Microfinance MattersMarching towards Social Security 22

LivelihoodsMadurai Malli: Fragrance and livelihoods

16

Voices from grassrootsVayalagam Community Radio 21

MattersDevelopment April 2008

A Vision for Water SecurityFeature

MattersDevelopment Vol. II Issue 4 April 2008

Centre for Development CommunicationDHAN Foundation18, Pillaiyar Koil Street, S.S. Colony

Madurai - 625 016. Tamil Nadu, INDIA

Tel.: +91-452-4353983, 2610794, 2610805

Email: dhanfoundation_tn@airtelmail.in

Website: http://www.dhan.org

From the Editors’ Desk

Contents

1. 1

2. Mentoring on Purpose 12

3. Madurai Malli: Fragrance and livelihoods 16

4. Vayalagam Community Radio 21

5. Marching towards social security 23

6. Empowerment of Community Through

Traditional Folk Media 28

A Vision for Water Security

Economic development of villages without environmental consideration could cause serious ecological damage. Watershed development has now come to be seen as the linchpin of rural development in the country.

Dear Readers!

Greetings!

This April issue of Development Matters, Gurunathan of Vayalagam

Foundation brings you an elaborate account of ensuring water

security with an inclusive approach of tank based watershed

development, which we evolved with more than a decade of our

grassroots experience. The other article on mentoring tries to build a

perspective purpose centered mentoring. Of course, all of us have

gone through an intensive process of mentoring as part of our

performance enabling programme this April and this article reinforces

our commitment to achieve the goals we had set for ourselves.

An interesting and thought provoking article from the Centre for

Research brings us the gist of micro study that they conducted on

Madurai Malli, which combines the heritage of Madurai Malli with

livelihoods opportunities for the members of Madurai urban

Kalanjiams.

Please share with us your feedback, contributions, comments,

critiques, feedback and encouragement to enrich the quality of this

magazine.

Happy reading!

1

Feature

*A. Gurunathan, Chief Executive, DHAN Vayalagam (Tank) Foundation

A Vision for Water SecurityFor sustaining people organisations for generations, it is essential to understand leadership andnurture leaders with appropriate mechanisms and processes

A. Gurunathan*

Indian villages in specific and villagesof Tamil Nadu in particular are highlyintegrated ecological systems. Whathappens in one component invariablyleaves its impacts on the others. Butdue to explosion of population andwith increasing degradation of land,large sections of the rural populacehave been migrating to metros andurban cities in search of works. Inthis situation, the only way to endthe present fragmented approach torural development which highlydependent on AgriculturalProduction Systems is to promotean integrated village ecosystemplanning and management. Theagriculture and its sustainability inthe monsoon dependent state is themain source of livelihoods of peoplein rural areas. The high productivityfrom integrated agricultural croppingsystems has high dependence onalleviating rural poverty in TamilNadu. This can be attempted atvillage level or micro watershedslevel by people led integratedwatershed development programmethrough eco-system approaches atdifferent hydrological basins througha massive project. In fact, this peopleled conservation and livelihooddevelopment approach is the need ofthe hour to ensure sustained foodsecurity for the future generationsin the state.

As said by Mahatma Gandhi,villages must be the basic unit ofdevelopment and hence the

economic development of countrycould be achieved. Economicdevelopment of villages withoutenvironmental consideration couldcause serious ecological damage.Sustainable development inpredominant agrarian economy ofstate there fore should attempt tostrike a balance between the demandsof the economic development andthe need for the protection ofenvironment.

In Southern peninsular India,there are about 4 lakhs small waterbodies like minor irrigation tanks,drinking water ponds, etc. They arepart of village eco-systems and meetthe various demands viz. irrigation,human consumption for drinkingand domestic purpose, industrialuse, for animal herds to bathe anddrink and so on. Innumerablespecies of flora grew up on the

bunds and foreshore land of tanks.They meet fodder requirement ofhuman being and also serve asgrazing land for animals.Regeneration of the tank complexenvironment leads to economic well- being of farmers as well as landless,as a result of greater resourceavailability, improved agriculture andanimal care, and consequently,increased incomes. But this ispossible only if people’s managementis present. People’s management isessential for ecological restoration invillage and its surroundings.

Watershed development has nowcome to be seen as the linchpin ofrural development in the country.Watershed development projectshave been taken up under differentprogrammes launched by theGovernment of India and so far,these programmes have laid down

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their own separate guidelines, normsfunding patterns and technicalcomponents based on theirrespective and specific aims. Whilethe focus of these programmes mayhave differed, the common themeamongst them has been their basicobjective of land and waterresources management forsustainable production. Accordingto Prof. C.H. Hanumantha Rao,(2000) “ The degradation ofenvironment in the dry land areas isbasically attributable to theincreasing biotic pressure on thefragile eco-systems in the absenceof adequate investments andappropriate management practicesto augment and conserve the landand water resources. Populationgrowth and poverty on the one handand the pressure of rising demandfrom affluence on the other havebeen exerting powerful pressure onthe eco-systems. The macro-economic policies, which provideinducement to the over-exploitationof natural resources that is at a higherrate than the rate of regeneration, arealso degradation of environment.

Tamil Nadu has four percent ofland area of the country, while itspopulation is about seven percent ofthe total. The per capita land holdingis 1.01 ha as against the nationalaverage of 1.69 ha. Its forest coveris 17.0 percent while the nationalaverage is 23.4 percent as againstthe recommended value of 33percent. Tamil Nadu, in general, isa resource scarce state and thereforehas to take urgent efforts to thedevelopment of water resourcesthrough integrated watersheddevelopment and provision of easyaccess to the poor for fresh waterresources.

In a predominant agriculturalsystem, the objective of improving

the productivity, profitability andprosperity of the farmers andachieving an agriculturaldevelopment on an ecologicallysustainable basis. It is possible onlywhen the conservation, developmentand management of the land andwater resources are assured andadequately funded. As watershedssupport the entire dry landagriculture/horticulture and alsoremain the catchments for tanks andreservoirs, their productive functionis essential for the holisticdevelopment of state. The TenthPlan target of achieving four per centgrowth rate in agriculture and eightpercent growth rate in horticulturewill largely depend upon the strengthof the watershed developmentprogrammes in the state and thiscrucial pint needs special attentionin channelisation of funds.

Until 2000-2001, the state hadtreated 1.65 lakh hectares underdifferent watershed schemesencompassing 3340 watersheds outof 19240 watersheds (categorizedby Agricultural EngineeringDepartment, Government of TamilNadu). Due to absence of people’sinvolvement, much of these effortsto develop micro watersheds haveled to unsustainable development.The various watershed reviewreports in thecountry andstate as well asthe report of theh i g h - l e v e lcommittee onDevelopment ofWastelands andW a t e r s h e dDevelopmentP r o g r a m m e(May 1997)indicate themajor problemsencountered in

the whole process of developingsustainable watersheds as givenbelow:

Lack of professionalcompetence in planning andimplementation

Absence of appropriatemanagement system

Failure to make an integratedapproach

Inadequate people’sparticipation

Lack of monitoring andevaluation

Frequent change of senior staff

Lack of coordination among theagencies working in thewatershed

The watershed developmentprojects implemented so far andthose under implementation coveronly 10 percent of the area ofdrylands and wasteland developmentprojects cover only one percent.These may serve at the most as pilotprojects to demonstrate the validityof certain development strategiesand to promote their replication in alarge measure which is yet to berealised.

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It is therefore imperative for Tamil Nadu to go infor a massive development of micro watershedsin different eco-systems for ensuring water andfood security and also poverty alleviation in asustained manner. From the past experiences andthe very little impact realized from the top-downapproach by line departments, the large scalemicro water shed development programmes inTamil Nadu must warrant people’s ownershipand implementation without involving contractsystem as a people led movement. Otherwise, thewater security efforts that would be taken by thestate government by any other approach wouldlimit the success and sustainability

“If water is running make it walkIf water is walking make it stop”

- Anna Hazare

Water conservation and utilizationthrough watershed developmentseems to be the solution for ensuringwater security and povertyeradication. People have to be at thecentre stage. The traditional wisdomof water harvesting practices forsustainable development needs to beencouraged.

Eminent agricultural scientist Dr.M.S. Swaminathan stated at afunction held in Chennai that: “Indiahas 30 per cent of the world’s farmanimal population; 17 per cent ofhumans, four per cent land andabout two per cent water”. “Howlong can you go on exceeding thecarrying capacity of theecosystem?”

“The need of the hour wasaugmentation of the water resourcesand the methods that needed seriousconsideration included the inter-basintransfer of water and working out afairly cost effective method ofdesalination of sea water. But theinter-basin transfer required politicalconsensus - agreement amongparties across the spectrum”

On drought, Dr.Swaminathan says,“Drought is ac o m p l e xphenomenon. It hasa differential impactacross the country,depending on severalfactors. The primaryimpact of droughtinduced waterscarcity is onh o u s e h o l dconsumption andagriculture. Its

secondary impact is on industry,energy generation and ecosystemconservation”. The secondaryeffects of drought are felt, forinstance, in hydropower generation.Low water levels in reservoirs affectpower generation. This, in turn,affects the quantum of electricityavailable for both agricultural andindustrial use. There is a strongrelationship between agriculturalsuccess and industrial growth. Thisis largely because industrial rawmaterial-cotton, jute, sugarcane andso on-come from agriculture. Thus,while the direct impact of droughtis on water, the secondary impactis on power and energy supply.There are also different kinds ofdrought in agriculture. The soildrought is one where there is nomoisture in the soil. The atmosphericdrought is one in which thetemperature is very high. Acombination of the two is the worstkind”.

On management of drought hesays, “There is no long-termgovernment policy on managingdrought. At best its approaches aread hoc and fire-fighting in nature”.Our investment in drought proofingis poor and it is getting poorer. Thus,

the coping mechanism of the farmfamilies is extremely poor and thepeople are severely affected duringcalamities. Drought has very serioushuman implications as it affects thelivelihood security of a majority ofthe population. That is why it isimportant to have a pro-active policyrelating to drought management. Themajority of the population, whichdepends on the monsoon forlivelihood, has only become morevulnerable with poor copingmechanisms”.

“One of the well-knownstrategies for drought proofing iswatershed development and waterresource management. We shouldclassify the districts and identifythem such as arid, semi arid, subhumid and humid. The advantage ofhaving a zoning system of arid andsemi-arid districts is that we can planto conserve water in tanks, wells,open wells, lakes, reservoirs and alsoin recharging underground aquifers.For instance, in Thanjavur district,the Cauvery water is not onlyimportant for crop productiondirectly but also to recharge aquifers.Yet there is no systematic and rationalwater-harvesting and conservationmovement”.

