Poor India exists in almost all parts of the country, but in terms of sheer population, it is concentrated in certain regions. The largest of these regions is a contiguous area of central and eastern Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, southern, central and eastern Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and all of Jharkhand and Bihar. Around 40% of India’s population lives in this region, and an estimated 100 million people living here are, by any estimation, extremely poor.

Eight years ago, Development Alternatives (DA) took a giant step into the social development sector to create history with the establishment of the largest civil society initiative against poverty in India till date.

The Poorest Areas Civil Society (PACS) Programme (2001-2008) is supported by the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID) and is managed by Development Alternatives (DA) with its consortium partner Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC). The programme has reached out to over 9 million poor rural households living in 94 of the poorest districts of the country. The programme also reached out to the vulnerable and marginalised sections of people living in around 131 slums and 10 municipal corporations in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. More than 80% of the population covered by the programme was from scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and backward classes, and the remaining proportion from the general class was also economically vulnerable.

The programme reached out to this large section of India’s marginalised population through over 600 civil society organisations (CSOs). Project proposals were invited from reputed CSOs that met statutory and other requirements for working under the programme.

Unlike most civil society initiatives that focus on service delivery or creation of assets, the PACS Programme addressed the poverty alleviation needs of the target population through a rights-based effort, with two broad objectives:

• Enabling the poor to realise their rights and entitlements through just and democratic means
• Strengthening the capacities of CSOs associated with the programme so that they could have better long-term impact in remote and underdeveloped areas where government and market reach is limited

To ensure effective realisation of rights and entitlements of the poor over a long term, the programme emphasised the formation of community based organisations (CBOs), which could be educated and trained in various ways to work as local advocacy/pressure groups, savings and alternative livelihood support groups, and groups meeting special needs, such as the needs of people with disability or the elderly people. In all, over 40,000 CBOs have been formed in the project areas, including 22,000 women’s self help groups (SHGs). Working under the guidance of CSOs, these CBOs ensured access to a range of entitlements such as public distribution systems (PDS) rations, actual realisation of surplus land allotments, Indira Awas Yojana benefits, old age and widow pensions, scholarships, disability pensions and wage employment under the Food For Work programme and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

An analysis of the data collected from programme CSOs showed that till June 2007, 6 lakh people from approximately 3.3 lakh families were able to access entitlements in the project areas. In monetary terms, the entitlement benefits were highest in India’s most backward state, Bihar. Furthermore, there were several other achievements, such as proper functioning of the midday meal scheme in schools, regular attendance of school teachers and health workers, greater participation in Gram Sabha meetings, higher elected representation in the Panchayati Raj institutions, community control over illegal exploitation of natural resources, community maintained safeguards against starvation deaths and floods, and recognition of community strength by officials and policymakers.

These attainments were recorded in an extremely challenging, even hostile, social and political environment. Over two-thirds of the districts covered by the PACS Programme were severely affected by Naxalite violence. In remote areas of these districts, where CSOs usually worked, the presence of a local administration is extremely thin, at times non-existent. In other areas too, programme CSOs had to battle with insensitive officials, deeply entrenched systems of corruption, powerful vested interests, gun lords and uncooperative upper caste/class villagers. A number of entitlement realisation campaign tactics had to be used: identifying and lobbying with sensitive officials at higher levels, using the local media to highlight issues and pressurise the administration, submitting bulk petitions and, when all else failed, organising morchas (rallies) and demonstrations of hundreds and thousands of the rural poor.
It gives me great pride to say that in most of these campaigns, women were at the forefront, and that the biggest achievement of the programme was that it enabled the underprivileged to overcome the sense of fear and helplessness; the programme helped lakhs of poor people recognise and use the power of their voice in a democratic manner.

