Volume III Issue II July 2016
BHARATA MATA JOURNAL of Multidisciplinary Studies
Peer Reviewed National Research Journal
Bharata Mata College Thrikkakara, Kochi-21 Kerala, India
Rev. Fr. Jacob G. Palackappilly Chairman Managing Director, Bharata Mata College
Dr. Aype Thomas P Chief Editor Principal, Bharata Mata College
Associate Editors Dr. Laly Mathew Dr. ShinyPalatty Dr. Mary Joseph Dr. Priyalakshmi G Dr. Seena Augustine Dr. Jinsa Mary Jacob
Editorial Advisory Board Rev. Dr. Varghese Kalapparampath Former Manager, Bharata Mata College Dr. Babu Joseph Former Vice Chancellor, CUSAT, Kochi Dr. P. M. Chacko Former HOD, Department of English, U C College, Aluva Dr. Joseph Injody Principal, Rajagiri College of Social Sciences, Kalamassery Dr. Sivan Nair Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati Dr. Litty Allen Varghese National Institute of Technology, Calicut Dr. Anoop Anand DRDO, Ministry of Defence, Govt. of India, Pune Dr. Honey John Professor, CUSAT, Department of PS & RT Dr. N. R. Menon Emeritus professor, School of Marine Science, CUSAT Dr. Mathew J. Manimala Professor and Chairperson OBHRM, IIM, Bangalore
Printed and published by Dr. Aype Thomas P., Principa,l, Bharata Mata Colleg,, Thrikkakara ISSN 2348 - 3571
Management – Reasons for Investor’s Reluctance in Mutual Fund Investments – A Study ...... 01 S. Rajitha Kumar & Sindhu K. P. – Line Item Analysis of Quality Earning in Banking Industry ...... 15 B. Sudheer Kumar
Science – Fumed and Precipitated Silica Reinforced Unsaturated Polyester Composites: Mechanical and Morphological Properties ...... 28 Remya Suresh, Philip Kurian & Rani Joseph – A comparative study on the structural, optical and antibacterial properties of nano Zinc oxide via different routes ...... 35 Sreekala S Sharma & Shiny Palatty Humanities – Brevity- The Soul of Wit? : Emergence of Nanofiction ...... 44 Varsha V Varma – A study on the status and utility of governmental services of slum dwellers in Ernakulam District, Kerala...... 52 Sheena Rajan Philip Commerce – Agriprenuership: A conceptual framework of agricultural entrepreneurship in India ...... 64 Gimson D Parambil – Switching Behaviour in Retail Banking ...... 77 L.P. Ramalingam – Performance Analysis of MGNREG Scheme with special reference to Arpookkara Panchayat, Kottayam ...... 87 Mathew Abraham & Alice Mani – Financial Inclusion – A Myth or Reality ...... 102 Jaya K. R.
BHARATA MATA JOURNAL of Multidisciplinary Studies
REASONS FOR INVESTORS’ RELUCTANCE IN MUTUAL FUND INVESTMENTS- A STUDY
Sindhu K. P. Dr. S. Rajitha Kumar SMS,CUSAT. SMS, CUSAT, Kochi-22. Kochi-22 Mail: [email protected] Mail:[email protected]
ABSTRACT Purpose: The Indian financial service sector provides lots of investment opportunities to the investors for allocating their surplus funds. Mutual Funds are one among such investment avenues for the investors. Today, there are lots of mutual funds companies playing in the market that provide more than thousands of schemes to cater to the needs of the investors. But investors are least warm up with this industry. Those investors who put money in the funds are not willing to invest further more in the funds. In this situation, it is necessary to know the reasons for the investors’ reluctance in mutual fund investments. This paper aims to examine the reasons for withdrawal or non investment in mutual funds by investors. Research Methodology: Both secondary and primary data were used. The secondary data sources include books, journals, periodicals, publication of various mutual fund organisations, website of AMFI, website of SEBI, government publications and websites of various mutual fund companies. Primary data were collected from 900 individual investors in Kerala who have investments in mutual funds. Multi-stage sampling was adopted for selection of respondents for the study. Mean and ranks, wilcoxon signed rank test, Friedman Repeated measure on ranks were used for analysis purpose. Implications: The findings of the study help the Asset Management Companies (AMCs) to know the reasons for low investments in mutual funds which can help them rectify their problems. Thus AMCs can attract more mutual fund investments. Limitations: The study is based on the information collected from investors of Kerala state only. Generalizations may not be possible. Key Words: Mutual Funds, Investors, Reasons for Reluctance, AMCs.
