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IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION 

ON RURAL SOCIETY 

Dr. N.L. Mishra 

TECHNICAL INSTITUTIONS & SOCIO ECONOMIC 

RURAL TRANSFORMATION ./ 9 

Dr. V.K. Natarajan 

WHAT8TH'PLAN SHOULD ACHIEVE? oI!" 16 

P. V. Narasimha Rao 

DEVELOPING NEW STRATEGY FOR 

WOMEN'S DEVELOPMENT" 

Pranab Mukheljee 

Hurukshelra 

(A Journal of Department of Rural Development) 

CONTENTS~ 

Vol. XL 

NO.5 

February 1992 

Megha-Phalguna Saka 1913 

PAGE PAGE 

5 

/ 19 

HOW DOES DWCRA SCHEME OPERATE_ 

A CASE STUDY 

N. Prem Kumar &: A Rahul Kumar 

INTEGRATED CHILD DEVELOPMENT 

SCHEME IN MIDNAPUR 

K.S. Adhikari 

COMMVNICATING HEALTH INFORMATION TO 

RURAL PEOPLE 

T. V. PrafulJa Chandra ~ 

,. 

24 

30 

37

MESSAGE OF THE 

MARCH PA-ST 

Men, women and children. 

Senkir citizens and 

Sentinels Of Freedom. 

As they march in proud 

unison on the Republic Day 

they have but 

one thought-INDIA, 

OUR INDIA. 

And in the hearts 01the 

, millions who watch the parade 

there is only one swelling spiritthe 

spirit of togetherness. 

A spirit that gets strengthened 

by challenges-- economic or 

otherwise. 

And makes us more determined 

in our efforts to fight poverty 

and forge ahead in new directions ... 

A Resolve to Win Challenges 

That's the Parade Spirit , 

/ 

o AV P911600 

I.

ABOUT SEVENTY FIVE PERCENT of the 

. Indian' population lives in villages. Most of' the 

rural population is engaged in agricultural .activities, 

but the land holdings are very small" These small land 

holdings keep on getting divided from father to sons 

. and from sons to grandsons, reaching a stage when 

they become so minuscule that a family can not fulfil 

even -its primary needs. hi this situation people "are 

rushing towards the citiescontinuouslyin-seaich of jobs 

and fulfilment of their needs .. Il1ias .created .serious 

problems in the way. of rural advancement. Efforts 

have beeq made by the Governmental agencies 

including the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural 

Development to minimize these 'problems; 'One of the 

, most important instruments devised for development of . 

'. rural areas is speedy implenentation of Integrated 

Rural Development Programme .. 

During the S.eventh Plan period, emphasis was laid 

on the process oLskill endowment as integral part 'of 

IRDP to the members' of' target group. The 

performance. of these, programmes have not been 

uniform thi'oughtout the country. In some places they 

are satisfactory" ,and in other places not satisfactory. 

These are foundla 'be satisfactory wherever endeavour 

was made to create awarenes~ about these programmes 

among the targeted beneficiaries. ' . 

Rural developme~t and agricultural productio'n are 

inter-related. Highagricultural)roduction with the use 

of improved farming techniques, neIY implements, 

hybrid seeds, ,chemical fertilizers and pesticides ma~ 

KURUKSHETRA, Febuary 1992 . 

".. , Impact of technological 

innovation on rural society 

" , 

Dr."N.L. Mishr. 

Deptt. of Psychology,"Go.rakhpur University, Gorakhpur 

. " 

Iieip bring about economic transformation of the 

viUages. The appropriate techniques hold the key for 

finding solutions ttl many bf the problems. when 

modernity enters rural areas and, new tools and 

tecniques are introduced, tne living standards, automatically 

go' up. It raises not only complex technical 

and economic problems, but also social, psychological 

and cultural issues of utmost importance. As we'see; 

areas. having mechanised' farming see'ms to have 

increased' their social activities compared to those 

where new technology made a little inroad. 

"Deb and Karam Singh (1975) rightly indicated that 

the high-yielding varieties of seeds. introduced in 1966 

resulted in large scale increase in farm outputs. They 

ollservedthat socio-economic 'structure has been 

undergoing significant changes such as increase in per 

capita incoIiie, real,wages of agricultural labourers, and 

improvement in the literacy rate. In another study by 

Acharya (1973), technological ch~ge was considered 

as a' change from traditional farming' to .production 

syndrome encompassing use o( high-yielding varieties, 

chemical fertilizers" insecticides' and use of modern. 

irrigation equipments. He observed that het farm 

income increased by 46.3 percent from pre-technoiOgical 

change .in situation to post-technological improvemim't 

in situation. - 

Several researches had shown that because of the 

technological imiovation there had been overall 

5

\ 

increase In output of crops, increase in. net farm 

income,' imporvement in the level of living, changes in 

the. social structure, level or' education, changes in 

attitudes 'and values' of rural people and increase in 

contact with urban areas and extension agencies (Singh 

1971, Sisodia, 1971, Parduman Kumar, 1974). ' 

Achievement motivation 

-IWAR! (1986) FOUND achievement motivation as 

Tthe most important, factor of change proneness 

'irrespective of the level of development of villages. He • 

found positive relationship between these two factors. 

Sinha and Mehta (1972) found greater motivation to 

achieve and greater readiness to changdn middle level 

land holders than among both smaller and bigger land 

holders. Misra {l988) ,had also found greater 

motivation level in those who belong to rich families 

than their counterparts havi'ng low economic status. 

Sinha (1984) has reported significant difference relating 

to mo~ivaticin between \ developed 'and undeveloped 

vifIagers. - 

Sinha angChaubey (1972) found that the farmers of 

developed villages were more achievement-oriented 

than the farmers of undeveloped villages. 

Mass media-exposure 

IN A STUDY 

. Chouhan,B.P. 

OF FARMERS in Bihar (K.N.K. 

Sinha & Mehta 1978), It was noted 

that television had an impact' on the husband's 

intention to _act on the message and it was more 

effective among farmers who had a higher motivation 

to excel in farming. The instruction given on T.V. 

regarding agriculture were more acceptable to' those 

whp had a wider horizon due to their eXilOSUre, to the 

outside world. As compared to the big farmers, small 

. farmers were better disposed to accepting the farm 

technology telecast.- 

Santhanani, Sastry, and Vijaya Kumar (1982), in 

their study on pepple's participation, found that 

members oCsocial organizations had better mass media 

contact, awareness of 'and contact, with officials and 

non-officials and accessibility to social facilities in the 

village. Rajendra (1973) had also found the same result 

regarding mass media. 

'. Against this background the present study is aimed at 

investigating the role of new technology and its impact 

, on rural development. ' , . 

6 

iv) 

v) 

,l 

., 

y 

Method 

THE TWO TYPES OF VILLAGES were selected 

,for the present investigation-developed and 

undeveloped. The'main occupat,ion oCthe villagers was 

agriculture. Selection of villages was made on the basis , 

of availability of resources such as number of 

machines, electrification, transportation, etc. Two 

"villages were identified in each category, namely, 

Misrode and Bawria for developed and van 

undeveloped villages, 

& san for - 

i) Hundred male subjects, were drawn from both the, 

areas for present investigation. The age range Of 

participants was 22 to 70 years. The education level 

of respondents was illiterate to postgraduation. 

ii) An open ended questionnaire was evolved 

regarding impact' of technology, evaluation of 

technology, and constraints/limits of techology 

on ru'ral society. The participants were asked 

about their experiences with ,different' types of 

machines/ gadgets, domestic appliances, agricultural 

as well as recreational technologies. They 

were also asked about the impact they had felt in 

their 'economic, _' social, political, education, 

religions and health conditions. 

iii) A sentence completion test 'of achievement motive 

developed by Tiwari (1982) was used. The scale 

consisted of 18 items, with two, alternatives for 

each. The test-retest and split half reliabilities 

have been estimated at .75 and .76 respectively. 

This was, a simple inventory related to information, 

prepared.byTiwari (1986). The test-retest 

reliability this inventory was .69. 

The Ss were told the purpose of the study first. 

They were given achievement Motive Scale aM 

Mass'Media Scale and at last technology related 

questionnaire was administered. The responses 

obtained by villagers on various measures were 

subjected to,statistical analysis. 

Results 

ITWAS OBSERVED that technology had influenced 

the seven.areas 'differently under the three categories 

of references (i.e., individual, village and society) which 

is 'presented in Table l. At the individual level the 

impact has been appreciated, to . be .positive in 

economic, educational, religious and social areas. At 

village level, iti impact has. been positi"e in economic 

, and eductional 

,/ 

areas while negative in political, 

KURUKSHETRA, February 1992

eligious and intercpersonaldomains. Similar trend was 

notiCed at societal level. The tren

L_ 

.' 

Motivation & Mass Media 

THE MEAN scores of a verbal measure of need 

. for achievement ,and exposure of mass media are 

given in Table NO.4. It is clear from this table that the 

villagers of the developed area were more achievementoriented 

aild had more exposure to mass media than 

their counterparts from undeveloped villages. These 

variables are more responsible for accepting innovations 

and adapting to them. 

Table-4 

Mean and standard dn-Jatiom of scores.of respOndents on the 

measure of achievement moiintlon and mass media exposure.' 

Vi/Jagcs Achievement 

motiVation 

Mass media 

Developed Mean 

, 

51.26 54.4 

Villages SD 3.30 5.13 

Undeveloped Mean 27.87 39.27 

Villages SD 7.70 9.59, 

Conclusion 

THERE WAS consensus among villagers regarding 

the overwhelming' impact of technology on the 

village life resulting in changes in the standards of rural 

life and agricultural production. However, the detaiied 

analysis of the preceived (impact of technology in 

various areas at individual, village; and societal levels 

revealed that the economic prosperity and life corniorts 

were accompanied by social, political, religious and 

cultural problems. In addition, the impact of 

technology was neither uniform across various al'eas 

nor consistent across different levels. The analysis of 

specific. consequences indicated that technology had 

changed significantlly the style of the use of human 

enertgy. The pattern of investment of human effort and 

labour is being remodelled in the light of 'advancing 

technological innovations. In contrast technology ,is 

also viewed as a source of certain problems including 

~thr,eat to life and environmental pollution. 

It was evident that the farmers from ,the developed 

villages, who were more achievement-oriented than 

'their counterparts of undeveloped villages, had a more 

positive image of technology. They had greater 

experience of the uses of technology in different areas. 

,As a result' they were also more sure about the 

potential uses and consequences of technology. in 

contrast, the villagers from undeveloped areas, who 

were deprived of socilH:Conomic benefits and lackea 

the necessary infrastlUcture at the level of village" 

displayed certain degree of ambiguity and ambiValence 

towards technology. Also, they lacked confidenet in 

their judgement' as they had limited experience of 

technology and constraints in their thoughts because of 

lack of requisite personal as well as environmental 

resources at the. village level. In their study Sinha, 

(1984) and Misra (1990) have shown similar results in 

the rural coIitex!. 

Another problem brought to the surface was that the. 

impact of technology' is not" 'determined by the 

availability of inputs, but on th'e purchasing capacity of 

its users. Therefore, resource mobilization at the 

grossroots level is authorized for ascertaining the 

accessibility to technology. The official provisions for 

loans, etc. are some of the schemes employed to meet 

this challenge. However, due' to corruption, bureaucratic 

systein and other factors, it had led to some new 

problenisand as such one cannot escape them but there 

is a need to promote appropriate technology which 

should match With"endogenous" model of development 

and not catch up with model (J.B.P. Sinha, '1987). This 

necessity is also in line with our experienCe in the. 

process of national development since Independence. 

For instance, a large chunk of villagers has migrated 

from villages to cities and, increasingly, larger number 

of educated young men are losing interest in 

agriculture. In 'addition, agriculture in villages remains 

del'endent upon naiural .resources and, therefore, 

makes agriculture' risk-bearing and village life disinteresting. 

REFERENCES' 

I. Acharya.. 5.S. (1973). Impact _of technological change on 

Farm employment arid income distribution in agriculture. Ind. 

Des. Abst. Vol. 2. No.3. 

2. Deb, P.C., &. Karam Singh (1975). Teehnol.ogy and So.cial 

Change in rural Punjab Ludhiana: PA V. Tech. Rept. Dept. 

Econ. Soc., P. 57. 

3. Chauhan, K.N.K., Sinha, B,P., & Metha, P. (1978). Efft:cts of 

T. V. and its combinations on fanners attitude towards 

modern farm technology, National Labour InsWure, 4, 7-12. 

4. 

5. 

Misra, N.L. JI98~), Resource Mobilization among villagers: 

An attributional analysis. Indian Journal of Community 

Guidance Service Vol. No. 1.5,No.3. 51, 58. 

Misra, N.L., & Tiwari, P.S.N. (1988). Study of causal 

perception in relation cif perceived economic status of rural 

poor ..Adyances in Psychology, 3, 61.:68. 

(Continued on page 15) 

8 KURUKSHETRA, February 1992

.~. 

" 

. TechriicalJnstitutions & Socio-Economic 

, . 

Rural Transformation 

SINCE INDEPENDENCE, various Rural Development 

Programmes have been' launched wilh a view' 

to raising the socio-economic status of the runtl people. 

A huge investment in terms' of men, material and 

capital has gone into th~se programmes; .but i't has not 

been able to make any significant dent on the 

formidable problems of poverty and unemployment. 

Recognising the magnitude of the problems of rural 

development and the massive efforts needed to improve 

the lot of rural masses, many non-gbvernmental 

organisations :such 'is, voluntary agencies, financial 

institutions. such 'as banks; commercial and industrial 

enterprises, etc. have also been called. upon to 

contribute their mite to these efforts. . 

• However, educational institutions particularly technical 

institutions 'have somehow lagged ,behind. because 

far too long'.these institutions have been operating in 

total seclusion, oblivious and insensitive to the 

problems and deprivations of the people in the 

surrounding ,environment (rom. which the staff and. 

students of the institutions are drawn and to which the 

products are 'again fed. back with increased .skills. and 

knowledge .. The' ice.' was broken by . launching .the 

Scheme of Community Polytechnics in the year 1978- 

79 by the then U~ion Ministry o(Education., 

Community Polytechnic Scheme 

COMMUNITY POLYTECHNICS are those technician 

institutions'identified to .act as an effective 

change agents .in .increasing productivity, generating 

employment and income and improving life style of 

. KURUKSHETRA, February 1992 

." 

rural masses. 

Dr. V.K ..NATARAJAN 

Faculty Member, Centre for RUr~1Development, 

Technical Teachers' Training.Institute, M~dras 

'; 

Based on.the success stories of a few polytechnics 

which had earlier experimented with a few ruraloriented 

programmes successfully on their own, the. 

