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,

Vol. XXXI

No.2'

"'-",

1 ACCIENTONNlUJ-rfi ~1r~ON, . : , -

,~ .

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)

More than 174 rural hospitals and

1600 primary health centres will beadded during the Sixth PklO period.

Adequat~ health C:lre facilities are being

extended even to the remOle rural arens.

Periodical heahh check-up of the children is a must

if we are to achieve Inc goal of 'Health for Ali'.

The new

20-pointprogram ,m e :

Health

The country has made notable progress ;n the healtlt ~

sector after the beginning of planning. A number of

serious epidemics which used to take a heavy toll of

hu man life, like p lagu e and sma .'.p o.i:, have been

eliminated. The incidence oj malaria has been grea(v

reduced. The incidence of leprosy alld tuberculosis is,

however, still high. There is a good deal of preventable

blindness. in the country due to nutritional deficiencies,

disease or cataract. Morbidity rates on account of

:~,nutritional -deficiencies, waterborne diseases and en-

vironmental causes are a/so still high.

Point No. 14.--Substantially augment universal primarY

bealth care facilities, and control of

leprosy, T .B. and blindness

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. 'Editorial

\'" .. _~~.-t

WORLD FOOD DAY'observed annually on October

. ]6 is thc anniversary of the f{lundation of the

Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United

Nations. It scrves as a reminder {If the basic human

right to food without which the right to live is 'itself

meaningless.

In a world.where millions are hungry, foad must come

first. World Food.Day is a reminder to the Govern-'

ments and peoples of the world Ihat hunger exists not'

only in poor and developing countries but also .in

'pockets in developed countries. It is a challenge to

the entire humanity. We must strive to ensure for all

people-irrespective of their caste, religion and coun-

try-basic human right to an adequatc. supply of food

of good' nutritional quality and at prices that are fair

both 10 them"and to those who work' the soil,

It is hcartening t.o:note from a recent. F.A.a. report.

on the world food .situation that the world's 'supply

of dietary is 10 per cetl! higher than is strictlY'neces-

saryto meet the nutritional requirements of world's

population. '. In other words, we have enough food in

the world today t.o feed' its entire population, but it is

a stark fact that millio!)s of human beings in a number

of' countries g? without food daily. It is also a sadfact that within countries having enough foodgrains,

some peopk have to remain ~hungry because they'can-

not afford to buy it. All countries must strive to

produce more foodgrains. But this by itself is not

enough. We must evolve an international food secu.

" rity'system by which the surplus food reaches Ihe

neCdy millions in deficient countries. Within the

countries also the Governments must ensure that the

food reachcs thc hungry: We must get rid' 'of" the

phenomenon of hunger and stm'vation amidst plenty.Efforts in India for increasing' the food grains pto'duc-

tion: and ensuring eqtriinblc disiri~utio]1 withir!' the

~t~tes and the people have. becn. wvarding .. Thd

[oadgrains' production. in the. country ha.increased Z:}

times sin~c Independence and -\vehave a vast network

of' Z'lakh 77 'thousand fair price shops thtoughwhich

tIle rii . i i i imum" requi'iements of a "hiige' p erc en ta ge .ofthe'pepp]~ ~re~et.:' H9\V~ye~,. eff~rls' t~ susrn'i']1'ih~'.. ', '}" ' . , . ... .~ ..gr.o ~rtJ;1 :in. Jdod pn;:>duction 'al1d 10.,irp.prov~ .the .11?tf,i-;

lionaL levels, of our. people must continue vigorouslyif the objective of World Food Day is to be achieved .

TlIF,Y SlIO\V THE WAY ...

BOOK REVIEW

Rashmi Khol'Ona'

,.

, EDITOR

RATNA JUNEJA

' .. ASSTT.' EDITOR

N..N. SHARMA

SUB.EDITOR

.PARAMJ.ET ,9 ., SINGH

BUSINESS MANAGER. $, LJAISWAI,

ASSTT. DIRECTOR (PRODUCTION)1

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,

Malnutrition approach!are we on the right track?,

DR NARINTONGSIRI and VINOD K. HURIA

Central ,Food Technological Researcb Institute. Mys:or~

MOST OF',US IN the so-called 'developing countries'

are familiar with international organisations like

UNICEF, FAa, WHO, the World Bank and many

more who are directly or indirectly committed to'

soive the food problem of the world at large. These

organisations have provided assistance to start a num-

ber of projects designed to improve' the nutritional

status of the populations living in the developing coun-

tries. Most of these programmes, like the pre-school

fecding programme, the special nutrition programme

and the school mid-day meal programme are centred

around the idea of free feeding. What has been the

outcome of these efforts? Each country has its own

tale to tell.

Food a,id programmes for the developing countrie,

have been a controversial subjects. For instance, some

consider the food aid programmes of the USA 'as little.more' than a dumping ground for their surpluses"

arguing that to dIspose off the excessive produce is

the most economic alternative since storage costs areso high. To sustain a higli level of production, Ameri-

can farmers have to be ensured snpport prices when-

ever there is a glut in the market. Government expen-

diture ,in processing and storing surplus' stock is

extremely 'high. Hence to say that food aid program-

mes are merely a compliment from the developed to

the developing countries is fa distort the fucts. From

the view point of the recipient country also, the dis- '

incentive effect cf food aid, on local agricultural pro-

duction cannot be completely ruled out. Aid that

leaves the recipient country totally dependent on the

donor country is not condncive to development.

I. Schuh, G. E. (1979)'. 'Food Aid: Does it help thepoorf?' Agenda, June 1lJ. ,12,

4

Alternative policies to solve, the malnntrition problem

need to be evolved.

Many developing countries have rcalise4 this and

are now going, in for feeding programmes using indi-,

genously produced foodstuffs, But unfortunately these

programmes have adopted tbe tniditional approach of

distributing free food to ,the vulnerablc population,

which most experts from developed countriesthougbt

to be best. Such approaches have served mOre for: ,

t"heexperts to self-justif,ytheir doing something about'the problcm rather than really' helping the poor who

sllffef'from malnutrition', In India too, till recently,

the approa'ch of nutritiollists and food scientists to

solve the malnutrition problem has been through

feeding programmes. With resources largely drawn'

from scientific institutes such 'a's the Central Food

Tecimologica\.Research Institute (CFTRI) at Mysore,

the National "1nstituteof Nutritioll (NIN) at Hydera,

bad and various Home Science colleges all over the

country, a variety of formulas for the preparation ofbalanced foods for feedillg programmes bave ,been

evolved of which at leas't 27 have been~pubJished': Thecomposition and cost of each formula has been evrilllc

ated., Keeping in mind that only locally-available

foodstuffs have been used to make these foods, one

might jump to the conclusion that this is the be~t.

method of approach as neither the material nor the

technology needs to be imported. However, as we

shall see, ~"en such an approach may be misleading."

2. Schuftan, Claudio (1976). 'Nutrition PIannirig-\Vhatrelevance to hunger'? Food & Nutrition-notes andr,eviews. Vol. 35, NO.3, 105. -

3. Natarajan, C'-P., Shankar, J. V., Srihari, B. R.o Nara.

,inga Rao, M, S:.and Raghavendra Rao, M. R. (1979),'Food Requirements and Supply to Special Nutrition,

.:Programme In Inaia', lndinn Food Packer, Vot. 32:No. 5,31'-52.

KURUKSHE'TRA Octoher 16, 1982

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Malnutrition due to deficiency

MALNUTRITIONRESULTINGFROMdiet~ry ,deficiency

in calories, proteins, vitamins A and B and essen-

al fatty acids is a major culprit implicated in the high

ates of mortality and morbidity of Indian pre-school

hildren4, Dr. Gopalan and his colleagues have stated

hat 19 pcrcent of the. population in 1971 comprised

re-school children" and if the same ratio is used theumber in .1980was 123,5 milliOnin India alone. A

urvey carried out by the Nationa.l Nutrition Monitor-

ng Bureau has also indicated that .75 p"rcent of pre-

choolchildren suffer p-om underweight; and 23 per-

ent suffer from severe malnutrition'. Thus 92.6.

million pre-school children suffer from UIiderweighf

nd 2f million from severe malnutrition. Nutritional

eficiencies also affect the health of 'expectant and

ursing mothers who number abO'Ut65 million oral-

most 10 per Fent of the' populatIon; Some 50 to 60

ercent of the pregriant women 'have been reported 10

uffer from nutritional anaemia particularly in the last

imester which will mean another 32.5 to .39 million.

hus the total vulnerable population in India numbers

158 million, and these should b~ the target for nutri-

on inlprovement. .

The cost of 'preparing various formulations for feed-

1g programmes have been calculatcd by CFTRF.

ased on all the 27 formulae, the average per capita

aily 'expenditure for .children works out to be 23.6aise and for expectant and' nursing mothers 39.5

aise. .If these preparations are distribllted free to

he target population the annual expenditure per child

will be Rs. 86..14 and per adult Rs. .144..17. This

means that if the government wants to run su~h a

rogramme, about Rs. 8,000 million have to be allocat-

d for -children and another ;Rs'. 5,000 to Rs. 6,000

million for expectant and nmsing mothers, arriving

a total outlay of about Rs. .13,000 million just for

ne year. Unfortunately the preseut allocation of

s. 2,380 million for a period of 5 ye"rs' (1980'85),

hich comes to Rs. 476 million,per y,ar, can reachnly 37 percent oEthe target population.

