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Feature:MDGs in Practice

* R. Govindarajan, Principal, CBOA-DHAN, The Model Community School, Melavellore, Sivagangai District

Reach.. Touch.. and Teach..!

CBOA – DHAN Model Community SchoolBackground:

Education is the universal rightto all the children of school

going age. It has been widelyrecognized and accepted by all thecountries and world levelorganizations. But getting a goodeducation is a dream in many of theremote villages. DHAN Foundationthrough its intensive work ofimparting quality education to thepoor and disadvantaged students inTamil Nadu, had come up with anidea of initiating a ‘Modelcommunity school’ which willprovide quality education for thestudents in the rural areas with themedium of instruction in English.

Emergence of model Community

School:

Gangai Federation a Self Help ofGroup of DHAN Foundation isconsulted to implement thiseducation programme since the areain which Gangai Federation worksis well known for farming and handweaving. This federation is workingwith many economically poor peopleespecially in remote rural villages. Atthe same time Canara Bank Officers’Association (CBOA) also had a longtime desire of starting a school toimpart quality education tounaffordable people. Their motive isto serve for the poor community inthe field of education. They alreadypurchased a land of three acres in avery remote village calledMelavellore, Sivaganga district.DHAN’s idea, Gangai Federation’sSupport and the Canara Bank

Officer’s Associations’ desire, all thethree come into a line of action. Allthe three joined their hands for agood cause and started working forit. The location of the school is veryremote and highly potential areawhere nearly 650 school goingchildren in the age of 3 to 12, andthere is no English medium schoolwithin the radius of 10 kilometersexcept the government schools.CBOA is ready to give the land forthe use of starting the school withthe acceptance that all the othertechnical support and administrativeaspects in running the school will bedone by DHAN Foundation. GangaiFederation is ready to start a schoolin their administrative area. Afterspeaking with the federation leaders,the education team started workingon how the school is going to beinitiated. They contributed theirsavings to have a temporary schoolbuilding.

The school is situated inMelavellore, a very remote villagewhich is educationally andeconomically backward. The areahave very less transport facility withmorning one bus service, afternoontwo bus services, and one in theevening to that village. The school iscatering the educational need not onlyto this village but also to 16 nearbyvillages of the same category. Theschool has van facility to bring thechildren from their house and dropthem back in the evening withmaximum care.

CBOA – DHAN Nursery and Primary

School:

DHAN Foundation formed anEducation committee headed byMr. Ramkumar, Programme Leader,Mr. Raghavan, an educationalconsultant, and teachers the front

R. Govindarajan*

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runners in the field of education toimplement the programme. A modelcommunity school with the name“CBOA – DHAN Nursery andPrimary School” concept initiated toserve in the field of education.

One side the technical part ofstarting a school was going on andon the other side physical progressof school building work wasinitiated. The federation leaders andthe associates joined their hands andcome forward to advertise about thenew school in and around thevillages. First they started with thevillage where the school is located.A boy named “Selva Kumar” is thefirst admission for LKG atMelavellore Village, son of a poorcoolie man and the mother goes forfarming work. It was decided togive preference to the federationmembers to get the qualityeducation. Federation members inthe area also had a desire of sendingtheir children to the federationinitiated school. CBOA officials andDHANites were involved in theadvertising process and increaseadmission children for school.

Millennium Development Goal in

DHAN’s Education Programme:

DHAN Foundation’s new civicinitiative in the field of education is“CBOA – DHAN Model CommunitySchool”. With a view to sustainingthe overall development byeradicating poverty in differentdimensions in the global countries,all the member countries designed 8development goals along with 18time-bound targets and 48 indicatorsfor measuring the progress. Out of18 targets with a view to attainingthe goal of universal primaryeducation, the enrolment rate shouldbe increased to 100 per cent and thedrop out rate to be wiped out by2015.

Significance of model community

school:

The school would be viewed asembedded part of the community. Acontinuous, mutually supportiveschool – community interaction /dialogue is practiced. The processesof micro-planning and communitymobilization are planed by thefederation to strengthen the school-community link. Formation of

bodies such as Community – schoolforum in villages have createdfederation ownership which in futurewould metamorphosis intocommunity ownership of the schooland generate community support forit. Attempts to strengthen the schoolas an institution would beaccompanied by parallel changes inthe existing structure. Appropriatechanges would therefore be made atthe system to be responsive to theneeds of the school, have respect forthe autonomy of the school, and playa supportive rather than punitive role.

Our Educational Policies:

Following are some of the ideasrelated to our educational policiesbeing evolved and followed:

School as a planning unit:School would be strengthened as aninstitution in order to make it trulyeffective. The school shall be a fullfledged institutional entity with itsown goals and not a mere recipientof orders from “the above”.Consequently, planning andmanagement at the level of schoolwould be encouraged.

Decentralization ofEducational Administration :DHAN Foundation endeavors todecentralize the educational systemin such a way that it empowers thestakeholders and local bodies. Ingeneral, the participation of parents,communities and grass root levellocal bodies is encouraged throughformation of Parent TeacherAssociation.

Quality in delivery of primaryeducation: The emphasis is now onimproving quality of educationimparted in the schools. Improvedand child-friendly text books were

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prepared, teaching and learningmaterials were prepared, actionresearch by the teachers are doneregularly to identify the hard-spotsin learning, improving the system oflesson-transaction within the classroom. The teachers are exposed tothe process of change, revival andrenewal. Solutions are arrivedimmediately. The school is the focalpoint providing the requisite growthenvironment not only for thestudents but also for the teachers.

Introduction of English:English is introduced as a subject andmedium of instruction to prepare thechildren to face the challengesthrown up by the changingenvironment. The existing staff aretrained and oriented to shoulder thisnew responsibility. This endeavouris encouraged through multi-gradeteaching under situations where thereis a paucity of teachers.

Capacity Building of teachers:Besides in-service training, inductionand in-school training are providedon regular basis. Trainings aremostly need-prompted and based onfeedback received from the schools.The talents and attitudes of teacherswould be collated to promote theirinherent talents through training. Thewhole approach is to train theteachers and manpowerdevelopment is motivated, inspiredand participative.

Community mobilisation andsupport: Community mobilization isnot confined to merely admittingtheir children at the village level.They are a part of inspectoral/supervisory level in theadministrative hierarchy of CBOA-DHAN School. The community isfully involved in all issues relating to

developing the school plan for thevillage, understanding the problemsof the girl child as well as issues ofretention and repetition in the schoolin their village, providing health andnutrition support which is a form oflearning preparedness for thechildren in the village. The ParentsTeacher Association provides thewindow between the schools and thecommunity. Recognizing the rolethat women can play in the educationof their children, mother- teacherassociations would be encouraged inaddition to PTAs.

Monitoring and Evaluation:Collection of data is done on acontinuing basis at the grass-rootlevel. This enables to have a varietyof informed choices beforeembarking upon any policy initiativesin CBOA-DHAN school.

Nearly 80 students from variousvillages are admitted because of thecontinuous effort of all viz., CBOAofficials, DHAN staffs and thefederation members.

Syllabus design and finalization:

In our school it was decided tohave a syllabus which is differentfrom usually followed books in allthe matriculations schools. Syllabuswas developed by education expertsin such a way the content is relevantto the student’s situation.

While designing books thefollowing are kept in mind:

Familiar words.Easy to pronounce.From student’s life situations(E.g., Cat, Ball, Van, etc.)Maximum three letter words.With mono syllable or bi syllabicwords.

Phonics used to teach English asa subject: for example to read theword ‘cat’ the syllable taught is “c”to pronounce as “ic” and “at” as “at”ic + at = cat.

Tamil a vernacular language isalso taught in our school. For thatbook was designed from a child’sown situation. Mostly two letter orthree letter words with apt picturesprinted in books for easy learning.

School development:

Children from the villagesMelavellore, Ambalathadi, Kattamankottai and other nearby villages areenrolled in our school. We had 23children during our inauguration andthe strength of the school slowlyincreased to 48 at the end of the yeardue to the nominal fee structure andthe quality of education providedthrough innovative method ofteaching.

Out of 48 children we had 50 %of them are from Kalanjiam Family,30% are from poorest of the poor,10 % are from daily labors remaining10 % are from other categories.Slowly the strength increased to 80in numbers during the next academicyear (2009 – 2010). At the same

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time curriculum development alsohad taken place for the children tohave more exposure. Every weekteachers sat together and discussedthe plus and minus of the presentsyllabus and explored the means toimprove it. Constant observation onchildren gave more idea in enhancingthe syllabus. In our school we haveextra curricular activities for thechildren to develop their interest indrawing, coloring, art from waste,etc. Evening last period is utilizedfor exercises, running practice, ballgames, and so on. Children arecoming from various villages withthe help of our van.

Our approach in Teaching:

Parent’s expectation is their childgoing to school must talk in English,must recite A,B,C,D,; One, Two,Three, etc. and write alphabets andnumerals. Hence we came out of theconventional way of teaching andlearning process which believes inrot memory and thrustinginformation. We evolved our ownmethods of education which is childfriendly and easily grasping andretaining it forever.

The methods we adopted are:Teachers sit along with thechildren while teaching.Pleasing approach.

know the value of each number andthe number is incorporated well inthe mind. By counting and repeatedactivities children are able to learnnumbers quickly and keep it in mindforever.

Specially drawn charts are usedfor teaching fruits and vegetables.When the children see vegetablesand fruits they observe the color andname of a vegetable from theirmother. We draw chart showing afruit shop or vegetable shop, fromthat chart we teach them vegetablesand fruits.

