i

PROJECT REPORT

IMPLEMENTATION OF A LEGISLATION INTO GRASSROOT LEVELS

THROUGH POLICIES AND SCHEMES : A Case Study of the Karnataka Co-

operative Societies Act,1959 through the ‘Enrolment of BPL, SC, ST, Backward

Class/Minority, Women, Disabled persons as members of all types of Co-

operatives’ scheme.

SUBMITTED AS A PART OF SUMMER INTERNSHIP

BY

NAMRATA KUMAR

NATIONAL LAW SCHOOL OF INDIA UNIVERSITY, BENGALURU

NOV,2016

ii

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

Smt. Prachi Pandey,

Director,

Fiscal Policy Institute,

Government of Karnataka,

Bangalore,

Dear Ma’am,

I am pleased to submit the report on ‘ IMPLEMENTATION OF A LEGISLATION INTO

GRASSROOT LEVELS THROUGH POLICIES AND SCHEMES : A case Study of the

Karnataka Co-operative Societies Act,1959 through the ‘Enrolment of BPL, SC, ST, Backward

Class/Minority, Women, Disabled persons as members of all types of Co-operatives’ scheme’ . I

hereby declare that this is an original work done by me during the period of six weeks at the

Fiscal Policy Institute, Bangalore and the findings of this paper have previously not been

submitted for any publication.

Yours Sincerely,

(Namrata Kumar)

National Law School of India University, Bangalore

Student Intern

Place: Bangalore

Date: 28/11/2016

Enclosure: Final Report

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am deeply indebted to Smt. Prachi Pandey, Director, Fiscal Policy Institute, Bangalore, under

whose guidance the present study was conducted. She has been giving generous help, valuable

suggestions and corrections during all the phases of the project.

I would like to also thank Shri K.K. Sharma, Adviser, Fiscal Policy Institute, for his support and

guidance.

I would also like to extend a heartfelt gratitude to Smt. Soumya Ponnappa, Special Officer,

Fiscal Policy Institute, for her valuable suggestions, generous help and direction during all

phases of the study. Without her help and guidance, the study could not have been completed

successfully. Her feedback was crucial and I am grateful to her for lending me time from her

busy schedule to help in this study.

I am thankful to Shri Ravi Kumar B., Research Consultant and Shri Shivakumar, Research

Consultant, for their tremendous support and guidance during this study.

I want to thank Dr. Sarasu Esther Thomas, Associate Professor, Co-ordinator, Centre for Women

and the Law, National Law School of India University and Mrs. Anita V. Nazare, Deputy

Director, Department of State Education, Research and Training (DSERT), Department of Public

Instruction, for their advice with regards to this study.

I am deeply thankful to Mantasha Husain, my fellow intern and classmate from National Law

School of India University, Bengaluru, for her help and support at every juncture.

I want to thank Fiscal Policy Institute, Finance Department, Government of Karnataka, for

giving me the opportunity to intern and providing me with a comfortable and friendly

environment to work in. I would also like to thank the following officials:

i. Smt. Geetha Karnakar Babu, ARCS and PIO, Office of Registrar of Co-operative

Societies, Bangalore Urban District.

ii. Sri Rangaswami, F.D.A., Office of the Registrar of Societies, Bangalore Urban

District.

iii. Sri Shivaraju, VSSN Agara Agricultural Co-operative Society, Bangalore.

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v

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Letter of Transmittal....................................................................................................................... ii

Acknowledgements........................................................................................................................iii

Certificate………………………………………………………………………………………....iv

Contents...........................................................................................................................................v

Abstract............................................................................................................................................1

Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................2

List of

Abbreviations...................................................................................................................................4

List of Tables……….......................................................................................................................5

1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................6

1.1 Women and co-operatives: a historical perspective…………………………………..........7

1.2 The Karnataka co-op. Society Act,1959…………………………………………………...8

2. Background of the Priyadarshini Scheme..................................................................................10

2.1. Objectives of the Scheme...................................................................................................10

2.2. Details of the Scheme........................................................................................................11

3. Need for the Study.....................................................................................................................12

4. Objective of the Study...............................................................................................................12

5. Research Methodology..............................................................................................................12

5.0. Research Design................................................................................................................12

5.1. Tools of Study....................................................................................................................13

5.2. Collection of Data..............................................................................................................14

5.3. Limitations of the Study.....................................................................................................15

6. Findings of the Study.................................................................................................................16

6.1. The office of the registrar of co-operative societies:..……………………………….........16

vi

6.2. The Co-operative society: The Agara Agricultural Co-operative Society…………...........17

6.3 Self Help Groups.................................................................................................................. 20

6.4 Beneficiaries.........................................................................................................................21

7. Analysis of the Study................................................................................................................ 23

8. Recommendations......................................................................................................................24

9. Bibliography..............................................................................................................................26

Annexures......................................................................................................................................27

1

ABSTRACT

To ensure the equality to women in the socio-economic, educational and political spheres, the

constitution of India has adopted several measures of positive discrimination in the favor of

women. The states have also been bestowed upon with certain powers to ensure equal

participation of women in all the spheres. The states, therefore, have enacted several women

specific legislations and have carried out amendments in the already existing legislations.

This study covers a case of the Karnataka Co-operative Society Act, 1959 and makes an attempt

to understand the philosophy of this legislation, its role in reducing gender disparities and its

translation into the grassroot levels through the various schemes under the Co-operative

Department. The study focuses on the Priyadarshini Scheme( now, ‘Enrolment of BPL, SC, ST,

Backward Class/Minority, Women, Disabled persons as members of all types of Co-operatives’)

and its role in the process of encouraging equal women participation in households as well as in

the co-operative societies. The case study of the Agara Agricultural Co-operative Society as well

as the interactions revealed some mixed responses among women in terms of the levels of the

empowerment, social upliftment and financial independence.

Certain issues are identified at the administrative levels during the processing of the

applications and the financial independence and decisions and the report makes an attempt to

suggest some recommendations for the same.

2

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Gender budgeting, or gender-sensitive budgeting, is the process that shows what percentage of a

national/state budget benefits men and women respectively. It shows whether allocations

contribute to gender equality. An important aim of gender budgeting is to allocate funds so as to

improve the position of women, hence contributing to gender equality.1 In this context the

Government of India laid emphasis on Gender Budgeting to bring about a smooth transition to

gender mainstreaming. For this purpose the states were also required to incorporate gender

sensitive legislations and changes and Gender Budgeting Cells were set up to enact and monitor

upon the translation of the gender sensitive components of the legislations into the grass root

levels through various schemes and policies.