4. Singh, Saran (1978). 'Impact of Government.Development Policies and Programmes on Food and

Nutritional Sector-Indian Experiment', XI Internal.Conge Nutr., Rio De Janeiro. .

5. Go.palan, c .,. Balasubramanian," S. C., Rama Sastri.B. y. and Yisweswara Rao, K. (1971). Diet Atlas ofInd!a, NatIonal Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad,IndIa, 102.

6.. Annual Report, National Institute of Nutrition (1976)

Hyderabad, India.

7. Sixth Five-Year 'j)bn (19-80-'85) rl;lOningCommi~. sio~, GO\'ernmcnt of Indiap. 381.

URUKSHETRA October 16,.1982

Time to question our approach

YES, IT IS THETIMENOW to ask this question be-

cause feeding progr,.mmes have been tried o~t for

almost 30'yearswithout any appreciable outcome.

The point of concern is that even without realising this,

more and more developing countries arc going in for

feedmg programmes as a solution to the malnutrition

problem, Anumber of experiments on acceptibilityand impact of feeding programmes have been carried

out. In one such Slndy carried out by a UNU team

at Senegals, the anthropometric measureme:ntsconfirm-

ed the nutritional indicators in showing no significant

imprdvelllent at the end of the feeding programme in a

local rural primary school. '

Thailand too shares the problems, of the other deve-

lopmg countries. Out of its population of 45' million

16 percent are pre-schaal childr",n numbering 7.2 mil:

han. Accordmg lothe fourth (1977-8'r) and the fifth(1982-86) five-year plans for Social and Economics

Development 63 'percent of pre'school children are un-

derweight, which is roughly equal to 4.5 million. Also

mcluded in the ,plans is the incidence of malnourish-

ment among expecta'nt and nursing molliers, The Thai

Government (00 has incorporated feedj,ngprogrammcs

mto Itsplans even though confronted with a tight bud-

get allocatIOn. Thailand is facing not ouly the prob-

lem.of hmlted financial resources but also the unaccep-,

tlblhty of. the feeding programmes. Inefficient methods

of agricultural production give rise to low produce on

the larm and in turn keeps the income of farmers at

a low level. ~Food aid programmes make iP"~pl~re-

hant on the government, and once such ~id is stopped

people will still,not be \lble to afford a nutritional diet

because of low purchasing power. Hence attempts to

initiate activiti",s in the village that will gener,atc addi-

tional insome for the poorest farmers arc called for

so that it has the impact oEincreasing the purchasing

power.

A self-help programme

' A . LTHOUGHEXPORTOF FOODitems from Thailandhas been on the Increase,_reflecting an increase in

, l?cal food production, a substantial part df its popula-

tIOns!Ill suffers from protein-calorie ma1hutrition. To

overcome thiS situation a programme' was started at the

Cha~ng Mai University on the basis of self-help,

ThaIland IS baSIcally an agricultural countrv where 80

percent of the population consists oEfarI1l~rs. These

f:u:mers labour hard to enable their coUntry to export

nce, maize and, other foods. The Chiang Mal app-

.8. T~gle, M. A .. (~9.80). 'Operational Conflicts of FoodAid at the ReCIpIent Level: Those who know Don'tPlan. ::nd Thos~Who Plan Don't Know', Food -olldNUIJ'lt10n Bullelm, Vol. 2, No.3, pp. 5-15.

5

./

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rorich~wasinteiided to prove to these farmers that they

themselves could solve their' malnntrition problem.

, The idea was put into practice in ,a y~Hagc day.cate

centre 'whicl) was originally established by the Forestry

Department of Chiang Mai for the children of its wor-

kers and those of nearby .villages. Earlier the child-

1'Onuscd to bring their lunch, which was inadequatc

and also nutritionally poor. The programme was ini-

tiated by taking weight and height measurements and

'it was found that more than 50 pcrcent of these child-

rCli were Ul id '?fWcight. The day-car~ centl:c was en-

thus'iastic to remedy this situation by self-help because

help troin any other source was not forthcoming. The

children's parents were called to the centre and educal-

cd, employing slides, of the ill-effects of malnutrition,

and were also asked to cooperate if they wanted their

children.1O grow healthy. They were also given. de-

monstratio~s of how' to" prepare soyabean milk and

soyacake which they could easily make at home. Laterchil~~e.nwere asked to bring along r~w vcget~lbles,

fruits and other home-produced food stuffs' which were

cooked for them for lunch.

This activity' has 1 : > e c n going on since t1}? beginning

.of June 1980. Rcgalar visits to the .;;entre were arrang-

ed by the Department to sec the progress.of the child~

r e n o ~

Impact of the programme

1

A.T LEAST" four major impacts can be listed,

Problem at the goyemmcnt level in budget

allocation: Ailocation of s~are resources is always

a difficultJlexercise. The Chiang Mal. Programme

. can be extended to any country with little or no

government -a.ssistance.

2

Changing the food habits of children: It is very

difficult to change the food habits of childrcn with

" the" right' approach. Improved food habits willbenefit them in the future.

." "

"Impact on the family's diet: Since parents were

toa provide their .;;hildren with vegetables grains or

fruifs., to take to school.insteadof money, as earlier1-"

they started growing all ~hesecrops which could be

used for the whole family as well, with likely

improvement in their home diet.- ,

4

_The approach is simpJetoapply : Because there,

arc no cOl~~i?licatio.n~iJ) the approach itis v:ery likely

to be accepted in many developing count,ries.

6

-Can the' Covermt.eht--adop( the.Chi~ng Mai Pro-

gra,nme for the whole country? Certainly it is within

the means .of the Thai. governments to do so. The "gov-

ernment has already planned to spend some money

on feeding programmes anyway, and this would not be

enough to cover completely the target groups. Money:

to he spent on raw materials for feeding programmes

in the viilage and giving ita goqd start with the meagre

amount allotted for feeding programmes, a self-sustain-ing activity can be sfarted. Take as an example India,

which has 576 thousand villages scattered all over thc

country. From the governmen!'s allocatiol] for the

five-year plan 1980-85, Rs. 476 million are availablc

for. feeding programmes every year. Assuming that.

each year 20 perceni or a little over I 55-thousand vill-

ages are covered, .a sum of Rs. 3,070 is available for j

each village. Ii' with this money all the Inalnourished

.children of the' villagc are to be fed the amount will

last only a few mo'nths. Alternatively this money can

be spent on creating facilities like building, utensils or~demonstratiofl materials for a programme such as the

Chiang Mai's Self-help Programme and this will be of

much greater bcnefit in the long run. Such activities

can be extended to other villages too on a self-sustainingbasis, '

Manpower utilisation

In Thailand there is ample manpower in the govem- JJ

meilt departments and Universities which can be mobiJ

Iised for such dev'l'lopment activities. In fact this is

one 0.1 the vital roles which organisations' like these

can play. Once human resources from Ministries such

as Health, AgriCulture, Home, Defence, Education,

Industry and Finance are brought together,' develop-

ment plans can be worked out in detail. Universities,

Research Institutes and Iilternational ",organisations

can also playa vital part in popularising such activi-

ties. International food aid should be accepted with

caution, and such aids" should not be used for free

feedilig programmes or spoon feeding which is treating

the disease but 110tits root cause. Aid should be hand-led with the utmost ;;ai'e, so that it can help in building,

an ililrastructure for further development. An out-

standing example of this is the operation Flood project

. in India. Aid ill the form of skim milk powder and

butteroil is being creatively used to build an infra'::c

structure for dairy deve- ldpment in the countl:ylJ. The

second. phase of thc project aims to cover 10 ,nillion .

rural families or. 45 million people to enable them to,build a viable self-sustaining dairy' industi"y by J98511',

(Comilllled 01'page 9)

9. Huria, Vinod K. and Achay:\, K. ~T.(1980). 'DairyDevelopment India: Some Critical ]ssues,. Ecol/omic{lild Political Weekly, Vol. 15, No. 45.& 46.

lO, The Financi:ll Express. nomhay, lilly Hi. 1;>79.

KURUI

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. .;

How to avoid loss' of,nutrients

in cooking?. DR. KANTA SHARMA and MRS. ANITA SHARMA

Departnlent of Food, I\1inistr.y of Ag-riculture

Effectsof processing on Cereals_TilE SOPHISTICATED COOKING and processing has

senotisly a!Tcctcd the nutritional value of even

basic staple foods ~n 'which the nutrition of the majo-rity, of the people .depends. Although food proces-sing is essential in modern age but it should notbecome--so commcrcialised .as to reduce the nutrientcontents of basic -foodstuffs. Some of the . examplesquoted below will illustrate the point

TABLE

T "iE ' NUTRITIVE VALUE OF the' highly nutritious. foods can be .greatly reduced speciall)' with res-

pect to the levels of soluble vitamins, minerals and

roteins when proper methods of preparation and

ooking are.. not used. Almost all the foodstuffs

lndergo a few. stages in preparation before they are

brought to the dining table."

