A REVIEW OF UNEMPLOYED WOMEN’S
PROGRAMME
Implementing Agency: PEACEFUL SOCIETY, BANDORA, GOA
Funding Agency: SAVE THE CHILDREN FUND
(1987)
-
LOKASIKSHA
PARISHAD/GRAMSEVAK TRAINING CENTRE
-
RAMAKRISHNA
MISSION ASHRAMA * NARENDRAPUR * WEST BENGAL INDIA
With the financial support facilitated by the
SAP-INDIA from the SAVE THE CHILDREN FUND, BRITISH-COLOMBIA, the Project known
as ‘UNEJPLOYED WOMEN’S PRGRAMME WAS implemented by the PEACEFUL- SOCIETY, GOA
in July 1985.
The Peaceful Society, originated in October
1983, is a Social-Activist Group functioning in Bandora Panchayat area of Goa,
the newly formed 25th state of India.
The
tenure of the Project was two years. The Project was proposed to be implemented
in two phases - in the first phase to organise an Informal Education Programme
and in the next phase to introduce some income generation activities for rural
unemployed women. On the Part of the organisation it was the first
venture in launching a development -oriented socio-economic programme. In this
endeavour it could not make much headway to achieve a break-through at first
shot.
The present study is an attempt at evaluating
the impact of the Project based on the findings of the Field Work conducted in
mid – ‘87 by the Research & Evaluation Cell of the Ramakrishna Mission
Lokasiksha Parishad, Narendrapur (West Bengal).
The
evaluation has been conducted at the post operational period stage of the
Project. For the purpose of collecting necessary- information, the methods used
are - Observation, Discussion and Interview. The findings of the Study are
based on the data collected from the following sources: -
-
Organisers of the Project
-
Field Functionaries
-
Individual Beneficiaries
-
Local People
- Records &
Reports kept by the Organisation
BACKGROUND OF THE AREA:
The Project known as “Unemployed Women's
Programme' was designed by the Peaceful Society for the village Dhonashi within
the jurisdiction of Bandora Panchayat in Ponda Taluka of Goa. But, most of the
beneficiary families are living adjacent to the Headquarters of the Society in
Bandora Township.
Bandora
has very active road link with Ponda and other parts of the state viz. the
capital town Panaji, the commercial centres like Madgaon, Vasco, etc. Ponda is
at a distance or 4 kms. The nearest railway station Madgaon is about 22 Kms.
from Bandora; the inter-state bus stand is in Panaji at a distance of 27 Kms
and the airport Dabolim is about 45 Kms away from this place.
Goa,
the newly formed 25th state of India, is unique in its own way from the rest of
the country. For 451 years of colonial rule, it has been muffled with the
Western Culture. The aftermath of colonial rule is magnanimous. It is also a
place or Tourism. And the side effects of tourism industry prevail in every
nook and corner of Goa.
Ponda, known as the heart of Goa, poses another
side of Goanese social life. By religion, most of the Goans follow Hinduism. In
and around Ponda there are a large number of colossal Hindu temples. The area
is known as a famous deity place. The earnings from these temples can bring a
far-reaching change in the overall socio-economic life of Ponda and its
surrounding areas if the temple authorities desire to utilise the same for
development.
It
is said that along with some other factors, the growing tourism industry
and temporality have widen the disparity and disintegrate in the life and
living of the people in this area. Against this backdrop, the venture of a
small Social Activist Group like Peaceful Society seems to be a drop in this
coastal area of the Arabian Sea.
THE
BEGINNING
The work of Peaceful Society began in October
1983 with the involvement of a small group of like-minded youth having worked
in Gandhian Philosophy of rural reconstruction. The group was first encouraged
with the individual initiative taken particularly by Kumar Kalanand Mani, a
young person from Bihar, for using practice of the esoteric and pivotal
principles of Gandhiji's philosophy of mutual understanding, cooperation and
collective efforts for a good life among the masses of Goa. Kumar Kalanand Mani
took part in the Sarvodaya Movement based on the principles of Mahatma Gandhi
and Vinobaji, led by Jayaprakash Narayan (JP) in mid ‘70s. The group joined the
venture of Kumar Kalanand and founded the Peaceful Society to achieve the end
objective i. e. to establish a just, peaceful social order. The organisation
was registered in 1984 under the Societies Registration Act of Goa.
