CONTENTS:
Cover Story: Spatial Planning in GPDP
MoRD, NIRDPR Organise SARAS Aajeevika Mela – 2021 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi
NIRDPR Celebrates 63rd Foundation Day
NIRDPR Hosts 5th National Film Festival on Rural Development
Online Training Programme on Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Livelihood Models for Rural Communities
NIRDPR, Delhi Branch Conducts Webinar on Narratives in Public Spending in Low and Middle-Income Countries
NIRDPR Conducts Online Review Workshop for SIRDs and ETCs
Official Language Section of NIRDPR conducts Hindi Proficiency Tests
Online Training Programme on Training Methods and Techniques for Faculty of Rural Development Institutes
NIRDPR Observes Constitution Day
Cover Story:
Spatial Planning in GPDP
Spatial planning systems refer to the methods and approaches used to influence the distribution of people, connectivity and activities in spaces of various scales, form as a coordination of practices and policies affecting land use, urban, regional, transport and environmental planning, including the economic and community planning, and takes place on local, regional and national levels. Spatial planning is an important aspect of any planned development. The rural areas are devoid of planned spatial development. The absence of planned spatial development in rural areas has a major impact on regional development.
The Rural Area Development Plan Formulation and Implementation Guidelines (RADPFI, 2017) guidelines emphasise the need for the preparation of rural spatial plans, integrated with the overall development. The RADPFI guidelines aim to provide direction for the preparation of spatial plans for Gram Panchayats (GP) and also mention the required alterations and additions in the existing statutory provisions of planning.
With the Fourteenth Finance Commission (FFC) laying more emphasis on providing financial stability and ensuring effective planning, the preparation of participatory GPDPs gains utmost importance. It is important to bring more accountability and transparency to the process for preparing GPDP, which can be achieved by linking it with the Geographic Information System (GIS). The use of spatial planning in local self-governance can ensure openness and accountability in the functioning of GPs. With the aid of GIS and satellite imagery, a detailed visual record of the projects can be maintained, which can be accessed at any time. Physical verification of the projects can be done by anybody, from anywhere on any occasion. GIS can increase the legitimacy and acceptability of the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) among its stakeholders.
The GPs prepare annual plan for development and a large number of resources are utilised for implementing the plan. Such plans are prepared based on available databases or even on an intuitive basis, depending on local knowledge of the area. There is a need to have objectivity in the planning process by acquiring relevant data and performing planning at the GP level with the use of geographic data for sustainable development. It enables the user to take better decisions based on geographical data.
At the local level, in particular, non-availability of information in a spatial manner renders the information difficult to grasp and understand, which leads to ad hocism in prioritisation of schemes/programmes, poor decision-making, slow process of making corrections during implementation and narrow participation of people in the process. The status of various works (planned, in-progress as well as completed) should be spatially displayed to the public for their information and timely feedback. In addition to this, when the scheme is actually implemented, i.e., at the time of delivery, the local people have no channel to get the information regarding the expenditure incurred, the quantum of assistance, etc. This lack of transparency further leads to corruption and jeopardises the interests of people and government. In respect of spatial planning, it becomes very helpful if the current status as well as proposed developments are shown in maps.
Available Spatial Planning Applications for Panchayats Development:
a) Gram Manchitra:
Ministry of Panchayat Raj (MoPR) launched ‘Gram Manchitra’, a spatial planning application developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC). Gram Manchitra is a geospatial decision support system for the Panchayats (Figure 1). This application, based on NIC’s Bharat Maps (https://bharatmaps.gov.in), is a multi-layered GIS platform/web service comprising seamless countrywide base maps, satellite images and hybrid maps aligned as per the global geospatial standards. It is an essential component of the Digital India programme to ensure easy governance, effective governance and economical governance. It would provide a GIS-based decision support system to Central/State government departments for delivering citizen-centric services.
The Panchayats can utilise this application to plan, develop and monitor developmental activities on a real-time basis. The use of spatial planning (Gram Manchitra) in local self-governance can ensure openness and accountability in the functioning of GPs. With the aid of GIS and satellite imagery, a detailed visual record of the projects can be maintained, which can be accessed at any time. Physical verification of the projects can be done by anybody, from anywhere and at any time (already mentioned above). GIS can increase the legitimacy and acceptability of the PRIs among its stakeholders.
Figure 1: Various thematic layers and other map functions in Gram Manchitra
b) Mission Antyodaya – GIS:
Mission Antyodaya is a convergence and accountability framework aiming to bring optimum use and management of resources allocated by 27 Ministries/Department of the Government of India under various programmes for the development of rural areas. It is envisaged as a State-led initiative with Gram Panchayats as focal points of convergence efforts. The annual survey in Gram Panchayats across the country is an important aspect of the Mission Antyodaya framework. It is carried out coterminous with the People’s Plan Campaign (PPC) of the Ministry of Panchayat Raj with the objective of lending support to the process of participatory planning for Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP). NIC has developed Mission Antyodaya Android mobile application (Samridh Gram) for collecting the data (141 parameters) covering all the 29 subjects as per the 11th Schedule of the Constitution, by PRI members annually.