To teach vehicles we draw achart of road showing many vehiclesand show children various vehicles.There is a plan of taking their familyphoto to teach them “My Family”concept. Everything with the help ofa picture and word help the child incapture the idea behind. Colorfulpicture captures the attention of thechild and helps in registering theword in mind. Beyond all thesethings due to our climatic conditionprevailing in our country, we told thechildren not to wear shoes, socks,belt and tie. We believe that theuniform dress is to remove theeconomic inequality which mayemotionally disturb the children. Sothe children of CBOA – DHAN wearuniform dress and nothing more. Weare trying to avoid usage of slate andchalk as a healthy measure. As thechildren have the tendency of eatingchalk piece which is made up of limepowder. (“kuchhi” in Tamil). Eachand every thing we do is for thebenefit of the children.

Impacts created:

Through our model communityschool we created the followingimpacts:

Positive reinforcement (You cando, do it, well, good, very goodand etc.,)Teacher – children relationshipis strengthened as we giveattention on individual child, toimprove their individuality.No corporal punishment.No imposition.No stress on writing.Oral communication isencouraged.We emphasis on understandingthe concepts rather than writingor reciting.Activities are used to teachMathematics.

Life Based teaching and learningis going on in our school. Every lifesituation is converted into lessons.In books designed by us have onlywords and pictures which are veryfamiliar to them in day to day life.

Our teaching method:

In Mathematics we teachnumerals. For teaching numbers wehave numbers and counting together.First we teach numbers from 1 to5, next to know the value of eachnumber, children are given somecards, beads, lunch bags, books,chairs and things which are availablein their class room (around them).By counting activity they come to

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Children are using more wordsand reading the alphabets in KGlevel itself.More confidence in dealing withnumbers instead if rot memory.Nominal fee structure which iseven affordable in installments.Community participation inschool decision makingprocess.Parent’s active participation inParent Teachers Association.CBOA-DHAN school providesa meaningful education to thechildren.Our teaching method gives astrong base to develop a childinto a holistic development inlearning.

Mr. Santhana Murugan, a Parent of

Balakumar says,

I am working in a hotel as serverand my family is living inThiruppuvanam, a village nearMadurai. I have two sons both werestudying in a school near our home.For both my kids I had to pay schoolfees, every year I had to spendmoney for stitching uniform andspend separately for buying books.I had to spend Rs.20,000 foreducation and transportationexpenses.

I came to know from neighborand my wife’s friend that Kalanjiamproposed school started by DHANFoundation is situated in a remotevillage called Melavellore, 10kilometers away from my house. Ithought the school would chargemore, but out of curiosity, I enquiredabout the school and fee structure.It was a pleasant surprise to me tohear the school uniform was muchless than the previous school. Idecided to change the school and

enrolled my son in CBOA-DHANschool. My wife told me not tocompromise with the quality ofeducation for the reduced fee. But Iconvinced my wife by saying thingsfrom DHAN Foundation are knownfor its outstanding quality andadmitted my children in CBOA-DHAN school. I paid the feesincluding school fees, books, notebooks and two sets of uniform. Myexpenditure came down to half ofmy previous expenses. I am veryhappy about my kids’ performancein education when compared to theprevious school. Here my childrenfeel very free to move with theteachers, all the subjects are taughtwith activity based works. I am verymuch satisfied with the school andlearning process at school.

The student of our school, Madhavan

says:

I love this school because hereno teacher in our school is stressingon doing repeated work of writingwhich I hate. Once I know to writethen why I have to do that again andagain. I enjoy being here, after theprayer we sing rhymes together andlearn many things by doing. Next to

rhymes our teachers use to teachsubject with the help of pictures andthrough stories. Very less writtenwork and more on oralcommunication skill is the specialtyof our school. Activities on subjectsgive us more information on whatwe study makes learning interesting.

Ms. Muniamma, mother of a KG Kid

Master Karuppusamy says,

I am the member of GangaiVattara Kalanjiam, a federation,promoted by DHAN Foundation. Icame to know about the school frommy group members. I admitted mychild in this school. When otherchildren near to my house are readingonly alphabets in Tamil and Englishmy child is capable of reading wordsapart from reciting and writingalphabets in Tamil and English. I amvery happy when he sings rhymesonce after he comes from school.Every day he comes with newinformation and activities to do.Beyond all these the fee structure isaffordable to me. As I am a housewife and my husband is constructionlabourer earning meager amount assalary on daily basis.

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The child (KG Kid Master

Karuppusamy) says,

I am very happy to go to schoolevery day. My teachers teach rhymesevery day. She is sitting with me andI am learning. They are very kind tome even if I do some mischief. I cansing, recite, read many words andwrite. We have lot of picture cards,charts to learn lessons, small booksto learn and tiny chairs to sit, I likeevery thing here.

Our teachers say:

We all have finished a Diplomain Teacher Training to teach smallerkids, but the method we teach hereis not the conventional one withblack board. This method reducesthe distance between the teacher andthe student. We enjoy teaching withthis method of ‘Life Oriented ActivityBased Learning’ which gives us adifferent idea to teach subject in sucha way that a child can understand.We sit and analyze the level of thestudent and start teaching from theirindividual level. Teachers’ views are

also given importance in finalizingthe syllabus where in other schoolswe have to teach what themanagement says. Here we have thefreedom in conducting the classes.We are given importance in alleducation related aspects, we arerecognized for our work, we havefreedom to share and the give ourideas more than all these things welove this work environment becauseof the family atmosphere.

The Principal Says:

We have started this school toserve for the poorest of the poor byproviding better education. Weprovide foundation for life of thechildren. Self confidence is improvedand the child is capable of facing thechanging trends and situations in thesociety. The learning experienceswhat we give in our school is verymuch related to the child’s every daylife situations. We are cautious in ourteaching not to miss any of thecurriculums of the other schools.The difference we create remains in

the method of education and the waychildren react to the changing trends.We take more attention to make theteachings lively and attached to thechild’s own environment. Teachersare kind and affectionate to children.We believe that we can bring nochange through repeated writing andheavy home works. Instead webelieve in activities and individualattention will give us success. Wedeal each child with a differentapproach.

The important humanisticprinciple behind our school is “First,Understand the child then teachhim”. The education must be childcentered not the teacher centered.So a teacher must reach, touch andteach the child. According to thehumanistic approach we shouldknow our students, their interests,personality, capabilities, attitude,aptitude, potentials, level ofaspiration his social, emotional,intellectual aesthetic developmentand mental health and should plan,use teaching method accordingly.

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Sustainable Agriculture

Returning to Nature

Philosophy and Practice of Zero Budget Natural Farming

S. Sathyanand*

One in three people in Indiais a farmer with farming as

their only source of livelihood. It isobvious that the key to economicgrowth lays in the growth ofagriculture. Particularly, to revive thevibrancy of the rural economy, andto ensure rural development, ‘naturalfarming’ can show us the way.

DHAN Foundation has beenworking for more than a decadetowards development of the poorfarmers by enhancing theirlivelihoods. The Foundation hasadopted various strategies inachieving it. One among the strategyadopted is the introduction of ‘ZeroBudget Natural Farming’ (ZBNF)method among the farmers. Mr.Subhash Palekar, the proponent ofthis method, a farmer and also anagriculture graduate, has beentouring the nation in motivating thefarmers and demonstrating asustainable and viable method offarming system. In fact, he says itrequires zero cost, thereby aptlynaming it ‘ZBNF’. He hadexperimented in his own farm of 25acres for the past three decade. Nowhe is taking this farming method tonook and corner of the nation.

DHAN Foundation’s RainfedFarming Development Programmein Nattarampalli facilitated farmersin taking up this ZBNF by givingthem training to Subhash Palekar’sseminar and exposure visits to

progressive natural farmers inKarnataka and Tamil Nadu.Following this, around 200 farmershave taken up this farming methodand had realized the benefits.

This article gives a preliminaryintroduction to this method offarming, and narrates the underlyingphilosophy so as to helpprofessionals in DHAN to experimentwith this method of farming in theirlocation.

Depletion of Soil Fertilitydepletion and Shortage in supply ofChemical fertilizers

It was in the 1970s that ‘GreenRevolution’ (GR) came about withthe sole aim of increasing theagricultural productivity. It was thetime of mass hunger and starvation,and India was in short supply of food

grains, which it has to import fromother countries.

As the scientists and otherspromised, the GR brought aboutfood self-sufficiency to India. Itstwo main weapons were ‘chemicalfertilizers’ and ‘hybrid variety ofseeds’. It has been 30-40 years sincethe chemical method of farming wasadopted, and only now we arewitnessing the aftermath effects ofadopting them. It is to be noted thatthese chemical fertilizers aremanufactured from petroleum bye-products and they are basically salt.When we put these salts in the land,though they seem to enrich the soil,these are actually killing the soil. Itis a common practice to add saltduring the pickle making process.Salt preserves the pickles bypreventing the growth of

* S. Sathyanand, Project Executive, Centre for Development Communication, DHAN Foundation, Madurai

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microorganisms. The same thinghappens when we apply chemicalfertilizers in the land. The growth ofmicroorganisms, which is the keyto soil fertility, is arrested with theaddition of chemical fertilisers. It alsoresults in increasing salinity of thesoil, and reduced soil fertility. Anyfarmers will vouch to this fact.Another big problem faced by thefarmers is the shortage in supply ofthese fertilizers, resulting inescalation of their price. As chemicalfertilizers are from petroleum originand there is increasing demand ofthese products. Consequently, theprice of chemical fertilizers madefrom petroleum is also seeing ashortage in supply and henceincrease in price.

