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PREAMBLE

A word in the beginning 3

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In gratitude 4

ABOUT RAJEEVIKA

From provider to facilitator 5

INSTITUTION BUILDING

Ownership to the dispossessed 9

COMMUNITIZATION

A paradigm shift 12

INCLUSION

Reaching the unreached 14

LIVELIHOODS

Building sustainable futures 18

SKILL DEVELOPMENT

Powering rural youth 24

CAPACITY BUILDING

Interventions that empower 25

MONITORING & EVALUATION

For effective change 27

LOOKING AHEAD

Roadmap to 2016-17 29

IN THE MEDIA 30

CONTENTS

AW Active women

BK Book keepers

BM Bank Mitra

BPM Block project manager

BRLPS Bihar Rural Livelihood Promotion Society

CBO Community based organizations

CIF Community investment fund

CIPET Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology

CLF Cluster level federation

CMSA Community managed sustainable agriculture

CRP Community resource person

DDM District development manager

DPM District project manager

DPMU District Project Management Unit

ELSTP Employment-Linked Skills Training Programme

GP Gram panchayat

HR Human resources

IAY Indira Awaas Yojana

ISAP Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals

KPI Key performance indicator

LDM Lead district manager

LP Livelihood projects

MBK Master book keepers

MCLP Micro credit livelihood plan

M&E Monitoring and evaluation

MGNREGS Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme

MIS Management info system

NIRD&PR National Institute of Rural

Development & Panchayati Raj

NPA Non-performing assets

NRLM National Rural Livelihood Mission

NTTF Nettur Technical Training Foundation

PFT Project facilitation team

PIP Participatory identification of poor

PO Producer organization

POP Poorest of poor

PRI Panchayati Raj institutions

PWD People with disabilities

RBK Resource book keeper

RF Revolving fund

RGAVP Rajasthan Grameen AajeevikaVikas Parishad

RRB Regional rural banks

RRLP Rajasthan Rural Livelihoods Project

RSETIs Rural Self Employment Training Institutes

RSLDC Rajasthan Skill and LivelihoodsDevelopment Corporation

RUDSETI Rural Development & Self Employment Training Institute

SDM Sub-divisional magistrate

SERP Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty

SHG Self-help groups

SMD State Mission Director

SPMU State Project Management Unit

SSV Sakh Se Vikas

VO Village organization

VRF Vulnerability reduction fund

YP Young professional

Abbreviations

Rajasthan Grameen Aajeevika Vikas Parishad3rd Floor, RFC Block, Udyog Bhavan,

Tilak Marg, Jaipur

Phone: 2227011, 2227416 Fax: 2227723www.rgavp.org

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RAJEEVIKA • Annual Report • 2015-16 3

Sustainable rural livelihoods: practical

concepts for the 21st century

Robert Chambers and Gordon R Conway

IDS Discussion Paper Dec 1991

Alivelihood comprises the

capabilities, assets (stores,resources, claims and

access) and activities required fora means of living: a livelihood issustainable which can cope withand recover from stress andshocks, maintain or enhance itscapabilities and assets, and provide sustainable livelihoodopportunities for the next generation; and which contributes net benefits to other livelihoods at the local and global levels...

The Rajasthan GrameenAajeevika VikasParishad (RGAVP) gath-ered commendablem o m e n t u mduring 2015-16. In thisyear, it took a quantum

leap in achieving its physical targetsof mobilization, and disbursement ofcommunity investment fund (CIF). Itis heartening indeed that the com-munity-based organizations (CBOs)showed considerable growth in thisperiod, not only in adhering to theobjectives and maintaining the quali-ty of the organization, but also interms of financial sustainability videregular repayment of loans.

Their contribution to the communitymanifested in more ways than one.Rural communities in Rajasthan were,to a large extent, able to overcomethe vicious cycle of exploitative moneylending. In fact, I can say, RGAVP hasnow gone beyond the project phasewith the rapid and effective communi-tization that has taken place; the for-mation of self-help groups (SHGs), vil-lage organizations (VOs) and clusterlevel federations (CLFs) is testimony tothat.

One pivotal achievement in this yearwas that RGAVP successfully built itsinternal capacity by putting in placelocal community resource personswho shouldered the responsibility ofexpansion as well as intensification in60 additional blocks.

Institution building (IB), capacitybuilding (CB) and financial inclusion(FI) have always been priority areasfor RGAVP. That we could focus onmore convergent multi- prongedinterventions of the women mobi-lized under SHGs by initiating livelihood development, skill develop-ment and benefiting members withapplicable government schemes dur-ing this year is a matter of satisfac-tion. It is a substantial demonstrationof RAJEEVIKA’s integrated approachto bringing a positive change in thelife of marginalized rural poorwomen. n

— Rajeev Singh Thakur (IAS) State Mission Director

PREAMBLE

RAJEEVIKA • Annual Report • 2015-164

No organization can achievewhat it does without the support of the people who areits flesh and bones. To our SHGmembers, the office bearers ofSHGs, VOs, CLFs, goes out ourgratitude, first and foremost.RGAVP would not have beenable to achieve this kind ofprogress in this short a timewithout their support anddetermination.

RGAVP is thankful to all itsempowered committee mem-bers, as also its NationalResource Organization partners— Society for Elimination ofPoverty (SERP), Bihar RuralLivelihoods Promotion Society,Kudumbashree — for theircontinuous support in providing direction and pace to our work.

RGAVP is grateful to the WorldBank and the National RuralLivelihood Mission for theirfinancial support to the project. It is due to this thatcapitalization of thousands ofvillage-level organizations andcreating a movement towardsself-reliance has been possible.And, lastly, though not theleast, we would like toacknowledge the contributionof RGAVP staff that has goneback to parent departments.

IN GRATITUDE

5

MIS

SIO

N Rajasthan Grameen Aajeevika Vikas Parishad(RAJEEVIKA) is an autonomous society estab-lished in October 2010 by the Governmentof Rajasthan under the administrative controlof Department of Rural Development.Registered under the Society RegistrationAct, 1956, it is mandated to implement all

rural livelihoods programmes associated with SHG-basedinstitutional architecture in the State.

The Society aims at creating financially sustainable andeffective institutional platforms for the rural poor, enablingthem to increase household income through sustainablelivelihood enhancements and improved access to financialand selected public services and to build their capacities todeal with the rapidly changing socio-economic and politi-cal world. Its approach is to support the development oflivelihood opportunities for the rural poor, especially womenand marginalized groups, through community institutions


From provider to facilitator

ABOUT RAJEEVIKA

To enhance economic opportunities and

empowerment of the ruralpoor with focus on women

and marginalized groups of Rajasthan

• Promote community institutions likeWomen’s SHGs, VOs, federations, andproducer organizations

• Financial inclusion through project support and bank linkages

• Provide livelihood support through promotion of small and micro enterprises in farm and non-farm sectors for income enhancement of the poor

• Develop skills of rural youth

• Converge with other government programmes including various departments for leveraging impact

Objectives


Jaipur Dausa

Bharatpur

Dholpur

KarauliSawai

MadhopurTonk

Bundi

Kota

Baran

Jhalawar

AlwarSikar

Churu

Sri Ganganagar

Jhunjhunu

Banswara

Pratapgarh

Udaipur

Rajsamand

Bhilwara

Chittorgarh

Pali

Sirohi

Jalore

Barmer

Jaisalmer

Jodhpur

Bikaner

Nagaur

Ajmer

Dungarpur

Blocks covered 100

VOs promoted1,950

Villages entered4,795

SHGs promoted43,872

Members5,04,528

SHG savings (` in lakhs)

