Project Report Empowerment of Women through Convergence of
Service Providers to Improve Child Sex Ratio” in District Fatehgarh Sahib in the State of Punjab, India
Sponsored By:
National Mission for Empowerment, Ministry of Women & Child Development, Government of India
Implemented By:
Voluntary Health Association of Punjab SCF 18/1, Sector 10-D, Chandigarh
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements...................................................................
Abbreviations.................................................................................
Executive Summary......................................................................
1. Brief description about the Project
1.1. Objective of the Project
1.2 Brief description about project focused Areas 1.2.1 Area and Location
1.2.2Administrative Division 1.2.3 Population
1.2.4 Total No. of Blocks
1.2.5 Sirhind Block
1.2.6Climate, Rainfall and Soil
2. Project Activities and key findings of the Project.
3. End Evaluation Report’s Main Findings
4. Some of the measurable outcomes from the project
Annexure
Photos
list of Newspapers Clippings
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks to all the
stakeholders for their support and cooperation during implementing this
project. We are especially thankful to National Mission for Empowerment,
Ministry of Women & Child Development, Government of India and all
concerned officials for providing timely support and guidance during
implementing this project. We are also especially thankful to the
programme team and field level staff members at all locations for
coordinating and helping at every stage during implementing this project.
Finally, sincere gratitude and thanks are due to all the stakeholders and
specially women who were participated various village, block, district and
state level activities and support us. Thanks to the all participants for kindly
sharing their experience, views and opinions with VHAP team. Thanks to the
all stakeholders of the project site for participating in Focus Group
Discussions, interviews and other interactive sessions.
We also appreciate the presence of Government line agencies during various
interactive sessions. Our sincere gratitude for the valuable time provided to
us by Deputy Commissioner, Additional Deputy Commissioner of district
Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab. Thanks to all colleagues of VHAP for their kind
support.
Manmohan Sharma
Team Leader
ABBREVIATIONS
ANM - Auxiliary Nurse Midwife
ASHA- Accredit Social Health Activist
FGD- Focus Group Discussion
ICDS- Integrated Child Development Scheme
MGNREGA- Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
NGO -Non Government Organisation
PRI -Panchayati Raj Institution
MM- Mahila Mandal
SHG- Self Help Group
CBOs-Community Based Organisation
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
VHAP is a community based organisation working in Punjab since 1994. Its
initial focus was to address the issues of the poor and vulnerable
communities. VHAP began working in partnership with local NGOs,
networks, federations and community groups to address the underlying
causes of poverty, conflict and vulnerability through promotion of gender
and social inclusion, rights based approach and social obilization. Women
Empowerment is one of the core priority programs that focus on economic,
social, political, and cultural aspects of women’s life.
VHAP started a one-year project “The Project Entitled “Empowerment of
Women through Convergence of Service Providers to Improve Child Sex
Ratio” in District Fatehgarh Sahib in the State of Punjab” .The project
started in March 2014 and completed in June. 2015. The program was
implemented in 10 selected villages of one block. The targeted beneficiaries
of the program were specially women and adolescent, who vulnerable and
socially excluded. Besides implementation at field level, this program also
worked at blocks and district level. For effective implementation of this
project District-level coordination and convergence Committee was formed
by representatives from various District level departments.
Activities such as Capacity building, Community mobilization and support,
Sensitization etc implemented in this project are relevant with the local
situations, plans/ policies of the Government of Punjab. The VHAP team
found the local CBOs and NGOs, So that they advised to implement such
practices in their working area of operation.
The series of efforts made by VHAP through advocacy campaign, awareness,
and training to concerned stakeholders for promotion of community
involvement plan of action is commendable. Information available from field
and documentation justify VHAP’s planned activities to support the priority
set by the NMEW and the level of coordination maintained with its
stakeholders and line agencies.
1. Brief description about the Project
The National Mission for Empowerment of Women (NMEW), Ministry of
Women and Child Development, Government of India (GOI) has
implemented the programme through partner organization for pilot
convergence models for empowerment of women with thematic focus. The
Mission is mandated to facilitate the processes that contribute to economic
empowerment of women, eliminate violence against women, social
empowerment of women with emphasis on health and education, gender
mainstreaming of policies, programs and institutional arrangements and
awareness generation and advocacy for bridging information and service
gaps. The pilot convergence models are meant to demonstrate convergence
of programmes and schemes in the field level. It is borne from the fact that,
better convergence between the schemes, especially, flagship schemes in
terms of planning, process and implementation will bring substantial
improvements in overall development outcomes. Though, large public
investments are made by Central and State Governments through schemes
and programmes in various sectors like health, education, employment and
social security etc., the primary focus is always on meeting goals of the
respective ministries and departments. The pilot convergence models
present an opportunity to optimize these efforts through inter-sectoral
coordination to meet the larger objective of overall development and
empowerment of people, especially the women.
The intensive work under the Pilot has been implemented at the Gram
Panchayat level. The pilot project has expected convergence of government
and certain other service providers to work towards improving child sex
ratio. For the state, the burning issue of child sex ratio that has emerged in
last few decades needs to be dealt in multifaceted and at multiple levels. The
issues of Reproductive & sexual Health Rights need to be probed and Family
Life Education has to be adopted as essential and complementary
measurers to avoid aversion to girl child. Project Goal is to support
convergence of women empowerment related programs of all government &
other service providers in improving child sex ratio.
1.1 Objectives of the project:
To synergize the stand alone efforts of related departments and other
service providers through inter-sectoral coordination to meet the
larger objective of overall development and empowerment of women;
To create awareness about entitlements flowing through schemes and
programmes;
To harness strength of collective bargaining for rights, strengthen
community involvement in monitoring mechanisms, involve and train
relevant stakeholders and
To energize the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and facilitate
organizing Mahila Gram Sabha in selected villages and build their
capacity for sustaining the Pilot.
1.2 Brief description about project focused Areas
1.2.1 Area and Location
Total area of Fatehgarh Sahib District is 1,180 square kilometer. It is
situated in Punjab state of India. It is bounded by Ludhiana and Ropar in
the North, Patiala in the South, parts of Ropar and Patiala in the East and
parts of Ludhiana and Sangrur in the West. It is situated between 30
degree-38' North 16 degrees-27' East and is 50 Kms. towards the west of
Chandigarh, the capital of Punjab.
District has some of the key facts:
Average literacy rate of District is 79.35 percent.
Male literacy rate is 83.33 percent.
Female literacy rate is 74.80 percent.
Average density is 509 per sq. km.
Total Population is 600,163. ( Census-2011)
Male Population is 320,795.
Female Population is 279,368.
Female Sex ratio is 871 females per 1000 males.
Child sex ratio is 842 females per 1000 males.
1.2.2 Administrative Division
S. No.
Particulars Amloh Sub-
division
Bassi Pathana
Sub-
division
Khamano Sub-
division
Fatehgarh Sahib
Sub-
division
Total
1. No. of villages 103 100 76 175 454
2. Area (in hect.)
a) Geographical Area
26120 20657 19593 48409 114779
b) Net Cultivated Area
23167 18124 17885 42852 102028
c) Banjar 171 6 10 54 241
d) Forest 423 620 475 504 2022
1.2.3 Population
As per the census 2011, the district has total population of 227905 which
constitute 10.52% of the total state population. The density of population
per sq km is 50. The schedule tribe and schedule caste population form the
93.2 percent and 0.9 percent of the total population respectively.
1.2.4 Total No. of Blocks
1.2.5 Sirhind Block
The total area of the Block is 30,786 hectares. The town of Sirhind is famous
for bus/truck body building as well as for the manufacturing of
centrifugal/submersible pumps. There are some units of mining machinery
and toughened glass as well. Some products manufactured by these units
are import substitutes. Paddy and wheat are the main crops of the block.
Irrigation is done mainly through tube wells which are supplemented by the
canal water.
1.2.6 Climate, Rainfall and Soil
The soil of the district is mainly alluvial type but it also has loam to heavy
loam and sandy loam soils in certain parts of the district. The climate of the
district is extreme being very hot in summer and cold in winter. The
temperature ranges from 45 degree C (in May/June) to 4 degree C in
December/January. It has a sub-tropical continental monsoon climate. The
rainfall in the district is mostly satisfactory.