, 

then Union 

, 

Ministry 

, . . .• ,~ 

of Education 

,j 

formulated 

. 

the 

scheme of Community Polytechnics in the country',in 

1977-78,' It was felt that these polytechnics in rural 

areas could playa 'significantrole in promoting Rural 

Development because they are equipped witt!: ' ••. 

ph¥sical facilities such as buildings, equipment 

laboratories "and workshops which could be used 

-, to train rurai'youth '"nd adults, • .... . . 

• ~ 

.qualified and trained faculty who' can plan well 

formulated schemes for rural development, 

a !large body of young students whose energies 

,and .spare time could be 'profitably utilized under 

,proper guidance for the benefit 'of the rural 

Ipeople, , 

.skilled technicians arid oiher " technical manpower 

Iwhoseservices cari be used for vocational training 

,and ~ransfer of technology, and. 

.• .';-\.!"'. " ;

Polytechnics are in the Southern Region. 

As per the initial conceptualisation of the Scheme, 

Community Polytechnics have been entrusted with the 

implementation of the following six major activities: 

10 

Socio-economic Survey, .• • 

Manpower De;~lopmenUind Training, 

- --..Transfer of Technology, 

'\ .. - . ; ...•: '. 

Technical Services, 

, 

Support Services and 

Dissemination of Information. '.; 

\ -, ~-.:, ~~ 

". . .,. 

In this paper an attempt has been made to explain 

and analyse the various programmes taken up for 

implementation by the. polytechnics in the Southern. 

Region during the last one decade .and list out the 

major problems faced by them and impact of the 

Scheme on the rural areas. 

,. 

Activities 

INTHE PRECEDING paras, the nllijor activities 

identified for contribution by the Community 

Polytees are narrated. ' 

1. Socio-Economic Survey 

Planning begins with the base line survey 'of the 

project villages identified and selected for development 

to determine the felt needs and, focus the direction in' 

which .the rutal development efforts are likely to be 

launched .. 

Based on. the outcomes of the survey, the 

polytechnics prepare detailed time bdund programmes 

indicating there on the activities, the targets, to be 

accomplished in terms, resource needs, manpower 

required, implementation processes, time schedule for 

each activity, etc. . . . 

2, Manpower Development and 

Training Programme , 

The objectives of the Manpower Development and 

Training are as follows: . 

• To impart to. the local people.basic skills, 

knowledge and attitudes required to practice 

any 'occupationi" activity leading to gainful 

.employment in their own villages. , • 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Training for upgrading the skills in their own 

fields or for adoption of modern technologi'es. 

Training for effective maintenance of' farm 

equipment. 

Training Supervisory and managerial personnel 

required' for. making development 

activities in villages. 

Training entrepreneurs for setting up cottage 

or village or sinall scale industries for selfemployment 

and also for making villages 

self-sufficiel\t. 

Keeping the above objectives in view, the Community 

Polytechnics liave been implementing,this programme 

in full spirit. As many as seventy.types oftrad~s both in 

engineering and non-engineering have been identified 

by these institutions in this region and conduci training 

courses regularly. The beneficiaries. for these programmes 

include rural youth, school drop-outs, 

,artisans, women, Widows,unemployed girls, etc. 

A deeper analysis ~f the implementation of these 

,programmes reveal the following: . 

Each Community Polytechnic conducts on an 

average five to twenty types of courses. These 

courses are being conducted at free of cost both 

at the polytechnic premises and also at the 

project villages. The main purpose is to conduct 

the training courses at the very door steps of the 

candidates so' that they may not incur any 

expenditure on their part. 

Duration of the courses for various trades being 

conducted by these institutions vary from three 

to six months. On an average, each Community 

, Polytechnic has been' training more than 300 

youth per year. . 

Among the 'various trades, which most of the 

Community Poiytechnics conduct training programmes 

include training in service and 

maintenance of electrical gadgets, training in 

repair and maintenance of farm equipment, 

pumps; tractors, oil engines, two wheelers and 

four wheelers, ,watches, clocks, fans, radiOS, 

,. TVs, tailoring, embroidery, basket and, mat 

weaving, etc. " All' these courses are being 

conducted to enhance the skill'of unemployed 

youth, wo'men, widows, school dropQuts, so as 

to enable them to gain wage employment and 

gainful I self. employment. The records available 


"at monitoring agencies revealed that nearly 

. 34,600 candidates had been trained during the 

last one decade under, various trades by the 

Community Polytechnics functioning' in the 

, Southern Regioll. " 

To what extent, the trained candidates in different 

trades are' able to get employment is an expected 

/' question by one and all. It has been roughly estimated 

that on an average forty percent of the trained 

candidates in each institution are able to secure wage 

or self employment. However, this estimation slightly 

varies subject 1'0 the demand and types of the trades in 

which courses are conducted. 

3; Transfer of Technology .. 

India -today is recognised as one' amOlig the leading 

nations in the field of Science and Technology. As a 

result of the thrust given to Science arid Technology by 

the Country's planners, great studies have been taken 

by many Research Institutions and Laboratories 

particularly in the areas of Appropriate Technology 

during the last few decades. However, the benefits of 

these appropriate technologies have not appreciably 

percolated down to the needy and the d'eserved persons 

in rural areas. Further it is also true that advancements 

and .progress achieved in Science and Technology have 

not ,been harn'essed for ameliorating the miseries of the 

rural poor'to a significant level. Hence the villagers 

could not adopt these modern techniques and 

implements.to improve 'their quality ,of life and achieve 

higher levels of productivity. This may ,be due io the 

fact that the actual and' the systematic process .of 

traosfer of technology to the rural areas was not 

scientifically undertaken in a planned manner. This has 

been seriously viewed by our planners and administraiors 

as one of the main reasons for the present state 

of affairs of the rural are'as characterised by inisery, 

poverty and unemployment on a largescale. 

It was in this context that the Community, 

Polytechnic Scheme was introduced by Government of 

India in the year 1978.79 as an additional strategy in 

increa,ing productivity,. generating employment and 

improving the life style of rural masses with an activity 

designated as Transfer of Technology included as one 

of the major components of the scheme. 

Types of Rural Technologies 

The following are the various. types of appropriate 

technologies 'being under~aken by the Community 

Polytechnics for implementation under the scheme. 

KURUKSHETRA:February 1992 

~ 

• Those iechnologies - already developed such as 

wind mill,. bio-gas, bio-mass, sol3;~ heater, 

cookers and driers, low !=ost housing, w.ater 

management systems. such as sprinkler systems, 

drip irrigation system, sinking of tube wells, 

smokelesS' chullahils / astrable; wood burning 

~-~'stove. brick making, coir' winding, improved' 

pottery, :Wheels,etc. " 

• . Besi

the beginning. Illiteracy, poverty, ignorance, etc.. are 

the major obstacles that retard the viUagers from quick, 

and mass adoption of these technologies. 

, . , 

4. Technical Services'''' . 

, 

. Today the .villagers own,'various types of labour 

saving' agricultural. machines .and implements such as 

tractors, harvesters, threshers, ploughs,' pumpsets, 

winnowers, etc. They. also use various electrical and 

ele~tronic gadgets.' . ' 

With the spread of banking facilities in rural areas, 

some villagers are slowly striving to become' entre-, 

preneurs through the establishment of' agro-based 

industries. Having developed such infrastructures, 

villagers today are in dire need of 'varioustypes of' 

technical services' to maintain andrepa-ir such items. 

~ ~I . .-,." 

Polytechnics functioning In .rural areas were' 

considered as the best institutions to,meet the problems 

oLvillages. 'It was in this context that the Community 

Polvtechnic Scheme was introduced with an activity 

designated 'Technical Services' 'as onc of the major 

p'rogrammes of the scheme.' ,", , 

, . 

The primary purpose of Technical Services activity is 

to sustain the technologies already adopted by the 

Comnuinity and 'e.nsure continuous adoption without 

let or hindrance. ' , 

Modes of rendering Techni~alSe~vices. 

Depending upon tbe local situation: polytechnics 

choose to adopt ol)e or more of the following modes 

for offering technical services. 

12 

at the poly'technic premises as the required 

equipment are - installed in ,the polytechnic 

premises and cannot be moved to th~ villages. 

at the ]Oxtension Centres locat,d in villages as 

the polytechnic is too far away and frequent 

commuting is difficult and'the type of services 

required needs only .simple .iools and test 

,equipment',and the use of heavy equipment is 

not needed.' . 

organising periodical visits or Technical Service 

, camps. This type of services are being rendered 

as the services required is of such a nature that' 

they can be .catered to at regular frequencies. 

Sometimes the villagers find it convenient to 

have all their r~ql\itements attended' t,o on a, 

. particular day. 

, , 

Activities. 

Under' the technical services programme, the 

following activities are undertaken by the Community 

Polytechnics to help villagers. ' 

organising' mobile service!repair' units which 

• ~. 'undertake minor repairs to equipment on the 

job at site: ' 

establishing service centres to cater to.!!)e needs' 

of a cluster, of villages. '.' 

organising technical service' camps at' regular 

, intervals of time in villages 

offering consultanCy" serviceS] at village' levels 

through trained technicians. 

establishment of Production-cum-training Centres 

at selected villages to undertaKe production 

of some, items which arc needed by the 

community and for which 'the raw materials 

" are locally availa?le. 

these centres also impart training to rural 

youth for self-employment ,by providing service 

and maintenance faeilities to'the'villagers, : 

In tune with the nature of the work referred t,!,above, a 

quick look of the activities undertaken by the 

Community Polytechnics include repair' and maintenance 

of auto service~;' agricultural equipment, biogas! 

bio-mass systems; JUbe wells! bore wells; repair 

and servicing of generators, electric! oil engine motors; 

house wiring works; testing of road materials; bricks; 

hospitals appliances, repair of household furnitures, 

job repairs in fabrication of gates and grills, etc, 

• l ';~' 

In view of the significant work' done by the 

,Community Polytechnics, technical services activity is 

being' . considered as an important and essential 

pro'gramme by the villagers. There is no doubt, ,that thc 

Community Polytechnics by rendering technical 

services to the needy and eligible group's in the villages. ' 

facilitate them to'achievehigher productivity, reduce 

unemployment and ultimately improve the life style of 

the villagers. 

Support Services 

In addition to technical services mentioned above. 

support of other kinds to improve professionally to 

widen the' scope of their activities or to enhance their 

prodUCtivity. The kind of'support needed may vary 

KURUKSHETRA, Februarv 1992 

. .•. '. .

widely from a mere psychological boost in some cases 

to complete guidance in acquiring loans, supply of raw 

materials, acquisition of necessary know-how, development 

of marketing and distributing facilities, improvement 

of ~ural infrastructural facilities and services, etc: 

Hence it becomes necessary that the Community 

Polytechnics which are impleme~ting "Manpower 

Development and Training", "Transfer of Technology" 

and "Technical Services" programmes. should also 

engage in "Support Services" as ali' integrated part of, 

its activities to promote' the objectives of rural 

development. ' . 

Most of the people in villages are poor, illiterate and 

are consequently unaware of the procedures and' 

approaches for availing of the benefits occuring not 

only from the Community Polytechnic Scheme but also 

from other ongoing 'rural. development programmes. 

Support Services as an activity of the Community 

Polytechnic Scheme .fills the gap by' assisting the 

villagers particularly to the needy and the eligib'le 

. groups. 

Activities 

,As part cif Support Services programme,. the 

Community Polytechnics assist and 'guide the villagers 

in" many ways' which inClude helping the rural 

entrepreneurs in p'repanition of' project reports, 

arranging finance through' financial institutions, purchase 

of plant and machIneries, providing guidances in 

marketing, sales, etc., helping the villagers to install 

smokeless chullahs, bio-gas plants, .ural s~nitation 

facilities; assisting the villagers iJ.\,getting .•drinking 

water, repair of old water tanks,desilting of tne ponds 

or lakes in villages, improvement of water ponds, 

assisting the villagers. to organise medical check-up 

camps, eye camps, dental camps, animal .hvsbandry 

camps, assisting replacement of pump sets and other 

. agricultural implements to lhe poor farmers, rJpair and 

reconstruction of houses' for the poor/s\:heduled 

castes/tribes families,'domestic wiring at Joor and 

harijan colonies; social forestry, supply of .keds and 

. plants to the needy persons, repairing' df school 

buildings, temples,' community ,halls, etc. . I . 

The list of such services goes on and there is no limit: 

Altho'ugh many of the aeiivities under this pta gramme 

c6uld be of non-techrlical nature, still they ptovide the' 

necessary base for undertaking other types of activities 

ilOd prepare the villagers mentally (or these • programmes, 

establish rapport with them, civerdome their 

inhibitions and establish credibility for the pblytechnic 

KUR~KSHETRA, February 1992, 

in the eyes of the rural population. 

6. Dissemination of Information 

Essentially, Dissetnination of Information is a 

process of communication from a "Sender" to a 

"Receiver". The sender has certain information to be 

transmitted and has identified the receiver who is either 

ali individual or a group of persons geographically 

distributed. 'Almost all the activities of the scheme 

require a constant dialogue w'ith the villagers and their 

local leaders.' This process of 'communication, unless 

established on a sound footing can create .blocks and 

imped;'ments to the various activities. This is 

particularly important because most of the villagers are 

illiterate and not knowledgeable and they are spread 

out all over the area in different villages. Against this 

background,' Dissemination of Information activity was 

included as one of the major activities of the scheme .. 

. . 

Under this programme; the Community Polytechnics 

give wide publicity to the various types of information 

about rural technologies and other 'related' activities by 

appropriate choice of mode of communication 

depending upon the target groups. 

Activities' 

Under the Dissemination of Information programme, 

the Community Polytechnics undertake the following 

activities: 

Publication and distribution of teChnical 

literature containing information on--i.mproved, 

'adopted and new technologies' suitable for rural 

needs in local languages and distribute them 

through pamphlets, leaflets, brochures, posters 

and other audio-visual.aids such as film strips, 

films, tape-recorders, etc. .. 

Screening. of Documentary films and video 

programmes on Appropriate Technologies and 

other related rural development subjects such as 

improved .agricultural methods, practices, 

techniques, family,. welfare, small savings, 

sericulture, social forestry, etc. in the projeq. 

villages regularly. '. . 

Conducting exhibitions to displaylvariousitems 

of appropriate technologies at the project are' 

or at public places during festival days, 

Organising seminars on relevant topics 'suct. 

. as Drip irrigation, social forestry, elc. perio- . 

dically in the projeclareas 'by inviting subject . 

13

specialists. 