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Introduction With the advent of liberalization, privatization and globalization, the Indian economy has opened up and many developments have been taking place especially in the capital and money markets. These developments lead to economic growth and the dynamics of economic growth provide various opportunities for investors to invest their savings in different avenues of investments. But, the main concern for investors is optimum allocation of available funds among different avenues of investments. It is a complex task for investors to find an appropriate investment avenue which satisfies their objectives of investment, to minimize their chance for risk in future and at the same time, ensure reasonable level of growth and income on their investment. In the investment arena, financial markets are constantly becoming more efficient by providing more promising solutions to the investors. The most common investment avenue to all investors namely, the fixed deposits are now too dreary and at the same time investments in stock market are highly complicated to the common man. In this situation, mutual funds turn out to be the most appropriate investment avenue for individual investors as it offers an opportunity to invest in a diversified, professionally managed basket of securities at a relatively low cost. In India, mutual fund industry provides reasonable options for common man to invest their savings in the capital market.
Need for the Study In India, it is the household sector which occupies dominance over the other institutional sectors like private corporate sector and public sector in terms of generating savings. This sector is defined to comprise individuals, non-government non-corporate enterprise of farm business and non-farm business like sole proprietorship and partnership, and non-profit institutions. If there is higher mobilization of household savings, it means higher
2 ISSN 2348 - 3571 BHARATA MATA JOURNAL of Multidisciplinary Studies availability of resources in the economy for growth and development. Particularly, savings in financial assets by household are more important from the resource mobilization point of view because of their liquidity characteristics compared to physical savings and therefore can be translated into investment more easily.
Traditionally India enjoys a very high savings rate. It is approximately 34% in FY11, of which financial household savings were around 11.8%. Though the household sector comprises individuals, non-government non- corporate enterprise of farm business and non-farm business like sole proprietorship and partnership, and non-profit institutions, the share of individual wealth is one of the major elements in the total wealth of India. The total wealth of individuals in India is estimated at 86.5 lakh crore in FY11. It is the sum total of the value of all financial assets.
Table 1.1: Individual Investors’ Investments in Various Investment Avenues.
Investment avenues in crores Percentage Fixed deposits and bonds 26,76,878 30.95% Direct equity 25,76,317 29.78% Insurance 15,25,735 17.64% Savings deposits 6,16,917 7.13% Small savings 5,23,908 6.06% Provident fund 4,11,901 4.76% Mutual funds 2,88,543 3.34% Alternative assets 29,565 0.34% Source: Karvy Private wealth report, 2012.
From this statistics, it is clear that only 3.34 per cent investments are made in mutual funds by the individual investors in India. Ironically, in developed markets, mutual funds constitute a significant proportion of one’s portfolio.
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Unfortunately, it is due to the fact that most of the Indian investors are not interested in mutual funds. But it is important to note here that when compared to other financial instruments, investments in Mutual funds are safer and also yields more returns on the portfolio investment. Moreover, as an investment avenue, mutual fund is available to those investors, who are not willing to take any exposure directly to the security markets and it helps the investors to build their wealth over a period of time. At the retail level, investors are unique and highly heterogeneous, and the mutual fund scheme selection also differs depending on their expectations. The success of any mutual fund depends on effective understanding of the reasons for withdrawal or non investment in mutual funds by the investors and rectification of the problems. Hence there is a need to conduct a study on the reasons for investors’ reluctance. Review of available literature also revealed that no detailed study on mutual funds in Kerala has so far been attempted in this direction, hence the present study, is undertaken.
Review of Literature Brad Barber, Terrance Odean & Lu Zheng (2000) analyzed the mutual fund purchase and sale decisions of over 30,000 households with accounts at a large U.S. discount broker for six years ending in 1996. From the study, they found out that: 1) investors buy strong past performance; over half of all fund purchases occur in fund ranked in the top quintile of past annual returns.2) investors sell funds with strong past performance and are reluctant to sell their losing fund investments; they were twice as likely to sell a winning mutual fund, rather than a losing mutual fund and thus, nearly 40 per cent of fund sales occur in funds ranked in the top quintile of past returns, 3) investors were sensitive to the form in which fund expenses are charged; though investors were less likely to buy funds with high transaction fees, their purchases were relatively insensitive to a funds’ operating expense ratio. From this, researchers argued that the representative heuristic led to
4 ISSN 2348 - 3571 BHARATA MATA JOURNAL of Multidisciplinary Studies buy past winners, the disposition effect rendered investors reluctant to sell their losers and framing effect cause investors to react differently to various forms of fund expenses.
