No.2, Service Road
Domlur Layout
BANGALORE 560 071. INDIA.

Ms.Veena Krishnamurthy
February 01, 1995

MYRADA began working in Talavadi Block of Periyar District, Tamil Nadu in 1980. The early eighties saw a thrust on activities related to the development of agriculture and animal husbandry in the area. The activities included the introduction of high- yielding varieties of seeds, application of fertilisers (all of which were supplied free by MYRADA), support for irrigation, and the introduction of cross-bred milch animals. As part of the effort in improving Animal Husbandry activities in the area, MYRADA was instrumental in organising milk producers' co-operative societies, establishing a chilling plant and setting up a milk route for the supply of milk to the Erode Dairy.

In order to have a forum for the discussion of developmental activities, Village Development Associations also were organised at the village level. While this body was intended to be representative of the whole village, what in effect happened was that the meetings were a loose gathering of whoever was interested in attending, some vocal persons with vested interests, casual onlookers etc. It was easy for the more powerful persons to gain a strong foothold in these `Associations', and often most activities undertaken by MYRADA tended to benefit such persons. MYRADA had taken on the role of an `implementing agency' rather than a `facilitating agency' and therefore participatory processes were not very well developed at this stage. Though peoples' groups were organised, they were looked at more as a conduit for programmes rather than as functional institutions that could independently and efficiently manage developmental activities. The late eighties and the nineties saw a clear shift towards participatory processes.

An Introduction to Kodipuram :

Kodipuram village of Talavadi Block has a population of around 800 people. There are 183 families, with a caste-wise break-up as follows:

When MYRADA began its activities in the area, all the activities mentioned above were taken up at Kodipuram. A milk sub-collection centre was set up, and also a Village Development Association organised.

In 1986-87, the `Elephant Trench' Programme was taken up. As Kodipuram lies in a forest area, attacks on crops by wild animals were common. As a preventive measure, a trench (7 feet wide and 6 feet deep) was dug around the village border adjacent to the forests. This labour intensive activity provided employment to a large number of landless and marginal farmers. For the first time, the really poor began to benefit the most.

It was around this time that small homogeneous groups who tended to work together began to be noticed not only in Kodipuram but also in several other villages where the Elephant Trench Programme was being implemented. The emergence of such groups and their development into self-help groups began to be encouraged by MYRADA. Such self-help groups were encouraged to start savings, and out of the common fund thus set up, to give out small loans to the members for consumption and production.

In Kodipuram, in May 1987, a men's group with 12 persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes was organised. This group also began with savings and lending activities. As these members had contiguous lands, they mooted the idea of having a community well to irrigate all their lands. MYRADA assisted them in digging two irrigation wells - one mobilised under the `Jeevandhara Scheme' of the Government benefiting 5 of the 12 families, the other well supported by MYRADA funds benefiting the remaining 7 families. They were also assisted in acquiring oil engines and pumpsets. This group acquired the name `Community Irrigation Farmers Association (CIFA)'.

By March 1988, the wives of these men also wished to form a group and they were organised into the Gnaneswari Mahila Sangha. The primary activity for this group as  well was savings and credit for consumption and small productive activities. These women were assisted with seed capital, livestock enterprises, and major repairs for 9 members' houses.

During this period (the late eighties), there was a clear emphasis laid by MYRADA on the building up of such groups and working with them. The major reason for this emphasis was the lessons learnt from working with large heterogeneous organisations like the societies and VDAs which appeared to benefit the better off. Most programmes began to be routed through the SHGs, benefiting the group members. In due course of time, (once the milk societies were linked with the Periyar District Milk Cooperatives' Union at Erode, the AH activities taken over by the Dairy, and the Village Development Associations had ceased to exist), the staff began to work exclusively with SHGs. For many staff, this also proved to be an easy way out as they did not have to worry too much about their relationship with other sections of the village.

