimprove the same based on thestudies.

Dr. W.R. Reddy, Director General,NIRD&PR chaired the concludingsession and dwelt upon variousissues related to the theme andemphasised the need for awarenessin the context. Dr Reddy facilitated thechief guest of the session Dr M RamMohan Rao, Former Director,National Institute of Nutrition,Hyderabad. Earlier, Dr Ram Mohanin his address highlighted severalissues related to women and childsurvival and advised to allocate moreresources for the health sector.

The three days deliberations centeredaround six major themes of theseminar viz. Maternal and ChildMortality in India, National Health

Mission and Maternal and ChildHealth, Programmes for Women andChild Survival, Gender and EquityIssues for Health and Nutrition, ChildSex Ratio and Child Survival, Role ofPanchayati Raj in Maternal and ChildHealth Care, and Nutrition andAnaemia among women andchildren. All the session themes werechaired by experts in those areas.

In these three days of deliberationson different issues of women andchild survival, following importantrecommendations emerged:

• Need for an elaborative study onMaternal Mortality Rate (MMR)and Infant Mortality Rate (IMR)through gender lens.

• Some of the innovative projectsinitiated to end Maternal Mortalityshould be expanded.

• Prohibition of Employment asManual Scavengers and theirRehabilitation Act, 2013 shouldbe strictly implemented.

• Enhance the full immunisation ofchildren in Telangana andelsewhere by educating thepeople using BehaviouralChange Communication (BCC)approach.

• Strengthening the manpower andtraining of AWWs.

• The unmet need of familyplanning at micro level,particularly spacing methodsshould be addressed.

• P r o m o t e i n t e r - s e c t o r a lcooperation and collaborations ofs u c c e s s a s w e l l a sunsuccessfu l s tor ies fors t rengthen ing the Chi ldDevelopment process.

• Effective implementation of safemotherhoods schemes likeJanani Suraksha Yojana andother regional schemes likeMuthulakshmi Reddy MaternityBenefit Scheme of Tamil Nadu,Majoni of Assam, etc. It would bemore appropr ia te i f weimplement those with NutrientCoupons cum Cash Assistancescheme instead of conditionalcash transfer assistance alone.

The seminar was coordinated byDr. C S Singhal, Prof. & Head, Centrefor Gender Studies & Developmentand Dr. Lakhan Singh, AssistantProfessor, Centre for HumanResource Development, NIRD&PR.

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NIRD&PR Newsletter

National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad, India

MARCH 2016

Initiatives of Change: Faculty Development

Programme

As part of the Faculty DevelopmentProgramme of NIRD&PR, an IterativeTraining Workshop was conducted bythe 'Initiatives of Change (IofC)’,Panchgani, Maharashtra on 28March. Faculty Members, ProjectDirectors, Advisers and Consultantscomprised the participants. Theprogramme was inspired by thethought process of the DirectorGeneral Dr. W R Reddy. Ms ChandaPandit, Registrar and Director(Admn.), introduced the Iofc Team andcontextualised its developmentendeavours. The programme wasconceived and coordinated by theCentre for Research and TrainingCoordination and Networking(CRTCN).

“IofC is an idea in action to transformsociety through changes in humanmotives, behaviour and character...Integral to the idea is a commitmentto correct one's own life and then takestrategic actions, as promised by thedeepest in one's heart to correct thewrongs in society. The search forinner wisdom is at the heart of its

approach to caring, sharing, learningand practice”.

Based on the articulated motivationand learning needs of the NIRD&PRfaculty, a series of high energyacademic and life skill-orientedactivities were custom designed andmeticulously delivered by the IofCfacilitators, spearheaded by ShriSuresh Khatri.

The participants were asked to voicetheir major concerns of rural

development and strategise theirpriorities of interventions vis-a-vis themandate and strengths of NIRD&PR.Hectic activity followed by way of anexercise on ' What is in my Glass'that referred mainly to individual folliesand the concomitant notions of 'rightsand wrongs in one's life and living'.Varied and profound thoughtssurfaced about one's 'Regrets' andthe feeling of 'Right'. The experiencesharing was at once revealing in asmuch as concealing and confiding.