There are mounting scientificevidences proving the ill-effects ofchemical fertilizers on the farmersand the consumers, alike. Cases ofsevere harmful effects are in raisingtoll, it ranges from simple skinallergies, respiratory irregularities,cancer and even death is recordeddue to prolonged use of agriculturalchemicals (includes fertilizers,pesticides and insecticides).Countries like US, UK, France,

Australia, Germany, which wereproponents of these chemicals arefast changing their tracks to organicfarming. They have banned the usageof many of these agriculturalchemicals. Ironically, thesechemicals are still in use today incountries like India. It is necessarythat an agriculture-dependentcountry like India should open itseyes to the fast-changing realities.

A Tradition of Natural Farming

It is at this moment of that manyexperts and progressive naturalfarmers are showing the rest ofworld a way of hope. Particularly,the natural farming method ofSubash Palekar has been showingpromising results as evident from thecases of farmers in Nattarampalli. Hismethod very much applies toresource-poor farmers requiringminimum, if not zero cost. India hasrich tradition of natural farmingmethod, for it has been the onlymethod of farming.

It has been tradition among ourIndian farming communities topractice sheep/goat and cattlepenning before the beginning of thecrop season. The sheep, goats orcattle are fenced in particular spoton the land overnight for two orthree days. The dung and urine ofthe livestock herd during the stayenriches the soil, helps the growthof microorganisms and earthworms,thereby enhancing the soil fertility.These methods are still in practiceamong the tribal farmers in remotetribal tracts of Jawadhu hills inPudurnadu, also in other traditionalfarming communities. Moreover, theusage of local variety of seeds hadlong since evolved and inherited astrong immunity to the local pests

and diseases. Highly priced hybridseeds lack immunity which forcesthe use of highly hazardouspesticides and insecticides. All thesefactors increase the cost ofcultivation.

The best example of a naturalsystem is a forest, independent ofany human interventions. The naturalcycle is so perfectly balanced thatthe system requires no externalchemicals or anything of that sortto ensure its survival. For example,the root absorbs nutrients deep withinthe soil thereby it grows with newbranches and leaves. The olderripened leaves and branches fallwithin the canopy of the trees, andthey decay and decompose,becoming ‘soil’ which is againabsorbed by the trees for theirgrowth and the process continues.No one can question about theproductivity given the forest’slushness. The Zero Budget NaturalSystem hopes to revive the naturalsystem in the agricultural lands byexactly mimicking the forest system.

Four Chakhras of the ZBNF

For creating a natural and highlyproductive system in agriculturefield, the ZBNF requires the smoothfunctioning of the four chakhras. Thefarmer should ensure all these fourchakhras are followed to realizecomplete benefit from this system.The four chakhras are 1. Bijamrita,2.Jiwamrita, 3.Mulching, and4.Water Management. The details ofthese chakhras are given below.

1. Bijamrita

The potency of seed that wasejected by a bird that had a fruit forits supper is so well known. When

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the seed passes through the digestivetract of the bird, the seed is well-treated removing any kind of insectsand pests. Bijamrita helps in treatingthe seed in similar manner.

The seeds are dipped inside theBijamitra solution, and then are readyof use. By this, the eggs and larvaeof any insects or pests, spores ofinfectious fungi are completelydestroyed, and further adds rigor tohelp the seeds grow well.

2. Jiwamrita

To increase the yield, the fertilityof the soil should be enhanced.Similarly, to increase the soil fertility,the microbial population and thenumber of earthworms in the soilneeds to be increased. The chemicalfertilizers inhibit the growth ofmicroorganisms, and kill theearthworms. In order to increase thenumber of microorganisms and theearthworms, cow dung and urine areused. Hence the age old penningpractice is encouraged.

The cow dung provides anambient condition for themultiplication of beneficialmicroorganisms, bacteria and fungi,necessary for the enhancing soilfertility. At the same time, the cowdung can stimulate and attract theearthworms which usually are at adepth of 12 feet underground. Whenone lifts the cow dung, one could

see small pin-sized holes made in theland; this is evidence of visitors fromthe earth below attracted by the smellof the cow dung. The earthworms,reaching the soil surface, convert theorganic matter on the surface intoreadily available nutrients for thesoil. The availability of food meansincreasing earthworm population,and their continuous boring in thesoil, helps in soil aeration.

Due to the decreasing populationof livestock and the resourceconstraints, it is impossible tomanure the entire land with cowdung. This is where ‘Jiwamrita’comes in handy. The Jiwamrita isbasically a concentrated microbialculture prepared from the cowdung. Applying Jiwamrita throughthe irrigation water is nothing but theprocess of inoculating the land withthis culture. This triggers the growthof microorganisms and helpincrease the number of earthworms.

Jiwamrita must be supplied oncein 15 days in case of short durationcrops, and once in 20 days for othercrops.

Preparation of BijamritaIngredients:

Take 20 liters of water, 5 Kg local cow dung, 5 liters of local cow urine,50 gram Lime and handful of soil from the bund of the farm.

Method:

Take 5 Kg local cow dung in a cloth and bind it by tape. Hang this in the20 litres of water for 12 hours.

Take one liter water and add 50 gm lime in it, let it stable for a night.

Then next morning, squeeze this bundle of the cow dung in that waterthrice continuously, so that all essence of cow dung will dissolveuniformly in that water.

Then add a handful of soil in that water solution and stir it well.

Then add 5 litres of deshi cow urine or human urine in that solution andadd the lime water and stir it well.

Now Bijamrita is ready to treat the seeds.

Preparation of Jiwamrita

To prepare Jiwamrita for an acre, the following items will be needed.Cow dung (from desi cow) – 10 kgCow urine – 10 litresPulses flour (black/ green/ red/ Bengal gram) – 2 kg (suppliesprotein for microbial growth)Cane sugar – 2 kg (or) pieces of stem of Sweet sorghum – 10kg(or) Tender coconut water – 2 (supplies carbohydrates formicrobial growth)Handful of soil from the bund (source of local microbial population)

The above said materials should be mixed well with 200 litres ofwater, and kept for two days. On the third day, the Jiwamrita can bemixed with the irrigation water and supplied to the entire field. It isnecessary that the solution be mixed well three times in the morning,noon and evening in the clockwise direction during the two days.

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3. Mulching

Mixed cropping pattern is ourtraditional method of farming. Thisis a natural law existence in nature.If we classify the plant kingdom,20% of species belongs to dicots,and other 80% belongs to monocot.But when we look at the plantpopulation in a natural system likeforest, 80% of the populationbelongs to dicots, while the monocotoccupies only 20%. It is traditionalpractice among farmers to growcereal crops (monocot) like ragi,cumbu, sorghum, maize, rainfedpaddy, millets, with pulses (dicot)like red, green, black or Bengal gramas intercrops. This practice is intandem with the natural law. Why isthis so? And what is its importance?The dicots belong to Leguminaceaefamily of plants, which have thespecial property of fixing freeatmospheric Nitrogen in the soil insymbiotic association with bacterianamed Rhizobium present in theirroot nodules. This helps increase thesoil fertility, thereby completingavoiding the necessity of externalinputs like chemical fertilisers. Again,our forefathers are wise enough torecognize this natural law, andthereby adopt it in their own fields,maintaining a fertility balance in thesoil. Few other plants apart frompulses also have the capacity to fixnitrogen like Moringa (drumstick),Sesbania, Dianchia, Glyricidia.

These plants can be grown asintercrops in horticulturalplantations.

There are two different types ofmulching, first is live mulchingmeaning the cultivation ofappropriate intercrops between therows of the main crop. The secondone is dry mulching. In this methodof mulching, dry twigs and leavesare spread in between the crops,mimicking the forest system, wherethe nutrient cycle is pretty muchstays within the system, anddoesn’t leave the land. Onapplication of Jiwamrita, the leavesand twigs get decomposed addingfertility to the soil. There is oneother use in practicing mulching.With soil surface completelycovered with intercrops and mulch,the sunlight is optimally absorbedby the canopy itself, and little or nolight falls on the soil directly. Thishelps maintain a microclimate withdense humidity in the air andmoisture retained in the soil, whichin turn reduces the external waterrequirement to a bare minimum.The rainwater thus pours isabsorbed by the mulch, and isstored by it.

4. Water Management

Last component in ZBNF isproper water managementtechniques. The usual practice of

flood irrigation method requires hugeamount of water, and most of it isalso wasted. ZBNF proposes analternative method of irrigation andwater management requiring one-tenth of the conventional irrigationmethod. It is based on two importantprinciples in the natural system.

‘A plant or a tree doesn’t actuallydrink water, as we humans do, itabsorbs only water vapours throughits tiny root hairs are its mouth. Also,these root hairs are present at the endof its roots just below the end of thetree canopy (figure). So it is notnecessary to give water to foot of atree, but rather at the edges of thetree canopy is very well suffice. Thisis the first principle. The secondprinciple says, ‘in order to get a goodyield, there should be good growthof the shoot system; to get a goodgrowth of shoot system, there shouldbe good height of the shoot system;to get a good height of the shootsystem, there should be good growthof the root system; and to get a goodgrowth of the root system, thereshould be good length of the rootsystem. So, in order to get a goodyield, farmers just need to facilitatethe lengthening of the root system.