“Monsoon management is abetter term to use than droughtmanagement. There are well-thought-out plans to face anabnormal monsoon. It is best to havea good monsoon but it is prudent tobe prepared for the worst. Dealingwith both situations must be part ofthe planning process. It should beinstitutionalised. The governmentknows the problems and thesolutions, only it has not convertedknow-how into do-how”.

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Dr. Swaminathan concludes bysaying “There have been instancesof successful drought managementand water management in thedrought-prone areas of Rajasthan,Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and someother States, because of which theseplaces have fared better.” No doubt,these examples can be replicated. Butthese need good organisation. NGOscan do it in some areas anddemonstrate its success. But for itto be done on a large scale, the

government must get involved. Itneeds to be institutionalised.Schedule 11 of the Constitution, the73rd Amendment, gives 29 items ofresponsibility, including land andwater management, social forestryand water harvesting, to thepanchayats. It is all listed, but notenabled. The gram panchayats arenot empowered - financially, legallyor technologically - actually to dowhat they have to do. Now, with thepanchayatraj system in place, it is

possible to instil some disciplinewithin a village. Techniques of waterharvesting and conservation are wellknown. Every gram panchayatneeds to develop a watermanagement strategy involvingwatershed association or/villageassociation with the threecomponents of water conservation,its sustainable use, and equitablesharing, and should be empoweredto put this into practice”.

Redefining State’s Approach in Reorienting Water and Food Security

i. Multiple Vision vs. Shared Vision

Every Ministry/Department has its own Vision, Mission and Thrust Areas. It results in isolation and sometimescompetition for the resources. Hence, a Shared Vision would be ideal. The transformation from Multiple Vision toShared Vision is shown in the diagram.

Agriculture

Food security andWater

AgricultureFood security and

Water

AgricultureFood security and

Water

AgricultureFood security and

Water

AgricultureFood security and

Water

AgricultureFood security and

Water

Rural Development

Livelihood and Water

Water Resources

Livelihood and Water

Forest

Conservation andpreservation of

waterOther (Fisheries)

Conservation andLivelihoods

Agriculture

Food Security and Water

Urban

Water andSanitation

Time has come to appreciate each one’s role and inter-dependence on the issue of water security. Ultimatelyshared vision would provide a common purpose and understanding and an interface between many aspects ofwater security. It would also help to deal with the management of water resources with an integrated and holisticapproach rather than being managed in the traditional compartmental approach by the various agencies anddepartments.

5

Shared Vision

There are five distinct elements, which go into shared vision as illustrated in here.

VISION 2020: Shared Vision for Water Security

Warrant as well as ensure clean, hygienic, adequate and sustainable supply of water to entire human population(living both in rural and urban areas) as well as livestock in the state of Tamil Nadu

Assure the water use efficiency and reallocation of water between intra and inter sector to fulfill the futuredemands with restricted supply.

Treat all micro-watersheds situated in five major eco-systems through community stake owned processes andsystems in a nested institutional set-up with effective coordination.

Enforce the stringent legislation to prevent degradation and decimating water resources including traditionalwater bodies like tanks, ponds, temple tanks and others from pollution, over-exploitation of ground water, overuse and wastages.

Revive all functioning small scale common water sources (tanks, ponds, springs, swamps, etc) and defunctprivate infrastructures (wells) and fulfill their ecosystem functions without jeopardizing their future use byusing simple, cost-effective, manageable, eco-friendly technology.

3). Re-look at water use (Towards surface water based civilisation

2). Livelihood and conservation 4). Enabling

policies, research (Data base) and gender balanced water programmes

5). Pro active management of droughts and floods

6

Shared Vision Elements

i. Building Social Capital forLocal Management

In the past and also traditionally,the community used to act as thecustodian for natural resource(forest, water) and its use. This spaceof the ‘community’ (recognizing theinternal hierarchies and inequalities)has decreased over the years and inthe case of irrigation it has almostdisappeared. Now the mechanism ofresource use regulation has been

reduced to two extremes – theindividual (and / or market) and thestate. So there is a need to re-establish community control overresource base and this should be oneof the important aims of watersheddevelopment.

Though there is an increasingawareness of the need for treatingthe watershed association or theGram Sabha as supreme, in practicethis precept is hardly adhered to.Moreover this is not simply a matterof the implementing agency taking a

decision. In our opinion, however,it would be better to go back to thebasics: if the Gram Sabha is to bethe primary regulatory body, then itshould have special representationfor women, dalits, tribals, landless,etc., not specifically for SHGs, etc.When it comes to size, there areobvious advantages to having theimplementable tasks done by small,homogeneous groups and theregulatory or policy tasks by a largergroup that will carry the force ofwider consensus.

Figure: Nested Institutions

Primary (Functional Groups)User Groups (Tank and PondAssociation)Dryland AssociationSelf Help Group

Secondary (Functional Groups)Micro Watershed AssociationTank Cascade Association

Sub Basin AssociationWatershed Level

Tertiary (Functional Groups)Basin level organization

Strengthening the Grama Sabha will also require giving it proper legal status. Ideally, recognition of hamlet –level Gram Sabhas under Panchayat Raj – as has happened in Karnataka – may serve the dual purpose of providingboth legal status as well as solving the size problem.

So far, we have been talking only of the local-level institutions that would be required. However, there is also aneed for some institutional arrangements to deal with these multi-village or even basin-scale problems. The nestedinstitutions and their linkages are mentioned in Figures.

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Figure Potential Linkages

Nested People Institutions

Panchayat related InstitutionsMainstream Institutions : Banks, DRDAs,Dept of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry

Water Resource Organization

The arrangements at this levelwould also need to recognize thebasic asymmetry between upstreamand downstream communities, andtherefore the basin-level regulatorybody would have to have someground rules that establish theminimum entitlements of thedownstream communities. Clearly,the basin-level body will have to dealnot just with watershed developmentissues, but with all aspects of wateruse and all forms of water – surfaceand ground, infiltrated and harvested,return flows, etc.

ii. Livelihood and Conservation

In the rural Indian context,particularly in drought-prone areas,the minimum livelihood needs thathave to be assured would consist ofdomestic water (including drinkingwater and water for livestock), food,fuel and fodder. It also needs somebiomass input to the agriculturalsystem to maintain soil productivityand other goods and services thatmay have to be maintained from thelarger system. The last would includeneeds like health, education,entertainment, transport etc.Additionally, since our understandingof livelihood includes the way oneearns one’s livelihood, access toresources – whether it is land, water,

livestock, or any other resource orfacility needed for the productionprocess.

In the context of livelihoodneeds, one of the importantquestions is how many of theseneeds should be fulfilled locally (andto what degree) in kind? Forexample, it could be argued that iffarmers produce sufficient cashcrops and get high returns, theycould then buy food. In other wordsit is not necessary for watersheddevelopment to contribute foodproduction if it contributes to raisetheir cash income sufficiently to buythe required food. The sameargument would apply to fuel orfodder. In many of these areas underthe high input-based green revolutionagriculture, some of the kind hasalready happened. Even in manyareas where rainfed cash crops areimportant, farmers have to producefor the market to have enough cashto meet food requirements.However for a number of reasons,we believe that if the food, fodderand fuel requirement is producedlocally and preferably by everyfarmer, then there is greater self-reliance and dependability oflivelihoods.

We should also note thatlivelihood needs would depend uponthe livelihood patterns in an area andfor different social sections, in thepatterns prevalent among them. Forexample, the fodder needs of ahousehold that is primarilydependent on pastoral activity as theprimary source of livelihood wouldbe quite different from that of atypical peasant household.Watershed development itself couldchange them significantly in onedirection or the other.

iii. Re-look at water use (towardssurface water based civilization)

There is increasing evidence thatgroundwater extraction has beensignificantly accelerating during thelast ten years or so. There has beenan overall increase in the number ofwells and among these the increaseof deep tube wells had beenphenomenal and most of these areasare hard rock areas where deeppercolation and recharge will bepretty low. Watershed developmentseems to have acted as an additionalimpetus for investments in wells andpumping devices and there isvirtually a pumping race taking place.As discussed earlier excessivewithdrawal has led to groundwaterpollution as well as decline.

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The areas that are going fromwhite to grey and grey to dark (asper the groundwater developmentclassification) are also increasing. Inyears of drought, groundwater usedto act as a buffer to meet drinkingwater and other essential needs.Now there are predictions that themeteorological drought would beaccompanied by groundwaterdrought. What are the sustainabilityimplications of this? It also has graveequity implications based on one’slocational advantage in the watershed(if one’s land is close to the checkdams, stream course, valley portion)combined with ones financialresources to invest on wells andwater lifting devices, tend todetermine who gets access to howmuch water.

It is very clear that unless we canaddress this issue of regulation ofgroundwater use, no amount ofwatershed development would makea difference. Therefore it becomesessential to re-look at water usetowards surface water basedcivilization in the near future.

iv. Pro active management ofdrought and floods

Droughts and floods are generallyconsidered as nature made disasters.But man’s interference with natureby way of deforestation, and othererosion and pollution inductingactivities are aggravating thefrequency and intensity of thesedisasters. The forecasting andcoping mechanism even thoughattempted scientifically based onsatellite inputs, and meteorologicaldata, the devastation caused is farreaching. The effects of drought andwater problems are alarming and leadto an imperative to do something, but

the underlying causes are not widelydiscussed and some issues(especially the effects ofunsustainable groundwater use ofirrigation) seem to be consciouslyavoided. In fact, sustainability andequity in water resourcemanagement continue to be thedaunting problems in the absenceof policy initiatives in this direction(Soussan and Reddy 2003).

In the pursuit of secured watersupply and use, the proactivemanagement of drought and floodshas become crucial as well asimperative. In many states in thecountry including Karnataka, thewatershed development programmeand the tank renovation,rehabilitation and managementprogramme (under the JalaSamvardhane Yojana Sangha-JSYS)go parallel and there is no effort tointegrate them. In Maharashtra alsothe drinking water schemes areseparately dealt with from thewatershed development efforts.From our experience in manyplaces, there are either existingtanks that have been silted up andnot under use or tanks that arefunctioning, and are not integratedin the watershed planning.