In Kodipuram, this meant that out of 183 families, focus began to rest on 12 SC families. By April 1992, even CIFA became defunct. The reasons now are not very clear, but it appears to be that the members lost interest in their group after their request for laying pipelines on their lands was turned down by MYRADA because a lot of money had already been spent on this irrigation programme, and the staff felt that the farmers could now arrange for the pipelines on their own. The situation altered only slightly in August 1992 - that is work began with a few more families - when another women's SHG called `Lakshmi Mahila Sangha' was organised, but this again was with SCs.

One major fallout of this new approach was the losing of contact with the rest of the village. This started to generate resentment in the rest of the village as glaringly brought out in several incidents at Kodipuram.

1. In mid 1991, a Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) training programme was conducted at Talavadi for officials from NCAER (National Council for Applied Economic Research) and SDC (Swiss Development Cooperation). The field exercises for the programme were conducted at Kodipuram. To start with, the exercises raised expectations as the villagers began to think that finally something to benefit the whole village would happen. However as the exercises progressed, it became evident to them that it was just `training', and in several groups, people lost interest in the exercises half-way and walked off. {One point of interest however is that it was during this PRA that the villagers first expressed a clear need for the sanitation programme for the village as the drainage conditions in the village left much to be desired}.

2. In April 1992, in order to promote non-formal education activities in the Project area, a Jatha was organised. One of the processions was to enter Kodipuram village but at the entrance itself, the procession was stopped by a group ofvillagers led by a person of prominence in the village. Their stand, "You people work only with the SCs. There is no need for you to enter our part of the village. Please go straight to the SC colony". The staff tried to reason things out with them, but could not succeed. Rather than generate too much hostility, the procession turned back. (Though a member of a minority community in the village, the leader probably enjoys prominence in the village because he is a big farmer, and many people do go to him for credit. He is also a very aggressive and vocal person).

These disturbing incidents provoked the staff into sitting up and critically examining what was happening. It was evident that in the process of working with and strengthening SHGs, the organisation had alienated itself from the larger village. It was somehow assumed that if one or two groups were organised in a village, then that village was `covered'. The staff realised that something had to be done to establish a healthy relationship with the whole village not only in Kodipuram, but also in all other villages. Two possibilities that began to be strongly considered were :

a) More and more groups of the poor could be organised, taking care to see that all sections of the village are covered.

b) Activities that would benefit the village as a whole, and in which all villagers could participate, could be taken up.

In January 1994, while some of the staff were travelling on a local bus, among the co-passengers were some of the leader's relatives who began passing unpleasant remarks about MYRADA. For some time the remarks were ignored, but when they began crossing limits of decency (there was also a female staff member), the staff protested. A heated exchange of words of followed which, but for the intervention of the other villagers in the bus, would have turned into an exchange of blows.

When this was brought to the notice of the Project Officer, he advised the Sector Officer in charge to visit Kodipuram and have a one-to-one chat with the leader at the latter's residence. The Sector Officer accordingly visited him at his house, and was able to sort out several misunderstandings. When he finally came out of his house, he had with him a promise of the latter's support in future activities.

The Additional Collector of Periyar District, who is also the Project Officer (DRDA) visited the Talavadi Project in February 1994. During this visit, he was taken to see a Sanitation Programme being implemented at a village called Neithalapuram, with which he was impressed particularly because the villagers had participated actively. The same evening, he was taken to Kodipuram to attend a meeting of Lakshmi Sangha. Though there was no discussion related to village sanitation during this visit, he had seen for himself the poor sanitary conditions in the village.

A month later, when the Project Officer visited the Collectorate at Erode, he was informed by the Additional Collector that there was an amount of Rs.2 lakhs unspent under the DRDA's `District Decentralised Scheme' which had to be spent before May (within the two month grace period available after the end of the fiscal year). He wanted to know if MYRADA could utilise the amount immediately for any infrastructural activity. The P.O. seized this opportunity and mentioned the possibility of taking up a sanitation programme (drainage) at Kodipuram, in addition to two other programmes but on two conditions - one, that the money for the activity should be given to MYRADA directly and not through the Block Office, and two, that the money should be given before the works are undertaken. The A.C. agreed to both conditions, and quickly the modalities were worked out.

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