The
Peaceful Society is a small Social, Activist Group like such other groups
origin. It is an outcome of JP IS Movement, in Bihar, Orissa, West
Bengal and some other parts of the country. The Society is mainly involved in
the social awakening movement and people's awareness building activities, such
as -
o Campaign
against Environment Ecological Imbalance (Save the Western Ghats
o Movement)
o Movement
for Wild Life Sanctuary
o Social
Education for awakening of social spirits in the people.
o Propagation
for Social Justice & Village Courts;
o Awareness
building against alcohol and drug addiction,
o Awareness
against Corruption and other social evils.
o Seminars,
symposiums, get together, study circles, group discussions.
o Demonstration
Are some of the means adopted by the Society for
active involvement of' Goans in the aforesaid activities.
Before
implementation of the Employment Programme in 1985, no such project was
undertaken by this Organisation for the economic well being of the local
people. In 1986, it initiated a three-year comprehensive development
programme in agriculture, village/cottage industries, rural marketing and
non-formal education in two villages. In this endeavour, the financial
support is being given by EZE, West Germany, through Gandhi Peace Centre of
Hyderabad.
So far as the financial sources are concerned,
the Society has been funded by the following agencies: -
i)
Gandhi Peace Centre, Hyderabad
ii)
Sadananda Trust, Ahmedabad
iii) Save
the Children's Fund, British-Columbia,
iv) EZE,
West Germany
v)
Local Contribution in cash and kind.
The
Society is also making efforts to arrange funds from other donor agencies such
as: -
i)
Foundation for Rural Recovery &.
Development; New Delhi
ii) Council
for Advancement of People's Action and Rural Technology, New Delhi.
iii) Christian
Children’s Fund Inc., New Delhi
ABOUT
THE PROJECT:
I)
Genesis of the Project:
In the Project area, the women constitute about
48.55% of the total population, and 84.96% women are illiterate. The rate of
women unemployment is relatively higher, and of the total female population, their
percentage comes to 54.13% in the working age group of 15-55 years. Apart from
the general education, this segment of population lacks any technical know-how
(traditional/ modern) to utilise the locally available resources.
In most of these families male members are bread
earners. About 5% of them spend a good amount of their income for the alcoholic
habit. For the prevailing westernised culture, women and children in the houses
spend a large share of the rest of the amount in purchasing luxury articles. In
almost all the houses in the area, one can see dining table- Stereo record
player, Radio and the like. As a result, these families are left with very
little amount for their basic needs. Involvement of the female folk in ritual
talks, moral education, family feeling activities are hardly found in this
society. Interaction between women and women are obviously jeopardised. Every
mother tries to accommodate her children to modern pomp, ostentation and
splendour.
As a result, the position of women and their
family bond today, have been so mechanical that they have mostly forgotten the
basic role of women as mothers and their respective role as housewives to
improve their overall family condition by debarring their family members from
bad habits and reinforcing them for revival of their good qualities.
Against
this critical fallen stand, still prevailing in this society, the Peaceful
Society intended to launch an educational-cum-economic programme for women in
this area. Accordingly, the project 'Unemployed Women's Programme” was
formulated by the Society, and submitted the same to SAP-INDIA. The Project was
funded by Save the Children fund, British Colombia for a period of two years.
The project was launched in July 1985.
II)
Objectives of the Project
The
broad objectives set by the organisation to accomplish, are -
a. To
promote the active involvement of women in the process of development,
b. To
increase their social awareness that may help them in the dealings of their
day-to-day life to keep them in touch with the happenings in the country
and to fight against social evils, which have, been hindering their progress;
c. To
ensure the promotion of efficiency in .the Use of local resources;
d. To
develop income generation avenues for women, based on the available local
resources and
e. To
motivate women to develop saving habit by way of depositing a part of their
family income in bank or post office.