How could this be done? It is nowthat we understood it is the root hairspresent at the edges of the rootsystem that absorb water, not theroots present at the foot of the tree.So, a triangular trench 3x1.5 feetshould be dug out a feet away fromthe edges of the canopy, and theirrigation water could be suppliedthrough these trenches. The roothairs will starts to grow towards thewater, increasing the spread of theroot system, and therefore, the treewill grow well.

If farmers practice this method ofirrigation, just one-tenth of the waterwill be required as in the conventionalsystem.

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Perspective

Mainstreaming Development Paradigm

M.P. Vasimalai*

1. Preamble

The December 2004 Tsunamiwas an opportunity for

DHAN Foundation to initiate theprocess of development in thecoastal context. The process ofrelief, restoration and rehabilitationwas done with difference. Thedifference is that it was planned andimplemented by and through thecommunity and communityorganisations leading to quickrecovery, restoration and sustenanceof livelihoods of the coastalcommunity. In simple terms, it couldbe termed as Development in FastTrack. The experiences gainedthrough the programme reiteratesthe point that post disaster recoveryhas to be planned as long termdevelopment programme in-order tobuild a resilient society; through theshort term interventions the statusquo can only be restored but it isnot possible to address the risks andvulnerabilities holistically. The posttsunami programme of DHAN –Enabling Livelihood Restoration –is a typical model of evolving a longterm development programmestarting with post disaster recovery.This paper highlights the modeladopted, families reached and impactcreated by DHAN in the coastalareas.

2. Community Driven Model -

Disaster Recovery to Long Term

Development

With years of experience incoastal areas (Gulf of Mannar under

the UNDP GEF funded project)DHAN had a thorough knowledgeon the risks and vulnerabilities of thecoastal communities. It believed thatsustainable development in coastalareas can only be achieved byorganising the unorganised coastalcommunity, enabling them forentitlements and facilitate for a betteraccess to mainstream resources.Hence post tsunami, DHAN adopteda community driven approach. Theprime focus in its approach wasorganising the affected communitiesas institutions at three distinct levelsof hamlet/village, panchayat andblock and build their capacity toaddress their development needs.The federations that are promotedat the block level collaborate with theother development agencies tomobilise resources and other servicesfor its members. The approach ofDHAN was that of facilitation so thatthe communities could preparethemselves for the long-term

reconstruction with enablingprocess. The initiatives in thedisaster-affected areas were taken inthree distinct yet overlapping phases.

Phase I: Strengthening andsupporting relief operations (3months)Phase II: RestoringLivelihoods through collectiveaction ( 2 years)Phase III: Building self-reliance and Coastal ResourceConservation and Management(5 – 6 years)

The first phase of 3 monthsfocused on filling the gaps in relief,reaching the un-reached, and tocover the vulnerable and marginalsections in the relief net. Thecommunities were involved inensuring equity in relief distribution.Innovative methods of householdcard were distributed to avoidconfusion and duplication.

* M.P. Vasimalai, Executive Director, DHAN Foundation, Madurai.

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Renovation of livelihoodinfrastructure such as water bodies,drainage channels, boat repair etc.,were taken as part of food for workprogramme in the relief phase itself.DHAN adopted the followingapproach in its relief phase:

Immediate relief in the 290affected villages identifiedIdentifying and intervening inthe villages which are notsupported / reached by otherNGOsFilling the gaps in reliefinterventions in all the villagesField level assessment ondamages with the support ofprofessionalsParticipation of the communitywhile assessing the damage

Convergence with otherinstitutions for implementingthe relief activitiesInvolving the communityleaders in serving thecommunityIdentification of the affectedpeople with the support of localcommunityInvolving community in thepurchase and distribution ofrelief materialsAvoiding duplication in theexecution of relief

In the second phase (2005 - 07),the focus was on organising thecommunity and restoring livelihoodsthrough the people institutions. Thevulnerable and marginal sections in

the coastal areas were given anexclusive focus. The interventionalso had special focus on the womenin coastal areas and thematicinstitutions for the development ofwomen were evolved. Theprogramme resulted in organising70,113 poor families in 330 coastalvillages into 4049 primary levelpeople institutions.

The third phase starts withstabilising the interventions made sofar in the coastal areas during whichall the planned programmeinterventions are in place and theorganised people institutions (41federations) equip themselves torestore, conserve and manage thecoastal natural resources.

DHAN’s Community Driven Model for Post Tsunami Recovery

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3. Sectoral focus

The community in the coastalareas are involved in a variety oflivelihood activities that includemarine and backwater fishing,coastal agriculture, salt pan, sea shelland chunk collection, palm basedactivity etc., The risks andvulnerabilities of these communitiesalso vary widely. To address theissues in each of these sectorsDHAN promoted exclusive peopleinstitutions in the coastal areas. Thusthe women in coastal areas wereorganised as Kalanjiams (WomenSHG’s), the marine and backwaterfishers as Meenavar (fisheries)Kalanjiams (men SHG) and the menand women of coastal agriculturetogether as Vayalagam SHG. Thishelped in prioritising and addressingthe livelihood issues exclusively butcollectively. So far, DHAN was ableto organise 31,044 women asKalanjiams, 26,230 fisher folks asMeenavar Kalaniams and 12,839men and women asVayalagams(farming).

Fisheries: In fisheries sector thefocus was on traditional fishers whoare involved in fishing using countrycrafts. DHAN made exclusive focusto include the backwater andbackwater channel fishingcommunities most of whom comeunder the economically weakersection category. In view of thedwindling near shore fish stocks inthe country DHAN decided not toprovide new boats but to repair /replace the existing ones. The asset

less were provided with alternatelivelihood options like inland freshwater fishing, ornamental fishstocking and trading, mud crabculture etc., Mainstreaming thecommunities with banks helped inreducing their vulnerability to localmoney lenders (exorbitant interestrates). In addition, DHAN alsofacilitated better access to marketsby organising the fisher folks asKalanjia Meenavar Sangam. AboutRs. 70 Millions worth of businesstransactions were facilitatedbetween the fishers and fish markets.

Coastal Agriculture: Thecoastal agriculture sector is uniquebut one of the neglected sectors bythe mainstream. It is infested withdeclining productivity, slow rate oftechnology transfer, increasing soilsalinity, exploitative agricultureproduce marketing. Adding to thewoes are the frequent drought andfloods that jeopardize the livelihoodsof the farming community. Theinvasion of marine soil on theagriculture fields still aggravated thesituation. DHAN was one among thefirst to respond to this sector andbrought in state of the technologies

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(Wageningen University) to grassroots in reclaiming the affectedfields. The farmers were exposedand trained on the latest farmingtechniques through the extensioncenters – Coastal Agricultureresource Centre. The organisedcommunities were facilitated forbetter market linkages for seed andfertilizer procurement and also inmarketing their agriculture produce.More than 300 tonnes worthagriculture produce have beenhandled by the communityorganisations so far.

Marginal Communities : Inaddition to fishers and farmers thereis a wide spectrum of livelihoodactivities in which the coastalcommunities were involved whichincludes salt pan, backwater /backwater channel fishing, sea shelland chunk collectors, palm basedactivities etc., The interventionreached such communities also andtheir needs with respect to livelihoodrestoration and strengthening havealso been addressed through theenabling model. More than 40% ofthe total beneficiaries covered under

the programme will fall under thiscategory.

4. Transition – Livelihood

restoration to sustenance

Three years post tsunami, DHANwas able to organise the community,build institutions, restore andstrengthen their livelihoods. In orderto sustain the livelihoods it isimperative to conserve and managethe coastal resources in an effective

way. DHAN is of firm belief that thecoastal natural resources can beeffectively managed by thecommunity through the peopleinstitutions and through cooperationand partnerships. Its experience increating such systems in theVayalagam programme has been veryeffective, time tested and foundsuccessful. The community drivenmodel evolved by DHAN foreffective management for naturalresources (small scale water bodies)hinterland provides the basis forimplementing similar systems incoastal areas also. It is proposed tointegrate the existing institutions atthe hamlet level and evolve exclusiveinstitutions to focus on restoration,conservation and management ofcoastal natural resources. Thecommunity institutions would befacilitated by DHAN to mobiliseresources internally and frommainstream to effectively managethe resources. In a period of 5 – 6years, DHAN has planned to evolvea coastal community resourcemanagement system.

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5. Initiatives in mainstreaming

Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)

In the process of livelihoodrestoration DHAN mainstreamed theconcept of DRR through thefollowing initiatives:

a. Community OwnedRecovery: The organisedcommunity were enabled to restoreand as well as initiate new livelihoodactivities. The financial support wasrouted through the people institutionas a grant to the group and interestfree loan to the member. The repaidamount to the people institution isstocked as risk reduction fund tomeet any eventualities in future.

b. Self help with savings: Themembers of the people institutionswere inculcated with the habit ofsavings. The amount and period ofsavings is decided by the membersof the SHG. The savings generatedwithin the group is used by themembers for internal lending thusmeeting their emergencyrequirements. Self help and mutualityis habituated through the microfinance activity. A community

inculcated with theconcept of Self help andMutuality can react andrespond much better attimes of disasters thusreducing the overallimpact of the disaster. Sofar about Rs. 122Millions have beenmobilised as savingsfrom the community.The internal savings alsohelped in mobilisingRs.120 Millions frommainstream financialinstitutions.

c. Partnerships for stabilisinglivelihoods: The organisedcommunities were enabled toestablish partnerships at differentlevels. Partnerships were forgedwith Government, Banks,Corporates and ResearchInstitutions for improved skills,better access to resources and hencestabilised livelihoods for theaffected community.

d. Social Security: Realising theneed and importance of extendingsocial security for all thecommunities who are exposed tomaximum no. of natural disasters,DHAN started extending lifecoverage for its members. So far,about 34,482 poor families havebeen covered under life insurance.In addition to the coverage extendedto the members, their spouses werealso enrolled covering about 17,039.The total number of insurance claimsmade was 86 and an amount of Rs.2.34 Million claimed ascompensation.