The economy of the district mainly depends upon agriculture. The district is
well irrigated with tube wells and canal irrigation being the main sources of
irrigation. Wheat and Rice are the main crops sown in the district.
Project focused area is fully dominated by a patriarchal culture. Women are
subject to subordination while the ability of men to earn money and their
traditional role as a provider entails them with higher economic and social
status. Women’s role in decision-making and control over resources is
negligible in most households. Issues concerning property, marriage,
expenditure and education are men’s business and women can exert little or
no influence over them.
2. Project Activities and key findings of the Project.
Brief description of activities carried out during the project
period
First Quarter: March, 2014, and April-June, 2014:
The project was started with hiring of staffs for implementation of the
project. One project coordinator, two field supervisors and one part time
accountant were hired. After their recruitment the staffs were provided
training on the project implementation. They were oriented on the project
objectives, goals, activities and the project results. They were also briefed on
the project’s background, the need for interventions and intended impact of
the project as well as their roles & responsibilities. Some of the others
activities were-
Introduced the Project in the selected 10 villages
Discussed and consulted block as well as district level govt. officials
about the project
Discussed with different stakeholders such as PRIs members,
SHGs/Club members, Community leaders, ASHA Workers, ANMS,
School Teachers and Village Health and Sanitation Committees of the
selected 10 villages about the project aims and objectives
Baseline survey data collection was started in10 selected villages
10 Girl Child Forums (one in each selected village) were formed.
Focus Group Discussions were conducted in each selected village
One to one meetings were done with pregnant mothers and targeted
couples
Meeting with District Education Officer, Fatehgarh Sahib for participating
school children in the rallies under this project
Meetings with concern School Principals/Heads for finalising rally
schedule
Girl-Child Forums ‘meeting conducted in the 3 villages- Pandrali,
Madhopur and Bhatt Majra.
Five rallies were organised on “Declining Sex Ratio and save Girl-Child”
in five villages- Jallha, Lataur, Madhopur, Bhatt Majra and Bibipur.
Organized motivational meeting between Facilitators and Service
Providers- on focusing “Declining Sex Ratio and save Girl-Child” at village
Pandrali.
Regular follow up by Project Staff of newly birth child and pregnant
mothers in the Project area
Meeting with PRIs elected women representatives for Mahila Gram
Sabhas in their respective village
Girl-Child Forums meetings were conducted
Meeting with staffs of Community Health Centre, Primary Health Centre
and Health Sub-Centres
Developmental meetings with Deputy Commissioner and other
district/block level officials.
Conducted Project Review / Staff meeting.
One to one meeting with women members of Gram Sabhas with
motivational campaigning towards ensuring the participation in proposed
meetings of Gram Sabhas.
Birth/Death data collected from the selected villages.
Baseline survey data was compiled and analysed.
Baseline Survey: In the months of April, May and June 2014, a baseline
survey was conducted in selected area to collect and compile actual data
on various indicators such as total population, sex ratio, number of
children, etc. A questionnaire was developed for collecting information by
research experts, who were hired as consultants for the project and the
staffs were trained for filling up the questionnaire. The survey had been
conducted in 10 selected villages. One day orientation was organized at
Chandigarh office for the project staffs to undertake the survey. The staffs
collected information both qualitative and quantitative from primary and
secondary sources with the help of different stakeholders.
Note: Baseline Survey Report have been already submitted
2nd Quarter: July-September, 2014:
Updated Birth/Death registration data.
Conducted meetings of Girl-Child Forums in the selected 10 villages of
the project.
Meetings with Deputy Commissioner and other district/block level
officials.
GroupWise meetings with Community leaders, Panchayat members,
Teachers, Anganwadi workers, Anganwadi Helpers, ASHAs, Members Mid
day meal of Schools, Pathis of Gurudwars, Pujaries of the temples, Dais
and Chokidars of the project areas.
Listing of the eligible couples.
Listing the adolescent Girls and Boys.
Conducted Project Review / Staff monthly meetings.
Training programmes for service providers
Organized Capacity Building Workshop for 100 front line ASHA Workers
to orient them on Reproductive & Sexual Health Rights and measures to
be taken to safeguard the same
Conducted Quarterly Meeting of Service managers (Health) Service
Providers (Agriculture), Education Department & others for better
coordination.
Group wise meetings with Community leaders, Panchayat members,
Teachers, Anganwadi workers.
One to one meetings with Target Couples.
One to one meeting with adolescent Girls and Boys.
Agenda wise planning meetings with village level facilitators.
Organized Capacity Building Workshop for 100 front line Anganwadi
Workers to orient them on Reproductive & Sexual Health Rights and
measures to be taken to safeguard the same
Meetings attended by concerned officials/ institutions.
Group wise motivational meetings with Community leaders, Panchayat
members, Teachers, Anganwadi workers etc.
Motivational meetings with Target Couples, Pregnant mothers, Lactating
mothers etc.
Motivational meeting with adolescent Girls and Boys.
Conducted Project Review / Staff meetings.
Monthly registration of the Birth/Death etc. got done in the selected
villages.
Counselling one to one and collected Data from 100 villages of Sirhind
Block, to understand the reason for death of children among 0-6 age
group.
3rd Quarter: October –November, 2014: Conducted meetings of Girl-Child Forums in the selected 10 villages.
Updated Birth/Death registration in the selected villages.
Conducted Project Review meeting with the project staffs
Meetings with the concerned govt. departments.
Conducted Group wise meetings with Community leaders, Panchayat
members, women Panchayat members, School Teachers, Anganwadi
workers and ASHAs workers etc.
Conducted training with Adolescent girls and boys on Family Life
Education.
Conducted Awareness Programs at the village level on the issue of
“Decline Sex Ratio” of their respective villages.
Organized Training cum sensitization workshop for NGOs/ CBOs of
District Fatehgarh Sahib for ‘Women Empowerment and Improve Child
Sex-Ratio’ with Share their Expertise, Replication and Sustainability of
the project.
Conducted Awareness Programs at the village level on the issue of
“Decline Sex Ratio” of their respective villages.
Organized, three training workshops (on dated 12-11-2014, 17-11-
2014 and 19-11-2014) of Panchayat Representatives and
Community leaders, Line Departments on the implications of
declining child sex ratio –its faction as institution of governance to
safeguard Reproductive and Sexual Health Rights as well as to
oversee implementation of PC-PNDT Act.
Facilitated Mahila Gram Sabha Meetings in all 10 selected villages.
4th Quarter-April-June, 2015
Conducted meetings of Girl-Child Forums in the selected 10 villages.
Monthly registration update of the Birth/Death etc. has been done in
the 10 selected villages.
Conducted Project Review / Staff meetings.
Meetings attended with concerned officials/ institutions etc.
Group wise motivational meetings with Community leaders, Panchayat
members, Teachers, Anganwadi workers etc.
Conducted District level Cross learning visit / exposure tours for Stake
holders from selected 10 villages to Panchyats Panjoli Kalan and Talwara
on dated 18-04-2015.
Conducted meetings of Girl-Child Forums in the selected 10 villages.
Registration update of the Birth/Death etc. has been done in the
selected villages.
Conducted Project Review / Staff meetings.
Meetings attended with concerned officials/ institutions.
Conducted 18 Training Workshops (9 for Girls and 9 for Boys) on
Family Life Education with Right Based Approach to Adolescent
Girls and Boys in the remaining 9 selected villages.
Conducted Awareness through Naatak Shows in the selected villages on
Save Girl Child as well as improving sex ratio.
Meetings attended with concerned officials/ institutions.
Conducted 3 Workshops (at Villages Pandrali, Jalla and Lataor) on
Incorporating Agenda of Sex Selective Abortion through PC-PNDT,
MTP and DV acts to Women Members of SHGs and Mahila Mandals.
Conducted Cross learning visit / exposure tour (21-05-15 to 23-05-
2015) to District Kangra (Himachal Pradesh) for Stake holders from
selected 10 villages.
