October - December 2012 - National Institute of Rural Development

MYRADA’S Capacity Building Intervention .... 385ensuring CBO sustainability, and its eventualweaning away from MYRADA.IMPACT OF CAPACITY BUILDING INTERVENTIONCapacity building intervention helpsmembers and other stakeholders understandand appreciate the concept of people’sinstitutions, and develop their skills,facilitating their participation in communitydevelopment by initiating, planning,analysing, and developing projects on theirown. In MYRADA, this intervention seems tobe effective for three reasons. First, it is asystemic approach involving all communitystakeholders and not just capacity builders,village leaders (who may be rich farmers, ofhigher caste, powerful, or well networked),and representatives of the base level CBOs(who are literate, or better off than others).Second, and more importantly, it is thesimultaneous capacity building of scaled upCBOs as well as other stakeholders from thecommunity. Just as when stone is thrown inwater, capacity building intervention triggersripples of incremental impact at all levels.Third, this intervention does not end with thelast module in the training manual; it is anon-going process (CBO members inBasappanadoddi village said that as and whenthey need to learn a skill or awareness oncertain issues, they are themselvesapproaching CMRCs).CBO Empowerment : MYRADA’scapacity building intervention helps CBOsgrow into institutions which provide themwith the space to set their own agenda andto take steps towards poverty alleviationthrough a livelihood strategy in which thewhole family is involved. The dynamics ofinteraction among various stakeholders buildsskills to negotiate and resolve conflict.Women are taking the space traditionallyoccupied by men, such as initiating incomegenerating activities (tea shops, beautyparlour etc.) on their own; attending villagemeetings; questioning the political andvillage leaders; making decisions for theirfamilies, their CBOs, and for their village tosome extent. They have been earning respectfrom their husbands and other members ofthe community.In Chinchally village, after interviewingthe CBO members, we were invited to havelunch in the small “hotel” owned by one ofthe women members of Ganesha SAG.CBO members, more so, women havebecome savvy in financial transactions andare able to maintain their CBO common fundaccount, meet and talk to the bank officers,deposit their CBO savings, and ask forloans.The intervention has also created aculture of repayment (to group common fundand banks), which is not an easy taskespecially when working with poor,marginalised, and disadvantaged people. Inaddition, managing their SAGs has madewomen better managers compared to theirhusbands, especially in financial matters. Therigour of bookkeeping and recordmaintenance-considered important fortransparency, accountability, commitment,and finally the sustainability of the CBOs- isimpeccable in mature CBOs. They even keepmeticulous record of the meetings.In a WMA meeting in Gujjalanathavillage, the representative introducedme to the group, recorded mypresence in the meeting register, andat the end of the meeting requestedme to sign. A woman member ofBeereshwara SAG from Basappandoddivillage said that they put socialpressure on other members not justto spend less on their children’smarriage but more importantly againstchild marriage of their daughters.Again, all CBO members have learnedto sign. Although adult literacy among CBOJournal of Rural Development, Vol. 31, No. 4, October - December : 2012