III)
Programme Coverage:
With
the financial support given by the Save the Children Fund, the Peaceful Society
proposed to undertake the following activities: -
a) Informal
Education Programme: The two vital
components of the programme would be:
-
Functional Literacy to impart literacy and
numeracy skills to illiterate women, and
-
Awareness building I to increase their social
awareness in all conceivable subjects.
b) Economic Programme:
The following economic activities would be incorporated in
the programme:
-
Preparation of brooms out of coconut leaves.
-
Preparation of plates out of bettlenut tree's
cover
-
Processing of betel nuts
-
Preparation of palatable dish from jackfruits
-
Preparation Papad and pickles
-
Leaf plates
-
Cocum (different)
IV) Target Group: -
To
be the direct beneficiaries of the Project, it was proposed to select a group
of 20 illiterate Women belonging to the socially degraded and economically
backward Families in the area. In the beginning, they would take part in the
Informal Education Programme, and subsequently they would be associated with
some income generation activities.
V) Financial
Layout: -
The total requirement of fund as shown in the
project proposal was Rs.58, 200/-. The allocation of the project budget was as
such (percentage distribution of Rs.58, 200/- in different items)
ITEM FUND
ALLOTTED (%)
a. Informal
Education Programme 11.85
b. Economic
Programme (including skill Trg) 54.12
c. Establishments
& Others 34.03
Total
100.00
It
is to mention here that apart from the grant of Rs. 58.200/- an additional
amount of Rs. 20,000/- was given by the donor agency in March 1987, for
strengthening the field activities of the said project.
REVIEW OF THE
PROJECT:
1. Some Negative
Ingredients of the Project:
The foregoing deliberation on the project and
its constituents in the context of overall socio-economic fabric of the
community may reveal that it is a well-designed plan to achieve the end
objectives i.e. to develop a group of rural women conscious in all facts of
life and self-sustained with access to income and wealth. While reviewing the
project by the Study Team certain negative ingredients were found in the
planning and implementation process of the project. These are as follows: -
a)
As was revealed by the Study that the Society launched the Informal
Education Programme in the selected village. Within a few months the programme
was discontinued on the ground that the local people did not take it seriously.
Besides, the location of the Economic Project was shifted to, the area adjacent
to the headquarters of the organisation in Bandora township. Here the people
were also found indifferent. Except the small group of beneficiaries, others
did not show much interest in the programme activities of the
Organisation.
It
is obvious that a programme may fail to make any dent in the absence of
adequate participation of the community and lack of support from the local
leadership and village institutions. Before planning the Project, the extent of
community participation and possible support of the local leadership and
village groups and institutions needed to be carefully studied by the
organisation. Moreover, through meetings, dialogues and discussions with the
local people and community leaders, the organisation could involve them in the
process of planning so that they would think of the Programme of their own. All
these steps were very much lacking in the process of project formulation by
this organisation.
b) Regarding the target beneficiaries it was
indicated in the proposal that they would be selected from among the illiterate
women in the village. And the beneficiary strength would be 20. The study shows
that the organisation has so Far covered a total of 16 beneficiaries. From the
interview with 10 beneficiaries (62.5%) it is observed that most of them (about
70% of the study coverage) have some educational background ranging from
standard (I-IV) to college Level. It is no doubt a deviation from the end of
the Project.
c)
In relation to economic prospects, the commercial feasibility of the project
output is in question. As per the project, the economic activities are
concentrated more in the inferior trade items viz. Preparation of brooms and
leaf plates, processing of betel nuts, etc., that would give very less return to
the beneficiaries. None of these trades is much attractive to the Goans
accustomed with the more urbanized way of 1iving.
The Papad preparation from jackfruit does not
have any trade value in the market. It is a palatable dish that can be prepared
by housewives for home consumption and there is no technology known to preserve
the same for a long time.