This study looks into the Karnataka Co-operative Societies Act, 1959. Karnataka has witnessed

tremendous growth in the cooperative sector. Cooperative institutions have played a vital role in

the socio-economic development of the State, particularly in the rural areas and in agriculture

and allied sectors. It is believed with conviction that the Co-operative Institutions will continue

to play a key role in the economic development of the country and will become more relevant in

the changing economic environment of liberalization and globalization.2 With the need to be

financially independent, more and more women have been enrolling themselves into the Co-

operative Societies which has helped them achieve a certain level of empowerment.

The study covers the amendments to the Karnataka Co-operative Societies Act, 1959 to make it

more accommodating and inclusive to women and encourage women participation in the Co-

operative Societies.

This study makes an attempt to understand the philosophy of this legislation , its role in reducing

gender disparities and its translation into the grassroot levels through the various schemes under

the Co-operative Department. The study focuses on the Priyadarshini Scheme( now, ‘Enrolment

of BPL, SC, ST, Backward Class/Minority, Women, Disabled persons as members of all types of

Co-operatives’) and its role in the process of encouraging equal women participation in

households as well as in the co-operative societies. The study looks into the budgetary allocation

for the scheme , the demand for the fund for the scheme, the number of enrollment and the issues

that might persist at the enrollment level. The data for this has been collected through personal

interactions by the researcher with the officials at the office of the Registrar of the Co-operative

Societies.

1 Gender Budgeting Document , Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Information and Communication, the Netherlands, March 2002 accessed from http://www.minbuza.nl 2 Annual Report 2012-13, The department of Co-operation, Karnataka, accessed from http://www.sahakara.kar.gov.in

3

The study further takes into account the case study of the Agara Agricultural Co-operative

Society and the focus group interview with the board members of the Society and individual

interview with the beneficiaries of the scheme to understand the difficulties and issues faced at

the society level, the participation of women in the decision making activities, the role of women

in managing money matters at home as well as the societies, and the participation of women in

the general body election.

4

LIST OF ACRONYMS

A.R.C Assistant Registrar of Co-operative Societies

B.C. Backward Class

B.P.L. Below Poverty Line

D.R.C. Deputy Registrar of Co-operative Societies

G.B.M. General Body Meeting

K.M.A.Y. Karnataka Mahila Abhivruddhi Yojane

N.A. Not Available

P.D.S. Public Distribution System

S.C. Scheduled Caste

S.H.G. Self Help Group

S.T. Scheduled Tribe

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LIST OF TABLES

Table

number

Subject Page No.

Table 1 Year-wise budgetary allocation for the scheme from 2014-15 to

present

18

Table 2 Total women members in the Agara Agricultural Co-operative

Society (as on 2015-16)

20

Table 3 Total number of members added in the year 2015-16 to the

Agara Agricultural Co-operative Society and the amount spent

on enrollment

20

Table 4 Type of deposits and the interest on deposits at the Agara

Agricultural Co-operative Society

23

Table 5 Interview Responses of the beneficiaries at the Agara

Agricultural Co-operative Society

24

6

1. INTRODUCTION

The role of women in the Indian society had always been considered not equal to men, so is the

access to education, healthcare, or job opportunities. But with the growing consciousness about

one’s own status, roles and rights in the society , women have started coming forward to demand

equal opportunities in all spheres of life. Therefore, it becomes utterly important to accommodate

the changing dynamics in the society .Thus, the major onus lies on the state to ensure equal

access of these opportunities to both men and women. In this regard, the Constitution of India

not only grants equality to women but also empowers the State to adopt measures of positive

discrimination in favor of women for neutralizing the existing socio-economic, education and

political disparities faced by them. Articles 14 provides for equality before law for women, along

with that there are other constitutional provisions for ensuring equality to women mentioned

under the articles 15(i), 15(3), 16, 39(a) , 39(b), 39(c) and 42 of the constitution.

There are also various legislative provisions in place for women. Some of the important

legislation include:

(i) The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956

(ii) The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961;

(iii) The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961;

(iv) The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971;

(v) The Karnataka Marriage Act, 1976;

(vi) The Indecent Representation of Women(Prohibition)Act, 1986;

(vii) The Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987;

(viii) Equal right for women in parental property (Amendment ) Bill 2004;

(ix) Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005.

The 73rd and 74th Amendment to the Constitution ensured that 33 percent seats for Panchayats

in rural areas and urban local bodies were to be reserved for women. This ensured the direct

involvement of women in positions of decision making. Elected women representatives are

slowly bringing about a change in the rural countryside and urban areas, by bringing social

development issues to the forefront.

The states have also taken up the task of promoting the idea of the gender equality and

sensitivity and have passed their own state specific legislations which cover a lot of schemes

aimed at financially and socially empowering the women. Karnataka has introduced the

Karnataka Mahila Abhivruddhi Yojane (KMAY) in the department of Women and Child

Development which is a monitoring mechanism to ensure gender equality. Under KMAY the

Additional Chief Secretary and Development Commissioner, Government of Karnataka,

periodically monitors performance of development Schemes with gender focus to ensure gender

equality and further gender mainstreaming.

7

The co-operative societies play a major role in financial inclusion when it comes to the

backward groups. Karnataka has a total of 39,627 co-operative societies both in the rural and

urban regions which are set up for specific purposes of the society. Along with the activity of the

society, these societies also provide easy loan to its members. Some of the Government schemes

are also specifically for the members of the Co-operative Societies, hence these continue to

remain the main non-institutional lending source for the backward some. There are some co-

operative societies like the Milk co-operative societies, Bangle makers co-operative society, all

women’s co-operative society which are preferred by a large chunk of the underprivileged

women to get financial support and independence.

The State Government has also set up Karnataka State Cooperative Federation Ltd., with an

objective of providing education and training to the personnel working in the co-operative sector

for the healthy development of the co-operative movement. Further it provides a wide coverage

of the activities of co-operatives in the State through the media. As on 31-03-2016, 833 training

programs have been conducted wherein 35,850 persons are trained, of which 3,773 are women.

The only hindrance, to becoming the members of these societies is the money to be paid as the

membership fees.