The framework makes use of the Geo ICT application i.e., Mission Antyodaya – GIS (Figure 2) to ensure that benefits reach those who are most deserving as per SECC data. Backed by robust MIS linked to scheme’s databases using common Local Government Directory (LGD) code, it would be possible to ensure end-to-end targeting against a defined set of indicators to measure the progress against the baseline. The data regarding various programmes and schemes of more than 25 departments and ministries of Central and State governments is incorporated in the application.
Figure 2: Mission Antyodaya web portal with available parameters
c) Bhuvan Panchayat:
An enabling environment named Bhuvan Panchayat Portal is developed and hosted by NRSC (ISRO) under the project ‘Space-based Information Support for Decentralized Planning’ (SIS-DP, July 2016). The web portal integrates geospatial layers derived from space-based inputs in a web-GIS framework with interactive modules like Area Profile Report Generation, Asset Mapping, Activity Planning and Implementation-Monitoring for facilitating effective developmental planning in the light of Village Developmental Plan (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Bhuvan Panchayat web portal showing various layer and activity options
Bhuvan Panchayat platform brings spatial planning deeply embedded in governance systems at all the three tiers of Panchayati Raj. It helps in guiding land-use decisions considering the pattern of resource mobilisation and resource allocation. It is a single-window interface providing an information system and decision support system along with facilitating spatial developmental planning.
Bhuvan Panchayat provides a platform for such spatial consolidation and interlinking. Spatial planning when integrated with sectoral planning is called ‘spatial strategy’. Spatial planning has the power of integration with individual sectoral plans.
Various web-based applications like Gram Manchitra, Mission Antyodaya GIS and Bhuvan Panchayat (Geospatial decision support system for the Panchayats) are useful for GIS-based Gram Panchayat Development Planning. The Panchayats can utilise these applications to plan, develop and monitor developmental activities on a real-time basis.
Dr. N. S. R. Prasad
Assistant Professor
Centre for Geo-Informatics Application in Rural Development, NIRDPR
MoRD, NIRDPR Organise SARAS Aajeevika Mela – 2021 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi
The SARAS Aajeevika Mela provides a lucrative opportunity to rural producers to sell their products directly in major markets, to interact with the buyers; to study and comprehend the latter’s tastes, preferences and choices. Thus, it helps them to upgrade and tailor their products, hone marketing skills and provide superlative services to consumers while benefiting from larger marketing opportunities. The Mela aims to eradicate middlemen between the craftsperson and the local buyers and ensures to increase the margins for the artisans. SARAS Mela also aims at facilitating and motivating the beneficiaries of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) supported by Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) scheme of Ministry of Rural Development, to exhibit and sell their products and to provide them with an opportunity for additional income, exposure and interaction on a large scale.
To fulfil the above purposes, the Ministry of Rural Development and National Institute of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR) has been organising SARAS Aajeevika fairs at Delhi/NCR on various occasions. Taking this forward, the Ministry of Rural Development and NIRDPR organised a ‘SARAS Aajeevika Mela – 2021’ during the India International Trade Fair (IITF) at ITPO, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi from 14th to 27th November, 2021, in which around 139 women SHGs from 29 States/UTs of the country participated for exhibition and sold their products. This exhibition-cum-sale brought a wide range of products handcrafted by the rural artisans, craftsmen and beneficiaries of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) promoted by DAY-NRLM from all over the country under one roof. The ‘SARAS Aajeevika Mela-2021’ was a noteworthy initiative of the Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of India which aimed to provide a platform to rural artisans to showcase their skills and products and also develop a market for themselves.
The SARAS Aajeevika Mela at IITF – 2021 was formally inaugurated by Shri Giriraj Singh, Hon’ble Minister for Rural Development & Panchayati Raj on 18th November, 2021, at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Hon’ble Minister of State for Rural Development, Food Processing & Consumers Affairs and Shri Faggan Singh Kulaste, Hon’ble Ministers of State for Rural Development & Steel were also present and graced the occasion. Dr. G. Narendra Kumar, IAS, Director General, NIRDPR, Smt. Alka Upadhyaya, IAS, Additional Secretary, MoRD, Shri Charanjit Singh, IAS, Joint Secretary (RL), MoRD, Shri Rohit Kumar, IAS, Joint Secretary (RE), MoRD, Smt. Nita Kejrewal, Joint Secretary (RL), MoRD, Shri Gaya Prasad, DDG (RH), MoRD and Shri R. P. Singh Director, IAS, (RL), MoRD were also present.