Through the programme –Enabling Livelihood Restoration –DHAN was able to effectively restore

the livelihoods of about 68,000families in the tsunami affectedcoastal areas. The success of theprogramme lies in the communitydriven model adopted by DHAN. Themodel has been proven successfulwith the affected communitiesparticipating in the entire process ofrestoration in a disaster context.

6. Way Forward

The interventions made so far byDHAN helped in reducing risks andvulnerabilities of the coastalcommunities and improve theirincome at household level. Throughthe programme, livelihoods of60,457 coastal families have beenstrengthened and stabilized.Organising the community asinstitutions and routing therestoration through the institutionsis the key in this entire process ofdisaster recovery and development.The approach builds the concept ofself help, mutuality and senses oftogetherness and thereby theresilience of the coastal community.

In four years down the line,DHAN was able to build theinstitutions with systems in place fortheir effective functioning and selfmanagement. In the next phase, theinstitutions will be made aware onthe need to conserve the coastalnatural resources which they dependdirectly for their livelihoods. DHANwould facilitate the institutions toevolve village level managementplans so as to conserve and managethe coastal resources. Thesustenance of coastal livelihoodsdepends on well managed coastalresources which will be the focusof DHAN in its next phase ofdevelopment.

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Resource map is one of themost commonly used PRA

methods next to social map. Whilethe social map focuses on habitation,commonly facilities, roads, temples,etc. The resource map focuses onthe natural resources in the localityand depicts land, hills, rivers, fields,vegetation, etc. A resource mapcovers habitation as well. A resourcemap in PRA is not drawn to scale. Itis not done by experts but by thelocal people. The local people areconsidered to have an in-depthknowledge of the surroundingswhere they have survived for a longtime. Hence the resource map drawnby the local people is considered tobe accurate and detailed. It isimportant to keep in mind, however,that it reflects the people’sperceptions rather than precisemeasurements of scale. Thus, aresource map reflects how peopleview their own locality in terms ofnatural resources.

Two batches of students went totwo different villages to conduct PRAwith different perspectives.

Konnaiyanpatti village –Microfinance

perspective:

We were divided into groups oftwo to go around the village andrequest the people and mobilize themto this exercise. After this processthe people took almost 35 minutesto turn for participating in theexercise. We welcomed all villagers

Development Tools

Resource Mapping

PDM 8 batch students of Tata-Dhan Academy*

as they came and slowly stated theexercise after having a briefintroduction about this exercise. Tobegin with we started drawing themap with the help of peopleespecially with Ayyamperumal,Kannan, Devi and Chinnachamywho voluntarily came forward toinitiate the process. All of themparticipated till the whole of thevillage in terms of their resourceinformation was over. While the mapwas being drawn by Ms. Devi alsoparticipated in putting the colourpowder and village people werediscussing and correcting, and againdiscussing to make it sure that it isexactly in the same place. It was likesurvey method to know theavailability of wells with or withoutpower and oil motor connection.Hence, people were able to unleashedtheir observation and bring about theresources according to theirownership, when the resourcepersons were committing mistakes,the fellow villagers were correctingthem. The process started at 5.30pm and ended by 8.45 pm, peoplewere not disturbed during theactivity. Next day also the map wasprepared with 3 resource personsnamely Ayyamperumal,Ravichandran and Jay Kumar gavethe name of the landholders. It took2 hours, from 9:30 am to 11:30 am.

Lesson

We found 93 percent of the totalland is cultivable which means that

even though people now-a-days havegem cutting as their primaryoccupation some of them do farmingas their primary occupation. It wasvery interesting and appreciable thinghappened in that village. Thepractices of crop cultivation arefrom horticulture to agriculture andin majority of the land cultivating asmulti crop cultivation.

Also, 54.76 percent of the wellswere connected by oil motor whichmeans more than half of theproportion are motored. It leads tohigh expense due to increasing petrolprice and some of them are usingkerosene too. When they can’t affordthe price of petrol, they go forkerosene which leads to a decreasein the life of those machines.

Possibilities of Interventions

Implementation of tankrenovation program in thatvillage will help to harvest therain water and utilising it forboth irrigation and drinkingpurpose. During the failure ofmonsoon the farming isaffected due to lack of water inthe well. So, the tank renovationwork definitely would helpthem.Lending for electricityconnection would help peoplesave the money spent on petroland motor. Hence capitalexpenditure as well as revenueexpenditure will be taken careof.

* Tata-Dhan Academy, Madurai, Tamil Nadu.

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Providing crop insuranceproduct which means the cropsoften fail due to lack of wellwater and rain water. So, thelost crop cannot becompensated. It leads toindebtedness and sometimestarving for food. Consequentlyto introducing the insuranceproduct after some scrutinizingprocess.

Learning

We understood the availabilityand accessibility of resources in thevillage. The size and distribution ofthe land was transferred fromgeneration to generation. This led toa decrease in the landholding perhousehold with half of them havingless than one acre because the villagehas a very limited geographical areadue to mountain in three sides.Eventually we came to know the riskand vulnerabilities and copingmechanism of the people especiallyin resource point of view.

Ayyanampatty - Health Perspective:

To understand the naturalresources and their utilization and canhave a profound impact on health;hence an understanding about theavailable natural resources,habitation, agriculture followed isnecessary to have a holistic viewabout the health condition of thevillage.

Objectives

To know the cropping patternexisting in the village in orderto understand their food habitsTo know the availability ofvegetation and trees specieswhich influence on peoplehealth?

To understand the availabilityand utilization of waterresources.

As the people are daily wagelabourers the people are hesitate tocome for the PRA exercise. Later onwe conducted exercise only duringthe late evening. Finally we mobilisedthe people with the help of villageyouths and also with songs. Wewent to each household to invite thepeople to participate in the resourcemapping process. We used leaves,flowers, paddy straw, colourpowder, plastic colour coins andRangoli powder for resourcemapping.

During the transect walk wewalked around the village. Villagepeople without any hesitation helpedus and scanned the resource,cultivable and dry land. Watchingthe process makes us more educatedabout the resource. We used thetransect walk for resource map.Initially one of our friends started toask the resource about the village.Women shared about their villageresources. One woman came to thecentre and she drew the map in theground with rangoli powder. Whenwe started the resource map, initiallythere were eight to ten members.The process was interesting. Aftersome time nearly thirty memberswere assembled and participated inthe process. Among them most ofthem were women.

Good practices

During the transect walk wewalked around the village. Villagepeople without any hesitation helpedus to discuss about the resource andthey show the cultivable land and dryland. Watching the thing itself make

us more educated on the resourceand we raised the questions to thestake holders, they make us veryclear on the resource.

Difficulties

We gathered all the people; wetook the help of the associates, andstarted mobilising the people. Initiallystage people are very interested toparticipate. But later on people feltmonotonous due to the participation.So we motivated them.

Outcome

Most of the people have owncultivable land, they were cultivatingdifferent types of crops in the wholeyear. This village farmers are mainlydepending on the rain water and wellwater for irrigation. Maximum of thefarmers have own well. Villagers areusing the well water for bathing. Butthey are not allowed to take bathinside the well. Near to the mountainthere is a check dam. This dam isvery helpful to recharge the groundwater. The mountain provides somenatural resources for this village.Some of the fruits are available fromthis mountain. The people was usingthis mountain as a grazing land. Butnow the forest department isprotecting the forest. So the grazeland is decreased. Due to thedecreased graze land, the number ofcattle also decreased. This makes alot of problem related to health.Because when there was lot of cattlethere were no diseases. But whenthe cattle are decreased the healthproblems also started.

While compare to the dry landcultivable land are more in place.Primary occupation of the village isagriculture and the allied activity is

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Livelihoods

significantly. There is a clear trendin the growth of rural tourism withthe increase in the number of touristsvisiting these places. India’s vastrural diversity and heritage offertremendous potential for tourism inrural areas.

Tourism is one of the majorvehicles for generating sustainablelivelihood in India. Towards this end,the Ministry of Tourism,Government of India, UNDP India,and leading NGOs are jointlydeveloping alternative models forrural tourism across the country

Weaving the tomorrows….

Endogenous Tourism in KaraikudiKarthick Gopal*

* Karthick Gopal, Project Executive, Tourism Theme, DHAN Foundation, Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu.

with a view to position such modelsas engines of economic growth. Thehigh potential tourism sector wouldaddress the development issues suchas poverty reduction, developingvibrant local economy, revival andregeneration of arts and crafts,preservation of culture, and mostimportantly the gender equity.

India has several forms of art andhandicrafts. Contribution to nationalintegration and the socialtransformation of the economic livesof people are important features oftourism. Over 176 million domestic

cattle raring. Even the cattle alsodepend on the agriculture theresource in the village makes themprofit. Crops cultivated in this villageare Sugarcane, coconut tree,groundnut, maize, sunflower, chilly,onion, marigold, celosiea, radish,paddy, glyricidia, horse gram,sorghum etc,

Inference

People are mainly depending onthe natural resources. So theyengage in the cultivation. Both menand women involve in cultivation.Even small children are involved inthe agricultural activity. But forestdepartment make ban on grazing.This leads to reduction of livestock.So they don’t have natural fertilizer.