In this context, this study focuses on the Priyadarshini Scheme (now Enrolment of BPL, SC, ST,

Backward Class/Minority, Women, and Disabled persons as members of all types of Co-

operatives) which is a scheme under the Department of Co-operation of Karnataka that provides

the membership fee to the women to enroll them into the co-operative societies. This study aims

to look into the effectiveness of the grass root translation of the philosophy of the Karnataka Co-

operatives Societies Act, 1959 into the scheme ‘ Enrolment of BPL, SC, ST, Backward

Class/Minority, Women, Disabled persons as the members of all types of co-operatives’, and the

future challenges.

1.1 WOMEN AND THE CO-OPERATIVES: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Under the Chapter X titled Co-operative principles of The Karnataka Souharda Sahakari Act,

1997, Co-operatives have been described as the voluntary organisations, open to all persons able

to use their services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, without gender,

social, racial, political or religious discrimination. Co-operatives are democratic organisations

controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting their policies and making

decisions. Men and women serving as elected representatives are accountable to the membership.

In Primary Co-operatives, members have equal voting rights (one member, one vote) which are

organised in a democratic manner. Members contribute equitably to, and democratically control

8

the capital of their Co-operative3. Though achieving gender equality in terms of representation

of women in the co-operative societies as well as decision making bodies have been on the

principles list of the Karnataka Co-operative Societies Act, 1959, this wasn’t being achieved

effectively because of the social and economic conditions that prevail in the society and the

socio-economical impediments to their empowerment. The major gap identified in the stated

situation was insufficient enrolment of women into the co-operative societies because of which

they were not being able to derive the benefits of the schemes available for the members of the

co-operative societies like the Yashaswini Scheme. With this principle in mind, a need was felt

to speed up the number of women being enrolled.

Started off in the year 2014, Priyadarshini aims to empower women’s cooperatives with financial

assistance besides encouraging them to establish cooperatives. The scheme aims to expand the

credit base to the women in the society by enrolling them as members of Co-operative Societies.

In India credit co-op. sector developed to help the peoples of low income group whom banks

generally do not gives loans because of risk of non-repayment of loans, thus they end up taking

loans from the financiers at high interest rates. Therefore co-operative society turns out to be a

better option in expanding the credit base and availing loans easily. Co-operative Societies

generally give a wide range of banking and financial services like Loans, fixed deposits, Saving,

Insurance etc. An amount equal to the value of one share subject (i.e. membership fee for a

particular co-operative society) is sanctioned to the society to enroll such beneficiaries.

Currently , the scheme has been merged with the ‘Enrolment of BPL, SC, ST, Backward

Class/Minority, Women, Disabled persons as members of all types of Co-operatives’ and the

budgetary provision for the year 2016-17 has been Rs.3200.00 lakhs for the entire scheme.

1.2 THE KARNATAKA CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY ACT, 1959:

The Karnataka Co-operative Society Act passed in 1959 listed down certain sections which

contains provisions specifically in favour of S.C. / S.T.s, Women and Backward Classes on the

board to encourage and increase participation in the co-operative societies as members as well as

in decision making as the board members in various co-operative societies. The Act also ensured

that the reservation of seats shall be so rotated that all the constituencies are covered under

reservation in a phased manner.

3 THE KARNATAKA SOUHARDA SAHAKARI ACT, 1997 accessed from http://sahakara.kar.gov.in/Doc/SOUHARDA%20Act.pdf

9

The Karnataka Co-operatives Societies Act, 1959:

The Section 28A of the Act dealing with the Committees dealing with the management of the co-

operative societies states that the management of a co-operative society shall vest in a committee

constituted in accordance with this Act, the rules and the bye-laws of such society. Part 3 of the

Section 28 (A) also states that- In the committee of every primary society there shall be

reserved:—

(i) one seat to be filled by election, in favour of the persons belonging to the Scheduled

Castes and Scheduled Tribes;

(ii) one seat to be filled by election, in favour of women

Provided that no such reservation shall be required to be made in case of a society where there

are no members belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Women.

Section 29 of the Act had some specific provisions regarding the nominees of government on the

committee of an assisted co-operative society, that the State Government may nominate not more

than three persons as its representatives on the committee of any assisted society of whom one

shall be a person belonging to the SCs / STs and one shall be a woman.

An amendment was brought in the year 1998 regarding Section 28.A, dealing with chapter IV of

the act : The management of co-operative societies vest in the committee and it was included in

the sub-section 3(ii) that one seat is to be filled by election, in favour of women provided that no

such reservation shall be required to be made in case of a society where there are no members

belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Women.

Another amendment brought in was in the section 29 dealing with the Nominees of Government

on the committee of an assisted cooperative society, that the State Government may nominate

not more than three persons as its representatives on the committee of any assisted society of

whom one shall be a person belonging to the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes and one shall

be a woman.

Further amendment was brought in the year 2013 regarding the Presentation of nomination paper

which mentioned that on or before the date appointed for making nominations, each candidate

shall in person deliver to the returning officer at the place specified in this behalf, a nomination

paper duly completed in Form-XIII and signed by the candidate and another member with right

to vote as proposer. Such nomination shall also contain a declaration signed by the candidate

expressing his willingness to stand as a candidate for election to the board of the society from a

general constituency or a constituency reserved for SCs or STs or Women or Backward Classes.

This provision was previously absent and thus was causing ambiguity related to the nomination

process especially for those who had reserved seats especially the candidate belonging to SCs or

STs or Women or Backward Classes.

10

Another amendment brought was regarding the receipt of deposit of the nomination paper in

either by way of cash or by way of pay order or demand draft drawn in favour of the cooperative

society. The amendment brought in specified that the amount shall be half the specified amount

for women thus encouraging more women nominations.

An amendment was also brought regarding the return or forfeiture of a candidate’s deposit for

the nomination which stated that the deposit shall be forfeited if at an election where a poll has

been taken the candidate is not elected and the number of valid votes polled by them does not

exceed one-sixth of the total number of valid votes polled by all the candidates divided by the

number of members to be elected but the amendment provided that in the case of a candidate

belonging to backward classes, scheduled castes, the scheduled tribes or women, the deposit

shall not be forfeited unless the number of valid votes polled by him/ her is less than one tenth of

the total number of valid votes polled, thus encouraging women participation by reducing the

risk of forfeiture.