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!

Washing and Cooking of Rice: It is usual practice

to wash rice three or four times witi, water before

cooking. Besides, cooking is done in a large quantity

of water and the excess water is thrown away after

cooking. In this way water soluble vitamins of the

B group are considerably lost. For. instance,. as much

as 60% thiamine is lost when raw-milled rice is

washed.

Processing of Vegetables and Fruits

Trimming and Pee6ng : When th'e vegetables and

fruits are trimmed, the nutrient loss generally exceeds

the weight loss as the nutrients are found in higher

concentration in the outer leaves/layers of vegetables~

tubers; roots and fruiis ... Ascorbic acid (vitamin C)

is present in highest concentration just beneath the

peel of the potato' and peeling may result in 12%

to 35% loss of this vitamin. The peel of carrots is

especially rich in tlie B-Complex vitamins-thiamine,

riboflavin and niacin. The outer leaves of lettuce ~re

richi'n the B-vitamins and in ascorbic acid. The outer

green leaves are often richer in mineral salts than the

inner leaves.

INAPPLES, THE CONCENTRATION of ascorbic acid in

peels is 3 to 10 times higher than in the cortex.

The concentration of niacin and riboflavin is also

somewhat greater in the peel than' in the flesh. In

general, the skin and tissue just unde! the skin of

fruits including tomatoes are riCher in ascorbic acid

than the flesh. Care must. therefore be taken while

peeling and trimming of the different fruits and vege-

tables so that the, useful nutrients are conserved to

the maximum extent. .

Washing and Soaking Preliminary washing and

soaking of vegetables and tubers before cooking per-

mit extraction of water soluble' nutrients. Potatoes

soaked two hours in water lose 11.9% thiamine and

sweet potatoes soaked five hours in water lose 21.1 %

thiamine. Peeled potat

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Avoid reheating

ffect 01 refrigeration: Although storage of goods

refrigerator minimises loss of nutrients, yet signi-

ant amount of ascorbic acid is lost on rcfril!eration

cooked vegetables for one day. When thes; stored.

oked vegetables are re-heated, there is a further loss.

Oils and Fats

REPEATED HEATING of the oil or furleads to loss ofvitamin A and D besides breaking down 01 fattyids leading to rancidity and other chemical changes.

eheating should, therefore, be avoided.

hey : Whey is the fluid that separates from milk

uring the preparation 01 cheese (Panir). Whey con-

ns most of the lactose, the milk sugar, vitamins of

Complex and somc amount of soluble milk pro-

ins. If whey is discarded, these useful nntrients a.re

\(Co;ud from page 6)

Conclusions

FEEDING PROGRAMMES' are short term approaeh,losolving temporarily the malnutrition problem andey are nol Iik"ly to have much impact in raising the

utritional level 01 the .vulnerable population. 'The

eagre allocation 01 government funds in the five year

ans'.is \00small to eover adequately the nutritionally

lnerable population by feeding programmes but il

s outlay is constructively used for building an infra- .

URUKSHETRA October 16, 1982,

lost. The use of whey in cooking of vegetables,

dais, rice or 'In kneading of dough can save these im-

port ant nutrients besides enhancing their nutritive

value. Whey can also be used as a drink after fla-

vouriug and spicing.

To PREVENT LOSS OF NUTRIENTS, one should re-member the three R's of cooking i.e. Reduce. the siJrfaee area, Reduce the cooking time, Reduce the

temperature. As already mentioned, cooking should

be done in -minimum water so as to .avoid discarding

any extra water from vegetables, rice etc. Bran may

not be removed and be utilised. In all cases, exces.

sive washing, over-cooking and over-refining should

be avoided. "Best processing is the least process-

ing" should be practised in home preparation of foods.

More the retention of nutrients, less will be the re-

quired in-take at foods and more will be the nutrition

and health of the body.

structure -for a self-sustaining activity in every village

it is likely to have a much larger impact. The Chia'ng

Mai Programme is an example of such a self-help

programme which establishes elose linkages between

the disciplines of Agriculture, Food Science and Tech-

nology and Nutrition. It calls for setting .up small

kitchen.gardens"in every home wherever there is space

so that the fruits and vegetables grown can be utilised

to improve nutr~tion.

9

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Grassroot . coordination Inrl,Jral developm ent

N MA RKA ND At" l

"The Gandhigt'am Rut'allnstitutc,GandhiJ,,'1'am (Madurai. Tamil Nadu)

G.OVERNMENT AND PRIVATE AGE~CIES and -aided-institutions have been engaging in rural develop-ment works in the breadth and length of the country ..

We cannot say that these agencies are carrying out

their programmes successfully in the way they are ex-

pected. They need so much of money, human labour

and time. It is true, at times when the' development

oflicials visit the villages, people express. their dis-

satisfaction over the ways in which the development

programmes are implemented: Personal discussion

with some of the village leaders by the author reveal-

ed that people are very critical about the rural deve"

lopment oflieials and the social workers. They said

that number of people such as officials; social workers

and fysearch scho'lars are visiting their villages in the

nam" of rural development and a huge sum of money

is being spent towards their salaries and allowances

for doing little of concrete tasks. There may not be

much .truth in this remark. But one cannot comple-

tely dismiss this either.

The State and the Central Governments arc doing.

a lot for the many-sided development of our villages.

But the rural population is not satisfied, The basic

problems 'of the villages arc not solved yet. The

reason: thcl:e is no coordination between the dcvc-:-

lopment programmes and the personnel who are res-

ponsible for the programmes. Local level organisa-

tiOllS' such as Village schools, Cooperatives, Youth

clubs, Women's clubs are not being run effectively.

Although several development programmes are being

carried out by both nationaf level as" well as local

organisations, people are not positively' oriented and

hence decline from. active participation .. Since people's

participation itself -i s one of the' il1dicators of the

success of development programmes~_ways and ~means

10

. are to be tded out to ensure willing participation hy

the .people. Ail eflicient. coordinator at the viliage

',vel-between the government and people-is one of

the solutions.

Village Level workers

THE ABOVE. OUTLINED SUGGESTION was caried out .'by the "Gram Sevaks" (Today they are called .Rural Welfare Omcers in Tamil Nildu) to some ex-/tent during the days of the community development'

projects in the selected areas of the country. Such

village fevel workers must be having a good know-

ledge about the problems of the village and in aposi-'

tion to guide the village people in solving their econo-

mic and social problems. They must help the secre-

taries and the office bearers of the various organisa~

tions in contacting government agencies and officials

in co'nnection with the implementation of the" various

schemes in the villages.. In fact, this kind of contact-

ing ~he- private and government agencies, and. coordi-

nating the various departments for .implerrienting" th e

development schemes in the villages is the main job

of the village level workers. Their ",eekly or month-

ly diary should be the report of co;'tacting persons

afld how far they havc contributed to implement the

current programmes in thc.villages, Their diary shaul -

also contain their niftcctions and suggestions, to im_1i

plement the schemes more effectively.

Today number of private agencies, educational in-

stitutions, 'such as universities, colleges~schools and

, -ti~aining institution~ are engaged in rural develop-

ment activities. They need the help of the govern-

ment departments and the public minded well-to-do'

people' in society. Vniess there is some one like the

.village level worker who l-eports about such agencies to

KURUKSHETRAOctohcr 16, 1982

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,the government departments and public minded rich

I'!'pp).'\ jt is very' difficult..for those agencies. to get

help. from the above .~aid. quarters.

Educational institutions

ED~CATIONAL.INSTITUT}ONS a40pt villflges. In the

,'. name of .social service or making study. for re-

search purposes, students, teachers and scholars are

visiting villages. These visits must be helpful for theuplift of the villages. The institutions which are en-

gaged.in village extension work should adopt a cluster

of villages.and act as coordinating agencies and help

for the many-sided development of the cluster of vil-

lages wh~re. they frequently visit. Th~y should sit

with thc people and discuss and formulate a plan for

the village and see that it is imp1ementcd. Our higher

education institutions should give up the picoe-~ea1

approach, i.e., doing some thing in the village in the

name" of social service and cutting off their connec-

tions with the villages' later on. Instead they should

he1p to build up a good scrvice-minded youth-leader~

ship in the villages. The government .machineries

should. by all means. lend whole-hearted support to

the institutions.which are actively engaged in .this kind

of activities. If the government and the educational

institutions join together in carrYing out development

programmes in the villages, we can witness an innova-

tive and encouraging turn in the field of rural deve-

lopment.

Some rural development agencies are rendering a

noble service in the villages with' the help of themoncy they receive from foreign countries. If such

agencies are guided and helped by the government

officials the programmes will be implemented well

and with in a limited period of time. The contact,

coordination and guidance of the development offi-

cials with such agencies will also help the agencies

rationally 'investing the foreign funds.

Number of studies are being conducted in the area

of rural development. It is good if the outcome of

the studies are. put into use in wactice. The findings

may be made known to the villagers. They must behelpful to solve problems or implement the develop-

ment programmes effectively. At present. most of

the rcsearch studies have hardly made any impact

over the rural development programmes. Even pur

social workers have little knowledge about 'the find-

ings of most of the research studies on the present

day rural problems. There must be a close contactbetween the rescarchers and the field workers. In

each university there must be a separate cell for rural

development studies to study vafious problems of the.

rural areas.' These research cells may .periodicallY

bring the educated vouths of villages and the ,ocia!workers to the unive;sities and cxpl;in them the nature

of the problems and how to solve them.

