Don't Give Up

Sopan step and India Foundation For Rural Development Studies support Anna Hazare' s movement against corruption......

Water for agriculture

There is a need for a comprehensive planning to solve water crisis in farm sector

Akshaya Rout / Kalinga Nagar

The geographical area of Orissa is 1,55,707 sq. kms., with cultivable area of about 65.59 lakh ha. It has been assessed that about 49.90 lakh hectares can be brought under irrigation. But the end of 2005-06 about 27.31 lakh hectares (44.29%) of land was brought under irrigation, out of which 45.4% was covered through major and medium irrigation, 18.8% through minor, 14.3% by minor irrigation and the balance 21.5% were irrigated through other sources. It is the 10th largest State in India as per 2001 census. Its population has 368.05 lakh, which is about 3.58% of the population of the country.

Agriculture sector plays an important role in the state economy. According to the population census 2001, 142.76 lakh total workers out of which 9589 lakh are main workers and 4687 lakh marginal workers. Out of 46.87% lakh marginal workers, 8.12 lakh (17.3%) were cultivators, 29.01 lakh (61.9%) were agricultural labourers, 2.9 lakh (6.3%) workers engaged in house hold industries and 6.76 lakh (14.4%) were other workers of which cultivator and agricultural labourers together were 37.13 per cent.

It shows that majority of the population has been dependent on agriculture and allied activities. It is therefore, agriculture and allied activities plays an important role in the State economy. However, the share of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry in the Gross State Domestic Product has remained comparatively low, around 23.43% per cent. It is therefore necessary to increase the agriculture production and productivity of the crops, which forms the major basis of the rural development.

Agriculture is the process of producing food, feed, fodder, fiber and other goods by the systematic raising of plants and animals. The history of agriculture is closely linked with human history and agricultural developments have been crucial factors in social change including the specialization of human activity. Forty two percent of the world labourers are employed in agriculture, making it by far the most common occupation. Agricultural production accounts for less than 5% of the grass world product. Agriculture is the mainstay of State's economy and sustenance of the life of the people. Agriculture and Animal Husbandry contributed 23.43% of the Net Domestic Product of the state in 2005- 06(A) at 1993-94 prices and provided employment directly or indirectly to around 65% of the total work force as per 2001 census. The per-capita availability of cultivated land was .39 ha in 1950-51 and has declined to .14 ha during 2004-05. So the development of agriculture in Orissa has lagged due to several constraints.

Percentage of cultivators to main workers has decreased from 57% in 1960 to 44% in 1990. By contrast the percentage of agricultural labourers to main workers has increased from 17% in 1960 to 29% in 1990. Thus, within a span of three decades the ratio of agricultural labourers to cultivators has increased substantially from about 3:7 in 1960 to 6.5:3.5 in 1990. This is primarily due to increase in landlessness or near landlessness on account of population growth and sub-division of land holdings among legal heirs. As the pace of industrialization in the state is slow and has not taken off, agriculture continues to provide sources of livelihood to a significant segment of population. Therefore, agricultural growth holds the key to the overall development of the state by way of creating employment, generating income, providing raw materials to the industrial sector and last but not the least ensuring self-reliance in food production and food security to the deprived sections.

On waterfront, the state claims that it has got perennial river systems but most of the rivers unable to provide water for domestic consumption during the dry season. Ayacut of most of the irrigation structures is shrinking. Although ground water potential has not been exploited beyond 15 per cent, there are no adequate studies on the recharging of ground water and its real potential; we have been referring to studies done before 10 years. Of course the State is rich in minerals, extraction of which is dearer to the environmental stability and livelihoods of the millions. Pollution of air and water, and degradation of land because of mines and industries is on the rise; the best example lies with the Talcher-Angul industrial area, which is rated among the country's 14 hotspots for environmental pollution. The long coastline of more than 400 kms provides ample of opportunities for fishing and other maritime activities. Erosion of beaches because of excessive human-sea interactions, poor drainage, heavy siltation, intensive fishing using mechanized boats and gears etc are some of the characteristics of resource use. Pollution of seawater and fluctuations in the fish catch has added worries to the livelihood of the fisher folk. The present trend in resource use is very much in favour of the industrial/corporate interests and acts detrimental to the subsistence of the poor.

In case of Orissa, although share of agriculture to state income has fallen badly and it is no more a prime factor for the state's economy when compared to the growth of service sector, the rural population still predominantly depends on agriculture and allied activities. Failure in agriculture, which has become a common phenomenon, adds to their misery and vulnerability. Since 1991-92, the year that had a bumper food grain production, 72 lakh tons, the production of food grains is gradually on the decline. During 1998-99 the food grains production remained as low as 58 lakh tons. Currently the State is facing a severe drought and crop production will fall further down. The whole agrarian economy is facing two challenges, disasters such as drought, flood, cyclone etc and the other one is input intensive farming practice, which is a distant dream for a poor farmer.

In western Orissa drought occurs every alternate year. No more people can rely on agriculture for their subsistence. The cost of agricultural inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, wages etc has registered a substantial hike whereas the market has failed to provide a competitive price to the farmers. The agriculture policy of the State considers agriculture as an industry and the benefits of the policy and programmes skews in favour of rich farmers. There is a growing cosideration for commercialization of agriculture. Increasing costs of agricultural inputs will not enable the small farmers to gain from the farming. Since there is no ceiling on land holding this would promote land alienation.

