Social SecurityIndigenous system of risk management 14

LivelihoodA Study on Value Chain of Madurai Malli

7

New InitiativeKarunai DHAN Nursery and Primary School 5

MattersDevelopment July 2008

DHAN Karunai IllamFeature

A home for distressed childrenA home for distressed children

MattersDevelopment Vol. II Issue 6 July 2008

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

Madurai - 625 016. Tamil Nadu, INDIA

Tel.: +91-452-4353983, 2610794, 2610805

Email: dhanfoundation_tn@airtelmail.in

Website: http://www.dhan.org

From the Editors’ Desk

Contents

1. Genesis of DHAN Karunai Illam -

a home for distressed children 1

2. Karunai DHAN Nursery and Primary School 5

3. A Study on Value Chain of Madurai Malli 7

4. Indigenous system of risk management 14

5. Tourism and Millennium Development Goals 17

6. Participatory Ecological Restoration 21

7. Athangudi Tiles – Testimony to the Rich Cultural

Heritage of Chettinad 28

8. Kalanjia Meenavar Sangam for Fresh Fish 29

The focus of Karunai DHAN Nursery and Primary School is on the quality of education and in particular, consideration for the special needs and talents of each child.

Dear Readers!

This July issue of Development matters features on DHAN Karunai

Illam, a home for depressed children. Jean Catherine Watson, the

founder of Karunai Illam has penned down the evolution of the Home.

Article on Karunai DHAN nursery and primary school speaks about

activity based learning which believes in learning from life. Value

chain study in Madurai Malli (Jasmine of Madurai) details the

production and marketing dynamics of Madurai Malli. K. P. Bharathi

writes about tourism and Millenium Development Goal. He explains

about the “Endogenous tourism for rural livelihoods” which suggests

the possibility of learning and scaling up to a wider coverage.

Our colleague Mahantesha writes about the indigenous system of risk

management of Peravoor, a village in Ramnad district. As usual, we

look forward for your continued support by contributing articles,

comments, critiques, feedback and encouragement to enrich the

quality of subsequent issues of this magazine.

Happy reading!

1

Feature

*Jean Catherine Watson, Founder of the Karunai Illam, Nilakottai, Tamil Nadu.

Genesis of DHAN Karunai Illam - a home

for distressed Children

Jean Catherine Watson*

Genesis

I traveled to India for the first timein 1984 from New Zealand as a tourist.In Kanyakumari, I metMr.Subbiah who was collectingmoney for a local children’s home.Back in New Zealand, I started to senddonations to that orphanage wheneverI could, and I began planning how toreturn to southern India, a place Irecognized as having ‘that extra call’.On my third visit three years later, Ipromised Subbiah to support for a neworphanage in his home village ofNilakottai.

Though many good ideas wentthrough my head, putting them intopractice was another matter. Also, Ihad it in mind that half of the supportwould eventually come from peoplein Nilakottai. We would call ourchildren’s home “Mahatma KarunaiIllam” where ‘Karunai’ means graceand ‘Illam’ means home.

We decided on 10 children: fiveboys and five girls. I asked Subbiahcost it out, set it up and let me know.At this stage he thought approximatelyRs.2,000 a month would covereverything. The amount worked outat about 200 New Zealand dollars. Icould send 200 dollars a month, evenon the dole and then a small wage, Icould just do it. I would not have muchleft to live on but I did not have amortgage so could just manage. InIndia, Rs.2,000 a month had not

seemed much and it would includeeverything: food, rent, clothing. TheMahatma Karunai Illam wasinaugurated on 25th September1987with seven children and the followingweek three more joined.

Early in 1988, I had a letter fromHelen (a reporter friend who hadvisited the Illam) saying she wassending an article she had written tothe Dominion the Wellingtonnewspaper. When the article waspublished, I was delighted to receivemoney from interested people, somesent anonymously and some frompeople I knew. One woman asked formy bank account number and she hasbeen faithfully contributing ever since.

All those circumstances wereconspiring to help us. It was ‘grace’.And I have to admit I was high on it. Ifelt we had ‘taken the tide at theflood’. Once Subbiah got theorphanage ‘up and running’, he wasvery anxious for me to visit India andmeet the children. After my visit tothe home, I wrote a long descriptiveletter, photocopied it and sent one toeach contributor. Thus the idea of‘newsletters’ evolved.

Though the home was functioningwell our main worry was the house inwhich the children are accommodated.Rural India is absolutely littered withbroken down houses that were madeof weak cement and bricks. They

Jean with Chinnapillai in a function

2

decay rapidly in the heat and monsoonrains. Large cracks appear in thecement and the structure begins tocrumble; soon the roofs cave in, andeventually there is only a heap ofbricks. I could see the best way todevelop our Illam and secure its futurewas to own freehold property. So in1989, I sold my house in Wellington,to buy a plot of eight acres a kilometerfrom Nilakottai. There was a smallcottage and the rest I hoped wouldprovide vegetables and playing spacefor the children. But they were stillliving in rented accommodation.

In 1990 The Karunai Illam Trustwas formed in Wellington. The Trustthen raised enough money to buy theIllam building in Bypass Road,Nilakottai, in 1991. With our eightacres, the house, 18 children and adedicated family looking after them,growing goodwill towards us in thetown of Nilakottai, and interested anddedicated supporters, we had a solidfoundation on which to build.

During 1993, a compound wallwas constructed to protect the childrenin home from the unexpectedtorrential rains and floods. The homewas gradually improving with theneeded infrastructures like toilets,study rooms and other basic needs. Ithappened that soon after the extratroops of children had settled in, wereceived a surprise donation from theNew Zealand High Commission inNew Delhi. I had a letter fromMargaret Hodgetts, the Commissionerat the time. She said she read aboutour Illam in the New ZealandWoman’s weekly and asked if we werestill in existence. After my reply theirdonation arrived at the Illam. In 1995,we were visited by the New ZealandDeputy High Commissioner to India;a young woman who arrived in an air

conditioned car to receive a typicalwelcome. So we appreciated thedonations from the Australia and NewZealand Association, a group of wivesof New Zealand and Australiandiplomats in New Delhi who collectmoney for charities in India. In a way,the visit was our first officialrecognition.

Fortunately we had been grantedmoney in 1996 from the Associationfor India’s Development (AID) andcould drill for water in the Illamcompound. Although the workproceeded efficiently, it was fraughtwith suspense. There was noguarantee of success. But we werelucky; water was accessed and theproblem solved. The Association alsosponsored the repair of one of thepump house roofs. The AID group ismade up of young Indians working orstudying in the United States ofAmerica who contribute to theircountry’s future by raising money for

Indian non government organizationsthat are helping the poor.

In February 1998, the NewZealand High Commission gave us agrant to build a cowshed. It seemedvery appropriate, New Zealand beinga country known for its farming. I stillfollow the Vedanta Philosophy and itseems to me that there is an elementof the miraculous in our progress. Theconnection between the Illam andNew Zealand supporters is as strongas ever. Communication is regular andfrequent. The Illam too grew graduallywith the number of students and theirstudies. Three children have evengraduated and obtained professionaltraining.

All went well for 20 years, thenin 2007 the relationship betweenKarunai Illam Trust New Zealand andthe NGO Mahatma Karunai Illam fellapart and, to cut a long story short, weasked DHAN to take over

In 1992 there was a floodwhich broke an eight-year-longdrought, as though trying tomake up for years of neglect.At that stage, we had no wallaround the Illam compound, soflood waters poured throughthe building.

In 1997 there was anotherflood in and around Nilakottai;but, because we had the wall,the water did not come into theIllam building. In 1996, theopposite problem hadoccurred, a terrible watershortage. A new bore well wassunk in the Illam compound in1996 to solve the problem.

Floods and water scarcity in our home

3

management of the Illam and nowhave a rewarding partnership withthem. So over the years step by stepthe Illam has grown to what it is todayand the establishment which startedas 10 children in a one room shackwith no facilities has become aneducation complex.

Home Today

The home now consists of severalbuildings. The original Illam building,which provides a child–friendly livingarea housing 31 girls and the womancare-giver, and provides two rooms foroverseas volunteers, is on the outskirtsof the town. Across the road, we havea building which houses a modelschool with 25 pupils on the groundfloor and a community college on thefirst floor. A kilometer from the Illam,we have a plot of land where we havebuilt a neat cottage for 17 boys andtheir caregiver. Vegetables for Illamsuse are grown on the land. Ourchildren come from families that areso poor they can’t afford to send theirchildren to school. Some of themcome from isolated places where thereis no school or a school that teachesearly standards only. Many are thechildren of single households.

After DHAN undertookmanagement of the Illam, it became amultifaceted institution comprisingDHAN Karunai Illam (the home fordistressed students), Karunai DHANNursery & Primary School (a modelschool with activity based learningmethod of education), and KarunaiDHAN Livelihood Initiative withFunctional Education (an institute toprovide vocational education to youthand women).

Our School

Karunai DHAN Nursery andPrimary School is an alternative

school or a model school. The focusis on the quality of education and inparticular special needs and talents ofeach child. Currently we have 40children, 3 teachers, an Aayaa, and thePrimary Education Coordinator.

The Aayaa is a woman who standsby to take care of physical needs ofchildren such as taking them to thetoilet, washing hands, drinks of water,clothes coming adrift and any suchneeds of little kids. She is also a sortof ‘watch-woman’ – there to let in anypeople who come to the outside doorwhich is kept locked while classes areon.

The children are three and fouryear olds. The teaching is holistic,considering not just the academicangle, but the personality as a whole.Ethics, morals, consideration forothers and similar values are instilled.They will be bi-lingual, fluent inEnglish and Tamil. They are happy andexuberant, and I am delighted to hearthem shouting the numbers as theylearn to count in English. It is intendedto take children up to plus2 level.

Although fees are charged and wehope that in a couple of years theschool will become financially self-sustaining and that concessions willbe given to the very poor, the fees arerelatively cheap and the quality ofteaching is very high. Most nurseryschools here have one teacher andabout forty kids, not a situation toleave enough time for individualattention. At present, parents pay halfwhat is paid to the mainstream nurseryschools.

I am overwhelmed withadmiration for the teachers who spendall day patiently teaching at nurserylevel – what amazing patience anddevotion! Such people are rare andvaluable in any culture. The education,which makes children learn throughplayful activities, makes learning aninteresting one.

Karunai DHAN LIFE (Livelihood

Initiative with Functional Education)

It is commonly called ascommunity college, and it caters theneeds of several groups: young peoplewho are dropouts from the mainsystem and need to be employed, high

4

school children who need to haveextra time at computer practice,housewives who have children athome and would like to add to thefamily income, and the very youngmarried women at home.

