RECENT TRENDS
IN
LIVELIHOOD SECURITY
Prof. R.B. Singh
Member, National Commission For Farmers
RECENT TRENDS IN LIVELIHOOD SECURITY
• Number of hungry in India during the last six
years increased by 13 million, rising to 225
million.
• India continues to be home to one-fourth of
world’s hungry and poor and 40 percent of the
world’s undernourished children.
• Per capita agricultural growth 0.7 percent
during 1995-2003; marginalisation of rural
population; urban-rural divide widening (Bihar
vs. Punjab).
• Hot spots, acute distress, deprivation; Average
indebtedness of farmers even in Punjab about
Rs one lakh.
Governments’ Resolve
UPA government has resolved to give high priority
to farmers and agriculture and implementing a
strategy for ensuring food, Nutritional and income
security with a decisive thrust on improving
access to health care, ensuring compulsory
primary education, training in market-driven skills
and enhanced higher education opportunities,
thereby catalyzing sustainable livelihoods for and
vulnerable communities.
Knowledge-led Development
In order to steer a Job-led growth In rural
economy from a Job-less growth, the
government recognizes the importance of
developing an information and knowledgeled rural economy, especially among the
ultra poor and socially underprivileged
sections of the society
FIVE MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS IN THE
EARLY YEARS OF THIS MILLENNIUM
• Biotechnological Revolution; Regulatory regimes; gene
divide.
• ICT Revolution, but widening digital divide.
• Knowledge economies underpinning competitiveness.
• Post WTO developments, Globalization and
Liberalization.
• Thrust on Human Capital Development.
CRUCIAL NEEDS
• Access to demand driven and value added
information on production and processing
• Timely and Location specific
• Knowledge Transfer from various institutions /
agencies to end-user
• Healthcare, livelihoods, market information
• Genetic, Quality, Legal and Trade Literacy
• Information on entitlements and methods of
accessing them
ICT and Titanic Tsunami
http://www.nemoc.navy.mil/Library/Metoc/Indian+Ocean/Bay+of+Bengal/Models/Swaps/S
ig+Wav+Ht+and+Dir+Series/index.html
Ushering In An Evergreen Revolution
CORE PRINCIPLES
• Social inclusion and gender equity
• Reaching remote areas and remedying regional
balances by mobilising Information and
Communication
Technologies
(ICTs)
for
sustainable livelihoods and basic human needs
• Demand-driven and value-added information
which is time and location specific
Core principles…
• Convergence and synergy among all on-going
initiatives in order to generate a critical mass
of inter-institutional efforts and learning
• Reaching the unreached with a bouquet of
services – health, education, training,
microfinance, social enterprise, e-governance
• Creating social capital, using information communication as the outreach tool
RURAL KNOWLEDGE CENTRE (RKC)
• Based on the principles of social inclusion,
gender equity and reaching the unreached
• Using ICT for information empowerment
• Access to information on entitlements,
governance and infrastructure, weather and
markets, education, healthcare, public
services
• Retail outlet for online skill building and
training services
Network of RKCs across the country
• Formation of a National Alliance for Mission 2007,
through partnership of a range of stakeholders:
Government, Private Sector, Academia, Mass media,
NGOs and Civil Society Groups
• Location
either
in
Panchayat
school/Open University Study Centre
building/village
• Community-owned; Management by trained ICT Self
Help Groups; Selection and training of one million rural
virtual academicians
• Low-interest Credit support from banks; Venture Capital
Fund
• Active Role of Panchayats in supporting and outsourcing
services through RKCs.
Principal Components of Mission 2007:
Every Village a Knowledge Centre
• Connectivity: Extend BSNL network through wireless
technology to connect all 600,000 villages
• Content: Location-specific and need-based; Multiinstitutional
and
multi-disciplinary
Content
Consortium in every district; Establish National Digital
Gateway for Rural Livelihood Security
• Capacity Building: Capacity Building Consortium at
district level; One million rural virtual academicians
• Care and Management: Trained ICT-SHGs linked to
Panchayats
PUBLIC POLICY SUPPORT
• Universal Service Opportunity under the USO Fund – to
extend connectivity through broadband and internet
telephony
• Rural ICT Policy; BSNL network in 6000 blocks to reach
the 600,000 villages
• Community Radio Policy – Licence to 4000 community
radio stations
• Outsourcing government services to RKCs
• Incentives to Rural Service Providers;
• Farmers’ Distress Call Centres
• 20,000 VKCs covering 100,000 villages in the 150 districts
in 2005
NVA and the Self-help groups triggered
Micro-enterprise Revolution
• NVA’s Vision: Elect one million NVA Fellows by
2010, at least one woman and one man in every
village
• NVA’s Mission: Help SHGs to evolve into
Sustainable Self-help Groups (SSHGs) rooted in the
principles of economics, ecology and gender and
social equity
• The bottom line of the ICT movement in rural India
should be “ food, health, literacy and work for all”
• Act as the key service provider to the National
Alliance
Sustainable Self-help Groups
Ground Rules:
• It is the ICT SHGs which will ‘ own’ the village knowledge
centres throughout India
• Membership of the self-help groups must be based on the
Sarvodaya principal (ie, a “ win-win situation for all”)
• There should be two way linkages between appropriate
experts and self-help groups
• Collaboration with private sector and industry could be on
the pattern of production on contract/ franchise/buy-back
arrangements
• Decentralised production should be supported by key
centralised services ( e.g. e-commerce)
Job Led Economic Growth
Management
Market
Sustainable
Self-help
Groups
Technology
Credit
Reaching the Unreached
National/
State Hubs
Village
Knowledge
Centre (VKS)
VKS
VKS
Block/
Dist Lead
Hub
Mandal Hub
VKS
VKS
VKS
Global Alliance for ICT4D
•
•
•
•
•
World Summit on Information Society
FAO’s WAICENT
UNESCO’s Distance Learning Program
The Commonwealth of Learning
CGIAR - Global Open Agriculture and
Food University (based at IFPRI)
• VASAT (ICRISAT piloted in AP – India and
Niger)
National Alliance for ICT4ARD
India’s National Alliance for ICT4ARD
(Mission 2007: Every Village a Knowledge
Center) will be a model for the whole world
as India accounts for one-fourth of the
world’s rural population and nearly 30% of
the world’s farming families. India must
succeed in quickly achieving agrarian
prosperity to lead the world in fighting
poverty and hunger.
Concrete Actions Proposed
• The National Agriculture Library at IARI may
be designated as the National Digital
Gateway for Rural Livelihood Security. The
ICAR must duly invest in strengthening the
necessary hardware, human-ware and
software resources. All concerned institutes
especially the Delhi based ones viz. NCAP,
IASRI, NCs located withing IARI, the
CGIAR centers, NAAS, TAAS etc. must
actively feed into the gateway.
Concrete Actions Proposed
• IARI’s KVK at Shikohpur should be
restructured to be the hub and outlet for
on-line skill building in agriculture,
including urban and periurban agriculture,
particularly for ICT - SHGs in the State of
Delhi
Recall the face of the poorest and weakest
man whom you have seen, and ask
yourself, if the steps you contemplate are
going to be of any use to him. Will he gain
anything by it? Will it restore to him
control over his own life and destiny?’
M.K. Gandhi