KURuKStIPTRA Octo1)er 16, 1982. --

The ide.al coor~inatPrs for the development pro-grammes m the -villages are the wellinfOrriled eihi~'

c~H~d.village youths thcmscJves. The)'. n i.u st- b i- .'e J f i- =

Clent anddedieated to the task they have.'taken up."

. They must also be above party politics and selfish

motives. They should not expect any remuneratiou

for their work. . They have to help the village level

workers during their leisure hours. The office bearers

. of the youth clubs, women's clubs, panchayat., etc.

should always be in touch with the rural developincnt

offic",ls and the aided institutions for rural develop-ment. .

Coordination Committees

IT IS GOOD to have a coordination committee in

each village consisting of the secretaries or presi-

dents of the various organisations of lhe villa~e.

Since the members of such a coordination com-mittee

may be respOllsiblefor some kind of development pro-grammes of the village it will be helpful to review the

programmes which arc being carrico out and find out,

the possibilities for impleme';;,tingthe programmes well

within the limited time.: The social wo;'kers or offi~

cials of the concerned villages must also be' the meID-

bers of 'Such coordi'nation committees.

Today our district collectors coordinate various de-

partments which are engaged in rural development

programmes. It is true some of our districts have

made good progress in this respect (especially in

Tamil Nadu). Some of our collectors are visitingevery nook and comer of their districts and condu~~

ting review meetings and taking steps to see that the

programmes are implemented. But tbis kind of co-

ordination must prevail at the village and. block

levels. Then only the programmes will be planned

and implemented 'effectively. Visits by the district

level officials to villages is very essential for monitor-

ing the. development programmes of their department

which could also serve as an opportunity of meeting

the villagers and triggering speedy implementation.

IT ]5 NOT OHT OF THE -WAYhere to mention t h e - -disparity shown between one and the other aspect

of the problems. For instance, undcr rural health

so much of importance is given to start primary 'health

centres, \Vh.erea?, we don't give importance to public

latrines. .Various components in each sector should

be prioritised and attention should be paid in a ba-

lanced manner.. In the field of. agriculture . though

we feel proud of Green' Revolution we have not suc-

ceedcd in creating organisation in the local levels for

marketing the agricultural produces at a reasonable

price. We have not solved ihe problem of landless

agricultural workers. Similarly ih the field of educa-

tion. rural industrieS etc. proper attention 'SllOUldbe

11

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paid to all . the problems equaBy in the respective

fields. So at the planning stage in;the grass root level

eXjJerts in different fields should edncate the ruml peo- ,

p Te a nd m ak e a c ha ng e i n t he ir a tt itu de to accept

and welcome the radical changes for their welfare.

This process of educating the vtillage people is mainly

the job of the social workers. They have to take

the experts to the villages and make the people meet

them in. s mall group s a"n d d is cu ss and learn things . .

The need of the hour is involving the village peo-

ple ,in the planning' alld implementation of the plan

.. and coordination among various implementing agen-

cies of, tJ;e deveJopment programmes. This,

thought is not a new one. During the days of the

first and second five year plans itself Shri C. D.

.

Deshmuk, the then Union Einance Minister said

"Planhing should begin from the bottom';. When the

commuhity development programmes were started, the

Gr~lJnscvaks and the extension ofiicers of various de-

partments in the block were considered very important

field workers: Proper training was given to them.

Even now such type of training is given. But the ,:.

spirit w itl). ,vhich the programmes were carried out in

those days at the grass root leveJ is not seen now. Dueto lack of coordination among the various implemen-

ting agencies a;ld lack of cooperation of people \~ith

most of the programmes the'suceessful implementation'

of the same is fonnd difficult at the grass root level.

Therefore, coordination at the. grass root level should

be given utmost importance in rural developmentpro-gramme.. .,

.,

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~'_' KURUKSHETRA !!letoher 16, 1982.

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New.20-point programme:role banks can play

R.C. BHATNAGARand T.R. SINGH

Deptt. of Economics and sociology, B.s.M. CoUegc, Roorkee

THE NEW ZO,POINT ECONOMIC PROGRAMME an-nounced by .'thc Prime Minister, Mrs. IndiraGandhi on January 14 this year and described ,as:

'agenda' for the nation' is expected. to yield quick

results especially Jor .th;;-under-privileged sections of

our society. The programme pinpoints areas of special

thrust which will show tangible results for various seg-

ments. Special allocation of funds was made for this

programme in the budgC't.of 1982-83 also. The Chief

Ministers of various states, in their meetings also agreed

j'n principle to follow up this new programme by givineit all ~dministrative and financial support. ....,

This paper is an attempt to examine the .IoIe which

the nat~onalised commercial banks can play t o accele-rate the pace of this progra mme and contribute. thcir

might to the achievement of national objectives. The

nationalisation of these banks had imparted a new .ethos to comme-reia:! banking and they are now shifting

the focus of their attention to the small man, the weak

and the under-pri"ileged. There has been a purposefulchange in the pattern of their credit deployment and

they are now more aliye., to t he soc;ial cha.Ilenges ..It is in this light that the role of cotll'mercial banks has

to be reviewed in the context of our ne,~ economic

prolJ{amme.

The 20-point economic programme, [or the purpose

of this papcr, may be divided into two parts. The

firs't part pertains to some important field of Indian

economy and its w~aker segments. The:se are agri-

culture, rural housing and electrification, conservation

and development of indigenous energy resources, family

welfare pr01umme,. eradication of poveliy througl.l

self-employment schemes as also the expansion .of

small scaJe and cottage industries. The second partdeals with certain other areas -of activity like effective.

enforcement of minil11ul11wages~ s up p l y .. of dri~kil1g

\'latcr, arresting unwarranted increase in land prices,afforestation,~~trition of women and children: spreadof ~lementary .education, act"toil dgainst smugglers' etc.

but thcse .,are outside the purview of this paper as

commercial banks have little rple to play in these sec-

tors. We shall thus confine ourselvcs only to the firstpart of the programme.

Mrs. Gandhi while announcing the programme said,"This programme is for .each one of you and for this

nation wh~chis .ours t.o serve, to cherish and to build."

There is no.d6ubt that concerted efforts ivill .have to

be made at all levels to achieve perceptible results inthe desired fields' but the nationalised commercial

banks, under lhe supervision v f their district. Leadbanks and overall direction of the Relierve Bank of

India can also play a very useful Tole in giving newmeaning and dimensions to the programme -under dis.cussion. .

Agriculture. and Allied Activity

I

N . n i E FIELD OF AGRIc'uLiuRE, the programme en-.visages to accord high priority to .ihe expansion .of

irrigation f~~ilities as also to encourage the production

of pulses and oilseeds. It is propo.sed to speed up land

reforms, fix ceilings on land holdings, distribu!e the

surp.:us land to the landless and rehabilitate the.bonded labourers.

It goes' without saying that the state governments

have to playa very important role in identifYIng the

areas and. individual b.eneficiari~s but the Lead banks

can alsp playa "il;il follow-up role in lending snpport

to .th.~se programmes. For example, ec:onomically

v.iable.farm units may be given loans to construct tube.wells on .priority basis in areas where government

tube-well facilitics are not available. Similarly small

KURUKSHETRA October 16, 1982 13

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landholdei2 may also be sanctioned niedium teriii

Idans to purchasc pumping sets moderatcly priced bet-

ween Rs. 5 to 10 thousand. The banks are already

actively involved in this type of lending bot it should,

however, be ensured that the~e loans are negotiated

directly by the party and not tlnough the dealers ofpumping -sets.

The production of pulses has been stagoant duringthe past few ye~rs and also there is cousiderable shor-

tage of edible oil in India .. It is precisely for this reason

that spceial .emphasis is placed on the' production of

pulses a~d oil~~eds in .the 20-point programme. Short

term loans, on priority basis may be sanctioned to far-

mers, at speCiitlly attractive ternls a n d conditions Jorthc purchase of nccessary inputs;f they are ,prepared

10 bring more area uuder weir cultivation. . But this

step in itself may not be adequate if the governmeut

does not come forward with a proper price supportpolicy for' pulses. .' .

As' a result of the distribution of the surplus land, .

a large number of .new smail landholders wil1 come

into. existe'nce. Since these farmers belong to poorcr

groups and backward classes, they would require credit

facilities for various inputs such as seeds, fertilizers,

pesticides and implements etc. A certificate 'of allot-

mcnt .by the state government sboutd be considered

adequate by the banks for providing financial assis-

tance on easy terms. They may also be encouraged totake up' aUied activities like'dairy farming p_oultry

etc. ~ .... :"-'

RehaBilitation of bonded )abourcrs may have to be

. treated on group basis. Since these labourer,' do not

have any assets, they should be encuuraged to go in

for'self-erT;ploymcnt schemes and group loans may be

sanction'od to them by the banks to enable them' to

start sheep rearing, dairy farming or poultry etc. The

block officials should identify these labourers and

actively participate with bank officials to prepare bank-

able schemes of assistance for them..