There is a computer room withfive modern computers whereparticipants can learn every aspect ofcomputer studies. Broadband isinstalled so that internet can be taught.The exceptional feature of ourcommunity college is its flexibility inmatching the courses offered with theemployment needs of the community.The courses are reasonably priced andthere are scholarships for aspirants

who are so poor they cannot evenafford a meager amount have shownthey will benefit.

There are three categories of needthat this project will fill. The first ideais to equip people for employment andthus empower them. There issurprising variety, or at least somewere a surprise to me. Sewing istaught (called tailoring here). If a girllearns sewing she could findemployment in a tailor’s shop, sew forpeople in her village and earn a littlemoney and sew for her own family.Then there is what they call a‘beautician’ course. It involves such

skills as make up, aroma therapy andmassage.

There is another category: the life-enhancing courses for the youngmarried women at home. Even today,according to tradition, many girls aremarried off at a young age and thesegirls are from poor families who mayhave no facilities at all and no idea ofhygiene and health. A simple coursein housekeeping will also expand andrespond to needs; topics like how topreserve, make pickle, develop smallhome gardens, and many such thingswill be added as time goes by.

We hope that in time the collegewill become self-supporting. Wecharge a reasonable rate for those whocan afford to pay. There arescholarships for those who can’t affordto pay a fee. I have also notedschoolboys coming and going wantingextra after-school work. SalugaiThevan is the coordinator of thecommunity college.

Donors

Most of the funding comes fromNew Zealanders who want to be partof a group that is making a differencein a small rural community. We havesupporters who contribute each monthby automatic payment or by sending aregular cheque. Occasional and one–off donations are also welcome. TheNew Zealand High Commission inNew Delhi is interested in our workand has granted us generous amountsfor the last several years. We have afew overseas supporters: three inEngland, three in the U.S.A and fivein Australia. All receive regularnewsletters telling of the interestinghappenings at the Illam and theprogress of our children.

5

New initiative

Karunai DHAN Nursery and Primary School

T. Raghavan*

*T. Raghavan, Coordinator, Karunai DHAN Nursery and Primary School, Nilakottai, Tamil Nadu.

There is constant research andimprovement in the content and

methods of teaching. Young minds canabsorb an amazing amount ofinformation and concepts, especiallywhen they are presented in a positivemanner and in a free atmosphere, fullof fun and devoid of any threats orembarrassment. Learning and growingshould be fun. But in reality theimportance is given to rot memory,reciting and writing which is far awayfrom practical life application. Almostevery one agrees this point and had toadopt due to no other option beforethem. Criticizing the presenteducation scenario is the easiest jobwhereas finding an alternative is aHimalayan task.

DHAN Foundation, anorganization venturing various needbased education programme haveattempted to establish a model inprimary schooling which plays a vitalrole in the human development. Theprinciple followed is activity basedlearning. Government of Tamil Naduis encouraging this method ofeducation and started implementing inaround 38,000 schools. Those who areinterested in the education have toappreciate the change in the trend.Activity-based learning promises todo away with school bags, by usingpractical study material. Bulky booksare replaced by educative cards. Tolearn more about the innovativemethod, we - a team from DHANvisited some of the schools whichalready practicing this.

We discovered that the children’scuriosity and eagerness to search andlearn was very high. The focus is onexposure to many practicalexperiences, building imagination,learning physical and social skills,learning boundaries of time, place,work and play, understanding theworld around the children. Educationshould be beyond lessons andinteractive cards; same should be doneby directly linking with life.

Meaningful Education

The life is to live which includethinking and doing things. In otherwords, life does not mean reading andwriting but doing some day to dayactivities. The real life demands keenobservation, hard work, endurance,patience etc. Achievers are found tohave these attributes in life.

Instead of living a life by learninglessons we must learn from life. Ihave found many innovators who didnot get formal education yet haveended up discoverers and inventors.They have learnt to fight the troublethey face in the life. The reason behindthis is they have not read booksinstead from life. Hence life becomeseasy when education coincides withthe way of life. Books should facilitatefacing life instead of preparingchildren to face examinations. Everylesson from book should have lifeapplication that too in day to dayactivity. Life attitude and putting intopractice should go hand in hand. Totry all these ideals in one place,activity based learning is tried byDHAN Foundation.

To initiate implementing thisactivity based learning, it was planned

6

to pioneer in nursery education levelthrough model schools, a school witha difference. For example,Mathematics, for many studentsmathematics is the toughest subject.Children fear numbers as they are nottaught with life application and itsdirect applicability in life.Mathematics is used in countingthings, money, friends, toys any thing– almost everything. The childrenshould be introduced to mathematicsas friend instead of foe. An excessivefocus on exams takes away the joy oflearning for most children at this age.Children actually learn more throughplay and a wealth of experiences. It’seasier to grasp and retain whenlearning is imparted through gamesand activities. Kids’ interest will bestimulated when toys are used forteaching and they will show a positiveinclination towards learning. Alongwith these, children also learn basicreading and writing as well as numberwork.

By play we help in building child’sfoundation of social skills, cognitivedevelopment, physical ability and self-esteem. The school tries to analysehow much of this teaching results inactivity based learning, as far as thechild/student is concerned. Exposingindividual child to the kind of

stimulating experiences promotehealthy mental growth, great freedomto be and overall personalitydevelopment. The right environmentand support can help build a happyfuture for the child. Children candiscover new rhythms and dance todifferent beats. Sing all their favoritesongs, and can have fun without anypressure.

The concept behind the modelschool is

I hear; I forget,I see; I remember,I do; I understand.

Children in this school are foundto have the following values imbibedin them which reflect in their life.Each children gains moral valuesinbuilt in them by developing goodhabits like helping, cooperating,respecting, and accepting others,developing friendship, appreciatingthe culture and heritage of others.

Lessons are taught in a playfulmethod in the level of each child.Attention is given to each child in

unique way. Some children graspsthings fast, some at slower pace. Atthe school, children are taught witheducative tools like toys, picture cards,charts of animals, fruits, flowers andmany such visually attracting teachingaids. This helps the children tounderstand and correlate the wordswith the visual portraits, games andsongs sung with actions. In turn ithelps the children to be imaginative,visualizing, explorative, creative,responding, interpreting as well aslearning.

Due to personal attention given toeach child they spend enough time inplaying games. This facilitatesdeveloping competence insocialisation, taking care of self andothers. This method of educationstimulates the children to payattention to education. Meanwhile itnurtures the concept of self, acceptingand expressing emotions in sociallyappropriate ways, coping with change,decision – making skills, acceptingchallenge and developingindependence is seen in each child.

7

Livelihood

A Study on Value Chain of Madurai Malli

S. Aravindan*

*S. Aravindan, Project Executive, Centre for Research, DHAN Foundation, Madurai.

Micro Study

Micro study is a study carried outscientifically with optimal use ofexisting / local resources usingflexible methods for decision makingand action orientation. It is a studyemphasizing on a “here and now”situation and in a local setting. Itsfinding is to be applied in terms oflocal applicability, not universalvalidity. It applies scientific thinkingand processes on the areas ofexploration. This has thecharacteristic of research in terms ofsystematic and objective analysis offacts, resulting in prediction andcontrol of events. Micro study is a typeof research conducted because aproblem has not been clearly defined.The objective of micro study is togather preliminary information thatwill help define problems andsuggests hypothesis and future leads.

Micro study values the targetgroup’s perceptions and understandingof resource situations and problemsfor drawing inferences andrecommendations which are viableand acceptable in the local context.Micro study enables to determine theresearch design relevant to the study,use flexible methods for datacollection method and selection ofsubjects. Their chief characteristics ofmicro study are that they take only ashort time to complete, tend to berelatively cheap to carry out and makeuse of more ‘informal’ data collectionprocedures. The techniques relyprimarily on observation, coupled

with semi-structured interviewing ofmembers, local leaders and officials.It banks on knowledge and experienceof the practitioner which facilitates todefine the research problem relativelywith less time. Micro studies providesignificant insight in to a givensituation. It gives indication as the“why”, “how” and “when” somethingoccurs but has the limitation that itcannot tell us “how often” or “howmany”.

Micro study relies on secondaryresearch as reviewing availableliterature and/or data, or qualitativeapproaches such as informaldiscussions with consumers,employees, management orcompetitors, and more formalapproaches through in-depthinterviews, focus groups, projectivemethods, case studies or pilot studies.

Earlier Micro study on thesignificance of Madurai Malli wascarried out . As a follow up study‘Value Chain Study in Madurai Malli’is now undertaken and presented.

‘Value Chain (VC)’ is ananalytical as well as an operationalmodel of a raw material or any oneby-product, which is transformed,combined with other products,transported, packaged, displayedetc. until it reaches the finalconsumer.

In this process the raw materials,intermediate products and finalproducts are owned by various actorswho are linked by trade and services,and each add value to the product.Various types of public and privateservices, like business developmentservices, electricity, transport,financial services, etc., are as

8

important as favourable frameworkconditions, i.e. laws, regulations andtheir enforcement. . The value chainmodel supposes that by understandingthese interactions, it is possible forprivate and public agencies (includingdevelopment agencies) to identifypoints of intervention to (1) increaseefficiency and thereby increase totalgenerated value, and to (2) improvethe competence of intended actors toincrease their share of the totalgenerated value.

Why value chain development is

important?

Globalisation does not only patchup market gaps and brings producersand consumers closer together; it alsobrings regional and internationalcompetition into local markets. Forinstance, any agricultural produce notconsumed by the farmers’ families isa product in the market (local tointernational) and competes todaywith products coming from nearby orfar away. Therefore, all farmersoffering their produce for sale areinstantly part of a value chain.

Reasons for a donor fundedproject or program to intervene mayinclude the following:

1. Some people need support forbecoming actors in existingvalue chain.

1. 2. The role people play in avalue chain is more importantthan belonging to a value chaini.e. their negotiation power inthe value chain.

2. Some actors are stuck in valuechains that exploit low incomepossibilities. They requiresupport to explore newopportunities.

3. By strengthening one actor in avalue chain there is thepossibility of creatingcompetitive advantages for thewhole system. In such a case alarge number of peoplecompeting in local, regional orglobal markets can benefit fromthese advantages.

N.B. The term ‘donor’ is used asa synonym for ‘development agency’.

Significance of Madurai MALLI

In Madurai district Jasmine isgrown in about 900 acres of land areabounded by Aruppukkottai in South,Natham in North, Melur in East andThirumangalam in West. This area isdemarked based on the soil type whichhelps ordinary Jasmine as special‘Madurai Malli’ with the best qualities.Total annual average Jasmineproduction from Madurai district is 489tonnes.