By integration one can probablyovercome some of the problemsrelated to upstream-downstream aswell as groundwater versus surfacewater conflicts and also to someextent take care of the limitationsof both if they continue to functionas exclusive systems. Theintegration of tanks, ponds, springs,and swamps renovation along withwatershed development in droughtas well as flood prone eco-systemswould ensure proactive copingmechanism. Ralegaon Siddhi is anexample of such integration.

v. Enabling policies, research(data base) and Gender balancedwater shed programmes

Water is a dynamic element andrequires dynamic management.Institutional arrangements are criticalto develop and implement watermanagement policies and plans.Appropriate institutions caneffectively govern and manage bothindividual and collective waterwithdrawal, and promote / monitorthe efficient use of surface and sub-surface water. The institutionalarrangements should be location –specific and flexible. Rigid andgeneralized institutional arrangementscould result in the collapse of well-planned and effective watergovernance and managementstrategies. The institutionalarrangements need not be confinedto the water sector only. These canbe extended to strengthen productionand marketing of agriculturalcommodities to encourage high-valueand low-water-requirementcommodities.

The initiation of appropriateinstitutional arrangements needs toinvolve the whole range of formalrules and regulations, customs andpractices, ideas and information, andinterest of the community groupnetwork. These simple but importantaspects would together provide theneed-based and location-specificinstitutional framework or the contextwithin which water managementactors and other decision – makerscan operate. The institutional aspectsbroadly cover the formulation ofpolicy directions, mechanisms forefficient water distribution andmanagement systems and effectivecost-recovery methods. Thegovernment often plays these roles,

9

and there is now a need to involvethe stakeholders in the governanceand management of water resourcesat all levels. There is a need to reformthe existing institutions and establishnew linkages.

Similarly, the lack of research aswell as database which will give aperspective on the status ofwatersheds and arriving atappropriate development needs, leadto all sorts of practical problems.

Propositions for future action

Proposition 1: Participatoryprograms perform best

All development programmes andwelfare measures in the countrywould succeed only if the peoplewho are the major stakeholders inthe entire programme participate andget involved in them. It is thereforenecessary for a paradigm shift fromthe government’s top-downapproach without taking people intoconfidence. Henceforth, thegovernment must upscale fromcontemporary project and/orscheme focus to people ledmovement focus throughconvergence of department’s roles,guidelines, programs and funding. Apositive and enabling policy withsuitable legal framework to supportthe above proposition through self-governing and self-managed civicbodies is a prerequisite.

Proposition 2: Integration of genderand development process

In reality, the role of women andtheir access, control and decision-making on resources, planning, andparticipation in development processin watersheds/natural resourcesmanagement is grossly neglected or

given least importance and focus. Butthe success and sustainability ofwater sector programmes largelydepend on the equity and equalparticipation of women in overalldevelopment. Therefore, it isimperative to integrate gender anddevelopment approach by involvingwomen in the process and alsoaddress the concerns of womenthrough appropriate developmentinterventions.

Proposition 3: Watershed plus is theneed of the hour

The history of watersheddevelopment in the country has beenvery vivid and at the same time therewas less sustaining impact to theefforts and investment made.Except few selective successes inthe programmes facilitated byindividuals and non-governmentalorganisations in the country, all werenot sure success. Its so because allwatersheds adopted onlyconservation principle with moreemphasis on technical aspects ratherthan integrating local issues likepoverty, livelihood, and genderequity. Hence, the necessity ofintegration of social, biophysical,ecological perspectives in watersheddevelopment along with technologyis highly relevant as a part ofwatershed plusconcept.

Proposition 4:Addressing inequalitiesshould be mandatory

W a t e r s h e dencompasses peoplefrom various caste,creed and class rangingfrom big landlords,marginal and small

farmers, landless, women andchildren. Most of the developmentfocus at this juncture is on landimprovement through suitable soiland conservation measures which nodoubt helps the landowners inrealizing higher benefits. Similarly thewater utilization in differentquantities by various users is also anarea of concern. It is thereforenecessary to address inequalities inorder to ensure access to water andequitable water supply to every oneinvolved in the watersheddevelopment process.

Proposition 5: Augmentcollaboration by inviting Public-Private Partnership

In the state, the government ismaking sincere efforts to thedevelopment of watersheds andwastelands through investment withthe support of centre’s contribution.The single agency involvementwould restrict the growth since theinvestment requirement to developentire watersheds to address watersecurity in the state within shortertime may not be met fully. Therefore,it requires exploration of newpartners as collaborators in thedevelopment process. InvitingPublic-Private Partnership isconsidered important and necessary.

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Significance of “Tank Cascade” in a Watershed

The tanks are designed so that the surplus of an upper tank reaches a down stream tank to store thesurface water. This results in a chain of tanks akin to a “cascade” with high performance efficiency. Eachtank in the chain takes a share of the yield from the catchment above it, in addition to the run off from its ownfree catchments. Our tank systems proved to be superior because of its hydrological efficiency.

In some cases, the links in the chain of tanks are broken, affecting their performance adversely. Thecauses may be:

Encroachment of like-channels for private and public use

Blocking of link-channel by newly laid roads

Diversion of water from link channel to other uses

Poor maintenance of link-channels

Village conflicts reflected in tank related works.

In the tank based watershed development programme priority needs to be given to tank cascades (overthe isolated tank systems) to maximize the benefits from the proposed investment and to restore the socialharmony in villages linked by the tank cascade.

Rehabilitation of ponds and drinking water ooranies in the watershed: These small traditional waterharvesting structures play a vital role in meeting domestic and drinking water needs of the rural masses.Hence the rehabilitation of the ponds and ooranies becomes a part of the watershed development programme.

Watershed classification: The existing watershed classifications restrict the development interventionin the location context. Looking back at the traditional system and culture, the lands in this State wereclassified into five broad groups as follows:

Kurinji Hilly and hill side lands

Mullai Forest interface and rainfed agricultural barren and waste land

Madudam Plains, cultivated, wet and rainfed lands

Neithal Coastal lands

Palai Desert lands

DHAN Foundation has grouped all the 19240 micro watersheds of Tamil Nadu into four out of five eco-system based New Generation Watersheds except Palai. This grouping is based on their contextualization andlocation and is useful in arriving at the unit cost according to the appropriate soil and water conservationinterventions needed.

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The proposed approach and strategies in new generation watersheds is presented below:

National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) & Watershed Development: As the tankbased watershed development programme involves mainly the earth work to be executed by manual labour, thefunds allotted under NREGP can be well utilized for the uplift of the rural poor.

Institutional framework for tankbased watershed development:

1. The unit for planning and organising shall preferably be a Tank Cascade where hydrologically linked tanks aretaken together for development where only isolated tanks exist in a micro watershed, they should not beignored but have to be developed individually

2. All tank users organised under the Tank Association and Tank Cascade Association shall be formed on watershedbasis

3. All the tank development measures should be based on a basin approach rather than on administrative boundaries

4. All the development works should be planned and implemented through the user groups and the role of linedepartments should be to facilitate rather than implement like in watershed programmes

5. The linkages with the Panchayats and Panchayat Unions should be made within the purview of the PanchayatAct by considering the tank user groups as functional groups of the Panchayats

References:

1. Rao, Hanumantha. (2000): ‘Watershed development in India: Recent experience and emerging issues’. Economicand Political Weekly, Vol. No. XXXV, No.45.

2. Soussan, John and V. Ratna Reddy, 2003, ‘Evolving appropriate watershed policy, Economic and PoliticalWeekly, 8(1): 24-28.

Sl.No.

Cross cutting Themes /Ecosystem

Approach Strategies

1 Hilly & Forest basedwatersheds

Preservation

Conservation

Soil & water conservation

Afforestation

2 Canal irrigation basedwatersheds

Conservation

Effective use of water & management

Improving water use efficiency and land drainage

3 Tank based watersheds Conservation

Development & use

Equitable water management

Water conservation

Revival of tanks & ponds

Water management

4 Ground water basedwatersheds

Effective water management

Pumping regulation

Power supply

Water management

Revival of defunct wells

Artificial recharge

5 Rainfed agriculture basedwatersheds

Conservation Improved agriculture

Water conservation

6 Coastal area watersheds Conservation, Development & Use Creation of additional water harvesting structures

7 Urban watersheds Conservation

Effective management & use of water

Roof water harvesting

Revival of urban tanks and ponds

Desilting of temple tanks

Clearing water ways and channels from encroachments

8 Wasteland / barren landdominated watersheds

Development & Use Afforestation

Fuel and fodder development

Water conservation

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The success of any Organisationis essentially relying on its purposeorientation and ability to bepurposeful both at the personal andorganisational level. Mentoring canplay an effective role of evokingpurposefulness, and there bygenerate high levels of motivation.Mentoring can be used to make themembers of the organisationtowards its purpose, to impact theminds of the individual for increasedpurposefulness, and to align bothindividual and organisational purposefor each other’s benefit. In DHANCollective, we believe in practicingself renewal through self reflectionfor sharpening our focus. This is oneof the prime focuses, with whichwe undergo retreat every year. It ismainly to stay aligned with andresponsive to the communities withwhom we are working.

This self renewal can involve awide range of programmes andinitiatives such as culture building,ensuring value practice, enabling inevery step of the communityprocesses and so forth. What allthese have in common is that, to besuccessful, as DHANites we needto undergo behavioural change.Mentoring is an interventiondesigned to enable DHANites at alllevels in making the necessarybehaviour changes.

Mentoring

Mentoring is a specialised formof management development and

HRD Perspective

Mentoring on Purpose*

* With contributions from the Permanent Working Group on performance enabling at DHAN Foundation

education. It goes beyond the formalmanagement developmentprogrammes and aims at bringingabout highly focused developmentthrough personalized guidance forthe challenges facing them in theirdevelopment work. Mentoring canstimulate and manage theindividual’s growth necessary todeliver performance beyond presentlevels and beliefs of what is possible.It does this by helping them:

build a confidence in self andothers

develop their vision anddiscover their value priorities

think purposefully and inspireshared vision, mission andvalues

determine appropriate goals,strategies, and action plans

enhance their management andleadership skills

recognise repeating behaviouralpatterns and introduce changesto impact them

bring out high commitment forpersonal change anddevelopment.

In DHAN Foundation, manyinstitutional mechanisms of enablingare in practice. There are manyHRD nodes created in DHAN like,field guides, batch teacher, RegionalHRD, Programme HRD and CentralHRD. Among all the above, theRegional anchors are player areexpected to play a key role in the

enabling process by playing the roleof mentor for the colleagues in theRegion. Similarly, anchors of thecenters of DHAN, Programmes andPeople Promoted Institutions wouldplay the mentoring role in therespective units.

Principles of Mentoring in DHAN

Mentoring process in DHAN isguided by some of the principles

i.) Effective mentoring is essentialfor promoting developmentmissionaries for the sector

DHAN identifies the high qualityhuman resources and makes themavailable for the development of thepoor and marginalized sections of thecommunity. DHAN views thesehuman resources not just as a poolof development workers or projectmanagers. They are considered to bedevelopment missionaries.Developing missionaries is not asimple job. It is a long term processwhich enables a person to movetowards that stage of missionary.

ii.) Being a mentor is aprofessional responsibility

For the senior DHANites whoassumes the responsibility of amentor, it is not just their moralresponsibility. It is, in fact aprofessional responsibility whichshould be performed with zeal andcommitment.

