ABSTRACT

Rural Development Department – Namadhu Gramam Scheme for 2004-2005 – Salient features of scheme – Approved.

RURAL DEVELOPMENT (P3) DEPARTMENT

G.O.(Ms.)No.140
Date: 10.09.2004

1. From the Director of Rural Development D.O.Lr.No.16194/04 State Schemes-3 dated 18.8.2004

2. From the Director of Rural Development D.O.Lr.No.16194/SS3/2004-5, dated 30.8.04

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Hon’ble Chief Minister has announced on 15^th August, 2004, that a new scheme "Namadhu Gramam" will be implemented in all villages from the current year, with the objectives of achieving cent percent enrolment of children in schools, reducing infant mortality, eliminating female foeticide, poverty reduction, and achieving village sanitation, all through people’s participation. This novel programme would consolidate efforts made so far for strengthening grass-root institutions of democracy and give a new impetus to participatory governance. The holistic development of rural panchayats incorporating and integrating the rural infrastructure and social sector components would be the hallmark of the scheme. Panchayats would be motivated through incentives in the form of funds that can be used for link roads, cement roads, streetlights and protected drinking water supply. An outlay of Rs.200 crores for the year 2004-05, has been announced.

2. The Director of Rural Development in his letter 2^nd read above has sent a set of salient features of Namadhu Gramam Scheme for 2004-05. The Government have carefully examined the guidelines and approve the same which are as follows:

The Scheme envisions participation of people in sustainable development of villages and improvement of quality of life through good governance and convergence of schemes and programmes. It will specifically focus on:

• Resource mapping and community mobilization for village development

• Micro planning and prioritization of needs among Village communities

• Convergence of funds and functionaries of all schemes at the village level

• Community led improvement in the overall quality of life.

The identification of the village resources forum the basic tenet of this programme which will be done by a team of Village level officials. The resource mapping will bring out the available resources of the Panchayat and identify the critical gaps, which need to be catered to by this scheme. Resource mapping for the village envisages 2 components (i) Mapping of physical resource and (ii) Mapping of human resource. Mapping of physical resource would be in terms of availability of physical infrastructure like School Buildings, Hospitals, Health Centres, Water Supply Structures, Roads, Ooranies, Street lights, Toilets etc. The mapping of human resources would be in terms of literacy, schooling, environment, health care and livelihood sources. This exercise would focus on the socio-economic status of the village and explore the potential for further improvement in their standards. This resource mapping would be done by Village Development Committee.

• Availability of water storage systems to augment the drinking water like Ooranies, ponds, temple tanks and related watershed structures and the status of the village with reference to minimum needs.

• Connectivity of the village through roads taking into account the availability of (i) atleast one proper link road to the main habitation, (ii) atleast one proper link road to nearby main road and (iii) Transport facilities – Assessment of trans/buses for commuters and transport of goods (iv) Cement concrete pavement.

• Availability of educational institutions with proper infrastructure based on the distance factor and strength of school age children.

• Availability of Sanitation facilities including individual household toilet or community based integrated sanitary complex

• Availability of hospitals/ health sub-centres to cater to the health needs of the village and the distance factors thereof.

• Availability of occupational sources for economic activities of the local people

• Planting trees and elimination of plastics etc. or pollution free village.

• Assessment of Tourism/Pilgrimage Potential

The human resource mapping should take into account, the following aspects:-

a) Literacy and Educational Standards – Assessment of educated, talented and experienced people

b) Health and Sanitation Standards.

The Grama Sabha will play an active role in the development of the village under this scheme. The resource mapping prepared by the Committee will be examined by the Grama Sabha and approved with suggestions/ recommendations if any. Likewise, the action plan prepared by the Committee will also be placed before the Grama Sabha for its approval. The Grama Sabha will ensure community participation for getting incentive fund and monitor the execution of works within time frame and funds.

The scheme aims at achieving holistic development with special focus in the sectors of water, sanitation, environment, education, health, social security and addressing social issues. Sector specific goals are -

• 100% revival and maintenance of traditional Rainwater Harvesting

• 100% conversion of defunct borewells into re-charge structures

• 0% wastage of water in public water system

• Village-level water budgeting and management

• 100 % use of toilets for defecation

• Effective solid waste management

• Clean streets

• Better hygiene behavior by all children

• Comprehensive coverage of all wastelands for food, fodder, fuel and livelihoods

• Avenue tree planting in all roads and planting in all homesteads.

• Reduce, re-use, recycle plastics

• 100% enrolment and retention of all children upto X std

• No child labour

• 100% enrolment of adults in continuing education programme

• 100% immunization

• 100% institutional delivery

• Reduction of IMR & MMR

• Making village malnourishment free

• Prevention of STD & HIV infection

• 100% coverage of destitutes in social assistance programmes

• Rehabilitation of all physically and mentally challenged persons

• Sustainable livelihoods of ultra poor

• Economic upliftment of rural poor through women SHGs and men SHGs

• Elimination of sex selective abortions

• Prevention of child abuse

• Marriage age of women to be not less than 21

• Prevention of crimes against women and immoral trafficking

• Prevention of untouchability and promotion of communal harmony.