The specialities mentioned by themerchants are based on their practicalexperience. According to the scientists‘There may be some true in theirstatements and until now there is nojustification scientifically’.1. The fragrance of the jasmine

grown in Madurai is some whatsuperior to that of others becauseof the heavy accumulation of thesmell causing alkaloids ‘Jamone’and ‘Alpha Terpineol’. Thelaterite and red soils of Maduraidistrict are rich in Sulphur whichis the precursor of these alkaloids.More over presence of higheramounts of Potassium and thesupplementary foliar spraying ofBorax (Boric acid containselemental Boron) help the plantto deposit the produced alkaloidsin flowers. This is the main reasonfor the high fragrance of MaduraiMalli.

2. The second speciality is thethickness of the petals. MaduraiMalli has the thickest petals of allthe other jasmine flowers grownin other parts of the country whichhelps in late anthesis. This thicknature of the flower gives it tosome stiffness which helps morein garlanding the flower as wewish.

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3. The colour of Madurai Malli issome what greenish white whenit is collected from the plant.After few hours probably at noon,the colour will turn into milkywhite and turn into shiny creamywhite during the evening. So thewhiteness of the flower will notturn into brown even after 24hours if it is not adorned.

4. Normally all jasmine flowersgrown in other parts open beforeor around 5 pm. But MaduraiMalli opens only after 6pm.Some times even after 7 pm.This is due to the thick petals ofMadurai Malli.

5. We can preserve Madurai Mallifor two days withoutdiscolouration which isimpossible with the otherjasmines.

Based on the practical experiencethe merchants defined ‘MaduraiMalli’ that the Jasmine flowers comefrom a specific geographical area. Asper them the geographical area ofMadurai Malli is bounded byAruppukkottai in South, Natham inNorth, Melur in East andThirumangalam in West. This area isdemarked based on the soil type whichhelps ordinary Jasmine as special‘Madurai Malli’ with the bestqualities.

The producers reach MaduraiMattuthavani and Villapuram flowermarkets as per their custom and givethe flowers to the agents. The agentemploy some persons to sell theflowers. After selling his lot theaccountant of the agent entered in theaccounts it as income and givesrequired amount to the farmer. Fromthese commission agents small flowervendors are purchasing the flowers. InMadurai, all the vendors are

depending on the slum women forflower garlanding and slum womenare doing this flower garlanding as apart time livelihood after completionof their house works. During the peakseason a lady will earn minimumabout Rs.30/- per day from flowergarlanding. Both male and female areinvolved in this flower vendingbusiness. Majority of the womencarry the flowers and sell on roadsides, bus stands, temple corridors andother public places. But men carry theflowers by cycles or selling by keepingshops in road sides. Some vendorshave regular customers like shops,temples and houses. Some vendorsare having shops at public gatheringplaces also.

Value chain in relation to Madurai

Malli

On analysing the production andmarketing dynamics of Madurai Malli,it found that development of ‘valuechain’ is very essential for the sake ofall the actors who play vital role inproduction and marketing. Beyond itsheritage value ‘Madurai Malli’ servesas the prime livelihood material formany urban families. For ‘MaduraiMalli’, garlands and the woven stringswere the end products until two yearsbefore. During that period MaduraiMalli was also utilized for bridedecoration, temple arch decoration,Lord’s decoration, etc., in veryminimum quantities. Minimal utilityin designing and decoration ofJasmine was mainly due to its tinynature.

Due to the development ofcomputer designing techniques andimproved knowledge on the designsthe designers as well as the vendorsstarted to introduce small flowerdesigns which are fantastically

admired by the ladies. Even thoughthe designers introduced many designsinvolving Jasmine as one of theircomponents, the designs are not verypopular because of limited productionand utilization. The limitedproduction is due to lack ofknowledge, skill and training of thegarlanding women who are living inthe slums. Hence, imparting trainingson designing for the flower garlandersis an important step in ‘Value chainof Madurai Malli’.

Apart from flower designing andgarlanding, Jasmine is also utilized forwax production. This wax is the baseproduct for the Jasmine scent. Nowit is tried to prepare souvenir andedible items. Jasmine flowers areexported to Arab and South East Asiancountries as loose flowers because thelongevity of woven flowers is verylow and it will loose its fragrance andcharming appearance very quick.

Components of Value chain

Flower Garlanding

Flower garlanding can be done bythe women who have some basicknowledge in flower weaving. Flowerweaving is a skill acquired throughtraining. Normally in Madurai city allwomen have the knowledge on flowerweaving. In that case learning manytypes of flower garlanding anddesigning is not a big task to them.Now there is a demand for eminentflower designers.

According to Murugan, the flowerdesigner from Coimbatore, “We arecalled by the people from North Indiaoften. Some people asked us to staywith them for ever. They also askedus to change our business place too.If many people are coming forward tolearn these designs our tension and

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pressure will be reduced. We aregoing to North India and asked to staythere for more than 20 days which isnot virtually possible to us.’

But there are so many constraintsto the slum women in following upthe acquired skill. They are1. All the family members are

dependant on the slum womenfor all of their needs. Hence,work load to all the slum womenis too heavy to spend their timeto get training.

2. Slum women need creditfacilities for initial investmentfor this business.

3. This activity should be done onlyby collective action rather thanindividual effort.

4. Getting cooperation by thefamily members is veryimportant than any other thing.

There are six types of flowergarlanding viz. Uruttu Kattu, PattaiKattu, normal weaving, Kadhambam,Malai and Thirumbippaar. Exceptnormal weaving, all the other typesfetch higher prices. They consumehigher amount of flowers than thenormal weaving andneed some specialskill also.

Out of the abovesix types the slumwomen are weavingthe third type only.This needs noeducation but skilland interest inlearning. Thegarlanding charge isfixed by the vendorsbased on demand.The pattern ofgarlanding chargesgave interesting datathat they were paid 5

paisa for 1000 flowers during 1970,15 paisa during 1985 and Rs.2 during2005. Up to the last year thegarlanding charge was Rs.2 for 1000flowers. But after the strengtheningof Mattuthavani Bus stand the vendorsof the bus stand came to various placesto fulfil their needs and started to giveRs.4 with tea Kasu of Rs 2/- for 1000flowers. During the peak season alady will earn minimum about Rs.30/- per day from flower garlanding.

The other five types are woven byvery few garlanders who acquired skillon those types of weaving. If a womenlearns such types she will earn morewhat she is now earning. But normallythan it not taught individually by thegarland shoppers to the individualsbesides their interest. Flowermerchants engage the skilled personson daily contract basis. The followingtable shows the income increasingpattern by acquiring the skills by slumwomen.

Flower Designing and Decorations

A few years back by using bigflowers and other artificial materialsbrides, marriage compartments,

arches, temples were designed. Nowdue to improved awareness and skillson designing Jasmine also included inthose decorations. Jasmine hascaptured an important place in flowerdecoration. Now the situation is suchthat with out Jasmine there is noflower decoration. Some of thedesigns are Nela Malai (doorwayadornment), Thoranam, bed spread,Kreedam (crown), Rakkodi,Muthangi, Mogra (round ornament oncrown), Kunjam (tassel), Oddyanam(waist belt), Jadai Patti, Poo Pavadai,Necklace, Haram (long necklace),floral net, flower carpet, flower rangoliand mini souvenir.

Wedding decorations

In general Jasmine is used in allIndian marriages. Normally givingJasmine is one of the Indian Cultureand brides are decorated with Jasmine.In this decoration new computerdesigns are introduced during therecent years. The designs used forbride and bride groom decoration areKreedam (crown), Rakkodi, Mogra(round ornament on crown),Oddyanam (waist belt) and Jadai Patti.

Sl.No.

Types ofGarlanding

Averagepresent daily

incomethroughnormal

weaving(in Rs.)

Expectedincome

while doingthe

specialisedweavings

(in Rs.)

Increasein perday

income(in Rs.)

Averagedays peryear the

specialisedwork can begiven to the

outsiders

Increasein annual

income bygainingspecial

skill(in Rs.)

1 Uruttu Kattu 40 120 80 100 8,000

2 Pattaikkattu 40 60 20 100 2,000

3 Kadhambam 40 60 20 100 2,000

4 Malai 40 120 80 100 8,000

5 Thirumbippar 40 120 80 100 8,000

6 Designs 40 150 110 100 11,000

Table – 1 Additional Annual Income gained by Slum Women by

Getting Special Skill in Flower Garlanding

11

The marriage halls are nowdecorated by the artificial decorationmaterials. They can be decorated withfloral decoration materials. Thedesigns used for decorating themarriage halls are Nela Malai (doorway adornment), Thoranam, flowercarpet and flower Rangoli. Themarriage chamber or compartment canalso be decorated with the‘Thoranams’ and floral arches. Bedsfor newly married couples can bedecorated with the ‘floral (Jali) net’and flower bed spreads.

Except the months Chithirai(April),Audi (July),Purattasi(September) and Margazhi(December) all the eight months therewill be minimum of 10 weddingmuhoorthams and other functions.Hence, by learning the new designs awoman can earn more money than the

earlier. Approximate calcualtions ofincome increment is given in table 2.

From the above table it is inferredthat a women can earn additionalannual income from Rs.26,000/- toRs.4,96,000/-.

Temple Garlands and ornaments

All the time is the festival timein any one corner of our Country.Those festivals are combined with thedecoration of temples and Gods. Intemples we can use Jasmine flowersin arch decorations as well as in cardecorations. All devotees areadorning Gods with Jasmine garlandsnext to Rose garlands. Hence,Jasmine garlands will be sold duringthe festival days than the other days.At that time they fetch very high pricethan the other days. The major festivalmonths are Chithirai (April),Audi

(July),Purattasi (September) andMargazhi (December). During theother months also festivals will beheld but in minimum. Thedecorations normally used in templesare Nela Malai (doorway adornment),Thoranam, Muthangi, Mogra (Roundornament on crown), Kunjam (tassel),Oddyanam (waist belt), Poo Pavadai,Necklace, Aaram (long necklace) andflower rangoli.

The following table enumeratesthe increment in annual income of aslum woman by getting skill in templedesigning.

Hotel Industry

Most of the foreigners who visitIndia are staying at star hotels. Hence,star hotels are the most suitablevenues where we can disseminate/display our culture and heritage. From

Sl.No.

Types ofDecoration

Present dailyincome for

normalweaving(in Rs.)

Expectedincome forspecialisedweavings

(in Rs.)

Increase inper dayincome(in Rs.)

Average daysper year thespecialised

work can begiven to the

outsiders

Increase inannual

income bygaining

special skill(in Rs.)