Inter District Exposure Visit Report
On 18th April 2015 an exposure visit was organised in the two villages
namely Panjoli Kaalan and Talwada of district Fatehgarh Sahib. Five women
each from 10 selected villages were selected for this visit. The meeting
started at around 11 a.m. They all were welcomed by the Panchayt of the
village at the memorial place of Tohda in which Sarpanch Jasvir Kaur and
panch Satpal Kaur, panch Kulwant Singh, panch Sukhjinder Kaur, panch
Karnail Singh participated.
Firstly, welcomed all the members present over there. Then he told that the
population of the village is 1078 in which 527 are males and 551 are
females. After that he said that the Voluntary Health Association Punjab
surveyed our village because this organisation is working on the issue of sex
ratio in our district. He said that there are only two main reasons behind the
female foeticide i.e. either social factors or economic factors.
Also he said that the economic factor is primarily dominated by the wedding
expenditure of the girl in the form of dowry. He said that during the old
times the marriage event was very simple where he quoted an example in
which Guru said that a daughter should be wed off by giving 1 rupee & 15
paisa followed by “aanand karaj” and lunch. But nowadays all these rituals
are complicated by us. He said that the women play an important role in
female foeticide because she herself doesn’t want a girl child at her home.
Talking about the social factors he said that we thought if a baby boy is
born our generation will continue further. But the panch added that a
generation is not moved further by boys but it’s all dependent on our
thoughts. In year 1977 Mangal Lal sold out 2.5 acres of his land and
constructed a school with the money he gained. And now this school has
upgraded itself to be a secondary school. He said that in old times people
did not educate their girls due to which we have lagged behind in various
concerns. Because if the girl is educated that means the whole family is
educated.
He said that nowadays the girl’s modesty is attacked. If the society starts to
behave with each and every female around as their own daughter and
mother then this problem can be tackled.
He said that if the government takes strict measures against the dowry
system then the issue of female foeticide can be overcome. Also he states
that from next year he is going to start a new scheme in their village under
which he will make a fixed deposit rs.25000 on her name without any
discrimination on the basis of caste, creed and color. He also mentioned that
he has opened marriage palace to conduct wedding events for the poor
people. And the “raagi” who perfoms the “anand karaj” at the girl’s wedding
will not charge any money. Earlier there were 2 cremation grounds in their
village but now they are merged and converted into one. He said that till
now 140 IAS officers and 3 university Vice Chancellors have visited their
villages.
Shamsher Singh Dhillon: He is the manager of Punjab & Sind Bank. He
stressed that the main reason for the female foeticide is dowry.
Principal Narinder Kaur: She welcomed and thanked all the people present.
She said that first of all we should eradicate the anti social practices.
Jaswinder Kaur: She is working on sex ratio in Sirhind block. She said that
the work done by her and their organisation in the villages. Along with them
there are around 100 ASHA workers, 100 aagnawadi workers and 24
persons from other departments are conducting Mahila Gram sabha in
these villages.
Also we are going to conduct a meeting of adolescent boys and girls on the
issue of reproductive health along with exposure visit of 20 people.
Sushil Moudgil: At the end project advisor Sushil Moudgil extended his vote
of thanks to everyone and said that the sex ratio of this village is
appreciable. He congratulated everyone for the progress of the village.
Report of Interstate State Exposure Visit
Visiting District & State: District Kangra, Himachal Pradesh
Visiting Schedule 21-23 June, 2015
Total No of Participants =25
4. Participants Profile Sarpanchs-1, Panchs-3, ASHA worker-,
Anganwari Worker- Youth Club members-, Self Help Group-
Objective of the Exposure Visit:
To learn and understand various mechanisms and strategies of
Convergence, networking, capacity building in terms of sustainability
and replication
To understand the
functioning of
convergence model
of Panchayat in
Himachal Pradesh
To observe,
understand and
learn the various
activities etc and
explore the
possibilities of replication in their own village.
To understand the role of Panchayat to implementation the different
Schemes,
To understand the process & the role of Line departments in the
program implementation.
As per the approved plan activity under project “Empowerment of Women
through Convergence of Service Providers to Improve Child Sex Ratio in
District Fatehgarh Sahib in the State of Punjab” by The National Mission for
Empowerment of Women (NMEW), Ministry of Women and Child
Development, Government of India (GOI). Voluntary Health Association of
Punjab (VHAP) was organised an exposure visit of Panchayat elected
members, CBO members, and NGOs members to the state of Himachal
Pradesh during 21-23 June, 2015, inviting participation from 10 selected
villages. Mr. Pawan Kumar and Shamsher Rana members of VHAP had
coordinated the exposure visit with the support of Jagori Garmeen Trust,
Dharamshala District Kangra, and Himachal Pradesh.
A detail discussion was
made regarding
objective and key
learning of the exposure
visit, in which all
participants were
requested to learn from
the experience of
Himachal Pradesh in
the field of local self governance, rural development, women empowerment
and their convergence. In this session major part of deliberations were
focused on replication of successful models and best practices. VHAP staffs
explained the route chart and the visit plan and requested the participants
to extend full co-operation in terms of discipline and punctuality. During
first day journey team were also visited some historical places like Jawala Ji
Temple. On 21 June, 2015 in the morning all the participants were boarded
in taxies from their respective villages and reached Dharamshala on 21st
June, 2015in the late evening.
Second day of exposure visit (22nd June, 2015)
On the second day of
exposure visit, the
participants were
assembled in the lawn of
Jagori Grameen Trust.
Pawan Kumar (VHAP),
Shamsher (VHAP) and
Chanderkanta from Jagori
Grameen Trust were briefed
about first day visit plan. Team were reached around 11.00 am in Kholi
Panchayat Office. On the second day of event the participants were taken to
Kholi Gram Panchayat under Kangra block of Kangra District, Himachal
Pradesh which is acknowledged as best Gram Panchayat and has been
awarded by the state Govt. for MG-NREGA schemes implementation during
2014-15. Mr. Kewal Chaudhary, Pamchayat Pradhan/ Sarpanch, other ward
members and government officials welcomed Punjab visiting team. Initially,
Mr. Pawan Kumar from VHAP discussed with participants about the project
of titled “Empowerment of Women through Convergence of Service Providers
to Improve Child Sex Ratio in District Fatehgarh Sahib in the State of
Punjab”. This Project has been implemented in 10 selected villages in
Sirhind block of Fatehgarh Sahib District in Punjab which has its identity of
being at the worst sex ratio in the country, where child sex ratio was 766 in
2001 Census. This project has been sanctioned by The National Mission for
Empowerment of Women (NMEW), Ministry of Women and Child
Development, Government of India (GOI). The pilot convergence models are
meant to demonstrate convergence of programmes and schemes in the field
level. It is borne from the fact that, better convergence between the schemes,
especially, flagship schemes in terms of planning, process and
implementation will bring substantial improvements in overall development
outcomes. The pilot project models present an opportunity to optimize these
efforts through inter-sectoral coordination to meet the larger objective of
overall development and empowerment of people, especially the women. The
intensive work under the Pilot has been implemented at the Gram
Panchayat level, whereas linkages at district and block level and
engagement of such higher level institutions are essential to ensure the
sustainability and replicability of the initiatives. The proposed pilot expected
convergence of government and certain other service providers to work
towards improving child sex ratio. VHAP has been engaged PRIs, SHGs,
Mahila Gram Sabha, Mahila mandals, ICDS – Anganwadi workers, frontline
staff of Department of Health – ASHA workers and Department of Education
– Teachers. Here the participants were impressed upon the structure and
functioning of Gram Panchayat.
The participants were also briefed on the subject of Panchayat governance
as per the rules and regulations set by Himachal Panchayati Raj Act- 1994.
Special discussion was taken in the GP on various initiations taken by the
Gram Panchayat for social mobilization and promoting civic sense of general
public in order to achieve total sanitation. The team visited some site of MG-
NREGA nearer to the Panchayat Office. A formal meeting was organized near
Panchayat Office where Team interacted with around 150 members
including Mahila Mandal, SHGs members and youth mandal members
narrated different works done by them in the villages. The Committee
members shared the impact of watershed in the Villages, viz., increase in
conversion of cultivable waste land into agricultural land, mono cropping to
double cropping, increase in ground water table, availability of water in wells
and in summer season, exposure visits and trainings to improve agriculture
system. Mr. Pawan Kumar from VHAP thanks to the Panchayat and other
members for their work and expressed gratitude towards community
participation. After this team were visited some historical places nearby
Dharmashala, Kangra.