In the implementation of the above mentioned, 

activities, the Community Polytechnics involve the 

villagers' particularly members of the youth clubs, 

Mehila Mandals, N.S.S. Volunteers, Local Voluntary 

Organisations, etc. .," 

A feedb~ck obtained from Jhe polytech~lcs revealed 

that'this programme made' a tremendous, impact in the 

villages, it created, an' awareness, about various .,rural 

technologies among the ,vill~gers, besides polytechnics 

got "a ,wide publicity for' various programmes or'the 

scheme: '. 

.. - 

Finance 

The Ministry of Human' Resource Developmerit, 

Government of India extends'financial assistance to the' 

Community Polytechnics. Each Community Polytechnic 

is being given ~,Recurring grant of Rs. 1.25 lakhs per 

year. Besides, a Non-recurring grant:. of Rs. 10.0 lakhs 

was given to each institution for purchase of necessary 

additional equipment, machineries and a vehicle. 

, "' . 

. ,4 

Collaboration with other Organisations 

Rural Development is a massive task and, no single 

agency can possibly contribute effectively -without the 

co-oper'ation and collaboration of other' agencies 

working in the areas. Efforts from different directions 

and areas are required f{)f quick socio-economic 

development of the' village population. Polytechnics 

along have only limited and inadequate resources and 

expertises for bringing about socio-economic transformation 

in rural areas. Having realised this. today each 

Community Polytechnic has well established intimate 

collaboration and co-ordination with a large nUf)lberof 

Government Departments such as DRDA. DIC, 

Forest; Health, Agriculture, Industries,etc. and non-govern- 

, mental organisations':;n their areas which are already 

_working for rural Developme"nt'._ ','". . 

It is:seen from experiences that effective' collaboratiol1 

, with the Government' and Non-government 

agencies facilitate the 'Community P(llytechnics io 

promote rural development programmes efficiently. 

Implementation Process 

, Planning' On the basis of thesocio-economic 'survey 

'conducted in the project villages, 'the needs/ demands.of 

the villages are identified by each. of the' Community 

Polytechnics. ,An annual action plan spelling out in 

14 

detail time bound activities, targets, budgets. resource 

req uirements, human resources, implemen tation .stra- ' 

tegies, monitoring mechariism, etc. is being prepared by 

each, institution with the help of the Technical Teachers 

Tniining -Institute (TTTI). 

Organisation At'the polytechnic level, a team of three 

to five core faculty are associated to act as Project'- 

Officers/ Assistant Project Officers while the, Principal' 

of the institute acts as ,Co-ordinator of the Scheme. 

Besides, staff such as technicians of various' disciplines, 

accounts and administration are also involved. They 

are all employed o'n part-time .basis and suitably 

remunerated. Apart from the core., staff, each 

p'Olytechnichas employed many need based' work 

charged staff on fuil time basis on remuneration. , 

1" , . 

Advisory Committee, Each polytechnic has constituied 

an Advisory Committee consisting of Senior officials of ' 

the St~te Govetllment from the concerned' departments, 

prominent citizens, representatives -Cromthe monitoring 

authorities such as Technical Teachers' Training', 

Institute (TTTI) and the Regional office of the , 

. Ministry. It-helps in rendering suitable advices for 

effective implementation of the scheme. 

Exe.cutive Committee: An Executive Committee 

comprising various ,officials and the polytechnic staff 

functions in each institute which looks .after the 

implementation" of the scheme and monitors the 

progrees internally. 

Training & Guidance' The ITTI has been entrusted 

with the responsibility of providing technical guidance 

and academic'inputs to the' Community Polytechnics 

by 'organising, sho'rt term training programmes, 

workshops. conferences. discussion> meetings periodically 

for the beriefit of the faculty involved in the 

implcmentation of the scheme. 

Monitoring and Evaluation: Monitoring of the scheme 

are jointly done 'by the Technical Teachers Training 

Institute (TTTI) , and the, Southern Regional office 

(SRO) ,of the Ministry. The monthly and quarterly 

progre~s reports submitted by the Community 

Polytechnics are analysed and the Minist~y is apprised 

of the progress by ITTI and the Regional Office. 

, , I. 

The performance of the Community Polytechnics are 

also ev'aluated by expert committees appointed by the 

Ministry from time to,time.- . 

.: 'Problems encountered 

.Some 'of the'major problems/constraints faced by 

KURUKSHETRA; February 1992

the Community Polytechnics are: 

7. 

8. 

9, 

Presently, the core staff consisting of t~o to five 

facilIty members in each polytechni~. on part. 

time basIs are incharge of the scheme, As 

already over burdened with the classrJom work. 

they feel that they cannot pay full attention to 

all the activities. of the scheme due to lack of' 

time. Hence lack' of staff on Ifull :time 

employmc'nt is one of the major problems faced 

by all the institutions. I. 

Delay in the ~lease of recurring grants in time 

dampens the enthusiasm of the institutions for 

effective implementation.' I 

Lack of attractive stipendary assistence to the' 

beneficiaries of the 'scheme on par ~ith similar. 

schemes such as TR YSEM, als~poses a 

problem to the Community Polytechnics for 

effective implementation. I 

The frequent transfer of the staff in the 

polytechnics, particularly in the ~overnment 

institutions sometimes hinders the smooth 

implementation of the scheme. . I . 

Impact of the Scheme 

. I' 

The Scheme has been in operation for over more than a 

decade. Overail the implementation of th~ scheme by 

the polytechnics is satisfactory. The schert.e has made 

(Continued from page 8) . 

6. Misra, N.L. (I990y' A Psycho-social of the image of rur~J 

dCl'e/opment in an area of M.P. (with special reference to th~ 

role 'of Scien"ce &.. Technology) Unpublished Ph. D. Thesis. 

Bhopal University; Bhopal. 

Parduman K.g"mar (1974). An economic' study of water 

management Programme in Sambalpur district l (Orissa) .. Indian 

Journal of Ag. ,Econ. Vol. 'XXIX. No.2, pp. 43-51 .. 

R~jendra. (1913). Socio-economic factors and ldoption pattern. 

sa:ietY- and. Culture, 4, i79-183. - _I. '. 

Santha;nam,' M,L Sastry, C. Y., & Vizayk¥mar, S. (1982). 

Human factors !n people's participation. Journal of Rural 

Deve/Opmer'f_t.;.', ;70.837 ,_ l_ 

ID Sinha. D. (1984). Some Psychological dimensi0!i-s of rural 

development Journal of social and Economic lstudies. I, 29-44: 

II. Sinha, J.B.V-. (i987). R~l; 

- 

Development. ,Paper presented 

of PSYChOllg,v in , 

at the UGC INational 

National 

Seminar 

on applied 

Bhopal. 

-SocltdPsychologyin India, Bhopal University, 

KURUKSHEfRA, February 1992 

trem,endousimpaetin rural ateas;througb this scheme 

the Villagers have become well aware of the "cUor 

utilisation of the benefits ~reing from sac- and 

Technology equipment, mention may be made in the 

case of bio-gas,' wind' mill, smokeless chuUab, fllJ'lll 

implements, rl!ral' sanitation, solar items, low cost 

housing, water management devices,. various Ia~our 

• saving devices, etc. 

Villagers have been adequately trained to attend 

repair and maintemince of their own equipment' 

which are being used in their day-t

'''- :,~ -.. 

THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS have witnessed 

,- 'many significantev~nis, b'oth within the country 

,and outside. We have faced critical moments in our 

domestic economic situation. There have been strains 

in our,Balance of Payments position, a perilous deCline 

in our foreign exchange reserves, and severe fiscal 

imbalances. ,Governments have changed. This period 

has also seen historic and morrienious trends emerging 

in the, world. These changes hilVehad repercussions on 

the finalisati6n of our 8th Five Year Plan: The Plan 

which was due, 'to start in April 1990, wilt now 

commence from 1st April, 1992. 

.' . 

New policy measures 

WE HA VE INITIATED 

, measures to revitalize 

a 

the 

series of 

economy. 

policy 

These 

include correction of fiscal imbalances, a downward 

adjustment of the external value of the rupee, radical 

changes in the trade policy, the announcement' of the 

new industrial policy, and concrete steps to make the 

public sector inaustry' efficient and surplus-generating. ' 

We are confident that these -policies will make a 

significant impact on_the economy, though it may take 

some time before the impact becomes visible. These 

,policy measures will also have a bearing on the 

Government's priorities and programmes. All this has 

necessitated a fresh look at the considerable preparatory 

work which had already been done Jor the 8th Plan 

and the re-casiing of the Plan. 1 am happy to say thai 

the Planning Commissionnas prepared the Macro- 

I economic Directioniil Paper well in time, fully taking 

into account the imperatives of development and the 

.16 

" 

What 8th plan s~ould achieve? 

~.. : 

.:.': 

,P.V. NARASIMHA RAO Prime Minister', & 

Chairman. pianning Commission, New DeJh 

constraints imposed by the present economic situation. 

A question which is being debated' now is: What 

would be the role of planning in th~ new context? My 

emphatic answer is that planning will continue to have 

a critical role in the, social, htlrrian and economic 

development, of our country'. The" concept of 

development as perceived by founding fathers at the 

very beginning of the era of planning still holds good. 

The Firsl.Five Year Plan had rightly emphasised lIlat, 

and,l quote: 

"Economic condition of a country at any given tipe 

is a product of a wider process aiming not merdy at the 

development of resources in a narrow technicaJ'sense, 

but at the development of human faculties and the _ 

building up of an institutional framework adequate ,to 

the needs and aspirations .qt;the people. " 

1 do not think we can add much to this. But it is to 

be admitted'that what has been done so far falls sbort 

of the needs, particulady in the developrrientof human 

resource and in the building up of an ':ins,titutional 

framework adequate to the needs and aspi'rations of 

our people. These will have to receive priority attention 

in the 8th Plan, as also the priorities listed out in the 

Macro-economic Directional Paper. ' ' 

New Role ofPlartning CO,mmission 

-T' HE ROLE OF PLANNING IN J:UTURE, ,will 

largely b,eto facilitate this development. India has 

had a mixture of planning through'detailed targeting 'as 

well,as indicative planning. Planning for sectors,where 


public enterprises were dominant (steel, pet roche icals, 

, , I 

railways, for example); followed detailed working out 

of investment and production targets. Planning Ifor the 

'private sector has been wholly indicative. It is now time 

to, enlarge the area of indicative pilinning, sharpen our 

'tools and methods; and pay more attention to ~uilding 

up a long-ierm strategic vision of the future, This calls 

for a re-OIi,entation of the role of the F1 'lanning 

Commission. ' 

An important 

1 

corollarly to more effective planning 

and its implementation is decentralization and micro-' 

level planning. We will have to mo~e fast in this area, 

encouraging and facilitating the developmeJt of an 

appropriate institutional infrastructure which can aid 

and assist in this great task of development 

active people's involvement. 

through 

" 

Expansion of private sector 

THE DIRECTIONAL 

objectives, the thrusts 

PAPER 

and the 

lays down the 

strateg~ of the 

Eighth Five Year Plan, It calls for a re-examination 

and re-orientation of the roie of the Governclent. It is 

'essential to' fully involve the people in the Jrocess of 

~~t~o~-bu.ilding. The ma,in task is to ensure Itliat real 

lDltlatlve IS transferred to the people., At the saine time, 

the State has to play an active role in, prot~cting the 

interests of the poonind the neglected. In a~dition to 

the Public.Sector on which' this function is ebjoined,' I 

have' no d~ubt that the Private Sector, J-hich will 

register expansion hereafter, should keep thiJ objective 

firmly in view. In, this respect, "there coJld 

, differentiation'or dichotomy. I 

be no 

' , 

Looking ahead my vision of the year 2000 is that 

poverty. would be almost completely eliminated ,and 

conditions of near full" employment would prevail. 

Basic needs in respect, of food, drinking water, clothing, 

universal elementary education, adult literacy, and 

accesS' to health facilities will be provided for. There 

will be a marked improvement in living standards for 

all. Women will have equal status. Life expectancy will 

increase to well over sixty years, and infant mortality 

will decline steeply. 

Employment-generation 

OUR FOREMOST 

generate adequate 

OBJECTIVE today is to 

employment. This is, the precondition 

for eradication of poverty. But this will be 

KURUKSHBTRA, February' 

possible only when the, young men' and women iIi the 

age of employment are' imparted the skills and 

competence which make, them employable. In other 

words, the educational pyramid, should be so planned 

(that within the 8th' Plan every child is ensured 

schooling upto levels ,,:here employability is acquired. 

The base of the pyramid, i,e., the elementary, should be 

fully covered while'the middle and higher . levels are 

enabled to" imparl' technical and managerial levels 

commensurate with market requirements, ensuring in 

the pro'cess, a full array of competences for selfemployment 

to serve the expanding needs of the society, ' 

lIIiteracy should be eradicated in the next five years in 

the age group 15to 35 years. 

Along with this, universal coverage of all villages in 

fulfilling the basic needs of drinking water and primary 

health care facilities, including immunization, has to be 

achieved within this plan period. Scavenging should be 

eliminated in the next five years. Every family must be 

enabled -to, acquire the capacity to fulfil its basic 

nutritional requirements.' 

This has to be achieved keeping the hard fact in view 

that nearly 7 crores of persons would have been added 

to the labour force by the turn of tbe century. An 

effective •population "policy, therefore, becomes an, 

urgent necessity in 'our planning strategy. This is' a 

challenging task. But if all of us accept this national 

commitment; the country should be able, to 'achieve the 

goal of a balanced population growth, This ,issue has 

been included as 'an agenda item for this meeting. A 

conference of Health Ministers of States is also being 

convened shortly to discuss tbe draft Action Plan on 

the subject, , 

Family welfare 

FOR TiIIs PURPOSE, 

grassroot-leveLinstitutions 

the 'cooperation, of 

is very essential. I want 

the Chief Ministers' to 'evolve a mechanism for this. 

You can find, ways of c1osednvolvement of the State 

Governments, Zilla Parish ads and Panchayats.Besides, 

each State. can evolve, if ,necessary, some special 

parameters to be programmed to 'suit its conditions, in 

addition to the general approach. r would also like to 

add that this programme should not be treated as the 

Centre's responsibility alone, An ,integrated approach 

to family welfare, specially at the village level, is proper 

implementation of every other programme relevant to 

it like literacy, immunisation, health 'and nutrition, 

education, etc, should also be vigorously carried out, 

We may think Of a method whereby the village "as a 

17

whole. gets additional benefits as incentive for its 

performance in family welfare. I .appeal' to the Chief 

Ministers to generate new ideas for dealing with this 

challenge. I would like the Planning Commission. and 

Central Government to appreciate and accept all useful 

suggestions of the State Governments and of those 

actively engaged in the programme at the field level. 