Now a day they are purchasingpesticides and artificial fertilizer.

Possible interventions

Promotion of the cattle rearingcan help them to have naturalfertilizer. This leads to good andprofitable cultivation. People mainlydepend on the natural resources likerain, soil, and agriculture. If droughtor flood or any other naturalcalamities occurs, it will affect thewhole occupation of the village andleads to poverty. So promotion ofother occupation like selfemployment, small enterprises etcwill be better for their life.

Reflection

When we finish the entireprocess of the resource mapping, the

villager compares the past andpresent situation of the resources.If we see the past situation theresources are very high in fertility.But now the soils are decline infertility due to pesticides and artificialfertilizers. People are mainlydepending on the natural resources.So they engage in the cultivation.Both men and women involve incultivation. Even small children areinvolved in the agricultural activity.But forest department make ban ongrazing. This leads to reduction oflivestock. So they don’t have naturalfertilizer. Now a day they arepurchasing pesticides and artificialfertilizer. Due to this plants are weakcondition. This shows negativescenario on the occupation.

Background:

Tourism is one of the world’sleading Global industries

(11% of Global GDP). The WorldTourism Organization estimates thatthere will be 1.5 billion tourists in2020, representing 21% of worldpopulation. Strong populationgrowth in developing regions is setto attract almost 50% of internationaltourists in 2020. The World TourismOrganization notes that with in thenext 5 – 10 years, range of producton offer to tourist seeking the ruralexperience is to increase

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tourists visit different parts of thecountry every year and return witha better understanding of the peopleliving in other regions of the countryand of the cultural diversity of India.Tourism also encouragespreservation of monuments andheritage properties and helps thesurvival of art forms, crafts, andculture.

Today, tourism is not seen as anactivity of visiting a tourist spot,clicking a few photographs, andpreserving them for posterity;instead, it is expected to play a largerrole in the development of mankind.The stated objective of the nation isto distribute the benefit of tourismmore widely, contribute to povertyreduction, sustainable developmentof gender equity, and minimizeadverse social impact. There is astrong case of rebuilding pride andrespect for women, enthusiasticminorities, disabled, mentallychallenged, and other disadvantagedgroups of people. National tourismpolicy 2005 has identified villagetourism as a primary tourismproduct to spread tourism andsocio–economic benefits to rural andnew geographical area.

Endogenous Rural tourism Project

The impact of migration has alsobeen distinct on the culture of thecentres of ancient civilization. Thearts and the architecture have startedfading; the livelihood of the ruralpeople has also been affected due tothese migrations. But the interest ofpeople to go back to their villages,stay in their residences, and relive intheir own culture is still deep rooted.And it is a success formula for ruraltourism. The international touristswill also be interested in sharing thesame rich experience, living in theresidences, living with thecommunity, tasting their food,interacting with them, visiting thehistoric sites, buying their “trademark” products, and so on.

The Project on EndogenousTourism is a part of a growing GOI-UNDP partnership to promote newand innovative approaches to buildlivelihood opportunities, throughcommunity action. Its Focus withinthe Rural Tourism Programme ofMinistry of Tourism is on theCultural, craft, and ecologicaldimensions of rural life as a meansto create viable livelihoodopportunities, especially for women

and disadvantaged groups.Endogenous tourism comprises twocomponents: software andHardware. The software componentcomprises four main activitiesincluding promotion of activitybased groups and their federation;skill building for traditional activities;and market linkages and tourismpromotion. The hardwarecomponent emphasizes on theconstruction or development of theinfrastructure for tourists.

Chettinad

Karaikudi is the bastion ofChettinad culture, captivating thevisitor with spectacular mansions,refined woodcarving, and tangyChettinad cuisine. The Chettiarcommunity, torch-bearers ofmodern banking, has now laid openseveral of their magnificent homes,offering unique home-stay insightsto the venturing Chettinad spirit ofenterprise.

The visitor is welcomed to thefamily’s history, the quest forsuccess and the drive that hasyielded these grandiose buildings,their egg plasteringtechnique…leading on thatmagnificence to fine silverhandicrafts, woven saris, palm leafbaskets and unique hand-madeAthangudi tiles.

The immense tourism potential ofChettinad, which has been receivinga large number of foreign tourists,will be utilized to boost the economyof local people through a number ofcommunity-based initiatives.

Creating employmentopportunities through tourismprojects, creating market linkages forartisans of Chettinad region, trainingfor artisans to improve the skill,

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promoting rural livelihood, andmarketing Chettinad cuisine throughinnovative methods are few of theplans. As a first step towardsexploring the avenues for incomegeneration of local people and tosustain the efforts of popularizingthe pride of Chettinad, the districtadministration, with the support ofDHAN Foundation, firmed up acommunity managed rural tourismconcept.

The aim is that local peopleshould receive benefits by marketingall Chettinad related items such asKandanki saris, Athangudi tiles,wood carving works, and otherhandicrafts. All the efforts wouldbenefit the larger masses of the localcommunity and would bring back thetraditional living. The communitymanaged tourism would involvemulti stake holders for the holisticapproach of poverty reduction, andgender empowerment and invite themigrated citizens to return to live intheir own place and bring back thetraditional livelihood of the localcommunity that would sustain forgenerations. The socio-economicdevelopment of the host communitycould be visualized, through theimpacts of tourism.

Objectives:

The Overall goal of rural tourismis to create a community-managedrural tourism model throughstrengthening sustainable livelihoodsof the local communities for thepreservation and development oflocal heritage and culture ofChettinad Villages. The immediateobjective will be:1. Exploring the avenues for

livelihood promotion and thescope of development in thevillages through tourism.

2. Promoting people institutionsfor sustainability.

3. Identifying the role of differentstakeholders in povertyreduction through tourism andinvolving them.

4. Benefiting the communitythrough significant tourismeconomy.

5. Nurturing the skills of thecommunity to promoteespecially skilled persons in thecommunity.

The core issues

It has become clear that if thearchitectural heritage ispreserved, there will be a lot ofpossibilities for heritage tourismto occur. Linked to this is theconservation of the Chettiarcommunity who need sensitiveencouragement to becomeinvolved in this endeavor.Financial constraints limit theability of families to maintaintheir homes.Local artisans at present areseeking alternative occupations;there is no call on theirtraditional skills because newbuildings do not need woodcarvers or traditional crafts. It

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has become a common featurefor young Chettiar and youngmembers of other communitiesto seek employment in the citiesand abroad. The pull of theirroots is strong and draws themback for major family occasionsand festivals. If heritage tourismwere successful they might behappy to build their lives inChettinad permanently.This is largely agricultural landwith good soil and knowledgeon cultivation. However, thefarmers are entirely dependenton rainfall. This means thatagriculture suffers every timethe rains fail.

Institution building for sustainable

tourism

DHAN Foundation in Karaikudiis working at the grassroots toempower women and craftsmenthrough forming and strengtheningpeople organisations. During theimplementation of the project, thirty-two activity groups have beenpromoted, reaching 368 artisans.One hundred and five women SHGshave been promoted, reaching 1,550poor families.

The institutions promoted wouldconstitute a federation of KalanjiamSHGs, which would be linked withthe Producer Company, consistingof the artisans. This model would

involve multi-stake holders includingthe government officials, financialinstitutions, tourist guides and theleading chettiar community. Thismodel would serve the purpose ofeach and every entity, in itself,keeping in mind that the modelalways ensures sustainability of theinstitutions, and carries the richcultural heritage of Chettinad to thetourists, with their established ethics.

The representatives of eachentity have been constituted asChettinad tourism Developmentcommittee. This committee, wouldwork for the development oftourism, based on the need, andwould approach various agencies ordepartments to fulfill therequirements. The members of this

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Skill-building of the community to

meet the tourism demands

We could find a gap between thecapacity of the community and thetourist demands, during the initiationof the tourism location. Continuouscapacity-building is required to thecommunity so that they coulddeliver the products of tourismdemands. Initiatives started with theseries of workshops, involving theartisan community, few people fromdistrict administration or

development agencies, so that thelinkages is possible, along with theskill building processes. Theactivities which have greater affinitytowards the tourists have beenidentified. These included theChettinad cuisine and snackspreparation, Kandanki saree(handloom) weaving, hand made tilemaking, and wood carving. Theartisans of the above trades, who areorganized in the institutions, weregiven training to improve their skillson the following aspects, such as to

promote new tourism products likesouvenirs, improve their existingskills, and finally to provide skills tothe community, who had interest inrunning the enterprises related totourism, but had least knowledge inthe trade and carrying the activity.The skill-building programmes wereplanned on the skill level of thecommunity, involving themastercraftsmen in the process. Theseries of these skill-buildingprogrammes have resulted in theproduct promotion like souvenirs in

committee are the electedrepresentatives of the Panchayats(their role will be discharging theduties, as per the requirements;approaching the governmentagencies, especially for infra-structure development); artisans(based on the tourist requirements,they would create different

products, upgrade their skills);Representatives from the tourismdepartment (they would consolidatethe demands, based on the inputs,would draw plans, support theinitiatives by linking the circuits);home-stay groups (based on thedemand, would modify thepackages, provide the tourists a

memorable experience of Chettinad);Guides (would work with ethics),DHAN Foundation (would facilitatethe community, guide them andensures that everything is set right,until everyone clearly understandswho they are and what they shoulddo).

Model for Tourism Governance Progressing in Chettinad

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wood carving, brass metal works,Athangudi tiles and even in foodpreparation like a design of a menufor the guests. The whole processhas equipped the community to getmore confidence along with the skill.