The poor farmers would sell away their land and prefer to remain as wage earners. The current approaches of agriculture give emphasis on promotion of hybrid seeds, water intensive crops such as sugar cane etc, which would definitely increase the frequency of drought especially in western Orissa, where the monsoon is always erratic. Farmers belonging to all economic strata are after paddy and cash crops, where investment is high and the return is not guaranteed. Farming of short duration paddy, minor millets etc, which was really providing food security, are on the decline because of the faulty policy and programmes of the government. While rain fed agriculture is the reality of this region, irrigation has been shown as the only panacea for this problem. But, whatever irrigation potential have been created the actual irrigation in much less than practiced.

Irrigation efficiency is abysmally low here because of predominance of paddy.

In coastal Orissa, although yield and production are high in agriculture flood and cyclone have been crucial in sustainability of agriculture. The rise in prices of agriculture inputs including wages is another threat to agriculture. The shift from food grains to cash crops is rapid, which is a threat to food security of the State. The fluctuations in the market, hike in prices of agricultural inputs, poor functioning of the existing irrigation systems, water logging and drainage, erratic behaviour of monsoon, flood, mono cropping etc are the significant factors in sustainability of agriculture in coastal Orissa.

The government approaches both flood and drought as two different sets of problem and tries to address them separately. For flood the present thinking is to come out with a second dam in the Mahanadi for moderation of flood in the delta. And for drought the approach is for developing irrigation infrastructure in the drought prone areas. But over these years, crores of rupees has been spent on developing irrigation wells, bore wells, minor irrigation projects etc with very little impact on agriculture there.

In most of the cases these infrastructures are not in use because of structural problems, inappropriate sitting, improper management, inappropriate cropping pattern followed, poor linkage between the farmers, agricultural department and the irrigation department.

Thousands of workers all over the country have been working on the various problems encountered in different irrigation projects. Tons of information accumulated giving rise to myriad of ideas.

Land trouble brewing

Farmers of Noida and Greater Noida should get higher compensation for their land

Sopan Correspondent / New Delhi

The raging controversy over land acqusition in Noida and Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh has given rise to a new set of problems.

Recently, the Supreme Court had uphled Allahabad High Court decision that the Greater Noida authority’s acqusition of land under urgency clause was wrong and hence illegal. The court ordered that the land should be given back to farmers in Shahberi.

This has led to a flurry of litigations in which villages after villages knocked the court’s door to reclaim their land, some of which acquired more than a decade ago.

The uncertainty over land has threatened to jeopardise the two development authorities — Noida and Greater Noida townships.

Farmers allege that their land was acquired by the authorities at a cheaper rate and sold to builers at a exhorbitant price.

However, at the receiving end of this controversy is another section, the home buyers who are mostly from the middle class. They were attracted by the low prices of flats which were on offer in Noida Extension, an area located in between Noida and Greater Noida.

The current problem is the making of the state government. Large tracts of land were purchased at cheaper rates, in some cases, forcibly without listening to the objections of the farmers. The state government over the years has failed to compensate farmers or gave their rehabilitation benefits.

There is a truth in farmers’ allegations. If you visit Noida, amid the opulance and affluence, one can see pockets of penury and impoverishment. These are the areas once owners of the whole area reside. There are no electricity, adequate water supply or other amenities.

Farmers in Noida say hike in land compensation has not been proportionate to hike in market land rates. Farmers argue that the present land compensation rate is Rs 1,000 per sqm, but the market rate ranges between Rs 17,000 and Rs 60,000 per sqm.

The authority's land rate, which was Rs 120 per sqm in 1976, has touched Rs 17,000 per sqm today.

In 1976, people were hesitant to buy land in Noida, but today investors are ready to pay five times the price fixed by the authority to buy a piece of land as appreciation has been over 100% every year in the last few years.

They were promised 5% of land in return for the land acquired from them. Even after 20 years, many of them have not got the rehabilitation benefits.

But the most worrying aspect is that most farmers who had reclaimed their land from the authority wanted the land not for agriculture. They wanted to sell the land at a higher price. This will create a crisis as rapid urbanisation has triggered a crisis on the food front. Farming area is shrinking. Governments are grab land from farmers and sell it to private enterprenuers at a cheaper rate.

One of the major reasons for unrest in rural areas of India is the land grab. There should be a balance between urbanisation and farming. If there is a progressive decline in area under cultivation it will have serious ramifications.

In the context of Noida and Greater Noida, it is a different story altogether. Farmers call for a higher compensation is valid and should be given without any compromise.

The state has been insensitive to their demands for the last many years. Even the land they were putting up after the state grabbed their farm land has been declared illegal. So they ended up as ‘eyesores’ in the so-called City of Hope.

The new land Bill, which may be placed before Parliament will be a great game changer. The Bill says that the government will never act as a property dealer between private players and farmers. If the governement acquires land, then it should give four times the market price for the land. This will make the land acqusition difficult for future governments.

In Noida and Greater Noida, the government should immediately call farmers for negotiation and give them compensation at a higher rate. The state government should be more sensitive to their demands as the former had grabbed their land and livelihoods from the poor farmers.