1Kreedam(Crown)

40 500 460 100 46,000

2 Rakkodi 40 300 260 100 26,000

3 Mogra 40 300 260 100 26,000

4 Oddyanam 40 300 260 100 26,000

5 Jadai Patti 40 300 260 100 26,000

6 Nela Malai 40 500 - 4,000 460 - 3,960 100 46,000 -3,96,000

7 Thoranam 40 500 - 5,000 460 - 4,960 100 46,000 -4,96,000

8 Flower Jolywork on Bed

40 1,000 960 100 96,000

9 Flower carpet 40 3,000 2,960 100 2,96,000

10 Flower Rangoli 40 3,000 2,960 100 2,96,000

Table – 2 Additional Annual Income gained by Slum Women by Getting Special Skill in Wedding Decoration

12

the star hotels they get linked with thetravel guides and travel agencies.Hence, the ways may be explored toutilise the travel agents and travelguides to popularise Madurai Malli.More over on the arrival of the touristsa mini souvenir made up of Jasminemay be gifted or otherwise a smallpunch of Jasmine scent may beapplied on their upper hand. Jasminescent will fume its fragrance for aboutfour to five hours and even after theirhand wash. This will give them apleasant experience.

If a slum woman who is doing alldesigns making a linkage with a starhotel she has to supply the requiredquantities of souvenirs, garlands andtied flowers daily. Similarly at anyspecial occasions she will get chanceto decorate the hotel rooms, receptionarea, conference hall and even dinner

rooms also. By this she will getregular opportunities. By theseactivities she will earn more incomethan what now she is. The possibleannual income increment is tabulatedand presented below (Table 4).

Many types of souvenir made upof frozen Jasmine flower may bedisplayed for sales at the hotel showrooms will attract the tourists. Thismay increase the demand for thesouvenir made up of Jasmineindirectly it will increase thepopularity of the flower.

Table weights and souvenirpreparation

A new thinking evolved toprepare Table weight which includesJasmine flower as an inner design.Jasmine flower is frozen by treatingin liquid Nitrogen (-50ÚC). It will

not loose its colour and rigidappearance after the liquid Nitrogentreatment. Then this frozen flower isembedded on gel mat and kept in atransparent plastic cube and sealed airtightly. A small write up on ‘MaduraiMalli’ is laminated on any one side ofthat table weight or other similarproducts. This product may bedisplayed in star hotels to attract thevisitoRs.Idea on production ofsouvenir using Madurai Malli is onlyin concept level. There is no progressin trial production. After the trialproduction only the cost economics canbe worked out.

Other avenues

Loose Flowers

Loose flowers are as such used inflower decoration. Loose flowers maybe kept in heap of flowers in small

Table – 3 Additional Annual Income gained by Slum Women by Getting Special Skill in Wedding

Sl.No.

Types ofDecoration

Present dailyincome for

normalweaving (in

Rs.)

Expectedincome forspecialisedweavings

(in Rs.)

Increase inper dayincome(in Rs.)

Average daysper year thespecialised

work can begiven to the

outsiders

Increase inannual

income bygaining

special skill(in Rs.)

1 Nela Malai 40 500-4,000 460- 3,960 100 46,000 -3,96,000

2 Thoranam 40 500-10,000 460-9,960 100 46,000 -9,96,000

3 Muthangi 40 500 460 100 46,000

4 Mogra 40 300 260 100 26,000

5 Kunjam (Tassel) 40 300 260 100 26,000

6 Oddyanam (waistbelt)

40 300 260 100 26,000

7 Poo Pavadai 40 500-3,000 460- 2,960 100 46,000-2,96,000

8 Necklace 40 300 260 100 26,000

9 Aaram (LongNecklace)

40 500 460 100 46,000

10 Flower Rangoli 40 300-2,000 260- 1,960 100 26,000 -1,96,000

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decorative cups and can be displayed.The loose flowers are exported to theArab countries and South Easterncountries.

Wax Preparation

Jasmine wax is the base productfor Jasmine scent and Jasmine oilwhich are used for making perfumesand incense. Its oil is also used increams, shampoos and soaps. Duringthe peak season when it can not besold by the flower merchants areutilised for wax and preparation.

Edible Uses

Jasmine flowers are used toflavour Jasmine tea and other herbalor black tea. Drinking Jasmine tearegularly helps in curing cancer. Now,from Jasmine sherbet is prepared.

Medicinal uses

The Jasmine flower is used forremoving intestinal worms and is alsoused for jaundice and venerealdiseases. The flower buds are usefulin treating ulcers, vesicles, boils, skindiseases and eye disorders.The leaves

extracts against breasttumours.Drinking Jasmine tearegularly helps in curing cancer. Its oilis very effective in calming andrelaxing.

Way forward

a. Formation of Primary Producer Groups (PPGs)

A Primary Producer Group in all theabove components based on theirskills can be formed based on theirskills like comprising the garlandingslum women is to be formed.Similarly a Primary MarketingGroup(PMGs) comprising the flowervendors is also to be formed. Both thegroups are to be facilitated to createbusiness linkage between them.

b. Skill Building

Impart skill building training to theslum women who have flowergarlanding as their part timelivelihood. Exhibitions, seminars andworkshops are to be conducted withdifferent styles of garlanding, differentdesigns and other by-products of

Table – 4 Additional Annual Income Gained by Slum Women by Getting Special Skill in Hotel Decoration

Sl.No.

Types ofDecoration

Averagepresent daily

income throughnormal weaving

(in Rs.)

Expectedincome while

doing thespecialisedweavings

(in Rs.)

Increase inper dayincome(in Rs.)

Average daysper year the

specialised workcan be given tothe outsiders

Increase inannual

income bygaining

special skill(in Rs.)

1 Nela Malai 40 500-4,000 460-3,960 25 11,500 -99,000

2 Thoranam 40 500-10,000 460-9,960 25 11,500 -2,49,000

3 Garlands 40 120 80 50 4,000

4 Souvenirs 40 200 160 50 8,000

5 Flower Jolywork on Bed

40 1,000 960 25 24,000

6 RoomDecoration

40 500 480 25 12,000

jasmine, which will create awarenessamong the people and also invite newinnovative ideas. Courses onpreparation of jasmine by-productsmay be conducted for poor by DHANCommunity college. Training centresfor diploma course on the pattern ofITI for training the personnel infloriculture should be set up.

c. Creative market linkage

Market linkages with the hoteliers,big flower vendors and designers areto be facilitated. Production andpopularisation of the products likeMalli Sherbet, Malli Bouquet, MalliScent Sachet, etc.,

d. Livelihoods of the poor

There is no doubt more than 25 percent of the slum women are dependingup on the flower weaving for theirlivelihoods. Under this situationgiving training in flower designingwill help them to increase their familyincome. Many avenues will beopened to them to utilize their skillin a profitable manner.

14

Experiences have shown that,development efforts that ignore

indigenous knowledge, local systemsof knowledge and the localenvironment generally fails to achievetheir desired objectives. Indigenousknowledge refers to the unique,traditional, local knowledge existingwithin and developed around thespecific conditions of women and mento a particular geographic area. ThoughIndia, a developing country is tryingto combat the risks of common manby means of various sources, reachingpoor and addressing their issues is stillan upheld task. Apart fromgovernment, many non governmentalorganisations are trying to find outways and means to understand therural issues or risks.

Villages from the timeimmemorial are following their own,indigenous or traditional methods tocombat risks. Death (one of the risks),the irreversible cessation of life, hasalways intrigued and frightenedmankind. Every known culture hasattempted to provide an explanationof its meaning. Like birth or marriage,it is universally considered an eventof social significance, amplified byvirtual and supported by institutions.In villages, few family events likemarriage, birth or death of a personand other kinds of accidents aremaking most of the people vulnerable.With the way they are getting supportfrom monsoon to their livelihood, itis getting impossible for them tomanage risks on their own. By

Social Security

Indigenous system of risk management

Dr. H.K. Mahantesh*

*Dr. H.K. Mahanthesh, Senior Project Executive, Advanced Centre for Skill and Knowledge on Mutual Insurance (ASKMI), Tata-DHAN Academy, Madurai.

understanding this, villagers ofPeravoor (Ramnad district) arefollowing community system ofcelebrating marriages, birthceremonies and mainly funeral rightsto overcome the financial and socialburden. This community system isfollowed from time immemorial.

In this context few organisationsare trying to recognise the peoplepractices in overcoming the risks.Almost for all kinds of risks, peopleare having solutions. Indigenousmethods of risk management evolvedare in practise from time unknown.The only concern is - these systemsare in practice in few patches. Not allthe people are following these systemsto overcome the natural risks. Ifgovernment with the support of nongovernmental organisations canrecognise all these risk combatingmechanisms and if it can make people

to practise it everywhere, with lessfinancial support, people can easilyfind solutions to their nature boundproblems.

Peravoor village belongs toRamnad district of Tamilnadu state. Itis six kilometers away from Ramnad.There are 498 households in thisvillage. The whole village is dividedinto two blocks by the main roadheading to Chennai. The two blocksare called as east block and west block.East block is having 290 householdsand the west block is having 208households. This village is having allthe basic amenities like water,electricity, road, library and healthcentre. Villagers belong to threedifferent castes. Major caste bynumber is Scheduled caste (358households), followed by Konar (100households) and Arundathiyar (40households).

15

Why Peravoor is different!!!

“Both at the good and bad times,villagers standby and support theconcerned socially and financially”

Associations working in the village

1. Peravoor elders association

All married men are members ofthis association. Immediately aftermarriage, bridegroom should give fiverupees to the association. Every weekeach family should save Rs.5 (untiltheir death). In absence or death of thehusband, wife will continue savings.Every Sunday, all members assembleat 10 AM to discuss and to promotethe association.

2. Peravoor women association

All the married women ofPeravoor should compulsorilybecome members of this association.Every Saturday at 10 AM, all thewomen should assemble at one placeand should save Rs.10.

3. Peravoor youth association

Whenever situations likemarriage, birth ceremony or deathevents (funerals) demands, youthassociation will start working underthe guidance of elders association.Immediately after baby boy takes birthin the family, he or his family shouldstart contributing 50 paisa/week (untilhe dies). Youth association meeting ison every Sunday at 10 AM.

4. Kalanjiam groups

There are eight Kalanjiam groups(138 members) in the village, workingunder the guidance of DHANFoundation. These Kalanjiam groupsare helping the village to maintain itsunity by bringing the knowledge of

outside world (good and bad practicesof other villages). Villagers aresurprised to know, this type ofcommunity approach what is followedby them is not in practice in most ofthe villages in Ramnad or even inTamil Nadu.