18 

", 

High growth rate 

MUCH OF WHAT WE are targeting in the area 

of hUlnan development will require .that a high 

, growth'rate of income be achieved as early as possible. 

This requires considerable strengthening of infrastructure-energey, 

transport, communication andirrigation. 

The 8th Plan will focus on these objectives keeping 

in view the need for continued reliance on domestic 

resources for financing investment, increasing the 

capabilities for the development of science and 

technology, modernisation and competitive,efficiency. I 

am confident that Withthe policy framework we have in 

mind, the Indian economy can keep pace with and take 

advantalle of global developments. 

In the preparation of. the Plan, sectors mean( for 

intensive' investments on a 'priority basis will be 

identified. This will facilitate the policy initiatives taken 

in the areas of fiscal, trade and industrial sectors and in 

, human development. However, along with investment, 

effective utilisation of resources also needs to be ensured. 

Resojlrces are limited butwhatever isfeasible must reach 

,those who'lleed it most. 

. P .. 

- Mobilisation of resources 

.. . 

IN THE FORMULATION OF the Plan I'would 

request the Chief Ministers to appreciate certaiii basic 

aspects of national concern impinging on the future of 

this country. The planning process is not to be seen as an 

exercise imposed or .directed from the Cenire., It is a 

process in which the Centre and the States are partners. 

The national priorities must be determined together. The 

methodology of effective and fruitful involvement of the 

people at the grassroots level must be formulated 

together, with the major initiative coming ftom the 

States. Raising resources also demands. tlie same 

approach. We have to identify, together, tlit hitherto 

untapped potential for resources mobilisatidit An area 

where'the state and the Centre converge is tiie speedy 

completion of. on-going externally aided projects in 

various States. It is urifortunate that even in the present 

situation of severe strain on our liaJance of payments, a 

hiige amount of committed external aid ,hilSremained 

unutilise

, ' Developing~new 

GIVEN 'BELOW' is an ed!ted ','versi~n of t~e 

speech delivered by Shn Mukhel)ee, whl,le 

inaugurating a workshop on "Gender & Poverty, In 

India" in New Delhi, on December 5, 1991. 

I have glanced through the report "Gender .and 

Poverty in India" broullht ouLby the World. Bank. I 

, am particularly happy at the team effort which went 

into the production of this document, by far the first of 

its kind, which has taken a comprehensive view of 

women's development issues, a number of which have 

'relevance for other developing countries of the region 

as well. The Report has dwelt on the disproportionately 

greater constraints, women fi'ce in gaining access to 

development opportunities. In fact it makes the 

observation that "in Indian life, access who gets what IS 

closely tied to gender". Unfortunately, the intensity of 

the differential in access to development is not only by 

gender but also by class, rural urban residence, social 

groupings and' other variables, though in each of these 

categories the constraints faced by, women are 

undoubtedly greater. The present position sharply' 

contrasts with, the high status traditionally given to 

women in India in ancient times. India always'regarded 

women as the embodiment of shakti and women played 

a leading role in ancient, medieval and modem periods 

of our history.inour '19th century reawakening and in 

our freedom movement. 

Concern thro' plans 

AFTER OUR INDEPENDENCE, concerns relating 

to women were taken note of'even ip the First 

- 

KURUKSHETRA, February 1992 ' 

strategy for 

women's development 

PRANAB MUKHERJEE 

DtjnIty Cbairman. PIonning Commbslon, New DeIb 

Five-Year Plan but this was more of the nature of 

viewing women as beneficiaries of.welfare programmes. 

The assumption then was thal the benefits of 

development would flow to men, and from them to 

, women and children: a separ,!-ted identity was neither 

sought nor given"nor were the specifit needs of women 

projected as a, development issue alt~ough soci~ 

sectors like education arid health, for Instance, did 

reflect cognisance of the ,needs of women in these, areas. 

In the 1970s, however" it became evident that unless 

women's development needs, are specifically considered 

they will continue to lag behind in all the social and 

economic sectors, and ~ome increasingly margina- 

'Iised. The Report of ,the, Committee, on Status,of 

Women in India which made a comprehensive analysis 

of women's status in a developmental framework, and 

came out with a series of recommendations for 

improving the status of women, give a much ,delayed 

push to the consideration of women's issues in the 

agenda of the nation's development. The. rep?rt 

generated ,a lot of interest. among research~rs, policy" 

makers and the media. The debate it generated received a 

further impetus ,on' account of the observance of the 

International Women's Year in 1975, and the subsequent 

International Women'sDecade. These initiatives 

provided us also an opportunity to appraise the 

extent of gender sensitisation, in' our own social, 

economic and administrative system, the outreach of 

services to women, the impact of various policies and 

programmes on them; 'and the extent of opportunities 

available 10 women to enable th'em to play an equal role 

in the social, economic and political life of the country. 

19

The, 1970s 'also saw the enactment Of important gender bias. They. bemoan the fact that' national 

specific legislations like the EqUidRemuneration Act and statistical systems' collect, little -infomiation on the 

the amendment in existing legislations to protect the contribution of women to the economy; a1so"economic 

interests and -of women and' extend benefits to them. 'value is not assigned, to unpaid houSehold work, 

This, was a continuation of 'the process begun in the different kinds of subsistence activities, or activiiies1ike 

1950s, The creation of a separate Bureau of Women's •," collecting fuel wood or looking after domestic 

Developm~ntin the then Department 'Of Social Welfare. livestock. Home based production activities and unpaid 

and the setting up of a national committe~ with the work also tend to be grossly uildeNeported, specially if 

Prime Minister as the Chairman were other -develop-, this is of an intermittent character. 

ments. We now have a separate Department of Women 

and Child Development which not only implements a 

number of programmes but also acts as a nodal point 

on matters relating to women's 'development. 

The 1980s saw a consolid.aiion, 'of the different 

endeavours of women's development. The Sixth Plan 

(1980-85) for the first time presented an integrated 

strategy for women's development in the overall 

national framework of development, considering th.em 

as equal partners and not just. beneficiaries of welfare. 

It emphasised a multi-sectoral approach to, the 

development of women and drew specific attention to 

the inter-linkages. The Seventh Plan continued this 

strategy. In recent years, a few more jmportant 

initiatives have been taken. A national perspective plan 

'for women "has been 'prepared.-which provides 

directions for the development 'of women in various 

fields. The National Commission on, Self-Employed 

Women, and Women in Informal Sector .in its 

comprehensive report Shramshakti has analysed the 

problems affecting the very large n'umber of women 

enaged in the informal sector and the steps thai need-to 

be taken to improve their situation. I am making a 

mention of some of these endeavours to indicate that 

we arc continuously, reviewing policies to i!11pnjvethe 

status, of women and enable them .to contribute to the 

sociliI and economic well-being of the nation. 

Poor and labouring 

ITIS A 'WELL known fact that poor women play 

an importa'nt role in the Indian eCOnomy. A poor 

woman is economically active for the simple reason 

that she' canl)ot afford not to work. Women, work 

harder and for longer hours compared to men. Why is 

it then thai while they are visible everywhere - on 

farm and on construction sites, they become invisible 

when it comes to the statistics on participation of 

women in the workforce? The fact is that the 

contribution of' women to the economy has so far 

'remained grossly under-reported due' tei certain 

conceptual, methodological, and perception problems. 

This has been criticised by some ,scholars as reflecting 

Our own censuses indicated low work participation 

rates of women in 1971 andl98I. The census of 1991, 

alive to this problem, /uK! g;vimelaborllle' instructions 

to the e!lumerators to make' special' efforis by asking 

probing questions to ensure that women's participation 

in economic activity is not left out. Ii clarified that 

work includes unpaid work on farm or in family 

enterprise. The 1991 census also gave specific 

,instructions so that women,headed hbuseholds are not 

under-enumerated. The main objective is that the data 

reflect the actual position more truthftllly than was the 

case'in the past. I do feel however, that social scientists 

and statistician need to, apply the knowledge and skills 

at tlieir command to amve at a better understanding of 

women's work and cofttribution which are quite 

siguificant and modify the concepts and definitions. 

'The data collection systems must capture the entire. 

range of activities that women are engaged in. The 

ShraI1!shakti report 100 highlighted this problem of 

invisibility and insensitivity to recognising women's 

role as majoreaniers of the family and not as'marginal 

and 'supplementary contributors. 

,Wonten's employment 

THE OVERWHELMING MAJORiTY ,of Olir 

women are -engaged in the informal sector which 

, ensures their economic ,survivaL Employment in the 

-:-informal sector is strenuous; ii also provides low 

returns. This, is also the sector which was for a long 

time neglected in development policies' even though a, 

very large ,percentage C?fworkers are engaged in it. The 

informal sector has and characterised by virtual nonaccess 

to technology and credit, and the dominance of 

the formal sector'in the matter of determining prices of 

raw materials and other inputs. A Woman worker in . 

the informal sector has limited access to training 'and 

skill development opportunities due to the unfortunate 

fact that she has not received recognition as a producer 

'in her own.right. The same is true in regard 'to access'to ' 

,credit and support structures. 

Even now, the assets of production given as a result 

20 o 'KURUKSHETRA, February 1992 

. .. - .

of development programmes are often. not recorded. 

jointly in the name of husband and wife, thus limiting 

the wife's accessibility to credit and other inputs. 

Women workers have become vulnerable as.technology 

is tending to displace them from several traditional 

occupations while the new job opportunities that are 

beirig' creaiedrequire a different kind of skills. There 

are also the 'socio-culturaf constraints women face in 

various degrees which affect her mobility. To add to 

,their problems, despite the legislative provisions, a large 

number of poor women employed as casual llibourers 

are not able 'to get the prescribed. minimum wages or 

other statutory benefits for child care and maternity 

due to poor'enforcement of lahour.legislationS. Women 

workers .have remained unorganised which has allowed 

this marginalisation. The situati0t:! 'certainly. calls for 

urgent remedial measures, 

Socio-economic uplift 

WE. NOW recognise that social and economic 

development are inextricably linked and reinforce 

one another. In the past, pianning used to treat social and 

economic. development as separate sectors, with the. 

result that for a number of development.projects, heavy 

social costs had to be paid. Fortunately, development is 

now considered as a unified process which h,as both 

social and economic dimensions. We thus find that 

femak literacy rate, irifant mortality rate and' nutrition 

status, to mention some, are iitvariably included.in 

develQpment dialogues and debates. WeTecognise now, 

for instance, that. though we use economic criteria. to 

measure poverty, the alleviation of poverty requires a 

package of sociaI and economic' .inputs and an 

understanding' of tlie socio.eultural constraints under 

which the poor function, Such understanding 'undoubtedly 

helps to humanise development. 

, . . 

In our country, we have made sizeable investments in 

social development. Forinstance, in the .Seventh Plan, 

16 per cent .0Cthe outlay was allocated to the social 

services sectors. This is, however, inadequate if one 

considers the huge backlog that remains to be covered 

As a result of the invesime.nt, there are some significant 

achievements. to the credit of the nation, Life 

expectancy has increased, infant and early childhood 

mo.rtality has declined, nutritional status has improved 

and the extent of literacy has increased. . . 

We still, however, have' a long way to go oil the 

social development indicators. While the phenomenal 

increase in the participation of girls, at all levels of 

education .and their excellence in .scienceand~ 

KURUKSHETRA, February 1992 

technology courses is a. matter of pride, the fact 

remains that there, continues to..be a high incidence of 

illiteracy among women though, fortunately, the age 

specific literacy rates show a definite improvement in 

the younger age groups. The 1991 Census brought out 

that 60 per cent females above the age of 7 years In the 

country are illiterate as compared to 36 per cent males. 

A comparison with the position obtained in 1981 shows 

that literacy among females is increasing faster than 

among !hales, There is also a steady rise in the 

percentage of enrolment of girls at. all ' educational 

levels. Secondary and higher education, however, 

continue to be confined more or less to urban areas 

and are taken advantage of by the upper and middle 

economic strata. The rural girl child is still neglected 

and is denied opportunities of educational advancement 

due to socio-cultural, economic and. infra-structural 

constraints, A girl child spends a significant amount of 

her time in collection of fuel, in fetching water, in 

caring for siblings and in attending to household 

chores. She is also engaged in family based economic 

.activity. Girls are thus introduced much earlier to the 

world of work, first in the household and later outside, 

which is one of the most important reasons for her 

withdrawal from schools. Thus education, which could 

have been a major instrument of women's equality and 

.empowerment, is unable to play its due role in this 

regard. The government is trying very hard to 

.universalise elementary education through formal as 

well as the non~tormal system and is giving special 

attention to the educationally backward states arid 

disadvantaged groups. Literacy movements have been 

launched in several .districts with considerable success, 

iilstiIling new confidence and hopes for the future. A 

deliberate effort is being made through text books and 

other. means to .remove gender bias. The teachers are 

also. being given orientation to promote gender 

equality, . 

• 

Health & family planning 

HHEALTH AND FAMIL Y PLANNING are other. 

areas. which vitally effect women's development. 

.Early childhood mortality, maternal mortality, nutritional 

anaemia, and high fertility rate are today matters 

of national concern. We are unhappy that though the 

difference in male and female infant mortality rates has 

been bridged and the 0-4 age specific mortality rate has 

declined fromS3 in 1970to 33 in 1988,the 0-4 age specific 

mortality -rate continues to be higher among. girls; 

which is a reflectIon of the gender bias in the mater of 

nutrition and health care. The differential is, of course, 

21

much higher in the rural areas. Such discriminations 

are fortunately declining; but more concerted action is . 

definitely needed. 

:rlle ~iith tate in our country continues' to be 

uncomfortably higli despite the pHority giventa' family 

.planning in our national development policies sincelhe 

19505.' We have recognised the cruciai role of birth 

cOntrol in family _welfare as well as in' national 

development: We shall continue to give"familyplanning 

high' priority .. We realise that a woman whO marries 

early and lias four or five children by her mid-twenties 

. is .' severely handicapped. in' the. matter of 'her 

development as well as that of her children. Plannied. 

parenthood. is, however, not merely'. a matter of 

developing the best technology of birth prevention and 

the distribution of contraceptives. There are' very 

crucial social, cultural and economic variables involved 

in this matter. Education of women, the socio-cultural 

.perceptions and conventions which determine the girl's 

. age at marriage, the importance assigned to the birth of 

sons as against the birth of daughters and the denial to 

.women '\0 make their own decisions in regard .to childbearing, 

defeat. all our .carefully made. plans of 

, population control. It, therefore, need not be too 

greatly eniphasised' tbat more atteniionmust be given 

to overcome the socio-cultural factors which affect 

population problems, women's situation and the pace 

. and direction problems, wllmen's situation and the 

pace, and direction of overall development of. our 

people. In my view, development is not merely the 

outcome of finallCIal and physical inputs and supplies 

but a function of desirable social change. 