.,' '!,,RliraL Housing" and Electrification''TiJJ:OU'SIN~:'LO~~s~~~e~'rt~t.considered eco~omically"fl.viable' but the. banks may help allottees of

house-sites for house-building if the allottees are pre-

pared to c?mbine such loans with some other loans for

productive enterprise and'thereby increase their repay-

ment capacity. The state governments cap. issue a list

of such allottees to the Lead bank of the disiriet to

provide a working basis to the commercial banks of

the. are~; The commercial banks .may,. however, lay.

down the condition that the prospective house owners

will confirm to the specifications prepared for low-eosthouses by the architects of Central Building Research

I~stitlite, Roorkec, which has carried quite-.3 "reputa-

tion in this field.

Rurai electrification is a gigantic task involving cM;

siderablc tin)e and money. 11wuuld, therefure, be.

better if more aod more peopk 1 0 the rural areas are

encouraged to exploit bio-gas potential for lighting pur-

pose in the rural households. This indigenous source

of energy will not only reduce the pressure on conven-i

tiona I methods of power generation but also provide

combustible. gas for co

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,. .

'.

- I f

~

.,,/-

"

Role of rural wonlen Inagricultural development

LAXMI DEVI ACHANTA

Assistant. Professor, CollcoJc of Home SCience, A. P. Agricultural Uniycrsity

FR01'1 Tl~lS I,rvI~EMORIAL women hav'c played a

pivotal role in our agriculture. Agriculture is the

largest industry in the countT)' contributing to

the source of livelihood for over 70 per cent of the

population. Worn,en contribute to -farming either in

their own property or as hired labourers.

In modern agriculture too. women continue to

share a numb~r"""of-farm ope~ations with men. Acti-

vitks such as transplanting of ricc, weeding crops,.

sca.ring ~irds, sowing behind the plough, reaping, win-

nowing, threshing, storage.of seeds and foodgrains,

preparation of compost and manure pits and most of

bther farm operations arc mainly carried out by women.

In many places the 'entire management of livestock

starling from cutting, collection~ carrying and chaffing

of fodder to feeding and milking, preparation of milk

products, cleaning' of cattle shed, collection of urine

and cowdung for the' manure pits, preparation of

cowdung cakes and 'their :storageare done by women.

Kitchen gardci,ing. a~dpoiiltry .keeping arc also 'thejobsb f far~ wo~'-e~. '~," ,,., -",,'.'.

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According to v arious' rounds. of the National

Sample Survey. unpaid family workers in rural India

constitute J 5 to 17 per cent of the male labour force

and between 41 and 49 per cent of the female labour

force.

The National Sample Survey in its third subround

(January-March 1971) of twenty-fifth round (July-

June 1971) found that in rural non-cultivating wageearner households (households cultivating no land)

females spent 29.7 per cent of the estimatcd man days

in a w eek in household work in contrast to 2.2 per

cent of t he same in c ase of m ales. In rural small

cultivator households, fcmales spent 32.7 pcr cent

of the same in household work." Apart from partici-

pation IIIactual cultivation, women 'also participate

in various forms of processing and marketing of agr l-

cultural products. Unfortunately no propecestimate

of the numbers engaged .in these' funetio.ns i,s available.

As shown in Table-i, between 1971 and 1981

there has been a fall in the proportion of eultivaiors

and of agricultural labourers in the population which

is offset to a considerable degree by- the increase in'

the proportion oi other workers. This is s o i n' the

case of male workers also. In thc case of female

workcrs the proportions of cultivators and agricul-

tural workers have increased between "1971 and 1981

and there has been an increase among female work.ers

classified as other workers. The increases in propor-

ipions in these categories of workers are in fact the

components of the total increase of the proportion of ,

the female workers which will. be noticed beweeI1 l

1971. and 1981." ,.

TABLE I

. . , .

Proportion o f Tohit Workers, .Cultiva:h,rs Agricultural Labourers and other Workers to Total Population (per cent). India .

--_.-Tot'll Person Total Workers Cultivator . Agricuitural Other \o.rkersRural Males

LabourersUrban females ~-------_._-'---' --~---'--'-'--------------._.;....--"'--------_._-

1961 . 197t 1981 196t 1971.. 1981 1961 197] 1981 1961 1971 t98t.' ----_._-------_._----_.-----2 3 -4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 t3 14

-----_._-Total Persons 42.97 33 -09 33 .44 22'49 14.20 13.89 7 '38 8'89 8 '41 t3.tO 10'00 11'14Males 57.16 52.6t 51.23 29.t3 24.06 22-42 7 . 8 5 J 1.42 10-13 20 '18 17.13 .18.68Femaies 27'93 12 ']3 1444 15'45 3 '61 4.77 6.87 6.18 6.58 5 '61 2.34 3 .09

/Rural Persons 45.09 .3404 34.77 27.03 17.42 17.73 8.76 10.70 10.47 9.30 5.92 6.57Males 58 -30 53.62 52.2.1 35.37 29'78 28 '85 9.44 t3 .84 12.67 t3 .49 to .00 10'69FCffilles '3t 42 13 .44 16.49 18.39 4.41 6' 08 8.06 7.39 8.17 4'97 .1 .64 2 .24

Urban Persons 33.47 29.34 29.17 2.19 I .49 1.53 1.18 1 .79 t .79 30.tO 26.06 25 '85Males 52.37 48.82 48.18 2.91 2 '54 2 -54 1..17 2.31 .2-28 48.29 43.97 43 .36Females II .J 6 6.68 7.57 1 -34 0'28 0'39 I'.19 1 '18,. 1 .23 . 8.63 5-22 5'95--_.-_.

THE MAJORITY OF WOMEN 1n de~eloping_ countIje~

remain isolated from the process of economic

development becapse .of their engagement in 'home._

making'.

As e arly as 1930, Gunnar and A lva Myrdal in

their book. "The' Population Crisis" expressed the view

that "The values built round the system of keeping

wo~en confin~d to home-making were essentially the

creations of the middle class; Ihe product of the in-

dustrial revoh[tion~ to prevent competition' bet\veen

men and women of the same dass for sC~lrce jobs atthe higher levels.

Farm women contribute about -36 per cent of the.

total employmeni in agriculture and they arc born and

bread in the tradition of work in the field but statistics

have under-rated their contribution and dlIbbed them

[IS m .ere stay-at-home be.ings,S T~ey are. not.,consider-

16

ed"to be 'gainfully employed' and are even. categori~'-

cd as 'outside labour fo,ce' as they do not 'actively

seek work':

. In. the Soviet Union, wOmen are made to work for

lesser number of hours in the' fields, compared to

. their men counterparts on accbulit'of the work done

by them in the house.' WhilC in India, discrimination'

inwages even for similar f~nctions that a~e perform-

Oedby.men as weIi as women, jack of s~curity, fluctua-

ting periods of unemployment and imderemployment .'....

and malnutrition from poverty and excessive hard

labour char~,tcterise the women's Jives.

.IN A.DDlTI~N TO .pARTICIPATION-in ,farm activities and-the physical work, women help' also in decision"

m'aking ~ith regard t o farm practice ~perations.\\-romen as wives and mothers have a considerable

pa.rt ill dccision-mak1ngii1 the farm and at home.

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.on ~en.~ :Abo!'t .a ce",tury .aio John Smart Mill ob ..

served that "the sllbordiliation of one sex to the other

is wrong in itself and now one of the chief hindrances

to human improvement".

In villages with modernised agriculture we find a

decline j'n women's economic activities compared to

villages where traditional farming is still in use. Seve-

ral s~udies indicate that as a com:equ'en.c:e of mcderni-

salio'll, women arC left with the entire. respJnsibility

for the cultivation of the village dryland, thus free-

ing men to tend to cash crop cultivation.

It seems to be an almost universal trend that men

take over women's work when production changesfroill

subsistence to market economy. It also appears to be

a universal pattern that as sO'on as working operation

is modernised, 'it is 11105t likely to be taken over bj

men. While hand pounding o f gra in s W as a femald

task, tile miller is always a man.

The increasing commercialisation and the 'growingimportance of the 'wholesale trade in food products

have also forced women out of -the retail trade. The

result can be seen in the steep faU in 'women's parti-

cipatj~n in trade and co~merce, where their number

declined from 22.6 lakhs i n 1911 to 5 . 5 ' lakhs in

1971.'

Traditionally, dairy production and marketing were

also mainly carried out by women, particularly of the

poorer castes. In today's dairy indnstry both the

management as well as the rewards have moved out

of women's hands.

ing and edocating them about uptodate farm practices .