Another food article, Papad has good market to
meet the local demands in particular and external demands in general. But the
products of different large and small units are available in the market. In
such a situation, a pre-investment survey relating to input-output, costs and
benefits or pre-investment return ratios, productivity-quality, employment and
income generation capacities, etc. had to be conducted for the proposed unit by
the Peaceful Society. The available data reveal that in the context of economic
feasibility, the organisation did not afford much time and energies in
formulating the scheme, rather it was taken on an experimental basis.
i) Implementation
of the Programme
Out of 7 income generation activities, proposed
by the organisation, 3 were somehow launched and 4 were left. As was reported
by the Programme organisers, the socio-political turmoil of 1986 in Goa also
affected the work of this Organisation. Owing to that adverse situation, it
could not arrange the implementation of all these activities.
In the Project proposal, there was a provision
of skill training for the beneficiaries in each item. In fact, the organisation
did not arrange any training course for this group. Mrs. Bharati Mani, the
Programme Co-ordinator, demonstrated in a very informal way the techniques of
making papad, leaf plates, jackfruit items etc.
The 3 income
generation activities initiated by the Peaceful Society were as follows:
ITEM NO.
OF BENEFICIARIES
Leaf Plates …………………………………….. 03
Preparation from Jackfruit
……………………… 03
Papad and Pickle (excluding
Pickle) …………… 10
Total 16
From the available data it was observed that the
income generation activities like preparation from Jackfruit and Papad Making
were directly handled by the Organisation. The women involved in these
activities got their wages. In fact, they were regarded as the manual
labourers, not the real entrepreneurs in these trades.
In case of 3 beneficiaries involved in leaf
plate making, they were given the financial assistance to the tune of Rs. 100/-
each. They received such assistance at one time. Therefore, the total quantum
of financial assistance given to these women was Rs. 300/-. But the allocation
of fund was Rs. 2,000/- for the purpose. The rest was either diverted to any
other head of expenditure or kept unutilised with the organisation. To this
end, the study team did not receive any satisfactory answer from the programme
organisers.
In
case of Papad making, the investment exceeded the budget. In the project
proposal, the financial requirement for this programme was Rs. 5000/-
(including preparation of Pickles). As per the audited statement for the year
1986, the investment was nearly Rs. 20.000/-.
ii)
Profile of the Beneficiaries
From
the interview with 10 beneficiaries, an attempt is being made to give a brief
mention of their socio-economic profile. The distribution of these
beneficiaries on the basis of their involvement in different trades is given
below: -
Papad
Making 06
Total
10
The distribution of
beneficiaries on the: basis of age is shown below:
AGE GROUP NUMBER OF BENEFICIARIES
15
-35 Years 06
36
-45 Years 03
46
-55 Years 01
Total 10
Regarding
their marital status the data reveal that 04 or them are unmarried, 0.5 married
and 01 is widow.
So
far as their educational level in concerned, 3 are illiterate and 7 have some
educational background as shown below: -
EDUCATIONAL LEVEL NUMBER OF BENEFICIARIES
Primary
– (Classes I -IV) 02
Middle
School (Classes V-VIII) 03
Secondary
(Classes IX- X) -
College
(B.A/B.Sc/B.Com) 02
Illiterate 03
Tota1 10
It is to mention here that
two young girls in this group are continuing their education in college. Most
of there beneficiary families live on blue-collar jobs in Business
House/ Factory.
The
individual family occupations of the beneficiaries were: -
FAMILY OCCUPATION NUMBER of BENEFICIARIES
Painting
Work 01
Government
Services 01
Factory
Work 03
Manual
Work in Business House 04
Total 10
Before joining the
income generation programme initiated by the Peaceful Society, income of these
beneficiary families was stated below –
PER CAPITA INCOME NUMBER of BENEFICIARIES FAMILIES
Up
to Rs. 600=00 01
Rs.
600 – 1200=00 03
Rs.1200
- 1800=00 05
Over
Rs.1800=00 01
Total
10
The
numerical data reveal that almost all these families were living in condition
below the poverty line or just above it.