Discriminatory treatment 

IAM BAPPA Y to note that researchers are 

consistently pointing out, on the basis of empirical 

studies, how women are handicapped in various overt 

and covert forms at every stage oLtheir'life and how 

this begins even before birth through the indiscriminate 

use of sex determination t~sts, and then continues 

through childhood, adolescence and adulthood. The 

differential treatment of boys and, girls{ in lIlany cases 

discri-minatory, is a part of the socialisation process of 

the young cliild in which adult women' too playa very 

important role. Reforms are tbus necessary in our 

society for changing the.traditional values of both men 

and women-a task in which women's organisations 

22 

and the media can playa very significant role. 

In the changed glohal and national scenario.in which 

market forces will have a greater area of opemtion and 

development plans will be more market-oriented, the 

role of the sociai sectors which are so vital for the 

, development of the disadvlllUaged, will not diminish, If 

anything, greater vigilance will he.necessary to see that 

the poor get the supportive social and' other inputs to 

enable them to increase their incomes and realise their 

full potential and derive benefit from the development 

process. I,t is also important to. monitor the flow of 

benefits from general development programmes to 

women; special programmes are necessary mainly to: 

complement the progrlllDmes in tbe.different sectors of 

development. Special steps would be necessary to give 

women access to information and skills in emerging 

technology, through the network of extension services 

and open education fof.:a large cluster of occupations 

in non-traditional areas of income generation. In our 

concell) for women's development, we should recognise 

them as our target group but develop approaches 

which encompass their roles and status in the family 

and society. 

Measurement of benefits 

INANY AREA of concern, it is important for us to 

know of the progress we are making. You will recall 

that in the 1960s the social indicators movement waS 

started not only to emphasise the social dimensions of 

development but also the primacy they shouid be given 

in the measurnment of development endeavours. Even 

today, this has considerable relevance. We have to 

move away from the .practice of monitoring only in 

terms of inputs provided-fmancial allocations made, 

.population covered or institutions started. We have 

also to see the outputs as a result of these inputs, i.e., 

.what improvement in social and economic well-being is 

taking place, and the direction in which we are moving. 

I realise this will involve consideration of conceptual 

an

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,, 

'.•.•.. 

•. 

How doesDWCRASchem,~'"Operate 

. ~ A case Study 

IT IS BEING INCREASINGL Y ~alised' that 

women's income in a family is very essential arid 

important in relation to the nutritional, economic and 

educational' upliftment of the family, Therefore, a 

provision is made' under IRDP that at le¥t 30 per cent 

of beneficiaries should be women, But, the mid-term . 

revrew of IRDP (1987) had shown that 'the flow of 

assistance to the women members of the targeted group 

of households was very nominal. Hence, with an 

objective of improving the quality of assistance to the 

rural women, a sharp,er focus was conceived through 

the scheme' of "Development o(Women and Child"ren . 

in Rural Areafl (DWCRA). Thus it is no! enough to 

merely bring in.outside aid. It is important to. effect a 

lasting impact' on the quality 

children. 

of rural women' and 

\ 

N. PREM KUMAR .t; A. RABUL KUMAR 

Admlillstrati •• swi' CoOege or IDdla, HyiiUabad 

5. to pro.;;jde for care of the chiidren of the working 

women' by providing an irnpr,oved environmc:nt; 

care and food arid by establishing creche{balwadis. 

_.. . . 

The Scheme 

• THE ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES .included under 

. . this scheme are mainly cottage'. and household 

industrial activities .in nature, which require less 

,technical skill.and small investment. Even illiterates ~an 

earn quick returns. Starting and operating a new 

aciivity involves considerable ,risk and effort on the 

part of the individuals, At the initial stages they may 

face some 'problems but if proper care is .taken io 

develop the self,employ~ business venture, it will. 

promote and reinforce eiltre-preneurial qualities among 

-women and in the course of time, each of these self- 

The main objectives of the scheme are: 

employed activities may deveiopinto a big enterprise: 

I: to 'help and promotese!f-employment among -the. " The scheme identifies women at the age group of 18, 

rural women, who are. bClow poverty line, by 35 years, who.live below poverty line in rural areas, the 

providing skill training in' vocations which' are poverty line was defined as a family having an annual 

acceptable' to the beneficiaries by encouraging income of Rs. 6,400 or less (IRDP Manual, 1987). But 

productivity in their existing vocations and by the "cut-off' line for selecting the beneficiaries under 

introducing new activities hitherto not undertaken; DWCRA scheme is the family having 'ail animal 

income of less than Rs. 3,400 and these families get 

. 2. to organise the beneficiaries in group activity-wise priority in seleciion. The identified women are given 

and promote 'economic arid social self~reliance; training for six months and paid Rs. 200 as stipend per 

3. to generate income for the rural poor by creating 

month. Apart from t,his, a group .of' organisers 

selected for' each .group:' The organisers have 

is 

to 

avenue for production of goods and service; undergo a separate training. during whii:h period they 

4. to organise production enhancing programmes in are paid a stipend of Rs.250{- per mi'-nth. After the 

rural areas and; training is completed, each beneficiary is given a loan 


f 

ranging from Rs. 4,000/-to 6,000 depending upon the 

nature of activity, to slart their own business as self" 

employed venture. 

Formation of Group' 

THE SCHEME ENVISAGES formation of a group 

of 15-20'women. The women are expected to come 

together for an activity of mutual interest to all. A 

group of organisers will be selected who will have 

liasion between the group, government agencies and 

banks. . 

, 

• ". 

Administrative set up 

The following officials are involved in the implementation 

of the'project at the district level. ' 

a. Deputy Secretary, Development (DSD):' 

takes overall responsibilities of DWCRA scheme 

at the district level. He is . the planning, 

implementing and coordinating authority. 

b. Assistant Project Officer (APO): 

. She looks after making plans to meet the targets 

set and maintilins accounts regarding expenditure. 

c. . Extension Officer (EO): 

The two field officers are responsible for' the 

implementation of the. scheme. They also 

supervise the. gram sevikas at the block level and 

gathers information on repayment of loans by the 

groups to the bank. 

d. Block Development Officers (BDOs): 

The Block Developme'1t .Officers are hlcharge of 

rural developmentll1 activities. 

e.Gram Sevikas:. 

Organisational Structure 

IT IS MANAGED and supervised by Assistant 

, project Officer' (APO) preferably a woman, who 

must spend her adequate time.in educating, the target 

group of women. The financing of the scheme is shared 

by trnee agencies; state governments, central government 

'"" 

.andUNICJ'F. These activities which involve trilining 

are brought under the scheme of TR YSEM and NIRO . 

is to act as the nodal institution' for 'all the irilining' 

activity under DWCRA.The DWCRA scheme was 

implemented in 1978as a pilot project In 50 selected 

districts and extended to all states in 1982-83, and one 

district in each union territory during 1985. Twenty' 

four additional districts were covered during 1986-87. 

The Gram Sevikas were recently appointed at 

..block level. . These .Gram . Sevikas are the 

._anganwadi Workers drawn from ICDS blocks. 

They .are ~elected on' the basis of their hard, 

sincere and'successful work. Their job is to visit 

the grQups frequently, milintilin the account 

registers and educate the group members about. 

child'care. / 

f., Child Development Project Officer (CDPO),; 

He/she looks after' organising the .goup for 

DWCRA schemes. And also looks into the 

welfare of children. 

g. ,Group Organisers (GO): 

She 'looks after organising the group throuRh the 

schemes.ORGANDOGRAM-l. 

. Methodology: 

a LocRle ofthe Study 

b. Selection of respondents 

'. 

c: Tools of enquiry 

d. Collection of data 

Locale of the Study The present study was clirried out 

in Gulbarga District of Kamataka State. It was decided 

.to collect data from the villages which are at different 

levels of development. One village from each Block was 

selected. The seleCted villages were Kamalapur, Aurad 

(b) and Pathsiroor. 

Selection of Respondents For selecting respondents, an 

inventory of beneficiaries in DWCRA scheme of each 

village. was prepared with the help of AssistaritPtojCct 

,pi"ficers. Beneficiaries were selected taking wife as the 

functional head of the household .as respondent for 

study: On the whole, 60 respondents were selected for 

data collection: the other criteria for selecting the 

. beneficiary was, that the family scheme' have 

,. background ofthe trade. . 

Tools. of Enquiry In order to have a clear 

understanding of the problems, all the .relevant 

literature was screened and discussions were held with 

. :.theAssistantProject.()fficers. A check list was prepared 

keeping in mind the objectives of the study. During tJ:le' 

pre-testing discussions, were held with rural people and 

rural development functionaries such .as' President of 

Mahila. Mandai, Village Mandai President; Gram 

Panchayat Worken. 

,Collection of Data. Data were collected personally and 

.~!!.. the respondentS were interviewed. Information 

KURUKSHETRA,'feb~ary 199i .25

• 

" 

. , • • 

I . 

BLOCK DEVELOPMENT 

-OFFICER - . 

,. 

26 

, . 

EXTENSION 

,OFFICER 

, -'I 

co ,', c~... 

,'r '\"".:, 

'J 

'. 

. 

."; ." 

ORGANOGRAM-I . 

"PRESIDENT 

ZILLA .PARISHAD 

'1,' . CHIEF 

. -~" 

; ; 

SECRETARY, t "," .. 0 ,'.' 

DEPUTY, 

DEVELOPMENT 

" OFFICER II' 

- ., 

.1 VILLAGEPANCHAYAT 

; .' 

GROUP ORGANiSERS 

.",1NDIVIDUAL 

BENEFICIARES, 

..,.' 

, 

" .' 

,, 

-. 

, 

.. . 

. , 

.. 

, 

,j 

.... 

, ..•. 

CHILD DEVELOPMENT 

PROJECT OFFICER 

,. 

• 

" 

! "- ~ 


"

, 

gathered from respondents was enriched by observations 

and verified by cross questioning. Personal observations 

were recorded. 

Objectives of the Study' (a) to highlight the su~s or 

failure, as the case may be, of "development projects; (b) 

How fa;' the individual families have benefited from the . 

development programmes. 

T 

, Economic Impact 

~..... . i I 

..HE VILLAGE MAHILA MandaI played a.major. 

role. in granting the schemes. Table-I. represents the 

vill~ges covered,. Economic activity take'n .up by each 

group (Tailoring, Dairy trade and Mat weaying trade). 

20 beneficiaries from each activity were selected to the 

study. It is interesting to .note that there are no 

scheduled caste beneficiary in Dairy trade. and no 

backward class in mat,weaving trade. ' 

.. , 

.Tab"'Z 

Tailoring Trade 

Monthly fDcome earned by tbe reSpondents 01 

..,. .taDorina.trade before implementa~o~, 

Wages income (Rs.) No. a/Women PerCentage 

LesS than SO 

~IOO 

1000ISO 

1~200 

8 . 

5 

2 

4 

40 

30 

.10 

20 

A -veTage income Rs. 370/- 

Tab"'3 

.. MoaWy IDC_ ••••••••by tile'_pie •••••••• 111lIIIIortDa trUe 

1JJcoiDe (lIS.) No,-ofWomen 

Tab.;'" . 

Employment Under Talloring 

.>"TNo .. of Women 

.. 

Perf%DtlJ&e 

zro.300 5 2S 

300-400 ",9 .. ., 45 

400-SOO 3 IS 

500-600 3 IS 

Table 3 illustrates that the average income has 

increased to :Rs, 370/- pe.r month from a very low 

figure of Rs. 90/-. Nearly 30% of them were able to 

earn .abov

,I 

Taking the prior status, as shown in table 2, 40 per 

cent 'of them were simply unemployed but' the present 

job' enabled them to be 'self-employed and enhanced 

their status by getiitg employment .on' an .average 

. monthly 13 days In a month~ , _ 

Though the initial loan was give.n under IRDP 

scheme, later to consolidate the trade, further' Rs. 

15,000/-"was given as a additional revolving capital 

which was used for' procuring the raw material for 

readymade garments .. 

., 

, It details the'income prior to the .implementation 

earned by the respondents: Twenty percent were found 

to be practically unemployed with a meagre Inconie 

and the remaining were just wage earners. 

Table-S 

" " 

- DairY'Trade 

Monthly income earned by the respondents of - 

Dairy trade before Implementation 

3-4 

4-5 

5-6 

Employment under Dairy Trade 

No. of Women 

• 5 

-10 

Average number. of hours/day = 4.5 hours 

. r .•..~ ~•.. ' -'-: 

" 

5 

i' 

Percentage ~ 

. The respondents of dairy trade had opined that they 

'had lot of problems, like, instead of Jersey Breed they 

",'ere provided local breed. Though the milk produced 

at the centre is well connected with the dairy rOute, the 

rates offered' by the Dairy Department are very low 

when compared wiih market.price. ;Therefore,"what 

they need is a good price for the milk produced, from 

the dairy development department, concentrate feed at 

lower rates must be ,provided, frequency of Veterinary 

Doctors 'must be enhanced for better veterinary 

services. 

Wages inct;'mc'(Rs.) No~of Women Percentage T.ble-8 , 

Less than 50 

50- 100 

100-150 

15().200 ." 

Average income Rs. 95/- 

4 

8 

6 

2 

20 

40 

, )0 

10 

Monthly income ea~ed by the sample women ,in Dairy ..!rade 

I~Qme(Rs.) 

300-400 

400-500 ' 

5D0-600 

600-700 

_ Average'income Rs. 490/- 

No: of Women T 

;. 

'L.- 

Percentage .' 

20 

3D 

40 

10 

Table 6 illustrates that the average income .has 

increased to Rs, 490/- per month from a very'low 

figure ofRs. 95/-. Nearly 40 per cent of them were able 

to earn above_the average income. This indicates that 

their economic status has improved substantially. 

The employment status of the women under Dairy 

trade, nearly 75% of them were able to get employment 

for more than the average number of hours a day of 4 

hours. This enables her to keep herself employed for 15 

days in a month. ' 

•• 

Mat Weaving Trade 

Mo'nthly "Income earned by the respondents of 

Mat Weaving- trade before implementation- 

Wages."income (R .••.) No. of Women , PcrceIJrage 

Less than 50 

50-100 

lOll-' 50 

15U-200 

A verage income Rs. 80 

Table 8 represents the income prior to the 

implementation earned by the respondents, Forty per 

cent were found to be parctically unemployed with a 

meagre 'income' and the remaining were just wage 

earners . 