The extension \~orkersJ normally:menJ~pass on the -n~.\y-.

knowledge to men of the ~'illagc"s: This means that only

by contacting "the farmer, the extension personnql

\VQuld not be sucC;cssfulin introducing the various

innovations ill agriculture. This-. reminds m: of

Gandhiji's dictum: "\Vhen YOt; educate a man, you \v

educate an individual whe~ you educate a woman, you

. educate .a family". ~

From close observations and studies carried out by

the _Directorate of Extension! it was apparent that

there was a distinct need for edu'cating the farm wo-

men in the consumption aspect of the I)ewly released

high yielding variety cereals and in domestic stor-

age of foodgrains .. Initially there~ was ~ resistance. b ythe consumers to the acceptance .of the newly released

cereals due to their unfamiliar 'colour, texture ;and

t?ste which would 'be overcome only by changing the

attitude of ~the women who largely influence diet

pattern of the family. Similarly, 'domestic storage of

foodgrains is the exclusive domain of. women. In-

troduction of technology in this sphere could be pos-

sible only by motivating 'the women and giving. them

the new information. Expe;ience of the high. yield"

ing varieties districts where the training programmes

for farm women haye been conducted, giyes a good

account of the keen response of the farm women to

the training courses and the interest they show in .

knowing more about scientific agricultu~e ..

According to Shanti Chakravarthy, the prog'iamme '

for education of rural women should include informa- Ition on :

.j

2

7

Specific agricu Hural practices; .

" ., 5gardens for the supply of

throughout the year' '"

of introducing . new technology in

and proper fann manageinent~

"

EcoIlpmics

agriculture

Raising of kitchen

nutrItive vegetaples

3Nutritive values. of food crops; animal products

- and fish and their importance in, family diets;

4Basic principles of nutrition and how family diets

can b~ improved by using l ocal resources; .

6Supplementing the family income through 'subsi-

diary occupations like dairying, sheep, pig. goat

keeping and poultry raising;

The division of labour . between men and women

scems always to . have left wom~-n with the most

labour-intensive responsibilities. This .is particularly

true in the area of food production and food handling

for local consumption. A women's role is thus de~

fined as one that does not require tools, .

The' traditional division of labour within the fish-

ing communities has always brought the men out on

the seas for fishing while the women took care of the

distribution and handling of the catch once ashore.

All along coastal India, women conld be' seen run-

ning with their head-loads of fish 'to the nearby

markets or directly to private consumers. Preserva-

tion techniques like salting and drying were also

mainly in the llands of women. Though traditional

fishing and fish trade still ~ist in most places, it is

increasingly being replaced by modern' methods of

- fishing, processing and marketing.

, Training needs of farm women

'N OM~NJs INCREASING UN.EMPLOYMENT on the

". agricultural front cannot be checked without

sincere effort to include women in the process of learn-

.Wastage in th.e family and its pr~vention;

sChild care; and

'9

Relationship between a small family' and soCio-

economic: development

18KURUKSHETRA October.l6

31982. /

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Sandhu and Abllasha,.Sharma (1974) whlie' study- . ,

ingthe information needs of farm women, stated, .the

information needs of farm women respondents. in

order 'of importailc~. as plant protection measures,

seed selection, treatment and grading, storage, and

marketing of foodgrains; fertilizer use and improved

agr i " Cu l t ura l t o 01S .' 1 9

Kumar and Snehlata Mago (1974) conducted astudy on training needs of farm 'women in Haryana.

They found that farm women were interested in re-

ceiving training in kitchen gardening, feeding of

aniI11als, storage of grains, care of-sick animals, main-

tenance of cattle-shed, transplanting, weeding, hoeing

and milking of animals.IS

Ignorance a~'dsuperstition were' characteristic of

both sexes in the old days when neither went to schnol,

and the 'girls had less reason to feel inferior to men.

Thus, due to growing advances: in agriculture, the men

equipped with the' new know-how, become the only

'decision-makers in the family and the role of women

changes from that of primary food producers to

domestic helpers. The men's prestige is enormously

enhanced while the relative status of women declines

an~the gulf between the sexes is widening.s

The policy should be to train. rural women for

rural extension work not by bringing them ouLof tileir

setting to city style institutions, but' by taking the

institutions to them. Urban oriented extension \\'0[-

kers can hardly be expected to show any preference

for village life or to be able to communicate without in-

hibitions. It is the rural women who must be guidedto ill~prove their 'own environment from within.

Conclusion and suggestions

I N THE LIGHT OF T HE decisions arrived - at theWorld Conterence on Agrarian ,Reform and Ru'ial

Development (WCARRD) sponsored. by F.A.O. held

in Rome, Italy between 12 and 20 July, 1979, womeIl:

should participate and contribute 'on an equal basis

with men in the social, economic and pc.litical process

of rural development and shate fully ill improved con-

ditions of life in rural 'areas. There is an urgent .needto expand knowleuge and statistical"data on all aspects:

of the Iural POOf, particuhlrly in regard to women.'s

Iole in rural activities. and to disseminate this inform a-

(tion in order to promote greater awareness of women's

, role in' society.

. Studies in this field so far, have exhibited. a negli- .-gible concern for a systematic study of women's -role.

In orde-r to include woman as a campOli.ent in the

mainstream of development it' is ~ssential to know asto what exactly she is doing now, where she needs_

help and where she could contribute to the develop-

ment.

KURUKSHETRA October 16,1982

Time aiiocatlon studies oi women;s work have been

carried out in a few villages. But much mOre infor-

mation .is needed to get a bett~r understanding of how

women allocate their time, to make both ends meet!

with their limited resources:

J. Since women are more likely to focus on

women and are better qualified to identify rural wo-'men's problems, the increased recruitment of female

.professionals into research 'and planning is of utmost

importance.

2. The economic status. of women is now accepted

as an indicator of a society's stage of development.

The need of the hour is to formulate an effective

educational programme to tackle the problems ofboth men and women and thus bring about a change

in the outlook of the entire fariiily. Swami Vivekananda"iid that just as a bird could not fly with its one wing

only, a natioil would not march forward if the womenarc left behiud.

Training in new methods 'of agricultural and allied

techllology, may hclp to improve the economic func-. . .

tions and the rehabilitation of majority of rural

women in the development process.

3. Home science colleges located in big cities

mostly cater to the ne'eds of the middle and 'upper

middle classes. If such colleges set IIp training units

in rural Iareas to e9ucate and train rural women, it

-would be of great. help to rural women in improving

their knowledge in the various activities of village life.

4. The existing Mahila Mandals iii rural areas needto be promoted and' strengthened so as to implement

the socia-economic. programmes in rural areas and to

bring about a change in rural India for belter condi-

tions of living.

5. lufants and toddlers are in need of food that is

easily. digestible and which along with breast milk

can provide sufficient nutrients at the critical stage ofchild development. It is unrealistic to expect mothers.

who are already ovef\vor~ed to prepare special .foods

and dishes for their children every' day and severaltimes -a day. The only realistic alternative left seems

to b~e to process supplementary and weaning foods at

village leve!, according to local food habits _and food .

availability, so .that the mother can spend morc time

in product.ive occupati0!1s, ..

. Reducing time spent on household duties will give

women the opportun.ity to take up training or educa-

tion, the learning of new skills or incojne-ge-ncrating

activities. .

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Karl Marx and Engels have .pointed out that "tlle

emancipation of women and their equality with mcn

arc "impossible and must remain so as long as women

arc excluded from productive work and restricted to

household work, which is absolutely private".

O . Women havc to be -involved in the process of

modernisation. If this is not done, the chances of an

all-round development of rural India are rather

bleak.

In this connection, Jawaharlal Nehru has rightly

mentioned, "In order to awaken the people, it is the

women who have to be awakened. Once they are on

movc, thc household moves, the village moves and

the country moves."

REFERENCES

20

1. Villa Mazumdar, "Woman in Agriculture", Indian

Farming, Vol. XXV, NO.8, iVa\'. 1975, 5-9.

2. Sreelekha Basu, "Role of Women ~Jl Rural Economi~'

Derelopmenl", Yojana, Vol. XXlll/21, 16 Nov. 1979,

.23-27.

3. Kanda Mallkekar, "Women Working Against Odd~/',

. YOjWUl, Vol. XXIV /16, Sept. 1, 1980, 13-14.

4. Rljammal P. Det'odas, "Role of Womel1 ill Modem

Agricu!Jur:..e", Indian Farming, Vol. XXV, NO.8,Nov. 1975, 15-17. .

5. Ralljil Siugh, "Role of Farm Women':, Kurukshetra,

Vol. XVll, Aug. 1969, 'No, II, 27-28.

6, Atrc}'i CIJ(lt1~r;ee,~"LclIldle,rs Ag;icltltuwl Womcll

Workers, A Statistical Profile'" Indian Farming, Vol.

XXV, NO.8, Nov. 1975, 30-32.

7. SIIO.llti Chakravarthy, "Women POlVcr in Agriculture",

Kurukshetra, Vol.' XX/V, No.4, Nov. 16, 1975, 8-9.

8. Ba/jit Malik, "Women in a Changing Rura{ Society",

Social Welfare, Vol. XXIJ, No, 8, Nov.'75, 24-26.

9.. Ra;IIIc..J~Devi,A. k, {~Womell EntreprellclId', lYojana,Vol. XXll/I3, 16 luly 1978, 19-22.

JO . Brifa BluUldtzaeg, "Women, Food (md Technology",

Ecollomic and Political WeekI}', Vol. XIV, No. 47,

No\'. 24, 1979, 1921-24.

11. F.A.O. Workshop all the Integratioll of Women ill

Agriculture a/ld Rural DeFelopmeJll. Proceedilljfs,

Natiollal ItWittlte of Rural Development, llyderabad,

Nov. 17-22, 1980.

