PROGRESS REPORT FOR THE PERIOD April 2002 to March 2003

Background

Myrada started working in the Uttara Kannada region in 1993 on community participation and institutional capacity building with the Karnataka Forest Department. This programme was in the context of Joint Forest Management, and was financially supported by DFID. It concluded in 2000. Unwilling to abruptly terminate its work with the self help groups, the Project Office remained open and continued to strengthen the groups. The DFID supported it independently for a year (upto 2001). Thereafter, HOPE-Canada provided a small grant to sustain the programme (in 2002, going on upto March 2004).

A programme for urban infrastructure development was initiated by the Government with financial assistance from the Asian Development Bank. Myrada agreed to partner the government on this programme. This partnership started in June 2002; actual work began from September 2002. The programme is of 3 years’ duration.

Major Activities

The Karnataka Urban Development and Coastal Environment Management (KUDCEM) Project in Uttara Kannada District has the following key components :

•  Management of solid waste in Municipal limits.

•  Provision and appropriate management of safe and clean drinking water to all.

•  Provision and appropriate management of drainage systems for safe disposal of water.

•  Preventive healthcare through community awareness and education.

•  Resettlement of migrant and informal settlers
  Myrada is engaged in supporting the effective implementation of all the above components mainly through organizing the local communities into appropriate institutions and securing their participation.
  
  Myrada’s involvement is in the coastal towns of Karwar, Ankola and Bhatkal and the malnad area town of Dandeli. The staff employed are as shown in the table that follows :

Staff Orientation

Two orientation programmes were organized on the goals and objectives of KUDCEM Project and Myrada’s roles and responsibilities towards the programme.

Surveys and Planning

All the slums in all the towns were visited to assess the prevailing conditions. Preliminary meetings were conducted in all the four Municipal Offices to introduce the programme to them and seek their co-operation and active involvement. A logframe was worked out for the whole project period listing the activities to be completed, the time frame within which to complete them and the indicators to show that the expected results had been achieved.
More specifically, the Project made a complete survey of beneficiaries for the Low Cost Sanitation Programme which being implemented under KUDCEM Project by the Municipalities for poor (BPL) families. 4,192 families were identified for coverage. To start with, in each of the 4 towns 10 families have been identified and different models of toilets are being constructed for them (out of more than 40 toilet models, 10 have been shortlisted as suitable for the area and these 10 models are being demonstrated in each town). Construction is in progress.

Local Level Institutions

220 women’s self help groups have been formed in the poorer neighbourhoods of all the 4 towns. These groups cover 3,047 members and most of them have formally opened their bank accounts (in the names of the groups). All these groups have been provided with a first set of books for record keeping. Institutions appropriate to the activities of KUDCEM Project are still in the formation process. The first step is the formation of Residents’ Committees which will be undertaken soon. The Project is also working closely with the 4 Town Municipalities. A Community Resource Centre has been formed in Ankola. SHGs can become members by paying a joining fee of Rs.200/- followed by a monthly subscription of Rs.25/-. Membership is to be renewed each year with a payment of Rs.50/-. In turn, the Centre is managed by a committee drawn from its subscribing institutions and undertakes to provide a range of information and services to its members.

In addition, the Project is continuing – with the support of HOPE-Canada – to work with 64 groups formed in rural areas.

Training and Capacity Building
 

•  A training programme was organized for Town Municipal Councillors of the 4 towns.

•  263 training programmes were conducted for self help groups on various topics.

•  23 training programmes were conducted for the Project’s community organisers.

•  One Bankers’ Workshop was organised by NABARD with faculty support from the Project. A major breakthrough achieved was that the bankers agreed to finance the urban SHGs also under the SHG-Bank Linkage Programme.

•  A workshop for the project partners was organised at Sirsi on the topic of solid waste management. It was addressed by expert faculty from Bangalore.

•  49 urban groups were taken on exposure to the earlier formed rural SHGs.

•  A monthly News Bulletin called Samudaya Maithri is brought out by the Project and circulated to all the community groups.

•  As part of convergence services negotiations, the Karwar Civil Hospital has agreed to get involved actively and provide training to the community groups on health-related aspects.

 34 of the earlier formed rural groups received bank credit totalling Rs.202,000/-.

Monitoring and Reporting

The Project reviews its work on a monthly basis and submits a monthly progress report to the Deputy Commissioner of Uttara Kannada District, the Project Director of KUIDFC at Karwar, and to Myrada Bangalore.

In October 2002, the Project area was visited by a team from Asian Development Bank. At that time, work on the project had only just commenced. The plans were reviewed and some suggestions were made that were included in the planning.

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