4,087

Community cadre28,800

SHGs availed RF 32,119

Youth trained2,332

SHGs availed CIF19,564

CLFs promoted 42

SHGs credit linked10,937

Key projects

implemented

by RGAVP

ABOUT RAJEEVIKA

Hanumangarh

NRLP: World Bank and

Govt of India (GOI)-fund-

ed National Rural

Livelihood Project; 7

blocks; implementation

from April 2013

RRLP: World Bank-fund-ed, Rajasthan RuralLivelihood Project; 51blocks; implementationfrom June 2011

NRLM: GOI-funded

National Rural Livelihood

Mission (NRLM); in remain-

ing blocks in phased man-

ner; implementation from

April 2013

MPoWeR: IFAD-Sir

Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT)-

funded Mitigating Poverty

in Western Rajasthan; 6

blocks of Western

Rajasthan; implementation

from December 2008

PROJECTS AT A GLANCE

6

ABOUT RAJEEVIKA

(CIs); financial inclusion of these target groups; provision oflivelihood support; skill development and convergence withother government programmes.

Organizational designThe management structure of RGAVP is vertical with thegoverning body, chaired by the Hon’ble Chief Minister ofRajasthan, framing the policy and the empowered committee, chaired by the Chief Secretary, Rajasthan,enabling the policy decisions. The State ProjectManagement Unit is headed by the State Mission Director,a senior IAS officer, currently, Secretary, RuralDevelopment.

The General Body approves and reviews the programmes ofRGAVP. Besides coordinating the functions of all the linedepartments and the other implementing agencies relatingto project activities, it also formulates the rules and sub-rules for executing various programmes and necessaryamendments as required. On the finance side, it reviewsthe availability and utilization of funds and loans receivedfrom GoI/G0R/ external institutions. The Society’s executionof programmes as per the administrative and financial rulesprovision is also monitored by the General Body. (See graph-

ic for RGAVP management structure.)

The Empowered Committee formulates/modifies the regula-tions concerning the management of the Society andassigns responsibilities and powers to the various sub-com-mittees, task force, etc. All financial and operational issuesof RGAVP are managed by this body. It meets on a quarter-ly basis and convenes special meetings to discuss any pro-posed modifications in the project and calls special generalbody meetings to get approval for these. (See graphic on fol-

lowing page for organizational structure.)

Along with other innovative approaches, RAJEEVIKA hastaken the bold step to engage management graduatesfrom some of India’s top institutions through its YoungProfessional (YP) programme, started in 2015. The mainaim is to infuse energy, streamline project activities and pro-mote innovative approaches for rural development througha pool of bright and dedicated YPs passionate about work-ing at the grassroots level. For the YPs, it is an exposure to

7RAJEEVIKA • Annual Report • 2015-16

General Body

State ProjectManagement Unit

EmpoweredCommittee

District ProjectManagement Unit

Block ProjectManagement

Unit

Cluster-LevelTeams

With the narrative around microfi-nance institutions as transforma-tional and powerful poverty reduc-tion tools having taken a 180degree turn in the last few years,RGAVP has taken on a more prag-matic approach towards inclusionof the most vulnerable. Observingthat the extremely vulnerableremain outside the initiative ongrounds of their inability to savemoney or unavailability in a villageat the time of selection due to theirmigratory occupations, RGAVP hastaken up special pilots as part ofsocial and financial inclusion.

The fundamental and overarchingobjective of RGAVP is identification,mobilization, and empowermentof women from the poorest andmost excluded households. RAJEE-VIKA is committed to following aBPL plus strategy consistent with

NRLM guidelines for identificationof beneficiaries. With potentialbeneficiaries expected to be fromBPL, SC and ST households andother vulnerable groups such asdeprived tribes, the landless,women-headed households, dis-abled, destitute, religious minori-ties, bonded/casual labour, etc it iscrucial that they are selectedthrough the right process so thatthe project reaches out to these pri-mary target groups in the mostdirect, practical and prioritized way.

Therefore, at RGAVP, the identifi-cation and mobilization of thepoorest of poor (POP) and mostvulnerable households is undertak-en by the community itselfthrough the participatory identifi-cation of the poor (PIP). This isfacilitated by the communityresource person (CRP) at the vil-

lage level and endorsed by thegram sabha.

In 2015-16, RGAVP became thefirst SRLM perhaps to initiate theconcept through Bandhan-Konnagar and J-PAL (Abdul LatifJameel Poverty Action Lab) toimplement the pilot in ManoharThana block of Jhalawar district tobenefit about 1,000 households. Itis expected that, with the innova-tive interventions identified, thepoorest of the poor will graduatefrom poverty in 2 years. The strate-gy is to provide an asset to identi-fied households and a temporaryallowance to generate livelihoodfrom the asset, along with manda-tory savings, short-term trainingon enterprise management andconfidence building, mentoring,and graduation training just priorto programme completion. Thelearning of pilot will be expandedin other blocks to benefit the mostvulnerable families.

Participatory identification of the poor

Management structure of RAJEEVIKA

ABOUT RAJEEVIKA


the dynamics of rural poverty as also to understand the work-ing of the Government. Around 80 YPs from schools likeIRMA, TISS, NIRD, IIFM and DSSW as also from the secondbatch of NRLM fellows are currently engaged at different lev-

els of the Project.

Achieving saturationRGAVP has been established to mobilize the most vulnerablehouseholds, financially and otherwise, into SHGs; as per 2011census, there are 95 lakh rural households in the State. Withthe BPL plus policy of Government of Rajasthan (GoR) and theGovernment of India (GoI), to which RGAVP adheres, hasincreased the scope of target households for poverty alleviationprojects in general, and NRLM in particular (participatory iden-tification of poor/PIP is one way through which poor in the vil-lages are being identified).

The policy change indicates that about 70% of total ruralhouseholds will fall under the BPL plus category, ie close to 65lakh households. A village/gram panchayat (GP) is consideredsaturated if more than 80% of rural poor are covered. RGAVP,therefore, plans to cover approximately 80% of the total ruralpoor which is close to 54 lakh households. (For year-wise cover-

age of households, see graphic below.) n

RGAVP organizational structure

State Mission Director

Chief OperationsManager

Project DirectorMonitoring

Financial Advisor

Project DirectorAdmin

Project DirectorMPoWeR

District Project Manager

Thematic Heads / Subject Matter Specialists at State level

Block Project Manager

Area Coordinator / Cluster Coordinator

Year-wise phasing of RAJEEVIKA

2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22

Districts 22 25 33

Blocks 42 92 213 295

Villages 2,000 4,300 9,625 17,000 31,160 44,672 44,672 44,672

SHGs 25,000 44,000 83,000 1,43,000 2,10,000 2,95,000 3,80,000 4,50,000

Households 3.0 5.21 9.87 17.1 25.1 35.47 45.6 54.0(in lakh)

33 33 33 33 33

295 295 295 295


Ownership to dispossessed


Institution Building (IB) is a key activity for RAJEEVIKAand mobilization of poor women into SHGs at the vil-lage level is the first step towards achieving its goal.Since the canvas for mobilization is large by any stan-dards - 54 lakh rural households to be reached out toin a phased manner over a period oftime - the decision to make a strong

base for mobilization in 15 resourceblocks is a major part of the strategy.