12. "Towards Equality"-Report of the Committee on the

Status of Women in India, Govt. of India, Ministry of

Education and Social Welfare, Dept. of Social Wel-

fare, New De/iii, Dec. 1974.

13, Satyavati Parmar, "A Saga ,of Women ia the Hills",

Indian Farming, Vol. XXV, No.8, Nov. 1975.

14. Census of 'India, 1981, Series-I, India, Provisional

Population Totals, .Workers and Non.workers, ,paper-3.

15. Devadas, P. R., Mutllu, S, Thangamani, ~, "Role of'

Selected Farm Warnell in Agricultural- Operations",

The "Indian Journal of Home Science, VI(1), April

1972, 50.

16. Shasi Puri, "Rural Families and Decision Making

Pattern", Indian Journal of Extension Education, Vll,

Jvlal'ch-hme, 1971, 66.

17. Hiranand a.nd Kumar, K" "Role of Farm Women. of

Dry Farming Tract ill Decision-Making", Indian Co-

operative Review, XVll, Jan. 1980, 105-106. - I18. Kumar, K. and Snchta/a Mago, "Training Needs of

Farm Womm in Haryana", Indian Journal of. Adult

Edllcatioll, XXX (10), 1974, 72--76.

19. Sandhu, A. S. and Abhilasha Sharma, "Informa/ion

l\lceds'of Farm Women", Indiall Journal of Extension

Education, Vol. XU, Jam-Junc 1976, Nos. 1 & 2,

53-55.

KURUKSHETRA October 16, 1982 J

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, .

Agricultural technology inrural development

S. E. KOTHANDARAMAN

'Executive Secretary. Farmer's Forum, Madras

IT IS WELL 'KNOWNthat lndia is predominenlly an

agricultural country and a land of villages wilh

about 80 percent of its population residing in about

six lakhs of villages spread through out its' length

and breadth in which about 400 million peoPle-Jive.

Thus agriculture forms the backbone and an impor-

tant sector. in the Indian economy and about 70 to

75 percent of the working population depend on

agriculture for their livelihood.

But the attitude of rural population is fatalistic.

,They feel that agriculture is not paying and hence

resist any ehange suggested in the methods of im-

proving their lot and stick to the _old " traditional

methods for fear of losing their scanty capital1n try-

ing new methods. They are also paid poorly for

their_ produce. Thus Indian agriculture has been a

deficit economy with overcrowding of people on land,

lack of alternate means of livelihood and obstacles

like natura.] calamities, technical and cconomic pro-

blems, social and structural barners and various land

reforms and administrative problems.

In order to feed the millions and provide raw

materials for industrv and for exports, we have toincrease agricultural production both of food and

'cash crops since about 45 percent of onr exports are

ag-ro based. The growing disparity in income bet:'

ween the urban. and ,rural areas, also needs to be

tackled. There .is also disparity between the influen-

tial section and small farmers and Agricultural

labourers in the rural sector besides the unemploy-

ment problem in the villages. About 300. million

people representing about 5i% of thei rural lJOpu-

lation are estimated to be below the poverty line. The

poorest section of the, population belong to the

families of landless labourers, marginal farmers andru r " a l artisans.

KURUKSHETRA October 16, 1982

The' problem now is to transform agriculture from

merely a J:node of living into a bl!siness proposition for

the benefit of the miUions' of farmers. While thc

influcncial. section of farmers henefitted by the vari~

ous development programmes, a large . number of

small and marginal farmers and agricultural

labourers had not gained from, these various develop-

ments. Their. holdings sti ll remain fragmented, irriga-

tion fa.cilities are. unevenly distributed, land

development and soil conservation methods have not

been satisfactory with the. result scientific agriculture

could not be adopted on a large scale. Theindifferent attitude of the urban people and Govern-

ment agencies also brought the villagers to the lowest

level of destitution, appaHing poverty and indebted-

ness. This made both the people and the. Government

to think how best to bring about the rehabilitation of

. the villages. It was realised that if poverty of the

teeming millions is to be "relieved, more attention

should be paid to rural areas where most of thcpeoplc lived.

The approach

FORPROMOTINGTHE WELFAREof the' people and in-

, creasing the productivity in rural areas it was found

necessary to make a whole village approach to deve-

lopment. Development of the village can be 'done

by making the best use of available facilities for

adoption of scientific agriculture and increased pro-

ductivity. To reduce the disparity in the rural

economy and to benefit the srriall farmers, the

marginal farmers and agricultural labourers who

form the village community a package approach to

deal with village economy as a whole. is needed. Also

the village community is to be enthnsed into common

21

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actian tawards development so that the whole com-

munity gets the benefit. -

Rural development programme

RURAL DEVELOPMENTPROGRAMME-hasas its aimthe threc fold aspect af material, intellectual andmoral dcvclopment, by using all the good things in

the village life and thus seeks to' change the villagers

entire outloak an life.

Amang the variaus changes made in the rural India

most important was imparting dynamism to agri-

culture which was s.tagment. Allied occupatians like

.,jairying, poultry, piggery, fishery and social far,s. .r . ~;.l

i_try which have special relevance to' the economy of

. weaker sections were develaped. New Agricultural

techniques in scientifi_c use of major and minor irriga-

tian were made available to' the farmers. Cattage,

village alid rural industries were developed -at the

specified productian points. Facilities for issue -of

in'stitutianal credit fOT effective implementation _afproductive prajects were made available. Further

the development of marketing_ facilities: emergence'

of growth centre~" emphasi~ on group action and

conjoint activities, special efforts to organise and

assist, in particular, thc!,veaker section. of far!mers

and the poarer sections of the society 'in general and

provisian af welfare and municipal utilities in the'

rural areas were aU initiated 'in full measure;

THE V,lHOLE VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT..,..PROGRAMME

j was built around thc village community as a whole

mid it cansisted mainly of: -

Besides thc abave, a-gricultural aperatians like rais-

ing of nursery,plaughing the entire cultivable areas

by tractor, undertaking of plant production operar

tions could all be done in cOmmOn in the village.

Integrated _Rural Development

"Programmes

Food_ for work prograinme for'land recla-

mation and construction of' comm~mity- i.rri-

gation projeets and~ ,

Construction of drinking water wells ete., .

Seed-Bank facilities .(ii)

(iii)

_(iv)

Under the Integrated Development programmes of

the viIIage, the fonowing items were included.

( I) Agrieultural demonstration.

(2) Agricultural extension.

(3) Starting of Agro.based IndustrIes .

(4) Training in leadership .

(5) ,Health and family planning programmes._

(6) Functional liie~acy.

In addition to the above the fonowing items of assi,

stance are- also provided. . ,

.(i) Provision of medium term' credit for re-

- demption of mortgaged l,ands, for purchase

of work _ animals and agricultural imple-

ments.

fThe above integrated rural oeveiopm~nt program-

mes and subsidies for minor irrigation' and employ-

men~generation programmes like the . "Fo6d for

Work" a;,d the'Natiimal Rural- Emplayment Pro-

grammes have been formulated and implemented to

- help develop rural areas in general and the weaker

sections of the rural population in particular.

Eilrlier ,Programmes:' Earlier _attempts at rural re-

construction of the -viIIageand the farmers were made

in the following place~-but -they had to be abandoned

due to various reasons.SriiIiketan: Notable results were achieved by this

centre -in_a small area and in a -few villages in' the

matter of economic and DlOral rehabilitation ~of the

."rural community." " , " , -

Artandam: This centre had succe;eded in chang- .

ing the psychology of the people with a desire to im-

prove, a spirit of cooperation and new self respect.

Gurgaonl: In this 'sehenie ~nder agrieuitural deve-

lopment progJ:amme, farmers were exhorted to set

up m~del farms, .use improved seeds, .~dopt gurgaon

. plough and othbr improved implements~ use pre-

ventive nleasures against crop pests, killin~ field rats

and monkeys, drawing away harmful- insects ~ using

ViJlage development

Consolidatian of haldings'to 'facilitatc: irrigae

tion from one sonrce or a community

irrigation. source.

Land development for maximum -water

control and moisture .c6nscrVution iI). dry

areas to develap rain fed areas' for -better.~-

~griculture.

Maximising irrigation facilities especially in

delta areas for improving agriculture by

providing field channel system and field

drainage system. ending in mas.ter drainage.

system. Sinking of filter points or tubewells

in these ayacuts to cnable a double or triple

cropping possible, thus increasing produc-

tion.

S~itable cropping pattern.

Acceptance and enforcement of Mirumum

wage -for agriculture and non_agriculturallabour. . ~

Distrib~tion of waste land and cxtra land-

to ian'dl6ss aftcr allowing for con;mon utili,ties of the' village. .-

(1)

(2)

(3)

( 6)

( 4)

(5)

22 'kVRUKSHETRA Odober 16, 1982

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(c)

(d)

light tnips In. the fieids, and consoudatlon of holdings

on 'cooperative' basis. This scheme . in a way succee-

dcd .in awakening people and the Government to the

vital problem o t village' reconstruction as an imme-

~liate necessity.

