Silence is bliss

Sopan Correspondent / Kochi

Minimising the human intervention is the best way to preserve Kerala's Silent Valley

Silent Valley is the best assurance that a forest can speak through human beings." said the environmentalist MK Prasad. The tourists and visitors to Silent Valley cannot disagree with him because Silent Valley gives an unusual experience of silence while in the midst of nature. It gives one the rarest of the rare experience of being with nature, becoming one with it.
Silent Valley National Park is located in the Nilgiri Hills, Palakkad District in Kerala. The park is one of the last undisturbed tracts of South Western Ghats rain forests and tropical moist evergreen forest in India. It is the core of the Nilgiri International Biosphere Reserve and is part of The Western Ghats World Heritage Site.
The area is locally known as "Sairandhrivanam" literally, in Malayalam: Sairandhri's Forest. In local Hindu legend, Sairandhri is Draupadi. The Pandavas during their exile wandered into Kerala and came upon a magical valley where rolling grasslands met wooded ravines, a deep green river bubbled its course through impenetrable forest, where at dawn and twilight the tiger and elephant would drink together at the water's edge, where all was harmonious and man unknown.
Botanist Robert Wight in 1847 made the first English investigation of the watersheds of the Silent Valley area.
The British named the area Silent Valley because of the perceived absence of noisy cicadas. Another story attributes the name to the anglicisation of Sairandhri. A third story, refers to the untouched nature of the valley, i.e., without human noises.
Silent Valley is home to the largest population of Lion-tailed Macaque, an endangered species of Primate.
The Silent Valley National Park is a unique preserve of natural rainforests. It houses a rich mosaic of varied habitats. Out of these springs the amazing variety of life forms some of them endemic to the Western Ghats.
The Kuntipuzha River drains the entire 15 km length of the park from north to south into the Bharathapuzha River. The river is characterized by its crystal clear and perennial nature. The number of tree species computed for the Silent Valley (118 vascular plants of 84 species in 0.4 ha) is very high compared to a range of 60 to 140 species that characterise the other known tropical forests.
The Mudugar and Irula tribal people are indigenous to the area and they live in the adjacent valley of Attappady Reserved Forest. Also, the Kurumbar people occupy the highest range outside the park bordering on the Nilgiris.
The limited studies of the fauna of Silent Valley reveals that its rich resources as rare and unique - rare because many species which originally inhabited the entire belt of the Western Ghats have been lost due to destruction of their habitat by human beings or for other reasons. These faunal resources however are still available in Silent Valley, because of the relatively little human intrusion. It is unique because what little has been collected and studied has already proved to be of immense scientific interest from the taxonomic, zoogeographic and ecological points of view.
A number of species, which were available in the Western Ghats 50 to 100 years ago still exist in Silent Valley. They include insects, fishes, amphibians, reptiles and mammals.
Upto 1970 it was an unknown forest area, unexplored and untouched. Announcement against a hydroelectric project proposed in the area resulted in the creation of the park in 1984.
Since then, a long-term conservation effort has been undertaken to preserve theSilent Valley ecosystem. In order to ensure better protection of the area the buffer zone of the Park was created and made an integral part of Silent Valley National Park.
Now there are two zones for silent valley. The core zone (89.52 sq.km) and bufferzone(148 sq km). The core zone is protected and wild life is undisturbed. Only forest department staff, scientists, and wildlife photographers are allowed.
The story of Silent Valley National park is the struggle and thought for environmental protection in the country. The struggle for protecting the valley proved that human beings still care for nature.

Daredevils bat for the girl child

A campaign 'Dare to Care' will witness Delhi Daredevils and UNICEF working towards sensitizing the public on the important role girls can play in society

Sopan Correspondent/ New Delhi

The UNICEF’s initiatives for the adolescent girls of India got a major leg up with Delhi Daredevils announcing their support for its campaign.
The campaign coined as ‘Dare to Care’ will witness Delhi Daredevils as well as UNICEF working towards sensitizing the public on the important role girls can play in society and why education and protection can ensure that they can grow up and develop to their full potential.
Virender Sehwag, Captain, Delhi Daredevils said “This is an honor to be associated with a campaign which fights for empowering the adolescent girls of India. The entire team along with the management of the Delhi Daredevils is glued and excited about this campaign since this cause is so close to our own lives and hearts and so will do anything to make this a successful initiative.”
“The Delhi Daredevils have a huge and very loyal crowd of supporters. In partnering with the Daredevils we are looking forward to hearing millions of voices speaking out for girls in India. Girls who are educated, protected and empowered", said Ms Karin Hulshof, UNICEF Representative in India, "With the Dare to Care campaign we are looking forward to joining hands with the team and calling for boys and girls to transform India.".
Commenting on the announcement GMR Sports Head (Marketing) Hemant Dua said “The fact that 40% of adolescent girls aged between 14 – 17 years do not attend school, 40% girls in India marry before the legal age of 18 and around 56% of adolescent girls are anemic were good enough reasons for us to come together with UNICEF for a common cause of educating everyone to understand the value of girl child. It’s the girl which is so full of life, strength, playing a critical role in our lives so what holds us back to give them an equal status as the boys in the family and society at large. Delhi Daredevils through this campaign DARES everyone to wake up and start caring for the girls in your family.”
The partnership aims to support the efforts to protect millions of adolescent girls still facing obstacles in their lives by experiencing various forms of discrimination, exploitation and abuse on account of their age and their sex. ‘Dare to Care’ will focus on issues related to empowering girls with education which will further give them the courage to say no to an early marriage and also give their views on decisions which directly impacts their lives.

About Rs 1 lakh crore budget for rural India

Sangita Jha/ New Delhi

There has been a 10 per cent overall jump in allocation of Ministry of Rural development, which was allocated Rs 90,000 crore in the 2011-12 fiscal.

