Sustainable Rural Development
A private sector initiative at Gajraula

Gajraula is an upcoming industrial area within a rural setting in the district of Moradabad, U.P... It has been declared a census town in the year 1986 owing to its rapid scale of industrialisation and urbanisation - a trend which is continuing even today. From 1981 to 1991 there has been a phenomenal growth of population to the tune of 116.7 per cent!

This rapid growth has had its associated problems. First of all, the land prices have escalated manifolds and this has prompted many of the villagers to sell off prime agricultural land. This has led to a situation where, having no inherent skill in non- primary sector activities, are earning below subsistence level incomes in the booming informal sector at Gajraula. The dual impact of increasing fragmentation of land and the decrease of land-man ration through successive generations have also resulted in decreasing trends in agricultural income.

The principal occupation of the people in this area is agriculture. The small and marginal farmers are the majority, constituting about 90 per cent of the population engaged in the primary sector. Sugarcane is the major cash-crop of the entire region. Wheat and paddy are also grown on a large scale followed by maize, potatoes, abvi, etc.

In the non-agricultural sector, people have found some employment as daily labourers in the industries. A part form this the people also engage themselves in part time jobs such as rickshaw pulling, hotel catering, petty shop-keeping etc.

In this region two religious groups dominate, the Hindus (about 70%) and the Muslims (about 30%). Among the Hindus the dominant castes are the kharagwansis followed by the jatavs. As far as literacy is concerned, the entire tehsil is very backward having a rate of only about 17 per cent. Female literacy is alarmingly low, only 6 per cent.

In this scenario, the role of the industrial sector as a catalyst for development has been emerging strongly and the chemical plant of VAM Organic Chemicals Limited at Gajraula has taken the lead with a long record of undertaking welfare programmes in the surrounding areas. However, these programmes are of the nature of one time activities. The management now desires to undertake sustainable community development activities in the surrounding villages on a long term basis.

The role of Development Alternatives has been to conduct a Feasibility Study to identify the potentials for a long term and sustainable community development projects. The study involves understanding the social mechanisms operating in the area and prioritising issues for immediate action. The study also examines innovative strategies for effectively involving the industry, government, non-government organisations and the local community in sustainable development programmes.

In the course of three months of field survey, detailed information was collected on the socio-economic scenario of each of the 38 sampled villages using participatory rural appraisal (PRA) techniques with due consideration to the availability of basic infrastructure, the degree of air and water pollution and the potential for some successful development initiatives in each of the surveyed villages.

This article attempts to highlight certain specific emerging issues which require immediate planned intervention. These can be broadly categorised as follows:

*Difficulty in making ends meet.

The basic reasons for such a response are as follows:

Income from agriculture and allied activities is at subsistence level for the small and marginal farmers.

Increasing fragmentation of land, large families and increasing cost of productions has caused per capital income from agriculture to shrink over the years. This problem is most acute in the case of marginal farmers whose household income from agriculture comes to around Rs. 8500 to 9000 per annum only.

There is limited access to regulated marketing outlets.

Being basically small producers, the small and marginal farmers get very little access to formal markets. For example, for the lack of access to storage facilities, all the perishable items have to be sold off at the local mandi at low seasonal prices. Again, for the lack of dairy, the sale of milk to milkman bring very little income.

Existing employment in the non-farm sector is not sustainable.

A typical example of this is rickshaw pulling which is a common part-time activity. Through this a person can earn at the most Rs. 30 to 35 a day, that too provided it is a full time activity. For farmers, this can never be the case.

Lack of knowledge and training for gainful employment.

The villagers, being by and large untrained, can only work as labourers under daily wages of Rs. 25 per head. Even the service sector which has boomed with the advent of industries is primarily run by the large migrant population coming in from the adjacent areas.

*Low level of education and awareness

This issue has been identified based on the following observations:

Inadequate provision of educational infrastructure.

The no. of primary and junior high schools provided for in the study area fall far short of the Education Department’s standards. Apart from this some of the existing buildings are in a bad shape.

Attitude problems towards education.|

This is primarily because the villagers are either skeptical about the future prospects of education and would rather have their children help out in the fields or would not care to have their children go out of the village to study. This is especially true in case of girls, a fact which is reflected on the high dropout rate.

Demotivated teaching staff.

As home districts are usually allotted to the teachers, a common complaint was that they either don’t come or they do not take teaching seriously during the school hours. This has resulted in the increase in private tuition - which is too expensive for the average farmer to bear.

*Health issues resulting from rapid industrialisation

Contamination of the Bagad Nadi and air pollution.

Due to dumping of industrial effluents into the waters, the river can no longer be used for bathing and drinking. There has also been an increase in the incidence of skiing infection among people. With this fast rate of development, there has also been a phenomenal increase in the demand for building materials. To cater to this demand a lot of brick kilns have spurn up in the area which are responsible for air pollution - an aspect which the industries have also contributed to.

Gaps in the existing health facilities.

Apart from Sarvajanic clinic run by VAM, there is no formal health centre within the study area - not even a drug store. For everything the people have to go to the township, which is particularly problematic during the rains.

*Low level of infrastructure availability and accessibility

This issue can be divided into two parts:

Low level of infrastructure provision in the study area.

Not only is most of the infrastructure concentrated in Gajraula, it is quite evident that most of the development efforts of the Government have been concentrated in the uplands only leaving the lowlying areas more or less neglected.

Difficulty in all season mobility.

During the rainy season the Bagad nadi overspills its waters causing waterlogging in the adjacent areas. This stops almost all vehicular traffic. The two make-shift culverts across the nadi are also in precarious state which needs immediate repairs.

Considering the attitude of the different role players towards sustainable community development and the various issues that require attention, the following three stage programme has been identified as a strategic tool for future development interventions in the Gajraula area:

The first stage will be implementation of those projects which have the maximum demonstration effect for the community at large. The main purpose of this is to gain the confidence of the villagers - which is essential for the success of the entire programme.

In the second stage major thrust will be on those projects which deal with economic development of the target population. The main purpose of this is to raise the income levels of the small and marginal farmers so that they can improve their quality of life.

The last stage will deal with improving the links between the various Govt. agencies, VAM and the local people through creation of recognised local level institutions. The main purpose of this is to ensure that the rural development process continues through increased interaction among the deferent actors even after the implementing agency has moved out of the area.

by Sandeep Ghosh

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