Baroda: 1n this .centre agricultural production

programme was expanded to cover measures such as

provision of irrigation facilities, conservation -of soil,'production of nucleus seeds, their multiplication and

distribution. education in agriculture and subsidiary'oceupation~. This centre's experiment was a great

success.

Sarvodaya Scheme 01 Bombay: This scheme is largelybased 011 Ga'udhiji's idea o[-SarvOda.ya and the under-

lying idea wa-? to incL!lcate jn._the villagers the sp~rit

of sclf-help and mutual hclp.

FirJ

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be raised from i28 million tonIles in 79-80 to i54

million tonnes in 84-85, Oil seeds production from

10-20 million tonnes to 13 million tonnes~' and sugar-

cane from 175-80 million tonnes to 215,00 million

tonnes, Besides, programmes for village and small

industries sector for meeting mainly the medinm needs

of rural areas and several outlays directly bearing on

'the development of rural areas and olher" sectoral

outlays in industries indudiilg Fertiliser. proj~cts,pesticide units and other industries providing essential

inptits for Agricultural growth, transport,' energy, com-

munication, social, services. etc. for rural areas which

involve the utilisation of a large fleet of rural labour

force are all to be initiated,

,p ROVISION OF ADEQUATE INSTITUTIONAL credit forthe rural areas through primary cooperative so-

cieties, commercial banks with rural and special agri-

~ultural branches and regional banks have been made

(CcJliliilued, frol1i.p:, 14), .

,Thc commercial banks took up 'Village Adoption

Schemes' to cater to, the varied and diversified needs

of "their'inhabitants' i.e. -th e small~farmers,rural artisans,technical men" small entrepreneurs or petty shop-

keepers, If ,catered to systematically by the commer-

cial banks, they can certainly 'help' the process of d.eve-

lopment as also increase the'share, of (he poor in the

fruits of development. ' ,

Suggestions

IT IS, HOWEVERSUGGESTEOthat if 'the banks are io

really serve the cause of our new 20-point pro-

gramme, the ~ollowing points should b~ kept in mind:

1

They should, wherever possible" operate through

intermediatory agencies like primary cooperative so-

cieties, large scale multi-purpose societies, farmers'

service societies., cooperative development societies and

the HanJloom development corporation, -

I

in the Sixth Five year plan, This brings ont the

considerable emphasis placed by the Centre and State

Governments on improving the economic condition and

quality of life of' the majority of people living in

the rural areas of our country, During the Sixth

plan a sum of Rs, 32,287 crores IS proposed to be'

spent .on agriculture, rural development, irrigation

and flood control" ;'illage and small industries and

"on 'Minimum Needs Programme, It has also set atarget of 3.9% per annuill growth in foodgrain pro~

duction and thus Agriculture will continue to be the

largest, provider of 'employment in the villages,

The success of the progrannne of rural develop'

ment and other activities affecting thc lives of millions

of our rural people depend 'largely 011 its effective im-,

plementation by the Centre and State Agencies and

with the development of modern means of transport

and industrialisation, the villagers will be able to

enter into commercal competition and world market

J

2 ~

The Lead banks of each district should prepare a!

district credit p1

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.They s h o w : the'~way. This feature is based Oil success stories viz. achievements gained in various

sphere" of rural de'velopment by farmers, institutions, experiments and indivi-

quais. There is hardly an argument oyer the }act that dedication and zeal to

put .in hard work call achieve anything. ,And one achievement Inspires and shows

the way to others!

. We hope our esteemed readers will send us their own experiences in the.

field sO that others can benefit by them to usher in a better .life for our rural

people. (Editor)

l

An elephant for a mahout

N ARAYANA MARAR made his living by' working as amahont in a village in North Kerala. His father

oo used to work as mahout iu the good old royal

et-up of Malabar.

At the.age of 52, he lost his job as a result of the

mplementation of Land Reforms Act in Kerala which

ompelled landlo'rds to restrict' themselves. to a few

a"res of land. Narayana Marar did not know any

other kind of work. The elephant he tamed also. be-

came redundant like the royal family'to which. it be-

onged.

Is it possible to get an elephant through the Integ-

rated Rural Development Programme meant for people

below poverty line? Though elephant is a symbol of

fluence, Narayana Manu was reduced to the inevit-

able misery of a labourer in feudal system. He could

s!iI1kneel down any proud elephant by sheer mllStery

over his profession. Bnt this was of no avail in the .

changed situation. A I . .

The State Bank of India in consultation with .. the

Development Block at Nileswar in Cannano,"" district

agreed to assist Mar"ar to the ttine of Rs. 30,000/-Marar is noW upon. his pet elephant 'Nirm'ala', aged 9. -

It was due to a feasibility study conducted by Spri D.

Janardanan, the Block Development .Officer that the

bank officials agreed to assist the. novel scheme under

the Integrated Rural Development Programme thongh

most of the schemes are worked out for purchase ofmilch animals alone. The genius of a development

officer lies' in finding out new' avenues, after assessing

the potentiality of the area and the individual taste of

the man below poverty ,line to be assisted. Thus, amahout is tumed to be an owner of an elepIlant now?

The Krishna Temple at Guruvayoor in Triehnr dis-'

rict attracts devotees from all over India. There are

forty elephants at Guruvayoor among whOm many are

received as offerings of devotees for prayers answered.

Till now, bin-gas plants established in the country ot

cow-dung. On 15th May 1982,' a communitybio-gas plant was 'inaugurated at Guruvayoor ntilising the

droppings of the elephanis of Guruvayoor. The drop-

pings of 40 elephants of Guruvayoor Devaswam posed

a problem to the management o~ the temple. With

the installation of the Re-cycling Model Plan, 30

families are getting cheap gas in a place where supply

of cooking' gas was not in vogue. The Khadi and

Village Industries Corrnnission has spent Rs. 2 lakhs

for the establishment of this community bin-gas plant

the first of 12 such plants proposed'to be set up."I I-j

-E. VASU

Editor, 'Grambhoomi', Trivondrlitn

.. Better life through NREP

0..NCE A BIG Vl.LLAGE,.Begmabad is n.ow a suburb ?fthe famous mdustrIal town-Modinagar. A bIg

dirty naJah separates the two. Thediri of the drain

is a menace for about 150 families, mostly of sche-duled castes living. on both the sides of this about one

kilometre long nalah.'

. A step is being tnkcn to c6iistruct and clean it

under the National Rural Employment Programme.

An amount of RS.one lakh is sanctioned and placed

at the disposal of the B.D.O. for it. The work is

being ca'rried ont under the technical guidance of the

Rural Engineering Service. When completed, it will

provide relief to about 150 families and geneniteemp-

loyment about 2,200 mandays.

-D. P. GUPTA

BDO, Bhojpur (Ghaziabad)

25

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Book

reVIew

EDUCATING HARIJANS,by B. R. GOYAL~heAcademic Press, Haryana; pp., 129; Rs. 50._..

U PLTFT OF HARTJANS has been one of the' majorobjectives of our social reformers from time totime. We cannot forget that our ~ociety is demirIated

by rigid caste system which leaves an unbearable effect

at its lowest echelons, i.e. that class of. Indian societyIvho bave not only provided a helping band in main-

taining hygienic con4itions but have also contributed

their blood and sweat' in setting up various artistic

monuments. A gist of Indian History and her caste

system would make it crystal clear that harijans have

been the most neglected section of the society. This

section has always attracted the attention of social

reformers such' as Raja Ram Mohan Roy' and

Mahatma Gandhi; to the extent that Gandhiji gave the

name "Rarijan" to this .community, meaning Hari+

Jan-"The mnn of God". In their attempt to uplift

this minority group upto the level of rest of their

brethern in the society, . imparting of education has

been at the first method.. This very attempt, that is

"Educating these men of God" in all its ramifications,

has been .very thoroughly assessed by Sh. B. R. Goyal

in his book under review.

He has sympathetically evaluated the various

schemes and strategies developed and implemented by

the pioneers of the field: He has explained, at his

level best, the Government's' efforts in various States

. ! ~",'

26

where this class is in majority. The whole' effort of

the author is eonsolidated.in mine chapters,' all brief

and to the point, touching the pros and cons of eachaspect df the"education systems variously evolved and

enforced for Harijans ..

The author has staried the book with the c:evelop-

men! of discrimination in Indian society through the

praCtice of prominent religious and orthodox ;10rm~

and values. He l1.asemphasised en the fact tbat to

fill the 'gap between harijans and general population

we have to ensnre due status fer the farmer by.educat--lng them. . . \

. T ' HE GOAL" 9f. equali(y and .social justice. can o n l la"hieved by provision or opportunities, a motivat-

ing force for education, siinultane

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Care of the old and the destitute is an essential

Part of the health care programmes of today.

By 1979-80, the country had 1 .4 lakh Health Guides

and 50,000 sub-centres, 5,400 Primary Health Centres

and 340 rural hospitals (Community Health Centres).

The programme in the Sixth Plan is ta add another

4 lakh Health Guides, 174 rural hospitals (CHCs),

40,000 sub-centres and J ,600 PHCslSubsidiary

Health Centres.

An integrated approach to the health problem thraugh

preventive, promotive and curative measures along with

effective linkages with other programmes like safe

drin~ing water supply, improvement i