| Enabling the poor to do what they want to do ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The narratives of change described in this issue of the Newsletter are not unique. During the past five years, one variant or another of these stories and of many others has been repeated over and over again in the thousands of villages covered by the Poorest Areas Civil Society (PACS) Programme. And for hundreds of thousands of marginalised people living in those remote communities, this is the first time since the nation’s Independence that they have gained a voice – and taken a first step towards becoming the full citizens they were declared to be in our Constitution. This is the remarkable achievement of the PACS Programme. There are several rights-based civil society initiatives in the country, but it is difficult to think of one that has matched the scale, reach and potential long-term impact of PACS. PACS is the Rs 200 crore, seven year long small-grants programme of the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID), managed by Development Alternatives and PriceWaterhouse Coopers – a "one of a kind" support to grassroots civil society organisations managed by civil society. It operates in the 100 poorest districts of India, as identified by the Government, which are spread over the six states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra. The design of PACS is unusual, enabling it to manage a very large set of projects spread over a large part of the country with a tiny — though very agile —secretariat based in Delhi. It has done so by selflessly building up strong capacity in each of the six states to identify, strengthen, backstop and nurture local Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and Community Based Organisations (CBOs) that can empower communities to exercise their entitlements. Before PACS, it was difficult in most of the territory it covers, even to locate CSOs with basic experience and credentials to help empower communities. Now, six years later, the programme has been able to build up an extensive network of highly effective state level NGOs who in turn can help build up highly effective CBOs in many of India’s most backward and poorest districts. Dozens of NGOs, supporting thousands of smaller CBOs are thus now working in a highly professional manner to help transform the lives of individuals and communities that had been completely bypassed by the nation’s development process. They have strong organisational capabilities, and can provide sound advice and support in financial management, use of communication media, training methods and CSO accountability. The result: thousands of CBOs, supporting tens of thousands of communities and Self Help Groups, keyed into the whole range of solutions they need to improve their own lives – meeting basic needs, regenerating environmental resources, creating livelihoods, demanding rights and exercising entitlements. Many now have the ability and confidence to approach other donor agencies and government on their own, thus leveraging further resources for building up their communities, institutions and infrastructure. While the PACS team can be justifiably proud of these achievements, they are also naturally concerned about the future. A great part of these achievements have come from the setting up of an innovative and highly efficient grant making programme. But no matter how efficient and effective such a programme is, it does need some financial resources. As the DFID grant now approaches the end of its seven years, PACS must now gather together new sources of funding to enable it to carry this pioneering, high impact work forward. Bringing about substantial social and economic change in India’s most deprived communities is not a short haul endeavour. Ingrained systems of oppression that have been working for hundreds, thousands, of years cannot be wiped away in a few moments. CSOs, and the donor agencies that support them, have to work with singleness of purpose and commitment in India’s most backward districts until the transformation needed takes place – hopefully not centuries, but certainly decades. What has been achieved by the PACS Programme is just the beginning of a long process of change. If the process is to continue, and our nation is to avoid the social alienation and environmental degradation that could destroy the dreams of all – not only the poor but also the rich – we need support from everybody out there—the government, donors, the media and particularly the more well-off to help bring about a society and economy that includes every single citizen in our country. q
Ashok Khosla Back to Contents |