The stalls displayed the skills, potential and hard work of our women from across India. The products ranged from handlooms, handicrafts, artefacts and heritage products, tribal ornaments, decorative items, metallic products, earthen utensils, paintings, organic food items, spices, processed food products, soft toys, utility items, brass and wrought iron products and many other exclusive items. To expose the masses to the joys of creation and to acquaint them with the process involved in the manufacturing of handicrafts, live demonstrations were also organised. The Mela has also created an opportunity for the general public to understand the various programmes and initiatives of the Ministry of Rural Development through the Information Centre/Theme Pavilion and multiple IEC initiatives of the Ministry and NIRDPR.
The NIRDPR and Ministry organised nine workshops for the women participants for honing their soft skills as well as skills in packaging, managing consumers, etc., during the Mela.
The Ministry had invited all States/UTs across the nation for the installation of 130 Stalls for women SHG members, who are beneficiaries under the DAY-NRLM scheme of Ministry of Rural Development. In addition, the Ministry also decided to invite FDRVC, RESTI, RTP, NIRDPR for the display and sale of their items and make them aware of various products and services. One stall was allotted to Patrakar Didis working under NRLM Scheme. Furthermore, keeping view the vision of ‘Vocal for Local’ and providing an opportunity for the SHGs to on-board their products, a team of GeM Portal and Flipkart were also provided stalls in the SARAS pavilion.
Different products displayed at SARAS Aajeevika Mela:
- Handloom: Handloom sarees of Andhra Pradesh, water hyacinth products and from Assam, cotton & silk sarees from Bihar, Kosa sarees from Chhattisgarh, silk materials from Gujarat, cloth materials of Jammu & Kashmir, carpet from Ladakh; dress materials, woolen shawls and jackets from Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, Chanderi sarees of Madhya Pradesh, Tasar silk from Odisha, Rajasthani bedsheets with printed designs, traditional cloths from Tamil Nadu; Pochampalli sarees from Telangana, bed sheets and cotton suit of Uttar Pradesh, hand embroidery works, Katha, Batik print, Tanth and Baluchari sarees and dress material from West Bengal.
- Handicraft: Soft toys & wooden handicrafts from Andhra Pradesh, bamboo & cane products, water hyacinth products from Assam; Lac bangles and Madhubani paintings from Bihar, bell metal products from Chhattisgarh, decorative items from Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, West Bengal; bead items from Gujarat, mud art, terracotta item from Haryana, wooden toys, carved paintings from Karnataka, sabai/kash grass products from Odisha, kantha stitch, bangles, jewellery and diversified products from West Bengal and tribal jewellery from Jharkhand.
- Natural Food Items: natural spices, naturally grown, pesticides-free organic products, green products across States like spices, ginger, coffee, tea, pulses, rice, millets products, medicinal plants products, papad, jam, pickles, munaka/kismis, Gram flour, rice, cashew nut, organic pulses, organic vegetables and honey from various States, etc.
Following training programmes were organised for the SHGs at the Mela:
- Workshop on Strategies for attracting urban customers: Demonstration of setting up products
- A Workshop on ‘Communication for Marketing’
- A Workshop on ‘what next for Rural women: understanding the global market’
- A Workshop on ‘How to promote products and scale up business: B2B workshop’
- A Workshop on ‘Brand building for business product set – Handloom/craft and Products set consumables’
- A Workshop on ‘Building a Business from an Idea’
- A workshop on ‘From Ideas to Business’
Shri Chiranji Lal Kataria
Assistant Director (Marketing),
NIRDPR Delhi Branch
NIRDPR Celebrates 63rd Foundation Day
The National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad celebrated its 63rd Foundation Day during 23rd-25th November, 2021 under the leadership of Dr. G. Narendra Kumar, IAS, Director General, NIRDPR. In this regard, events including book release, NIRDPR Visioning Exercise, Rural Management Institutes Meet, Foundation Day Memorial Lecture and Film Festival were organised.
Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan, Hon’ble Governor of Telangana inaugurated the event as a Chief Guest and graced the occasion virtually on 23rd November, 2021.
In her address, Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan touched upon various issues pertinent to rural development such as inclusive and holistic development, strengthening of local governance, social protection schemes for vulnerable sections, women empowerment and gender equality. Highlighting the need for capacity building, she congratulated NIRDPR and wished to take forward the national agenda with more commitment. On the occasion, the Governor also released ‘Rural Development Statistics 2019-20’, a publication that provides data on various parameters concerning multiple facets of rural development. Rural Development Statistics 2019-20 is the 31st of the series.
This was followed by a session titled ‘How to look back and look forward and visioning the future of NIRDPR,’ attended by former Director Generals. Dr. G. Narendra Kumar, IAS, Director General, NIRDPR chaired this session. A proposed vision was shared by Prof. Jyothis Satyapalan and former Director Generals of the Institute Shri S. M. Vijayanand, IAS (Retd), Shri Mathew C. Kunnumkal, IAS (Retd) and Dr. W. R. Reddy, IAS (Retd) gave their ideas and suggestions to make NIRDPR more vibrant. The Director General collated the suggestions that emerged and directed the way forward for the visioning of NIRDPR.