2. BACKGROUND OF THE PRIYADARSHINI SCHEME

2.1. OBJECTIVE OF THE SCHEME

The scheme aims to expand the credit base to the weaker sections and minorities in the society

by enrolling them as members of Co-operative Societies. An amount equal to the value of one

share subject ( i.e. membership fee) is sanctioned to the society to enroll such beneficiaries. In

the year 2015, Priyadarshini and Ashakiran schemes were merged with the scheme ‘The

enrolment of BPL, SC, ST, BC, Minorities, Women Physically disabled persons as members of

various types of Co-operatives’. The scheme aims to provide financial and social empowerment

to the women in the poor households by providing necessary assistance in the form of financial

assistance to help them enroll into the various co-operative societies under the Karnataka Co-

operatives Societies Act, 1959. Under this scheme, the cost of membership to any of the co-

operative societies that the women want to register themselves into is incurred by the

Government with the maximum cost of Rs. 500 per person. The scheme enables economically

weaker sections of men and women belonging to BPL, SC, ST, BC, Minorities, women,

physically disabled to avail the benefits of other inter-related schemes, loan and other credit

facilities, the reach of which is limited only to the members of any co-operative society

registered under the Department of Co-operation. Thus, the scheme is welfare in nature and

hence, will uplift the women and economically weaker sections, both socially and financially.

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2.2 DETAILS OF THE SCHEME

a. Criteria and identification of the beneficiaries:

Any woman above the age of 18 and willing to join any registered co-operative society under the

Co-operatives Societies Act is eligible to apply. The beneficiary can fill up the forms as per the

rules of the society that has been applied for. The assistance received is equal to the membership

fee of the co-operative society, the applicant is applying to.

b. Administrative process:

Awareness creation:

Before the scheme took off, there was an initiative was taken by the office of the Deputy

Registrar Co-operative Societies office at the district level, co-operative development office at

the taluk levels, and Assistant Registrar of Co-operatives Societies ARCs for the sub division

level. For this purpose, the Government officials along with the co-operative societies undertook

an awareness campaign to float the Priyadarshini Scheme successfully among the women.

Processing of applications:

The field officers are appointed to collect the applications from the women. These applications

are also available with the co-operative societies and require only photo and one I.D. proof

which are collected by the field officers and then verified and checked and sent to the sub-

divisional office at the office of the Assistant Registrar of Co-operatives Societies (ARC) office.

The demand is placed to the office of the Directorate Registrar of Co-operative Societies. The

applications then receive the sanction from the ARC’s office and the money is uploaded to the

treasury after which it is sent directly, on behalf of the applicant, to the co-operative societies the

applicant has applied for. The entire administrative process takes about an average of 3 months.

The rules and regulations of the co-operative societies apply. After the money is received on

behalf of the applicant, she is enrolled automatically and the co-operative societies are required

to issue a certificate of membership.

Auditing and follow-up:

The office of the DRC and the ARC inspect the societies to check whether the fund has been

used properly. In case of any discrepancies, the department can take action against the society.

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3 NEED OF THE STUDY

Though achieving gender equality in terms of representation of women in the co-operative

societies as well as decision making bodies have been part of the principles of the Karnataka Co-

operative Societies Act, 1959, this wasn’t being achieved effectively because of the prevailing

social and economic conditions. The major gap identified in the stated situation was insufficient

enrolment of women into the co-operative societies because of which they were not being able to

derive the benefits of the schemes available for the members of the co-operative societies like the

Yashaswini Scheme. To translate the philosophy of the Karnataka Co-operative Societies Act,

1959 to the grassroots level, and to expedite the number of women being enrolled, the

Priyadarshini scheme came in to existence and later merged with the scheme ‘Enrolment of BPL,

SC, ST, BC, Minority, Women, Disabled persons as members of all types of Co-operatives’. A

need was felt to find out whether this helped in achieving the desired outcomes. Hence, this

study was taken up.

4 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

1) To understand the philosophy of the legislation.

2) To analyse if the scheme is able to effectively implement the purpose of the legislation at the

grass root level.

3) To assess the benefits that are reaching the targeted groups -

Determine the nature of the benefits that the women receive.

Examine the nature and extent of the empowerment i.e. financial, social etc. that women

achieve under the scheme.

4) To identify the issues in implementation -

Administrative issues

Advocacy strategies

To determine if the women enrolled are taking benefits of other schemes meant for the

members of the co-operative societies.

5) To suggest methods in order to improve the effectiveness of the scheme

5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The study used the following research technique:

Descriptive Research: Descriptive research is a methodology designed to depict the participants

in an accurate way. The researcher interacts with the participant, which may involve surveys or

13

interviews to collect the necessary information. For the purpose of this study, a case study of the

women who are the members of The Agara Agricultural Co-operative Society was considered.

.

5.1 TOOLS OF THE STUDY

For the study, the following research tools were adopted:

Interview:

The interview was conducted at 2 levels for the study:

a) Beneficiary level: The beneficiaries consisted of the women who got themselves enrolled

into the co-operative through the Priyadarshini Scheme (merged into : Enrolment of BPL,

SC, ST, Backward Class/Minority, Women, Disabled persons as members of all types of

Co-operatives) to check the status of empowerment of the women and the ways in which

the benefits were being derived.

b) Administrative level: At the administrative level, the official at the office of the Registrar

of the Co-operative Societies were interviewed to understand the administrative

processes, implementation method, criteria for beneficiary identification, and measures

for checks and balances. Also the administrative members of the co-operative society

visited were also interviewed to understand the enrollment process and nature of

activities undertaken by the society and their level of participation in decision making in

the co-operative society.

Interview Schedule: There were three separate interview schedules for:

1) officials of the Registrar of the Co-operative Societies: The questions included

information regarding :

The physical target of beneficiaries in the past financial year

The administrative process and the maximum window for waiting

The number of applications received in the past financial years

Applications that were actually accepted by the authority

The procedure to apply under the scheme (first step to last step).

The reasons due to which an application is rejected.

Awareness programmes (if any) provided to the beneficiaries in the area of their

livelihood

Information on promotion/advocacy of the scheme.

Type of co-operative societies which are popular amongst the women

14

2) The Agara Agricultural Co-operative Society:

The following information was sought:

The total no. of applications received.