This information itself is bindingthem together to go stronger with theircommunity approach. But they dowant their system to happeneverywhere.

Best Practices

1. They have an association for allthe married men called eldersassociation which works for thewelfare of the village people.

2. Immediately after the marriage,by contributing Rs.100, marriedmen become member of eldersassociation. He continuescontributing Rs.5/per week untilhe dies.

3. Elders association contribution isused for the welfare of the villageas mentioned below• Donate Rs.1,000 to the

deceased family.

• Celebration of temple orvillage festivals.

• During marriage or birthceremony or death event,interest free loan ofRs.10,000 is given to thedecreased family. Amountwill be taken back withinthe span of three months.

4. With the contribution amount,they bought Ratham (vehicle tocarry deceased to the graveyard)worth Rs.24,000 and purchasedone acre of land for common use.

5. No court or police station case isreported from Peravoor village.All types of issues are settled byelders association.

6. Elders association meets everySunday at 10 A.M.

7. During the death of a villager, allthe members participate in thefunerals. Funeral works areperformed by the villagers withthe guidance of the president ofthe elders association. Deceasedfamily members need not do anykind of funeral works. All funeral

16

works are looked after by thevillagers to reduce the burden ofthe suffering family.

8. All married women of the villageare members of womenassociation and save Rs.10 everyweek.

9. All women members of thevillage assemble at one place onSaturday (10 A.M) to save anddiscuss problems of women.Families with financial problemsare given a loan with soft interest(24%) rates.

10. All women members contributesome amount for thedevelopment of the village. In2008, they have contributedRs.20,000 for the renovationworks of the temple.

11. On occasions like birthceremonies and marriages, allwomen members of the villagebring one pot of water to thehouse of the concerned family. Ifnot, penalty of Rs.100 is posed.Attendance is taken by one of thecelebrating family member. Thispractice is followed even fordeath ceremonies as mentioned

earlier.

12. At the time of death, womenassociation collects one kilogramof rice, one pot of water andvegetables from all the familiesand given to the deceased familymembers.

13. Office bearers of the executecommittee are changed once in ayear. There by all the villagers aregiven the opportunity to learn andpractice the role of leadership.

14. In case of a marriage of thebridegroom, he pays Rs.100 to

the elders association in turn forthe development of the village.

8. Drunkard person are not allowedto enter into the committee hall.If he enters, he has to pay fine ofRs.100 to the elders association.

On an average, normalexpenditure to carry out funeral rightsin case of other villages is Rs.7, 800to Rs.13, 050. In Peravoor, becauseof the community system, averageexpenditure is only Rs.2, 000. It isvery much possible in all kinds ofvillages where in people are alreadymobilised in the form of groups orclusters or federations or even in otherkind of village level associations. In avillage where community issystematically organized like inPeravoor, all government programmescan be initiated through villageassociations. Any kind of social oragricultural demonstrations can beinitiated in these villages. Financialinstitutions can use these villages fortheir new schemes anddemonstrations. Peravoor villagers areproving to the world that, communityorganisations can address the needs of

social security of people based on theconcept of mutuality (which enhanceshumanity and social integration). It isappropriate to ponder over why suchsystems and practices cannot beinstituted in micro finance groups orother people institutions so that thecommunity benefit and security arenurtured over generations. Oncecommunity starts practicing thismodel, other developmentProgrammes from government andNGOs’ will become easy toimplement and to develop the villageas a whole.

Such practices are not prevalent inall villages, but only in Peravoor(village wise). These practices areperfected over years under theguidance of elders association orvillage level association. Peravoorvillagers have proven that, it ispossible even with villages havingmore households. It is very muchpossible in all kinds of villages wherein people are already mobilised in theform of groups or clusters orfederations or even other kind ofvillage level associations.

Peravoor villagers are proving tothe world that, communityorganisations can address the needs ofsocial security of people based on theconcept of mutuality (which enhanceshumanity and social integration). It isappropriate to ponder over why suchsystems and practices cannot beinstituted in micro finance groups orother people institutions so that thecommunity benefit and security arenurtured over generations. Oncecommunity starts practicing thismodel, other developmentprogrammes from government andNGOs’ will become easy toimplement and to develop the villageas a whole.

17

Ms. Papamma is a widow living presently with her daughter (Ms. Sathyakiand son-in-law). She is having two daughters and one son. Her son andanother daughter are living in other villages. In the year 2007, her son inlaw was hospitalized in Madurai because of brain cancer. He was admittedfor a week. Every day from the date of admission to discharge, villagerscame to see him in mass (at least 30 to 40 people per day). By seeing this,one of the hospital staff asked Ms.Papamma.[Papamma shared with us theexact conversation happened between her and an unknown hospital staff.Here is the conversation content]Staff : Is he a celebrity?Papamma : No, he is my son in law and an ordinary farmer from Peravoor village of Ramnad district.Staff : Then why so many people are coming to see him?Papamma : That’s the way we live.in our village.Staff : Are you getting any financial support from them?Papamma : When some one is visiting us from our village, they used to contribute cash and food pockets.Staff : I am really amazed to see this but meantime I am feeling sad as my village do not have such good

practices.Papamma : Please visit my village, Thank you.

Ms. Papamma experience

Tourism is one of the worldslargest Industries. According to theUnited Nations worlds TourismOrganization (UNWTO), the businessvolume that is generating today equalsor even surpasses that of oil exports,food products or automobiles. Asdisposable income continues toincrease, the overall number oftourists is forecasted to grow by 4%per year between now and 2020.

In addition to this capacity andgrowth, the tourism industry facesgreater challenges than ever before.Potential impact includes harm to theenvironment, society and localeconomics of tourist destinations

Emerging theme

Tourism and Millennium Development Goals

K.P. Bharathi*

* Mr. K.P. Bharathi, Team Leader, Tourism Theme, DHAN Foundation, Madurai.

18

around the world. Awareness andaction about these concerns are on risewith in the tourism industry,Government and NGOS.

There are limits to using casestudies for assessing poverty.However the on going interimevaluation of multi-site project“Endogenous Tourism for RuralLivelihoods” suggests the possibilityof learning and then scaling up such aproject for widerCoverage.Consideration of the linkages betweentourism and MDGs clearly illustratesthe potential of tourism to have agreater Socio-economic impact.NGOslike us, government and otherstakeholders face the challenges oftranslating the potential in to actualachievements.

The Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs) represent a globalpartnership aimed at responding tothe world’s main developmentchallenges, including povertyreduction, opportunities foreducation, better maternal health,gender equality and reducing childmortality, AIDS and other disease.

The MDGs are an agreed, set ofgoals to be achieved by 2015 basedon all actors working together atglobal, regional and National level.Strategies based on working with awide range of partners can helpcreate coalitions for change thatsupport the MDGs at all levels;bench mark progress; and helpcountries build the institutionalcapacity, policies and programsneeded to achieve the MDGs.

It is generally assumed thatinternational tourism can generatebenefits for poor people and poorcommunities in the context ofsustainable tourism development,usually without specifically targetingthe poor.

However attention has been givento the argument that tourism could bemore effectively harnessed to addresspoverty reduction in ways that aremore direct. For example, accordingto UNWTO, Tourism can contributeto development and poverty reductionin a number of ways. Although thefocus is usually on economic benefit,there can also be socials,environmental and cultural benefits.

Poverty can be reduced whentourism provides employment anddiversified livelihood opportunities,which provides additional income.This can contribute to reducing thevulnerability by increasing the rangeof economic opportunities available toindividuals and households living inconditions of poverty. Tourism canalso contribute through direct taxationand by generating taxable economicgrowth since taxes can then be usedto alleviate poverty through education,health and infrastructure development.These points refer to the generalcontribution of tourism at the macrolevel.

When considering targetedinterventions aimed at achievingspecific MDGs, the action to maketourism contribute to povertyalleviation at local and communitylevel needs to be considered.

At the same time, however, it isequally important to consider howsuch targeted interventions can bereplicated in other communities orscaled up to have a wider impact.

Targeted interventions to addressthe issues raised in the MillenniumDevelopment Goals require that thelinkages between tourism and povertybe identified.

Contribution of Tourism to achieve

the MDGS.

Goal 1:Eradicate extreme povertyand Hunger.

Tourism stimulates economicgrowth both at the national andlocal levels and promotes thegrowth of the agricultural,industrial and service sectors.Tourism provides a wide rangeof employment opportunitiesearly accessible by the poor.Tourism business and tourists

Linkages between Tourism and Poverty

19

purchase goods and servicedirectly from the poor orenterprises employed the poor.This creates opportunities formicro, small and medium –sizedenterprises in which the poor canparticipate.

International and domestictourism spreads development topoor regions and remote ruralareas of a country that may nothave benefited from other typeof economic development.

The development of tourisminfrastructure can benefit thelivelihood of poor throughimprovement in tourism-linkedservice sectors, includingtransport and communication,water supply, energy and healthservices.

Goal 2: Achieve universal primaryeducation

The construction of roads andtracks to remote areas for touristsalso improves access for school–age children and for teacher

Tourism can help local resourcemobilization. Part of which canbe spent on improvement ofeducative facilities

Goal 3: Promote gender equalityand empower Women

The tourism industry employs ahigh proportion of women andcreates micro enterpriseopportunities for them. Itpromotes women’s mobility andprovides opportunity for socialnetworking and financialempowerment.

Goal 4, 5, 6: Reduce childmortality/Improve maternalHealth, combat HIV/AIDs malariaand other diseases:

Construction of roads and tracksto remote areas for tourism alsoimproves access to healthservices.

Revenue accruing to national andlocal governments through taxeson the tourism industry can beused to improve health serviceand nutrition for young childrenand their mothers.Tourism raises awareness aboutHIV/AIDS issues and supportsHIV/AIDS- preventioncampaign.

Goal 7: Ensure EnvironmentalSustainability

Tourism can generate financialresources for conservation of thenatural environment.

Responsible tourism will raiseawareness about environmentconservation and promote wastemanagement, recycling and biodiversity conservation.

20

Goal 8: Develop a globalpartnership for development:

Tourism contributes to the socio-economic development of leastdeveloped countires, land lockedcountries and island developingcountries through foreignexchange earnings and thecreation of job opportunities.

Tourism stimulates thedevelopment of transportinfrastructure.

Tourism stimulates internal andexternal trade and strengthenssupply chains.

Tourism promotes theintegration of isolated economicswith regional and global flows oftrade and investment.

Tourism reduces the burden ongovernment budgets throughimplementation of public-privateinitiatives.