Shri Nagendra Nath Sinha, Secretary, MoRD, GoI attended the Foundation Day event virtually and addressed the gathering. He touched upon many issues like the nature of change rural India is experiencing, the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision for eradicating poverty, possibilities of expanding the scope of service providers of rural areas, advantages of NIRDPR as apex networking body with multiple institutes, etc., and wished NIRDPR to be the hub of rural development like the think tank Niti Aayog.
In the post-lunch session, the Rural Management Institutes meet was conducted, wherein 18 institutions physically and virtually participated to discuss the ways and means of collaboration. National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE), National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NAARM), Prof. Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, National Institute for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (ni-msme), Karnataka State Rural Development & Panchayati Raj University, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS Hyderabad), EPTRI, University of Jammu, Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development, Delhi Institute of Rural Development, Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS), Gandhigram University, etc, were the few institutes that attended the meet.
On 24th November, a Foundation Day memorial Lecture was organised. Prof. S. Irudaya Rajan, Founder Chairman, International Institute of Migration and Development (IIMAD), Thiruvananthapuram and also the chair of the KNOMAD (The Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development), World Bank working group on internal migration and urbanisation, delivered a lecture on ‘India’s Demographic Dividend and International Migration.’ Dr. G. Narendra Kumar, IAS, Director General, NIRDPR welcomed the guest and gave the opening remarks. Prof. S. Irudaya Rajan covered the demographic details in reference to growth rates, employment status, internal migrants and international migrants in terms of age distribution giving the reference of National Sample Survey of India in general, and Kerala, in particular. He suggested the role to be played by the Government in origin as well as in destination countries. The session ended with a vote of thanks by Prof. Jyothis Satyapalan.
On 25th November, 2021, the 5th National Film Festival on Rural Development was oragised as part of the 63rd Foundation Day celebrations and Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav initiatives of the Institute. The event organised in collaboration with the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune was held at the Vikas Auditorium on the Institute premises. All the NIRDPR faculty, employees, project staff, participated in the event.
NIRDPR Hosts 5th National Film Festival on Rural Development
The National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR), Rajendranagar, Hyderabad organised the 5th National Film Festival on Rural Development on 25th November, 2021 (Thursday) as part of the 63rd Foundation Day celebrations and Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav initiatives of the Institute. The event organised in collaboration with the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune was held at the Vikas Auditorium on the Institute premises.
Being the apex organisation in the country in imparting training to rural development functionaries, NIRDPR is bound to document the rural masses and encourage initiatives undertaken by filmmakers, documentarians and students. In this regard, the Centre for Development Documentation and Communication (CDC), NIRDPR has been organising the National Film Festival on Rural Development since 2016, as part of the Foundation Day celebrations of the Institute. The event is being organised as a platform to inspire young filmmakers to showcase their talent and promote films based on rural issues and document films on rural development.
The programme on 25th November began with the screening of the movies in the morning session. Along with NIRDPR employees, participants and students attended the screening. At the valedictory ceremony that began at 3 PM, Dr. Akanksha Shukla, Associate Professor & Head (i/c), CDC presented the Concept Note. She said being the apex organisation in the country to impart training to rural development functionaries, NIRDPR is mandated to document the life of rural population for better understanding their issues and ground reality. She added that the event is organised to encourage initiatives undertaken by filmmakers, documentarians and students in bringing rural issues to the fore.
Dr. G. Narendra Kumar, IAS, Director General, NIRDPR chaired the valedictory ceremony and delivered the welcome speech. Sharing his experiences of working in villages as part of his training as an administrative officer, the DG said he had opportunities to witness the issues and risks faced by farmers from close vicinity. “Those instances gave me insights into the difficulties faced by the people and it showed their indomitable spirit to come out of poverty and other problems,” he said. Further, touching upon the experiences of rural immersion, he said the films on rural development have their place in highlighting the challenges and spirit of the population.
“In the 1970s, people thought of television as a luxury. Since then, technology and media have evolved a lot and those changes need to be tapped longitudinally. The stories of changes that have taken place need to be captured without losing the essence,” he said.
The DG further cited the hardships faced by the rural population during the second wave of COVID-19. “People are putting up a brave fight to tide over the challenges and those fights are worth capturing. Considering the change in perspectives observed between generations, greater importance must be given to the narrative to generate effective communication and transmission of messages,” he noted.
Further, the jury members from FTII, Pune Smt. Ganga Mukhi, Shri Milind Damle and Shri Amlan Chakraborty shared their experience about the evaluation of entries received for the 5th edition of the festival.
Stressing on the collaboration of FTII with NIRDPR on such a venture, Shri Milind said it has given an opportunity for the young filmmakers to throw light on issues of rural India.
Shri Amlan said the jury looked at the treatment of subject, the craft of the film and creative use of elements. He said the movies in the fiction category had subject and appeal. Stating that a movie needs to be an experience, he said the films in the non-fiction category had appeal and the elements to inspire viewers, and also havescope for improvement.