Inco~(Rs.) 

2DO-300 

300-400 

4Oll-500 

500;000 

8 

4 

6 

2 

40 

20 

30' 

Monthly incOme earned by the sample women in DI.I 

weaving trade 

A vera.ge income Rs. 360 " 

No. of Women " 

5 

10 

"'" 3 2 

10 

Percentage" " 

28 . , KURUKSHETRA, February)' 

25 

50. 

IS 

.10.

Table 9 illustrates that the Average income lias 

'increased to'Rs. 360/-',per month, from a very low 

figure of Rs..90/ -. Nearly 25 per cent of them were able 

to earn above the average income. This indicates that 

their economic status has iniproved substantially. ' 

No. of days cniploym.ent 

5-1,0 

10-15 

15-20 

Tabie-IO 

.Employment under Mat weaving Trade 

Average number of days ;: 12 days 

No. of Women 

40 

30 

30 

Considering'the employment statUs, of the' women 

under mat weaving trade, nearly 60 per cent of them 

were able to get employment for 'more-than the average 

days of 12 days in a month. 

The respondents of mat weaving trade had opined 

that, they had problems', in getting the, loan money 

released, this problem can be attributed to, illiteracy in 

the ,mat weaving group. ProcUrement oftaw material 

for mat weaving is a serious problem faced by the 

group_ ,- 

• • 

8 

6 

6 

Repayment ofloail 

It is observed that the repayment of loans are not 

proper; Regular instalment amounts are paid by some 

beneficiaries and some beneficiaries could not pay. This 

can-be attributed to' lack of adequate marketing 

facilities fOJ"the produce. " 

" Findings 

I. All the beneficiaries who were found' to 'live 

below poverty line prior to the implementation 

,of DWCRA have now crossed the pove{ty'line. 

,'2. On an average an additional income of Rs. 280, 

Rs, 395, Rs. ~O has accruoo to' the participants 

of tailoring, dairy, and mat weaving trades,' 

'respectively. ' 

. '. . 

. 

3, 'Employment status has improved substantially 

as the unemployed as well 'as the other wage 

earners were pmvided with self-employment. 

4. All the respondents Were satisfied with the 

working of the scheme as it provided regular 

employment and incame. 

,5. 'a., The major problein of tailoring trde is lhe 

niarketing faciiities for. the readymade 

garments. 

'URUKSHETRA; i'ebruilry 1992 

b. the major problems of dairy ,trade is that the 

price has to be standarised. " 

c. The major problem Of mat weaving trade is 

the scarcity of basic raw materials. 

6 Of the three trades, low level of income anillow 

level ofemjlloyment were observed by the 

beneficiaries of tailoring and mat weaving 

trades. Contrary to this, more income and moee 

number of days of eniployment are earr.ed in 

Dairy trade" 

Suggestions 

1 

'The major problem of-raw materIal shortage •.lack of 

'common workshed, irregular marketing etc., need to he 

solved for (he steady growtH and sucCessful functioning 

of the units. 

~: -. '. 

, Steps may be initiated for regwar supply and 

marketing for tailoring and mat weaving. 

. . ". . ~ 

A common workshed can be provided 'to enable the 

women tokeejl their produce safely and also perform, 

'the work in groups 'which automatically raises the 

competitive spirit and ultimately production., The shed 

can act as a market place. ' 

If more and more financial infrastructural and 

marketing, facilities are given at the right time and < 

place, these self-employed' units may become highly 

enterprising unit.'_ 

Referen •••• 

I 

1. "Integrat.ed . Rural Development Programmes and Allied 

Activities", IRDP Manual. July-1987. department of-Rural. 

"Development" New Delhi.- . '" 

2. P.O. Saikia, K. Gog]. and Anjali Lekharu, Indian -Rural 

Women, Mittal Publication, Delhi., 

3. Woman participation and modem Dairy Industry. A case:of 

.Amol by Dilip Shah, Edited by. S.C." lain, .SBI, Chaii 

PTof~or,. 'South. Gujarat University, Sural. Rawat Pub- 

..lications, Jaipur, 1985. 

4. Women and TeChnology•. Some. Social Constraints by 

Ka1pana Shah. Edited by S.C. Jain, SBI, Chair Professor, 

Soutb Gujarat University, Sural Raw:atPublications, Jaipur. 

1988. ' , , 

5. Women's Development InputS in .Area Planning .bYS~C. 

Jain •..Edited by. S.C. Jain. SBI Chair Professor, S,?utb 

Gujarat University. sunil. Rawat Publications, Jaipur, 1988. 

• 

2 

3 

4 

29

,. 

. i" 

THE NATIONAL POUCY for children declares 

'.I. that children are a "supremely important asset" of 

.the Nation, whose nurture is therefore a national 

responsibility. It affrrms that it shall be the duty of the 

state' to proVide adequate services to the children both 

. before and after birth, and through the period of 

growth to ensure their full physical, mental and social 

de,:elopment. . 

.' 

'The broad objective of the scheme is improvement of 

the nutritional and health status of the children in the. 

.age group ~ yrs. reduction in incidence of mortality, 

morbidity, .maIDutrition and school dropouts and 

eDhancing the capabilities of mothers to take care of 

the nutritional needs of the child. Special attention was 

to be given to ihe malnourlshedchildren of grade IU.& 

grade IV and 'at risk' mothers. . .. 

Accordingly, the ICDS Scheme was evolved and 

startetl on OCtober 2, 1975. The programme seeks to 

provide all basic essential services to the children and 

mothers in an integrated manner right in their villages 

or wards. The services to attain the objectives are non 

foma! .pre-school. education foi' the children of 3-6 

years, supplementary nutrition, immunisati0!l, health 

check up, health and nutrition education etc. Only two 

,projects were launched in West Bengal in 1975. In the 

2nd phase one ICDS project was launched in Binpur II 

block under JhargramSub-divisiOfiin 78"79 with 50 

Anganwadi Centres. 19 Blocks 11M one municipality 

viz. Kharagpur has been covered upto 90-9 I. Out of 

these 20 Blocks; 9 Blocks viz. Binpur'l, Binpur II, 

Keshiary, -Salboni, Gopiballavpl1i' t -& II, Nayagram, 

30 

.~. 

., 

IntegrJltedchiid deve~opment 

scheme in Midnapur 

• 

, 

- ~ 

.(U, 

K.S. Adhikui 

P.O. Sarkorpool 

J amboni and Garbeta II are covered as Tribal 1CDS 

projects. Services like supplementary nutrition, health 

check . up, health and nutrition education referal 

services. and 'pre-school education of 3:6 years being 

imparted from 2835 Anganwadi Centres. The Anganwadi 

Centres are focal points of services at community 

level. 2835 Anganwadi Workers and 2835 Anganwadi 

Helpers":" local gii-lsas well as honorary workers, are 

catering services to 198104 children of 0..(; years and 

40,848,:pregnant and nursing mothers of the above 

blocks. ,. 

In the 7th five year plan 6 erstwhile Mothers and Child 

care Projects, established. in six.flood devasted. blocks 

in'Tamluk and Ghatal Subdivision were upgraded to 

ICDS Pr'ojects in 85'86 to cater bettef services to the 

children of 0-6 years and pregnant mothers, Accordingly 

ihe number of centres had been raised fcOlll 300 to 903 

in these blocks. About 75852 inclusive of children and 

mOthers have.come under the purview of the service. 

, 

• 

Achievements 

So far as achievement is concerned, it may be 

mentioned that out of 2835 Anganw.rdrC:.:ntres, 2546 

centres are functioning with full package of services. 

About 182012 child beneficiaries are gettiilg pre'school 

education, nutrition and health care and ;\6794 mothers 

are getting nutrition (cooked food) and health ciue 

from these. centres, The remaining Gefitres are in 

different stages of process. At a glance 'it may be st.ated 

.that out of 851akh people of this distfict 24 lakh 

have been covered upto 90.-91. If we take the chjld 

KURUKSHETRA. February 1992

population ,of the district (0-6 years.) i.e. 14,45,000 it is 

found that about 4,08,000 (28%) children have ,been 

covered so far. Out of 3,40,000 (estimated) pregnant 

and nursing mothers, the projects have covered 

1,36,000 so far. In the 7th five year plan period 

Anganwadi Centres of erstwhile M.C.C.Projects 

constructed 'by financial assistance of CARE West 

Bengal have been renovated. About 155 AWCs in 

Keshiary,' Salboni, Garbeta and Binpur II have been 

constructed by the Deptt. of Social Welfare, West 

Bengal and local Panchayats. Six tube Wells have been 

installed by the PHE drilling division in Binpur' II 

block with financial assistance from SW Deptt. West 

Bengal. 

Interviews with the primary school teachers on the 

rate of dropout from the primary school have shown 

encouraging results. Appreciation of the parents, 

increase in enrolment of children in primary schools, 

changes in the behavioural pattern including cleanliness 

particularly in our tribal belts' are the effect of preschool 

education. Recently, arrangement has been 

made to issue certificate from Anganwadi Centres after 

'completion of his five years of age to facilitate their 

admission in the school: Pre-school children belonging 

to the low income group of 'femote villages are now 

participating in various cultural programmes in a 

befitiing manner'equal to the activities of the children 

of. well-to-do families in the urban areas., The process 

of pre-school education has been developed through, 

.years for effective results. Initially it was limited within 

some songs, rhymes, stories, preparation of dolls and 

some charts. At present information will be given to 

the children on a particular theme at a time like self, 

famiiy, flower, fruit, riyer, boatman, transport, festival, 

trees, birds etc. ,his thematic approach has been 

enriched through addition of more rational well-knit 

processes based on physical, psycho-social needs of the 

children. Education is given through playway 'method. 

Low cost locally available aids are also used keeping an 

eye on overall development of the children., • 

. Encourging results 

Following improvement in' Child Development 

ericourging r

-------------------------y 

. 

. 

Malnutrition Among Children-A Sociological 

..Perspective 

-~ " 

.' . 

". , . 

- 

Professor 'Edward 

'..' ':. 

Schuh,' Director 'of the World' 

. Barik's, Agriculture and Rural. Development .Departmeni;cites 

!heexample of "India" which has achieved 

self~sufficiericy in grain:produetiol', and 'has even 

become-anexporier, -"but" .there. are hundreds' of 

. thollsands of malnourished people, 'so what have they 

"dorie by achieving self sUfficiency?There is no necessary' 

'jink between self sufficiency arid food security (Nelson, 

1986:,4). Anotheievidence shows that India is the third . 

largest producer of fruits in the world, however the per' 

capita availability of fruits' works out to only 30 

. grammes and vegetables 130 grammes, far shcirtofthe 

minimum dietary Iieeds.(The Tribune, 1989: 10)" . 

The evidence thus presented' reveals .that atleast,50 

percent of Indian population seems to'be underfed. The 

.. worstaffeeted. sections of our. populationareinfarits, 

growing children. pregnant and lactating mothers. 

, . ~~ 

. Dr. P.S. Malik' 

~aryana Agricultural University, Hisar 

l.~, r ., 

GLOBALLYSPEAKING~ the food a~d nutritionals 

.' 'Ievel oLthe people in .various countries of the 

Undoubtedly, children are the richest, human 

resource of a country. Deprived children who are ill 

world present a very .dismal picture. The developing fed, ill clothed and ill housed continue to suffer from 

countries of the world cimstitute two ihird of the world the agonies of undernutrition and malnutrition ..Indian 

population. About 65 percent population of. the nation can hardly afford to' ignore vast army of 

developing coun(ries. suffer froin malnutrition .. One' children suffering from such a devastating deprivation. 

person in every seven in the' world is' an Indjan and • To ignore such a large future nursery of our population 

inore than 50 per cent of Indian' population is .Iivirig is bound to have debilitating impact on the future' 

bel!>\\'the poverty line. This may be eviaent from the' prospects of our country. Moreover, the size of child 

facttha{eveil; "after 40 years 'and many development . population in. India is of., herculeanpro'portion. 

, . programmes more than 50 percent. of the population According to 1981 census, India had a massive' child 

. lives. below the poverty line-a number equal to the' . population of 263 million 'which is projected to' reach 

'combined population of Europe .and U. S.A. (Devasa-: ' 333. million 'by 2000 AD (Devasahayam, 1988: 4). 

h~yam;I988:4)~,' .' . 

Indian children between the age of 1-5 years constitute 

nearly 15percent' of total Inaianpopulation. . 

Out of 300 million malnourished Indians, 43 millions 

are pre-school children, About 25 to 35 percent 

children die before celeb~ating their' fifth birth day. In. 

OUrcountry about seven million new born babies. are 

. underweight. . 

Malnutrition is the single biggest cause of infant and 

child mortality in poor countries oUheworld covering 

about 2j3rdofworld's'popuIaiion.Due to undernour- 

Ishment, the development of over 188million children in 

the Villages of India '.remain stunted from the very 

moment the child is born. TheTribune; 1988: 4 reports 

the studies conducted by' Indian Council of Sociill 

Science Research and Indian Council of Medical 

Research that 45 per cent' of lridia's urban and 55 per 

, cent in.the rural areas live .below the subsistence level. 

Thus, magnitude ofthe problem has acquired alarming: 


proportions. 

" 

Incidence .. among Pre-schoolers 

. 

Inadequate diet liffects the"proper development of 

.the children. and pre-school children from the most' 

vulnerable sections of our society. 'According to. 

Parvathi an.d Devadas, 1976: 95 "pre-schoolers in'lndia 

constitute 15 per cent. of the total population againt 7, 

per cent in the advanced countries." It is amazing to 

note the incidence of the problem "that the Indian 

children afflicted with undernutrition and m3Jnutrillon 

are equivalent of the entire under five population in the 

U.S.A. it is as if the combined under five population of 

Britain, France, italy, Spain and the Federal Republic 

of Germany is .afflicted with hunger, squalor & disease 

(Devasahayam, 1988: )" . . 

Another study' also reveals, "that tepeated surveys of 

two .and thr~ year old children in 60 villages showed 

that the chronicaUy hungriest were scheduled caste 

gids--47 per cent suffer from 'severe' malnutritlon-30' . 

per cent of non-scheduled caste girls were in the same 

condition while about 17 per cent of the. scheduled . 

caste .boys and only 7 per cent 9f the non-scheduled 

caste boys were severely affected. The cases of 

moderate and mild malnutrition followed the same 

pattern ..It is hardly surprising to learn that 55 per cent 

of the deaths of. children under three years 'of age are 

gids belonging to the. scheduled castes (Suri, 1987: 

VI)." . 

it is needless to emphasize ihat nutrition 'of preschool 

child is of paramount importance since the' 

foundation for life time health, strength and intellectual 

vitality is laid during that period (Bhat and Dahiya, 

1985:. 206). Moreover, 'malnutrition during critical 

phases of early growth can lead not only to the stunting 

of physical growth but also to sub-optional' intellectual 

development and poor neurointegrative competence. in 

children (Kakkar,S. et a11987: 204). 