Thus, the profile of beneficiaries highlights
the following aspects: -
-
They are from a backward caste groups;
-
A large segment of them belongs to the youth
group of 15-35 years;
-
Most of them have some educational background
from Primary standard to college level and some or them are continuing their
studies,
-
Occupationally, they belong mostly to the -
blue-collar working class group; and
-
Economically, they are from the low income-group
families.
(iii) Programme
Achievement
In
case of SOCIAL INPUT PROGRAMME, i.e. Informal Education for Women, the
achievements could not be ascertained as the programme was discontinued at an
early stage. There is implicit assumption that acceptance or adoption makes an
impact on other aspects of life as well as bringing 8 about a change in the
social order in the desired direction.
Regarding the Informal Education Programme, unsatisfactory was the
acceptance level mainly because the programme was not developed in' a proper
order and there was lacuna in the motivational drive by the organisation which
failed to bring positive change in the KAP level of the community people
The financial achievement of economic input
progral1ine in terms of additional income generation by the beneficiaries was
to the tune of Rs.50-200 per month. The distribution of income/year raised by
the 10 beneficiaries selected for the present study is as follows: -
DISTRIBUTION
OF INCOME & BENEFICIARIES
|
Trade |
Income Group (in Rupees) |
|||||||
|
up to 600 |
601-900 |
901-1200 |
1201-1500 |
1501-1800 |
1801-2100 |
2101-2400 |
Total |
|
|
Preparation from jackfruits |
02 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
02 |
|
Papad Making |
- |
01 |
01 |
01 |
- |
02 |
01 |
06 |
|
Leaf Plate |
- |
01 |
- |
01 |
- |
- |
- |
02 |
|
Total |
02 |
02 |
01 |
02 |
- |
02 |
01 |
10 |
K A P = KNOWLEDGE,
ATTITUDE & PRACTICE
Regarding
the sale of the products of the papad unit, the data reveal that the
organisation gives the supply to some departmental stores and retailer shops in
Panaji, Ponda, Madgaon and Bandora. In case of other two items the market
places are Bandora and Ponda. The modes
of utilization of income by the beneficiaries are shown below: -
UTILIZATION
of INCOME (A Sample of Ten Beneficiaries)
|
TRADE |
MODE |
||||||||
|
Day to
day |
Loan
repayments other agency |
Purchase
of sewing machine |
Purchase
of gold ornament |
Pocket
money |
Educational
purpose (self) |
Educational
purpose (children) |
Small
saving |
Total |
|
|
Jackfruits |
- |
- |
- |
- |
01 |
- |
- |
01 |
02 |
|
Papad
making |
01 |
01 |
01 |
01 |
- |
02 |
- |
- |
06 |
|
Leaf
plate |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
01 |
01 |
02 |
|
TOTAL |
01 |
01 |
01 |
01 |
01 |
02 |
01 |
02 |
10 |
To sum up, the
utilization pattern highlights the Following aspects: -
-
Support to family expenditure
-
Utilization for productive purpose
-
Education
-
Small Savings
-
Luxury article & pocket money
SUMMERY
OBSERVATION: -
1.
The NGO 'Peaceful Society, originated in October
1983, with great idealism on the line of Gandhian Philosophy of Rural
Reconstruction intends to bring, a total transformation (both within and
outside) of MAN and SOCIETY in a slow but steady manner by adopting peaceful
means to achieve the end objective i.e. to establish a just, peaceful social
order. Since its inception, the organisation has been mainly involved in social
action programmes viz. social justice and Village Court, Movement for Wild Life
Sanctuaries, movement against Environment Ecological Imbalance, etc. It has
neither any experience nor resourceful manpower to carry on any constructive
rural development work in a sustained and effective manner. As a result, the
outcome of the project 'Unemployed Women's Programme is not encouraging, yet it
is not an utter failure.
2.
Against the background of Goanese social life,
the project activities selected by the organisation have immense value in bringing
about a tangible change in- the status of women in the area. But the manner in
which the Programme was planned, implemented and organised was neither feasible
nor effective to this end It was deficient on certain grounds viz.
establishment of a of good rapport with the community, organisational
capability, entrepreneurial skills, technical guidance, etc.