Smt. Ganga Mukhi started her comments with the impact of media in shaping the personal and social identities of an individual. She said stories have captivating power and the combination of expertise, equipment and stories both from the urban and rural situations can bring in positive changes.
Dr. G. Narendra Kumar, IAS, Director General, NIRDPR, Shri Shashi Bhushan, ICAS, Deputy Director General (i/c) and Prof. Jyothis Sathyapalan, Head, School of rural Livelihoods presented mementoes to the jury members. Further, the trailers of award-winning movies were screened.
The session was followed by a panel discussion on the topic ‘Poverty Alleviation in Rural India: Role of Media, Challenges and Possibility.’ Prof. Jyothis Sathyapalan introduced the topic and Mr. Rizwan Ahmed, Director, Instructional Media Centre, Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad, Smt. Shruti Patil, IIS, Director (M&C), Press Information Bureau, Hyderabad and Smt. Seema Kumar, Communication for Development Specialist, UNICEF, Hyderabad attended the discussion as panellists. Shri Shashi Bhushan and Prof. Jyothis Sathyapalan welcomed the panellists with mementoes.
Shri Rizwan Ahmed recollected the visit of senior journalist Prannoy Roy to a village in UP during the 2019 general elections and the experiences he confronted during his interaction with a girl. He said the representation of rural issues in Bollywood movies in recent times is negligible and wanted moviemakers to pan their cameras into the real situations in the rural areas.
Smt. Seema Kumar stressed the need for investing in capacity building in human rights-based areas. “We have to bring such initiatives together and work with them and integrate them with social issues like poverty,” she said.
Smt. Shruti Patil emphasised the existence of free media in a democratic country. She cited the instance in China where the media refrained from reporting the huge famine that prevailed in the country for three years due to the absence of free press. “Government brings in so many schemes but the information of such initiates must be disseminated properly. People will not go to media, but media should reach out to the people,” she added.
For the fifth edition of the festival, entries were invited in two categories – (i) Government Schemes on Rural Development (documentary) and (ii) Films under different genres related to Rural Development (fiction).
In total, the organisers received 84 entries from various States/UTs across the country and also abroad. Of this, 44 entries were shortlisted by an internal jury after initial screening. The films that made it into the final round were evaluated by a jury constituted by the FTII faculty members.
The first, second and third prize winners in each category were awarded prize money of Rs.50,000, Rs.25,000 and Rs.15,000, respectively, along with memento and certificate. This apart, three films received best mention from the jury.
The winners in various categories are as follows:
Films under different genres related to Rural Development (fiction):
| Prize | Title of the film | Name of the winner |
| 1 | Gowripuram | PV Avinash Varma |
| 2 | Jugnu (Firefly) | Abhijeet Srivastava |
| 3 | Mahasatta | Vikram Bolegave |
Government Schemes on Rural Development (non-fiction):
| Prize | Title of the film | Name of the winner |
| 1 | Malav | Anupam Shrivastav |
| 2 | Umeed: A Hope | R. K. Sohane |
| 3 | Pragati ke path par | Dr. Kala Iyer |
Special Mention
| Title of the film | Name of the winner |
| Bagaal | Shatrughan Mandal |
| Kabil Bharat | Sathish Kumar |
| Waste Management | Devendra Kumar Chopra |
Online Training Programme on Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Livelihood Models for Rural Communities
The entrepreneurial and livelihood landscape in rural India has undergone significant changes in the past few months due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown. But as we are at the end of 2021, things look much better as compared to 2020. Demand in the economy is improving, the market has begun to respond, transport and logistics have resumed, the disruption in the value chain is improving. With all these changes, back-to-business for firms of all sizes is rapidly expanding. But challenges of 4S, i.e., Start, Survival, Scale-up and Sustainability continue to hunt us, especially in rural areas. The livelihood crisis has been the worst for the individuals at the base of the economic pyramid. Therefore, in addition to sustainability, inclusive businesses that expand access to goods, services, and livelihoods for these individuals are crucial. Towards this, it is important to empower the most vulnerable and individuals at the base of the economic pyramid by reorienting and adapting their inclusive business models and operations. Mainstreaming gender, youth, socially and economically marginalised communities i.e., SCs and STs, differently-abled persons and so on in the broader livelihood and entrepreneurship discourse will be very important at this critical juncture.