Malnutrition: Cause of Diseases 

The incidence of undernutrition and malnutrition 

may render the' younger generation. vuliler~ble to 

diseases. The vUlnerability of the situa!ion may be 

linderstood from the following account: "Silent killing 

due to maln1J!rition in a socielY claiming significant 

advances in agriculture isdear from the existence of 

vast masses of unfed people..(Singh, 1988:4)." 

A special series No. 36 report points out that infant 

mortality rate in' India is very high as compared to 


,developed countries. Malnutrition and dietary deficiency . 

diseases are high among infants, children; expectaD.f 

, and nursing mothers (I.C.M.R.; 1961). Mllinutrition is 

the biggest single cause, of infant and' child mortality in 

the low 'incomeregions of the wodd where between 25' 

to 30 per cent of the children die before tlieir fifth 

birth-day (UNICEF, 1972: 4-:5).1n developing countries 

where the population is high, hunger and 

malnutrition are widespread among the pre-school age 

children' (Eswaran, et aJ 1976: 95) About 40, 000 

'children go blind each year due to deficiency of Vitainin 

A. Over a million,in the age group .of I to 4 die every 

year .due to sickness, 60. per cent of them within a 

month of being born (The Tribune, .1988: 4). Starvation 

takes a toll of 100,000 children each month. 'No 

wonder, over 10 millioncchildren today are destitutes 

whO' get little to eat. Therefore, mental and physic81 

retardation during, early childhood is due. to povet\f 

caused malnutrition. Of the six nullion babies.who die 

in the wodd every year due to diarrhoea, 1.5 million 

are Indians. Of the 40,000 babies who die daily. in the 

world due to a variety of poverty related diseases, 

Indians constitute the largest single group and'majority 

.of them are victims of malnourished rellited diseases 

(Singh, 1988:4).• 

.- 

Nutritional Deficiencies 

Various studies. conducted expllim ihat apart from 

protein-energy nialnutrition, Vitamin-A and iodine 

deficie,ncies are major nutritional problems (Kakkar S. 

ei'aJ 1987). . . '.' . '. ' •. 

IOdine deficiency disorders like goitre, cr;eiinismand 

mental and ~hysical subnormlility threaten the- wellbeing 

of anestimated 27 million children under the age 

of six (Nutrition Found~tian of India, 1983). I.C.M.R. 

. (1961) and Dhat and Dahiya{I995: 206) poini out that 

. about. i7.5 percent children showed symptoms of 

nutritional deficiencies. '.' . . . 

~ , . 

NutritionafDiscrimination among male 

and female children 

Kakkar, s. et al (1987: 208), Bha! arid Dahiya (1985: 

206) and Gopaldas, T. /(1986) found out low mean 

values of .haemoglobin among male. and fem1le 

. children. ,HoWever, the incidence was observed more in 

female children: Kakkar, S. et al(1987) and .Dhat and 

Dahiya.(l985) also showed that female children were 

more malnourished than. male children. Review of 

33

,researches reveal that female children are discriminated 

more' as compared to male' children in terms, of 

pr~viding qu.ality of .food and diet. Hence, Indian 

Society in general and rural'society in particular does 

not seem to be' favourably inclined towards equal 

development of male anil female children. 

Discriminatoty attituile of parents is reflacted in 

providing food to the male and female children. Study 

conducted by Cassel (1957: 732) also reveal, that it is' 

. ' 

customary to. exclude milk from the diet of, tbe 

majority of girls and married women and rigidly 

excluded from partaking of milk. The main reason of 

this practice is that girls after marriage in India leave 

their ancestral ,home and hence-forth they are 

considered as private property of their in-laws. 

Sociological Perspective 

A variety of food beliefs,. taboos, fad arid fallacies, 

prevalent among the people influence, the food and 

nutritional status of the children. For instance, many 

ignorant lactating mothers due to some cultural 

reasons avoid feeding their first milk just after. the 

delivery. Sim,ilarly, Joshi (1989: 3) observes "that the 

most widely held belief among nursing mothers is that 

the preCious yellow colostrum which is secreted from 

the breast, of the mother after delivery, cannot be 

digested by the baby. Colostrum has anti-bodies and 

affords immunity t.o the child. It is discarded due to 

gross ignorance and you give a bad start to your child, 

right from birth itself. Women do not use even what is 

freely available: The, leaves of the drumstick tree are 

rich in iron, the consumption of which could prevent 

anaemia. 'Not merely poverty but irrational beliefs 

linked with nutrition such as weighing a child ,makes it 

'weaker, contribute to the poor health ofpeople.~ 

Likewise, Kamath; 1981: 4 points out that the social 

taboos and traditions have stood in the way of ready 

acceptance of diets. ideal in calories and nutrients. 

Division of Health and Education, 1975: 59 reveals that 

"more fads and fallacies are connected with eating than 

with any other human activity. Many of the beliefs 

commonly held about food are based on personal 'ideas 

rather than on logical conclusions~ Mazess, 1968: 109 

believed that hot-eold food beliefs could affect dietary 

choices and thereby influence nutritional status. WeIlin, 

1955: 129 also concludes on mimy occasions cultural 

factors intrude in the consumption aspects of 

nutritional diet therapy. Devadas et a11989: 43 arrived 

at the conclusion "that malnutrition coupled with, 

insufficient knowledge about food values, poverty in 

34 

,the knowledge of nutritional needs orihe,children, high 

birth-rate, poor economic conditions and ina

nutrition and _the.standard of living of its people and 

the improvement of public health as among its primary 

duties, No doUbt some progress has ,been made sinco 

independence but that is nowhere-near a fraction of the 

target the country set at the time of' attaining 

independence, (The Tribune, 1988: 4)." This may be 

evident from the studies carried out by LC.S.S.R. and 

I.C.M.R. which revealed in 1981 that there has been 

little or no improvement in the ,nutrition.,l status of 

Indians over the past. 30 years (The Tribune 1988: 4). 

The review of various studies indicate that the 

problem of poverty, undernutrition and malnutrition is 

widely prevalent among the underdeveloped and 

developing countries of the world. In order to ensure 

overall development of the children specially.belonging 

to underdeveloped regions and communities of the 

world, it is imperative to carry out more comprehensive 

and systematic researches on'the needs and relevance 'of 

"Sociology of food and' nutrition" and find. out their 

remedies for the welfare of the masses. 

The newspaperS; radio, television and other forms of 

mass media,should highlight the haqnfuI effect of age. 

old customs, traditions, values and attitudes connected 

with food. - ,.. . 

.3 

REFERENCE 

Suggestions 

1 

WELFARE PROGRAMMES SUCH as Integrated 

Child Development services Scheme- offering 

supplementary food need to be properly organized and 

developed on sound footing and the. delivery' system 

need to be rationalized and coordinated so' that benefits 

may percolate 'to the poorest of the poor. Le,akages 

need to be plugged. The local people .need to be 

involved in a big way to check pilferages'- -- ~ 

•• 2 

The people must be made well aware about the 

nutritive. value of local and less costly' foods i.e., 

cereals, pulses, vegetables, fruits, 'meat and eggs. 

4 

The government. and welfare institutions -(fo" 

rmall informal) should develop on - to priority, progra~mes 

which may directiy or indirectly enchance the 

nutritional status'of the children. ' 

~Bhat. CM. ~nd Da~iya: Sar~j (1985). Nutritional Status of Pre~ 

School Children in Gangwa Village of Hisar District. Indian' 

'Journal of Nutrition and:Distitics V. 22. P. 206.' ..• 

2.. .Cassel. John (1957). Social and Cultural Implications of Food 

and Food flabits. American Journal of Public Health and. the 

Nation's Health Vol. 47(6), p. 732. 

3. Dc:vdas._"Rajamal,p. et al (1961) Influence of Socio-cconomic 

factors on the nutritional statU$ and food in'takc of pre-school 

.chiidren in a rural community. Indian Journal of Nutrition and 

Dietitics VoL4. p. 156. 

4. Devdas, Rajamal; p. (1977). The Nutritional knowledge and 

practicc of the Rural Home Makers in a post and a non ANP 

Block.:Indian Journal of Nutrition and Dietitics Vol. 14,p. 157. 

'5, Dcvdas, ~ajamal. p. (1977). Disscmination of Nutri,tion 

Information through parent teacher' associ~tions in .two 

different primary schools. Indian Journal of .Nutrition and 

Dietitics Vol. 16;'p. 43. 

6. J;>evasahayam,.M.G. (1988). Children deserve -fair- play. The 

Tribunc, p. 4. Chandigarh. 

7. Devasa!tayam. M.G. (1988). Unity without dignity. the Tribune 

February 7. 1~88,p. 4. Chandigarh 

8. 'Oivision of Hcalth a':ld Education (1975). Food and Nutrition. 

Health CommisSlonAustralia, N.S.W. 200.~,p. 59. 

9. Eswaran; Suri. and Dcvadas. R.P. (1976). Incidence of" 

Malnutrition among selected Pre-School Children. Indian 

Journal of Nutrition and' Dietitics Vol. 3, p: 59. 

10. Gop~lIdas,T. (1986). Nutritional Status of some selected tri?es 

of W~stern 'and Centr8J India. A paper presented -at 19th. 

Annual Meeting of Nutrition Society of India on 28th ~d 29th 

November, 1986. 

II. (Indian Council of Medical Rcsearch (1961). Revie~ of 

~ ~ ,Nutrition Surveys' Carried out 'in India.'!:Speci'aJ repo" Scries 

No. 3~. I.e. M.R., New Delhi. 

,12. Indian Council of Social Science Research (1988). In: Singh, M. 

."Malnutrition. The Tribune. April 12•.198:8,p. 4, Cl:ta'ridigarh. 

13. Indian Council of Medical Research (1988). In: .Singh, M. 

Malnutriti9n. The Tribune, ~pril 12, 1988.p. 4, Chan.digarh. 

14..•.J;shi. Kaushik. (.1989). Fads about food., The Times of India,' 

Sunday Review.January IS, 1989,p. 3, New Delhi. 

• 

, , 

15. Kakkar, S. et aJ (1987). Nutritional Status of Pre-School 

Childien in' Rural Hisar.-Indi~ Journal of Nutritio"n:&Dietiti~s 

., • V.)4, p. 204, • 

16. Kamath, M.S. (1991). Malnutrition. Thc silent killer. Th'e 

Tribune January,8, 1981,p:4; Chandigarh 

4- . - ; . 

17.'"'Malik, P.S. (1988). Socio-economic alld Nutritional Dimensions 

of Food among pregnant a~d lactating m~thers of rural 

Haryana. Research B~lletin sl;lb'mitttdto' ~or of Rcscarch, 

HAU, Hisar, p. 3-4. 

18. Mazess, R.B. (1968); Hot-cold F90d "Beliefs among Andean. 

pcas~nts. Journal of the American Dietitie Association. VOL 

53(2) p. 109. .' 

KURUKSHETRA,February 1992 35

(Continued [rampage 18) " 

announced at' the last meeting. Taking all ,concerns 

into consideration, the 'Planning Commission has 

proposed a formulation whIch appears to balance ihe 

objectives of equity, progressiveness and efficiency. 

Under the new formula, it will be ensured that no 

, State loses .more than 1O%. and no State gains more 

than 20%. 

(Continued [rampage]!) , 

The problems 'are more concentrated in AWC level. 

In ,most of the cases the AWs don't find any 

, accommodation to run centres. Needless .to say that 

without sufficient space she couldn't perform PSE 

programmes. In schools where the centres are running, 

the authorities do not allow to 'cook nutritious tiffin 

within the premisses though supplementary nutriiion 

, is one of the main services. Safe storing of fO,od,PSE 

and basic equipment is -not possible due to absence of 

'accommodation. On' manyoecasions, our' valuable 

, records/food have been damaged. There is none to 

substitllt~ the AWWs/AW Helpers if she/they. are 

~. ' 

, 

In keeping with our emphasis on decentralisation, 

we are proposing to trallsfer some of the Centrallysponsored 

Schemes to the' States. This is only" a 

beginning, and in course of time I expect ihat it will 

be found feasible io make over more of these tasks 

and tesponsibilitie's to the states. I commend' this also 

for your consideration. 

absent on valid especially health grounds. The 

parents even literate parents d'on't show their 

inierest to send the children in AWCs.Fuel required 

for cooking is not always available fr~m the locality 

on payment. 

,The .people ,still consider the programme as 

government programme and so they are least 

interested to join their hands in improving the lot of 

the centres, We 'can't 'reach the goal to the desirable 

extent until and unless these people come forwnd 

spontaneously to be partners'of the whole programme 

considering "ICDS Programmes as their Programme.» 

READERS' PAGE 

" 

OUR readers will be glad '~o kn;w that we' have 

introduced a new column entitled READERS' PAGE in our 

j9urnal., The column carrjes views of our Readers on 

, various issues concerning' rurat development anel on the 

subject (s) covered i~the journal as well as its contents. 

Our readers may. send their views, consisting of not more 

that 250 words 'and'typed in double space on one side of 

the page, to the Editor, Kurukshetra, Room No. 464-A, 

Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi-llOOOl by ordinary post. ' 

The unpublished views will not be, returned. Readers 

may therefore ,keep a, copy of'their views' sent to the' 

. Editor. No remuneration will be paid for, j:he letters 

published in this column. 

A complimentary copy of, the issue will be mailed, to. 

those whose letters appear in this column. 

36 'KURUKSHETRA; February 1992

HEALTH HAS BEEN DEFINED by the 

World Health Organization as a slate of complete 

physical, mental and social well-being and not merely 

'the absence of disease or infirmity: One of the essential 

tools of community health is health education, In fact, 

every area of community health has a health education 

component in it. Healthetlucation aims at promoting 

health and reducing behaviour~induced diseases., 

H . 

Communicating"health information 

to rural people, 

'Role of Communication 

EALTH EDUCAnON isnot synonymouswith health c 

propaganda" While health education seeks to 

cause or facilitate learning of health aspects, health 

propoganda attempts to spread ,a particular, systemized 

doctrine, Education is bas4:ally a process of Communication. 

To !be successful, a health educator must have 

sufficient knowledge about the methods of communi~ 

eating withpeo.ple. 