Poor planning

Suspension of MGNREGS grants to six districts was wrong, but State Government's planning and implementation is far worse.

Bimal Prasad Pandia/Bhubaneswar

Putting an end to a week-long bickering, the Central Government did release 170 crore rupees of NREGS central share grant for six districts on 24th June. Earlier on 10th June, it had released 530 Crore rupees for the other 24 districts of Orissa. While releasing the central share for 24 districts the Central Government had said "no funds should be released to 6 districts viz. Bolangir, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Koraput, Nabarangpur, and Rayagada which are presently under CBI investigation". Condemnations poured in, quite rightly, from different quarters in protest against the decision to deny central share to the six districts.

The Orissa Government, too, seized the opportunity to portray another instance of 'step-motherly treatment'. The argument was that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) is not like any other scheme where you can suspend further grants where an investigation of criminal wrongdoings is on. The MGNREGS is different as it gives a household the right to seek and get wage employment of 100 days in a year.

In other words, the Government is bound by the Constitution to provide wage employment for at least 100 days to a job seeking household. This obligation probably allowed the State Government to lodge a strong protest which even threatened, in a letter sent on 20th June, that "if funds are not received from the Central Government for 6 districts, the State Government should not be made liable for payment of unemployment allowance". With the release of first instalment of grants to all 30 districts, the hullabaloo might have subsided but it has revealed many a gaps in the manner MGNREGS is being implemented in Orissa.

Bottom to top approach goes for a toss. Labour budget projection clearly defies the bottom to top approach and end up exposing glaring gaps in projection and actual demand.

Under Section 14(6) of the Act, the District Programme Coordinator or the District Collector is required to prepare a 'labour budget' by the end of December for the next financial year.

The operational guideline clearly instructs that the 'Gramsabha' will estimate labour demand, which will subsequently be cumulated at Panchayat, Block and District levels. Thus it makes it mandatory to have village to district to State approach while making labour demand projection for a year. Orissa Government seems to have trampled that precise and clearly laid approach. A look at the labour projection reveals the mockery of the exercise. For all districts month-wise increase, in percent term, of household and man-days labour demand is absolutely the same. For example, all 30 districts of the State have projected that labour demand by May 2011 will be 128.57 percent more than April. This is same not just for month of May alone; it is same throughout all 12 months of the year. The Government's projection shows that labour demand in June, July, August, September, October, November, December, January, February and March will increase by an uniform rate of 56.25, 36, 26.47, 18.6, 5.88, 11.11, 8.33, 18.46, 10.39 and 17.65 percent than their respective preceding months across all the districts. A projection when based on assessments made at Gramsabha level and then compiled and cumulated at higher levels, will never return a similar trend throughout the State as labour demand in the districts deeply vary in need and character. Thus it clearly shows that the labour budget projection made by the State Government is arbitrary and mere hogwash.

The State Government's labour budget is ridiculous on a different count also. It hardly takes any measure of the real employment requirement of the wage seekers. April and May months are peak seasons for the scheme. This is the time when the rural households have least employment opportunities from other sources. Besides it is the ideal time for renovation of ponds, water harvesting structures, land levelling, and pit digging for plantations kind of activities. But the Government's labour budget makes a projection as if the hungry and poor rural folks do not have that kind of consideration at all and as if they plan their requirement Government's financial year. The Government's projection will make us believe that poor rural friends considerately decides that as the financial year ends with March they should be moderate in seeking employment in the months of April or May, the beginning months of the new financial year. While the State Government had projected 265 lakh man-days demand for March 2011, which is the last month of the previous financial year, its projection for May 2011 was a mere 73 lakh man-days. In other words, people's demand for wage employment in April 2011 was nearly one-fourth of March 2011 projection. Ironically, this trend is not limited to this year alone. Last year too, the State Government had projected the least number of man-days requirements in the month of April. This clearly proves that the projections being whimsically prepared.

Apart from helping in planning projects, labour budget projection also forms the basis of fund release. The MGNREGS guidelines clearly lay down that labour budget projection for the next year should be necessarily submitted by the end of December.

The 'efficient' Government in Orissa submitted that projection only on 16.04.2011, a full three and half months after the schedule due date. And it had its affect. While 22 States got their first instalment of Central share on the very first day of the current financial year, Orissa got that only on 10th June - nearly two and half months into the financial year

Partial release of Central share and late release of State share has become the norm. When the Central Government decided to withhold the first instalment for six districts, the State Government cried foul as if the whole world has gone upside down. But if the situation was so bad, why only a part of the Central share was was disbursed to the districts. While the Central Government had released Rs 529.9 Crore on 21.6.11 for 24 districts, the State Government disbursed only Rs 256 Crore to the districts. Similarly, out of the Rs 170 Crore Central share grant to the remaining six districts, the State disbursed Rs 95 Crore.

While the State Government's tendency to sit over the funds for as long as possible may still be passed off as an outcome of low employment demand against the projection, release of State share for year 2010-11 in the year 2011-12 cannot be justified in any manner.