It is through the social capital generated inthe resource blocks that implementation in100 blocks has been successfully initiatedin a phased manner with the help of inter-nal CRPs. However, different approachesare applied for IB and social mobilization inthe execution of the various projects under

RGAVP. The Society also builds on the existing humanresource in the women's SHGs, their federations andwomen-led producer organizations. Central to all approach-es is the facilitation of the rural poor to achieve increasedaccess to entitlement, public services, and better social indi-

cators of empowerment. Central to themall also is the belief that the poor haveinnate capabilities, and complementedwith capacities (information, knowledge,skill, tools, finance and collectivization), canfacilitate their own development. (See

graphic Community institutions.)

Institution buildingThe CRP-led strategy for InstitutionBuilding and social empowerment is the

Blocks covered 100

GPs covered 1956

Villages entered 4795

SHGs promoted 43872

VOs promoted 1950

CLFs promoted 42



biggest strength of RGAVP and also its tool to further its mis-sion to enhance economic opportunities and empowermentof the rural poor with focus on women and marginalizedgroups of Rajasthan.

RESOURCE BLOCKSResource Blocks are developed as 'model blocks' to supportother blocks in implementing the programme. RGAVP hasdrawn on SERP of Andhra Pradesh and the Bihar RuralLivelihood Promotion Society (BRLPS) to deploy experiencedCRPs to initiate Community Mobilization and InstitutionBuilding in 10 RRLP Blocks and 5 NRLP blocks. These CRPs arealso helping RGAVP develop community-based monitoringmechanisms and creating a large pool of human capital ineach Resource Block for scaling up the project in other blocksof the state.

INTENSIVE BLOCKSRGAVP also implements various projects with the humanresource available in Rajasthan, ie, internal CRPs fromexisting federations, to seed the social mobilization andinstitution building process in selected blocks. The CRPs

identify and train Active Women to scale up best practicesin the intensive blocks. This is a home-grown model ofinstitution building for expansion in other blocks.

PARTNERSHIPA key strategy, convergent in nature, employed by RGAVP isimplementing the programme in partnership with non-gov-ernment organizations and local self-managed federationspromoted by NGOs in selected blocks of Rajasthan. There aremany SHG federations, financially and managerially self-reliant, and, in fact, capable of scaling up NRLM activities intheir local areas, through their own leadership and CRPs. Thisframework harnesses and builds upon the existing mobiliza-tion by NGOs (as nurturing organizations) to get a head startfor RGAVP activities to saturate the blocks.

Social empowerment, which refers to the establishmentand/or strengthening of existing, representative, community-based organizations to build up the capacity for communitymembers to plan and implement priority development activ-ities which emerge from participatory needs assessments,and in so doing, to provide communities with the means todevelop their own principles and structures of democraticrepresentation and governance

Community institutionsEstablishing and strengthening community organizationsto build up the capacity of community members to planand implement livelihood activities that emerge from par-ticipatory needs assessments, and to provide them withthe means to develop their own structures of democraticrepresentation and governance is a primary area of con-cern for RGAVP. It is in line with its defined role as facili-tator and starts at the village level for true social and eco-nomic empowerment.

VILLAGE ORGANIZATIONSThe programme empowers SHGs to form a village-level fed-eration, called Village Organization, of all SHGs. While womenare mobilized in one village into more than one SHG of man-ageable sizes, there has to be an integration of SHGs for themto become a platform to organize and share their issues col-lectively as a village. Besides, the programme mandates for CIFto only be received by the VOs for further lending to village

20-40 VOs

6-19 SHGs

Women’s Self-Help Groups 10-19 members



SHGs. The presence of a VO also facilitates the CLF or RGAVP engagement withthe village-level SHGs and acts as guarantee for loan repayment by SHGs. The VOis the CI through which the Livelihoods Investment Fund is routed by CLF to thecommunity and hence a very important institution for fulfilment of the Missionobjectives.

CLUSTER LEVEL FEDERATIONS The process of federating VOs into CLFs was initiated in 2015-16. TheFederations have a crucial role to play in taking over project activities on a sus-tainable basis after the project period. Hence, their formation and CapacityBuilding remained a priority for RGAVP during the reporting period.

The Federations are the prime community institutions through which theCommunity Investment Fund will be routed by the Mission to the community.Each CLF has been covering about 5,000 women from 35-40 villages and oper-ates like a mini bank with a corpus of about `2.5 crore. It also provides a plat-form for VO representatives to resolve their issues of entitlement, convergenceand effective implementation at the grassroots.

They also mark a departure from earlier, when, since the inception of RRLP, allproject activities like CIF disbursement, bank linkage, linkages with livelihoodsand social activities, training and Capacity Building (except formation of commu-nity institutions) were carried out by project staff. With the formation of CLFs,however, RGAVP has transferred to them all governance and management of allcluster-level activities. A 6-month training and Capacity Building plan was alsodeveloped and conducted for Office Bearers (OBs) and Executive Committee (EC)members of CLFs to take care of administrative inexperience and lack of educa-tion. (See box: Capacity building of CLF.) n

Building institutional capacity

n All CLF OBs sent to SERP in Andhra Pradesh for a 7-day immersionto introduce them to best practices in the working of a federation.All CLF accountants sent to SERP-AP for 15 days' training on man-agement of CLF accounts.

n All CLF OBs given a 2-day training on writing up an annual actionplan in a participatory manner.

n The annual action plan thus made by the OBs reviewed by the StateProject Management Team at cluster as well as at State level.

n Final annual action plans submitted to State Project ManagementUnit for incorporation into RGAVP plan and release of funds toCLFs.

• Mobilization: More than43,872 SHGs formed bymobilizing over 5 lakh womenin 100 blocks of 32 districts.Achieved by CRPs as well asActive Women.

• Social capital in communitycadre: A pool of communitycadre, including CRPs and28,800 SHG members devel-oped and trained as grass-roots facilitators for SHGs.

• Financial inclusion: More than2.3 lakh members of 32,119SHGs benefited with revolvingfund and CIF to the tune of`254.98 crore.

• A total of 1,950 VOs formedand operationalized.

• Rajasthan federated 42 CLFscovering 1,683 villages byOctober 2015. Each CLF cov-ers about 5,000 women from35-40 villages and operateslike a mini bank with a corpusof about `2.5 crore.

• Programme implementationexpanded to 60 blocks, grad-uating from resource blocks,through 1,650 InternalCommunity Cadre.

• m-pesa pilot, a doorstepbanking experiment, initiatedin Anandpuri (Banswara),Baap (Jodhpur) and Sankra(Jaisalmer) blocks in collabora-tion with Vodafone andextended to 7 more blocks(See Box: Mobile microfinance).

• Development of immersionsites: 40 immersion sitesdeveloped in resource blocks.Active Women and othercadre from intensive blocksbeing immersed in these sites.Dedicated Block LevelResource Cell (BLRC) were ini-tiated in resource blocks tosupport the immersion pro-gramme.