Information technologies play animportant role in integratingtourism enterprises in to globaltourism markets.

An illustrative example ofdemonstrating linkage betweentourism and MDGs could be the fouryear project titled “EndogenousTourism for rural Livelihoods” beingfunded by UNDP. The projectincorporation strategies designed towork with a wide range of partners tocreate coalitions for change in supportof achieving the MDGs at the locallevel and build Institutional capacitybased on new model known asEndogenous Tourism, which is linkedto the workshop of rural tourism.

From 2003 to 2008, the ministryof Tourism and culture, Governmentof India, has been working with 34implementing agencies, 30 NGOs and4 Panchayats at 36 sites across 20states throughout the country.Alternative models of rural tourismare being developed across India,since the government has identifiedtourism as a vehicle for generatingemployment and promotingsustainable livelihoods. Micro-fiancing is a part of the project.

Cultural heritage and indigenoustradition are the foundations of theproject model of rural tourism.Common facility centers for villagecraft persons and village art centers areset up at the 36 project sites toshowcase the culture and livingheritage characteristic of each site.Where appropriate, rest houses arebuilt based on local skills andconstructive materials. People in thecommunities are trained in differentaspects o hospitality to provideservices of international standard.

Community ownership andmanagement is central to the projectsstrategy. At every stage in theimplementation, care is taken toensure the participation of women,youth and other disadvantaged groups.

By October 2006, most sites wereready to receive tourists and allimplementing partners has becomesensitized to gender and HIV/AIDSconcerns. The project won a worldTravel Award in the category of“Worlds Leading ResponsibleTourism Project” in 2006.

As part of committment to MDGs,DHAN is progressing in linkingTourism and MDG goal byimplementing the EndogenousTourism project at Karaikudi(Sivaganga district) andKazhugumalai (Thoothukudi dist)with collaboration of UNDP Ministryof tourism, government of India. Nowthe experiences of this project havegiven us insights to tap the tourismopportunities in favour of the poorcommunities to promote responsibleTourism Initiatives as a cross cuttingtheme in DHAN Collective.

21

Environment Corner

*Er. S. Sivaraman, President, Noyyal conservation Committee, Formar Chief Engineer in PWD, Government of Tamil Nadu.

Introduction

The essence of sustainabledevelopment is that natural resourcesmust be used in ways that will notlimit their availability to futuregenerations. The finite nature of therenewable fresh water resource makesit a critical natural resource, in thecontext of population growth.Population growth not only increaseshuman water needs, it also helpsaccelerate environmental disturbanceof the “Hydrologic cycle” as a by-product of the greater production offood and fuel. Industry uses water forcooling, processing, cleaning andremoving industrial wastes. Most ofthe water used for the industrialpurposes is returned to the water cycle.However, the chemicals fromIndustrial wastewater often polluteand damage the remaining fresh waterresources. Industrial use varies fromless than five per cent in manydeveloping countries to as much aseighty five per cent in Belgium andFinland (Robert Engelman andPamela Leroy, 1993).

This paper narrates the tale ofRiver Noyyal which is torn betweenFood and Fashion and being killed inthe process. The Irrigationdevelopment in the Noyyal Riverdates back to several centuries. TheRiver Noyyal passes through a fastexpanding city of Tiruppur, a textileindustrial city with hundreds of dyeing

Participatory Ecological Restoration

Case study of River Noyyal in IndiaEr. S. Sivaraman*

and bleaching units. These units drawfresh water for their process andalmost all the water returns as effluent.Thus an acute competition for theNoyyal water between food andfashion developed. A perennial riveris now a dead river whose waterscannot be used and no one dare totouch the water. An attempt torejuvenate the river is going on andthis paper gives the details of theactivities.

Noyyal Basin

The Noyyal river is the tributaryof the Cauvery river which originatesin the Velliangiri hills of westernghats. The river Noyyal passesthrough two important urban centres,Coimbatore, a fast expandingindustrial city and Tiruppur, a textileindustrial city with hundreds of dyeingand bleaching units and confluenceswith the river Cauvery near NoyyalVillage of Karur Taluk. The totalcatchment area of Noyyal basin is2999 Sq.km. The average annualrainfall in the area ranges between 500to 650 mm. The water resources usein Noyyal River dates back to BC era.The Kodumanal is a place on thebanks of river where archeologicalexcavations revealed trade betweenRoman empire during second centuryBC. There are remains of anaicuts andevidences for the existence of steelmelting units. There are 24 anaicutsacross Noyyal river above the

Orathupalayam reservoir whichdiverts water for irrigation through 30tanks. There are two importantirrigation structures in the basin:1. Muthur barrage, and

Athupalayam tank2. Orathupalayam reservoir.

Muthur Barrage

A barrage across the Noyyal riverat Chinnamuthur was constructed inthe year1981. The water is divertedthrough a 10 km long canal toAthupalayam tank in Erode District.The stored water in the Athupalayamtank irrigates an extent of 9625 acresof wet lands in Karur district.

Orathupalayam Reservoir

A reservoir was built across riverNoyyal in the upstream of the Muthurbarrage during 1992. The reservoir isdesigned to irrigate an ayaicut of 500acres in Erode district. In addition, thewater stored in the dam is diverted toAthupalayam tank through Muthurbarrage to irrigate further extent of9875 acres. On completion ofOrathupalayam dam the total ayacutunder Athupalayam tank increased to19500 acres.

Development of Textile industry in

Tiruppur

The environmental activists likeGreen Peace International started acampaign against pollution of rivers

22

by the dyeing and bleaching industriesin Europe during the late seventies.One Mr. Antony Verona from Italycame to Tiruppur and purchasedknitwear. This triggered the large scaleexport from Tiruppur to Europe dueto huge profits. The European nationsare happy that their rivers are savedfrom pollution and Tiruppur is willingto meet their dyeing needs. Thoughthe dyeing and bleaching industrieswere started as early as in 1940 inTiruppur, after 1980 the number ofunits both approved and unapprovedincreased phenomenally.

The export earnings that wasRs.150 millions in 1985 rose toRs.60,000 millions in 2005 awhopping figure at what cost ofecology!!!

The population of Tiruppur as per1981 census was 1,65,223 and in 2001it rose to 3,51,501. This increase ismainly due to workforce migratedfrom other parts of Tamil Nadu.Nearly 200,000 people earn theirlivelihood from the textile industriesof Tiruppur. The Pollution ControlBoard (PCB) furnished the following

record of dyeing and bleaching unitsin Tiruppur, Coimbatore areas

Treatment Process

The present practice is to collectthe dye bath water and add lime andferrous sulphate to make thesuspended solids to settle and allowevaporating. The remaining water istreated and let into river. The residueof solid wastes from the settling tanksare collected in gunny bags and storedfor the past ten years. Huge amountof the solid waste are kept in bags in

all the dyeing units and also dumpedalong the river banks, roadsides andin the river beds. This is going on formore than 10 years. The PCBconsiders this waste as hazardousmaterial. The treatment processreduces the COD, BOD, TotalSuspended Solids (TSS) and Heavymetals. But the Total Dissolved Solids(TDS) is very high due to addition ofSalt in huge quantities for dyeing. Thetreatment process at present does notreduce the TDS level. The TDS levelsof the effluents ranges from 3000 to11000 mg/l. The main reason is the

usage of sodium chloride in hugequantities in the dyeing process.

The tolerable limits of TDS asstipulated by the Pollution ControlBoard are

For drinking purposebelow 500mg/l

For agriculturebelow 2100 mg/l

Water used by the units

The dyeing and bleaching processrequire very high quantity of water. InWinch dyeing process it requires15,000 litres of water to process 100kg of cloth. If soft flow process isfollowed the requirement for 100 kgwill be 7000 litres. As per PCB, theunits are permitted to process 600tonnes of fabric per day. Hence theyare supposed use 42 to 90 MLD andan equal quantity of effluent water isgenerated. The effluents are disposedas below:

650 units are letting their effluentinto Noyyal river

155 units are letting their effluent onland

19 units are recycling their effluent.

But some of the units are using thetreated effluent for their casuarinaplantations within the factorypremises. This also affected theground water. The Chief WaterAnalyst, King Institute, a prestigiousinstitution of the Government testedthe water in the Orathupalayamreservoir and furnished the followingto the Committee.• Quality of water is extremely bad

with high pollution load• The mineral content is

abnormally high (6250 mg/l)

Area Coimbatore Tiruppur Total

Total units 87 737 824

Units with CommonTreatment Plants

47 281 328

Units with IndividualTreatment Plants

10 420 430

Units with NoTreatment

30 36 66

Quantity let out in MLD 6.52 87.8 94.32

Year

Numberof Units

2 15 42 67 78 99 450 551 713 786 824

1941

1951

1961

1971

1981

1986

1989

1992

1994

1998

2005

23

• High chlorides (3200 mg/l)

• Oils and Grease (51 mg/l)

• Total Nitrogen (5.04 mg/l).

• The abnormally highconcentration of Sodium (2054mg/l) is still dangerous as itreplaces Calcium andMagnesium from the soilresulting in the breakdown ofgranular structure of the soil.

• Trace elements like Mercury areabsent.

Damages casued by storing water in

the Orathupalayam Dam

During 1996 there was a changein the process of dyeing which createdmore toxic and highly saline effluents.The water let down for irrigation fromNoyyal not only reduced the cropyield but also damaged the soilpermanently and made it unsuitablefor cultivation. The people of the areaprotested and water are not let downfor irrigation from this reservoir since1996. The river course is caused byincise and the bottom is rocky bed.Hence flowing water will quicklydrain without seeping into the ground.But the stagnated water will find entryinto the ground through sides andaffect the ground water. As thepolluted water was stored for 9 years,the damage to ground water had spreadin all villages around the reservoir.The livelihood of farmers dependedupon wells for irrigation and now theylost their agriculture. Moreover thedrinking water scarcity is acute in thevillages around the dam both forhuman beings and live stock.

Damage to Agriculture

There are 23 hamlets in Anjurvillage panchayat. Half of thehamlets are along the Noyyal bank and

the other half around theAthupalayam tank. Prior to 1996 (theyear in which the dam commissionedand the polluted water of the Noyyalwas let into the system), the farmersin Athupalayam tank for whom thesystem created were able to have agood harvest of paddy, sugarcane andgingelly. The polluted water fromNoyyal affected the ground water aswell as land after irrigation. The cropyield had reduced by 50% in 1996itself and still further after 1998. Thereafter they refused to receive supplyfrom Noyyal. Some of the farmersused only the return flows of lowerBhavani project ayacut and able tocultivate their lands. But if they useground water, the crops fail and landgets affected. They depend on thewells for their drinking water needs.But after the well waters became non-potable due to pollution by Noyyalthey have to trek a long distance toget water. The health and livelihoodissues are also serious. To sum up thedamages are extensive.