To deliberate upon various dimensions of inclusive and sustainable enterprise development, CEDFI and CIAT&SJ jointly conducted a five-day online ToT on Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Livelihood Models for Rural Communities, during 08th – 12th November, 2021. About 85 participants from 22 States and UTs, attended this ToT. The selected participants were faculty members from SIRDs, ETCs, RSETIs, officials and young professionals from SRLM, bankers, CRPs and representatives from NGOs and CSR affiliates and a few faculty members from universities. Following nine sessions were arranged to discuss various dimensions of sustainable rural entrepreneurship and livelihood models: 1) Inclusive and sustainable rural enterprise development: Possibilities and pathways 2) Institutional Architecture and Support System for Entrepreneurship Development 3) Value Chain Analysis: Opportunities and Challenges 4) Entrepreneurship Opportunities through Rural Tourism/Homestay 5) Appropriate Technologies and Livelihood Models: The initiatives at the Rural Technology Park (RTP) 6) Multi-stakeholder Approach to Enabling Sustainable Livelihoods: Leveraging through Rural Internet Connectivity 7) Formulating Business Plan for Sustainable Entrepreneurship Development 8) Creative Manufacturing Collectives and Economic Recovery and 9) Management Principles to Scaling Up. Various enterprise development models and approaches such as CRP driven enterprise promotion, training and capacity development, financial and incubation support etc., were also part of the discussion.
Detailed discussions were carried out on various enterprise promotion schemes and programmes announced both by central and state governments, especially during pandemic times. Knowledge sharing on good practices, cases, successful entrepreneurs were also discussed in each session. To keep participants engaged, due care was taken to conduct each session on an interactive platform and participants were encouraged not only to ask questions but also to share their experiences. Participants’ feedback was collected on Google Forms. Based on the feedback from the participants and resources persons, it may be concluded that the said programme was satisfactory in all respects and the objectives and goals envisaged in the programme were duly realised. The five-day online ToT was jointly coordinated by Dr. Partha Pratim Sahu, Associate Prof., CEDFI and Dr. Ramesh Sakthivel, Associate Prof., CIAT&SJ.
NIRDPR, Delhi Branch Conducts Webinar on Narratives in Public Spending in Low and Middle-Income Countries
Even after decades of public spending and welfare policy, the developmental outcomes of low-and-middle-income countries have not surpassed the targets defined by the sustainable development goal framework. The under-developments and unfreedoms have, in fact, deepened in some sectors and for some outcomes following the public health and economic crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic. For India, the economic, social, demographic challenges manifest their worst forms in the rural areas. In the field of research, development policy, and planning, several questions have remained unanswered, and several questions have newly emerged in the context of these developmental challenges. What are the structural barriers to translating policy and programmes into outcomes? And a fundamental question: where can the public investments concentrate to remove these structural barriers? Even the idea of development is not uncontested. There is a discourse of the development model and how much should the government intervene and who should be covered in the developmental policies in the present context.
To deliberate on some of these questions, the Roundtable Series of NIRDPR-Delhi organised a webinar on Narratives of Public Spending on 24th September, 2021 in virtual mode. The webinar intended to assimilate these contestations under a unified vision and mission of achieving sustainable development. The event was the third of the series called “Evidence-Based Policy and Action Roundtable: Consultations and Dialogues for Holistic Rural Development” which aims to bring existing research, and evidence on the strategic areas of sustainable development and create a synergetic dialogue between institutions and experts working on evidence-based critical research towards policy action and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Webinar started with a presentation made by a three-researcher team from the University of Greenwich, London on the narratives of public spending with a focus on low and middle-income countries. Dr. Tue Ann Nguyen started with the highlights of the research project with regional analyses from Africa, Asia and Latin American countries with case studies of Ghana, Mexico, Armenia and New Delhi.
Among the dominant global narratives, Dr. Weghman argued that there have been long term contestations over the roles of democracy, state and public services in the economy. The narrative has also been shaped by the colonial relationship between wealthier countries of the North and poorer countries of the Global South. She also argued that one of the dominant narratives is that structural adjustments, privatisation and PPPs remain at the core of International Financier Institutions. Dr. Weghman presented the list of board narratives against public spending such as a) austerity, b) small role of the state c) public sector problems d) virtues of private sector and e) there is no alternative. The counter-narratives were identified as a) stimulus and tax corporations against austerity, b) examples of crisis response of state against small role, c) efficiency of public sector and corruption in private sector against the problems and d) municipalization trends against no alternative narrative. Dr. Weghman noted that COVID-19 especially has re-established the superiority of public sector in times of crises.
Dr. Weghman’s talk was followed by Dr. Tue Ann Nguyen who presented the excerpts from her report on IFIs (abbreviation) and narrative shift in COVID-19. Although IFIs such as IMF have made pronouncements since the pandemic, for low and middle-income countries, Dr. Nguyen noted that the major strategy for recovery has been fiscal consolidation. Comparatively, World Bank has called for ‘re-build better’ along with relief, restructuring and resilient recovery along four pillars: a) saving lives, b) protecting the poor and vulnerable; c) ensuring sustainable business growth and d) strengthening policy and institutions in its March 2021 recovery plan called Green Resilient and Inclusive Development (GRID) with a call to mobilise private sector capital where public sector capital would be insufficient.