Next only to Defence as far as Budgetary allocation is concerned, Union Rural Development ministry is now very close to Rs 1 lakh core mark. With Rs 99,000 crore allocation for the financial year 2012-13, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's Budget has clear rural undertone. The ministry known mostly for the Mahatma Gandhi National RuralEmployment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is now looking forward to focus on other areas to become a key player in contributing to the growth of the economy.
Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh did not miss to emphasise that the Budget is a trend setter for the rural India. Though the annual allocation for the next fiscal is Rs 99,000 crore, the Ministry of Rural Development could well surpass the Rs 1 lkah crore mark in the next fiscal only, as move is afoot to bring the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojna under its ambit shortly.
There has been a 10 per cent overall jump in allocation of Ministry of Rural development, which was allocated Rs 90,000 crore in the 2011-12 fiscal. There is a possibility, that the ministry could get another Rs 1,000 crore in November when the revised Budget is made under the head of the rural drinking water plan. With cases of arsenic contamination on the rise particularly in the rural areas where ground water is mostly the source of drinking water, the ministry is keen to change the gear and give a push to provide surface piped drinking water to the rural hamlets.
Though the ministry was allocated Rs 11,000 crore for rural drinking in the ongoing fiscal, the actual expenditure has been Rs 10,000 crore, while the allocation for next fiscal is Rs 14,000 crore. This translates into 40 per cent jump and also stresses the urgency, that the Centre is attaching to clean drinking water.
Finance minister has also allocated Rs 50 crore for setting up of a water testing centre in Kolkata. West Bengal, Odhisa and Jharkhand have seen an alarming rise in cases of arsenic contamination in the recent years. The world class centre in Kolkata, which will come up in the Rajarhat area of the metropolis over three acres of land having been allocated by the state government is expected to mitigate the cases of contamination of ground water and ensure that people get safe water to drink.
Further, allocation for the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) has also got a boost with an increase of Rs 4,000 crore, as total allocation will substantially go up from Rs 20,000 crore to Rs 24000 crore in 2012-13. The PMGSY is the most sought after flagship scheme of the Centre, with state governments lobbying hard to get enhanced allocation to them for rural connectivity. Minister of Rural Development Ramesh has said that his ministry would focus on states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Assam, West Bengal, which have so far lagged behind under the programme. The norms have been amended by the Ministry for PMGSY in the tribal areas to ensure that even villages with population of 500 and more could get roads built under theflagship scheme.
The Centre had unveiled National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) last year by giving it the name of Aajivika to give a major push for the people in the rural areas to become not only self-dependent but also engines of economic growth. Mukherjee has proposed in the Budget, that Women's Self Help Groups (SHGs) would get loans at seven per cent, while those who repay on time will have to pay only four per cent. This is significant that India's SHG success story has revolved around those headed by women, who enjoy enviable track record of repaying their loans on time.
The Centre is also looking forward to unveil the urban version of the NRLM in the form of National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) to replicate the success story of the SHGs in the urban areas too.
However, the Finance Minister has cut the allocation for MGNREGA by Rs 7,000 crore, as Rs 33,000 crore has been proposed for the next fiscal. The allocation was Rs 40,000 crore in 2011-12. However, the MGNREGA being a demand driven flagship scheme is to be supported by the grants if there were the need for more funds. Ramesh explained that Budgetary allocation for MGNREGA is only "notional" and added that if the job demand is of more than Rs 33,000 crore the additional funds would be made available. The cut in the allocation appears to have been due to the fact, that the actual expenditure has been much less than the projected labour budgets submitted by the state governments. In fact there has been growing realization that the state governments have been inflating the labour budget for the MGNREGA by seeking funds as if it was their entitlement.Giving examples of West Bengal government, Ramesh said while the state government had projected a labour budget of Rs 3,900 crore the actual expenditure has been only Rs 2,000 crore. Similarly, in the case of Jharkhand the state government had projected a labour budget of Rs 1800 crore but the actual expenditure has been only Rs 1100 crore.
There appears to be a case that the state government's or Gram Panchayat's capacity to spend does not match the labour budget projected by them. However, the Centre can still pitch in with more funds in November when the revised expenditure budget is prepared. However, there appears that the good Monsoon in the recent years has diluted the demands for works under MGNREGA.
However, there appears no dearth of funds, as an amount of Rs 42000 crore for MGNREGA would still be available, which includes an opening balance of Rs 6,000 crore lying with the states and their contribution of Rs 3,000 crore for the programme.
In another significant decision, the Finance Minister has increased the widow pension amount from Rs 200 to Rs 300 and disability pension scheme again from Rs 200 to Rs 300 per month. However, the ministry wants, that the widow pension scheme should also cover those who are 20 years of age unlike the current norms of 40 years of age. There ia also a demand that those with 40 per cent disability be considered entitled for disability pension in place of the current 80 per cent norms.
While the Economic Survey, which was tabled in the Parliament just on the eve of the annual Budget, had raised a question on MGNREGA draining the labour force away from the farms during the peak season, the Ministry of Rural Development is hopeful of the fact with the implementation of the Planning Commission member Mihir Shah headed committee on reforms of the flagship scheme the issue would be addressed. The report, which would be implemented from April 1 this year, has recommended 28 out of 30 new categories of works related to the agricultural sector to be included in the approved lists of works which could be taken up under MGNREGA.