Third day of Exposure Visit (23rd June, 2015)
On the day of event the participants were taken to Kholi Gram Panchayat
under Kangra block of Kangra District, Himachal Pradesh which is
acknowledged as best Gram Panchayat and has been awarded by the state
Govt. for MG-NREGA schemes implementation during 2014-15. Mr. Kewal
Chaudhary, Pamchayat Pradhan/ Sarpanch, other ward members and
government officials welcomed our visiting team with a high dignity. Initially,
Mr. Pawan Kumar from VHAP discussed with participants about the project
of titled “Empowerment of Women through Convergence of Service Providers
to Improve Child Sex Ratio in District Fatehgarh Sahib in the State of
Punjab”. This Project are implementing in 10 selected villages in Sirhind
block of Fatehgarh Sahib District in Punjab which has its identity of being at
the worst sex ratio in the country, where child sex ratio was 766 in 2001
Census. This project has been sanctioned by The National Mission for
Empowerment of Women (NMEW), Ministry of Women and Child
Development, Government of India (GOI). The pilot convergence models are
meant to demonstrate convergence of programmes and schemes in the field
level. It is borne from the fact that, better convergence between the schemes,
especially, flagship schemes in terms of planning, process and
implementation will bring substantial improvements in overall development
outcomes. This project presents an opportunity to optimize these efforts
through inter-sectoral coordination to meet the larger objective of overall
development and empowerment of people, especially the women. This
project is expecting convergence of government and certain other service
providers to work towards improving child sex ratio. VHAP has been engaged
PRIs, SHGs, Mahila Gram Sabha, Mahila mandals, ICDS – Anganwadi
workers, frontline staff of Department of Health – ASHA workers and
Department of Education – Teachers. Panchayat Pradhan (President) was
given useful information through hour’s long dialogue on the structure and
functioning of Kholi Panchayat in which they highlighted many innovations
and best practices in the field of MG-NREGA, Gram Sabha, Women
empowerment Mahila Mandal, Self Help Groups etc.
Here the participants were impressed upon the structure and functioning of
Gram Panchayat. The participants were also briefed on the subject of 3-tier
Panchayat governance as per the rules and regulations set by Himachal
Panchayati Raj Act- 1994.
Special session was taken in the
GP on various initiations taken by
the Gram Panchayat for social
mobilization and promoting civic
sense of general public in order to
achieve total sanitation. The team
visited some site of MG-NREGA
nearer to the Panchayat Office. A formal meeting was organized near
Panchayat Office where Team interacted with around 150 members
including Mahila Mandal, SHGs members and youth mandal members
narrated different works done by them in the villages. The Committee
members shared the impact of watershed in the Villages, viz., increase in
conversion of cultivable waste land into agricultural land, mono cropping to
double cropping, increase in ground water table, availability of water in wells
and in summer season, exposure visits and trainings to improve agriculture
system. Mr. Pawan Kumar from VHAP thanks to the Panchayat members for
their work and expressed gratitude towards community participation.
After this the Team proceeded to CDPO office Kangra Block. Here the Team
visited the CDPO office. The Team was pleased to see the office discussed
with CDPO and his team members. The team was pleased to see the growth
of Himachal Pradesh Anaganwari improvement.
After this the Team proceeded to CDPO office Kangra Block. Here the Team
visited the CDPO office. The Team was pleased to see the office discussed
with CDPO and his team members. The team was pleased to see the growth
of Himachal Pradesh Anaganwari improvement.
Learning from the Visit:
The visiting group very much impressed on the effective implementation of
various schemes under different sectors which are asunder-:
Child and Women development
Social Welfare
Rural Development-MG- NREGA
Health
School education
By interacting their counterparts, the elected representatives of Punjab
got an opportunity for cross learning and to see the best & model
initiatives in the field of rural development.
All the participants were liked the rural culture, heritage & environment
of Himachal Pradesh.
The villages visited are clean and hygienic.
Gram Panchayat have greater say in the implementation of major
flagship programmes in terms of health, education, women and child
development agriculture and other social welfare schemes and closely
monitor their activities.
62 Women participated in this inter district Exposure Visit.
233 Adolescent Girls participated in Training Workshops on Family Life
Education with Right Based Approach.
Naatak (Play) shows on Save Girl Child as well as improving sex ratio
have been organized in which 650 women were participated
380 Women Members of SHGs & Mahila Mandals, participated in the
Workshops on Incorporating Agenda of Sex Selective Abortion through
PCPNDT, MTP and DV Acts.
Convergence Meetings with schools children on Family Life Education
with Right Based Approach to Adolescent girls and boys.
Convergence Meetings were attended with Service providers of various
concerned Departments.
Conducted Cross learning visit / exposure tours for different
Stakeholders from selected 10 villages to the inter district Panchayats.
Conducted interstate Cross learning visit / exposure tours for different
Stakeholders from selected 10 villages.
Meetings of Girls-Child Forums (as small forum of Nari ki Choupal) being
conducted in monthly basis.
Capacity building trainings to 433 Adolescent Girls & Boys of the
selected villages.
Awareness through Play (Naatak) shows was a best practice for villagers.
The day to day activities carried out under the project like capacity
building of ASHAs, AWWs, Sarpanchs, Members of Panchayats,
Community leaders, NGOs, CBOs, SHGs, Mahila-Mandals and
Adolescents etc. are key factors to building a foundation for long term
change and permanently impacted.
Conducting monthly review meetings of Project Staff, Village level
facilitators at Project office Sirhind as well as day to day closed
coordination, reporting and supervision.
Executive Director with technical and administrative staff of VHAP has
been contributed time
in streamlining and
monitoring the
project progress on
day to day basics.
Field Staff of the
Project have been
provided with a
reporting their monthly progress.
Created awareness about entitlements, strengthen communities by
developed capacities (on various concerned issues) of ASHAs, AWWs,
representatives of various leading NGOs/CBOs, representatives of
Panchyats, Community leaders, Adolescents Girls / Boys, Members of
SHGs and Mahila Mandal as well as general public of the villages.
Energized the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), facilitating Mahila Gram
Sabha meetings by encouraging one to one women to participation and
started discussions with the issues of Child Sex Ratio, empowerment of
women, development of girl child and build their capacity for sustaining
the Pilot.
Workshops on Incorporating Agenda of Sex Selective Abortion through Pre
conception and Pre Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex
selection) (PC-PNDT), Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) and Domestic
Violence (DV) acts for the Women members of SHGs and Mahila Mandal
were organized on dates 15-06-15 at village Pandrali, 16-06-15 at village
Jallah and 19-06-15 at village Lataur. These workshops successfully
conducted with actively participations of the 380 Members from various
CBOs, SHGs and Mahila Mandals. In the workshop the following issues
being highlighted and defined in detailed:
Discussion on declining sex ratio (0-6) in the targeted villages/ areas.
MTP- Act, 1971
The Pre-natal Diagnostic
Techniques (Regulation
and Prevention of Misuse)
Act, 1994 & Amendment
Rules 2002-03 (PC-PNDT
Act) and heighted that the
main purpose of the Act
was to play the role of a
prevention and send out a strong message against sex selection.
One of the major reasons for the decline in CSR is attributed to the
introduction and proliferation of modern technology such as ultrasound
that enables sex determination, thereby reinforcing societal mindsets for
son preference.
Status of implementation, arrangements, actions and progress under the
PC-PNDT Act in the district of Fatehgarh Sahib.
Discrimination against women and girls is widespread in India and
manifests itself in many ways; including gender- biased sex selection as
well as practice of sex selection is evident in the severe decline in the
Child Sex Ratio.
The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, its
definition, process, services, duties and responsibilities etc.
Declining of child-Sex ratio, women empowerment, De addiction,
education, scholarship schemes, transportation facilities to women and
school going girls, Proper environment to protect girls, Skill development,
livelihood schemes, employment, Sanitation and sewerage, Safe drinking
water, old age/widow pension, Increasing incidents of flirting with girls,
Domestic violence, Debtness, Benefits from govt. to Women and Girl-
child on various stages, Inflation, Practice of dowry and early marriage of
girls etc.