Prof. David Hall presented the comparative of the public spending narratives in a set of countries starting with Biden’s American Job Plans – where the five distinct narratives are as relevant for the low and middle-income countries as they are for the high-income ones such as multi-sectoral public missions – employment, health care, social care, housing, equality of gender, race – under a Green New Deal and very distinctive plan of higher taxes for rich corporations – the minimal role of partnership with the private. While presenting the New Delhi case he specifically noted how the local public sector initiatives have survived and performed through the pandemic and how the political narrative in Delhi has been tilted in favour of universal public services.
The presentations from the research team from the UK was followed by presentations from Prof. Jyotish Sathyapalan, Head, CWE&L, NIRDPR on the role of MGNREGA in ensuring livelihood among the vulnerable.
Prof. Sathyapalan specifically noted that despite the huge demand of MGNREGA jobs, with the metrics of income poverty there is little correlation – which requires further unpacking of the programme and understanding of where it is most demanded.
The programme was concluded with the talk of Dr Dipa Sinha who presented India’s Right to Food and Food Security case. Dr. Sinha expressed her agreement with the UK team that in times of a crisis, the public sector has shown better performance as, during the pandemic, the major response has come from the public institutions. The popularity of government-run New Delhi community kitchens during lockdowns point out the better outreach and efficiency of the public sector.
The programme was concluded with a round of interactions and a vote of thanks from Dr. Ruchira Bhattacharya, Assistant Prof., CSR, PPP, PA and Training, Research, Consultancy (Delhi Branch) Dr. Partha Pratim Sahu, Associate Prof., CEDFI, NIRDPR.
NIRDPR Conducts Online Review Workshop for SIRDs and ETCs
The Centre for Research Training Coordination and Networking, National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad held an online review workshop for SIRDs and ETCs in three phases.
1st Phase: 27-28th October, 2021: AP, Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, TN and Telangana
2nd Phase: 29-30th October, 2021: Chhattisgarh, Haryana, HP, J&K, Maharashtra, MP, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and UP
3rd Phase: 1-2 November, 2021: Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and West Bengal
The workshop was planned to review the performance and share the experiences of the institutions and their status on fund utilisation. Apart from the review, the annual training calendar of the Institute and SIRDs for the year (2022-23), development of training modules and designs, training materials, programme schedule, etc., were also discussed in the workshop. Finally, the best practices and the various inputs, outcomes from this workshop will be presented in the upcoming national colloquium.
The main objective of the programme was to facilitate the States to develop State training action plan keeping in view the emerging training scenario and the problems in managing capacity building programmes and institutional management. The specific objectives of the workshop were:
- To share training, research, programmes and best practices of SIRDs and ETCs
- To assess the training and capacity building under flagship programmes organised by the institutions
- To review their status on TMP, lay a framework for SIRD grading system, translating of training modules in local languages and the funding support provided by MoRD and MoPR, GoI
- To identify the issues and concerns and options for way forward relating to institution building and activities of the institutions.
Dr. G. Narendra Kumar, IAS, Director General, NIRDPR delivered the introductory remarks and said that SIRDs are extended arms of NIRDPR. “Training at the grassroots is not possible with NIRDPR alone; we can reach across all levels of functionaries in the country with the help of SIRDs. NIRDPR engages SIRDs in the cascading modes through training of trainers, the faculties of SIRDs are trained by NIRDPR and the SIRD faculties, in turn, train the functionaries in the district and sub-district level and so on. All these activities have to be done in a saturation mode in order to efficiently perform the task assigned to them for making the delivery of the RD&PR programmes effective. Another way of capacity building of grassroots functionaries is by sharing well developed training material with the SIRDs and the same can be translated and adapted to the local conditions,” he said and requested SIRDs to take necessary steps in this direction on a war footing basis.
MoRD and NIRDPR have developed a tool called SIRD Grading Framework having various parameters to grade the performance of SIRDs.
The DG also stressed on uploading the training performance on Training Management Portal (TMP) as it is very effectively used in NIRDPR. “All the courses in the Institute are delivered through TMP and SIRDs should take to the training management portal, which can make the feedback system automatic. Course material can be loaded on the TMP and can be available with the participants in real-time. It is mandatory to have the entire training course through Training Management Portal (TMP) by the SIRDs,” he said. “The SIRDs should develop themselves into regional centres of excellence focusing on a few aspects of the knowledge spectrum of rural development and panchayati raj. They, in turn, should be able to deliver good quality research and training to other States in the region. In this journey towards excellence, we will be happy to work with SIRDs to take them forward on to the paths of excellence, the DG said while concluding the address.
During the 2nd Phase of the workshop, Shri Shashi Bhushan, FA&FM & DDG (i/c), NIRDPR gave the introductory remarks. “The participation from SIRDs and ETCs is good and a large number of delegates from SIRDs and ETCs in the cadre of DG, DDG, Directors, Faculty Members and Principals of both SIRD and ETC attended this workshop,” he said and hoped that this workshop would deliver meaningful deliberations.