No pyar with IPR

Sopan Correspondent/ New Delhi

Thousands protest against damaging provisions in the EU-India free trade pact

Over one and a half thousand protesters took to the Delhi streets recently crying "Europe, hands off our medicine" as they voiced their opposition to the EU-India Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) that is currently being negotiated between the European Union and India. The BTIA, or Free Trade Agreement (FTA), in common usage, is being negotiated since 2007 and while voices of analysts, activists and people whose lives will be directly affected have risen in protest, the determination on both sides to reach "an ambitious agreement" continues unabated. The EU-India Summit, held on 10th of February, was to see the culmination of these ambitions, activists feared.
Protesters carried a giant medicine pill through the streets of Central New Delhi, the powerful visual imagery highlighting India's role as the "pharmacy of the developing world" which faces a severe challenge from EU's demands to include harmful intellectual property (IP) provisions in the FTA. "No pyar with IPR" (no love with IPRs), rhymed some of the banners.
Affordable medicines produced in India have played a major role in scaling up HIV treatment to more than 6.6 million people across Asia, Africa and Latin America. The EU has repeatedly asked for intellectual property rights (IPR) commitments that will make India commit to standards that go way beyond its TRIPs commitments made at the WTO. This, analysts feel, will severely undermine the producing and marketing capabilities of the generic medicine industry in India which produces medicines at low cost for the world, and will threaten the access to cheap medicines worldwide. Indian generic medicines currently cater to the treatment of critical diseases such as HIV/AIDS and cancer. In a press release by several health groups on the 10th, Intellectual property enforcement measures, data exclusivity on medicines and investment protection are cited as some of the major damaging provisions that threaten access to medicines in India and the world.
Data exclusivity in medicines will prevent the use of trial data submitted by multinationals that are generally used to grant marketing licenses to smaller generic companies for similar drugs. Under enforcement measures, the EU wants to bring in third party liabilities, exposing active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturers, drug distributors, and treatment providers to the risk of patent enforcement. The EU also wants 'provisional injunctions', where courts are given powers to issue orders to prevent suspected but not yet proved infringement. Medicines can also be seized on a mere suspicion or allegation of patent or trademark infringement. In the past the EU has imposed so called border protection (enforcement) measures against Indian drugs in transit which were going to non EU countries through the EU. Now it wants to legalise such illegal activities through the FTA.
Further, its investment provisions will compel the Indian government to recognise IPRs as an investment and therefore protect EU companies' IPRs (including data) under the investment protection clauses. This will erode the government's policy space to prevent aggressive use of such IPRs in the interest of public health and access to medicines. All these provisions can severely undermine the access to medicines for the worlds' needy especially the poorer. Though the Indian government has announced it will not give in to TRIPS plus demands from the EU, TRIPS plus demands seem to be very much on the table at the negotiations.
The EU-India Summit was to announce some kind of an understanding or perhaps set the broad terms of the agreement. Not surprisingly, protests by patient groups from India and far corners of the world such as Africa, reached a crescendo friday morning. Protests by health groups took place not only in Delhi but across the world, in Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand, and in several African countries all of which fear loss of access to crucial and cheap medicine supply from India. A day earlier, activists delivered coffins to the office of the European Delegation to India.
The patients groups were joined by farmers' groups from northern India, dairy farmers from south India, small retailers, students and activists from all over, all of whom are severely worried about the impact of this FTA on the lives of ordinary people, including on their access to jobs, incomes, medicines, food, finance and natural resources……the list seems endless but these concerns seem to be increasingly validated by the numerous reports and analyses pouring in.
Provisions in this FTA include liberalisation of India's goods and services sectors including sensitive sectors like agriculture, retail, banking and key industries such as cars. Projections show that in opening up goods trade to the EU, India stands to lose more than it will gain. Boosted by high European agricultural subsidies which cannot be negotiated under the FTA, the EU is estimated to increase trade by 321 and 150 million USD in agro food and in products of animal origin in 2020 (compared to 2006). In comparison India is estimated to gain only 83 and 1 million USD worth of trade. In cereals EU will gain 133 million USD while India will gain 1 million USD (CEP II-CIREM Study 2007).
Even in industry, projections show that European goods will enter the Indian market in vehicles (1802 million USD by 2020) whereas the Indian industry will gain only 87 million USD in 2020. The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers has come out with strong words of protest against the proposed tariff reduction in the FTA. But EU's penetration into Indian market will be across all industry and manufactures where EU is to gain 7947 million USD by 2020. Only the textile, leather and garments sectors will benefit visibly in India and these gains may not even be realised due to EU's high standards and other technical barriers.
The service sector is supposed to be one of the key attractions for India, including under Mode 4 which is supposed to promote the movement of Indian professionals to the EU. But again EU's multitude of barriers poses a significant obstacle, unlikely to be removed by the FTA. On the defensive front, analysts fear that EU's demand for entry into retail will threaten jobs in informal sectors and its full access to India's banking and financial services will leave India open to systemic risks from unfettered capital flows and regulation, and compromise financial inclusion in the country.
Not satisfied with this, the EU wants much more than what India has committed in its past agreements, even with developed countries such as Japan. Apart from TRIPS plus commitments in the IP chapter, the EU also wants market access for its investors and investment protection at very high standards and access to India's government procurement market which the Indian government uses as a policy tool for addressing development inequalities by giving preferential access to women, marginalized communities and SMEs. The vast multitude of EU's demands in sensitive segments can severely threaten India's policy space including its development policy instruments.
During the Summit however, leaders gave out no more than a broadly optimistic statement without going into specifics. India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said "there are obviously some problems but we are confident that those problems can be resolved and will be resolved. Both of us have reaffirmed our commitment to an agreement as early as possible of the broad based trade and agreement." The president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, said the negotiations are going well but also mentioned "we value substance over speed". The European Commission President José Manuel Barroso seemed more optimistic and named Autumn 2012 as the target period to seal the deal. Leaders from both sides are now to supervise the negotiations closely so that an early agreement can be reached. However the failure to come out with something substantial at the summit is perhaps an indication that EU's corporate lobby and large retinue of resource persons are not getting all they want from India. With the Eurozone crisis, EU's market has lost some of its appeal for Indian producers and EU is hardly in a position to absorb Indian workers at the cost of jobs at home.
With global consciousness on critical development concerns around this FTA picking up pace rapidly, there is also increasing pressure on both sides not to make monumental mistakes that will threaten India's development and will be a major face loss for EU. But it is clear that pressures must be kept up if the world is to get its cheap medicines, Indian farmers are to hold onto their land and production, and small retailers are to retain their businesses. If the society as a collective does not join the thousands protesting around the world, then in this labyrinth of shadowy deals and aggressive bargaining, people's voice may be lost for ever.

Eye for development

Sangita Jha/ New Delhi

The challenge thrown up by the Maoists is clearly daunting and armed response is being seen as not the only answer.