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NIRD&PR Newsletter

National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad, India

MARCH 2016

ICT Applications for Management of Rural

Development Programmes

The Centre for Information andCommunication Technology (CICT)organised a training programmeo n “ I C T A p p l i c a t i o n s f o rManagement of Rural DevelopmentProgrammes” during March 7-11,2016 at NIRD&PR, Hyderabad.Twenty six participants, includingfive women, representing RuralDevelopment, Panchayati Raj,DRDA, Zil la Parishad (ZPs),Watersheds (IWMP), RIRDs,Agriculture and Rural Developmentdepartments from 11 Statesnamely, Assam, Bihar, Haryana,

The moral of the lesson was ''giveourselves one more chance of beingseen as ''right'' and ''ethical''. Theparticipants were then persuaded toshare their experience with rest ofthe participants to respond, withoutbeing judgmental, as all values wereconsidered valid and respected.''Ethics is performing more andexpecting / taking less from anydesignated activity or objective''.

The need for group thinking andplanning was conveyed through agroup exercise of Tower Building withnewspapers. Involvement of teammembers and optimal use of humanresources was the bottomline.

The facilitators have creativelydemonstrated the use of personalnarratives for driving home the pointof personality development and asense of responsibility. Thematicsongs, skits and video clippingswere imaginately used to drive home

the spirit of group work and ethics.‘The problem of ethical illiteracy mustnow be overcome by design’ is thelesson learnt. Ethical illiteracy andspiritual malnutrition is a scourge.‘Let us do something together toovercome the same’ was the groupconclusion. ‘The power of synergisticthinking and resolution is the answerto the pressing problems of ruraldevelopment’ was seen as pragmaticapplication.

Next was the lesson learnt inovercoming the problem of little or noconfidence in what we seek to dothrough another exercise. Thesubstance of this exercise was "Weneed to become a part of the problemresolution exercise, otherwise youare the problem", as summarised bythe facilitators.

Methodologically, the IofC has addedto the participant’s inventory ofexercises in Team Work, Team

building, Communication, Motivationand the challenges of workingtogether. The nuances and nicetiesof training methods were highlighted,notwithstanding the oft quoteddifferences of perceptions andpractices.

The workshop concluded with thefollowing emotional but pragmaticresolution that ‘whatever it takes, wemust strive to achieve the overallobjective of NIRD&PR with utmostsincerity and professionalism’.

Dr.P.Durgaprasad, Adviser andProject Head, CRTCN capped up thelearning objective and its outcome,even while appreciating the criticalcontribution of life-skills, trainingmethods, ethics and values. Thehonesty and purpose with which theIofC has facilitated the programmewas applauded by the facultymembers.

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NIRD&PR Newsletter

National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad, India

MARCH 2016

NIRD&PR in association withCentre for Good Governancepublished a book written byDr. Mohan Kanda, IAS, FormerChief Secretary, Government ofAndhra Pradesh. The book titled“Disaster Management in India:Evo lu t ion of Ins t i tu t iona lArrangements and OperationalStrategies”, discussed the topicssuch as prevent ion andpreparedness, re l ie f andrehabilitation, reconstruction andrecovery, risk assessment andvulnerability analysis to mention afew. The book extensively referredthe Disaster Management Act,2005 which came into existenceas the “Magna Carta” of DisasterManagement. The book coveredboth natural and man-madedisasters and also recentdisasters such as Hudhud,Phailin, Katrina, etc., in the formof case studies.

The book was released by HisExcellency Dr. K. Rosaiah Garu,Governor of Tamil Nadu ata function organised by theM.S. Swaminathan ResearchFoundation, Chennai on 3 March

J&K, Karnataka, Maharashtra,Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana,Uttar Pradesh and West Bengalparticipated and took advantage ofthis programme. The main focus ofthis programme is to sensitisefunctionaries of Rural Developmentand l ine departments to thepotential of ICTs, e-governance,Geo-Informatics, monitoring andevaluation, project management foreffective management of RuralDevelopment programmes andproviding skills in development ofInformation Systems.

A field visit to Rajapur village ofBalanagar mandal, Mahabubnagardistrict was organised for providing

insight into various intricacies inmanaging rural developmentprogrammes at the grassroots levelconcerned with MGNREGA, IWMPand Pensions and also about theSHG activities. The participantswere provided opportunity to interactwith the elected representativesat the Rajapur village for gainingknowledge of various RuralDeveopment initiatives taking placein those villages. The participantsalso interacted with SHG members,learnt about the process and ICTpractices of SHG management,and l ivel ihood activit ies andappreciated the efforts in thedelivery of services to the rural poor.

As part of the field visit, participantsv i s i t e d D W M A o f f i c e o fMahabubnagar district, interactedwith DWMA and DRDA officials andgained knowledge about theinitiatives of Telangana State forpoverty alleviation in general and ofMahabubnagar district in particular.The programme was well receivedand the participants expressedthat there is need for organisingmany such programmes. Theprogramme was coordinatedby Shri G V Satya Narayana,Senior Assistant Professor andDr. P Satish Chandra, Head ofInformation and CommunicationTechnology (CICT).