Absolute figures of men and women in the society as members

Absolute figures of men and women involved in administrative work the society

Loans and advances taken by women from the society

Type of work women are involved into

Repayment on loan capacity of women

3) The beneficiaries: The women who were enrolled into the various co-operatives societies

through Piyadarshini Scheme were interviewed and the following information was

sought:

Literacy level and the level of financial awareness

Reason for joining

If they are members of self-help groups as well

The type of occupation they belong to

The purpose for which loans are taken from the co-operative society (if any)

Role in managing their financial resources

Effects on personal life

The questionnaire for the beneficiaries was divided into the following sections:

1. General information about the beneficiaries

2. Administrative aspect: Pre-enrolment and Post-enrolment

3. Repayment of loans

4. Problems in access to the scheme

4) The board members :

Focus group interview: A focus group interview was also done with the board members of the

co-operative society who were involved in the managing administrative committee. The

information was sought to see the ratio of men and women in the committee and the participation

of women in decision making processes within the society.

5.2 COLLECTION OF DATA

The interview questions were personally asked to the respondents with a briefing on the

objective of the study and appointments were taken accordingly. The researcher personally

visited the offices of the respondents to gather their responses. The conditions for administering

the interview were fulfilled. In some cases telephonic interviews were conducted to gather

15

responses. Otherwise, copies of questionnaires were distributed to the respondents in co-

operative society and data was collected. The respondents were briefed about the objective of the

study before starting to answer the questionnaire.

5.3 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY:

Limited beneficiaries- Only a few beneficiaries were accessible for the research. Only those

beneficiaries who were present at the co-operative society could be interviewed, hence, were

used as special case for the purpose of the research.

Time limitation- Due to constraints of time, a thorough picture of the whole Karnataka state was

not possible. The researcher had limited time and resources on her hands, hence, only a study of

one co-operative society was possible and therefore, The Agara Agricultural Co-operative

Society was selected for the study.

Language limitation- The researcher was not well versed with Kannada language, and some of

the documents were available only in Kannada. Hence, there may be certain opinions/facts which

were interpreted in a different manner than what they were intended for.

16

6 FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

6.1 The office of the registrar of co-operative societies

The budgetary allocation

Table 1: Year-wise budgetary allocation for the scheme

Any woman above the age of 18 can be enrolled under the Priyadarshini Scheme and can then

join a co-operative society depending on the membership criteria of the society. This scheme was

merged with ‘Enrolment of BPL, SC, ST, Backward Class/Minority, Women, Disabled persons

as members of all types of Co-operatives’ in the year 2015-16. According to the budget

document of 2016-17, 8,86,561 persons belonging to BPL, SC, ST, BC, Minority, Women,

Physically challenged categories have been registered as members in various co-operative

societies during the past three years with the assistance of government share of Rs.36.67 crores

out of which 3,03,756 were women. For this year i.e. 2016-17, there is a demand for Rs. 8 crore

4 The scheme was floated as the Priyadarshini Scheme in the year 2014-15 and wasn’t merged with the scheme ‘Enrolment of BPL, SC, ST, Backward Class/Minority, Women, Disabled persons as members of all types of Co-operatives’ , therefore the budgetary allocation for the scheme and budgetary allocation for the women are same I.e. Rs. 1 crore in the table. It was further merged with the ‘Enrolment of BPL, SC, ST, Backward Class/Minority, Women, Disabled persons as members of all types of Co-operatives’ in the year 2015.

Year Budgetary Allocation for

the entire scheme

(Enrolment of BPL, SC,

ST, Backward

Class/Minority, Women,

Disabled persons as

members of all types of

Co-operatives)

Demand for funds

specifically for

women

Budgetary

Allocation for

the enrollment

of the Women

Difference in

the demand for

funds and

budget

allocation

specifically for

women.

No. of Women

enrolled.

2014-2015 Rs. 1 crore4 Rs. 1 Crore Rs. 1 Crore 0 16,756

2015-2016 Rs. 32 crores Rs. 9 crore Rs. 8.97 crore Rs. 3 Lacs 2,87,000

2016-2017 Rs. 8 crore Rs. 1.568 crore Rs. 1.463 crores Rs. 10.5 lacs 31,360

17

for the entire scheme, out of which, Rs. 1.568 crores has been targeted to be spent on enrolling

another 31,360 women into the co-operative societies.

The Priyadarshini scheme, even after being merged with the new scheme ‘Enrolment of BPL,

SC, ST, BC, Minority, Women and Disabled as members of all types of Co-operatives’, the

scheme has been experiencing an increasing demand for the funds. For the year , 2015-16, the

demand was Rs. 9 crore out of which Rs. 8.97 crore was allotted. The scheme has been called a

performing scheme and has a potential to provide substantial results if the grass root level

implementation remains effective in nature and caters to the needs to bridge the gaps in equal

access to opportunities for both men and women.

The applicant gets an assistance of Rs. 500 for the membership fee and any amount beyond that

would have to be borne by the applicant.

According to the department, this year’s demand is lower than the previous year’s because most

of the targeted women have already been covered. The department is of the view that the scheme

is a performing one.

Regarding the administrative aspect, the average time taken for the processing of the application

to finally enrolling the women is about 3 months. The department reported shortage of the

administrative staff as their most pressing problem.

The most commonly preferred types of co-operative societies among the women, considering the

volume of applications that come in, are the Milk producing co-operative societies, Agricultural

co-operative societies and Women’s Co-operative societies.

6.2 The Co-operative society: The Agara Agricultural Co-operative Society

General information:

Total members (as on 2015-16) - 2,525

18

Table 2: Total women members (as on 2015-16)

Category Number of women

Under Public Distribution System(PDS) 300

Below Poverty Line (BPL) 47

Under SC category 61

Total 408

Membership fee - Rs. 500 per person

Table 3: Members added in the year 2015-16:

Category Amount Spent No. of Persons enrolled

BPL Families Rs. 1,50,000 300

S.C. Rs. 30,500 61

Women Rs. 1,33,500 265

The society has been running for 35 years now and had only around 7 to 8 ladies as members in

the beginning. The society has 500 members as the regular members including both men and

women. The condition for being a regular member is that the member must have a piece of land.

The perks of being a regular member includes voting rights. The regular members can attend and

vote in General Body Meetings (GBM) and are eligible for loans. The other category, for which

having a land is not the prerequisite, is the category of nominal members. The nominal members

are eligible to apply for loans but they do not have any voting rights in the General Body

Meetings (GBM). According to the information given by the members of the Society who had

visited the Co-operative Society on the day the interview was conducted, the Society has 15

women members under their BPL category who are regular members, i.e. own a land, and 12

women from the S.C. category who own a land.