The strategies that would be adopted in the new scheme would be as follows:

• Awareness creation in people for participation towards holistic development and improvement of quality of life in the villages;

• To bring about a people’s movement for their own village development in a campaign mode;

• To facilitate the Panchayats to play a key role in sustainable human and village development through capacity building;

• Sensitizing all partners in working together in the process of village development, including elected representatives, SHG, people, NGOs and officials;

• Convergence of programmes at village level through participatory planning and implementation;

• To enhance access of Panchayats to resources required to take up identified activities/functions at their level through augmentation of un-tied funds;

• To give extensive training prior to fund flow drawing upon successful experience of Rainwater Harvesting and SHG movements;

• To adopt a process oriented approach for village development;

By adopting the aforesaid strategies, every village would evolve and implement a five-year programme for transformation into a self-reliant unit of good governance and sustainable development.

The programme will be implemented in all 29 districts (except Chennai) covering all 12618 village panchayats.

A sum of Rs.200 crore has been allocated for the Namadhu Gramam Programme for the year 2004-05. The outlay would be allocated among individual components as follows:

One of the important lessons learnt from the implementation of the successful Rainwater Harvesting Promotion Campaign and the highly acclaimed Women’s Self Help Group Movement has been that effective awareness generation and well planned out training programme is an essential condition, for the success of any programme that seeks to make substantial gains of a long term nature in areas of socio-economic development. The second important lesson learnt from the successful Women’s SHG movement is that the training and awareness must precede fund flow. Based on these experiences, the Namadhu Gramam Programme will have a significant Awareness and Training Component, which would precede the implementation of hardware components for filling up gaps in village infrastructure.

This programme envisages a concerted action to create awareness through training at village, block, district and state levels. This would ensure that all partners work with the same objectives so that there is clarity in the minds of all concerned regarding the goals that the programme seeks to achieve as also regarding the strategies that could be adopted at each tier for achievement of the stated goals.

This programme recognizes that an essentially people oriented programme can successfully be implemented with the active involvement of the elected representatives of the people, and as such, awareness and orientation training programme would specifically seek to undertake capacity building exercises.

At the village level, a team comprising the Panchayat president, the Panchayat Vice-president, the Panchayat Union Councillor concerned, one woman member of the Panchayat, one SC/ST member of the Panchayat, one representative of the SHG Panchayat level federation, Village Administrative Officer, Anganwadi worker, Village Health Nurse, Panchayat Assistant, Valarkalvi Prerak, Rural Welfare Officer, or Gram Sevika or Mukhya Sevika, a nodal officer from Panchayat union office so designated by the BDO for that village, a representative of a local NGO would be formed and given appropriate training. This team would assist the Village Panchayat in the implementation of the programme.

At the block level, training programmes would be conducted for the elected representatives and officers of the Rural development and line departments concerned.

Similar training would also be conducted for the district level officers, as also for the members of the District Panchayat. An orientation and training programme would be organized for the District Collectors and heads of departments separately.

An intensive IEC campaign would be launched to create awareness about the programme and to bring in active people’s participation in its implementation. The IEC would focus on human development, participation, convergence and act as a vehicle for motivating people for the successful implementation of the programme.

An outlay of Rs.5 crores will be earmarked for the training and awareness generation component of the programme. The Commissioner for Rural Development (Training) shall prepare suitable guidelines and modules for this component of the programme, and would be responsible for its implementation.

The expenditure on this component of the programme would be sanctioned by the Commissioner and Director of Rural Development (Training) and shall be drawn and disbursed by the Director of Rural Development in accordance to the sanctions.

In addition to the funds under this scheme, the training and IEC funds available under sector specific programmes such as TSC, SSA, SGSY, Mahalir Thittam, RCH, AIDS Control Programme, ICDS, NCLP, Watershed development programmes may be dovetailed to the extent required such that focused inputs are given across departments. The Commissioner and Director of Rural Development (Training) shall coordinate this at the State level.

The training component would lead to preparation of a Village Development Plan for every village panchayat for achieving the stated goals of the programme within a specified time frame with clear indication of role of people, village panchayat and other stakeholders in the programme. The Village Development Plan would specifically focus on the sector specific goals enumerated in the foregoing paragraphs. The planning exercise would also

entail prioritization and scheduling the works and activities identified, and matching the fund requirements to resources available under various schemes/programmes operating through government departments/agencies, local bodies, NGOs. The District Collector could engage the services of good NGOs/reputed institutions, preferably the one nominated in the village team to conduct the participatory exercises at the village level, facilitate preparation of the VDP by the village panchayat and facilitate processes. The village level team would also assist the Panchayat in the preparation of the VDP. The VDP would have to be approved by the Panchayat and the Gram Sabha. Expenditure not exceeding Rs.2000 per panchayat shall be permissible as facilitation charges for reputed training institution assisting in the facilitation process. The amount so required would be released by the Director of Rural Development to the District Rural Development Agencies concerned, from the funds under the scheme.

