|
PROGRESS REPORT FOR THE PERIOD April 2002 to March 2003
Introduction
Myrada’s work in Chitradurga District was originally in Holalkere Taluk.
Later, a separate programme was initiated in Challakere Taluk. Since
then to the current district approach, the programme has matured
steadily and systematically. The district approach has not meant
expansion but ‘expansion with quality and in partnership with other
development intervenors’. The Project’s direct interventions are thus
only in 338 villages. (This excludes the Molkalamoru Project area
that is separately reported in this document as ‘Myrada CIDOW
Project’). In the rest of the district, the Project relies on its
network partners to support the qualitative development of institutions
and resources to reduce poverty and combat powerlessness among the poor.
IBRNM stands for Institution Building and Natural Resources
Management. These are the two major foci of the district approach. There
is a third focal area and that is Creating Off-farm Livelihoods. This
area is recognised as important in the context of increasing pressures
on lands and decreasing returns from agriculture. However, the
strategies to operationalise the idea have still not clearly emerged.
Funding Partners
-
Deutsche Welthungerhilfe (GAA) continues to be a committed
partner to the Project.
-
The Project is the District Lead NGO for the SUJALA (World
Bank-Government of Karnataka) Watershed Programme .
-
SOSVA supports a small project on Indian Systems of Medicine
and Homeopathy, ISM&H.
-
The Population Foundation of India is a partner on a small project
of Reproductive and Child Health.
-
Besides the above, funds are locally mobilised from different
government departments and banks under ongoing schemes.
Major Activities
SPIN (Self-help Promoting
Institutions’ Network)
This network currently has as its members representatives from 22 NGOs
as well as representatives from the Zilla Panchayath, Lead Bank, DCC
Bank, RRB, NABARD, Town Municipality and from the
departments of Watershed Development, Agriculture, and Women & Child
Development. Other departments attend meetings on
requirement/invitation. SPIN has continued to progress well. It
is acquiring greater visibility and stature and is being frequently
contacted and consulted over a variety of developmental issues pertinent
to the district. It meets regularly, on the 15th of each month. While
the initiative to promote SPIN was definitely Myrada’s,
increasingly more responsibilities are being taken by other partners to
administer its growth and development. The HID Forum, a training
support agency, is independently involved in the capacity building of
SPIN members. Through the efforts of SPIN, almost all the
network partners are engaged in promoting good quality self-help groups
and several have also moved into watershed development programmes.
Watershed Development
Under the programme supported by GAA, 323 ha. were treated during
the year. Under the SUJALA Programme, as Lead NGO the
Project does not implement treatment works directly but builds
capacities of and guides, monitors and supervises the efforts of the
Field NGOs. In the current year, treatment works were initiated
on 12,421 ha.
To promote scientific storage of harvested grains (to reduce storage
losses), the Project is collaborating with the Save Grain Campaign
of India to construct storage bins at household level. 75 structures
were constructed in the current year.
Local Level Institutions
The Project is working with 771 self help affinity groups (of which
111 were formed in the current year), 31 watershed institutions (3
formed during the year), 29 SAG federations (7 formed
during the year) and 7 Resource Centres (all formed during the
year). The 7 Resource Centres currently have a combined membership
of 345 SAGs and 16 watershed associations.
In addition, the other SPIN members have together promoted more
than 5,000 groups, of which over 3,000 have been formed by NGOs
and over 2,000 have been formed under government programmes of Sthree
Shakthi and Swashakthi. Thus, in Chitradurga District, the
‘partnership-towards-quantity-with-quality’ has resulted in the
formation of close to 6,000 self help groups, of which 99% are women’s
groups.
Health Activities
The Project’s health activities have been limited, and mainly in the
areas of holding camps and conducting RCH awareness. Under the
Nirmala Karnataka Scheme, 129 toilets were constructed during the year.
Training Activities
The Project was engaged as usual in the training of community
institutions, bookwriters, etc. In addition, 175 persons underwent
training in Entrepreneurship Awareness and Development; 125 actually
started small enterprises.
The Jagruthi Training Centre at Holalkere has started functioning
independently as a CIDOR (Centre for Institutional Development
and Organisational Reform). In the current year, 121 training events
were conducted for a total of 2,870 participants over 347 training days.
****************
|