Book on Disaster Management Released

2016. The book is a timely guidefor preparation of a sustainableframework for future generations,Disaster Management programmeimplementors, policy makers andalso useful to student community.

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NIRD&PR Newsletter

National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad, India

MARCH 2016

Hindi Workshop on Unicode

The National Institute of RuralDevelopment and Panchayati Raj(NIRD&PR) and Centre for GoodGovernance (CGG), Government ofTelangana jointly organised anInternational Conference on"Sustainable Agricultural Strategiesfor Rural Development" at CGG on 9January, 2016. Seventeen countryrepresentatives participated alongwith Indian participants. Based on thepapers presented, an edited bookwas published by NIRD&PR jointlywith CGG.

The edited volume was released byProf. M.S. Swaminathan at a functionorganised at MSSRF, Chennai on 3March, 2016. The volume is edited byDr. K. Suman Chandra, Professor &Head (CAS); Prof. Devi Prasad

Head (CCC&DM). Speaking on theoccasion of book release, Prof.Swaminathan said that sustainabilityrests on the principle that we mustmeet the needs of the present withoutcompromising the ability of futuregenerations to meet their own needs.He further added that whileconventional agriculture is drivenalmost solely by productivity andprofit, sustainable agricultureintegrates biological, chemical,physical, ecological, economic andsocial sciences in a comprehensiveway to develop new farming practicesthat are safe and way to achieve foodsecurity without degrading ourenvironment. Prof. Swaminathancongratulated the editors for theirefforts.

Book on Sustainable Agricultural Strategies Released

Juvvadi, Director (AMRG), CGG andDr. E.V. Prakash Rao, Professor &

One-day Hindi Workshop onUnicode was conducted on 10March, 2016 for Group "C"employees of NIRD&PR, for the firsttime four employees of NIRD&PR,NERC Guwahati also attended theabove workshop. Director GeneralDr. W.R. Reddy and Ms. Chanda

M. Pandit, Registrar & Director(Admn) were also present during theworkshop. Dr. A. Debapriya, Asst.Registrar inaugurated the workshop.He felt "Unicode" is very useful forofficial work. Shri Ram Singh,Dr. Kamaluddin, Hindi Pradhyapak,were the resource persons for the

workshop. The first session wasabout Unicode software and secondsession about Hindi grammarand administrative glossary.Smt. Anita Pandey, Asst. Director(OL) and Shri E. Ramesh, Sr. HindiTranslator and Syed Isaq Hussaincoordinated the programme.

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NIRD&PR Newsletter

National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad, India

MARCH 2016

S.R. Sankaran Chair (Rural Labour)at NIRD&PR organised a three-dayNational Seminar on ‘Dynamics ofRural Labour Relations in India’,during 10-12 March, 2016. The mainobjective of the Seminar was to havea holistic understanding of the rapidchanges that are taking place in rurallabour markets during the last twodecades or so due to a varietyof factors including variousd e v e l o p m e n t a n d w e l f a r eprogrammes; and gradual structuralchanges in the countryside due toongoing economic reforms in thecountry.

Prof. C.H. Hanumantha Rao,an eminent economist of Indiadelivered the Inaugural Address.Prof. S. Mahendra Dev, Director,Indira Gandhi Institute of DevelopmentResearch, Mumbai, delivered theKeynote Address. The InauguralSession was chaired by Prof.R. Radhakrishna, a noted economista n d C h a i r m a n , A d v i s o r yCommittee, S.R Sankaran Chair.Dr. W.R. Reddy,IAS, Director

General, NIRD&PR gave a WelcomeAddress, and Dr. Kailash Sarap,Professor, S.R. Sankaran Chair,briefed about the Conference. Prof.Yoginder K. Alagh, Professor, aneminent economist and Chancellorof Central University, Gujaratdelivered the Valedictory Address.

There were five Technical Sessions.Around thirty presentations were

National Seminar on ‘Dynamics of Rural Labour

Relations in India’

made by distinguished scholars andpromising young researchers duringthe seminar. Several distinguishedscholars including ProfessorS.K.Rao, Prof. Judith Heyer, Prof.K.P. Kannan, Prof. Indira Hirway, Prof.Nagaraj, Prof. Panchanan Das,Dr. Sher Singh Verick from ILO, NewDelhi, participated in the Seminarand contributed to the deliberationson different themes of the seminar.