Guidelines for preparation and mechanism for approval of VDPs would be issued by the Director of Rural Development. On approval of VDP, a sum of Rs.1.10 lakh would be released to the Panchayat as Direct State Assistance (DSA) to partly bridge the resource gap. The DSA would essentially be a grant, which can be utilized to meet cost of works such as

• cement roads at the rate of Rs.1 lakh for village panchayat

• 3 street lights like sodium vapour, mercury vapour, energy efficient lights not exceeding Rs.10,000/- per village Panchayat

In case, the Village Panchayats do not prefer the above mentioned item of works, they can identify the works as per the needs of Village Panchayats and shall approach the District Level Committee for its approval. After obtaining the approval of the District Level Committee, the Village Panchayats can execute the works.

The Director of Rural Development shall oversee the implementation of this component of the programme. He shall arrange to release the DSA to the Panchayats through the District Collectors/DRDAs. He shall also issue suitable guidelines for the mechanism for the release of the DSA by the DRDAs.

The Village Development Plan would also comprise of a baseline survey that would capture the present position of the village with respect to the various indicators with specific focus on the sector specific goals. Each VDP would be the village’s vision document that has an assessment of today and plan for the future. The Village Development Plan would also clearly set out milestones for each of the indicators over a period of five years, within the overall framework of the Programme milestones. A Performance-based State Assistance (PSA) upto Rs. 3 lakhs would be given to the Village Panchayats, which show good performance and achieve the milestones set in the VDP. The PSA amount received by the panchayats is to be used for the activities identified under the VDP. An allocation of Rs.55 crores shall be made for this

component. The interse distribution of the allocation of Rs.55 crores among the districts would be proportional to the number of Panchayats in the districts. The Director of Rural Development shall draw and disburse to the DRDAs concerned in accordance to this principle. Detailed guidelines will be issued separately with regards to evaluation of performance of Panchayats and procedure for release of PSA by the District Collectors which shall be fixed by an empowered committee consisting of the Secretary to Government, Rural Development department as Chairman, Finance Secretary or his nominee, Commissioner and Director of Rural Development Training and Director of Rural Development as members.

In addition, the Collectors may use their discretion to allocate funds available under various schemes and programmes such as SSS, Collector’s discretionary fund under SSFC, equalization grant, SGRY special component, etc as an incentive for performance to panchayats which achieve their milestones.

One of the key components of this programme is Convergence. As mentioned in the foregoing paragraphs, it is essential to find resources for implementation of the works and activities identified in the Village Development Plan through participatory process. The achievement of the objectives and goals of this programme necessitates close cooperation and convergence of various line departments, particularly at the village level. To ensure this, training, orientation and coordination are being given importance in the programme. A number of State and Central Government programmes relating to the specific sector goals are under implementation by various departments and these programmes may be converged wherever necessary. The primary task of ensuring convergence of activities and resources available with each of these programmes would lie with the District Collector. The District Collector shall ensure that resources available under the following programmes are dovetailed to achieve the objectives of the Namadhu Gramam Programme:

The above list is only indicative in nature, and District Collectors may innovate in dovetailing additional resources from other programmes as well.

14. Monitoring and Evaluation

The successful implementation of this programme hinges on continued coordination of various stakeholders (including government departments & NGOs) in the monitoring and implementation of the programme to achieve the goals. It would be necessary to make periodic evaluation of implementation of the VDP by the Village Panchayats, with reference to the milestones set therein. The Village Panchayat would review the progress every month and place a statement of progress before the Grama Sabha every quarter. The Panchayat President would also report the progress to the BDO(VP) every month in an appropriate format, who in turn would review the performance of all Panchayats in the block, and report to the District Collector/DRDA.

A District Level Committee shall be constituted as follows :

• District Collector as Chairperson

• District Panchayat Chairperson as Vice Chairperson

• MPs/MLAs

• Project Officer, DRDA as Convenor

• DRO

• Chief Education Officer

• Deputy Director of Health Services

• PO/Mahalir Thittam

• PO/ICDS

• EE/TWAD/RWS Board

• DSWO

• PO/DPAP

• AD(P)

• DM/TAHDCO

• Representatives of Reputed NGO nominated by District Collector.

• Representative of Training Institution

The Committee will meet once in a month to review the progress of the programme and implementation of the VDPs. It would facilitate and ensure convergence of various schemes under the Programme. It will also collate the performance indicators and decide on the release of PSA to performing panchayats, subject to guidelines issued by the Director of Rural Development. The District Collector will report the progress of implementation to the Director of Rural Development periodically every month.

(BY ORDER OF THE GOVERNOR)

SANTHA SHEELA NAIR,
Secretary to Government.

The Director of Rural Development, Chennai – 15.

All District Collectors.

All Project Officers, District Rural Development Agencies.

The Accountant General, Chennai-6/18/35

School Education/Revenue/ Labour and Employment/ Health and Family Welfare/ Social Welfare & NMP/ Environment & Forests / Municipal Administration & Water Supply, Finance Departments, Secretariat, Chennai-9.

Rural Development (SGSY)/(CSS1)/(P2) Department, Department, Chennai 9.

// forwarded by order //

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