All the activities being undertaken under the Project tried to better result
oriented and greater convergence among the representatives of Front
lining workers in the areas, PRIs, concerned Govt. officials, NGOs CBOs,
SHGs and Mahila Mandals etc. with their activities and schemes etc.
1. Number of women resource centres created, if any
A total of 10 women resource centres were created in the Anganwari
centres in the project area.
2. Including Information pertaining to element of inclusiveness:
number of women reached out, vulnerable and marginalised women
brought into the ambit of the project etc.
The project has emphasized on gender inclusion throughout the project
design and implementation. Women & girls have been involved at
various stages of the project implementation. Number of Women
Reached out-1440
3. Describe the element of innovativeness brought in the project –how
it is different from other similar projects
The project was focused on building local capacities of different
stakeholders such as PRIs representatives, ASHAs, Anganwari Workers,
ANMs, and SHGs/CBOs etc. It has been established an enabling
environment within its focused areas. It also has built the relationship
between local communities and others stakeholders in relation to gender
issues and this relationship will ensure the sustainability of the women
issues even after this project.
Engagement of stakeholders from different departments, elected
representatives and district administration has increased the potential
for effectiveness of targeted interventions and sustainability. Now
different stakeholders are working together with bringing awareness,
bridging social gaps about the Schemes, activities and programs
implementing by the different Government departments to empowerment
of women and holistic development of girl child.
The programme was very innovative because we have collected data from
100 villages of Sirhind block to understand the reason for death of 0-6
age groups children. Woman and Girls forums are running the group’s
activities for sustainability of woman and empower of groups and
beneficiaries.
4. Convergence efforts initiated-convergence with line departments,
convergence with other agencies including networking with other
NGOs in the locality/district/states, with State resource Centre for
Women (SRCW), academic institutes etc. You may include pictures;
enclose guidelines /notifications issued by other departments
towards Convergence, if any. Convergence may also include
resource sharing with other agencies, if so document the same.
As per proposed in the project proposal, training workshops have been
conducted for NGOs/ CBOs of District Fatehgarh Sahib towards Alliance
for ‘Women Empowerment and Improve Child Sex-Ratio’ with Share
their Expertise, Replication and Sustainability. Following respective
departments has been involved during the project period.
District Administration (Deputy Commissioner )
Department of Health and Family Welfare
Department of Women and Child Development
Department of Education
Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj
Zila, Parishad
Department of Employment
General Manager, Distt. Industries Centre
District manager, Khadi and Village industries Board
Co-operative Societies
Department of Transport
Zila Nehru Yuva Kendra
Department of Social Welfare
Department of Agriculture
Violence against Women Cell
District Nodal Officer PC-PNDT Cell
Manage, Lead Bank of the district
AGM, NABARD
Animal Husbandries, Dairy Development, Bee Keeping and Fisheries
etc.
NGOs working for empowerment of women and child development
programmes
No of convergence meetings have been attended by the service provider of
various concerned departments for better coordination. I think this
convergence mode will works also in future.
5. Capacity building (include pictures)-
a) Of the stake holders
b) Line departments
c) Community members
d) Volunteers
(Include training modules, manual material developed for training,
any other material)
e) Training strategies adopted
f) Tools developed including communication tools
g) Contextualizing material modules (existing and new)/translation
in local language)
Organized Capacity Building Workshops for 100 ASHAs and 109
Anganwadi Workers of Sihind block on improving sex-ratio.
Charts, literatures and booklets in local (Punjabi) language on Safe
Immunization, Care of Mother and Child, Safe Delivery and Jitthe
doctor na howe (In Absence of Doctor) has been distributed among the
different stakeholders.
Organized District level Stakeholders / Departmental meeting for
better convergence.
Organized Training Workshop for NGOs/ CBOs of District Fatehgarh
Sahib towards Alliance for ‘Women Empowerment and Improve Child
Sex-Ratio’ with Share Expertise, Replication and Sustainability.
Following training contents through lectures by Resource Persons,
literatures and discussions:
i. Session of Introduction, Welcome and objectives of the
Workshop
ii. Focus on Census Data-2011 of Punjab as well as new data of
selected villages
iii. Role of NGOs/CBOs in preventing the Sex selection and
declining sex.
iv. Reproductive & Sexual Health Rights.
v. Sharing of Expertise, Replication, Sustainability and
Questions/ Discussion Session.
Organized, three trainings workshops (on dated 12-11-2014, 17-11-
2014 and 19-11-2014), of Panchayat Representatives and Community
leaders, Line Departments on the implications of declining child sex
ratio. Following training contents through lectures by Resource
Persons, literatures and discussions:
i. Session of Introduction, Welcome and objectives of the
Workshop
ii. Program Sharing and Convergence Possibilities by Govt.
Departments and Panchayats
iii. Highlights and status of the Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques
(Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994 & Amendment
Rules 2002-03.
iv. Role of Gram Panchayat/ Community Leaders in preventing the
Sex selection and declining sex-ratio by focusing the Gram
Sabha and Mahila Gram Sabha.
v. Open Discussion on Project strengthening and voluntary
activities to be taken by Panchayats All Participants
Workshops on Incorporating Agenda of Sex Selective Abortion
through Pre conception and Pre Natal Diagnostic Techniques
(Prohibition of Sex selection) (PC-PNDT), Medical Termination of
Pregnancy (MTP) and Domestic Violence (DV) acts for the Women
members of SHGs and Mahila Mandal were organized on dates 15-
06-15 at village Pandrali, 16-06-15 at village Jallah and 19-06-15 at
village Lataur. These workshops successfully conducted with actively
participations of the 380 Members from various CBOs, SHGs and
Mahila Mandals. In the workshop the following issues being
highlighted and defined in detailed:
I. Discussion on declining sex ratio (0-6) in the targeted villages/
areas.
II. MTP- Act, 1971
III. The Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention
of Misuse) Act, 1994 & Amendment Rules 2002-03 (PC-PNDT Act)
and heighted that the main purpose of the Act was to play the role
of a prevention and send out a strong message against sex
selection.
IV. One of the major
reasons for the decline
in CSR is attributed to
the introduction and
proliferation of modern
technology such as
ultrasound that
enables sex
determination, thereby
reinforcing societal mindsets for son preference.
V. Status of implementation, arrangements, actions and progress
under the PC-PNDT Act in the district of Fatehgarh Sahib.
VI. Discrimination against women and girls is widespread in India
and manifests itself in many ways; including gender- biased sex
selection as well as practice of sex selection is evident in the
severe decline in the Child Sex Ratio.
VII. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, its
definition, process, services, duties and responsibilities etc.
6. Document best Practices (stories emerged during the course of
implementation)
Developed Photos and Video Clips of the activities carried out during
the quarter like Capacity Training Workshops of Representatives of
NGOs/CBOs/ Panchayats/ various Communities etc as well as
Facilitation of Mahila Gram Sabha Meetings in all selected 10 Villages.
One to one meetings done with women who have one and two girl-
child and uniqueness lead to empowerment of women and
development of girl-child.
I. 10 Mahila Gram Sabha have been facilitated in these villages. A
total of 1250 women were participated in these Mahila Gram
Sabhas.
Mahila Gram Sabha Meetings
Sr. No Date of the Mahila Garm
Sabha
Name of Panchyat
1 02-12-2014 Taana
2. 09-12-2014 Pandrali,
3. 12-12-2014 Bibipur,
4. 16-12-2014 Mirpur
5. 20-12-2014 Bhattmajra
6. 21-12-2014 Lattaur
7. 23-12-2014 Madhopur
8. 24-12-2014 Rajinder Nagar
9. 25-12-2014 Jalla
10. 25-12-2014 Hussainpur
First time in these 10 Panchayats of the Punjab State Mahila Gram Sabha were
organised with the facilitation of VHAP the Project “Empowerment of Women
through Convergence of Service
Providers to Improve Child Sex
Ratio” The representatives from other
focused villages PRIs representatives
also participated in these meetings as
special invitees under cross learning
activites of the this project. , the Gram
Panchayat inspired by the Activities/
Interventions undertaken by VHAP and
sponsored by National Mission for
Empowerment of Women, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of
India.