The State Government - which had reminded the Central Government about the NREGS being different from other schemes, and that being so, fund release cannot be denied in any circumstances - conveniently ignored the fact that the same stipulation also applies to it. The State Government failed to release the required matching grant of Rs 38 Crore for year 2010- 11. It could release only Rs 15 Crore in year 2010-11. The remaining matching grant of Rs 23.5 Crore for financial year 2010-11 was released only on 18th May 2011. 'Insufficient budget provision' was cited as the reason. Huh... what a mediocrity?

The Government does not even have the foresight to earmark required budget for a scheme which supposedly goes through strategic rigours of thorough planning and projections, and a scheme which compels the Government to provide wage employment to its citizens.

The hollowness within the mechanism needs to be plugged early. Else, a great scheme with great potential will continue to be wasted.

A RAY OF HOPE

Harish Hande and Neelima Mishra won this year's Ramon Magsaysay Award. The jury, while selecting Harish, said the award is for his pragmatic efforts to build an enterprise that brings affordable, and sustainable electricity to rural population.

Sopan Correspondent/New Delhi

Harish Hande is on a mission - to enhance the quality of life of underserved households and livelihoods through sustainable energy solutions and services.

An engineer by profession, he co-founded to the Solar Electric Light Company (SELCO) to fulfil his dream to use the potential of solar energy to solve energy utility issues.

India has been blessed with abundant electricity yet solar power accounts for only 8 per cent of the total electricity generated. Statistics say that 56 per cent of the rural households in the country have no access to electricity.

In such a scenario, SELCO designs and installs Photovoltaic Solar Home Systems which provide electricity and enable the use of energy during, both, the day and the night.

SELCO aims at empowering its customers by providing a complete package of the product, service and consumer financing. For every rural household, the technicians propose a customized lighting plan after making a note of their activities.

SELCO provides finance to 85 per cent of its customers through Grameen Banks, Microfinance Institutions and Co-operative Societies. It also provides doorstep servicing.

As of now SELCO provides electricity to 16 districts in Karnataka and a few in Gujarat and over the next four years, it plans to expand its operations to Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Maharashtra.

As a result of its efforts, SELCO has been successful in increasing productivity of the electrified households, creating pivotal financial schemes for solar electrification, generating awareness about solar energy and improving the quality of life of rural people. It has been awarded the Ashden Award for Sustainable Energy in 2005 and Ashden Award for Outstanding Achievement in 2007. A persistent myth is that the poor cannot afford the best technology, nor are they able to maintain and use it productively. In India, where nearly half of all households do not have electricity, this myth has stood in the way of spreading solar technology and its benefits - cost-efficiency, clean energy, mitigation of climate change, and improvements in the quality of life and livelihood among the poor.

Harish Hande, a young engineer from Bangalore, is disproving this myth. Trained in energy engineering, with a doctorate from the University of Massachusetts, he could have chosen an easier career path, but he did not. While a graduate student in the U.S., a visit to the Dominican Republic inspired him with the idea that a decentralized approach in the spread of solar application-using small-scale, stand-alone installations instead of large, centralized thermal stations-is best for reaching poor, remote villages where the technology is most needed. Returning to India, he decided to live with villagers to understand their situation first-hand. This convinced him that, in diffusing a technology, it is not just the product that matters but also the social realities which technology seeks to change.

Putting this belief into practice, he established Solar Electric Light Company-India (SELCO) in Bangalore in 1995. SELCO's principal product offerings were solar PV lighting systems, water heating systems, and cook stoves to meet the needs of the rural poor. After five difficult years of operation, the company started to net a profit. When it did, pressure from investors forced the company-against Hande's wishes - to expand through a franchised dealer network. The ill-considered expansion, combined with rising world prices in solar gear, seriously hurt the company's finances and diverted it from its social mission of helping the poor. It was a painful but invaluable lesson for Hande. Facing collapse, he repositioned the company, separated from his business partners and "with the help of the International Finance Corporation and new, socially-minded investors" restructured the company and refocused on its social mission. While SELCO remained a for-profit business, it strengthened its purpose as a social enterprise, measuring performance by how it creates social capital instead of simple financial profit.

SELCO has since demonstrated that indeed the poor can afford sustainable technologies and maintain them, and that social ventures can be run as successful commercial entities. SELCO adopts a triple strategy for reaching the poor, a strategy of "customized products," "doorstep financing," and "doorstep service." It designs and installs solar technology applications based on each customer's specific needs, whether a two- or four-light system for the home, head lamps for night workers like midwives and rose pickers, or electricity for sewing machines. To enable the poor to access the technology, SELCO has pioneered in linking the sale of solar technologies with credit institutions, like rural banks, cooperatives, even self-help groups. Taking service to the "doorstep," it trains customers in maintenance and provides prompt, personalized help through its wide network of service centres.

SELCO is more than just a technology provider. Treating the poor as partners instead of mere consumers, SELCO builds their confidence as it assists them in accessing and using technology to better their lives. Poverty reduction is central to its goal. Hande says, "Until the poor become asset creators, we are not empowering them."

To date, SELCO has reached more than half-a-million people by installing solar lights in 120,000 households, micro- enterprises, and community facilities. Already one of the largest solar technology providers in the India, SELCO still has a huge market before it. But Hande has learned his lessons well: he will not sacrifice the development process for numbers, or his social mission for rates of return. Modest and unassuming but intensely determined about his work, Hande says: "India has a fantastic opportunity to solve two huge problems- reduce poverty and combat climate change. This is India's chance to combine and address both issues in a holistic way."