There is clear admission of the fact among the officials that heart of India, geographically speaking, is in the clutches of naxals. So much so that the state governments or even the Central agencies find difficult to reach out the means of development and advancements to tribals living in deep forest in Central India. The challenge thrown up by the naxals is clearly daunting and armed response is being seen as not the only answer.
Ever since Union minister Jairam Ramesh took charge of the Union rural development ministry, there has been a change in the approach as far as dealing wity the naxals or left wing extremism (LWE), as spoken officially, is concerned. In the last one year, it's being seen, that the government's approach is to deal with naxals with full force but at the same time reaching out the benefits of various Centrally sponsored schemes to the tribals in a clear strategy that they are do not fall prey to the left wing extremism ideology.
This year's Budget proposed by the Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee endorses the strategy on which Ramesh is working on in partnership with central paramilitary forces and state governments.
Mukherjee has proposed setting up of a National Rural Livelihoods Foundation (NRLF) on the lines of the Public Health Foundation on public-private partnership mode specifically for 173 districts, which are affected by the naxal violence.
While the Centre would pitch in with an initial allocation of Rs 500 crore for the first two years, another Rs 500 crores would come from the corporates and state governments. Ramesh has already a number of trusts sponsored by big corporate houses who want to be part of the exercise, indicating that funds would not be a problem. The state governments too have reasons to pitch in with their share for the objective of setting up of NRLF.
The idea of the NRLF is to assist civil society in their endevour to bring the gains of development and progress to the tribals entrenched in the naxal affected areas. This is for the reason, as acknowledged by Ramesh, that even the government officials do not dare to go into such areas, while the civil society like Ram Krishna Mission are allowed to work without any interference by the proponents of left wing extremism. So with an initial corpus of Rs 1,000 crore, there would be Rs 100 crores accruing as interests, which would be utilized to assist the civil society in carrying out their work.
The idea is clearly novel and enterprising. What is more intersesting is the stress on the part of the Centre to support the civil society and NGOs to take up work on watershade management, water supply, capacity building, education among other activities in the 173 districts which span from Chhatisgarh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Odhisa and Jharkhand. These areas are geographically speaking heart of India but also the place where the paramilitary forces are engaged in a battle of nerves each days, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides.
Ramesh should also be credited for taking a host of other measures too to ensure that the war against naxals is won effectively and convincingly on a sustainable basis. In another initiative, Ministry of rural development has unveiled a programme whereby corporate houses are being roped in to buy and market the tribal handicrafts and their products apart from taking part in their skill building activities. This initiative has got impressive response from the corporates, which in the end is intended to put the money into the pockets of tribals by ensuing that they are not exploited by the middlemen, who often account for most of the money which should have rather gone to the poor. Corporates have shown interest in bamboo products and herbs, which the tribals know better than others.
The Centre has already rolled out a pilot project called Saranda Action Plan in the trijunction of Jharkhand, Odhisa and Chhatisgarh to win the hearts of tribals and put them into the mainstream life. After the CRPF claimed to have cleared the Saranda forest areas of the naxals, the Centre has stepped in by reaching out to the tribals with benefits like houses under Indira Awas Yojna (IAY), transistors, cycles, surface drinking water supply. In addition to other measures, the Saranda Action Plan also seeks to give employments to the tribals under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) along with roping in other institutions for skill building exercise. The Centre is looking forward to replicate the Saranda Action Plan in other naxal affected areas in phased manner. The idea is clear, that the government would step in with a host of schemes in the naxal affected areas once they area cleared out by the paramilitary forces. Interestingly, the Saranda Action Plan is being implemented under close monitoring by the Centre, while at the ground level the district administration with protection by the paramilitary forces are rolling out the benefits to the tribals.
In another move to rope in the elected representatives in implementing Integrated Action Plan (IAP), which is meant for the naxal affected 78 districts in the country, the Planning Commission is mulling a proposal to rope in the Gram Panchayats. The move has come in the backdrop of West Bengal having reportedly shown better result in tackling naxals with the involevement of political leadership. Deputy chairperson of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Jairam Ramesh and Union minister for Panchayati Raj V. Kishore Chandra Deo have deliberated on the ways to make Gram Panchayats part of the exercise, which as of now is being administered by the triumvirate od District Magistrate (DM), Suprintendent of Police (SP) and District Forest Officer (DFO). Mr Deo had been advocating larger role of the Panchayats and Gram Sabhas in the tribal districts to ensure that land is not leased out to corporates for mining activities by flouting the existing laws.
Last but not the least, the Centre is also seeking the young graduates to take up fellowship programmes in the tribal areas under a Pradhan Mantri Rural Fellowship Programme, which has been recently launched. This is in addition to Rs 50 crore grant to IRMA for taking up programmes in the rural areas, which are otherwise shunned by themanagement graduates.
It's clear that the intent is there on the part of the government to defeat the naxals not only by force but also to cut off the supply line of manpower by winning the hearts of tribals by showing them better side of the world.

There are game changers too

Shanthi Priya/ Chennai

Although the voluntary sector is not popular with media, bureaucracy and politicians, there are many NGOs which have made a change in the society.