Administrative Members:

Total number of administrative members: 11

Total number of women as the administrative members: 3 (these 3 positions are compulsorily

reserved for women).

The administrative members are chosen as a part of elections held in the General body meeting

which is conducted once every year compulsorily. During the 2014-15 elections, 6 women

contested to be a part of the committee, out of which 3 women were elected to be a part. Women

19

have shown an active participation in the decision making bodies. The body is required to hold

atleast one board meeting in a month. In the year 2015-16, 17 such board meetings were

conducted to discuss on various agenda which are around 67, some of which are:

To discuss the previous meeting status.

To discuss the month’s expenses, credit, debit etc.

To look into the shareholders’ applications

To discuss on short term crop loan and other loan applications

To look into the loan applications by various Self Help Groups(SHGs)

To verify and discuss the profit and loss statement for the financial year

To look into the worker’s salary, and the transfers.

The participation of women in the monthly meetings is 100 percent, whereas in the General

Body Meetings about 50 percent women attend. Currently, one position as the vice president of

the society and two positions as the directors in the society are the three positions that are being

held by women in the Society. The women in the society are actively involved in the decision

making process.

The most remarkable decisions that were taken by the women committee members were to

provide Rs. 5,000 assistance for funeral and death related work. Also, the women committee

members suggested introducing student scholarships of amount Rs. 1,000 for students securing

50% - 60% marks in the final board exams and Rs. 2,000 for students securing 60% and more.

Under the office staff, there are in total 8 people running the office work, out of which 2 are

women who are working as accountants.

A focus group interview was conducted by the researcher to better understand the role and

position of the women in the executive committee. The results of the interview revealed that 100

percent of the women take part in the committee meeting willingly. It was also revealed that the

women who were enrolled under the Priyadarshini Scheme (now Enrolment of BPL, SC, ST,

Backward Class/Minority, Women, Disabled persons as members of co-operative societies) have

voting rights in the committee meetings whereas for other women who are not enrolled to the co-

operative society through this scheme are required to have a piece of land in order to be

considered as permanent members of the Society which gives them the voting rights in the

meetings. This is enhancing the participation of women in electing the board members and other

decision making processes.

Loan and Lending Facilities:

The society lends out money on both short term and long term. The most common types of loans

are short term crop loans. Among women, the most common kinds of loans taken are the loans

for jewelry, tailoring, small shops, beauty parlors, and cloth and bangle stores, other forms of

businesses and for their own SHGs. According to the information provided by the society, the

20

sanction of loan for the year 2015-16 has been 100 percent of the loan applications received. The

information also disclosed that 30 percent of the women applied for loan for the mentioned

purposes in the same year. The loans do not require a security. The society also had almost full

recovery as the loanees hardly default. The repayment of loan among women also remained at

100 percent in the recent years. Below are the four types of loans extended by the co-operative

society:

a) Agricultural loans ranging from Rs. 70,000 to Rs. 1,00,000 at an interest of 0%

b) Loans against jewellery pledging which are unlimited up to any amount depending on the

value of the jewellery at the interest of 14%-15%.

c) Loans to self-help groups (SHGs) ranging from Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 5,00,000.

d) Loans on other businesses ranging from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 1,00,000 at an interest of 14%-

15%

Table 4: Type of deposits and the interest on deposits:

Type of deposit Interest on Deposits ( in

percentage)

Savings 3.5

Fixed deposit for 15-45 days 5

Fixed deposit for 46-80 days 5.5

Fixed deposit for 91-180 days 8

Fixed deposit for 168days to 1 years 9.5

Fixed deposit for 1- 2 years 10

Fixed deposit for 2-3 years 10

Fixed deposit for 3-5 years 9.5

Fixed deposit for more than 5 years 9.75

These rates are 0.5 percent more for the senior citizens. The interest on the agricultural loans are

zero.

6.3 Self Help Groups

The women in this co-operative society are also members of various SHGs. There are around 12-

15 women in one group. There are a total of 31 SHGs of which the women from the covered co-

operative society are members of. The Co-operative also provided financial assistance in the

form of loans to the SHGs.

Besides these, the co-operative society also provides assistance to the women to enroll

themselves into the societies. The society helps them in understanding the procedure to apply.

The Agara Agricultural Co-operative Society also provides women help and assistance in

training them about money management.

21

6.4 Beneficiaries

Four beneficiaries were interviewed for the study. The details of the findings of the interview are

presented below:

Table 5: Interview Responses

Questions Respondent 1 Respondent 2 Respondent 3 Respondent 4

Age of the

respondents

36 45 45 50

Marital status Married Married Married Married

Literacy level 10th standard 7th standard None None

Other women

members( above

the age of 18 )

1 ( Mother in

Law)

None 1 (Daughter in

law)

None

Other member

enrolment status

Enrolled None Not enrolled None

Source of

awareness about

the scheme

Husband Awareness

campaigns

Husband Husband

Source of Help in

understanding the

scheme

guidelines

Husband Husband Son Husband and

son

Whether taken

loan from the co-

operative society

No Yes (Rs. 50,000) Yes (Rs.

1,00,000)

Yes ( Rs.

50,000)

Reason for taking

loan

N.A. Business Household

expenditure

Agricultural

loan

22

Status of loan

payment

N.A. Paid Payment

continuing

Payment

continuing

Cash

management at

home

Husband & self Husband & self Husband & self Husband

Decision

regarding

household budget

Husband & self Husband & self Husband & self Husband

Decision of usage

of loan taken by

the respondent

from the co-op.

society

Both Self Husband Husband

Along with the above observations some other questions were also asked to the women about the

problems they faced while filling up forms for applying for the co-operative society through the

‘Enrolment of BPL, SC, ST, Backward Class/Minority, Women, Disabled persons as members

of all types of Co-operatives’ scheme to which some of the respondents said that the only

problem was in understanding some formalities but they were helped by the other members and

the co-operative society. One of the respondents informed that the waiting time for her from the

time of filling the application to the final enrolment into the co-operative society was some 7 to 8

months whereas for the another respondent it took 2-3 months. All the respondents were part of

some or the other SHG and 2 respondents had taken loans from the SHGs as well. Regarding the

decision of household budget and other expenditures, mostly the women took care of the small

household requirements whereas the husbands are incharge of large expenditure or business

related spending. Two of the respondents had even taken loans for the business the husband was

involved in.