Drinking Water

Erode District 215 habitats

Karur District 308 habitats

Water sources located 1km oneither side of these habitats are unfitfor both human and animalconsumption.

Writ pettition and constitution of

expert committee

A writ petition No. 29791 of 2003was filed by the Noyyal RiverAyacutars Protection Associationunder Article of 226 the constitutionof India praying that the High Courtmay direct the Respondent toimplement the orders of theHonourable High court of Madras,Dated 26-02-98 and made in WP No.1649 of 1996 passed in pursuance ofjoint memo filed in the consent of allthe parties. The Honourable Highcourt of Madras in its order Dated 5-5-2005 has constituted an expertcommittee to go into the questionsformulated by the Honourable HighCourt. Similar orders were alsopassed by the Honourable High Courtof Madras on 5-5-2005 in WritPetition No. 39368 of 2003,Writpetition No. 27540 of 2004 and Writpetition No. 12000 of 2005.TheHonourable High Court nominated theCollectors of Coimbatore and ErodeDistricts as the Coordinators to theCommittee. The Court directed the

Committee toinspect thecluster ofindustrial unitsin and aroundTirupur thatare dischargingtrade effluentseither directlyand indirectlyinto the Noyyal

River and assess the volume of thepolluted water discharged into theriver every day. The Committee hasto suggest ways and means to cleanthe stored water in the Dam and thenrelease the treated water in the riverby adopting any technical industrialprocess. The Committee wasrequested to suggest an action plan for

Critical and sensitive forgermination of crops

64636 ha

Injurious for most crops 33359 ha

Land become unfit for paddy cultivation

Cotton and Sorgham 50% reduction in yield

Coconut and Sugarcane 66% reduction in yield

25% of lands have to be kept fallow

24

remediation of the Noyyal river andin particular the Orathupalayam Damand the canals and to suggest ways andmeans for preventing the discharge ofpolluted trade effluents either directlyor indirectly into the Noyyal river bythe cluster of industrial units in andaround Tirupur during the process ofcleaning the dam area and later.

Expert committee’s findings

Tiruppur

The committee observed that ahuge amount of the solid waste arekept in bags in all the dyeing units andalso dumped along the river banks,roadsides and in the river beds. Thisis going on for more than 10 years. ThePCB considers this waste as hazardousmaterial. The Committee heard theviews of farmers and dyeingIndustrialists. The committee tookinto consideration the request madeby several farmers’ representativesthat the stored water in the dam maybe emptied without delay. The farmersbelonging to both sides of the bankriver expressed that the stagnatedwater in the OrathupalayamReservoir is causing pollution to theirground water. The river course iscaused by incise and the bottom isrocky bed. Hence flowing water willquickly drain without seeping into theground. But the stagnated water willfind entry into the ground throughsides and affect the ground water. Thishas been observed in the testsundertaken during field inspection bythe committee. The damage to groundwater will spread farther away as longas the water is stored in the dam. Thelivelihood of farmers depended uponwells for irrigation and now they losttheir agriculture. Moreover thedrinking water scarcity is acute in the

villages around the dam both forhuman beings and live stock.

Coimbatore

There are 87 dyeing and bleachingunits in and around Coimbatore. Outof these 87 units, 47 units havegrouped themselves and initiatedaction to install CETPs. But theirconstructions are partly done andabandoned in the pretext that they areawaiting the grant from Governmentof India. Another 30 units have notreatment plants and let untreatedeffluent into the River I. Theremaining 10 units have individualtreatment plants. However they arenot addressing the TDS. The ExpertCommittee visited one of the 10 unitsand found that the treatment plants arenot performing satisfactorily. Based onthe observations of the ExpertCommittee, the High Court orderedthe closure of all the units in river Iuntil they comply with ZeroDischarge.

Farmer’s views

The farmers expressed that theywere well off and happy before theconstruction of dam and that the damconstructed for helping Agriculture,has now become a storage pond forpolluters. The Farmer’s wanted toensure that,

• Production is restricted as perlicensed capacity

• Zero discharge is madecompulsory

• Shifting of all the units 5 kmsaway from the river

• Individual treatment plantsinstead of Common EffluentTreatment Plants

• Permanent vigilance group tooversee the zero dischargerepresented by experts, officials& affected villagers associations

Recommendations

1. Dilution is the feasible andsuggested method of treatment ofstored water in Orathupalayamdam. The release of the storedwater has to be completed withinthe shortest possible timeconsidering the flow in Cauvery.River sluices have to be keptopen and not to store any waterin the dam, until the zerodischarge of the effluent to theriver is ensured.

2. The dyeing & bleaching unitshave to install treatment plantseither individually or as a groupand reduce the COD, BOD, TotalSuspended Solids (TSS) andHeavy metals. A ReverseOsmosis Unit is to be installedto reduce the TDS level and afterreducing the TDS, the effluent isto be recycled by the units andno water / effluent is to be let intothe river. This is called as “ZeroDischarge”. The units are giventime of 15 months to complywith and ensure Zero Discharge.

3. Sewage disposal, as well asmunicipal waste, is beingdumped into the river. The TamilNadu Water supply AndDrainage Board (TWAD) and thelocal bodies concerned have tobe directed that this practicestopped forthwith. Particularlythe TWAD Board should bedirected to install sewagetreatment plants within ninemonths and treated effluentshould be recycled.

25

4. For the catchment and commandarea treatment to rejuvenateNoyyal and restore ecology, thefollowing are suggested:

• The encroachments andobstructions in the Noyyalriver have to be removed.

• Construction of checkdams and percolationponds for rainwaterharvesting to improve thequality of ground wateraffected by the pollutedstorage.

• Rehabilitation of tanks andponds including desiltingof the tanks to reclaim theground water.

• Treatment to the commandarea through landreclamation, cropdiversification, and watermanagement.

• Rejuvenation of Noyyalriver through improvedmaintenance andmanagement of rivercourse.

The compensation and fine imposed

The Loss of Ecology Authority,Chennai had passed an order that asum of Rs.247.9 millions have to becollected from 793 industries anddisbursed to 28944 affected landowners. The industries have beendirected to remit their due inbimonthly installments from01.04.2005. 16 industries in Erodehad remitted their first installmenttotaling Rs.4,20,736. The Collector,Erode, informed the committee that

the industries are not forth coming toremit the subsequent installmentamounts in spite of his best efforts.The collector had initiated action torecover the amount under theprovisions of the Revenue RecoveryAct. Three industries have filed writpetitions in the High Court against theuse of Revenue Recovery Act forrecovering the dues from them for theabove purpose. As there are legalimpediments in collecting the secondand subsequent installments, thecompensation amount could not becollected and disbursed to the affectedland owners. As a result, the affectedland owners are experiencing muchhardship and they are making repeatedrepresentations to the districtadministration for expeditioussettlement of the compensationamount to them. But continueddischarge of untreated effluent andflow of untreated effluent in the rivercontinues to hamper the livelihoodsof thousands of farmers living alongthe riverside villages. The ExpertCommittee as well as the MonitoringCommittee during their visits to theindustries and also while checking theflow into the rivers and canals, foundthat untreated water still continues toflow in the river. This will continuethe pollution and cause irreparabledamage to ecology and also harmingthe livelihoods of the community inand around the Noyyal river. As apollution control measure, thequantity let into Noyyal including theunits from Coimbatore had to bestopped and then the Noyyal basin hadto be rejuvenated.

There were two categories ofindustries operating in Tiruppur. Thefirst categories are those who

complied with the directions ofHonourable Court and installed ROplants to ensure zero discharge and thesecond are who have not. Hence theproblem of untreated effluent iscontinuing. The MonitoringCommittee in their report dated 5th

August 2006 had recommended asystem of imposing fine on the freeriders. The quantum of “fine/penalty”suggested was actually related to thesavings made by the CETPs and/theirmember units who have notimplemented the zero dischargeconcept but gaining commercialadvantage of lesser production costat present when compared to thoseunits who have faithfullyimplemented the court order andincurring additional cost inreaching zero Discharge. So as toneutralize the commercial advantagegained by the defaulters overcompliant units, until they completethe installation and effect ZeroDischarge penalty have to be imposed.The Monitoring Committeerecommended that all CETPs besubjected to an ascending fine from 6paise a litre beginning 1st August 2006and increasing month after month to10 paise a litre in December 2006.Thereafter, if a CETP is not in aposition to operate the RO plant andreject management arrangements so asto achieve zero discharge, the CETPand its member units must be shutdown till such achievement ispossible. The Committee alsorecommends that these monies alongwith the fines already levied by thisHon’ble Court on individual unitsand CETPs be segregated and usedfor remediation of the Noyyal riverand other water bodies such as theSarkar Periyapalayam Eri, which

26

have been the recipient of pollutedwater, after the Orathupalayam Damis cleared of accumulated sedimentand also as a reserve to be used forcompensating down stream farmersfor continuing damages sufferedafter the period for whichcompensation was ordered by theloss of ecology authority. The HighCourt agreed and imposed the fine tothe erring industries. As most ofindustries are operating at more thanthe approved limit, the fine amountwas very huge.

Participatory river cleaning

An NGO by name VALAMcleaned some reaches of he Noyyalriver within Tiruppur a year back. Thecommittee during visit observed thatthese reaches had again deterioratedand encroached upon. This indicatesthat a one time improvement will notlast long unless followed by sustainedmaintenance by the community.Hence the committee recommendedthat the work of cleaning the river tobe entrusted to the affected villagers.Normally this type of work will beentrusted to the contractors. Thecommittee approached the High Courtwith this recommendation. The workof cleaning the Noyyal riverdownstream of the dam for 45 km wasentrusted to the Noyyal RiverAyacutdars Protection Association.The above association entered into aMemorandum of Understanding withthe Executive Engineer, LowerBhavani Basin Division. An amountof Rs.15.00 lakhs was placed at thedisposal of the association as anadvance as per the order of theHonourable High Court. The workcommenced on 10th June 2006. The

Expert Committee periodicallyinspected the progress of the work ofcleaning the Noyyal river carried outby the association. The variouscomponents of the work involved areas follows;

• Jungle clearance

• Sludge removal

• Demarcation of riverboundaries and fixing ofstones

• Planting trees on the banks

• Maintenance of the rivercourse

There was great enthusiasm amongthe affected villagers as this workprovided some income to theme andalso the river is cleaned from pollutionand encroachments. The DistrictCollectors evinced interest and put therevenue officials in the job ofdemarcation of boundaries and fixingof stones. The Public WorksDepartment (PWD) also joined asthey were able to reclaim theproperties hitherto encroached. Theworks are nearing completion. As soonas the monsoon rains start, the plantingof trees will be carried out inconsultation with Forest Departmentand the Public Works Department.The representative of the farmers fromThangamman Koil at Kodumanalinformed that he could observe andfeel the improvement in quality ofwater in the wells near the vicinity oftemple gradually after the dam hasbeen emptied. Farmers also have anapprehension that the impounding ofpolluted water in Orathupalayamdam will cause deterioration in qualityof their wells and they want the

present arrangement of keeping theshutters open till Zero discharge isensured.