Many NGOs in Tamil Nadu have been in news for all wrong reasons. First it was in the case of 2G spectrum allocation case, in which it is alleged that ill-gotten money was routed through an NGO. Later, it was in the case of Koodankulam agitation.
South India has not dearth of NGOs. After the tsunami waves lashed Kerala and Tamil Nadu costal areas, there was a spurt in the number of NGOs in the region.
NGOs are not popular with the media, the bureaucracy and the political class in India. There is a general suspicion about the activities of NGOs as they lack transparency. We rarely find a favourable mention about any NGO in the media. They are believed, perhaps uncharitably, to be private pocket boroughs of some individuals who are supposed to be experts in making commerce out of service. They care only for their foreign donors and the Central home ministry. These and many other popular suspicions and notions about the NGOs were confirmed recently when six of them were blacklisted by the government for forging the signatures of district collectors to draw money illegally.
There are, however, some honourable exceptions as in every field. Some NGOs are run by dedicated persons with missionary zeal. They are doing great service. Listing good NGOs is hazardous for obvious reasons. But not taking note of the tremendous good work done by some NGOs would tantamount to refusing to see the reality. Andhra Pradesh, like any other state, can boast of a host of NGOs which are rendering exemplary service. Organisations like Rayalaseema Rural Development Trust at Tirupati, Village Reconstruction Organisation at Guntur, Bhagavatula Charitable Trust at Visakhapatnam, Arthika Samatha Mandali at Vijayawada and Samskara at Nizamabad are some of the well-known NGOs working in the state.
Mrs. Shanta Sinha of MV Foundation was given Magsayssay Award for the excellent work she has been doing in the areas of literacy and child labour. Mere mention of the name of the organisation headed by Mrs Sinha evokes respect. MV Foundation has, to its credit, a number of achievements in rescuing the child labourers and running bridge-schools for school dropouts. 'Asmita' is another NGO which appears in the media often. It is run by a team of dedicated persons under the able leadership of Ms. Vasantha Kannabhiran. It would be interesting to know the nature of work, which is representative, done by three distinguished organisations in the three areas of Telangana, Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra Pradesh.
'Social empowerment for sustained development' is the theme of 'MARI'(Modern Architect for Rural India), which is very active in Warangal district. There is a first small step for every long journey. Murali, the founder-secretary of this organisation chose Panikara village of Nekkonda mandal in Warangal district where he launched an education project in 1990. He successfully enlisted the co-operation of Adivasis to establish 'Swayamkrishi' schools where a nominal fee is collected from students. MARI has expanded its activities and it is now working in about 200 villages in 20 mandals with emphasis on the social empowerment of dalits and adivasis. Besides the education programme, MARI has also been taking up other projects like desiltinging the tank beds, micro-financing to help rural women towards economic empowerment, improving aids-awareness and encouraging the use of natural manure in cultivation, etc. MARI has been receiving project-specific financial aid from France, USA, Netherlands and Switzerland. MARI has so far desilteded twelve tanks involving about 1,400 farmers in the process. Murali has been the moving force behind the organisation. He travels all over the district, studies the lives of the poor and evolves schemes in order to empower them.
Bablu and Mary came from two different parts of the country and converged in a drought-stricken district of Anantapur. Bablu (Choitresh Kumar Ganguly) is a middle-class Bengali, with Che Guevara beard, inspired by Naxalbari movement who came to Andhra Pradesh to teach dialectical materialism to the farmers and farm labourers. While doing so, Bablu read Masanobu Fukuoka's 'One Straw Revolution', a book that had profound impact on him and lead him into becoming a farmer taking up sustainable agriculture. Mary is a Roman Catholic from Kerala's Idukki district. A post-graduate in social work, she worked in Anantapur, Nalgonda and Srikakulam districts for several years before running into Bablu in 1982 at the Southern Collective of Action Groups.
They started living together in the late 1980s. Work on Timbaktu, a utopian communer at Chennekothapalli (CK Palli) near Penukonda in Ananthapur district. They had dreams and the courage to realise them. They started recruiting volunteers and working on fields. The experiment of Timbaktu Collective in natural regeneration has been replicated in several villages in CK Palli, Roddam and Ramagiri mandals. First it was a 160 acre hillside in Mushtikovila village where they started building a seed bank of indigenous trees. They learnt the local lore and age-old wisdom of having drought-resistant species. The beauty with the Collective is that Babloo and Mary never make the decisions. The villagers were encouraged to take decisions on their own. Timbaktu Collective has also started a thrift group in CK Palli. The Adishakti Mutually Aided Thrift Cooperative Society which had an initial membership of 967 and pooled a capital of Rs. 5 lakh has spread to two other mandals. The membership has grown to 7,500 and the turnover to Rs.2 crore. Timbaktu's philosophy of work is based on three R's-Regeneration, Rejuvenation and Revitalisation. All the activities undertaken by this organisation is aimed at achieving these three objectives.
Resolution of problems faced by rural people has been the main agenda of Sodhana, an organisation floated by Dr. Pemmaraju Durga Kameshwara Rao in 1979. Dr. Rao who did PhD in Physics in the US and was working as a teacher of Physics in an American University gave it up and travelled to Cheepurupally, a remote village in Vizianagaram district, to take up social work in right earnest. He was influenced by Vinoba Bhave and Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan whom he met and shared his concerns. He selected a village called Appanna Valasa which had dalits in large numbers (70 percent of the population) and started an organisation called 'Sodhana', meaning search. Literacy, women empowerment, health, resolution of land disputes and spreading awareness of governmental welfare schemes among the poor people are some of the areas in which this organisation has been working. Whenever villagers meet the volunteers of this organisation and narrate their problems, the volunteers accompany the villagers and study the problems and evolve solutions. Rao's selfless service is acknowledged by the villagers.