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iii.) Seeking an effective mentor isa professional responsibility ofthe mentee.

Colleagues who are working invarious positions of DHAN shouldseek to have a mentor. It is theirprofessional responsibility. Thoughthe Regional Coordinatorautomatically assumes the positionof a mentor, seeking andparticipating in an active mentoringrelationship is the responsibility ofthe mentee.

Mentor

Many define a mentor as a teacherwho assigns tasks and reviewsperformance, but a mentor is morethan a teacher. A mentor facilitatespersonal and professional growth inan individual by sharing theknowledge and insights that havebeen learned through the years. Thedesire to want to share these lifeexperiences is characteristic of asuccessful mentor. A mentor is aperson who oversees the career anddevelopment of the junior. She/hehelps a mentee clarify career goals,develop and execute an IndividualDevelopment Plan. Mentor coachesthe mentee in enhancing skills andintellectual development; passesalong organizational information; andprovides honest feed back to thementee about perceived strengthsand developmental needs. Ultimately,a mentor is a trusted friend who isalso an advisor.

In DHAN Foundation, region isour microcosm. Hence the anchorof the region is the person who playsthe role of a mentor for all thecolleagues working within theregion. However the role ofguidance is not only restricted with

the regional anchor. The menteeshould also get necessary guidancefrom anywhere else in theorganization. The regional anchorsshould facilitate the mentee to learnfrom others.

Mentoring on Purpose

Mentoring can therefore be achallenging and stretchingexperience, both for the mentor andmentee. Also it is an exciting processof self discovery and developmentwhich creates new opportunities forpersonal fulfillment and achievement.In either case it involves a journeyinto the unknown and into unfamiliarways of being and doing; we mayhave to confront our fear of failureand, paradoxically, our fear ofsuccess; we may have to cast asidelong held beliefs about who we areand what we are capable of; and wemay have to resist strong pressurefrom family and colleagues to lapseback to our habitual ways. Thus tocreate and then sustain change in theface of the many forces which maypull us back, a powerfully motivatingcontext is necessary. That contextis Purpose.

Purpose

Our purpose expresses who weare, who we are becoming, and whatcontribution we can make. We willhave a sense of purpose when ourlife has a direction and meaningwhich we have chosen. Purposediffers from vision which is aboutwhat we want to create and achieve.We can choose a vision but we canonly discover our Purpose.

When our personal life and ourpublic life, are aligned with ourpurpose, then our lives aremeaningful and we connect to deep

treasure house of energy withinourselves. The main reason why asense of purpose is important is thatit provides the content for ones lifethrough which we can manage ourinner experience of change. But tocreate that change we must be ableto express that purpose in the world,that is, to be purposeful.

Being purposeful

We are being purposeful whenwe are fully living up to our purposethat is when we are expressing ourpurpose in the moment rather thanworking towards achieving it in thefuture. Purposefulness can also bedescribed as willfulness. RobertoAssagioli, the founder ofPsychosynthesis describes thefollowing qualities of will:

energy, dynamic power,intensity

mastery, control, discipline

concentration, attention, focus

determination, decisiveness,resoluteness, promptness

persistence, endurance,patience

initiative, courage, daring

organisation, integration,synthesis (Assagioli 1973)

Assagioli further elucidates thatthere is a distinction between our‘true will’ or purpose, which can bedefined as the will of the self, andthe energies, such as drives and self-centred desires that come fromsubpersonalities. Of course, this isnot to say that subpersonalitiesshould not get what they want, theirneeds have to be met fully beforethey can truly be transformed. Buttheir wishes are inevitably in conflictwith the wishes of othersubpersonalities. We experience no

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such conflicts with the ‘true will’ forthis originates from the deepest,innermost core of our being.

We can only truly discover ourtrue will or purpose when weconsciously and actively take stepstowards its manifestation. That mayseem obvious, but too often weforget this and, instead of followingour path a step at a time, we try toleap ahead, not paying attention towhat is happening in the presentmoment. The next step is always ofutmost importance, and, in actuality,the only step we can make. Evenphysically if we try to take four stepsat once we are more likely to fallover than succeed. This is even truerwhen we are talking about innerPurpose. We find it is easier to stayon our path if we pay attention toour immediate position, rather thanworrying about something wayahead.

We may have little or no idea ofwhat our true will or purpose is, butif we reflect upon what purposemeans to us, and what we wouldlike to manifest in our lives that has‘real meaning’, we can start gettingat least an inkling of it. You mightlike to try some reflective, receptiveand creative meditation on ‘purpose’.Remember that purpose alwaysfollows the rule of non-interference- it cannot be your real purpose if itinvolves you interfering with oraltering someone else’s purpose.

When we have connected to ourpurpose - through meditation assuggested above, or through any ofthe other methods used inpsychosynthesis or other ways toself-realization, the next step is todecide how to manifest this purpose.The techniques for grounding that

we have already discussed can bemost helpful in this, but the mostimportant thing is to find your ownindividual ways of manifesting yourpurpose. This is where it is oftenmost helpful to have a good guidewho will be able to not only help youconnect with your purpose but alsohelp you to find ways to manifest it.

Bringing purpose into the presentrequires the ability to be present - orto have presence. Put simply:

Purpose + Presence =Purposefulness

Presence is the ability to be withanother person with such inner self-knowledge that the other person isable to ponder the depths of who heor she is with awareness and clarity.It is the single most important skillthe mentor requires. MarianneWilliamson describes presence rathermore poetically: “We are all born toshine, as children do. We were bornto make manifest the glory of godthat is within us. It’s not just in someof us; it’s in everyone. And as we letour own light shine, weunconsciously give other peoplepermission to do the same. As weare liberated from our own fear, ourpresence automatically liberatesothers.” (Williamson1992) This is also anexcellent descriptionof the essence ofmentoring.

Developing purpose

The mentoringfor change modelprovides aframework andmethodology formentoring. Thismodel and the four

elements of the mentoring process -freeing up, envisioning,implementing, and sustaining - aredescribed elsewhere (Turner, 1995).Figure 1 shows the correspondingelements of mentoring on purpose -satisfying needs, uncoveringpurpose, being purposeful, andrealising purpose.

Satisfying needs

Needs are those things whichmust be satisfied for us to have asolid foundation to our lives. For thisreason, mentoring on purpose willoften start in this quadrant of themodel.

When we are driven by our needs(eg. for appreciation, self-worth,security, love, success) it is difficultto express and live by our purposebecause our energy and attention aredevoted to get our needs met. Indeveloping a sense of our purpose,it is therefore important to determinewhether our behaviour is beingdriven by our needs. If it is then wemust find ways to get those needssatisfied once and for all so that theirfulfillment no longer gets in the wayof our purpose. So, for example, wemay be a team-leader and have a

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strong need to belong. If we try toget our belonging needs met fromthe team when we are supposed tobe challenging its members to newlevels of performance. We are likelyto fail both to provide the leadershipthe team requires and to get our ownneeds met. More appropriate waysof getting this need met must befound.

Sometimes, mere awareness thata need is being met in inappropriateways is sufficient to enable peopleto drop the pattern. But often theneed’s function has been to protectthe individual from the challenge ofembracing their sense of purposeand then more wide ranging work isrequired.

Uncovering purpose

As we release ourselves from thehold of our needs, so we create theopportunity for our sense of purposeto begin to emerge more fully intoour lives. This emergence can befacilitated by looking at the courseof our lives. Distinguishing thethemes and patterns, becomingaware of what is unfolding, noticingthe qualities of those times when wehave felt most alive. Recalling whatit was we especially enjoyed as a sixyear old, considering the TombstoneTest (“What would you like yourepitaph to be?”), and by otherexplorations of the wider context ofour lives.

A more analytical approach toworking with both purpose andneeds is to work with value priorities.Values sit at the gateway between ourinner and outer worlds. Theydescribe what is fundamentally

important, and hence meaningful, tous and so are directly related to oursense of purpose and to our needs.

Being purposeful

A sense of purpose does notnecessarily lead to purposefulbehaviour. Purpose is passive;purposefulness is active and emergesout of a process in which we expressourselves through what we do.Connecting our sense of purpose totake actions it involves variousparameters. It includes clarifying ourvalues, developing our intention,deliberating on the possible ways ofrealising our purpose, choosing oneor more, affirming the choice,formulating plans, and finally acting.

In being purposeful, we mustmobilise our mind and our feelings:at the intellectual level our sense ofpurpose provides a powerful reasonfor making the changes; and at theemotional level our purposefulnessprovides the motive force to bringour purpose into existence.

Realising purpose

Once we are taking purposefulaction we must ensure that this iscreating the outcomes we seek toachieve. To do this we have to learnto perceive clearly our impact on ourenvironment (eg. organisation,family, team) and be able to sensethe intricate web of connections inwhich we exist, and to see the wholeas well as the parts.

We have to develop the ability tosustain our new behaviours andways of being, to develop newhabits, to learn from our experience,and to be sensitive to what we are

creating. These are systems skillsand they emerge most fully when ourinstrumental, interpersonal andimagine skills become integrated. Inessence they involve a shift fromseeing a world made up of things toseeing a world that’s open andprimarily made up of relationships.

Linking individual and organisation’spurpose

The traditional psychologicalcontract between employer andemployee has involved a trade oftime for pay. But many people arenow looking for more from theirwork than just financial rewards;they are seeking the opportunity todevelop and fulfil themselves.Increasingly it will be thoseorganisations which are able tosatisfy this desire for more fulfillingwork which will be able to attractand retain the best staff. Thus, thechallenge that organisations face ishow to provide their staff with theopportunity for more personallymeaningful work whilstsimultaneously enabling theorganisation to meet its goals.

In fact, organisations too can bedescribed as having purpose,although it is more usually referredto as the organisational mission. Anorganisation’s mission expressesitself in a variety of ways - throughthe structures, polices processes etcof the organisation - butpredominantly it comes from thesense of purpose of the people whomake up the organisation. And justas individual purpose can beaccessed through personal values, soorganisational mission can beaccessed through its core values. It

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is values that provide the linkbetween the individual’s purpose andthe organisation’s mission. This isnot to say that the individual shouldhave the same value priorities as theorganisation - though there doesneed to be a core of shared values -but that the stage of development ofthe individual’s value system shouldmatch that of the organisation.