KEY OUTCOMES2015-16


Livelihood programmes are not new toRajasthan. What is unique to RAJEEVIKA,however, lies in its innovative approach, notseen earlier in the State. The repositioning ofthe government from benefactor to that offacilitator — capitalizing the village-leveland cluster-level institutions and turning

marginalized poor women into owners and managersof their own institutions — is a paradigm shift and liesat the heart of RAJEEVIKA strategy.

The entire process of implementation is communityand women driven. And, women, who have success-fully participated in the SHG programme with aproven track record of savings, credit and repayment,are metamorphosing as change agents in their com-munities to bring other poor women into the SHGmovement. This is the real success story of RGAVP —that they transform themselves and empower theirsisterhood into economic independence.

The other new strategy that the Society employs isdeployment of these change agents or Communityresource persons (CRP), as they are designated, fromother regions or States for free and unprejudicedidentification and mobilization of poor women intoSHGs. This has been successfully demonstrated in 10resource blocks with the nonpartisan intervention ofone such CRP from SERP, Andhra Pradesh and is cur-rently in expansion mode in other blocks with 32 CRPsfrom Rajasthan itself empowering thousands ofwomen. This capacity building of a large cadre ofnative CRPs is in itself a process of genuine women’sempowerment.

More than 1,650 women have challenged and rede-fined the role of women by not only taking up theSHG movement as their way out of the poverty cyclebut also expanded the activity in more than 73 blocksto 1,21,026 poor member. They have proved theirmettle as persuasive community mobilizers, exempla-ry group leaders, and successful managers of SHGs,VOs, and CLFs Cluster level federations by taking thelead as office bearers of these CIs, diligent supervisors,visionary planners and determined executors, anddynamic development agents.

But this could not have turned around without theactive encouragement and enforcement of RGAVP —all community cadre are women, who take key deci-sions as per their convenience. There are now morethan 32 different cadre like book keepers, CRPs, com-munity book keepers, resource book keepers, masterbook keepers, VO assistants, CLF accountants, MCPcadre, bank sakhis, convergence sakhis, kaushal vikassakhis, data entry sakhis, pashu sakhis, and krishisakhis, etc.

A paradigm shift in approach

COMMUNITIZATION


COMMUNITIZATION

The unequivocal response from the community has reinforced our beliefthat decentralized institutions are the route to more effective, efficientand sustainable group management in the decades to come.

Invoking community support, through a social process driven approach,their Capacity Building and proactive support, has not only resulted inefficient adherence to the Panchsutra, but also has empowered the com-munity’s substantive decision makers to make best use of their financialresources. n

SHG formation

26538

43872

22246

Revolving fund release

16597

32119

11203

CIF release

865019564

3818

SHGs credit linked

4752 109371994

2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

KPI: CumulativeprogressThe year saw significant progressachieved in terms of physical tar-gets — RGAVP achieved 65%growth in terms of SHG forma-tion, 93% growth in release ofRevolving Fund (RF), and 126%increase in release of CIF.

KEY OUTCOMES2015-16


Social inclusion

Inequality and exclusion not only persist in society, butare expanding. RGAVP has mobilized 5 lakh benefici-aries to form SHGs under the State's BPL plus policy.This is in line with the UN policy of equipping themarginalized, the vulnerable groups with strategiesand tools for adequately assessing and addressingexisting imbalances in a proactive and productive

fashion. Among the SHG members benefited thus 41%belong to the ST community, 20% to the SC community,32% to the other backward communities and the remain-ing 7% to other communities. It is mandated that CRPs fol-low the participatory identification of poor (PIP) while form-ing village-level SHGs to cover the most vulnerable andpoorest of poor under the SHG fold. RGAVP has beenfocusing on saturation at the village level and this will againensure the coverage of poor in the SHG movement.

Reaching the unreached

INCLUSION

No intervention of the scale ofRGAVP can be deemed successfulunless the maximum number oftargeted beneficiaries is reached.As per NRLM guidelines, 3% peo-ple with disability (PwD) should bemobilized to ensure the obligatorysocial inclusion; and PwDs, often afinancial drain on family resourcesor neglected, are a special targetgroup for RGAVP.

In 2015-16, inclusion of PwD—leftout of the mobilization processdue to their immobility or lack ofother members' confidence inthem—under the SHG fold was ini-tiated with the help of a consult-ant as a pilot in the Bakani

(Jhalawar), Sangod (Kota) andJhadol (Udaipur) blocks. The pilotinvolved a primary survey acrossthe three blocks' 177 villages, 4,881SHGs and about 53,691 house-holds. About 4,841 disabled wereidentified, including 2,725 femaleand 2,138 males; 171 DPGs (dis-abled people's groups) wereformed as a first step towardsmainstreaming.

To mainstream PwD, it is importantto bring them into special groups— inclusion in general groups, withloans and benefits on regularterms, may discourage them; plusthere is the possibility of their notbeing able to participate effective-ly in the SHG and consequentlybeing left without any benefit. In aseparate group, PwD gel betterwith their peers and their confi-dence level increases after theirfirst leadership training 3-4 months

after group formation. As per thePwD Act 1995, the pilot ensuredinclusion of all kinds of physical,sensory, emotional disability-autism, cerebral palsy, mentalretardation, multiple disability,orthopaedic/ hearing/ speech/ visu-al impairments, learning disability,leprosy, multiple disability, etc.

RGAVP plans to not only infusefinancial requirement to DPGs butalso provide them with neededassistive devices, therapies and skilldevelopment. A special cadre ofresource rehabilitation persons(RRPs) is being developed withintensive training to facilitate theDPGs. The PwD pilot focuses oncertification of disability to identi-fied PwD, ensuring their due enti-tlement and skill developmenttraining to members of DPGs. Thelearning of pilot will be expandedinto other blocks.

Mainstreamingpeople with disability


• Livelihood development:Activities initiated on largescale, covering more than 2.5lakh households with farm,off-farm, and non-farm liveli-hood interventions, alongwith skill development & con-vergence. Goatery, dairy, cropand vegetable-based liveli-hood groups formed.

• PRI-CBO convergence pilot:Agreement with Kudumb-ashree-NRO entered into forintervention on PRI-CBO con-vergence in three selectedblocks of three districts ofBhilwara, Kota and Udaipur.

KEY OUTCOMES2015-16

INCLUSION

Financial inclusionThe main objective of RGAVP and all the various project activities is to mobilizethe poor and their capital formation at the household and group level. Access tofinancial services plays a crucial role in poverty alleviation and inclusivegrowth. The capacity of SHGs to avail the financial support has been builtby strictly following the Panchsutra. SHGs which are regular in following thePanchasutra and practising good management and financial norms (theproper use of savings and revolving fund) are extended further opportuni-ties for livelihoods and other needs with the provision of RF and CIF.

This enables them to access loans and undertake income generation activitiesindividually as per micro credit and livelihood plan prepared by the SHG andincrease their income. A proper utilization of RF and CIF inculcates financial dis-cipline among SHG members and helps themaccess bank loans. In the year gone by, MCLPfor 11,406 SHGs was completed and CIF disbursed to 11,046 SHGs amounting to`121.5 crore. n

16

The key fulcrum of Financial Inclusion in RAJEEVIKAis linking SHGs with credit from the bank; creditsupport from the bank will upscale the future fundflow of SHGs. SHG-bank linkage is an importantprerequisite for poverty alleviation, which not onlyensures credit to the impoverished on fair termsbut also helps them invest in building sustainablelivelihoods. RGAVP has engaged intensively withbanks at all levels (policy and managerial) in the lastone-and-a-half years to facilitate SHG-bank link-ages and win bankers’ confidence.