In electing Harish to receive the 2011 Ramon Magsaysay Award, the board of trustees recognizes his passionate and pragmatic efforts to build a social enterprise that brings customized, affordable, and sustainable electricity to India's vast rural population, encouraging the poor to become asset creators.

Turning point

How empowerment of a girl help change the fortunes of her family which used to be on the verge of poverty

Angela Walker

There were times when Noorjahan Mansoori Khan's family didn't eat for three or four days at a stretch. Her father, Bhurelal Mansori Khan, sold his family's small plot of land in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state with almost 200 million inhabitants, to move to try and change the family's fortune.

But earning Rs 50-60 a day as a day labourer was often not enough to feed his family of nine, including seven children. Some days Khan couldn't find work. Noorjahan's mother, Khairo Nishan, supplements the family's income by rolling beedi cigarettes. But for every 1,000 beedies she rolls, she is paid only 30 rupees.The family's luck changed when Noorjahan, 17, attended a community mobilization meeting with some of her sibling.

Helping communities help themselves

The meeting in Noorjahan's neighborhood was organized by the iLEAD vocational institute to find suitable candidate for training. The institute is a joint effort between Aide et Action and UNICEF to enhance employment opportunities for marginalized youth through skill development and livelihood education.

Funding for the training is provided by IKEA Foundation, which began supporting work on child right in 100 mohallas, slums, in Moradabad in 2009.

Each class of about 100 young people are selected based on a series of risk factor including whether they have a disability, are from a slum community, or a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe. About two third of them complete each course and get a job. Each candidate is given an aptitude test to judge whether they would best fit in service, computing or welding sector.

Noorjahan met many of the criteria and stood out from the crowd immediately. "I saw a will in her that she wanted to do something," Mahesh Chandra, one of the teachers, says of Noorjahan, who was forced to drop out of school after class eight. "She herself come up and said: I want to study further. How can you help me do that?"

Noorjahan's parents though needed to be convinced. "Her mother was very afraid: She's a girl and cannot go out alone," Chandra recalls. "So we said: Look at the life you have been leading so far. Is this the life you want for your daughter?"

In this conservative society, women are expected to remain at home, explains Nupur Pande, Child Protection Officer in the UNICEF Uttar Pradesh office.

"Men are out in troupes on construction jobs or looking for work or at vending stalls," Pande says. "We must empower women, because they have to become decision-makers." They are at home, and they are teaching children.

Girls face obstacles

The Khan family lives in one of the 342 mohallas that dot the city of Moradabd, where nearly half the population lives below the poverty line. Their home is without electricity or toilet facilities. An open girl emits a murky, dim light from the open sky above.

Khan attended school up to the tenth grade and realize the value of getting education. "But when money is tight, I am not able to make the children's school fees. Whatever I used to earn, I would pay for her schooling," he explains. "Fifty or sixty rupees a day is just not enough. I thought if she could go to the training centre she could get a job."

The situation in India is particularly grim for girls, who are considered paraya dhan or property of the family into which they will marry. Hence girls' education may often not be valued as it is seen as an investment whose return will be reaped by another family.

Resisting pressure to drop out

Noorjahan is a beautiful girl with delicate features, her long wavy hair clasped in a pony tail atop her head. She wears a flowered dress and a silver hoop glint from her nostril. She wrings her hands nervously as she speaks about the torment the men in her community are putting her through.

"They trouble me a lot when I go to work and ask me where I am going. The neighbors who are living around here make my life miserable when I am going out of the house," she says. "It hurts me. I feel a lot when I listen to all this, but I know who I am, and I will continue to go out and work. For myself, I am doing it to stand on my own feet. For my family, I want to help my father all my life."

Her parents decide to ignore the neighbours disparaging their daughter's character as the 2,000 rupees Noorjahan makes help lift the family out of abject poverty.

"I feel bad, I feel sad, and I feel angry," her mother says. "I know my daughter. I have full confidence in her, and I know that she is not how they are saying she is."

Noorjahan was one of the six trainees who were tried out at shipping document company KK Gupta and Associates, but only she was offered a fulltime position. The company believes that the vocational program allows young people to develop contemporary business skills, especially computer literacy.

But her co-worker weren't always so kind, teasing her about her weak English. The pressure finally got to her, and she dropped out. However, rather then falling through the cracks, UNICEF intervened, negotiating that Noorjahan would sharpen her skills at the vocational training centre each morning before continuing on to work.

(Angela Walker is Chief of Communication, UNICEF India)

Stressed but Smiling

While urban women in India remain highly stressed out, as a study points out, their rural counterparts face many existential problems.

Sopan Correspondent/New Delhi

Indian women are in a hurry to catch up with time. Their earnings, especially of those in the cities, have doubled up, according to a recent study. However, another study says that stress is a collateral damage, making Indian women as the most stressed in the world. Thankfully, they still have smile on lips and hope in their eyes.

The rural women, meanwhile are not yet out of dangerous and often life threatening motherhood. Infant mortality is the highest of all other countries. So is the Maternal Mortality Rate, a few notches down though.