Market linkages and tourism

Promotion

The artisans have been providedopportunities to participate in tradefairs such as Dilli Haat and in variousexhibitions to showcase their activityand their products and also to selltheir crafts. Selling the site is animportant task for the project. Thiswould help in attracting the touriststo the site and would directly benefitthe local community. Efforts havebeen taken to sell the site throughbrochures, video documentation ofthe project site, website creation, andorganizing tours. Development tourshave provided great rich experienceof designing of the tour packages,helping the community to internalizethe benefits of tourism and to finetune their skills.

Working with the Panchayats

Resource mobilization for theproject components is strongly

recommended by UNDP for workingwith different stake holders and toscale up the project. In Karaikudi,strong collaboration has been donewith the Town Panchayats, for theimplementation of the SJSRYscheme. Pallathur, Kanadukaathan,Pudhuvayal, Kottaiyur are thePanchayats in which thecollaborations have been done. Tilldate, through the SJSRY Scheme,around 27 SHG members weretrained in the preparation ofChettinad cuisine and snacks. Theresource mobilized from thesePanchayats is Rs.54,000. Thesesorts of collaborations have alsoresulted in the close interaction withPanchayat administration, whichhelps us in the micro-planning forTourism in these Panchayats.

Ownership Matters….

The ownership of the communityensures the sustainability. Thesustainability of the rural tourismproject has become a seriousquestion in a few of the Rural tourismsites, for the community involved inthe projects had no ownership or theprojects have been designed with lowcommunity focus. DHAN has nodoubt implemented the project with

the sustainability focus. We couldvisualize the ownership of thecommunity, throughout theimplementation of the Project, forthey get real benefit.

Launching of the Tourism Sitesis an important event for all the RuralTourism Projects. This event isdesigned in such a way to declare tothe world that the project site is readyto stand on its own to carry outtourism related activities even afterthe project period is over and toconvey to tourists that the sites areready to receive any type of guestsand could provide tourism relatedservices such as accommodation,hospitality, guiding and purchasingtraditionally-made products. It is likemore than sharing andcomplementing each other.

Launching of the communitymanaged rural tourism site,Karaikudi, was conducted inOctober 2008, involving all thestakeholders of the project such asChettinad Tourism DevelopmentCommittee, Tourism KalanjiamSHGs, Tourism Department, DistrictAdministration, hoteliers, travel clubmembers, the media participated,welcoming tourists fromNetherlands. The event wasorganized by the Chettinad TourismDevelopment Committee. Theyconstituted a few committees suchas reception committee, venuearrangement committee, publicitycommittee, souvenior committee,exhibition committee, foodarrangement committee, guidecommittee, and some subcommittees, to share theresponsibilities and to implement theactivities, without any hesitations.

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We could feel their ownershipthroughout the process. Tourismproducts such as the brochures,postures, souvenirs have beenreleased in the event, and theChettinad Tourism DevelopmentCommittee has been positioned in theevent, through proper introductionand involving them in the release ofthe products, which made themexcited and proud. The participationof the Tourism Kalanjiam SHGs isalso highly appreciable in the event.This event has facilitated the projectsite, to view tourism as its majorlivelihood tool for empowerment.

Emerging as a Responsible

Tourism Destination

Poverty reduction of disadvantaged

host community:

Rural rourism model at Chettinadtaps all the employment opportunitiesemerging through tourism andbenefiting the local community. Thebenefits are being shared by the ruralpoor, especially the unemployedyouths and other disadvantagedsectors of the community. For thesustainability of the model, ruralenterprises, targeting the tourists ismanaged by the community therebyimproving the livelihood.

Capacity-building to the host

community:

Capacity-building programmefacilitates the host community tobuild new skills for initiating newtraditional business activities, bettermanagement of their business,functional literacy and so on. Theorganized community decidesacquiring skills for improving theirlivelihood also develop and acquireskills related to leadership, planning,monitoring, negotiating,implementation, accounting,management etc., to manage theirown organization.

Mrs.Shanthi, secretary of Meenakshi Amman Kalanjiam, Karaikudi, says she is proud to be a member ofChettinad Tourism Development Committee. According to her, the members of the Kandanki weavingcommunity, including her, have got confidence that the Kalanjiam Community Banking Programme andTourism would light lamps in their lives. Mrs.Shanthi and six other members in the same Kalanjiam joinedto form a PPG, a year back named Shri Ganesh Kandanki saree Primary Producer Group. They found thetourists coming to their places as interesting and even pride and they started to sell their hand wovensarees to them. But their interest level started to shake, when they found very few tourists visiting theirplace, in the very first tourism season. This made them to opt for the Exhibitions, in and around Madurai.But their luck did not favour in the vey first exhibition, in which everyone of their PPG, even came downto Madurai on rotation basis for a week. The sales was so low and their expectations and their imaginationsfound the reality, though everyone felt disappointed. But it did not last for long, they regained theirconfidence, when they found a series of local tourists visiting their places and purchasing their products.The local tourists were the people from DHAN, UNDP, evaluation teams and few others, who came forcollaborations. This gave them enough confidence to strengthen their PPG. Shri Ganesh Kandanki sareePrimary Producer Group could handle the tourists too, for they have mastered in Craft demonstrationand marketing. They have also promoted the Kandanki hand bags, for distribution of gifts during marriagesand other functions. We have never dreamt of going away from Karaikudi, for selling Kandanki. But noweverything is a dream now, for I have gone to Delhi along with another PPG member Mrs.Saraswathi, toparticipate in Dilli Haat. Forgoing Deepavali was not at all an issue, but we went to Delhi to know aboutthe marketability of the products. These successful women had made a turnover of Rs.25, 000/-, sellingaround 90% of the total stock. We are now confident of marketing of Kandanki, says Mrs.Shanthi withher bright eyes.

Join hands to promote Kandanki

Contact:

Shri Kandanki saree Primary Producer Group,Deivarayan Chettiar Street, Karaikudi. Mrs. Shanthi: 9381443285

Kandanki saree Primary Producer Group

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Gender Balance of the host

community:

The rural tourism model atChettinad ensures the empowermentof women at every stage of theimplementation. DHAN Foundation’sKalanjiam Community BankingProgramme is working at thegrassroots level around Chettinad.The thematic programme ensurestheir empowerment and finds themeans for increased earningcapacity. The Kalanjiam Communityis being provided necessary skill-building programmes for sustainablelivelihood. Other women folk in theproject site, who are not involved inthe crafts, are involved in the tourismrelated activities act as governingbodies for monitoring system of theactivities.

Sustainable People Institutions:

Strengthening People’sInstitutions for tourism governanceis vital for its long term sustainabilityand growth. Communityparticipation is very important for asuccessful tourism site. Thesustainable institutions among theartisan community, poor/disadvantaged groups and womenare organized, for the distribution oftourism; equally to one and all. Theinstitution building among artisansresults in the federation of theartisans- permanent institutions forgenerations, thereby ensuringsustainable development. TheChettinad Tourism DevelopmentCommittee is also a sustainableinstitution with guiding core valuesand ethics to enable any futuredevelopment in the tourism site.

Information Technology

Information technology (IT) andtourism are inseparable. Knowing itsimportance, three tourisminformation centers have beenpositioned in the project site.Community college for tourism hasbeen launched in the site. Thecommunity college for tourism isfocusing on the I.T. enabled skill-building for the rural poor, so as toenable them reach the global marketfor their career. It also plans toprovide basic knowledge in the I.T.,to the artisans, for touching theexport market, without any

intermediation. All these centers areowned and managed by the tourismactivity group. This center in futuremay also act as Village KnowledgeCenter with support of ISRO.

Collaboration with Multi–

stakeholders

The rural tourism model atChettinad involves manystakeholders, for the betterimplementation of the proposedactivities. Collaborations with themarketing agencies have been donefor the marketing of the handicrafts.Collaboration with the tourism

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associations have been done forselling the project site. Strongrapport has been created among theorganized community and the apexbank institutions for financialassistance. Rapport with the Tourismdepartment, Internationaldevelopment agencies like UNDP,District Administration, Panchayats,tourism activity groups, craftassociations, and home stay ownershave been developed for the betterimplementation of the proposedactivities.

Promoting Traditional Livelihood

Efforts are being put intensivelyto build their lives in Chettinad. Craftassociations are being promoted andthe market linkages are provided tothe members. The financialassistance is also rendered, therebyproviding them confidence tocontinue their trade.

Conservation of Heritage

Chettinad mansions with itsunique architecture, is the greatestattraction of the site. These mansionsare considered to be the most likelyto benefit from the rural tourisminitiatives, as they are endangered.Once restored these houses could bea heritage guest house, offering thevisitors a unique experience. Thesemansions are great treasure toarchitects and architecture students.Those houses contain rich culture,and could earn much-needed incometo maintain the properties as well asthe artifacts. Measures are taken toconvert some of these mansions ashome stays for benefiting the

community. Positioning of thesehome stays would be done by thecollaboration with the establishedresorts.

Orientation on Development to

Guests:

Chettinad offers unique package,“Development Tour”. This packagehas brought many developmentpractitioners to the site to learn aboutthe impact of tourism on thelivelihood of the community. Thepackage has also provided in depthknowledge on the tradition of thecommunity. Philanthropiccontributions have been given by thegenerous guests for the promotionof arts and crafts in the village.