Developing quality SHGs for credit linkages,appointing bank sakhi, Zero NPA policy, on-fieldorientation of senior bankers (zonal/regional heads,chairmen RRBs), training and exposure and supportin repayment are some of initiatives taken byRGAVP to streamline SHG-credit linkages. Creditcamps were organized in Banswara, Baran,Bhilwara, Dholpur, Dungarpur, Jhalawar, Tonk,Udaipur districts to boost linkages, leading to posi-tive change at the bankers’ level, especially in theRegional Rural Banks working in the State.

As a pilot, the Mission applied the community driv-en approach to build credit linkages in 17 blocks. Inaddition to credit linkage CRP approach, 178 banksakhis were deployed at the branch level to bridgethe gap of credit requirement of SHGs and the con-straints at the bank and SHG level.

The strategy is to select those SHG members with agood track record of savings and credit and a class 10certificate as credit linkage CRPs. They are given in-depth training on the entire documentation process,from filling up loan application forms and filing allrequired papers to presenting them to the bank.Bank linkage CRPs conduct a 30-day round in one go,preparing 2 applications a day on an average, thusidentifying villages, which fulfil the 9-month eligibil-ity norm, with a potential of minimum 2 SHGs cred-it linkages as eligible for credit. At the end of theround, applications are presented to bank branchmanagers and RAJEEVIKA officers at the block levelcredit camp.

In the 17 pilot blocks, well-trained credit linkagesCRPs worked on a village-wise saturation approach,due to which most eligible SHGs of a particular vil-lage could complete their loan application forms. Atotal of 2,142 loan applications from all 17 blockswere prepared and presented in the bank linkagecredit camps; the entire campaign witnessed a sat-isfactory participation of bankers. With more than13 block level credit camps organized, 1,771 appli-cations were presented to banks for sanction, outof which 1,604 received sanction, and 1,234 appli-

cations got disbursed amounting to `7.75 crore.

The concept has been appreciated by SLBC,NABARD; minutized in SLBC minutes and sharedwith LDMs, DDMs and DPMs for execution.Moreover, it has been selected as SHG-credit link-ages best practice by MoRD, GoI. The key learningis that this is a highly scalable model and easy tomonitor with its round-based monitoring andmonthly progress sharing with controlling heads of banks.

Institutionalizing best practices for credit linkage

INCLUSION


RAJEEVIKA • Annual Report • 2


INCLUSION

% ofachievement

2015-16

Cumulativeexp sinceinception

Expenditure2015-16

RRLP 163.37 176.00 166.61 329.98 95

NRLM 42.56 19.95 22.31 64.87 95

NRLP 9.61 40.40 23.74 33.35 52

MPoWeR 66.08 24.97 24.59 90.67 99

Total 282.02 261.32 237.25 518.87 91

Financial progress A cumulative expenditure of `518.87 crore has been incurred since inception; the details are as below (`in lakh).

VODAFONE M-PESA PILOT

Microfinance at the finger’s tip

Expendituretill

March 2015Budget2015-16

Name ofproject

In most parts of rural Rajasthan, bank penetration is low; branches areusually 10-20 km distant from most villages. A visit from the SHG/VO islikely to cost a member half, sometimes even a full, day just to deposit

savings/loan instalment in the SHG/VO bank account. In April 2015, RGAVPand Vodafone m-pesa collaborated to provide the service of mobile trans-actions to SHG members to cut down on their day’s losses in terms of timeand wages / income.

The project was piloted in 3 blocks — Anandpuri (Banswara), Baap(Jodhpur) and Sankra (Jaisalmer). And, following a satisfactory progress, itwas scaled up to 7 other blocks in December 2015.

A total of 6,622 SHGs have been registered with m-pesa and 184 agentsappointed in these blocks. SHG members can now deposit cash as e-

money in their m-pesa wallet andtransfer instantly to the SHG bankaccount. The service charge of1.5% of the transaction amountfor the model is borne by RGAVP.The total amount of transactionstill 30 June 2016 stood at `790.53lakh with 3,439 SHGs transacting.

Impact of the projectThe principal impact of the pilothas been the significant reductionof the transaction cost to SHGmembers. Formerly, a bank trans-action would have incurred two

SHG office-bearers transport expense and time, loss of day’s income plusthe waiting time at the bank.

Besides, m-pesa facilitated transactions are more convenient than directbank deposits; the model saves SHG members from the drudgery of trav-elling to distant branches in adverse conditions. It enables secure transac-tion at the SHG doorstep and averts the risk of keeping SHG savings ascash at home or carrying over long distances.

The biggest outcome, though intangible, has been to boost credit linkage.RGAVP made significant progress in credit linkage in the past year due tothe increasing bank trust in the SHG creditworthiness stimulated by theregular deposits of savings/loan amount by SHGs.

VIKA • Annual Report • 2015-16

• Micro enterprises consultantproject /SVEP: Agreementwith Kudumbashree – NROfor promoting entrepreneur-ship among SHGs in Ajmer,Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Kota &Udaipur.

• Around 25,000 female bookkeepers identified, trained anddeployed to maintain properbook keeping at SHG level.

• Community ManagedSustainable Agriculture:1,800 farmers brought underthe CMSA interventions inBanswara and Tonk districts.Outcomes quite encouragingand farmers benefiting withincrease in production as wellas substantial reduction incost of cultivation.

• Toll-free call centre run bySHG women established atJhalawar to record andaddress the issues of the SHGbeneficiaries.

• 138 women selected asBarefoot Technicians underMGNREGS.

• 1,702 women mates trained &deployed under MGNREGS.

• 5000 youth from SHGs skilledthrough RSLDC, RSETIs &CIPET.

• 277 youth sent for industrytraining at Maruti SuzukiTraining Academy, RaymondTailoring Centre and NTTF formanufacturing industries inBangalore with placementguarantee in same industry. n

KEY OUTCOMES2015-16


Building sustainable futures

LIVELIHOODS


LIVELIHOODS

Livelihood development is the cornerstone of allMission objectives and activities. Even thoughRajasthan is traditionally a predominantly agricul-tural State, with over 77% of the total popula-tion residing in rural areas, it is a fact that thisecosystem is evolving at a rapid pace. And a pop-ulation adaptive to new and productive livelihood

opportunities means that livelihood patterns are changingand diversifying in rural Rajasthan. In such a scenario,RGAVP’s multi-pronged facilitation of rural indigent womenachieving successful sustainable livelihoods assumes a criti-cality not seen in the past with other such initiatives.

RGAVP has a livelihood strategy plan in place to cover morethan 2,50,000 households by integrating farm, off-farmand non-farm based livelihood development activities. The

following livelihood development strategies have beendesigned for SHG members, the rural poor women, in anintegrated fashion.

• Development of livestock-based clusters covering about60,000 households over a period of 3 years.

• Development of agriculture based livelihood clusterscovering about 60,000 households over a period of 3years.

• Development of non-farm livelihood clusters coveringabout 7,450 households over a period of 3 years.