Conclusion

Living our purpose consistentlyis a profound challenge. It requires

high levels of self-awareness, a firmcommitment, a strong sense of ourown self-worth, a willingness to takerisks, and the emotional discipline totravel outside our comfort zone. Inessence it requires that we developthe skills of self-leadership. The roleof the mentor in this is to help thementee continually deepen theirunderstanding of reality, develop theirsense of self, learn to listen for whatis emerging, and to encourage themto live their purpose.

References

Dr M H M Munro Turner,“Mentoring on Purpose”

Assagioli R, 1973, “The Act ofWill”, Turnstone Press.

Sculley J, 1988,“Odyssey”,Collins.

Turner M H M, 1996,“Executive Mentoring”,Counselling at Work, 12.

Williamson M, 1992, “A Returnto Love”, Harper Collins.

Malli refers to Malligai flower inTamil and ‘Jasmine’ in English.Tracing the history, the flower findsmention in the Vedas, the oldestHindu scripture. There are copiousreferences to the jasmine in Tamilpoems of the period from 300 B.Cto 300 A.D. Similarly, Madurai’s linkwith jasmine dates back to 300 B.C.The poems of Sangam Literaturedescribe how King Pari gifted hisroyal chariot for a jasmine creeperto rest because he simply could notsee the creeper on the hard forestfloor. Besides being strung intostrings and garlands, the flower canalso be used to make shampoos,scents, perfumes, jasmine oil, whichis believed to have a soothing effecton skin and act against skinblemishes and pimples. Its scientificname is Jasminum sambac.Jasmine is an evergreen vine orshrub, probably an Iranian nativewhose name means heavenly felicity.It is the National flower of Pakistan

Livelihoods

Madurai Malli: Fragrance and livelihoodsAravindan*

and Indonesia. In Indonesia, theflower symbolizes purity, eternal loveand nobility.

Jasmine is one of the oldestfragrant flowers cultivated in theworld. The flower is used forvarious purposes viz., makinggarlands, bouquet, religious offering

etc. It is also used for production ofjasmine concrete which is used incosmetic and perfumery industries.More than 80 jasmine species arefound in India, of which only threespecies are used for commercialcultivation. They are Jasminumsambac (Gundumalli / MaduraiMalli), J. auriculatum (Mullai) and

* Aravindan, Project Executive, Centre for Research, DHAN Foundation

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J. grandiflorum (Jathimalli / Pitchi).The first two species are mainlycultivated for selling as fresh flowerswhereas the last one is cultivated forconcrete extraction.

Tamil Nadu is the leadingproducer of jasmine in the countrysecuring the second place. Out of20,000 ha area occupied by flowercrops in Tamil Nadu, Jasminoccupies 7,800 ha (39%) of the areawith the total annual production of60, 000 t. The major jasmineproducing districts of Tamil Nadu areDindigul, Salem, Madurai,Tirunelveli, Virudhunagar, Trichy,etc. The flowers produced in thestate are being exported to theneighbouring countries viz., SriLanka, Singapore, Malaysia andMiddle East countries.

Specialities of Madurai Malli

While the jasmine is cultivatedwidely in southern Asia, the jasminecultivated in Madurai district hassome specialities, which is distinctlycalled as ‘Madurai Malli’. There areover 25,000 people involved inflower tying industry in the city whocan improve their status if theycome under one roof. Themerchants in Madurai elucidate thepeculiarities of the Madurai Malli.While the agricultural scientistsaccept these peculiarities, that arespecial to Madurai Malli, they are yetto validate genetic and physiologicalcharacteristics to support thisargument. The specialcharacteristics of Madurai Malli are

Fragrance: The jasmine grownin Madurai is some whatsuperior in fragrance, becauseof the heavy accumulation ofthe smell causing alkaloids‘Jamone’ and ‘Alpha

Terpineol’. The laterite and redsoils of Madurai district are richin Sulphur which is theprecursor of these alkaloids.More over presence of higheramounts of Potassium and thesupplementary foliar sprayingof Borax (Boric acid containselemental Boron) help the plantto deposit the producedalkaloids in flowers. This is themain reason for the highfragrance of Madurai Malli.

Thickness of the petals:Madurai Malli has the thickestpetals of all the other jasmineflowers grown in other parts ofthe country which helps todelay the drooping of petals.This thick nature of the flowergives it to some stiffness whichmakes garland preparationeasier and aid in designing anumber of patterns.

The colour of Madurai Malli issome what greenish white whenit is collected from the plant.After few hours probably atnoon, the colour will turn intomilky white and turn into shiny

creamy white during theevening. So the whiteness ofthe flower will not turn intobrown even after 24 hours innormal storage.

Late blooming: Normallyjasmines grown in other partsof the country would unfurltheir petals before or around 5pm. But Madurai Malli, due toits thick petals would unfurl itspetals only after 6 pm. Sometimes even after 7 pm, whichwill enhance their marketability.

Longer shelf life: We canpreserve Madurai Malli for twodays without discolourationwhich is impossible with theother jasmines.

The ‘Madurai Malli’ with theabove said characteristics is grownin specific areas around Madurai,bound by the nearby blocks suchas Aruppukkottai, Natham, Melurand Thirumangalam.

Types of garlanding

There are different types andfashions of making Jasmine garlandsusing ‘Madurai Malli’. We cannot

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see this unique style of flowergarlanding in any other place. Thisspeciality denotes that the flowergarlanding technique adopted inMadurai only. We can observe fivetypes of making garlands.

Uruttu Kattu –Malligai flowersare garlanded like a spring. Thisis very unique and famous inMadurai.

Pattai Kattu – Flowers aregarlanded like a strip of metal.

Kadhambam – Mixing of otherflowers with Jasmine is knownas Kadhambam.

Malai – Weaving jasmineflowers around the thick bananathread

Thirumbippaar – Flowers aregarlanded with other brightcoloured artificial flowers.

Garland making

In Madurai, garland makingprovides major livelihood forthousands of slum dwelling women.They are doing this garland makingas a part time work after completionof their household works. Many ofthe flower vendors are approachingthese women voluntarily and givingthis work. During the peak seasonsand important marriage days, therewould be heavy flow of work forthese women. Garland making needsno education but skill and interest.It is usual to see in Madurai slumwhere all the women would be busyin making garlands. The merchantsdecide the wage. They get Rs.2/- fortying 1,000 flowers and Rs.4/- forrefreshment.

Cultivation seasons

Based on the flower arrival to themarket a year can be divided asstarting, peak, medium, low and Nilseasons. Since the farmers are not

very clear in saying the seasonsaccurately the pattern of flowerincoming to the market is taken tofix the seasons. The table elaboratesthe arrival and seasons. There is ahuge fluctuation in flowerproduction which gets reflected inthe market price also.

A farmer can earn aroundRs.40,000 as a net income on thefirst year. This income is too low tomeet his other personal expenditures.Hence he is dependent on thecommission agents for theirfinancial needs. From the secondyear onwards, the yield would beincreased by 30 percent due to twocycles of flowering in one year. Themarket price pattern is same for thepast five years which is not aremunerative for the farmer.

Production method

Until 1990 no farmer was readyto cultivate jasmine in large scalebecause of twining nature of theplant, which has made interculturaloperations difficult. After theintroduction of modern pruningtechniques farmers came forward totake up cultivation. As populationgrew, the demand for jasmine alsoincreased. In order to increase theflower flow into the market, thecommission agents approached

farmers through the field workersof pesticide companies. The agentsencouraged farmers for Jasminecultivation by supporting them withcash for their cultivation expensesand with the cultivation materials.They told the farmers that they didnot want any interest for this amountand after harvest this loan will bededucted from their income. But thefarmers should sell the harvest onlythrough the agents. By this processthe agents got 10% of the total saleas the commission, which serves asthe interest for their investment. Bythis method a vast area was broughtunder jasmine cultivation in Maduraiand Dindigul districts. Now thecommission has been increased as12.5%.

Generally planting will startduring the pre monsoon monthsnamely September - October. Fourmonths after planting, farmer canrealise a daily yield up to 10 kg/acre.Normally a blooming season lasts for40 days. After every 40 days ofblooming the farmer has to applyfertilizer and irrigate the field.Second blooming starts from 21days after the fertilizer application.Some farmers are adopting lightpruning during the pre monsoonmonths. Then this chain is continuedup to six years with a heavy pruningduring the third year. After six years

Season PeriodNo. of

Months

Average arrival offlower to market

Tonnes / day

Starting February 15th - April 15th 2 0.300 - 0. 500

Peak April 15th - August 15th 4 2.00 - 3.00

Medium August 15th - October 15th 2 0.75 - 1.00

Low October 15th - December 15th 2 0.50

Nil December 15th - February 15th 2 0.05 to 0.015

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the plants should be uprooted andnew plantation should be established.But now after six years a heavypruning is done to extend theplantation for further three moreyears and on 10th year the plantationis re established.

In order to get continuousflowers through out the year thefarmers adopt fertilizer applicationmethods, wherein they will notirrigate or apply fertilizer all theplants. They will divide the area intofour quarters and sequence irrigationand other activities at fortnightintervals. This would help them toget continuous flowering even duringthe off season. More over, duringthe winter season farmers are usedto spray growth promoters whichwill induce the plants to blossom.

Role of commission agents

The vendors are seldom able todemand a higher price as they haveto sell the perishable commodity inthe absence of proper storagefacilities. The producers reachMadurai Mattuthavani flower marketand give the flowers to the agents.The sellers start the sale by quotingthe highest rate of the day before.The farmer also stands beside theseller. After selling his lot the sellerhands over the total money to thefarmer with a slip of paper. Farmergives them to the accountant of theagent and gets entered in theaccounts note book as income. Afterthat the farmer get a sum of moneywhat he requires for his expensesfrom the accountant by making noteof it in the accounts note.

There are about 60 licensedcommission agencies in the flowermarket. These agencies have givenadvances to the flower cultivators

for the regular supply of the flowersto them. The advances are basedon the capacity of the cultivator.Since the cultivator got advance heautomatically sends his flower to thatparticular agent. The market priceof the flowers are determined by thecommission agents based on thequantity arrived and demand for aflower. The flower rates publishedout in the news papers are notfollowed here. During the past fiveyears Jasmine fetched the minimumprice of Rs.25 / kg and the maximumof Rs. 800/ kg. In the last ten year,only in 2000 and 2006 the rate hikewas up to Rs. 1000/kg of the flower.The agents will charge 12.5%commission equally for all theflowers.

From these commission agentssmall flower vendors are purchasingthe flowers. Some vendors haveregular customers like shops,temples and houses. Some vendorsare having shops at public gatheringplaces. All the vendors are dependingon the slum women for makinggarlands.