The programme was coordinated by Dr. M.V. Ravibabu, Associate Professor (CGARD) & in charge of SIRD-ETCs Division, CRTCN and Ms. Zareena Begum, Sr. Project Assistant.
Official Language of Section NIRDPR Conducts Hindi Proficiency Tests
As per the directions of the Rajbhasha Vibhag, Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi and letters received from Hindi Teaching scheme, Kavadiguda, Hyderabad, officials/employees of the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj were nominated for various courses i.e., Prabodh, Praveen, Pragya and Parangath.
National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad was the centre for the exams held from 15th November, 2021 to 18th November, 2021. Officials/employees of NIRDPR attended online classes and exams for above courses as per the approval of the Director General. Officials/employees of other Institutes also appeared for the exams at NIRDPR.
Shri B. Srinivasa Rao, Asst. Registrar(T) and Shri Manoj Kumar, Asst. Registrar(E) opened the sealed covers containing question papers and answer sheets. All norms were duly followed in conducting the above exams. Sealed covers containing question papers and blank answer sheets were opened in front of the candidates and were sealed immediately after the exams. The sealed covers were submitted at the office of Hindi Teaching Scheme, Kavadiguda on the same day.
The conduct of the exams were coordinated by Smt. Anita Pandey, AD(OL) and Shri E. Ramesh and other staff members of the OL section, NIRDPR.
Online Training Programme on Training Methods and Techniques for Faculty of Rural Development Institutes
Centre for Human Resource Development, National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj has organised a five-day Online training programme for Training of Trainers on ‘Training Methods and Techniques for Faculty of Rural Development Institutes’ held during 22nd -26th November, 2021. Keeping in view the prime objective of rural development institutes which are providing training and building capacities for rural development officials and allied departments on need felt subjects so that programmes/schemes can be implemented more effectively, this programme was designed. The need for this programme was also felt at different meetings in NIRDPR, Hyderabad. The objectives of this programme were: (i) to equip the participants to develop the skills on training methods in order to make training programmes effective, (ii) to make the participants develop effective presentation skills and techniques, (iii) to orient the participants on skills including soft skills to be an effective trainer, and (iv) to state the trends in training and capacity building approaches and strategies for rural development
This programme was inaugurated by Dr. R. Murugesan, Professor and Head, CHRD of this Institute, who welcomed all the participants and contextualised the need of this training programme for rural development institutes and made the participants understand the importance of this programme.
A total of 44 participants (30 male and 14 female) attended this programme. These participants were from 14 States (Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand). These faculties were from SIRDs, RIRDs, ETCs, PRTIs, PTCs and DPRC. Participants found this programme very useful and suggested that such kind of programme should be a physical training programme at regular intervals. It was reflected through their feedback that there is improvement in the knowledge (96 per cent), skill (95 per cent) and change in attitude (93 per cent) of the participants after attending this programme. The overall effectiveness of the programme was 87 per cent.
To deliver the sessions, experienced subject matter specialists both from NIRDPR and external resource persons were invited. The faculties invited from other centres of the Institute were Dr. T. Vijaya Kumar, Dr. Rajesh Sinha, Assistant Prof., Centre for Social Audit, Dr. Sonal Mobar Roy, Assistant Prof., Centre for Post Graduate Studies and Distance Education. Dr. R. Ramesh, Associate Prof., and Head, Centre Rural Infrastructure and Shri K. Rajeshwar, Assistant Prof., Centre for Information Communication and Technology. External resource persons included were Dr. G. Jaya, National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management, Hyderabad, Dr. C. S. Singhal, Former Prof., and Head, NIRDPR, Hyderabad.
All the topics and sessions were very much appreciated by the participants, which was clearly evident from the evaluation carried out at the end of the programme. Based on the suggestions and feedback by the trainees, the CHRD is proposing this programme for the year 2022-23.
The participants appreciated CHRD, NIRDPR for designing the programme in such a way that they could refresh and update their knowledge and skills on training methods and techniques which will be useful for them to conduct their training programmes for district-level officials more effectively so that they can implement rural development programmes at the grassroots level in a much more effective manner.
The course coordinator thanked all the faculty members who actively took part in the programme and advised them to implement the training methods and techniques which they learnt here while conducting the training programmes in their respective institutions. This programme was coordinated by Dr. Lakhan Singh, Assistant Professor, Centre for Human Resource Development, NIRDPR, Hyderabad.
NIRDPR Observes Constitution Day
National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad observed the Constitution Day on 26th November, 2021. Also known as Samvidhan Divas, constitution day is celebrated in India remembering the adoption of the Constitution of India. Since 2015, this day is celebrated as Constitution Day to instil these values in the citizens.
Dr. G. Narendra Kumar, IAS, Director General, NIRDPR administered the oath of Constitution Day in English. Later, Shri Shashi Bhushan, ICAS, DDG (i/c) and FA (Director Finance), NIRDPR administered the oath in Hindi. Faculty, staff, participants and students who were present took the oath.
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