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as well as economic infrastructure including public goods. Besides, it aims at improvingthe organisational capacities, skills and employment opportunities of the poor.Finally, the DPIP strategy supports sub-project activities to be undertaken by CommonInterest Groups (CIGs) and Village Development Associations (VDAs) throughmobilisation of the poor and facilitated by enhancement of both “government socialcapital” and “civil social capital”.This approach of moving through enhancing social capital will help, on the one hand, toaddress the problem of inequalities in social order and on the other, to overcome problemsof collective action. When social norms and generalised trusts are so strengthened, theresultant outcome will be to reduce uncertainty and transaction costs and to enhanceefficiency of exchange and also investment in ideas and in human capital.An important part of the DPIP strategy is the formation of Common Interest Groups(CIGs). The formation of CIGs of the poor is an attempt to forge associational socialcapital between its members. If the poor in a village do not belong to common informalnetworks building associational social capital may make community based interventionsproblematic. Besides, there are important gender realities that need to be understood whilebuilding associational social capital.The Baseline SurveyThis Base - line survey establishes benchmarks for the outcome indicators of the DPIP inthe light of the background discussed above. The project has two sets of indicators.I. Indicators included in the first set are Resource Base of the area that delineates thearea poverty. These cover primarily the demographic pattern, occupationalcharacterisitics of the population, Land use pattern, Water bodies, Status ofagriculture including livestock, Economic infrastructure such as transport,electricity and markets, Social infrastructure of education and health, agricultureextension, veterinary and bank credit, local institutions such as the Panchayati Raj,Caste Panchayats, untouchability, jajmani system and religious institutions,Government interventions, violence against women and the Government and Civilsocial capital.- 5 -