Flower Export

Around 15,000 kilograms ofjasmine flower is exported fromMadurai daily as jasmine garlandshave patronage in various foreigncountries including France. Yet, theindustry faces a threat owing toescalating cost of land that forcesfarmers to quit jasmine cultivation.

Normally jasmine is exported asloose flowers. No body has takeninitiative to export it in garlandedform. In Madurai some agencieshave tried to export jasmine to Arabcountries. But due to delayeddeliveries by the flight companies theexport business was given up. One

exporter closed his business becauseof failure of flights to deliver on time.The Jasmine can with stand only twofull days after plucking by keepingthem in ice boxes. But he facedfailure in three consignments andfaced loss of Rs.50 Lakhs. When theMadurai airport is converted as anInternational airport, there areopportunities for exporting jasmineto other countries.

Flower Vending

Both men and women in Maduraislum area are involved in flowervending activity. Majority of thewomen carry the flowers and sellalong the road sides, bus stands,temple corridors and other publicplaces, Whereas, the men sell theflowers with their bicycles or smallmake-shift shops along the roadsides. The flower vending needsmore business skills. During the leanseason due to low arrival of theflowers the rates will rise up to Rs.1000. But price of the garland cannot be increased beyond certain limit.They follow improper measuringmethods to avoid losses.

Issues in cultivation and marketing

Producers

The farmers, who are morevulnerable in the whole venture,share that

There is no role for us in fixingthe price because flower marketis a buyers’ market and not theproducers’ market. There is noregulated market, as done forother produces as well asregulations for fixing the pricefor flowers.

By nature we do not have liquidcash to meet any urgent needs.Hence we are heavily dependent

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on the money lenders or thecommission agents for all theircultivation and other familialneeds. Hence, we are forced tosell our produce only to theseexploitative entities.

We are spending more for pestsand diseases control and theplantation needs regularirrigation for continuousbudding, for which we need topay higher costs.

We have to pay high freightcharges to transport theflowers. In the governmenttransports, we are chargeddouble the amount of normalfare as luggage.

Sellers

The sellers argue that

Since jasmine’s shelf life is oneday under room temperature,we have to sell the commodityas early as possible. Hence wecould not demand higher price.

Unforeseen pest and diseaseattacks reduce the quality andquantity of the commoditywhich reduce our profit margin.

We are also dependent on themoney lenders to pay for thefarmers’ needs.

Due to flight delays and delayeddeliveries from air ports, we arefacing heavy loss whensending the flower to biggercities.

Exporters

Non-availability of air space inmajor airlines. Most of theairline operators prefer heavyconsignments.

The existing number of flightsduring the peak seasons is notsufficient for export.

We have infrastructuralproblems like bad interior road,inadequate refrigeratedtransport and storage facilities.

Lack of professional backup ofdelivery and supportingcompanies, which resort intohigh cost of technology forIndian entrepreneurs.

Tedious Phyto-sanitarycertification and an unorganiseddomestic market.

Street vendors

Location of flower market is notat the centre of the city and veryfew buses are stopping in frontof the market. It will takeminimum of two hours for avendor to purchase flowers.

Around 10 to 35 pre cent of theflowers are immature whichcannot be garlanded. They arebecoming waste.

Fixed wages for the labourersinvolved in tying flowersbecome an issue during leanseasons.

Road side sellers are tortured bythe traffic policemen.

Jasmine cannot be kept in icefor more than two days.

Considering the heritage value ofMadurai Malli the following activitiesare advocated for popularising theMadurai Malli and its by-products.

1. Conducting exhibition withdifferent styles of garlandingand other by-products ofjasmine creating awarenessamong the people and also invitenew innovative ideas from thepublic.

2. Courses on preparation ofjasmine by-products may beconducted for poor by DHANCommunity college.

3. Training centres for diplomacourse on the pattern of ITI fortraining the personnel infloriculture should be set up.

4. Production and popularisationof the products like MalliSherbet, Malli Bouquet, MalliScent Sachet, etc.,

5. Influence Governments tofacilitate an environment forexporting and also ensuringminimum prices for thefarmers.

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People need information as muchas water, food, medicine or shelter.Information can save lives,livelihoods and resources.Information, communication, andpublic participation becomeimportant aspects of a community’sability to recover from a disasterevent. Communities rely on differentsources of information before,during and after the disaster. Disasterpreparedness and restorationinitiatives depend more on howinformation and services will befacilitated during the aftermath of acrisis. Dysfunctional telephones andunwired remote villages often makethe last mile reach a nightmare. Theanswer will be in strengthening andsustaining the local systems thatwork.

Communication in disaster riskreduction strategy

Disaster risk reduction involvespreparedness before such events,response and recovery during andafter such events. Prevention dealswith long term planning and follow-up. All these steps need facilitationof information and communicationamong the communities and withother stakeholders. The followingfactors determine the success ofany disaster risk reduction strategy,where communication plays a keyrole:

Organising the communities toplan, implement and monitorthe disaster managementstrategies.

Facilitating relief, rehabilitationand restoration initiatives

New initiative

Vayalagam Community RadioAdvocating appropriatetechnology for prevention andrehabilitation

Building capacity of the localcommunities to cope up withthe disasters

Community radio can play a vitalrole in achieving the abovestrategies. Since this is perceived tobe an enabling tool for buildingcapacities of the local communitiesto own and manage it, this wouldserve their information andcommunication needs in asustainable manner.

Community radio combined withthe village information centres couldhelp a lot in creating location specificdisaster mitigation strategies. Therole of community radio would bevery critical in disaster managementbefore, during and after the disasters.The role of community radio indisaster preparedness across theworld is well known. Fromneighbors Nepal and Sri Lanka to thePhilippines and Haiti, communityradio has a proven track record ondisaster preparedness and mitigation.

Vayalaga Samuga Vanoli

Tanks are the lifelines of the ruralTamilNadu. There are more than39,000 tanks, small and big in sizesin Tamil Nadu providing irrigation to6.50 lakhs hectare. These tanks havebeen created several centuries agoby our forefathers as they found tobe effective flood regulators anddrought mitigators.

In Madurai district there are 2717tanks of which, the Kottampatti

block alone has 967 tanks.Kottampatti block falls under thePalar kottakaraiar basin which isdrought and flood prone basin. Mostof the tanks in Kottampatti seem tobe smaller in size; they come underthe administration of PanchayatUnion. Except 20 tanks having morethan 40 hectares of ayacut, whichare managed by the PWD, theremaining tanks are rainfed tankswholly depend on rainfall. Thelandholding pattern reflects that themost of the farmers are small andmarginal category and their mainlivelihood operation is agriculture.

Drought and flood are therecurring phenomenon in this block.The uncertainty of rain and unevendistribution of rainfall causesdamage to the crop due to lack ofwater during critical phases of cropgrowth. Similarly these tanks had toface frequent floods since manystreams and water ways to thesetanks are originating from the Alagarhills and Piranmalai hills of the localhillocks which provides greaterscope for frequent flooding. DHANis working in this basin area for morethan a decade and the farmers whoare dependent on these tank systemshave been organised into a Districtlevel vayalagam federation.

In 2005, this block faced a severeflood damage, where many numberof tanks were breached and peoplefaced a lots of damages. The reliefand rehabilitation initiatives by theVayalagam Tankfed AgricultureDevelopment Programme of DHANhas brought in a lot of lessons tomitigate such events in the future.

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Information and communicationwere the vital inputs along with therelief and rehabilitation measurescame out of the flood relief projectdone with the support of OxfamNovib that time.

On this background theVayalagam Community Radio hasbeen conceived and launched tocreate a locally owned and managedcommunication media to cope upwith such disasasters. DHANFoundation’s experience in operatingCommunity Radio in Nagapattinamhas been highly useful in designingand implementing a community radiostation fully dedicated forcommunity led disastermanagement.

Objectives of the VayalagamCommunity Radio

The overall objective of settingup of a community radio station inthe disaster prone area is to build asustainable model of communityowned communication media thatwould enable them to mitigate andmanage disasters of any kind.Specific objectives of setting up ofCommunity Radio are to

Create awareness on alternativeand sustainable livelihoodsthrough highlighting successstories and best practices inthose lines among drought andflood prone villages.

Make the farming communityrealise and take responsibilityfor conservation of waterbodies that are used as droughtmitigators and flood moderatorsthrough disseminating radioprogrammes for informationand education.

Enable the communities to tell,share and preserve their own

stories by themselves, on theirvillage and environment

Discuss the issues andchallenges concerning theirdevelopment and find outcollective solutions forecologically sustainabledevelopment.

Location

The Vayalagam Community Radiohas been setup at Kottampatti tofacilitate the reach of FM radio aspermitted by the Ministry ofInformation and Broadcasting tocover the radius of 15-20 kilometersfrom the station.

The Community behind this

The Madurai District TankFarmers Federation owns and runsthe Community Radio Station. It has

applied for license with the Ministryof Information and Broadcasting,Government of India. Thecommunities living in the areas of15–20 kilo meters radius fromKottampatti in Madurai district,covering a population of about onelakh spread over 27 villagePanchayats would be served by theVayalaga Samuga Vanoli.

The board of governance of thecommunity radio station has beendrawn from the Vayalagam TankFarmers’ Associations. A team ofvolunteers trained on radioproduction in addition to internettechnologies are makingprogrammes for narrowcast. Theprogrammes are being narrowcastedthrough the Public Address Systemsfixed over the Village InformationCentres, called Thagavalagams in 20villages. These Thagavalagams are

the internet enabledinformation kiosks,operated by a locallytrained volunteerand managed by thevillagers.

The Centre forD e v e l o p m e n tCommunication ofDHAN Foundation,is promoting thisidea of CommunityRadio, is nowpreparing thecommunities toh a n d o v e rmanagement tothem. The staff andthe board ofgovernance wouldmanage the centrewith adequates u s t a i n a b i l i t ymeasures.

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This paper looks at howKalanjiams are involved in activitiesrelated to enlarging the range offinancial services such as savings,credit, and insurance to the poor toattain social security throughpromoting mutuality and localmanagement.

Micro insurance, next to microsavings and micro credit is gainingmomentum in the micro financeindustry, as an important tool toreduce the risks and vulnerabilitiesof the poor. The micro insurancesystem, a new concept in India, iscapable of penetrating all sections ofthe masses to provide the neededsocial and financial security to thepeople. This has an upper edge overthe formal insurance system, whichdid not possess the products suitingthe people, particularly the high riskclients. Further, it could even play apositive role when incorporated withdisaster management measures. Theexperiences of micro finance haveshown that the poor are bankable andtheir social capital plays a crucial rolein enhancing their abilities. Povertycould be eradicated in plannedperiod, if the micro finance activitieswere up scaled and micro insurancewas allowed to play a major role.This was possible only with theactive involvement of decisionmakers in government, microfinance institutions, non-governmental organizations, bankingand commercial insurance providers.

