Kerala 2005 - of Planning Commission

CHAPTER 9
DECENTRALISED GOVERNANCE AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
153
Box 9.6: The Administrative Reforms Committees
Over the years, it has come to be recognised that “serious inadequacies have crept into the reach and quality of the
public services” with the “decline in the service ethos of government servants, the growing indifference of the staff
and the increasing laxity in supervision.” (Government of Kerala 1998: Paragraph 1.3.2). It is in the face of such a
state of affairs that three Administrative Reforms Committees (ARCs) were instituted in Kerala since its formation in
1956. The first Committee, under the chairmanship of late Shri E. M. S. Namboodiripad, the then Chief Minister, was
constituted in 1957, the second Committee, under Shri. M. K.Vellodi, ICS, in 1965, and the third in May 1997, with
the then Chief Minister Shri. E. K. Nayanar as its Chairman.
By the time the first ARC was constituted, there was a strong desire at the political level to make the administration
people-oriented and to restructure it to facilitate implementation of progressive measures like decentralisation, land
reforms, etc. The Committee outlined the process of planning from below, a democratic decentralisation process, so
that officials and elected representatives could work in harmony for the greater betterment of the society. However,
these ambitious plans mostly remained on paper, with no signs of decentralisation striking root and the bureaucracy still
remaining inaccessible to the common man, such that the second Administrative Reforms Committee openly expressed
its anguish at the slow pace of administrative reform in the State. The second Committee had also to take stock of the
challenges of a growing welfare State with focus on human development, particularly health, education, social security
and food security. The story however continued and the third ARC also noted with anguish that “fundamental reforms
like democratic decentralisation, rationalisation of staff and department structures, merit promotion, office discipline,
redefinition of secretariat functioning both in the administrative and finance wings, creation of Kerala Administrative
Service, financial discipline particularly in creation of staff, etc. could not be fully implemented.” (Government of Kerala,
1998: Chapter 1, Para 1.2.1 First Report of the Administrative Reforms Committee)
5. Neighbourhood/Self-help Groups
for Poverty Eradication
Along with ‘democratic’ decentralisation came the
still micro level of participatory development through
neighbourhood groups (NHGs), established at the local
neighbourhood level, comprising 20 to 40 households
below poverty line, the members being usually women.
Such groups initially started with thrift activity and lending
among members which was later expected to evolve into
some economic activity. Some members of an NHG or
drawn from different NHGs formed micro enterprise units
organised as self-help groups (SHG). The latter decides
on a production project, for instance, to manufacture
umbrellas, soap, sandals, candles, incense, ready-made
clothing, or electrical equipment; or a service such as
a cooperative store or a teashop. Once the project was
approved by the village panchayat, financing sources are
matched together: micro financing by the participants
themselves through a rotating credit association and a
loan from a state or national bank supplemented by the
village panchayat from its decentralisation funds. Though
visualised as a participatory poverty reduction approach
by means of a neighbourhood organisation of the poor,
under the leadership of the local self governments, and as
an effective platform for converging various anti-poverty
programmes of the State and Central governments, it
should be noted, that these NHGs (as well as the ward
committees) in effect represented a government-backed
agency for a top-down unitary mode of participatory
development. Nevertheless, this far-reaching experiment
initiated in Kerala by the name of ‘Kudumbashree’ (Family
Prosperity) has attracted wide attention.
5.1 Kudumbashree
5.1.1 The Backdrop
Kudumbashree is an innovative, women-centred
poverty eradication programme being carried out since
1998 and 2000 in rural and urban areas of the State,
respectively. The programme derived its inspiration
from two welfare schemes, that is, ‘Community Based
Nutrition Programme’ and ‘Urban Basic Services for
the Poor.’ These programmes, which not only departed
from the conventional welfare programmes in terms of
approach but also encouraged community participation
in all the stages of management, were implemented
initially in seven wards of Alappuzha town in 1993 and
extended further to the remaining 29 wards in 1994. The
implementation of the Poverty Alleviation Programme
with community participation in Alappuzha won