• Skill development covering about 27,700 youth of SHGmembers of RGAVP.

• Convergence with MGNREGS, LIFE, IAY, RuralDevelopment schemes to benefit about 1,00,000households in 2016-17.

RGAVP has achieved remarkable progress in the initialstage, leveraging the strong mobilization of communitymembers through the institution of SHGs.

Highlights 2015-16As stated, the key highlights of the progress achieved dur-ing the reporting period are as below:

• Team Livelihood consisting of 2 senior specialists and 1specialist livelihood, specialist skill and convergenceformed at State level and young professionals at Stateand block level in 12 districts formed.

• Implementation of livestock-based livelihood interven-tions through goat CRP in 10 blocks and 9 districts cov-ering 2,822 households initiated.

• More than 245 goat-based livelihood groups (GBLG)formed in 53 villages of 10 blocks in 9 districts.

• 38 pashu sakhis identified, trained and deployed.

• More than 6,400 households covered under agriculture-based livelihood programme in Churu, Jhalawar andUdaipur districts with the help of external agency ISAP.A total of 4 farmer producer organizations formed.

• 3 clusters identified under non-farm livelihood activitiesbased on handicraft skills of the members — tie anddye in Churu district, leather works in Dausa and stoneand zari work in Bikaner. A total of 90 producer groupsformed.

Key intervention areas

• Creation of awareness on improved animalmanagement practices

• Reducing animal mortality

• Promotion of local para professionals andresources to ensure sustainability

• Organizing farmers for collective marketingand developing linkages with external entities

20

LIVELIHOODS

• More than 900 members trained in hand-rolled agar-batti production with the support of Indian GrameenServices in Jhalawar district; 300 initiate the productionof handrolled agarbatti.

• Skill cadre, Kaushal Vikas Sakhis, developed to mobilizeyouth from SHGs in order to reach out to theunreached youth.

• Exposure programme organized for team livelihood atMadhya Pradesh and Bihar State Rural LivelihoodMission.

• State-level workshop organized by RGAVP on scalingup livelihoods.

Livestock & agricultureCurrently, livestock-based and agri-based livelihood promo-tion activities are being rolled out in 12 blocks under RRLPand 6 blocks under MPoWeR. Next up is expansion oflivelihood promotion with a slew of activities in 26 blocks.Though these activities vary from intervention to interven-tion (ie farm and livestock), every household will be coveredunder multiple livelihood interventions as per the availableresources.

LIVESTOCK-BASED CLUSTERRGAVP has been implementing the livestock-based liveli-hood programme focusing on goats and cows taking intoconsideration the major problems faced by goat rearers,including lack of veterinary facilities, lack of awareness ofseasonal diseases, vaccination, de-worming, and lack oforganized marketing.

RGAVP plans to mobilize about 60,000 households in live-

stock-based livelihood interventions over a period of 3 yearsexpecting to create a grassroots cadre of about 2,000pashu sakhis and 200 para professionals to facilitate cattlerearers.

AGRI-BASED CLUSTERRGAVP took up agriculture-based livelihood interventions asa key livelihood strategy to address the constraints of lowyield / productivity, soil degradation, climate change and lackof market linkages faced by small and marginal farmers.

It was therefore planned to make crop-based (including veg-etables) livelihood interventions in 14 blocks covering about60,000 households. The key interventions under this activityinclude productivity enhancement through training andcapacity building of small and marginal farmers in imple-mentation of best practices, improved inputs, soil testing,and direct market linkages. Besides this, RGAVP plans to cre-ate a grassroots cadre of about 2,000 krishi sakhis and 200para professionals to facilitate the farmers in a span of 3years.

Ultimately, it is planned to federate all cluster-level groupsformed under farm and livestock based livelihood develop-ment into producer organizations to facilitate market link-ages. In the case of dairy livelihoods cluster programme,however, tie-ups will be established with milk collectioncentres established by the dairy/ federation in each village,tapping external technical agency to realize this objective.

CMSA FOR AGRI-BASED LIVELIHOODS The main objective of community managed sustainable agri-culture is to bring sustainability to agricultural based liveli-hoods, with special focus on small and marginal farmers, ten-ants, agriculture labour and women. RGAVP initiated theimplementation of the CMSA programme in 2 Blocks of

Goat & dairy-based interventions

245 goat-based livelihood groups formed by23 trained CRPs covering 2,822 households. 79 pashu sakhis selected from these GBLG.All provided in-depth training for 17 days anddeployed to work as village level facilitators togoat rearers. Dholpur (2) and Tonk (1) clusters successfully saturated in terms of GBLG

with 300 households beingmobilized as asingle cluster. 238dairy livelihoodgroups (DLGs)formed bytrained dairyCRPs coveringabout 2,737households. 76pashu sakhistrained anddeployed to serve as villagefacilitators to cattle rearers.



Banswara and Tonk districts on pilot basis in 2014 withtechnical support from SERP. So far, 2700 farmers havebeen brought into the fold. The results of the interventionshave been quite encouraging and farmers are benefiting interms of increase in production as well as substantial reduc-tion in cost of cultivation. Considering the success of theprogramme, RGAVP has expanded the intervention to 6more RRLP blocks. In 2016-17, it plans to reach out to morethan 10,000 families to bring them under the CMSA fold.

MAHILA KISAN SASHAKTIKARAN PARIYOJNA Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojna (MKSP) is a sub-com-ponent of NRLM, which is implemented through RGAVP.MKSP’s focus is on skill and capacity development ofwomen farmers, developing local cadre as pashu sakhi andkrishi sakhi, building upon the social capital created under

Sakh Se Vikas (SSV) and scaling up existing interventions. Itis a consortium project to empower 25,500 women farm-ers (who are mobilized into SHGs) across 450 villages in 7districts of Rajasthan with 6 NGO partners (Ibtada, Srijan,Pradan, Saheli Samiti, Grameen Development Services, andPeople’s Education & Development Organization) to exe-cute MKSP in their respective locations and Centre formicroFinance as lead agency. In 2015-16, the project,under the MKSP umbrella,Covered 26,640 households in kharif season with majorcrops like maize, bajra, sorghum, and pulses.Covered 13,638 households in rabi season with majorcrops like wheat, mustard, and maize seed production.Covered 7,112 households in livestock season with focuson best animal health practices and management forincreased milk productivity.

Activity initiated in 7districts with crop CRPs’orientation and training.

66 pathshalas organ-ized covering 660 households.

22 krishi sakhis selectedand trained.

District-wise crop clusters identified forinterventions.

Crop clusters

LIVELIHOODS


Developed pool of community cadre with 820 krishi sakhiand 150 pashu sakhi.Developed 428 krishi pathshalas as village level knowledgeand resource centres for beneficiaries.Established 9,228 kitchen gardens in 19 blocks & 7 districts.Increased crop production by 23–49% in kharif and10–56% in the rabi season.Assisted 2,772 farmers to provide nutritional supplementand nutritive green fodder to their livestock.Planning is on for MKSP Phase-II in the existing 19 MKSPblocks with the focus on value chain and market linkagedevelopment.

Non-farm intervention Rural non-farm employment is important for the landless,small and marginal farmers, and can significantly impactreduction of rural poverty. Apart from agriculture and live-stock-based livelihood initiatives, RGAVP has taken up non-farm based livelihood activity on a smaller scale with thepossibility of scaling it up in future.