Problem of plenty

Sopan Corespondent/ Shillong

Many NGOs in North-East have links with terrorist outfits and recieve funds from dubious agencies
A recent survey found that North-East states like south India have been a fertile land for non-governmental organizations. For instance, in Tripura, is abounding in the number of NGOs disproportionate to its population. According to the census, the total population of Tripura is 35 lakh. But the number of registered NGOs in the state is 4963 as on February 28, 2006. There is no count of unregistered NGOs.
According to government sources, the surge in the registration of NGOs is a recent phenomenon and it came to light after the Centre came out with a list of default NGOs. Another interesting aspect of this sudden spurt of NGOs is that most of them have mentioned their area of operation as Women Development/Empowerment. Why is there a sudden interest in the welfare of women?, asks a Mahendra Singh, himself an NGO activist.
"Going by the sheer number of NGOs and the money being spent through them by the government and other agencies, the tiny state would have become a developed state by now," he said. But the social indicators of the state present a dismal picture.
The Social Welfare Board under the Central government blacklisted 69 voluntary organisations for financial misappropriation in the state. All these non-governmental organisations have taken financial assistance from the Department for various projects for which they have not submitted either status report or carried out the development project for which the funds were intended. This is for the first time that a large number of voluntary organisations have been targeted.
The Central Social Welfare Board was set up by a Resolution of Government of India dated 12th August, 1953 with the object of promoting social welfare activities and implementing welfare programmes for women, children and the handicapped through voluntary organizations. Till 1969 the Board functioned as a limb of the Government and then it was registered as a charitable company under the companies Act to give a legal status to the Board.
The Board was given the dual responsibility of taking welfare services to the disadvantage sections of society especially women and children, and also developing a nationwide infrastructure of voluntary agencies through which these services could be made available.
The bogus voluntary organisations see the Central Social Welfare Board as a milch cow. Since there are many schemes for uplift of women, most of these agencies prepare detailed proposals and approach the Board for funds.
Most of the voluntary organisations running in the state have the support of powerful politicians and the bureaucrats in the state. Although questions were raised in the Assembly about the activities of voluntary organisations and their financial irregularities, the state social welfare minister had no clear answers for many of them.
The state opposition leader Mr. Rattan Lal Nath asked the minister that why the state did not take any action against any voluntary organisation even after there were complaints about the functioning of certain organisations. Senior political leader and a noted Scheduled Tribe leader Samacharan Tripura also questioned the role of some politicians in the running of voluntary organisations.
According to a social activist there is a powerful NGO mafia that is pocketing funds for developmental projects.
This mafia is so powerful that they even dictate terms to the bureaucracy. It is also true that some voluntary organisations are run by proxy by senior bureaucrats.
However, there was practically no whimper of protest over the government action by the voluntary organisations. Most of the voluntary organisations chose to remain silent on the issue.
But the Tripura Adivasi Samiti is the only organisation that has come out with a statement against the centre's move.
The director of the Samiti said: "The government's decision is not right. We were not given any intimation or time to represent our case. The allegation of financial misappropriation is baseless."
Agragani Samanj Kendra, (Abhay Nagar, Agartala), Assampada Nari Samiti, Ranir Bazar (Adaliya), Ganatantrik Nari Samiti (Bishram Ganj), Aamtali Upajati Ganatantrik Nari Samiti (Bishram Ganj), Agragani Mahila Samiti (Pratap Gad), Vajrapur Mahila Samiti (Bilonia), Birchandra Mahila Samiti (Bilonia), Bhatti Abhay Nagar Mahila Samiti, Chandrapur Mahila Samiti (Resham Bazar), Chaygadia Mahila Unnayan Samiti, Durgapur Mahila Samiti, Dharyatal Mahila Samiti (Khowai), Durantpada Ganatantrik Mahila Samiti (Jirania), Debanpada Mahila Unnayan Samiti(Devangad), Gobtali Nari Samiti, (Bilonia), and Gomati Project Ganatantrik Nari Samiti (South Tripura) are some of the voluntary organisations that have been blacklisted by the Board.
In the year 2003, union home ministry had blacklisted more than 800 voluntary organisations in the north-east for alleged links with separatist groups. The Centre had asked the respective state governments to keep these outfits under close watch.
Centre had always been concerned about the proliferation of voluntary organisations in the region. Most of the voluntary organisations had dubious origins and served as conduit for rebel funding both from foreign sources and government funds.
Meghalaya, a state of only around twenty five lakh people, has more than 8,000 voluntary organisations.
They received nearly 15 crore from the government last year out of the 50 crore rupees pumped into the state by Delhi. More than 300 of the blacklisted voluntary organisations are in Meghalaya.
The role of several human right groups including the Manab Adhikar Sangram Sam iti (MASS) in the North-East is under scrutiny, with the Ministry of Home Affairs identifying them as having close links with the underground outfits.
The names of organisations are MASS, North-East Coordination committee on Human Rights (NECCHR). United committee, Manipur (UCM), Naga peoples Movement for Human rights (NPMHR) and Naga Students Federation (NSF).
These voluntary organisations have not been reported to have engaged them selves openly in supporting or promoting terrorist activities.
These voluntary organisations maintain discreet links with the terrorist organisations. However, 13 organisations of the North Eastern States had been declared as Unlawful Association under the Unlawful Activities (prevention) Act, 1967.

Need a cause correction

Prime Minister's statement about NGOs may be seen as a tactic to divert the public attention from burning issues. But NGOs should make their operations more transparent to regain public confidence.