Cultural Immersion

Tour packages such as “Arts andcrafts tour” and “Architecture tour”provide the visitors knowledge aboutthe culture and traditional practicesat Chettinad. Various opportunitiessuch as living with the community,cooking traditional food, preparingthe hand made tiles, visiting theirtemple, and visiting their agriculturallands provide them a rich experienceof chettinad. Every one of the tourpackages would provide the guestswith a varied experience which theywill always carry in their heartforever.

Heritage water bodies

Great civilizations show that theirdevelopment was directly related tothe extent to which they couldcontrol and manage water resources.The hydrological characteristics of

the Indian monsoon necessitated thecreation of storage facilities to holdthe rain water of the monsoon. Withextra-ordinary engineering,managerial, and social skills, anextensive system of rainwaterharvesting structures like tanks andponds had been built and maintainedby the people for centuries. Theheritage water bodies, along with thetemples in Chettinad, are of greatattraction to tourists. It has beenplanned to renovate these waterbodies.

Tourism Ethics

Various initiatives have beentaken in ensuring the responsibilityof the hosts. Charter for sustainabletourism has been derived in ensuringa balanced relationship betweenhosts and guests in destinations. Ithelps in maximizing positive impactsand minimizing negative impacts.Fair trade practices are practiced bythe artisans while selling the crafts,and by the host community whilerendering the services.

Way forward

1. Strengthening of the peopleinstitutions and registering theFederation, CTDC.

2. Resource Mobilization forstrengthening the tourism basedlivelihoods.

3. Intensive marketing of theproject site and tourismproducts.

4. Positioning community collegesas a Resource centre forTourism.

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Large numbers of small scalewater bodies are effective

tool for rain water harvesting at ruralareas. There are 40,000 numbers oftanks in Tamil Nadu state as toharvest the rain water at rural areasand stabilize the agriculture duringthe north east monsoon rainfall aswell as south west monsoonseasons. From the history andexperience of tank irrigation systems,it was known that the tanks werethe effective tool to harvest therainfall at drought prone districtsduring the monsoon and later usedfor agriculture purposes. Thesystems and designs of thestructures were in such a way thatit was easy to manage and maintainwith simple technology at locally andsustainable even after hundreds ofyears and serves the purposes.

These tanks and their designs areunique in their designs as the sizesvaries from small to big as to servefew acres of command to thousandsof acres as the tanks everremembered are Madurandagam,Sembarampakkam, Ramnad bigtank and Kallari tank etc as big tanks.But all the tanks were designed withequal importance of technology andrelated issues.

The tanks in southern TamilNadu were unique in small in sizeand large in numbers at each villageas the following details would showus the analysis as the number oftanks per development block asgiven below:

Local Management of traditional tanks–need of the hour

Er. N. Venkatesan *

Watter Matters

Kottampatti block of Madurai district - 1000 numbersNatham block of Dindigul district - 623 numbersPonnamaravathy block of Pudukottai district - 500 numbersSingampunari block of Sivagangai district - 544 numbers

* Er. N. Venkatesan, Programme Leader, DHAN Foundation, Madurai, Tamil Nadu

The two sample villages namelyA.Kalapur and Kirungakottai villageshave been studied for the spread oftanks, their locations, reasons formore number of tanks andmanagement of the tanks at locallyetc. The study shows that the eachvillage has been designed with tanksas one tank per 23-24 ha of extentof the total villages. The ratio oftankfed agriculture with totalcultivable area is varies from 35%to 60% of the total cultivation. Thesetanks systems provides us thefollowing learnings as effectivemanagement of the system at locallyto harvest the available rain fall atthe drought prone areas even aftermany centuries as

Instead of designing one bigstructure (or) dam across thestream, the large numbers ofsmall tanks have beenconstructed as chains of tanksbased on the topography andmaximize the command area toprovide irrigation for maximumnumbers of small and marginalfarmers.Large dams are preferred byirrigation experts in eve of lesswater spread compared withcommand area. But howeverthis lacuna of small tank inwasting storage area, thefarmers use this water spreadarea for summer cultivation.Thus compensating the water

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water provides greaterefficiency of water foragriculture and irrigation.The usufractury benefits liketrees and fish rearing wereeffectively managed by thecommunity as a small group foreach tank was easiest ways oflocal managementThe maintenance of the tank-system for its regularfunctioning have beendistributed among the manygroups of farmers as almost allin the villages have beeninvolved in regular maintenanceof the system. This provideseffective decentralisation of

spread area not being wastedwithout cultivation (or) waterspread area with tree plantationis compensating the non use ofland.Each small structure of the tanksystem is locally managed bygroup of farmers who belongsto a group with homogenouscharacteristics like caste andeconomic basis as to operate ascohesive group.The present concept of catchthe water as it falls is followedin this tank system. Because ofmore in numbers but less inlength of conveyance distancefor tank to command as wellas tank to tank transfer of

management & utility of tanksystem in the villages.The large numbers of smallscale water bodies on seriesbasis provides effective flood &drought management as theissues of ground waterrecharge, livelihood for landless, management of flashfloods during rainy seasons etchave been achieved as thesetanks acts as cushion for waterstorage.Because of the tank silt, treesand other benefits, the villageeconomy have been fullydependent on the tank systemfor over all economy of thevillage systems.

Details of A.Kalapur revenue village for large number of tanks and its relevance at Sivagangai District

Total Number of tanks : 62Total waterspread area of tanks : 125.065 haTotal command area : 380.955 haTotal extent of the village : 1419.175 haTotal cultivable wet land : 433.93 haTotal dry land : 665.445 haTotal cultivable land : 1099.375 haAnalysisPercentage irrigated by tank : 34.65 %Percentage irrigated by tank out of wet land : 87.8 %No. of tanks per ha of total extent : one tank per 23 ha.

Details of Kirungakottai revenue village for large number of tanks and its relevance at Sivagangai District

Total Number of tanks : 35Total waterspread area of tanks : 126.718 haTotal command area : 387.24 haTotal extent of the village : 818.42 haTotal cultivable wet land : 395.715 haTotal dry land : 237.405 haTotal cultivable land : 633.12 haAnalysisPercentage irrigated by tank : 61.16 %Percentage irrigated by tank out of wet land : 97.85 %No. of tanks per ha of total extent : one tank per 24 ha.

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Panchayat raj institutions inIndia have the history of

more than 2000 years. 73rd

constitutional amendment isconsidered as radical in nature, forit promised institutionalization of athird stratum of government at thelocal level. We have about 3.2 millionrepresentatives as people leaders inlocal government institutions. Forthe past fifteen years, the post 73rd

Amendment has proven therelevance and importance of localgovernance in most of thedevelopment sectors.

The role of local governmentinstitution, especially the villagePanchayat on disaster risk reductionis obligatory. Even in the recentincident of tsunami disaster occurredin the southern states of India, thesharp and immediate reflection forrescue and risk reduction was soundfrom local Panchayats.Unfortunately these VillagePanchayats were not dulyrecognized and given withpreparative perspectives. In most ofthe time it operates with relief mode.Such scope of disaster incidencesis very high in coastal areas.

Issues in Achieving Better Disaster

Risk Reduction (DRR)

We could see the Governmentmachinery is weak in disasterpreparedness initiatives. Most time,the government system is active onlyin post disaster conditions. Thepotential of Village Panchayat onDRR is not explored. More overthese days, a lot of peopleinstitutions like SHGs, farmer’sforum and other functional groupswere not integrated with Panchayatgovernance.

Disaster and Governance

N. Janakiraman *

Disaster Management

* N. Janakiraman, Senior Project Executive, Panchayat Theme, DHAN Foundation, Madurai, Tamil Nadu

Disaster Preparedness with Village

Governace

The Advanced Centre forEnabling Disaster Risk Reduction(ACEDRR) promoted by DHANwith the support of Oxfam Americaat Tata-Dhan Academy has workedand tested a pilot to integrate disasterrisk reduction with local governanceand making the Village Panchayat asthe centre for Disaster preparednessat their level through followingactivities:

Integrating the peopleinstitutions with PanchayatgovernanceCapacity building to PeopleRep., Functional groupmembers & CommunityMicro planning on DRR &ExecutionDeveloping Monitoring &Evaluation mechanisms onpooling or generating ofbaseline data, disaster responses

Role of Panchayats in Disaster Prone

Area

From the PILOT we could feelthe following roles for Panchayatgovernance relating to disaster riskreduction. As a Primary levelgrassroots Government, Panchayathas crucial role to play in the disasterprone area. Being closer andimmediate government system forthe local community, it can reactintensively beyond relief andrestoration activities to preparednessperspectives. The role of the localPanchayat system goes very wideand in different dimensions such as,

Setting up of local disaster riskreduction committees andinvolving in preparedness, relief

and rehabilitation works for thevictim families and villagesInterfacing with Government,the non Governmentorganization and localcommunity for channelizing therisk preparedness, relief andrehabilitation workEstablishing and maintainingbasic communityinfrastructures towards disasterrisk reduction – cycloneprotection shelters, communityhalls, water sources, lights,transportation and othercommunication.Setting up villages levelcommittee to undertake therestoration of livelihoods withsustainability to the affectedfamiliesAssessing the real losses andexploring possibilities forresource mobilization to addressthe need and issue related to thedisasterEnsuring basic needs for thevictim families related withstay, food, clothes and otherbasic living requirements

Pilot Outcomes

Products:A toolkit on “Role of Panchayatin Disaster risk reduction”Micro plan document onPanchayat disaster riskreductionVisual Process Documentationof micro planning and DRRcommittee promotionPromotion of hamlet level andPanchayat level DRRcommittees for leading theinitiative.