DA-PwC supported the CSOs and guided the programme in a number of ways. They were acutely aware of the fact that most CSOs associated with the programme were small organisations with grassroots strength but without sufficient expertise and experience in financial management, reporting and other important requirements. With sensitivity towards the varying strengths, weaknesses, backgrounds and organisational cultures of project CSOs, DA-PwC organised training and orientation programmes to put in place rigorous mechanisms for financial accountability, monitoring and performance. The MC also built the capacities of CSOs to work with gender sensitivity and a sharp focus on the most marginalised sections of society. The Management Consultants (MC) welcomed and wholeheartedly supported innovative approaches, even when they carried the risk of failure. In each state, learning platforms were set up through quarterly workshops of all CSOs and theme-based workshops and consultations, with the participation of leading experts and practitioners from relevant fields. Throughout the programme structure, a unique Monitoring, Evaluation And Learning (MEAL) system was operationalised to facilitate self assessment and reflection.

In these efforts, the MCs took the help of a large number of Resource Organisations (ROs). In all, the programme used the expertise of over 60 ROs from different knowledge domains and geographies. The MC also used some communication agencies to support media advocacy efforts and guide the CSOs in effective use of both traditional and new media.

While putting in place elaborate mechanisms and processes to ensure quality performance, the MC took it upon themselves to adopt a flexible approach so that both individual CSOs as well as the programme as a whole could proactively address the emerging needs, opportunities and challenges. Thus, responding to community needs, the MC introduced a livelihoods component in the project. Apart from providing a host of training opportunities for both CSOs and communities in the area of alternative livelihood generation, the MC helped forge links with financial institutions. Then, with the enactment of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the MC initiated a major shift in programme processes so that CSOs and communities could be empowered to use these powerful legislations to enhance the incomes of poor households and secure entitlements. On the eve of Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, DA-PwC initiated large-scale voter awareness campaigns, which resulted in many CBO-supported Dalits and women candidates being elected for the first time.

The MC also initiated and supported policy advocacy, at various levels, on the NREGA, child rights, trafficking of women and children, Right to Food Campaign, RTI, and livelihood needs of people with disability, joint forest management, drought, land rights and various other issues. To broad base the advocacy efforts and attain critical mass, the MC frequently worked in association with other large civil society networks and campaigns, such as the Uttar Pradesh Voluntary Action Network (UPVAN), Voluntary Action Network India (VANI), Wada Na Todo Abhiyan, and National Conference of Dalit Organisations (NACDOR). In Maharashtra, the MC initiated a broad-based civil society forum to address the issue of recurrent drought in two of the most backward regions of the state. This forum today has over 400 CSO partners, most of whom were not associated with the PACS Programme.

With the Indian economy growing at around 9% per annum, it is unfortunately all too easy to forget that the biggest and most intractable challenge faced by the country is widespread poverty. No doubt, official statistics show a major decline in the poverty rate, but the estimation does not capture all the dimensions of poverty, including hunger, vulnerability to frequent illnesses, lack of education and skills required to compete in a modern economy, dearth of livelihood resources, role of the underprivileged in policymaking, and little control over the available natural resources.

The PACS Programme has build up an extensive network of NGOs, which has further helped build thousands of CBOs, resulting in a process of positive change taking place in the lives of millions of poor households that had been completely bypassed in the nation’s development process. Many CSOs and CBOs now have the confidence and ability to leverage further resources to strengthen their institutions and facilitate development in their villages.
While all those associated with the PACS Programme can be justifiably proud of its achievements, it must be remembered that bringing about substantial social and economic change in India’s most deprived communities is not an easy or a quick endeavour. Ingrained systems of oppression and exploitation that have been in place for centuries cannot be wiped away in a few years. What the PACS Programme has achieved is just the beginning of a long process of change. If the process has to continue and India is to avoid the social alienation and environmental degradation that could destroy the dreams of all — not only the poor but also the rich — everybody out there must support civil society in its efforts: government, media, donors and the urban upper crust that lives in islands of affluence.

And for Development Alternatives, the road ahead is right where we stand today. Our commitment towards the underprivileged and deprived sections of India remains as strong as it was when we started out twenty five years ago! q

Kiran Sharma
ksharma@devalt.org
 

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