In these Mahila Gram Sabhas issues
related to women empowerment and
development of g have been discussed
and the decision taken in the mahila
sabha also will be discussed in the
gram sabha meeting. For the example
one major decision taken by Tana
Panchyat during the meeting of Mahila
Gram Sabh- They will deposit Rs.
5100/ in the name of the girl-child after birth from January 2015 onward in their
village.
Some of the other issues related to women as well as girl children were:-
II. Problem of public transport service: The women discussed about the
poor bus service in these village. It creates difficulty especially for the
women, small children and the elderly.
III. Shortage of school teachers: There was shortage of teacher in the
school of these villages and it’s a big problem for school students
specially girl child student.
IV. Employment: There was
lack of sources of
employment in the village so
MG-NREGA scheme should
be implemented properly.
V. Panchayat Ghar: The
women demanded for
panchayat ghar in their
village so that there should
be no hurdle for organisation of the meeting of Gram Panchayat.
VI. BPL Card: There are many poor people in our village so BPL cards should
be issued to these people.
VII. The peripheral area should also be demarcated.
Village Tana Story----------------
A Mahila Gram Sabha was organised in this villages. This was first time
happened in this village. In this Gram Sabha some of issues related to women
empowerment and development
have been discussed and the
decision taken in the mahila
gram sabha One major decision
taken by Tana Panchyat during
the meeting of Mahila Gram
Sabh- They will deposit Rs.
5100/ in the name of the girl-
child after birth from January
2015 onward in their village. Till
the end of December, 2015
Panchayat project has been given to 3 girls of amount Rs. 5100/ - to each of
them.
7. IEC material developed for –
a) Awareness generation programmes organized (Sharing of soft and
hard copies of IEC material with NMEW and SRCW is encouraged
and recommended. Soft copies of NMEW and MWCD logos shall be
shared so that IEC material can be branded properly with logos)
Charts, Pamphlets, Literatures and Booklets in Punjabi and Hindi
languages on Safe Immunization, Care of Mother and Child, Safe
Delivery and Jitthe doctor na howe (In Absence of Doctor), were
distributed among trainees as well as the stakeholders.
b) Activities carried out in Nari ki Chaupal (a concept note on Nari
ki Chaupal is shared herewith
Meetings of Girls-Child Forums (as small forum of Nari ki Choupal)
were conducted on monthly basis.
Encouraged and facilitated to the Mahila Gram Sabha Meetings in all
selected 10 Villages dedicated to women and related issues such as
AWC, health, sanitation, drinking water, prevention of violence against
women and children, prevention of dowry and female foeticide etc
c) Number of women participated and number of issues discussed
(detail them)
A total of 1440 women were participated and discussed on the following
issues:
The Improve Child-Birth Sex-Ratio, gender inequality, high-lighted
sensitive issues, why sex determination tests,
Awareness on her political and social rights, problem solving
negotiation and persuasion,
Issues of Sex Selective Abortion through Pre conception and Pre Natal
Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex selection) (PC-PNDT) have
been discussed
Issues of Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act 1971 and
Domestic Violence (DV) acts with CBOs of focused areas have been
discussed.
Self confidence, leadership and Decision making skill, avoiding
frustration by Strong will power,
Women and Girls child empowerment through education, skill
development and livelihood convergence by knowledge as well as links
with the govt. schemes like- Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, right to
education, ICDS, NRHM, IAY, MGNREGA, NRLM, TSC, Food Safety,
VHSNC etc.
8. Issues and challenges which emerged in convergence; issues
emerged in the Implementation of the project.
Mobilization & sensitization of the community in rural areas is a very
challenging task, due to unavailability of these communities during the
day time & their disinclination towards community interventions.
Maximum of the PRIs Elected Representatives at village level are self-
centred with vested interests & motives rather than being focused on
issues concerning community development.
Change the mindset of the rural communities especially in Punjab
state is very challenging task.
Old Custom, tradition with rigid mindset is still present in the society.
Lack of immediate problem solving system towards addressing and
issues raised by Women in the meetings of Mahila Gram Sabhas.
9. Local issues expressed by women
Transportation facilities to women and school going girls, broken and
unpaved roads, drugs & alcoholism, domestic violence, lack of skill
development and livelihood programmes, employment, sanitation and
sewerage, Safe drinking water, old age/widow pension, Debtness,
Benefits from govt. schemes such as MG NREGA, IAY etc, Practice of
dowry.
10. Describe the new strategies adopted by the project in convergence
in capacity building and in resolving issues.
Trust building, organizing awareness rallies, one to
one/GroupWise/Mohalla wise/category wise motivational campaigns,
Convergence with all concerned village/ block /tehsil /district and state
level officials.
Constituted/formed Girl-Child Forums in the all selected villages by
involving of each category/ sections wise representations with closed
coordination.
Community groups focused
on gender issues, Girl-Child
Forums.
VHAP believes in building
capacity of children for
sustainable growth and
development. We facilitate
formation of children’s groups with the help of different stakeholders in
the communities. This encourages equality in treatment of girl and boy
child, provides them with platform for self expression, and builds their
confidence through various motivating activities such as rallies etc.
11. Potential of replicability and up scaling of the project in other
areas.
Capacity building trainings to front lining workers, PRIs member
including Sarpanchs/Panchs/ Community leaders and local NGOs
members, interventions of such activities and day to day motivational
awareness campaigns run by Project staff is a key factor for building a
foundation for long term change and permanently impacted.
The strategy has been to evolve innovative and locally appropriate
models of communities and stakeholders with scale-up and replicability
potential.
Facilitated the Meetings of Mahila Gram Sabhas in all selected 10
villages.
The strategy has been evolved innovative and locally appropriate models
of communities and stakeholders with scale-up and replicability
potential. We have successfully conducted District Level Stakeholders/
Departmental meetings, Trainings for Capacity Building to ASHAs and
Anganwadi Workers from nearby 100 villages of the Sirhind block with
the propagation of aims, objectives and positive impacts of the
interventions under the project.
12. Monitoring mechanism of the project-including review meetings
held, maintaining database.
Conducting monthly review/Staff meetings at head office Chandigarh.
Conducting weekly review/Staff meetings at Project office Sirhind as well
as day to day closed coordination and supervision.
Monthly Meeting of women’s and girl’s groups, Linkages with various
departments etc.
3. End Evaluation Report’s Main Findings
Effectiveness and Sustainability:
The assessment of the VHAP’s effectiveness in contributing to the
achievement of the Outcome is mostly positive. All of the project activities
during the project period have contributed positively to some aspects of
women’s empowerment. This was achieved through the combination of
policy level interventions, with on the ground level initiatives. The different
activities wise reports have enriched the development debate and efforts
have been exerted to ensure that gender discrepancies are documented and
brought to the attention of donors and policy makers. These reports are
definitely NMEW’s flagship achievement, representing a significant
contribution to the three dimensions of the Outcome, the political, economic
and social. As for NMEW’s contribution to the political empowerment of
women, in terms of community engagement and equitable representation in
elected bodies, this is long term process requiring sustained efforts to
educate society (women and men), as well as political structures. Having
noted this, this project enhancing the Knowledge Policy Analysis Skills of
Female PRIs members to strengthen their Oversight & Legislative Functions,
resulted in a moderate but visible increase in women’s representation in
Gram Sabha (local popular councils).
The evaluation concluded project’s efficiency was enhanced its
partnership strategy and the efforts to foster inter-agency cooperation
and “Deliver as One”. The high levels of cooperation established with line
departments as well as with local organizations have had a positive impact
on the level of engagement of local counterparts and their willingness to step
up efforts, invest resources and even enact legislation in order to achieve
results. Inter-agency cooperation has also progressed.