The farmers informed thecommittee that the stone quarryrubbish is being dumped into the riverand sought the committee’sintervention to put a stop to this. Thecommittee during one of theinspection visited the places shown bythe farmers and observed that theexcavated earth from several stonequarry firms is dumped in the river.The committee felt that no one caredabout this dumping that has beengoing on for several years. It is a clearneglect both by government agenciesand the people of the nearby villageswho should have stopped suchatrocious action in the beginning. Thecommittee requested the revenueofficials who were present to issue anotice to all the quarry firms nearbyto stop immediately the dumping ofearth in the river. And it is the firms’responsibility to remove the alreadydumped earth and put it back to thequarry pits. Otherwise their quarrylicense will be cancelled. The HighCourt also ordered the closure ofquarries that violated the directions.Unless the farmers brought this to thenotice of the Committee, the quarryowners would have formed an earthdam across Noyyal!!!

After this demarcation of riverboundaries by the revenue officialsnumber of spots could be identifiedwhere people have encroached andprevented the cleaning works. InEllagramam village, a villager hasencroached an area and cultivatingsugarcane in it. A cattle shed is also inthe encroached area. In the same

27

village other crops like castor are alsocultivated. Similar practice is goingMaravapalayam village in theopposite bank. In the Vasuvapattivillage the person encroached hadcultivated palm and coconut trees.After PWD and Revenue authoritiesdemarcated, he had cut all the palmtrees. The Committee suggested thatthe lands reclaimed from the evictionof encroachments may be given to SelfHelp Groups / Villager’s Associationsto use them for any income generationactivities like planting Flowers, Herbsand Vegetables. In turn, Self HelpGroups / Villager’s Associations havemaintained the river banks within thevillage boundaries. The farmers’associations have to create a corpusfund and the interest from the fundshould be used for maintenance of theriver and its banks. The committeealso recommended planting of shortduration crops like Daincha andShorgam in the water spread area toabsorb the chloride from the soil. Afterthe rainy season the crops can be

removed along with the Prosofisjuliflora growth in the water spread.The affected farmers may be entrustedwith this work. The earning also couldbe pooled into corpus fund.

Conclusions

An earlier attempt made by anNGO by name VALAM to clean somereaches of the Noyyal had resulted infailure as it could not be sustained.This indicates that a one timeimprovement will not last long unlessfollowed by sustained maintenance bythe community. Normally this typeof work will be entrusted to thecontractors. But at therecommendation of the expertcommittee and the directions of theHigh Court, the work of cleaning theriver and planting trees along bankswas entrusted with the affectedvillagers. All the expenditures for thiswork were borne by the pollutingindustries, which were ordered todeposit Rs.240 millions withCollector.

The industries were directed toinstall treatment plants and startreusing the treated effluent (ZeroDischarge into River).The districtadministration was directed by theCourt to extend all the help in thiswork. This model of participation bypeople, government and industries isunique and tried first time. Thefarmers have understood after nineyears of suffering the meaning of theadage “A stitch in time will save nine”to ensure the sustainability of theseefforts and are willing to manage theriver at their cost in future

References

1. Robert Engelman and PamelaLeroy, 1993: Sustaining Water-Population and Future ofRenewable Water supplies,Population Action International,Washington D.C.

2. Reports of the Expert Committee(14 Reports)

3. Judgments of the High Court ofMadras

28

T he DHAN BusinessDevelopment Services team has

taken up the Endogenous TourismProject in Karaikudi, SivagangaiDistrict, Tamil Nadu. DHANFoundation along with Ministry ofTourism is implementing the project.Karaikudi is located just 40 Km awayfrom Sivagangai. It is the seat ofChettinad culture. Karaikudi enchantsall with its refined wood carving,attracting Athangudi tiles, silverembellishment, woven saries,jewellery and the exotic Chettinadcuisine.

The impact of the migration inKaraikudi has also been distinct on theculture of the centres of ancientcivilisation. The arts and thearchitecture have started fading andthe livelihood of the rural people hasalso been affected due to thesemigrations. But the interest of thepeople to go back to their villages, stayin their residence and relieve in theirown culture is still deep rooted.

“Revival of arts; survival ofartisans” - the slogan of endogenoustourism will help the dreams of theseveral master craftsmen come true.The overall goal of the project is tocreate a community managed ruraltourism model through strengtheningsustainable livelihoods of the localcommunities. The rural tourism wouldprovide life to the arts and therebyimproving the livelihood of theartisans. DHAN Foundation hassigned MoC (Memorandum of Co-

Tourism

Athangudi Tiles – Testimony to the Rich Cultural

Heritage of Chettinad

Er. S.K. Karthich Gopal *

* Er. S.K. Karthich Gopal, Project Executive, DHAN Foundation, Karaikudi

operation) with EXIM Bank to helpthe artisans in Chettinad especially thebrass metal workers, wood carvers andAthangudi tile makers.

Athangudi is a small villagesituated 16 Km from Karaikudi.Athangudi tiles, named after theirplace of manufacture in Chettinad,come in myriad colors and patternsand are made by a unique processusing local soil. These tiles aretestimony to the rich cultural heritageof the Chettiar community, whoeffectively adapted many influencesto their own brand of localcraftsmanship. The designs and colorsused in Athangudi tiles are still thoseof a bygone era. The artisans say thecharisma of those tiles is due to sand,which is of just the right composition.Cement, baby jelly and sand alongwith synthetic oxides make thecomposition of the tile.

The art of making these tiles is atraditional activity at Chettinad. But

the tiles manufactured now are not ofthe same quality as those of older days.With stiff competition from ceramictiles, the demand for Athangudi tileshas declined. To revive this art formand improve the livelihood of itsartisans, DHAN Foundation – withthe support of UNDP andGovernment of India in theEndogenous Tourism Project atKaraikudi is working with theproducers of the Athangudi tiles.DHAN Foundation has assisted theartisans in forming an association with26 members, so as to continue the wayof life centered on this art form, andto enable them to co-ordinate onvarious activities associated with tilemaking. To generate more interest,this activity is also included in theschedule of heritage tours and theresults are promising. All the visitorsare attracted by the Athangudi tiles andmany are showing interest to purchasethe tiles.

1

Livelihoods

* R. Lalitha, Project Executive, DHAN Foundation, Thirunallar, Karaikal, Pondicherry UT.

Kalanja Meenavar Sangam (KMS) in Nagoor

R. Lalitha*

Introduction

Kalanjia Meenavar Sangam(KMS) is one of the initiatives of postTsunami rehabilitation programme byDHAN Foundation. KMS is forfishermen to enrich their life. Most ofthe fishermen are wage labourers anda few of them own small boats. Thesefishermen are forced to sell theirfishes to the money lenders and tradersfrom whom they borrowed money athigher rate of interest. They never getthe real price for their fishes fromthese traders. These fishermen areexploited by agents (middle men) asthey are not contacting the buyersdirectly. They do not have huge capitalto invest and wait for a week to getthe income. KMS is trying to help thefishermen to come out from theirproblems.

Kalanjia Meenavar Sangam (KMS)

Nagoor, five kilometers away fromKaraikal is known for its fishtransaction. Five persons (Mani,Kumar, Balaya, Iyyappan andKaliappan) came forward to start theKMS with twenty members who ownboats and 150 fishing labourers. Theobjective of the KMS is to markettheir fishes collectively. Karaikalfederation (North), a federationpromoted by DHAN Foundationprovided Rs. Two lakhs to KMS groupmembers as loan. They started theirbusiness with this working capital, andstarted paying for the catchesimmediately, usually within a day. Theamount is also used to purchase

materials to preserve the fishes in icebox, purchasing ice bars and weighingmachines. After getting the fish fromthe fishermen, the KMS informs thebuyers about the place and time. Thefishes are sold to the marketers to thehighest bidder. As KMS has twentyboats with 150 members in KMS,auction commences only after all theboats reach the point.

If the member gives fishes toKMS, he receives the money on thatday itself. KMS in turn would collectthe amount from the buyers (may bein a week’s time). Through thisactivity, the small fishermen getbenefit immediately. The smallfishermen contribute five percentageof the amount to the KMS from theirsales, of which three percent is takenas service charge and two percent goesas their savings. From the servicecharge, 50 percent is pooled for corpusto KMS, 10 percent is for service

charge to the federation, 10 percent isfor revolving and 5 percent is forconservation and disaster. Theremaining 25 percent is shared asprofit to the members.

DHAN Foundation providedcapacity building and facilitated themto come out from these types ofbondages. This encouraged theinterested members to join hands andform KMS, so that they can do themarketing with the collective strength.The federation is also providing loansto repay their debts and live a free life.KMS also helps them to buy theicebox of good quality to preserve fishfor a longer period of time. The iceboxis playing major role in fish marketing.Without icebox, they could not sell thefishes profitable. KMS is collectingthe share amount from the member tomake them collective owner. At theend of the year, the profit is shared byall members.

Centre for Development CommunicationDHAN Foundation

18, Pillaiyar Koil Street, S.S. Colony, Madurai - 625 016. Tamil Nadu, INDIA

Tel.: +91 - 452 - 4353983, 2610794, 2610805 Fax: +91 - 452 - 2602247

Email: dhanfoundation_tn@airtelmail.in Website: http://www.dhan.org

Heritage Tribal culture Building on

of

The institutional mechanisms of imparting education, extending

health services, and development interventions should enable

the tribal communities to preserve their identities, traditional

knowledge and culture.

ulture is an important element for Chuman resource development in a

country.

With almost a decade

for intensive work in the tribal areas of

Adilabad in Andhra Pradesh, DHAN

Foundation has come out with a package of

microfinance plus strategies such as; freeing

the tribal communities from financial

bondedness of exploitative traders, creating

and strengthening forest based livelihoods,

water resources development and building

health and educational services from the

inception.

Understanding the lifestyle, culture

and socio-economic reality of the tribal people,

also their unique strengths are critical for

creating favorable environment for sustainable

development of tribes.

Development to preservecultural indentities