The respondent 2 was also a part of another co-operative society which is an all-women’s co-

operative society. Stree Shakti Yojna is very popular among the women in the society as told by

one of the respondents. The main reason given by the respondents for joining the co-operative

society was because the membership fee was covered under the Enrolment of BPL, SC, ST,

Backward Class/Minority, Women, Disabled persons as members of all types of Co-operatives’

scheme. Other major reasons included, their husband asking them to join, the financial assistance

that they get under the co-operative societies and the benefit of other interrelated schemes that

are available exclusively for the members of any co-operative society like the Yashasvini

Scheme. One respondent out of the four interviewed was also covered under the Yashasvini

23

Scheme. The Yashasvini Scheme is a surgical health care scheme and provides its members with

823 surgical procedures identified by the trust through 640 empanelled Network Hospitals.

7 ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS

Philosophy of the legislation-

The idea of the legislation The Co-operative Societies Act, 1959 is to give women equal chance

to participate in the the co-operative society and be the members of the same. The legislation

aims at increasing the financial independence of the women by making them a part of the co-

operative societies. The legislation has the initial approach of imparting gender equality and

gender sensitivity in economic and social sphere. This sort of welfare scheme will help in the

social upliftment of the women and further the process of gender mainstreaming. The findings of

the study suggest that the number of women who are a part of the co-operative societies has

indeed increased as 16,756 women were enrolled in the first year of floating the scheme ( 2014-

15) and the number further rose to 2,87,000 women in the succeeding year. This enables

women to take part in the working of the co-operative societies, financial matters and decision

making within household and within the co-operative society.

The department didn’t seem to have issues with the allocation of the funds as the difference

between the funds demanded and funds allocated were very minimal in the preceding years but

this year (2016-17), the difference between the funds demanded and funds allocated remain large

at Rs. 10.5 lakhs which is a substantial difference. (Refer Table 1)

Regarding promoting participation of women in decision making, the reservation of a certain

number of seats for women in the board members and the higher posts like reserving one

compulsory post of vice president provides platform for women to be a part of the decision

making bodies and undertake important policy decisions and thus strengthens their position. The

Karnataka Co-operative Societies Act, 1959 also has provisions in the section 28 A sub-section

(ii) for reservation of seats for women in the managing committees and thus this specific section

in the legislation is taken care of by the scheme.

24

Participation of women:

The society has a total of 2525 members as of 2015-2016, out of which 408 are women

members, so the ratio of men to women in the co-operative society is that for every 5 male

members there is 1 women member. The women in the decision making committee is 3 and the

total male members is 8 which is a good representation. Earlier, there was just one women

member in the decision making body. So the participation of women has increased in absolute

terms.

Also, the women are now actively contesting elections and are not merely nominated thereby

ensuring a fair democratic process and the successful implementation of section 20 of the

Karnataka Co-operative Societies Act, 1959. The voting rights for the women enrolled under the

Priyadarshini Scheme (now Enrolment of BPL, SC, ST, Backward Class/Minority, Women,

Disabled persons as the members of all co-operatives) encourages women participation in

electing the Board Members. The women also admit to having been feeling more empowered in

term of participation in elections. One respondent who is currently acting as the vice-president in

the VSSN Agara Co-operative Society shared that she felt so confident after winning the post of

vice-president through the elections that she even contested elections in Taluk panchayath Levels

and got elected.

The benefits the women receive vary from society to society. The benefits are mostly in the form

of financial assistance like availability of loans without collateral or requirement for a security,

health insurance and eligibility for other welfare schemes. Since, the women are now contesting

elections to be the members of the board; they are gaining confidence and being empowered.

Therefore, the nature of empowerment to the women is primarily financial which will ultimately

lift them socially.

8 GAPS IDENTIFIED AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Administrative issues:

The issue that the department raised was the shortage of staff in the department which leads to

the slight delays that happen. According to the department, the average time taken to process the

applications and finally enroll a woman into the co-operative society was 3-4 months, but while

interviewing one of the respondents disclosed that their application process took around 7-8

months which is quite a lot of time as compared to 3-4 months. Whereas, another respondent

disclosed that her application process took around 2-3 months. Therefore, there is a need to

address such discrepancies in the maximum number of days taken to enroll a woman. The idea is

to instead of looking at the mean value of the time taken in processing the applications, the

25

median value of the time taken must be considered which can help present a better picture of the

variation and hence, minimize the variation in time taken in processing of applications.

Financial independence

As per the case study of the Agara Agricultural Co-operative Society, the women can now get a

loan on their name for pursuing the activity of their choice but the findings revealed the scattered

opinions among the women. In some cases, the women mostly take loan for their husband’s

business or household expenses and not for setting up a business for themselves also the decision

regarding the usage of loan is determined by the husband mostly. However, the personal

interaction with few women members who had taken financial loans for their families have

expressed that their say in the family financial decisions is significant and with active

participation. Regarding household budget, the women decide only the small budgets; all other

transactions requiring heavy flow of money are decided by the men in the house. This happens

because there is an ignorance among the women regarding the money management. Therefore,

this gap can be filled only when there is an effort from the side of the co-operative societies or

the office of the Asst. registrar of the co-operatives.

Awareness about the Scheme

The interactions with the women at the Agara Co-operative Society revealed that the women

came to know about this scheme mostly through word of mouth and so there was a little

confusion as to how do the scheme work. Moreover, the interactions also revealed that women

were usually dependent on husbands or relatives on managing their finances because of their

limited knowledge in money management. Therefore, there is a need for greater financial literacy

and awareness programs in the form of campaigns or workshops through tie-ups between the co-

operative banks and the department as well as the lead Banks.

Assessment of the impact and follow up

The scheme only helps women enroll into the co-operative societies, the scheme does not look

into the further participation of women in the households or co-operative societies’ decision

makings. Therefore, there is a need to take into account the impact assessment of such a welfare

scheme.

The scheme has proved to be a success among the women, considering the amount of

applications that has been received. Also the budgetary allocation has been at par with the

demand and hence appears to be a performing scheme. The participation of women has definitely

improved but the financial independence is the area that needs to be looked into. Also, now that

the scheme has been successful in attaining its quantitative targets, there is a need for the gradual

shift in focus to the qualitative aspects of the scheme.