A recent study released by the Nielsen Company examined that the consumer and media habits of women in emerging and developed countries has found that women in India are the most stressed.

Nielsen's study was conducted from February to April of 2011 and polled almost 6,500 women throughout 21 developed and emerging countries including those in Asia, Europe, Latin America, Africa, and North America.

The results of the polls showed that an astounding 87 per cent of Indian women claim feeling stressed most of the time, with an additional 82 per cent asserting they had insufficient time to relax.

"Women across the globe are achieving higher levels of education, joining the workforce in greater numbers and contributing more to the household income," said Susan Whiting, vice chair of Nielsen. They are also increasing their spending power, and with that they gain more control and influence over key household decisions.

As a result the women of today and tomorrow are powerful consumers and understanding their habits and attitudes is critically important for marketers and advertisers.

In India statistics have shown that women are more prolific users of social networking than men. Women talk 28 per cent more and send 14 per cent more texts than men every month, and also visit more Internet community sites than their male counterparts.

More than half of women in both developed and emerging countries say that computers, mobile phones and smart phones have changed their lives for the better.

The survey found that worldwide, women play multiple roles that contribute to their stress levels, but that the social infrastructure allowing them to navigate these roles differed between emerging and developed markets. As a result, women in emerging markets tended to be more stressed than women in the developed world, with women in India, Mexico and Nigeria feeling the most time-pressured.

Moneybag

Reinforcing the growing financial independence of women in India, a survey says the income level of urban Indian women has doubled in the last decade. This increase has also led to the average urban household income doubling, according to a study by market research firm IMRB.

The urban Indian woman who earned Rs 4,492 per month in 2001 was taking home as much as Rs 9,457 as of 2010. The rise in her income is directly reflected in the average monthly household income of urban India going up from Rs 8,242 to Rs 16,509 in 2010, says the IMRB survey.

While these figures appear impressive, they suggest that urban incomes have on average gone up significantly less than those of the average Indian over this decade. According to official data, India's per capita income rose from Rs 16,688 in 2000-01 to Rs 54,835 in 2010-11, a 228% rise. The IMRB figures suggest that urban incomes in the same period rose by 100% and incomes of urban women by 111%.

"We have aligned our strategy, communication and products to women. And with the growing aspirations and financial independence of women not only in urban India but in tier II and tier III cities, women are at the core of our business.

The woman today is buying for herself and for her family," said Kishore Biyani, founder, Future Group. The country's largest retailer, which runs stores like Pantaloon and Big Bazaar, has seen the contribution of women's wear to overall sales more than double from 22% when it started operations to 55% currently. What is significant in the survey is that with the woman's personal income doubling, she is increasingly outsourcing household work.

From 91% women saying they did household work themselves, the number has dropped to 71% in 2010, according to the survey. "With the average income of women and of urban households increasing over the years the propensity to spend has also gone up significantly. Although, there is a strong sense of deriving value for money out of all purchases made, the thought of putting all of the household income into savings is slowly diminishing," said Ashish Karnad, group business director, IMRB International.

Brand experts say the changes over the last decade where more of the buying power is moving into the hands of woman has led to her influence in purchases even in categories predominantly of male consumption. "There remain very few areas of consumption in which the female does not increasingly participate today. Most household purchase decisions are either joint or exclusively female. Like in the West, marketing approaches and brand experiences in India will increasingly need to be designed around these insights," said Tanya Dubash, executive director & president marketing, Godrej Industries.

And this trend is reflected in the survey which says while 34% of women participated in the actual buying process in 2003, by 2010 that number had gone up to 43%. "Is the recent explosion in male grooming only because of male consumers or is it also triggered by the subtle influence and desire of the female to have her man well groomed?" asked Dubash.

The survey, which interviewed 9,000 urban women above 25 years says as an impact of increasing financial independence, there has been a 33% jump in the number of women who have a savings bank account in the last decade. Also, from only 4% of women owning their own credit card back in 2001, there has been a 150% growth as 10% of women in 2010 possessed a credit card.

"With rising incomes and education there is a profound impact on consumption. The rates of growth of several discretionary categories are nothing short of dramatic as a result," says Gopal Vittal, executive director, home and personal care products, HUL, the country's largest consumer goods maker.

Given that one-third of the estimated 480 million jobs in the country are being performed by women, more than half of the advertising is targeted towards the homemaker.

Mortality

In India, over 400,000 new-borns die within the first 24 hours of their birth every year, the highest anywhere in the world, says a study by an international non-government organisation, 'Save the Children'.

There has been an annual decline of four to five points in under-five mortality rate and a 17 per cent decline in the Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) in the years of 2006-2009. Moreover, neo-natal mortality rate (number of infants die within a month), and a post neo-natal mortality (within 11 months) has declined by one point and two points respectively.

Still, one-third of all malnourished children live in India, 46 per cent of children under three are underweight in the country, and over two-thirds of infants die within the very first month of their birth.

Almost 90 per cent of these deaths occur due to easily preventable causes like pneumonia and diarrhoea and malnutrition. And this is after the Government has spent 20-23 thousand crore in total on the National Rural Health Mission.