3.
From the study another interesting fact is
noticed that the Informal Education Programme was discontinued shortly after
its implementation on the ground that the local people were not much responsive
to the programme. It is true that all programmes do not receive equal degree of
acceptance of the people for whom they are formulated and implemented. But the
acceptance or adoption of a programme by the people can be more secured if the
programme needs are well communicated to them, and also the People's
Participation is there in the process of programme promotion, implementation
and evaluation. In fact, all these requirements were not truly met by the
Organisation in developing the project. Obviously, it failed to achieve a
break-through at first shot.
In
case of the Economic Programme, it was mostly an institutional project. The
women involved in it, were mostly workers who received the wages for affording
their labour. They were the mere recipients, not the partners in developing the
production unit(s).
4.
As was reported, most of the income generation
activities could not be implemented in 1986 for the adverse socio-political
situation in Goa. From the study it is observed that out of 7 items, 3 were
implemented in the same year, and 4 were left. If the economic feasibility of
the programme needs was ascertained properly, the organisation could implement
the rest in 1986-87.
5.
The Economic Programme for unemployed women was
in a sense economic for it could help some women to get involvement in mostly
seasonal income generation activities and to have some income of their own.
Another
observation from the study is that with guidance form the Project Co-ordinator,
the beneficiaries have made the best use of their meagre income by way of
utilizing the same in small savings, productive and educational purposes.
6.
Another interesting observation from the study
is that the records and reports, especially financial and progress report of
different activities, were not kept in a methodical way. From the records and
financial statements so far kept by the Organisation, no clear picture is
available regarding the utilization of funds as per the approved budget and additional
grant received from the donor agency.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
-
In the context of the foregoing analyses of the
study, the following recommendations are made for vitalising the voluntary
efforts of the Peaceful Society to the cause of Rural Development.
1. In
the first place an effort should be made to develop local village development
groups. The young people of the specific area should be encouraged to
participate in local development activities. It has already been seen that mere
input flow is not enough unless local people are adequately involved in their
own development. Development should be not merely for the people but of and by
the people so that the logical successor to Internal Voluntary Intervention is
local community action. The study team recommends the formation of local youth
club/mahila mandal (Women's Organisation) at the village level. They will be
the main channel of programme promotion and implementation at the grassroots
level. Here, the Voluntary Organisation i.e. the Peaceful Society has the
catalyst role of liberating disadvantaged people and groups and enabling
communities to develop their resources, to articulate fully and share in the
benefits of development.
2. The
project should not be a pre-designed one imposed from outside. It should be
developed from within .the community. Before formulating a project proposal,
the feasibility of its different activities should be technically ex mined.
3. If
the project like Papad making is to work for self-reliance of women, a more
positive step will have to be taken for organising it on a co-operative basis.
It should be of a group nature, not an institutional one. What is needed from
the Peaceful Society is its constructive guidance and co-operation in this
venture.
4. Adhering
to time-schedules is a critical factor with respect to the economic success of
development programmes. Delays in one project can have deleterious effects on
other linked projects for this chain of delayed action, instead of integrated
development,. very haphazard sporadic development takes place. To avoid this
short coming, due emphasis should be given to adhering to time schedu1es of the
project activities.
5. With
a view to making the people competent enough to organise local development
activities it is needed to develop their knowledge and skills in different
fields. To this end, the training is one of the most important inputs. for the
purpose, the following. are some of the training areas suggested by the study
team: -
-
Youth Leadership Training Programme,
-
Rural entrepreneurship Development Programme
-
Vocational skill training
-
Accounts keeping & family Budget
-
Extension
Details of the training programme should be
worked out in consultation with other institutions of the area.
6. A
satisfactory system of follow up, monitoring and evaluation should be developed
by the organisation with a view to making any programme viable/successful.
7. Every
development-oriented organisation has social accountability. To this end,
financial and other records and reports should be maintained properly. This
will be very open to the people because a large part of funds is spent in order
to provide specific services to the Society. From the well-kept records and
reports one can easily understand its trend in development work.
*********
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