The Strategy & Action Plan together with the trainings received by
program management staff, were instrumental to the efficient delivery of
outputs. The project strategy was developed in 2014 as part of the project
management response of NMEW to the “Gender Challenge”, and the need for
project to be more careful in monitoring the integration of gender across all
program activities, and more particularly in program areas where gender
issues are less visible. The Strategy emphasized the importance of being able
to examine the causes of gender differentials in each sector and to
understand the critical underlying factors. The Strategy recommended that
VHAP staff and their project staff should be capacitated to undertake simple
gender analysis, and include sex disaggregated data and gender sensitive
outputs and results in all their documents. The issue of gender relations is
still very much overlooked in the formulation of the projects and therefore in
the monitoring process which is mostly focused on quantitative measures.
If we examine the issue of sustainability on the project level, we will
note that adequate measures have been instituted in project
implementation intervention areas. All projects activities are implemented
on the basis of outcomes. The capacity of the civil society has been
reinforced through trainings, and various forms of technical assistance
including systems and tools. Awareness raising activities have been
implemented; and, finally whenever possible, interventions were
accompanied by or embedded within integrated community development
packages. The sustainability of results however, is challenged by two main
factors. First, changing societal beliefs is a long term process requiring
sustained efforts and financial resources which might not be readily
available. Second, most of the interventions tackled by the VHAP on the
social and political front were organized. These two institutions have
provided an enabling environment for activities and legislation related to
women’s empowerment.
Recommendations and Conclusions:
Some of the project activities implemented by VHAP during the project
period are very worthy and unique. At the time of implementation, the VHAP
was breaking new ground, for example the facilitating first Mahila (women)
Gram Sabha in these 10 selected villages. However, it is now time for other
organizations also to replicate these efforts for other intervention area of the
state as well as country. There are certain areas where the NMEW has
comparative advantage and where it can add significant value. NMEW
should focus on these areas of interventions, and step up its efforts to
develop umbrella programs with different community level organizations.
Moreover, when considering critical intervention areas, a partnership
scoping exercise should be undertaken to determine the comparative
advantage of various partners, and their readiness to commit financial and
technical resources to the implementation process as well as to monitoring
activities.
Enhancing the Knowledge of Women PRIs members to Strengthen their
Oversight, Role and Functions
The stated purpose of the project is to Empowerment of Women through
Convergence of Service Providers to Improve Child Sex Ratio” in
District Fatehgarh Sahib in the State of Punjab to be achieved through
two indicators. These are as follows:
Strengthening Women PRIs representatives capacities
Making visible to the public the performance of women PRIs
The initial time period of the project had some outputs with related activities
focusing on raising awareness on the initiative and mobilizing support for it,
capacity development of women PRIs on Panchayat rules and procedures,
advocacy, lobbying, human rights and gender issues, as well as, promoting
networks and partnerships among PRIs and civil society, especially NGOs
working with women issues.
The Constituting a forum of different stakeholders at block level was
provided with VHAP and NMEW assistance to develop their capacity so
that they can deliver better service in their respective working areas. The
purpose of their involvement was to enhance the role of civil society in
women empowerment and increase awareness of their role in different
sectors but more specifically in the fields of women empowerment.
Women’s Access to Political and Economic Empowerment, are areas of
intervention that require sustained attention, significant intellectual and
financial resources, and most importantly, credibility. The NMEW is well
positioned to support efforts in these critical areas of women’s
empowerment. In this context, the involvement of the community through
VHAP and others civil society organizations will enhance the impact of the
project and the sustainability of the political participation mechanism.
Consideration should be given to including interventions geared to women’s
political and economic empowerment within the framework of broad
national programs rather than projects. In the area of Political
Participation, the Women Political Empowerment led by NMEW conceived
as an umbrella program, provides a platform for NGOs collaboration that is
worthy of consideration. Similarly, in the area of Economic Integration,
NMEW is advised to support an umbrella program under which, donor
resources would be pooled. Similarly a more systematic process of ensuring
the mainstreaming of gender in all projects would include the conduct of
gender analyses at the project formulation stage and the review of all project
documents to make sure that mainstreaming efforts are adequately
documented.
Approach: The approach to undertaking the evaluation of progress made
towards the expected outcome relied on action framework. Within this
analytical framework the inputs of the program, those of various
stakeholders as well as exogenous factors are considered in explaining
changes incurred to the Outcome. The findings of the evaluation as they are
presented in this report are not intended to establish attribution, rather to
suggest a plausible association between the changes incurred and the
NMEW program. A thorough review of documentation provided by the VHAP
monitoring team and by the projects was undertaken. Also, consulted were a
selection of project areas and data deemed relevant to the development
context in Punjab and to the issue of women’s empowerment. Individual and
group discussions were conducted with project staff and local NGOs
including Government departments.
Information from secondary sources was cross-checked with information
from interviews and meetings with the different stakeholders.
The triangulation of information sources and data helped in the validation of
findings, as well as is shaping the conclusions reached.
Key Investigation Areas and Evaluation Criteria:
The main key evaluation investigation areas reflecting the four categories of
analysis are laid out. These investigation areas were broken down and
adapted as relevant to the project under consideration. Moreover, the
evaluation was based on the criteria laid out in the project outcome as
follows:
Relevance: The responsiveness of the Outcome and its constituent activities
to the context of the women’s empowerment status during the project time
period and its continued relevance within the context of changing needs
resulting from shifts in the economic, political and social environment.
Efficiency: Progress achieved given the resources allocated, including the
timeliness of the financial and non-financial assistance provided by different
stakeholders, and the adequacy of the monitoring and reporting processes
Sustainability: Sustainability will be considered on three fronts: the
capacity and awareness raising created through the various program
components; national ownership/commitment to the program outcome; and,
the measures taken to maintain and further the progress achieved by the
program and its constituent components after the assistance has ceased.
Limitations:
The main limitations encountered during the project revolved around
accessibility of the people. In addition, the availability and access to some of
the government and other stakeholders as well as representatives of PRIs
was not always easy.
4. Some of the measurable outcomes from this project are as
follows:
Project Intervention District has some of the key facts:
Average literacy rate of District is 79.35 percent.
Male literacy rate is 83.33 percent.
Female literacy rate is 74.80 percent.
Average density is 509 per sq. km.
Total Population is 600,163. (Census-2011)
Male Population is 320,795.
Female Population is 279,368.
Female Sex ratio is 871 females per 1000 males.
Child sex ratio is 842 females per 1000 males.
Child Sex Ratio: The Selected 10 sample villages have following sex ratio
given in the tables. This shows that all the villages have low Child (0-6) sex
ratio.
Table: Child Sex Ratio of 10 selected villages of Sirhid Block
S.No Village Name Child (Sex Ratio)
2011
Girl (Sex Ratio)
2001
1 Mirpur 714 826
2 Bibipur 847 836
3 Rajinder Nagar 722 759
4 Madhopur 775 865
5 Jallha 841 898
6 Lataur 777 830
7 Tanan 805 894
8 Pandrali 341 847
9 Bhat Majra 880 953
10 Hussanpur 730 745
Source: Director Census Operations, Punjab
Table: After the project village wise child Birth data is given below
Name of the village Total
Boy Girl
Pandrali 4 8
Mirpur 4 3
Rajinder Nagar 6 5
Hussainpur 7 4
Madhopur 1 8
Lattaur 8 7
Tanna 3 2
Jallah 9 8
Bibipur 6 1
Bhattmajra 3 7
Total 50 53
Table: Details of Girl-Child Forums in the Project Area.
S.No Name of the
Village
Name of the
Chairperson
Name of the
Secretary
1. Madhopur Jaswinder Kaur Ranjit Kaur
2. Bhat Majra Manpreet Kaur Vijay Rani
3. Lataur Gurmeet Kaur Paramjit Kaur
4. Jallha Jaswant Kaur Hardeep Kaur
5. Rajinder Nagar Amarjit Kaur Dipinder Kaur
6. Tanna Charanjit Kaur Manjit Kaur
7. Bibipur Ranjit Kaur Jaswinder Kaur
8. Mirpur Amandeep Kaur Harbansh Kaur
9. Hussainpur Paramjit Kaur Raj Kaur
10. Pandrali Ranjit Kaur Rajwant Kaur
Girl Child Forum in each village was formed.