Experts say it is unlikely for India to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of reducing the under-five deaths by two-thirds by 2015.

The promise was made in 2000 along with other 188 states and governments. Even countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, Peru and the Philippines are on track to meet MDG4, exploding the myth that the costs of reducing new born and child mortality are high.

Cold-blooded murder

Although Tamil Nadu government has been running schemes with an aim to curb female infanticide, such cases are on the rise in the state.

Shanti Priya/ Chennai

There was a pall gloom in Bhanumathi's home after she delivered a baby girl. Her husband, an autorickshaw driver, came to his wife's home and left with a long face. In the evening, an elderly woman one of her relatives came and asked her what she was going to do about the child. She told Bhanumathi that since she already has a girl child, it won't be prudent for her to grow the child.

Bhanumathi did not feed her child since birth. The old lady came with a potion - sap of oleander and caster oil - and forced it down the baby's throat. The baby shivered and died soon after.

Female infanticide is a criminal offence, still hundreds of girl children are killed mercilessly in the hinterlands of Tamil Nadu and north Indian states like Punjab and Haryana.

Despite high literacy rates and other human development indicators, Tamil Nadu continues to be among the states that top female infanticide cases. The state government had taken many measures to curb the menace. However, the scourge continues to prevail in rural areas.

Dharmapuri district in the state had once reported highest number of female infanticide cases. Although statistics show that the cases have come down NGO activists say many communities still practice this heinous crime.

According to available statistics, 48 female children were done to death in the area in 2003. According to a recent health survey, female sex ratio (in the 0-6 age group) is 878 for 1,000 males in Dharmapuri while the national average is 938 females for 1,000 males.

According to C Sevathan, Project Manger of SEARCH, "Socio-economic factors such as dowry and the preference for a male child in a patriarchal society are the main causes of infanticide and foeticide." The female sex ratio is rapidly decreasing. To eradicate female infanticide and foeticide, SEARCH, in association with like-minded NGOs, has taken up an awareness programme in Karimangalam block.

"Cultural programmes and dramas are held in every village on female infanticide with the slogan `Caring of women from womb to tomb' and not to discriminate the birth of a girl child."

As a first step panchayat health workers and coordinators undertake a survey of high-risk pregnant women in their villages. A special committee has been formed to keep a close watch on pregnant women. Through a multilevel approach health workers, in association with village administrative officers and nurses, create awareness among pregnant women on the dangers of infanticide. They keep a watch on women from the conception stage and interact closely with the couple and motivate them to drop the idea of terminating pregnancy, if the child is a girl.

Sevathan said, "Counselling is also provided to family members and continuous monitoring of the family is done on pregnant women till delivery takes place." A committee for the prevention of female infanticide conducts public meetings and creates awareness among people in every panchayat. Although these health workers and sangam members saved many girl children from the jaws of death many cases go unreported as the families migrate to the neighbouring States.

Kandhai, who planned to kill her third girl child, has given it for adoption after counselling. She feels that only the pathetic condition of her family had compelled her to take the extreme step of killing her child.

If the family does not want a girl child then provisions are being made for legal adoption and the cradle baby centre is only considered as a last preference says a health worker. Panchayat health workers and sangam members also encourage women with two female children to go in for a family planning operation as this would enable them receive Rs. 12,500 in fixed deposit for both the children.

According to sources, "The rapidly increasing and widespread availability of modern scientific devices and technologies such as ultrasonography and MTP (Medical Termination of Pregnancy) has led to widespread misuse."

The Department of Health has also given strict instructions to private scanning centres that they can divulge only the well-being of the baby and cannot determine the sex, which is punishable with two years imprisonment.

The 'cradle baby' scheme, a brainchild of chief minister Jayalalithaa, will be extended to Cuddalore, Ariyalur, Perambalur, Villupuram and Tiruvannamalai districts as the 2011 census has revealed a fall in the child sex ratio in these districts.

"The figures are causing concern," Jayalalithaa said. She added that female infanticide and foeticide could be the reason for this trend in these districts.

Cradle baby centres will be set up at a cost of Rs. 47.45 lakh and each centre will have a superintendent, an assistant nurse, an assistant and other workers.

The centres will have adequate stock of milk powder, medicine and clothes. Besides, cradles will be placed at hospitals, primary health centres and children homes to receive girl children.

She said the cradle baby scheme, launched in Salem district in 1992 with a view to eradicating female infanticide, was later extended to Madurai, Theni, Dindigul, Dharmapuri, Erode and Namakkal districts in 2001 when she became Chief Minister of the State for the second time.

As many as 188 centres in these districts were equipped with incubators, life-saving drugs, refrigerators, gas connections, bed sheets and clothes for children. The government also organised camps, seminars and conferences to create awareness of female infanticide.

"The scheme was appreciated not just in India, but across the world. Many girls were saved from the clutches of death and were later given in adoption; they grew up in families and received good education and are leading a prosperous life," he said.

Jayalalithaa said that so far 3,200 girls and 582 boys had been rescued. Subsequently, 2,088 girls and 372 boys were given in adoption in the country and another 170 girls and 27 boys were in foreign countries. Non-resident Indians adopted 13 girls and 5 boys. A total of 160 children were handed over to their parents.