S Remadevi/ Koodankulam/Kochi

The recent statement by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh -- that foreign-funded non-governmental organizations are behind the anti-nuclear protests in India -- has rattled the NGO sector. His comments attracted a barrage of criticism too. Immediately after the prime minister's comments, there were media reports about "crores spent on Tamil Nadu NGOs by foreign donors" to organize anti-nuclear protests in Koodamkulam, where a massive nuclear power plant is being built. Offices of a few NGOs were raided and scrutiny of their accounts was carried out with a vengeance by government agencies.
NGOs getting foreign funding is not a new phenomenon. Many NGOs are money-minting agencies.
Is the prime minister's statement just an expression of frustration within the government which has failed on governance? Or is he promoting conspiracy theories which has been the hallmark Congress regimes in the past?
It is simply not enough for the Prime Minister to throw up his hands and blame NGOs for his own government's inability to get things done. Singh's statement was rejected by anti-nuclear activists.
"By making these absurd allegations, he is diverting everybody's attention from the real issues here," said V. Pushparayan, an activist from the Coastal People's Federation.
However, this controversy had brought, once again, the functioning of the voluntary sector in the sharp focus. Although all the NGOs cannot be painted by the same brush, the fraud committed by some persons associated with the voluntary sector has given the critics the handle to beat the sector.
Recently, bosses of a Bangalore-based NGO were arrested for misusing international credit cards and stealing over Rs 15 crore under the pretext of running a charitable trust.
Meanwhile, a huge amount of money is being pumped into India by genuine philanthropist for the uplift of the poor. But many NGOs take advantage of the systemic weaknesses and divert the funds for other purposes. In such scenarios, the only way to stem the rot is regular monitoring and evaluation.
Monitoring and evaluation of projects is a standard practice followed in the international development for the periodic review of the projects and organizations supported, by agencies disbursing aid. M&E is necessary to confirm whether the strategy pursued for sustainable development has been successful or not or if it is on the right path. That is because the strategies have multiple objectives and activities, socio-economic and environmental conditions also change over a period of time.
Monitoring of the implementation of the strategy is done to ensure standard management oversight and accountability. Evaluation is necessary to correlate actions with specific changes in human and environmental conditions, to test the strategic hypothesis, ensure accountability, capture lessons and develop capacity through learning.
While this may appear as an important tool to measure what impact a project has made, in reality it is viewed with lot of skepticism by the receivers of aid or the body seeking support. And this is not without reason.
More often than not they feel that M&E is subservient to the preconceived judgment of the funding agency and therefore not objective. There are so many cases where the team that conducts M&E are paid heavily by the beneficiary group to say what the former wants to hear. As a result the real impact assessment of the project is never done. It is not possible to know whether the work done has made any difference to the lives of people, what that difference might be, if at all, who gains and who, perhaps, loses, whose impact is it and who decides, so on and so forth.
There are several tools, methods and approaches adopted to evaluate results of a developmental activity. These include performance indicators, formal surveys, theory based evaluation, rapid appraisal methods, participatory methods, cost benefit and cost-effectivene analysis and public expenditure tracking surveys, to name a few. Some of these tools and approaches are complimentary and others are substitutes. The choice which is appropriate for any given context will depend on a range of considerations. These include the uses for which M&E is intended, the main stakeholders who are interested in the findings of M&E, the speed with which the information is needed and the cost.
While M&E of developmental activities provide government officials, development managers and civil society groups a better means for learning from past experience, improving service delivery, planning and allocating resources, yet there is often confusion about what M& E entails. Not only that, it also fails in achieving the desired results.
While impact evaluation helps us to understand the extent to which activities have reached the poor, and the magnitude of their effect on people's welfare, the methodology used for assessing impact, causes difficulties in identifying an appropriate counter factual. Even the participatory method used for evaluation is not fool proof, although it establishes partnerships and local ownership of the projects. In the participatory method there is a danger of domination and misuse by some stakeholders.
M&E is often activity focused, involving too many rituals and symbolism, to show that the funding body and the beneficiary group believe in its importance. Lot of effort goes into the planning, especially the methodology. However, the evaluation result is mentioned at the end of the planning document and thus typically treated as a residual matter and not the centre of attention.
A few proposals for evaluation, or the design of monitoring systems, define how the impact of M&E activities will be identified. As a result it is unrealistic to expect noticeable effects and also changes in the procedures adopted by NGOs. There is another flip side to it. Most information generated for the donor agency is done with a bias towards the confirmation of people's expectations that everything is moving along the expected lines.
Also the traditional method of M&E by an external agency which produces the report at the end of the project mainly provides a snapshot of the quantitative information, ignoring the quality of project interventions or the steps taken to achieve the desired goal. As a result there is no lesson learned in terms of steps to be taken to ensure sustainability of the project and to assist in the design of future projects. Thus the future projects end up making the same mistakes.
Despite the negative comments about M&E, it is important to conduct monitoring and evaluation the impact for the donors as it helps them to supervise the disbursement of aid to determine if money is being spent by the recipient in the way it was agreed upon and to push for the adoption of new ideas and approaches. If done properly, it also helps the recipient or the NGOs to take midcourse correction and to make a case for enhanced support. Also evaluations do create a space and opportunity for staff to go beyond their routine tasks and think on broader issues and to take stock of their progress, as well as to update records and monitoring systems. Considering, transparency and accountability remain hard-to-achieve goal in many million development projects in India, there is a tight rope to be walked and caution has to be taken in order to achieve the desired results.

Can’t paint with the same brush

Sangita Jha/New Delhi

While many NGOs are minting money, genuine ones are struggling to stay afloat

Non-governmental oganisation Aadivasi Seva Sansthan based in Chitrakoot which started its work in the last decade has come a long way. It espoused many causes and spearheaded numerous movements. At times its activists succeeded inforcing successive governments to change policy and some times large projectscould not take off due to their stiff protest.
But there are many black sheep in the voluntary sector. "There are six lakh villages in India and there are 12 lakh NGOs. Not all of the NGOs work for the objectives for which they are formed. A large number of them work for vested interests, including for monetary gains," said Dhirendra Mishra who runs Agrocrats Society for Rural Development in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.
Mishra is of the opinion that the move to bring the NGOs under the ambit of the proposed Lokpal is the right step to nail fraudulent lot. However, Mishra also stresses that NGOs can not be run without adequate finances.
"Our NGO have members who are graduates from various agricultural universities. For these people it's a career for them to work for the advancement of the rural parts of the country by utilizing their training in agriculture. When you run an organization with a professional work force, naturally you will require strong financial backing," said Mishra.
Though NGOs have come under scanner for fuelling agitation against Koodamkulam nuclear power plant, their role in shaping policies of government cannot be underestimated. In fact, the Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh had told during a round table discussion on role of research institutions in the ongoing Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) that the government would like to invest in them to help them in capacity building. Even member of the National Advisory Council (NAC) and former secretary to government of India NC Saxena had sought involvement of NGOs to ensure objective and impartial conduct of SECC. He has been of the view that the interference of political workers at the local level ensure that the needy are kept out of the below poverty line (BPL) list and non-deserving getting benefits.
"In today's time NGOs are everywhere. I can tell you that each of the MPs in the Parliament either take help of NGOs to connect with the people or patronize them for various purposes. You can not rule out NGOs. So, when the NGOs have mushroomed in such a big ways, it can also be not ruled out that a large number of them may be working for reasons other than their stated objectives," said Manoj Kumar Singh, who runs "Akhil Bhartiya Mahila Jagriti Sansthan" in Delhi.
Singh strongly seeks the government to catch the NGOs with dubious credentials and says that they should be shut down without any hesitation. However, Singh is also of the opinion that NGOs cannot function without adequate funds.
"We employ MBA graduates who prepare detailed project reports as mandated by the government agencies. We have to have adequate infrastructure, which includes computers. With projects flowing in along with financial gains, the NGOs too expand in manpower along with possibility of some of the people joining in the organization to make quick bucks than to serve the people," said Singh matter of factly.
However, the NGOs, who have also been called civil society, have much larger role to play in places when government agencies alone cannot deliver the benefits of its various schemes. In the Bundelkhand region, which had witnessed droughts years after year, people rely more on NGOs to deliver them the guidance in carrying out their activities. One of such NGOs, Aadivasi Seva Sansthan based in Chitrakoot, has been carrying out the work on watershed development for the past 16 years.
"We have annual budget in the range of Rs 15 lakh to Rs 20 lakh, which includes grants from the government and foreign agencies. We have clear objective that we have to be part of the solution of acute problem of irrigation in the Bundelkhand region. We have been building check dams, minor irrigation and watershed development," said RP Singh of Aadivasi Seva Sansthan.
However, there are NGOs who specialize in raising bills and vouchers against non-existent works to get money from the governments, with a number of them being fairly successful also, added Singh. He candidly admits that without funds it's tough to do any work now. "If we have budget with sufficient funding then only we can execute our works. When we fail to arrange for funds, we have to lay off people. Who can work for free now," said Singh.
Clearly, the NGOs have gone a metamorphosis, with most of them based out in urban centres having professionally educated manpower. As Manoj Kumar Singh says that gone are the days when NGOs used to be based out in rural areas where people used to eke out their livings by agricultural works and in spare time they used to engage in public service, the civil society has now become a profession, which cannot survive without a viable business model. Changed times demand changed regulations too and it appears that the lot of genuine NGOs do not mind coming under the scrutiny of the law of the land.