Tie & dye in Churu block: More than 1,000 women artisans,members of RGAVP SHGs, are doing tie & dye jobwork fortraders. As part of the process, more than 758 artisans in 11villages of Churu were identified and mobilized into 71 pro-ducer groups by trained CRPs for further livelihood activities.

Leather work: 14 producer groups were organized byCRPs covering about 158 leather workers in Dausa districtfor further linkages.

Hand-rolled agarbatti production: In another initiative tostrengthen non-farm livelihoods and increase income ofSHG members, RGAVP mobilized women into hand-rolled agarbatti production in the Bakani and Aklerablocks of Jhalawar district. This project saw 1500 house-holds mobilized into 128 producer collectives for hand-rolled agarbatti.

MICRO ENTERPRISE CONSULTANT PROJECTThe objective of MEC project is to build capacity amongSHG women to lead micro enterprise development in threeselected districts of Bhilwara, Kota and Udaipur as a pilot. Itis expected to train 150 micro enterprise consultants andplaced in the pilot districts in three years.

The trained MECs will form self-reliant enterprise groupsfor providing services to micro enterprises and self-employ-ment ventures, besides serving as enterprise promotingarm to the RGAVP. They will be provided subsistenceallowance for three years after training and be placed in thefield from August 2016. It is expected they would be ableto support about 1600 enterprises by the end of the next

Dugdh Sudha: The Jhalawar districtproject management unit initiateda milk collection centre covering 3villages of the Bakani block in part-nership with Saras dairy mobilizingproducers to sell to the centre.

Ginger cultivation: RGAVP beganmobilization of ginger cultivatorsin Udaipur under the CM’s projectwith the objective to address theissues of productivity, disease con-trol, collective processing and mar-

keting of ginger. Around 12 CRPshave been identified to mobilizeproducer groups and a tie-upestablished with Maharana PratapUniversity of AgricultureTechnology as knowledge partner.

Farm-based small-scale special project: 6,400 small and marginalfarmers were mobilized in Churu,Jhalawar and Udaipur into pro-ducers groups with ISAP’s aid tofacilitate productivity and

increase incomes. It is intended toregister about 12 producer com-panies to link the produce withmore remunerative marketsthrough direct linkages. Thefarmers covered in the Jhalawarinterventions have implementedthe learning for 2 seasons andare now ready to sell directly tothe market through their regis-tered producer companies. Foursuch farmer producers companieswere registered in 2015-16.


LIVELIHOODS

financial year. 150 MECs should be able to support 16,000enterprises in a period of 3 years. The working capital forindividual enterprises will be leveraged from CIF and finan-cial institutions like banks. The project is supported byKudumbshree-NRO, Kerala.

PILOT ON PRI-CBO CONVERGENCEThe project aims to increase access of SHG families andcommunities to individual entitlements, community servic-es, public goods and social security. The project is beingimplemented in 67 gram panchayats across three districts– Bhilwara, Kota and Udaipur. Increased participation ofSHG members in gram sabha and various other institu-tional and developmental committees is another objectiveof the project.

7-10 local resource groups (LRG) from among SHG mem-bers per gram panchayat have been identified and trainedto support SHG members in getting their entitlements.These LRGs identify the gaps through the exercise of ‘par-ticipatory assessment of entitlements’, prepare the entitle-ment access plan and get them executed with the supportof existing community institutions. n

New approach to craft clusters

RGAVP aims to build capacity of artisans,supply chain linkages and market linkageswith product development support to arti-sans with the help of a technical agency.

Craft sakhis are village-level productionfacilitators selected by CRPs during groupformation. One craft sakhi among 3 groupshas been identified from each village.

Master craftsperson: Process for selectionof 3-5 master craftspersons from one select-ed village will be taken up after the skillassessment of the panchayat group mem-bers, which will be supported by workingcapital from RGAVP.


Convergence has been a focus area for RAJEE-VIKA as it will be instrumental in bringing theimpoverished out of the poverty cycle. A mul-tipronged approach has been, therefore,applied to benefit SHG members with majorgovernment progammes which are in satura-tion mode such as Mahatma Gandhi National

Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), SwachhBharat Mission (SBM) and Indira Awas Yojana (IAY). RGAVPaims to generate awareness and develop leadership of vil-lage organizations/SHGs through the support of a ‘conver-gence cadre’ (4 active SHG members from each block) — aspecial community cadre for convergence at grassroots level.The capacity building and training of these women has beenorganized with a focus on interface with panchayats.

It is planned to benefit 30,000 poor households with indi-vidual works, 1 lakh poor women with 100 days of work,and 7,500 SHG women with deployment as mates underMGNREGS; to promote 3,000 villages as open defecationfree; and benefit 9,000 women with various pensionschemes. So far, 90,000 women have participated in gramsabhas and enrolled for individual work and inclusion intheir action plan; 1 lakh names have been sanctioned atgram panchayat level; and 1,000 financial sanctions forindividual work been received.

Besides the above, RGAVP has a special policy for deploy-ment of kaushal vikas sakhi, community cadre for skillingrural youth, in villages. A rigorous capacity building isensured to these kaushal vikas sakhis, which includes class-room training, orientation, mock rounds, immersion, andexposure to skills training centers. Trained cadre of KVS takeup the task of mobilizing youth in their cluster. One sakhi isdeployed at one cluster level which covers about 40 villages.

Partnerships RGAVP is committed to skilling of at least 1 member of SHGmembers’ families in addition to the other interventions ofcredit support, livelihood development under farm, non-farm or off-farm, and has been subsidizing this objective bymaking skill an integral part of the programme. A memo-randum of understanding has been signed with RajasthanSkill and Livelihoods Development Corporation (RSLDC) totrain 26,700 youths under the Employment-Linked SkillsTraining Programme (ELSTP) and with Central Institute ofPlastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET) for 1,000 youth.

Skilling rural poor youth, however, will serve no purpose with-out a strategy for employment. Hence, besides partneringwith key State agencies for skilling youth, like RSLDC, RSETI /RUDSETI, etc, RGAVP has also partnered with the MarutiSuzuki Training Academy, Raymond Tailoring Centre, and theNettur Technical Training Foundation (NTTF) course under theNational Employment Enhancement Mission (NEEM) toensure employment for all selected and trained youth. n

40 KVSs deployed by RGAVP.

15,000 youth mobilized out of which 4,000 havebeen mobilized with the help of KVS.

Around 5000 of these youth trained under self andwage employment trainings.

95 youth selected for 2-year training at Maruti SuzukiTraining Academy and assured jobs on completion.

100 youth selected for training at Raymond TailoringCentre with assured job on completion.

82 youth selected for industrial manufacturing train-ing at Bangalore under NTTF.

All selected youth under NTTF, Raymonds andMaruti Suzuki being given monthly stipend of `7000-10000 , uniform, food and accommodation facilityand insurance.

Poweringrural youth

SKILL DEVELOPMENT


Highly critical to project imple-mentation, capacity buildingis central to RGAVP and all itsfacets such as institutionbuilding, financial inclusion,livelihood development, con-vergence, etc. With the accel-

erated pace in 2015-16 of implementationand expansion, a number of interventionsare being introduced which require numer-ous resources, human and social capital, anda continuous capacity building.