Focus Group Discussions(FGDs) were conducted in all 10 village
Awareness rallies were organised on “Declining Sex Ratio and save
Girl-Child” in all villages
Regular follow up by Project Staff of newly birth child and pregnant
mothers in the Project intervention area
Meetings with PRIs elected women representatives and 10 Mahila
Gram Sabhas had been facilitated in all 10 villages
Birth/Death data was collected from the all 10 villages on monthly
basis
Baseline survey data was compiled and analyzed.
GroupWise meetings was conducted with Community leaders,
Panchayat members, Teachers, Anganwadi workers, Anganwadi
Helpers, ASHAs, Members Mid day meal of Schools, Pathis of
Gurudwars, Pujaries of the temples, Dais and Chokidars of the project
areas.
Capacity Building Workshop was organized for 100 ASHA Workers to
orient them on Reproductive & Sexual Health Rights and measures to
be taken to safeguard for the same.
Training cum sensitization workshops were organized for NGOs/
CBOs of District Fatehgarh Sahib for ‘Women Empowerment and
Improve Child Sex-Ratio’ with Share their Expertise, Replication and
Sustainability of the project.
Facilitated Mahila Gram Sabha Meetings in all 10 selected villages.
Training Workshops were conducted on Family Life Education with
Right Based Approach to Adolescent Girls and Boys in the
remaining 9 selected villages.
Awareness through Naatak Shows was conducted in the selected
villages on Save Girl Child as well as improving sex ratio.
Cross learning visit / exposure tour were also conducted for Stake
holders from selected 10 villages.
Meeting with PRIs members of Project Area for Future
Planning
A meeting was conducted with PRIs members of 10 selected villages. A total
37 PRIs members (Sarpanch and Panch) from these 10 selected Panchayat
were present in this meeting. The objective of the meeting was:
To thank to all of PRIs and other stakeholders for making the program
such a successful
To honour the all of PRIs and other stakeholders for making the
program successful
To build future strategy for the sustainability and replication of the
activities done under this project.
To explore the possibilities of its replication in their respective village
without our support
Summary: The meeting started with a welcome address by Mr. Pawan
Kumar followed by a round of introduction of all the participants present.
He said the project has been implemented by Voluntary Health Association
of Punjab (VHAP) with the focus in 10 villages of Fatehgarh Sahib District.
These 10 villages are from Sirhind block. The project area is selected with
the consultation of Fatehgarh Sahib District Administration. These 10
villages are selected in Sirhind Block of which has its identity as the worst
sex ratio in the country, where child sex ratio was low as per Census-2001.
As per Census-2011 while it has shown considerable improvement to reach
843, still fits it into the criteria of the National Mission for Empowerment
districts below child sex ratio 900. The target areas are situated at rural
backward area needs special attention to work for empowerment of women
through convergence model. This programme was targeting women in10
villages of Sirhind Block in District Fatehgarh Sahib of Punjab to facilitate
the processes that contribute to empowerment of women, especially social
empowerment of women with emphasis on health and education, gender
mainstreaming of policies, programs and institutional arrangements,
awareness generation and advocacy for bridging information and service
gaps. The convergence model was meant to demonstrate convergence of
programmes and schemes in the field level. These targeted women receive
intensive leadership and community mobilization trainings with convergence
model as part of this programme. VHAP focused on Capacity building of
women and Sensitization of community, govt. and various stakeholders
under this program. Our main was aim to build strong mechanism within
existing system to develop better coordination for linkages and collaboration
to empowerment of women. The intensive work under the Pilot has been
implemented at the Gram Panchayat level, whereas linkages at district and
block level and engagement of such higher level institutions are essential to
ensure the sustainability and replicability of the initiatives. VHAP has been
engaged PRIs, SHGs, Mahila mandals, ICDS – Anganwadi workers, frontline
staff of Department of Health – ASHA workers and Department of Education
– Teachers. He said now this project has been completed. He expressed
many thanks to all PRIs members and others department officials for their
support and cooperation throughout the project period in these 10 selected
villages. He also urged to all members present in this meeting, please
continue all the activities initiated in your respected villages during this
project. All participants agreed on this request and express their positive
concern about the some of the activities such as organising Mahila Gram
Sabha, Girl Child Forums Meetings, continue discussion on sex ratio of their
village etc. In the last all participant received appreciation letter from VHAP
fir their kind support and cooperation.
Way Forward:
All the participants agreed that the following activities will be carried out as
a follow up action:
Share their experiences with other PRIs members during block as well as
District level PRIs meetings
They will hold at least one Mahila Gram Sabha meeting in one year
Continues follow-up of Girl Child Forums
Formation of more SHGs and Mahila Mandal in their village.
Set up a display board in their Panchayat office and continue updated it
with new Birth and Death data.
Discuss with different department authorities for regular follow up about
their schemes and program.
To explore the possibility of replicating this models without VHAP
support.
To improve community management system using the lessons learned
from VHAP.
Focus on women and girls related programs
Annexures
Table: List of the selected villages under this project
SI. No Village Name Block Name Name of the
District
1 Mirpur Sirhind Fatehgarh Sahib
2 Bibipur Sirhind Fatehgarh Sahib
3 Rajinder
Nagar
Sirhind Fatehgarh Sahib
4 Madhopur Sirhind Fatehgarh Sahib
5 Jallha Sirhind Fatehgarh Sahib
6 Lataur Sirhind Fatehgarh Sahib
7 Tanan Sirhind Fatehgarh Sahib
8 Pandrali Sirhind Fatehgarh Sahib
9 Bhat Majra Sirhind Fatehgarh Sahib
10 Hussanpur Sirhind Fatehgarh Sahib
Table: Quarter wise Birth Performance (April-14 to December-14)
Name of
the
village
1st Quarter
of 2014
2nd Quarter
of 2014
3rd Quarter
of 2014
4th Quarter-
January –
March and April-
June,2015
Total
Boy Girl Boy Girl Boy Girl Boy Girl Boy Girl
Pandrali - 2 - 2 2 2 2 2 4 8
Mirpur - - 2 - - 2 2 1 4 3
Rajinder
Nagar
1 2 1 2 1 1 4 2 6 5
Hussainp
ur
2 1 1 1 - 1 4 1 7 4
Madhopur - - - 5 - 1 1 2 1 8
Lattaur - 1 5 3 1 3 2 - 8 7
Tanna 1 1 1 - - - 1 1 3 2
Jallah 2 2 4 4 1 1 2 1 9 8
Bibipur 1 - 2 1 2 - 1 - 6 1
Bhattmajra
- - 1 3 - 1 2 3 3 7
Total 7 9 17 21 7 12 21 11 50 53
Table: Details of Girl-Child Forums in the Project Area.
S.No Name of the
Village
Name of the Chairman
/Chairperson
Name of the Secretary
1. Madhopur Mrs. Mrs. Jaswinder Kaur Mrs. Ranjit Kaur
2. Bhat Majra Mrs. Manpreet Kaur Mrs. Vijay Rani
3. Lataur Mrs. Gurmeet Kaur Mrs. Paramjit Kaur
4. Jallha Mrs. Jaswant Kaur Mrs. Hardeep Kaur
5. Rajinder Nagar Mrs. Amarjit Kaur Mrs. Dipinder Kaur
6. Tanna Mrs. Charanjit Kaur Mrs. Manjit Kaur
7. Bibipur Mrs. Ranjit Kaur Mrs. Jaswinder Kaur
8. Mirpur Mrs. Amandeep Kaur Mrs. Harbansh Kaur
9. Hussainpur Mrs. Paramjit Kaur Mrs. Raj Kaur
10. Pandrali Mrs. Ranjit Kaur Mrs. Rajwant Kaur
Table: Mahila Gram Sabha Meetings details
Sr. N. Date Name of Village
1 02-12-2014 Taana
2. 09-12-2014 Pandrali,
3. 12-12-2014 Bibipur,
4. 16-12-2014 Mirpur
5. 20-12-2014 Bhattmajra
6. 21-12-2014 Lattaur
7. 23-12-2014 Madhopur
8. 24-12-2014 Rajinder Nagar
9. 25-12-2014 Jalla
10. 25-12-2014 Hussainpur
Photos
Interaction with CBOs
Mahila Gram Sabha Meeting Photos
Images of Convergence Meeting of District Level Stakeholders/Departments
list of Newspapers Clippings