26

REFERENCES

Annual Report 2012-13, The department of Co-operation, Karnataka, accessed from http://www.sahakara.kar.gov.in

Bedi, R.D. (1997). Theory, History and Practice of Co-operation. Meerut: R. La Book Depot

Gender Budgeting Document , Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Information and Communication, the

Netherlands, March 2002 accessed from http://www.minbuza.nl

Mukhi, H.R. ( 2000). Co-operation in India. . Delhi: R.B. Publications.

The Karnataka Co-operative Societies Act, 1959, accessed from http://dpal.kar.nic.in/11%20of%201959%20(E).pdf

The Karnataka Souharda Sahakari Act, 1997 accessed from http://sahakara.kar.gov.in/Doc/SOUHARDA%20Act.pdf

27

ANNEXURES:

Annexure 1: Questionnaire for the beneficiaries

Sr.

no.

Questions Option 1 Option 2 Option 3 Option 4

1 General information

1(a) Age of the respondent

1(b) Marital status Married Unmarried Divorced Widowed

1 (c ) Literacy level None Primary High School High school

and above

1 (d) How many women members do you

have in your family who are above

the age of 18?

1 (e) Are the other women members in the

household who are above the age of

18 enrolled too?

Yes No

2) Administrative aspect

Pre enrollment:

2(a) How did you get to know about the

scheme?

Awareness

campaign

word of

mouth

Advertisement Others(specify)

2(b) If somebody told you, is that person

enrolled?

Yes No

2(c ) How much time did it take to get

enrolled?

1-2 months 2-3 months 3-4 months 4 and above

2(d) Could you follow the procedure to

apply for the scheme?

Yes No

2 (e) If no, who helped you to follow the

procedure

Friends/family

members

The co-

operative

society

The officials

from the

DRC/ARC

Others (

specify)

Post enrollment:

2(f) How much time does it take for you

to get to the authorities in case of any

problem?

2(g) What are the problems you face while

approaching the authority In case of

any problem?

Don’t know

who to go to

Authorities

are

unintereste

d

Long waiting

time affects

works hours

Others (

specify)

2(h) What is the nature of help provided

by the authority?

3 Overlapping members in SHGs

28

and Co-op societies

3(a) Are you also a part of any self-help

group?

yes No

3(b) (If no) have you ever been a part of a

SHG?

yes No

3(c ) Why did you move to a co-operative

society?

3(d) How many co-operative societies are

you a member of?

1 2 More than 2 Planning to

enroll into

another(specify

)

3(e) Which kind of co-operative society

are you a member of?

4 Usage of profits by the members of

a co-op societies

4(a) Does anyone come from the Govt. to

train you regarding money

management?

Yes No Don't know No, but I learnt

on my own

4(b) Where do you primarily use the profit

you get from your engagement in the

activities of the co-operative

societies?

Children's

education

Household Business Healthcare

4(c ) Have you taken a loan from the

society?

Yes No

4(d) What is the rate of interest to be paid

on loans?

4(e ) What is the status of the repayment of

the loan you took from the society

Paid Payment

still

continuing

Partially unpaid Completely

unpaid

4(f) Reason for non-payment/partial

payment

5) Financial control/ empowerment

5(a) Who keeps account of the cash at

home?

Self Husband both Elders and

other relatives

5(c ) Who decides the household budget? Self Husband both Elders and

other relatives

5(d) Who used to decide the household

budget before you were a member of

a co-operative society?

Self Husband both Elders and

other relatives

5(e) Who decides on the usage of loan

taken from the co-operative society?

Self Husband Both Elders and

other relatives

5(f) Are you enrolled into any other

scheme?

yes (specify) No

6 What changes should be made to

make the scheme more effective

according to you?

29

Annexure 2 : Questionnaire for the administrative members at the Agara Agricultural Co-

operative Society

sr. no. Questions option1 option 2 option 3

1

Women in executive and decision

making body

1(a)

What is the ratio of men to women in

the society?

1(b)

What is the ratio of men to women in

the executive body?

1 (c )

How many meetings have taken place

so far in the past 5 years?

1(d)

What is the no. of women that

participated in the meetings in past 5

years?

2 Administrative support

2(a) Was there any support extended from

the society in the enrolment process?

Yes no

2(b)

If yes, then what kind of support was

extended

Helping with the

guidelines

Addressing any

complaints relating to

the process

Connecting the

beneficiary to the

higher authorities

3

Overlapping members in SHGs and

co-operative societies

a) How many women members are also

a part of SHG?

4 Money matters

4(a)

Do you provide assistance to women to

manage money? Yes No

It is done by the

office of the

DRC/ARC

4(b)

What is the ratio of men to women who

applied for a loan?

4( c)

What is the ratio of men to women who

got the loan applied for?

4(d)

What is the ratio of men to women who

paid back the loan in full?

4(e)

What is the kind of investment made

from the loans taken by women?

30

Annexure 3: Interview questions for focus group at Agara Agricultural Co-operative Society.

sr. no. Questions

1 Participation

1(a) Do you take part in society meetings?

1(b) How many meetings have you attended so far?

1(c ) Are you willing to attend the meetings or is it only

out of compulsion?

1(d) If not willing, then what are the reasons for non-

willingness to participate?

2 Decision making/executive body

2(a) Are you a member of the executive body?

2(b) How did you become the member of the executive

body?

2(c ) Was it out of choice or was it mandatory for you to

be a part of the executive body?

2(d) Do you give your opinions in the meetings?

2(e) Are your opinions considered?

31

Annexure 4: Interview Questions for the office of the DRC/ARC

sr. no. Questions

1 What is the previous year's budget allocation for the entire

scheme?(2015-16)

2

What was the previous year's demand for the cheme for the entire

beneficiaries?

3 What was the amount specifically spent on women?

4

What was the no. of women that were enrolled to co-operative societies

under the scheme?

5

What was the demand for the fund under the Priyadarshini scheme (

when it wasn’t merged) ?(2014-15)

6 What was the budgetary allocation for the same period?

7 What is the 2016-17 demand of funds for the entire scheme?

8

What is the demand of fund specifically for women beneficiaries for

2016-17?

9 How many women are targeted to be enrolled under the scheme?

10 How is the demand for the entire scheme calculated?

11 How is the demand of fund specifically for women calculated?

12

What has been the release of the fund in the years 2014-15 and 2015-

16?

13

What are the kinds of co-operative societies women enroll themselves

into?

14

What is the time taken from the processing of the applications to final

enrolment of the women into co-operative societies?

32