Technology and Institutional Arrangements for

Water Resource Management in IWMP

Conventional watershed approachesin the past, have focused only on soiland water conservation measuresand therefore, have not brought inmuch productivity gains orcontributed to improve rurallivelihoods. The crucial concern ofthe integrated watershed programme

is of sustaining the benefits of thisprogramme beyond the projectperiod. This can only be possible ifincomes generated by them aretransformed into savings andinvestment, that sets the platform fora long-term economic transformationof the area. The two key

requirements for this to becomepossible are a) Application oftechnology for augmenting waterresource conserva t ion anddistribution and b) Strengthening thepeople’s institutions that wouldprovide leadership to solicit thesupport systems.

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NIRD&PR Newsletter

National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad, India

MARCH 2016

In this context, Centre for Water andLand Resources (CWLR) ofNIRD&PR has organised a RegionalTraining Programme on “Technologyand Institutional Arrangements forWater Resource Management inIWMP” at Yashada, Pune during1-5 February, 2016. It is a sponsoredprogramme of Department of LandResources (DoLR), Ministry of RuralDevelopment (MoRD), GoI. Theparticipants of this programme aredistrict and sub-district functionariesworking in Integrated WatershedManagement Programme ( IWMP).

The broad themes that were coveredin the five-day programme wereconventional and indigenoustechnological options for waterresource conserva t ion anddistribution, community managedsurface and groundwater systems,concep tua l f ramework andoperational modalities for institutions,

support systems vital for effectivefunctioning of the institutions underIWMP. Besides classroom sessions,case studies on some successfulproducer institutions were given forgroup discussion, to discuss thefacilitating factors for success. One-day field visit was organised to a

successful watershed programme inSatara district followed by thepresentation on the field visit by theparticipants. The programme wasorganised by Dr.Ch.Radhika Raniand Dr. U.Hemantha Kumar, Faculty,NIRD&PR.

Training Programme on Sustainable Production

and Income Generation under IWMP

Watershed Programme is a keyprogramme to restore naturalresources and reduce poverty in therainfed areas in the country. Thenature and scope of the programmehas been undergoing many changesand the approaches have beenevolved from an externally imposedbiophysical interventions toparticipatory production and incomegeneration interventions. Theguidelines are being reviewedperiodically so that investments inwatershed management have along-lasting impact on cropproduction and rural livelihoods inrainfed cropping areas. However,the augmentation in natural

resources with watershedprogramme should have an organiclinkage with the production systemsfor landed class and livelihoods forlandless class in the area.Institutionalising good practices intothe watershed programme is also amatter of concern.

In this context, Centre for Water andLand Resources (CWLR) ofNIRD&PR organised a TrainingProgramme on “SustainableProduction and Income Generationunder IWMP” at NIRD&PR duringFebruary 22-26, 2016. It isa sponsored programme ofDepartment of Land Resources

(DoLR), Ministry of RuralDevelopment (MoRD), GoI. Theparticipants represented the Statesof Andhra Pradesh, Telangana,Uttarakhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh,Jammu & Kashmir, Tamil Nadu andPunjab. The broad themes on whichthe participants worked in the five-day programme were 1. Establishinglinkages between natural resourcemanagement (NRM), productionsystems and livelihoods 2.Identifying good practices in NRMand production systems anddovetailing them into IWMPframework 3. Understanding thephilosophy of institutions in IWMPand the options for upscaling their

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NIRD&PR Newsletter

National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad, India

MARCH 2016

activities. A one-day exposure visitwas organised to Uday Agri ProducerCompany in Medak district duringwhich participants interacted with theboard directors, producer members

National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati RajRajendranagar, Hyderabad - 500 030

Phone : (040) 24008473, Fax : (040) 24008473E-mail : ciec@nird.gov.in, Website : www.nird.org.in

Dr. W.R. Reddy, IAS, Director General, NIRD&PR

Dr. Gyanmudra , Professor and Head, CDC, Editor : Dr. K. Papamma

Photographs : P. Subrahmanyam; Cover Design : V. G. Bhat: Published by Dr. Gyanmudra , Professor and Head, CDC

on behalf of the National Institute of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad - 500 030

and printed at Vaishnavi Laser Graphics, Hyderabad.

OIGS Book-Post (Contains Printed Matter)

and the CEO. Participantssubmitted a note regarding theimportant points that they havelearned during the course of trainingprogramme which, they would like

to implement in their area of work.The programme was organisedby Dr. Ch.Radhika Rani andDr. Siddayya, CWLR, NIRD&PR.