Microfinance Matters

Marching towards Social SecurityDr. R. Jagannathan and A. Umarani*

Attempts by poorer householdsto cope up, in the event of a crisis,often lead them into debt andultimately impoverishment.Insurance services to the poorcompliment the role of savings andcredit to address poverty and lossof income earning capacity. Therural poor households becomevulnerable due to seasonality ofincome, unemployment, underemployment heavy spending duringspecial occasion in the family due todeath, birth, marriage, ceremonies athome and festival etc. Theenvironmental conditions of thehouse and occupation are alsoassociated with risks andvulnerabilities. Poverty could alsoresult from transient phenomena andsudden shocks such as crop failure

and untimely death etc. The mostimportant and common shocks withthe urban poor are concerned withfloods, fire, illness, accident,unemployment, business failure,eviction and caste clash. If it comesto crop or livestock, the risks aremore volatile. Crop is sensitive toweather conditions and livestock todiseases, including endemics.

The risk transfer instrumentssuch as insurance, communityfunds, pension schemes etc. can beblended with other preventive andloss reduction programmes. Toevolve holistic risk managementprogramme, which can reduce thevulnerability of rural poor to certainrisks. Such programmes canimprove success rates of the

* Dr. R. Jagannathan, Programme Officer, Tata-Dhan AcademyMs. A. Umarani, Director, Tata-Dhan Academy

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ongoing poverty reductionprogramme. The communitybanking programme of DHANFoundation organizes the poorest ofthe poor women into Kalanjiams,which inturn promote the clustersand federations at the next levels,which are involved in activitiesrelated to the strengthening of theKalanjiam and enlarging the range offinancial services like savings, creditand insurance. Through promotingmutuality and local management,insurance is promoted as a productafter savings and credit inKalanjiams.

The Gangai Vattara Kalanjiam(GVK) and Pudur Vattara Kalanjiam(PVK) are federations of women SelfHelp Group (SHGs) calledKalanjiams are spread over MaduraiDt. These federations have enrolledits members in KSSSY (KrishiShramik Suraksha Yojana) and JBY(Janashree Beema Yojana), since2001 in collaboration with LIC ofIndia. These schemes werewithdrawn after two years of theirinception by Govt of India, due totheir poor accessibility to people, andoperational difficulties and lengthyprocessing. Due to these issues,people thought about their ownsocial security programmes and thuscame into existence thesefederations, simulating the sameconditions and facilities of KKVsmodel (Kadamalai Kalanjia VattaraSangham) of micro insurance in thefederations.

Features of the Community ManagedInsurance Scheme

The programme was launchedwith the benefits of Rs 20,000/- fornatural death of insured member, Rs10,000/- for the natural death of

spouse, Rs 40,000/- for theaccidental death of spouse and wagelose compensation of Rs 75 per day,when an insured member ishospitalized.

Kalanjiam way of strengtheninglivelihoods

Gangai and Pudur VattaraKalanjiam (GVK) Mutuals wereregistered and incorporated underIndian Trust Act in Sept 2005. Thisis the first of its kind – federationmutual institutions promoted byKalanjiam Federation system tomanage the activities of Mutualsolutions from member enrollmentto claim settlement were established.A team consisting of a professionaland support professional with fieldstaffs was created to support thefederation. Consequent on thefunctioning of the scheme, in themiddle considering the membersdifficulty in paying the subscription,they amended the benefits of naturaldeath of Rs. 10,000/-. The benefitsprovided by the product were Rs10,000/- on natural death, Rs 25,000/- on death and permanent totaldisability due to accident and Rs12500/- on partial disability due toaccidents. Wage loss in view ofhospitalization of insured membersis given at Rs.75/- day. Theinformation on death should reachthe executive committee in time whowill provide Rs 3000/- as advanceto meet the funeral expensesimmediately and the balance amountwould be paid when final paymentis made.

Later, final discussions withpeople at all levels, expressed theirinterest on whole life programme.Finally, a product including all theirdemands was evolved. This scheme

has certain benefits, such as higherlife cover and scholarship benefitsfor the children, compared to theJBY scheme of LIC, where severalinadequacies such as lack of funeralexpenses on the day of death, lackof whole life cover and lack of wageloss compensation were noticed. Allthese have made the members toevolve a mutual solution by addingthe beneficial features of JBY andcovering the gaps to providecomprehensive life coverage underthe existing scheme. Now themembers are entitled to have thebenefit of Rs. 30,000/- on naturaldeath, Rs. 75,000/- for death andpermanent total disability due toaccident, Rs. 37500/- on permanentpartial disability due to accident, Rs.1200/- for two children aseducational scholarship to children’seducation from 9th std to 12th std.under JBY scheme. There is acompensation of Rs. 75/day in viewof hospitalization of insuredmembers and the benefit of Rs10,000 on death and Rs. 3000 forfuneral expenses to be paid on theday of death were ensured under theexisting scheme.

Considering the expenses ondifferent health issues, the bestpremium for different categories ofhealth expenses, are Rs 2419/- forprimary diseases, Rs 372/- forsecondary diseases, Rs 904/- fortertiary diseases, and Rs 240/- forchronic diseases respectively. As, itis highly expensive to do owninsurance by the federation itself, theback up insurance with other formalinsurance companies were found tobe better and as such, there areseveral products available in themarket such as National InsuranceCompany, LIC, and STAR etc. Inrespect of special features of the

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Mutual health insurance (Kalanjiamproduct), it is noteworthy that theproduct is available for people of allages, and primary care included inthe benefits with low premium costand covers whole family at low cost,which indicates and emphasizes thatthe Kalanjiam concentrates on thebetterment of the whole family ofits members.

In respect of benefits of “MutualHealth Insurance Policy” the familygets the premium insured up to Rs10,000/- with in the specific periodof the use of this policy. Thesecondary treatment taking at thehospitals referred by the federationcan be reimbursed up to 75% bysubmitting proper bills and otherrequirements, while for primaryhealth care, it was only 25%. Thebeneficiaries can take primary andsecondary treatments at “SUGAM*”Hospital without any cost up to thesum insured (limit of Rs 10,000/-).The members taking treatment atgovernment hospital can get thewage loss compensation of Rs. 75/-

per day, up to the limit of 15 days ina year. It is worth mentioning that ifthe member is more than 60 yearsold, he is eligible to get the benefitof taking primary care treatment atfederation clinic by paying only 25%of the old expenses. The family, asa whole, or the individual memberof the family can get the benefit ofmaximum sum insured amount ofRs. 10,000/-.

The exclusions are that the pre-existing illness do not cover underthe scheme. Naturopathy treatmentsdo not cover under the scheme. Theexpenses on blood pressure, diabetesare reimbursable only at the firstinstance of diagnosis. The expenseson normal delivery do not comeunder this policy.

It is concluded from the analysis,that the agent-partnership model isappropriate to replicate the “THENI”model of “Universal HealthInsurance, where the region canhave partnership with the NationalInsurance Company (NIC). This is

the only product which has thecoverage of primary healthtreatments and it is available at verylow cost which is affordable to thepoor. The product covers thehealthcare primary expenses whichis helpful to reduce the outsideborrowing. The reimbursement ofmedical expenses is also helpful forthem with the family size of five. Themonitoring of primary care processat outside hospitals is very differentwhich may likely to increase theadministrative cost. In that case, itis better to avoid referral clinics forprimary health care. The federationprovides primary health caretreatment through the clinic at thefederation office itself.

Responsive to members need

This whole health insuranceprogramme can be integrated withMutual Insurance of people mutuals.The support can be extended fromPeople mutuals in actuarial and otheraspects. The process of membershipapplications, claim settlements,healthcare administrations, premiumcollections etc. have to be taken careby the health insurance division ofthe federation. Further it can extendto ‘reinsurance’ with any formalinsurance company like NIC mainlyto minimize or share the probableepisodes of large extent of riskcoverage. Ultimately this reinsuranceprocess serves to the federation’ssustenance in running thisprogramme successfully. For allsuch processes it can replicate themodel of Kadamalai Kalanjia VattaraSangham (KKVS) promoted by theDHAN Foundation in Theni districtof Tamilnadu. It requires human

* It is a community owned hospital, established in Theni District.

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resources, viz, a project executiveand a little number of associates.There are two models experimentedby the Kalanjiam federation whichare presented below:

Model - I

In this model, federation not onlyestablishes network hospitals but alsoit negotiates with them forconcessions on various treatmentsand even for free primary healthcare. The members would paypremiums directly to the federationand avail health care andreimbursement of claims fromnetwork hospitals. The networkhospitals may also extend theirservices in terms of cashless accessto health care includingdisbursement of medicines atnetwork hospitals. The federationwould do the bill settlements to therespective hospital. Thereimbursement process can also bedone at federations, in case ofmembers go to any hospital otherthan the network hospitals. Themajor advantage of this model is thatthere is independency to design theproduct in such a way that premiumand health insurance coverage canbe minimized or limited to includethe major and common exclusionsascertained by formal insuranceproviders like maternity allowances,wage loss compensation and travelallowances.

Model - II

A prominent Partner - Agentmodel is the second model which isan ideal one at present. It is possiblein partnership with insuranceproviders like National InsuranceCompany (NIC) or New IndiaAssurance Company. These both

public insurance entities offer BPLproduct called ‘Universal HealthInsurance’. This product had beenintroduced by the centralgovernment three years ago. SinceNIC has been working as a partnerwith DHAN Foundation in Thenidistrict of Tamilnadu, it is easy tohave a better understanding with it.This product best fits to themembers wish as they demand forfamily coverage rather thanindividual.

It has unique feature of apackage of Rs.25000 as freeaccidental death coverage forfamily’s earning head. Also thesum insured is comparativelyhigher than other models atwork. According to Programmeleader of People Mutuals, DHANFoundation, there is subsidyprovided by NIC as shown hereunder on its three subsidiaryproducts. There are other productsalso available exclusively fromprivate health insurance providerslike STAR’s micro health insurance,IFFCO-TOKYO micro healthinsurance and Swasthya Bima policyfrom NIAC which, and all are meant

for individual persons and not familycoverage.

In this model the federation canbe an agent between the insuranceprovider and the members. Themembers will have access tonumber of 20 existing networkhospitals of NIC. Also they can havecashless accessibility in thesehospitals.