Money makes the NGO go round

Home Ministry report says voluntary organizations,
mostly based in South India, got more than Rs 10,000 crore from foreign donors.

Sopan Correspondent
Arecent report of the Union Home Ministry showed that more than Rs10,000 crore was pumped into India during 2009-2010, mostly from the USA and Europe to NGOs in India.
The report says that while it is not proper to make sweeping generalisations, it is necessary to note that the NGO sector in India is vulnerable to the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing. "Therefore, necessary steps for rigorous enforcement as well as coordination with foreign countries for law enforcement will continue. Our efforts for coordination with State police organisations and other specialised organisations will also continue towards this direction," the report said.
The report revealed that major donors from abroad and receivers in India are Christian Missionaries and Church-sponsored NGOs.
The analysis of the Home Ministry's 42-page report shows that 14,233 NGOs received foreign contribution of Rs10,337.59 crore. The highest contribution came to Delhi (Rs1,815.91 crore) followed by Tamil Nadu (Rs1,663.31 crore) and Andhra Pradesh (Rs1,324.87 crore). Interestingly, in district-wise analysis Chennai topped the list of foreign contribution with Rs 871.60 crore, followed by Bangalore (Rs703.43 crore) and Mumbai (Rs606.63 crore).
The biggest fund inflow to NGOs has come from the USA (Rs3,105.73 crore) followed by Germany (Rs1,046.30 crore) and the UK (Rs1,038.68 crore). These three countries have topped in the donors' list of Home Ministry for many years. Most the funding has been generated from Christian missionaries of these three nations. The donor missionaries have also formed their Indian subsidiaries.
The other toppers come from Italy (Rs 583.47 crore), the Netherlands (Rs509.46 crore), Spain (Rs 437.25 crore) Switzerland (Rs302.06 crore), Canada (Rs297.98 crore), France (Rs189.12 crore) and Australia (Rs148.28). The eleventh big donor to Indian NGOs is from UAE with Rs133.15 crore.
"The list of foreign donors is topped by the Gospel For Asia Inc of the USA (Rs 232.71 crore) followed by Fundacion Vicente Ferrer, Barcelona, Spain (Rs 228.60 crore) and the World Vision Global Centre of the USA (Rs197.62 crore)," said the report of Home Ministry on foreign contribution and regulation for the period of year 2009-2010. These three are evangelical organisations. The fourth largest donor, Compassion International, is also from the US (Rs131.57 core) and belongs to the same category.
Interestingly the fifth biggest donor is India's HCL, which has made the contribution through its Mauritius subsidiary HCL Holdings Private Limited. HCL's entire donation of Rs 94.28 crore has gone to educational organisation in Chennai, knows as Sevasubramania Nadar Educational Charitable Trust, formed in the name of HCL owner Shiv Nadar's father.
"The highest amount of foreign contribution was received by the World Vision of India, Chennai, Tamil Nadu (Rs 208.94 crore), followed by the Rural Development Trust, Ananthapur, AP (Rs 151.31 crore), and Shri Sevasubramania Nadar Educational Charitable Trust, Chennai (Rs. 94.28 crore).
"The highest amount of foreign contribution was received and utilised for establishment expenses (Rs 1,482.58 crore), followed by rural development (Rs 944.30 crore), welfare of children (Rs 742.42 crore), construction and maintenance of school/college (Rs 630.78 crore) and grant of stipend/scholarship/assistance in cash and kind to poor/deserving children (Rs 454.70 crore)," says the Home Ministry report on the fund utilisation by NGOs.
According to the report, during the year, 133 NGOs received foreign contribution in excess of Rs 10 crore, 179 associations between Rs 5 crore and Rs 10 crore, 1,594 associations between Rs 1 crore and Rs 5 crore, and 12,327 below Rs 1 crore. Out of 21,508 associations, 7275 have reported 'nil' receipt of foreign contribution.

Money or Mission: What Drives NGOs?

Recent statement by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on western-funded NGOs that are hell-bent on sabotaging India's nuclear power project has triggered a debate in the country. Close on the heels, the Union Home Ministry released a list of NGOs which received a whopping Rs 10,000 crore fund from foreign donors in 2009-2010. It is not a new development. For decades, NGOs have been benefiting from foreign funding. Those in the Home Ministry would tell you how NGOs are being used as conduits for money laundering. Many NGOs with dubious credentials were receiving huge amounts of donations from foreign agencies. But never before has the government showed any determination to control the flow of money. Then, why now? This raises the suspicion that the government is trying to stifle the voice of dissent through other means. NGOs have done commendable work in awakening the conscience of the country. Moreover, many NGOs, without any foreign help, are undertaking philanthropic activities. But there are thousands of black sheep among them. These money-minting organizations are giving a bad name to the voluntary sector. There is a trust deficit in some quarters. Government controls on the sector may be counter-productive. However, there is a need for a regulator at the national level to oversee the voluntary sector, accredit NGOs, make rules for the better of the sector.