Recasting Citizenship for Development - File UPI

148 CHHAYA DATAR
and also on the different types of SHGs scattered all over the district,
functioning under NGOs or government programmes. Our idea was that
once the data was obtained, the horticulture under EGS could be promoted
more vigorously in areas where the ideal conditions such as the
availability of wasteland as well as strong SHGs exist. But that proved
elusive because the government officers were reluctant to share data with
us, either because they did not have it or because of red tape. Hence, the
data on all the talukas could not be obtained. This was despite the computer
centres in every district, established by the National Informatics
Centre (NIC). Gathering data and feeding it appears to be a slow process,
and according to the head of the district computer centre, there is very
little response from the taluka-level offices. So, I had to be satisfied with
whatever we could get.
It was decided to make a presentation to NGO representatives. Some
of them would like the idea, and they might invite me and my colleague
to speak to their women SHG members. This workshop proved very
important because we also organised another presentation by the women
members of the Deccan Development Society (DDS) from Zahirabad
(Andhra Pradesh). The DDS has motivated Dalit women for the last
20 years to cultivate a piece of land (either leased, or bought with the
help of government funds) and has helped them for three successive years
with the cost of manuring and ploughing. The money is to be returned
in kind, out of the produce, to the local grain bank and distributed at a
fixed price to whoever wants it. The DDS made a short film on this Alternative
Public Distribution System (APDS), which was screened as part of
the workshop. Four women and one agriculturist from the Krishi Vigyan
Kendra, run by the DDS, were invited to share their experience. Representatives
from 25 organisations in Osmanabad district were present. The
district agricultural officer was also invited to elaborate on this scheme.
This helped us to inspire some of the NGO representatives to use SHGs
as a vehicle to promote the idea of access to land and develop long-term
assets such as orchards. We had presentations in 18 villages, screening
the DDS film at many places. This stirred a lot of discussion on whether
it was possible for women to make a success of this scheme. We could
collect data from some of the SHG members, although it was not possible
to go into details in the time available. But we got a glimpse into our
constituency. A total of 185 women in nine villages filled our forms. Only