Responsive to member’s needNIC has its own entity called ThirdParty administrator (TPA) to lookafter the actuarial section forpremium calculations, processingapplications and claim settlements.Premium collections will be made bythe federation and a nominal chargecan be ascertained on each premiumas service charge. Through the TPA,claim settlements will be made. Butcertain exclusions have beenascertained by the company for pre-existing diseases and maternitycases. For such cases, the relaxationcould be loan provision from thespecial saving product. Hence, it isbetter to drive for special healthsavings or credit product as a bestrisk management to support formaternity expenses. In order to

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increase the awareness andunderstanding about the insurance,insurance literacy has to be promotedamong the members. For thispurpose, a steering committee atfederation level needs to be formedmainly to give trainings on healtheducation, preventive health care andhealth insurance.

The capacity of Kalanjiams tohandle any kind of insuranceprogramme, in addition to the othertwo elements of microfinancenamely savings and credit has beenproved beyond doubt. Now thefederations have realized the need ofcovering the health risks ofmembers, as the expense in health

issues is a major source of incomedrain and indebtedness. The mightymembers are envisioned to launch apension product and a mutual healthinsurance programme in the comingdays which is not far off – as thefeed back system and participatorydesign have made the people tomanage this on their own.

The excerpts of the article formpart of the project works of thePDM VI and PDM VII students, viz,Mr. Ramesh Kumar Maturi (PDMVI), Mr. Aravindan M andMr. Pathinettampadian (PDM VII)and are gratefully acknowledgedwith thanks.

References:

- Ramesh Kumar Maturi R(2007): “Developing MicroHealth Insurance Product inKailasagiri Kalanjia Samakhya,Visakhapatnam (AP) (not yetpublished), DPS II., P-74.

- Aravindan M (2008): “Needassessment of Mutual healthinsurance and productdevelopment for Gangai VattaraKalanjiam, Madurai (not yetpublished), DPS II., P-95.

- Pathinettampadian M (2008):“Analysis of benefit realizationof Mutual Help Programme atPudur Vattara Kalanjiam (not yetpublished), DPS II., P-56.

J. Vellaiathevan is a 22 years old Bachelor of BusinessEconomics, native of Keelamathur village. He is the firstdegree holder in his family. His father is a farmer and motheris a home maker. He has two sisters; the elder got marriedsoon after her 10th class and his younger sister is now doinga degree after seeing the improvements in the life of thisbrother, who is her inspiration. He had completed a desktoppublishing (DTP) job-oriented course from a computer centrein Samayanallur. People in his village appreciated hisacademics and encouraged him to pursue higher studies. Dueto financial constraints he wanted to join a course whichwould make him earn more. One of his well wishers, Mr. Murugan {father of Ms. Sonia, a student of LIFE}suggested the centre. He found this centre would quench the thirst for a job-oriented career. Immediately hejoined the six-month DCHSA course. He felt all the concepts are taught in detail. He says, “Earlier I had fearabout future. The demand from family burdened me to earn as early as possible. When I joined the centre, Ilearnt more than computer education. Value based skill building process, as a part of the course taught by Ms.Dheeba reduced the shyness, helped me to face people and situations. Modules like personality developmentand communication skills taught to enrich the lives of students. I had already learnt a course in a centre whichdid not pave way to a job, but this course molded me into a faculty. Now in a period of just one year and threemonths I have taught 3 batches comprising 140 students.”

Employed through Livelihood Initiative withFunctional Education (LIFE)

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Disaster scenario in Coastal TamilNadu:

Coastal Tamil Nadu is the mostvulnerable area of the state affectedby frequent episodes of cyclone,Tsunami and combination of these.It also gets seasonal floods whichput burden on the population.Frequent episodes of all the disastersvery often weaken the socio-economic status of people living inthe area. The problem is more visibleamong the farmers and fishermen ofthe coastal Districts of Tamil Nadu.Disaster situations make them morevulnerable and affect the backboneof their socio-economic status.

Many people, particularly in thecoastal Tamil Nadu cannot affordinsurance, many others simply arenot aware of it. Micro insurance is aform of microfinance designed tosuit the needs of people who wouldnot normally have access toconventional insurance tools. Microinsurance is distinguished fromconventional insurance by itsprovision of affordable cover to low-income clients that cannot beprofitably insured by commercialfirms, or that are not currentlyserved by conventional insurance.

Early warning mechanism in theState:

The frequency of different formsof disasters has been quite high in

the coastal regions and their adverseeffects on human interests have nodoubt increased in the recent times.Through experiences andaccumulated knowledge ofgenerations these people would haveattempted ways of protectingthemselves and their communityfrom the wrath of nature. Becauseof the geographic location andsituation, traditionally people followsigns of pre-disaster from deferentplants and animals.

Risks & Vulnerability

During disaster Micro insurance-risk protection designed specificallyfor low-income households is nowrecognized as a critical tool to helperadicate poverty because in orderto climb the economic ladder, peopleneed financial tools to protectthemselves and their families againstrisk. The term ‘micro-insuranceinstitution’ refers explicitly to micro-finance institutions. However, theterm ‘micro’ is not a reference tothe size or scale of theseorganizations and institutions. Microinsurers also provide an opportunityto increase appropriate use of cost-effective health services by coveringbasic primitive and preventive carewhile facilitating access to necessarycurative services. Most microinsurance policies in India rangebetween 5,000 and 50,000 rupees,and come in the term of life, asset,

household, fire, cattle and motorinsurance.

Traditional Knowledge & Media

Tamil Nadu had developed the artof entertainment to its pristineheights at early age. The three modesof entertainment classified as Iyal(literature), Isai (music) andNadagam (drama) had their roots inthe rural folk theatre likeTherukoothu. Majority of thesedances are still thriving in Tamil Nadutoday. There is a rich content ofknowledge on disaster managementaffecting the common man.

Emergency response from theAdministration

The state has resources andmanpower in place to respond todisaster situations. However,experience had told something else.There is severe attitudinal andmotivational problem which affectthe quality of service delivery. Onthe other hand, there is a perceivablegap among the community and theadministration. In situations there areclashes on the modern and traditionalknowledge to cope up the disastersituation. Of the masses has led tothe evolution of area-specific, locallypertinent and effective ways ofmitigating disasters. These vitalknowledge bases are however, oftenignored and are being fast eroded.

Empowerment of Community throughTraditional Folk Media

Prakash Nayak*

Folk Media

* Prakash Nayak is a faculty of Communication in Tata DHAN Academy, Madurai.

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Use of Folk Media & TraditionalKnowledge

The state has rich tradition of oraltraditions throughKathakalakhepam, Bommalattam(Puppetry), Kavadi Dance,Poyakkal Kuttirai and the likes,highly received by the community.Even the community gives respectto these folk troupes. Any messageon risk and vulnerability of disasteror the micro insurance productscould be suitably performed by thetroupe. The language and culturalaffinity would have more impact onthe community. The format couldcarry messages:

• Through characters whodemonstrate how the newbehavior fits with or grows outof current beliefs and practices(compatibility);

• Through dialogue describingthe new behavior in simpleterms and in appropriatelanguage for the audience (lowcomplexity);

• Through role models whomotivate listeners to try at leastsome aspects of the newbehavior (trialability) andadvocate its acceptance byothers;

• Through multiple plots thatshow what happens tocharacters who adopt the newbehavior and to those who donot (observability);

• Through happy endings thatdemonstrate the benefits of thenew behavior (comparativeadvantage).

Local folk media

Local folk media can includemusic, local art forms, local theatre,puppetry, drawing or dance. Manyaffected communities have their owntraditional media forms to expressthemselves. Local ways ofcommunicating are powerfulavenues to stimulate psychosocialhealing, return to normalcy andmotivate affected families andcommunities to practice healthybehaviours.

Advantage of Folk Media duringDisaster/Emergency:

• Information can be presented inthe most culturally appropriateforms.

• Messages can be adapted to suitthe needs of the affectedcommunity by local as well asimported experiencedperformers.

• Most folk media are entertainingand hold the attention of theaudience, allowing them to betemporarily distracted from therealities at hand.

• It takes time to research onwhich folk media are acceptableto the affected community.

• Local participants need to beidentified and trained on themessages to be shared.

• Technical information can bedifficult to communicate.

• The actors may not be able toad-lib or be spontaneous inacting out the local art forms.

Kathakalakshepam:

Kathakalakshepam is a narrativeform, sung and enacted by theleading performer, occasionally

accompanied by one or two singerswith music provided by themusicians. It literally means narratingthe stories of ancient text in acomprehensive manner to thecommon people. It is a form ofdiscourse combining music anddramatic elements. The performernarrates, enacts and comments onepisodes and themes from themythological lore of India in a lucidmanner. It demands theological andliterary competence of theperformer. Acquaintance with theepics, ancient texts, andresourcefulness are imperative asalso the ability to project the subjectthrough the medium of music,spoken words and enactment.

Linkages:

It is expected that the communitywill be triggered to come up withParticipatory drama is an importantaspect in the preparedness andrecovery phases. This type ofcommunication method allows theaffected community to be directlyinvolved in the drama itself. Thisgives individuals greater control, andhelps them to explore issues andpossible solutions. Participatoryperformance emphasises workingwith and from the affectedcommunity’s own reality, andchoosing their own modes ofexpression. Local people replaceoutside scriptwriters, illustrators,editors, directors and actors andbecome actively involved in creatingand exploring solutions to a real lifesituation. Through participatorydrama, you can encourageparticipation in the decision-making,implementation, monitoring, andevaluation phases of relief andrecovery projects.

Centre for Development CommunicationDHAN Foundation

18, Pillaiyar Koil Street, S.S. Colony, Madurai - 625 016. Tamil Nadu, INDIA

Tel.: +91 - 452 - 4353983, 2610794, 2610805 Fax: +91 - 452 - 2602247

Email: dhanfoundation_tn@airtelmail.in Website: http://www.dhan.org

Heritage Artisanal skills Building on

of

Artisans in Karaikudi town of Tamil Nadu are carving wooden

sculptures which was once patronized by the Chettinad

nagarathar community. Contemporising these crafts is the need

of the hour, which would strongly unfold the magic of ingenuity

of these artisans and their creative manual skills.

n traditional Indian society, the artisans and Icraftsman fashioned all the things that are

part and parcel of life, be it a ritual object or a

product of utility. They ingeniously imbibed

the village customs, personal care, aesthetics

and eco-friendly materials.

DHAN Foundation pilots

‘Endogenous Tourism’ project in the southern

Tamil Nadu for designing community-led

alternative approaches on crafts and culture-

based tourism and to position such models as

vehicles for generating employment and

promoting livelihoods for such rural artisans.

With hundreds of

art forms at stake, and livelihoods abandoned

due to meager earnings, the artisan has lost his

patronage in Indian society, and skill sets are

halted, instead of being passed down

generations.

Creating crafts and culture based livelihoods