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YOJANA February 2012 27

WAY FROM the entirechaos of the elections,in the foothil ls ofHimalayas , s i l en tefforts are being made

to ght the problem and that too by impl ementin g th e schemeslaunched by the government itself.

Livelihoods Improvement Projectfor the Himalayas (LIPH) aims athelping vulnerable groups in therugged highlands of the Himalayasto improve their livelihoods anddevelop alternatives for increasingtheir incomes.

Since independence, effortso f the government to cu rb

poverty and provide employmentguarantee have grown. Somesucceeded; o thers taught uslessons with their failure. Thus,new plans inspired from thesuccesses and failures of previous

projects were launched. Out of thelot, the projects which endured

Self Help Groups Lifeline of theLivelihood Improvement Project

BEST PRACTICES

Dinesh Pant

Livelihoods Improvement Project for the

Himalayas (LIPH) aims at helping

vulnerable groupsin the rugged highlands of

the Himalayas to improve theirlivelihoods and

develop alternatives for increasing their

incomes

the fruition of efforts did not justcarve an identity of their own;they also became an examplefor other development projects. L i v e l i h o o d s I m p r o v e m e n tPro jec t fo r the Himalayas (LIPH) is one such project whichhas brought several changes onthe ground by empowering thelocals.

Launched by the CentralGovernment in the year 2004, this

project receives nancial supportfrom the International Fund forAgricultural Development (IEFD)

an active organisation devoted toeliminating poverty from the world.The objective is to help vulnerable

groups in the rugged highlandsof the Himalayas improve theirlivelihoods and develop alternativesfor increasing their incomes. Thearea of operations includes themost remote and underdevelopeddistricts in the states of Meghalayaand Uttarakhand.

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In Uttarakhand, at the moment,this project is being conducted in

ve development blocks - Almora,Bageshwar, Chamoli, Tehri Garhwaland Uttarkashi. 959 villages have

been included in its fold. In theinitial phase, the State Governmentasked local NGOs to work in theremote settlements and sow the seedof awareness among the villagers.The NGO workers knew thatwithout the peoples participation,the project would not be a success.To ensure active participation, the

NGOs created 4000 CommunityBased Organizations and Self Helpgroups.

Innovative and useful workshopswere organised by the NGOs forSHGs which further impartedthis knowledge to the villagers.Interesting training programs likeSHG module, health module,transaction literacy module andgender modules were created at thevillage level. Efforts were made tocreate a sense of belonging amongstthe members of the groups andadopt a positive attitude towardsself-employment.

Three development blocks ofAlmora - Dhaula Devi, Lamgara

and Bhausiyachana, have hugely ben ef i t ed u nd er t he LI PH.Implemented and monitored bythe SHG, Centre for HimalayanStudies, this project operates in203 villages. The members of the722 SHGs formed so far, alongwith the coordinators, are givenexposure through trainings, eld

visits and awareness camps; andare encouraged to join developmentand earning activities.

Each group is essentiallyconnected to the bank. Thus, a

total of 6 Crore Rupees CCL (loanas per the status of the group) has

been made available to 700 groupsout of the total 722. 7304 membersof these groups are making themost of it, investing in variousincome generating activities. At amodest level, enterprises like dairy,chicken-farm, shops, vegetable

p roduct i on , e t c . have beenestablished in the village; which,in turn, has promoted the incomeof the poor families by expandingtheir mutual transactions.

To provide a strong base tothese groups, income-generatingactivities have been enhanced at themacro-level. 10 cooperatives have

been formed in the district, whichare registered under the 2003 Actof Autonomous Cooperatives ofUttarakhand. These Cooperativeshave now started conducting

business based activities whichhelped them to transact businessto the tune of Rs. 22 lakhs during2010-11. According to PrakashPathak, co-ordinator of Bhanauli

(Almora) employment project,"Connecting the cooperatives to

business and employment on the basis of a value chain is bene cial.Today, these cooperatives are busyin seed production, broiler chickenfarming, dairy development, maps,herbs, tourism, organic farmingetc.

The project not only improvedthe economic status of the villagers

but rai sed their social level byinfusing self-assurance in them.Today, with increase in employment

opportunities in the area, themigration rate has gone down.People who feared participatingin gatherings now lead them withgreat enthusiasm and fervour.They ask questions, are awareof the situation around them andfeel empowered. The encouraging

participation of women makes this project an example for others. "TheEmployment Project is on its wayto prove itself as a milestone in thefield of local development. Theway work is being done under this

project will make it an examplefor all other projects" says AnandPrasad, member, district Panchayat,Bhanauli, Almora.

LIPH will come to an end in2012. Many fear that the kind ofsuccess it has achieved in eradicating

poverty and empowering the localswill not only stop but will suffera huge downfall. This situationdemands long term planning asduring its life LIPH was able tocomplete only one phase; it nowneeds another spurt to bring anend to the problems of the ruraland marginalised communities.It requires support from both thegovernment and the locals as neithercan independently achieve successin effective implementation of theschemes. It has to be mutual!

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