To cater to the capacity building needs, thestate resource cell (SRC) in RGAVP hasemerged as a facilitator in developing commu-nity resources, supporting IB-CB activities, ori-entation and capacity building support to staff,community cadre, community institutions andother stakeholders, through conducting vari-ous CB exercises, training programmes,immersions and exposure visits, etc.

The major agenda of RGAVP in 2015-16was to expand project activities in 60 newblocks with the support of community cadrein the SERP-facilitated 10 resource blocks.The first major capacity building exercisewas conducted in February 2015, whereinabout 200 staff from 10 DPMUs were givenorientation and facilitated in the strategicplanning for expansion. Thereafter, 10block-level resource centres (BLRCs) wereestablished in RBs to facilitate the trainingand CB needs of community cadre andcommunity institutions.

Capacity building forcommunityA total 211 CRP teams of community cadre,i.e., AWs and BKs were very carefullyscreened and identified for the expansion ofcommunity mobilization and SHG formationin the new blocks — which was taken up inthree phases of June 2015, October 2015,

Interventions that empower

CAPACITY BUILDING

26

and February 2016 — undergoing a series of rigorous CBprogrammes such as immersion and training of trainers(ToTs) at block, district and State level before taking up theCRP role. 50 senior CRP teams were trained and deployedto form the second tier institutions of VOs. And the train-ing is a continuous process; the block level capacity build-ing units (BLRCs) continually monitor these CRPs, assessingtheir capacity building needs and conducting CB exercisesto boost their efficacy and competency.

Community trainersUnder RGAVP, Communitization does not end with theidentification and training of CRPs for social mobilizationand SHG formation. The next step is to involve the com-munity into the capacity building and training. Therefore, 8immersion sites were developed in 10 resource blocks for

the capacity building of continuously emerging cadre andinstitutions and the first batch of 40 Community Trainers(CTs) dubbed 'Immersion Cadre' was trained in May 2015to facilitate the immersion programme.

The creation of the trainers' pool for BLRCs continued withthe training of the second batch of 22 CTs, designated VO-OB Master Trainers in September 2015. In order to devel-op VO-Book Keeping Master Trainers, a rigorous CB exer-cise of 15 days was conducted in October 2015 with thesupport of the NRLM Cell at NIRD&PR, Hyderabad. Theexercise culminated in 31 trainers — 12 from community, 3from SRC and 10 from BLRC staff and 4 persons fromorganizations working in partnership blocks. Consideringthe increasing number of village level cadre — ie ActiveWomen in resource blocks and Samuh Sakhi in expansionblocks — engaged in facilitating SHGs, 40 Community

Master Trainers were trained at State level toimpart 10 days’ SHG Facilitation Training to thesegroups.

Content developmentVery detailed and comprehensive training mod-ules and manuals are designed by the technicalteam at SRC for each training programme.Thereafter lead trainers and master trainers areinstructed in the training modules prior to con-ducting the programme. The following manualswere designed in the year 2015-16:

• Immersion Cadre Training Manual

• CRP Training Manual

• Sr. CRP Training Manual

• AW-MT Training Manual

• Village Organization Training Manual

• VO-Book Keeping Training Manual

• RBK Training Manual n



What development interventionsmake a greater difference? Is theproject having the intended out-comes? What can be done differ-ently to better meet goals andobjectives? These are the questionsthat monitoring and evaluation

(M&E) allow organizations to answer. While they are crucialtools to track progress and facilitate decision making, theirgreatest beneficiaries ultimately are the target groups orcommunity because they help RGAVP to design pro-grammes and activities that are effective, efficient, andyield sustainable outcomes for the community. The moni-toring and evaluation conducted by RGAVP at regulatedintervals helps improve performance and achieve outputs,outcomes and impact.

Comprehensive MISEarlier no consolidated SHG database was available in theState. All SHG accounts were maintained manually, which

was time consuming and costly plus there was always a riskof losing data. With a strong need, therefore, for compre-hensive State-level MIS to cover all the SHGs promoted underall the various schemes, RGAVP developed a web-basedapplication PAS (Performance Application System) to main-tain the CBO and community cadre database, which alsoenables assessment of project staff performance across theState. The next step is an application to transfer data fromPAS to the transitory MIS of NRLM. It may also require moremodules to be added in the application, for which RGAVPhas hired the services of a consultant at the State level.

The objective is to assign clear roles and responsibilitiesmeasurable in quantitative indicators for staff performancein achieving the overall Mission objectives. Under the 2015-16 annual action plan, all block-wise and month-wise tar-gets on key progress indicators were entered and closelymonitored by RGAVP MIS. It is also the first project in the


For effectivechange


State to put all MIS reports — CBO report cards, perform-ance report cards, monitoring reports and HR & trainingreports — in the public domain.

DATA ENTRY SAKHISA community cadre of data entry sakhis from among theSHG members / women SHG book keepers as replacementfor data entry operators is being developed by RGAVP forMIS. This programme serves manifold purposes; it will notonly enhance the capacity of communities but also finan-cially empower them besides spreading computer literacyamong the rural community, especially women. It servesthe project very well with the regular and timely updationof SHG transaction data.

Data entry sakhis are selected, employed and managedby CLFs. Hence, their identification and selection is alsomade by CLF. A data entry sakhi is liable to enter the masikprativedans online on RGAVP MIS by 15th of every monthas well as is also liable to enter all master data related tocommunity cadre, CBOs and youth training as and whenrequired.

Project impactThe project has provided loans to 96% SHG members of atotal of 464 SHGs covered (with 4,736 members). The dis-tribution of loans provided indicates that 39% have availeda loan of `5001–20,000 and 27% have obtained a loan of`20,001–35,000. Of the members to have obtained loans,46% have purchased assets. (See graphic on left for distribution

of loans and the investments in terms of livelihood activities.)

The comparison of income before and after project inter-vention indicates a clear impact on increase after projectintervention, particularly more so in Dungarpur, Bikanerand Dausa districts. (See graphic below for comparison of benefi-

ciaries' income before and after project intervention.) The processmonitoring analysis has also captured the movement ofbeneficiaries from one income quintile to another incomequintile. As per the analysis, 72.5% of the members wereearning lower than `2,500 a month before joining theSHGs. The percentage has now come down to 25.5%;indicating that about 74.5% of all SHG members havemanaged to improve their levels of income. n

Amount of loan availed by SHGs

Livelihood activity for which loan availed


Comparison of beneficiaries’ income before and after project intervention


• Expansion in 100 additional blocks with thehelp of internal CRPs.

• Promotion of 35,000 SHGs, 3,900 villageorganizations and 83 cluster level federations.

• Release of revolving funds to 35,000 SHGs.

• Release of community investment funds to21,000 SHGs.

• Credit linkage of 24,000 SHGs to the tune of`144 crore.

• Benefiting 47,000 SHG members’ householdsthrough 158 livelihood cluster development(goat, dairy, agriculture, horticulture and non-farm clusters).

• Mobilizing 83,000 youth.

• Facilitating 1 lakh SHG member householdsthrough Convergence Sakhis to avail category-B works under MGNREGS.

• Establishing a BPO run by SHG members in Jhalawar District.

• Implementing pilot on ultra poor strategy with support from J-PAL in one block.

Roadmap to 2016-17

LOOKING AHEAD


IN THE MEDIA

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