The National Health Policy formulated by the 

Government 'of India in 1983 underlined the importance 

of health education in the country. It says: 

The, recommended efforts, on various fronts, 

would bear only marginal results unless nation- , 

wide !health education programmes, backed by 

appropriate communication strategies, are launched 

'to provide health information in easily 

understandable form to motivate .the developmentof 

an attitude .for healthy living. (Ghai, 

1985:2JJ) 

KURUKSHETRA; February 1992 

What's Health Education 

" 

( T.V. Prof.11a Chandra 

.,Centnllimlitute of English 'Languages, Hyderabad' 

THE BASIC PURPOSE OF health education is to 

change behaviour of people in a desirable, direction . 

so that they cuuld enjoy a happy and full life without 

suffering from disease, infirmity or handicap. Psychological 

studies had fo'und that attitudes of people are 

conditioned by "factors such' as se1f'interest, cultural, 

values,,' personal experiences, 'traditional beliefs, lifelong 

practices, racial/religious/ethnic restrictiOlis. For' 

,succe'ssfuland effective communication, health educ'ators 

need to keep in mind the fundame~tal' attributes 

which aid in changing people's attitudes, Communication 

studies have revealed,that it is possible to bring 

about chang~s i~' the people's attitude through 

deliberate persuassive communication, 

Aim and Objectives' 

THE BROAD PURPOSE OF the present study 

i~ to get feedba~k froin the health communicators 

working at the grassroots level 'with emphasis on.the 

media utilisation and problems' faced, by them, in 

'coITm\unicating 

audience. 

health' information to the rurai 

The objectives are: 

• to find out the socio-economic status and media 

habits of Multipurpose 'Health Extension 

Officers (MPHEOs). 

• 'to identify their sources of information, media 

used for dissemination of health'information , 

37

and areas of health information where there is 

much resistanee from the people; and' 

• to analyse the, problems faced by MPHEOs, in 

disseminating health information. 

38 

Universe of Study 

•.• tot:.." } ~ < .") 

TBE UNIVERSE"OF STUDY was the Multipurpose' 

, Heallth Extension Officers working iIi the Ranga 

• 'f - • -, r ' . ' , 

Reddy' districtoL ~ndhra Pradesh (India). Totally, 

there were 42 MPHEOs serving 33 mandals 'of the 

district. ~s the area was small, it was decided to 

include all the MPHEOs in the survery. Accordingly, 

questionnaries were sent to all of them. 

For the purpose of data collection, structured 

questionnaire containing both open-ended and close- 

,ended questions were prepared in two languages 

English and Telugu. Out of a total of 42 MPHEOs; 

who were contacted, 34 had responded. The'-rate of 

response is'81 per cent..,' _, 

" 

1Findilgs 

'A- SUMMARY OFFIND,INGS o,f tlie' present 

study is given below: ,-,.. "', . . 

Socio-economic Status: 

I. All MPHEOs were males, married, atid aged '40 

years and. above. A majority of them had passed 

~Higher Secondary/Intermediate examination. A 

considerable number of them had also passed 

the Sanitary Inspectors' Training Course (35.3 ' 

per cent). " 'N" 

2. The majority of MPHEOs'were Hindus (47.f 

per cent), followed by Muslims (44.1 per cent) 

and Christians' (5.9'per cent). An overwhelming 

/Ilajority of them belonged to the forward castes 

(7(;'.5 per' cent). followed by those of Backward 

Casters (17.6 per cent) Scheduled Castes and 

Scheduled Tribes (2:9 per cent each). 

. . 

3. 'Generally, 85 per cent-of the MPHEOs were 

proficient in English, Telugu and Hindi. The 

,mother tongue of a large number of them was 

Urdu (44.1 per cent). followed by Telugu (35.3 

per cent). 

4. A majority of MPHEOs' were in the pay scale ,of 

Rs. 3000-3499 per month income group (41.2 

per '7nt). 

5. A Large number of them had, an exper,ience of 

'orabout one year only'(47:1 pc, cent).' 

6. Over two'third of the MPHEOs had spent a 

major part of their life in rural areas. 

7. ,Over 60 per cent of the MPHEOs were staying 

in tented houses. Around 70 per cent of 

. MPHEOs did not own any agricultural land. 

8. About 56 'per cent of MPHEOs travel by bus to 

reach their place of work. About 30 per cent of 

them travel 31 kms. and above every day to' 

reach their place of work. ' 

\ 

Media Habits: 

I. MPHEOs included in the sample were subscribing 

to a total of 41 daily newspapers. Among 

these, the most popular ones are Endadu (44.1 

per cent). Deccan Chrpnicle (41.2 per cent) and 

Siasat(26.5 1leJ: cent). 

;; 1 f l 

,2. A majority of MPHEOswere not, feaaing 

" Samkshema, Vaani; the informative, newsletter 

on family welfare programmes published by the 

State Family Welfare Bureau, Governmen:t of 

,Andhra Paradesh. 

3. About 94 per cent 'of MPHEOs possessed radio 

sets. 'The programmes in order of preference 

were news (9I:l per, cent), development 

N' _,". _ • 

, 

programmes (76.5 per cent) and film songs (52.9 

,,' per cent). Forty one per. cent 'OF ,MPHEOs 

. ,spent about an hour daily for radio. Half of the 

", MPHEOs we;e listening to' 'Samkshema Vaart- 

,', .:.1 alu', ,a news bulletin devoted to family welfare 

'~"! news, being broadcast by the All India Radio at 

8.20 a.in. on .Mondays, ~ 

.~! - -. . •..•. 

, 4. About three-quarter of MPHEOs owned TV 

sets. A considerable number of them watched 

, , . TV programmes for about an 'hour (32.4 'per 

'cent). The most preferred programmes were 

news and current affairs' (73.5 per cent). 

, development programmes (61.8 per cent); serials 

(47.1 per cent)' and films and' film songs (41.2 

per cent), None of'the' MPHEOs ,possessed 

VCP/VCR; ,- , 

HeaIth. CommuniCation 

I. All MPHEOs disseminate information pertaining 

to immunizatio,n, Oral Rehyd'ration Therapy 

,',(ORT),'Followed by family Rehydration Therapy 

KURUKSHETRA, Feb'ruary 1992

••• 

cent), child heaItb (97.1 per cent) nutritian (91.2 

per _cent), T.B., (88.2 per cent), papulatian 

" ,. educatian (88.2 per cent) and leprosy (70.6 per 

cent). Ii is clear from tbe abave that MPHEOs 

are disseminatiang infarmatian in all majar 

thrust areas af health. . • , 

A large number af MPHEOs ranked family' 

welfare' including, fartlily planning as'the mast 

, difficult area in health cammunicatian (47.1 per 

cent), fallawed by immunizatian (32.4 per ceni), 

epidemics(I ~.8per cent) and leprasy (11.8 percent), 

3. Over 'three quarter af MPHEOs analyse HIe 

reasans, far unfavau~able, respanse fram the 

audience, and farmulate a' new' cammunicatian 

'strategy whenever they face resistance fram the 

, . public (76.5 pet cent). ' 

, 

4.'. Tbe majar saurces 'af, infarmatian an health' 

cqmmUJlicatian far MPHEOs are District 

Medical and Health' Officer and. District 

Extensian and Media Officer (bath 88.2 per ceni 

each), fallawed by Medical Officer"af Primary 

'Health Centre (70.6 per cent). 

, . 

• 

• 5.' The media used mast by MPHEOs far health 

cammunicatian were pasters (97.1 per cent), 

printed literature (94.1 per cent) and interpersanalcammunicatian 

(85:3 per cent): , 

6. Araund 70 per cent af MPHEOs stated that the 

available audia-visual aids, were inadequate. A 

majarity af them were using these aids 1-3 times 

in a month 08.2 p.ercent). 

7. ' A large number af MPHEOs cansider 

interpersonal cammunicatian as the first and 

mast effective media (44.1 per cent), fallowed by 

TVIVCR/VCP (23.5 per cent), print media 

(11.8 per cent) and.radia (8.8 per cent). 

8. A large number af MPHEOs arganise adeast 

ane Orientatian Training Cam.p (OCT) in a 

". - manth (38.2 per cent). ( 

9. ,As for the amaunt af infarmatian supplied to. 

them, 47.1 per cent af MPHEOs felt that it was 

sufficient far their needs. 

10. Abaut a third af MPHEOs cammunicate 75 per 

cen.t afthe infarmatia, received by them; anly 

" 20.6 per cent: af them" transmit all the 

infarmatian received by them ta.the peaple. 

II. All the MPHEOs had attended at least one 

KURUKS}J:ETRA, Febru~ry 199.2 

• 

Religiaus beliefs. 

• lnadequate strength ,af health staff at the 

grassroats leveL 

• 

training pragram,:"e. 

12. All the MPHEOs agreed to. the view that far 

effective cammunicatian ane shauld knaw abaut 

the target group (audience). Abaut 97 per cent 

af them felt that cammunicatian is successful 

anly when it is ,a twa-way 'pracess, with 

pravisian far feedback. Oniy 17.6'per cent af, 

them did nat agree to. the statement thai interpersanal 

,channels are 'better than mass media 

far cammunicating family planning messages. 

0.:-. . 

Apathy amang-peaple tawards health. " 

0 Superstitians. 

• Lack af budget far fuel expenses, 

• Insufficient supply af medicines. 

'1,. 

Problems 

The prablems faced 'by MPHEOs incammunicating 

health infarmatian to.rural audience are listed belaw: 

Transpart This has' been the majar prablemex- 

, perienced ,by MPHEOs. Over half af them mentianed , 

this prablem (52.9 percent). MPHEOs are expected to. 

travel lang distances 'ta: c'aver villages falling' under 

their jurisdictian. As vehicles are nat pravided to.them, 

they had to. depend an public buses. Even these buses 

da'nat tauch interior village. As a result, they had to. 

"travel an faat, which is tiring and time-cansuming. 

lUiteracy Abaut an~-fautli afMPHEOs mentianed 

illiteracy as the maja.r cause far the law impact af their 

health campaigns (25.5 per cent). 

, , 

-Non-cooperation A cansiderable number of MPHEOs 

. stated that they do. nat receive adequate coaperatian 

, fram the lacal afficials and apinian leaders in ,the 

.disseminatian af health informatian (11.8 per cent) .. 

Publicity Materials A few af the MPHEOs stated that, 

publicity material was not available in sufficient 

quantity (8.8 per cent). 

Other Problems 

The ather prablems mentianed by MPHEOs were: 

39

40' ' 

Ii' ,Failure of laparoscopic ,operations' and 'its' 

harmful impact on prospective,adopters. 

~

"Ambedkar - The Total Revolutionary" by O.K. Baisantry; published'by Segment Book Distributors New Delhi, 

, 1991; pages 111; price RS.120. 

I While the nation is enthusiasticall}' celebrating the Ambedkar's views on separate electorate for SCs and 

IBirih Centenary year of Dr. B.R. Ambedkarby reservation fof them in Government services. Whether 

iconferring aD him the "Bharat RatDa"-:the highest :SCS are a real minority is also elaborately discussed in 

award of the land, several other emiDent institutions one of the chapters. The. detailed agenda for Round 

and individuals have tried to pay their rich tributes to 'Table Conference convened to decide on the future 

the memory of Dr. Ambedkar in their own humble • Constitution of India and the part played therein by 

~ways. One such iDdividual effort is that of Shri O.K. Dr. Ambedkar has been very vividly presented in 

Baisantry who has authored the' book ••Ambedkar -' another chapter' Besides, there are separate chapters. 

The Total Revolutionary". on'Dr. Ambedkar's work as educationist, economist, 

. , legal expert, social revolutionary and a political revolu- , 

The.book is unique in the. sense that it provides ationary. The last' chapter is on Dr. Ambedkar's 

deep aDalytical insight into Dr. Ambedkar's diverse conversion to Buddhism'. The book is thus a treatise on: 

'personality and philosophy. Most of the books hitherto, Dr. Ambedkar's life and mission. The book would 

written on Dr. Ambedkareither sketch a generalsurelv serve as an excellent reference material for those 

biography' or portray the research analysis of just one. ,inter~sted in Dr. Ambedkar's 'thinking on various 

or a few aspects of hismisson. -national issues. .' - 

ini~~~ s~:~~c~~c~ig~~~c~:t j~~Og~d~:~~u:hea~~~~~~r~' ~: Althbugh the get-up of the book is' very attractive, 

ascribed by Dr, M.L. Shahare, D:G.; Dr. Baba Saheb the quality of the write-up leaves much to be desired 

Ambedkar Institute:of Social Science, Mhow (M.P.) due to ,poor proof-reading. Most of the chapters -inthe 

and the former Chairman, U.P.S.c. The book has in book have been written in a very authoritative manner: ' 

all a doien chapters besides a section each on However, a rew chapters, particularly the one 

'Bibliography' and the 'Index'. The first Chapter deals portraying Dr. Ambedkar as an' economist, are not 

with Dr. ,Ambedkar's biographical land-marks. The adequately presented. Some more indepth analysis 

second Chapter .discusses Dr: ,Ambedkar as the could have enhanced his characteristics as aD economi" 

'Liberator of Dalits'. There are chapters on Dr. 'expert.' Dr. G.S. 'Ram 

., 

(Continued from Page 40) 

14' Proper residential quarters should be prvided to 

MPHEOs near the Primary' Health Centres.- 

,This would increase' (hir accessibility to the 

general public. 

' 

15 

• '. 

All villages should be provided.with 

>Ii 

protected. 

water supply. This would reduce a large number 

of rural health problems. • 

16. " Political ,leaders should actively participate ,iI!, 

health education programmes., _ . " 

17. HealthedJcation should be made a part of theschool 

curricullim. ' 

~ ", '1:; 

18. Traditionai media such as Harikathas, Burra.' 

kathas, etc. should, be utilised on an'exte)1Sive 

, scale. 

19. Print publicity materials such as pamphlets; 

posters, etc. should be' provided ,in sufficient 

quantities. ' 

" 

KURUKSlf~TRA,.February 1991' 

.'1 

., . 

20. The views and experiences of MPHEOs should 

. - be taken into consideration at the time of 

'planning future publicity campaigns. 

Conclusion 

ON THE WHOLE, MPHEOs are doing good 

work. They are rendering dedicated services in 

spite of unfavriurable and unresponsive environ~ent 

and nu'merous problems.' They are a motivated group 

of people functioning with a deep sense of' social 

responsibilty. In order to be more effective, they should' 

i. study the topography of their areas of operation and 

identify problem regioDswhich require sustaiDed health 

communication effotts. The medical arid health 

authorities should pmvide adequate number of .audiovisual 

aids for health education activities and 'also 

ensure optimum media support for various health 

pr~grammes. 

41

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