She said the scheme and the awareness created by the government had had the desired effect in these districts. The child sex ratio in the State was 1000:942 as per the 2001 census and the figure became 1000: 946 in 2011 census. But Cuddalore, Perambalur, Ariyalur, Villupuram and Tiruvannamalai witnessed a negative trend.

Disowned by ‘lovers’, discarded by community

The problem of unwed mothers of Kerala is serious social issue. Aggressive social awareness should be launched to prevent sexual exploitation of tribal girls

Dr S Remadevi/ Kochi

The census 2011 warmed cockles of many Indian hearts. The literacy rate had climbed up to almost 70 %. Many governments and billions of money later, hundred per cent literacy finally appeared within reach.

Beena (name changed) became pregnant when she was barely 13. She fell in love with a bus conductor, Raju. Although she used to talk to him for long, she never felt that she should know more about Raju. When Raju came to know that Beena was pregnant, she was not seen in the area.

There were complications during the delivery. Fortunately, doctors were able to save both mother and child. But, for Beena, a tribal hailing from Attappady of Palakkad district, life after the episode was even more hellish. She was thrown out of her house and the community looked down upon her and many branded her as a prostitute and made advances towards her.

The community or her family never tried to find out the culprit because they thought the girl had "committed the crime".

Now, at 40 years of age, Beena earns her livelihood by selling her body. Her son, a heavy drinker, beats her up if she doesn’t pay for his drinks. She is suffering from various ailments, including diabetes. "My son beats me up quite often. He thinks I made him a laughing stock. He may be correct also," said Beena, philosophically.

Beena’s case is not an isolated one. There are hundreds of such unwed mothers in the tribal hamlets Palakkad, Wayanad and Kasargod districts. Most of the women, discarded by the community and disowned by the men who defiled them, face starvation and penury.

The Kerala State Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Department conducted a survey and found 563 unwed mothers in the state. But the Kerala Women’s Commission (KWC) puts the actual number at more than 2,000.

A few years ago, another survey by Deputy Police Inspector-General S Sreejith had found that there were about 1,000 unwed mothers in the tribal areas of north Kerala.

Another finding is that most of the unwed mothers belong to the age-group of 14-20 years. “This is nothing but sexual exploitation. If it were in a non-tribal area, the entire state machinery would have swung into action. No one cares for tribals as they are not a vote bank," said Sivaraman, a tribal activist.

Another shocking finding of a survey is that there has been a steep rise in the numbers of unwed mothers in the last one decade. “The KWC is initiating a police inquiry into the cases of young unwed mothers and making arrangements to rehabilitate the affected women," said a member of KWC.

The member pointed out forest officials, teachers, contractors, labourers and local leaders as among those accused of impregnating young girls. They lure teenage girls by giving them money, liquor, clothes, bags, and perfumes. They flatter the girls and then invite them to their homes or to see a movie. Some men offer marriage proposals.

Dr. KG Vijayalakshmi, director of Women Empowerment and Human Resource Development Centre of India, said the issues of unwed mothers are mainly linked to social backwardness.

In most cases forest invaders who had denuded tribals of their land have found to be the culprits. The irony is that tribals are forced work under them as daily wagers. The invaders exploited the illiteracy and poverty of the tribals. “Hunger, poverty, illiteracy, ill-health, lack of communication and financial constraints are leading tribal women to seek the help of non-tribal people," said Vijayalakshmi. “Tribal women become easy prey for the rich as there is no forum to redress their grievances. The corrupt police system also becomes party in the exploitation of the poor people who are reeling under poverty and ill-health. Many unwed tribal girls are working free of cost in the residences of non- tribal people."

GP Paul, a social researcher, says the issue of unmarried mothers is as serious as the problem of displacement from tribal territory. Kerala tribes have lost thousands of acres to non-tribal people, who venture into the forest to grab their land.

“No steps were taken to restore their land. Migration of non-tribal people continues. Raped and ravaged by non-tribal people, tribal women in Kerala are paying a heavy price," he added.

Earlier in 1997, a committee of the Kerala Legislative Assembly also examined the problem and submitted a report to the government, which failed to act on it.

Since then, officials and activists have demanded action and social programmes to address the issue of unwed mothers in tribal hamlets.

Pushkala Unnikrishnan, an activist in tribal issues and vice-president of the local self-government institution in Wayanad district, wants the government to implement special welfare schemes such as pensions for unwed mothers.

Bolan, a state committee member and KAF Wayanad district president, wants government to start planning a long-term programme for the welfare of these mothers. “Living conditions of children born out of wedlock are worst. Most of them have inhibitions to face others, fearing being taunted as the children of harlots."

Experts point out that premature deaths of unwed tribal women were not uncommon, and several crude and inhuman methods have been employed to eliminate infants even after birth.

“Some of the unwed mothers later turn into sex workers since there is absolutely no income for survival. The mothers are isolated both from their family as well as from the community. The culprits escape from the net through their economic and political power," Dr. Nair pointed out.

Dr. Beena Kannan, a health expert working in a government hospital in Kochi, a city north of the capital Thiruvananthapuram, suggested that regular medical checkups, both for the mothers and children, are essential for their survival.

“Besides imparting legal and emotional support, health organisations should give awareness on safe sex practices and condom usage," she added.