Singh and Chander (2004) in the article "An Empirical Analysis of Perceptions of Investors towards Mutual Funds" have conducted research by examining 400 investors in major cities of Punjab, Delhi and Mumbai by administering a Questionnaire having various parameters of perceptions of investors towards mutual fund. Factor analysis was used to find the significant factors affecting perception of investors. The research was carried out in two phases. The first phase is to find preferences and perception of mutual fund and second was to find reasons for investors withdrawing investments from mutual funds. The study established that middle class, salaried investors and professionals perfected to have disclosure of net asset value on a day-to-day basis and wanted to invest in mutual funds in order to get higher tax rebates. Further, it is evidenced that small investors perceived mutual funds to be better investment alternative and public sector investments to be less risky: The study further revealed that the investor did not have confidence on the management of funds and regulators of the market and cited these as reasons for withdrawing from the mutual fund investment.
Berk J & Xu. J (2004) documented that the observed persistence amongst the worst performing actively managed mutual funds is attributable to funds that have performed poorly both in the current and prior year. Consistent with the Berk and Green (2004) model, they demonstrated that this persistence results from an unwillingness of investors in these funds to respond to bad performance by withdrawing their capital. In contrast, funds that only performed poorly in the current year, do have significant capital outflows and consequently, show no evidence of persistence in their returns.
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Objective of the Study The main objective of the study is to identify the reasons for the reluctance of investors in mutual fund investments.
Research Methodology The present paper is a descriptive one. Both secondary and primary data were used. The secondary data source for the study include books, journals, periodicals, publication of various mutual fund organisations, website of AMFI, website of SEBI, government publications and websites of various mutual fund companies. Primary data required for the study were collected from 900 individual investors in Kerala who have investments in mutual funds. Multi-stage sampling was adopted for selection of respondents for the study. In order to achieve the objectives of the study a well structured questionnaire was developed for collecting primary data from individual investors in mutual funds. Mean and ranks, Wilcoxon signed rank test, Friedman Repeated measure on ranks were used for analysis purpose.
Analysis and Interpretation 1. Profile of the Respondents The profile of 900 mutual fund investors is compiled in Table 1.
From the Table 1, it is clear that out of the 900 investors, 739 were male and 161 were female. Majority of the respondents were in the age group of 20-40 (59.2 Per cent). The majority of respondents were married (86.3%). Majority of respondents were residing in urban centers (45.7 %). Most of them were post graduates (44.2 %). Majority of them were employed (62.6 %) and having monthly income in the range 10,000-30,000 (74.6%). The family sizes of the majority of respondents were medium (59.4 %).
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Table 1: Profile of Respondents
Variables Frequency Percent Gender Male 739 82.1 Female 161 17.9 Age <20 6 0.7 20-40 533 59.2 40-60 343 38.1 >60 18 2.0 Marital Status Single 123 13.7 Married 777 86.3 Locality Rural 198 22.0 Semi urban 291 32.3 Urban 411 45.7 Education High school level 25 2.8 Plus Two/PDC 111 12.3 Diploma/Technical 104 11.6 Graduation 214 23.8 Post graduation 398 44.2 Others 48 5.3 Occupation Govt.-Employee 198 22.0 Private employee 365 40.6 Business/professionals 282 31.3 Agriculture 16 1.8 House wife 15 1.7 Others 24 2.7 Monthly income Below 10,000 49 5.4 10,000 - 20,000 461 51.2 20,000 - 30,000 202 22.4 30,000 - 40,000 104 11.6 40,000 - 50,000 61 6.8 50,000 and above 23 2.6 Family size Small 56 6.2 Medium 535 59.4 Large 309 34.3
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2. Reasons for withdrawal or non investment in mutual funds. From the review of literatures and related articles, eleven variables were identified as the reasons for the withdrawal or non investment in mutual funds. Investors were asked to rate these statements as 5 for strongly agree, 4 for agree, 3 for neutral, 2 for disagree and 1 for strongly disagree. Based on the rating, means were calculated and ranks were assigned to the statements. Table 2. shows the reasons for withdrawal or non investment in mutual funds.
Table 2: Reasons for withdrawal or not investing in mutual funds
Reasons Mean Rank Less than expected return from MFs 2.984 9 Improper control of fund by regulatory bodies like SEBI & others 3.312 7 Underperformance of professionally expert managers 4.151 1 Very slow growth in the unit value 2.769 11 Insecurity of investment due to connivance between fund managers and corporate houses 3.664 4 Non understanding of certain technical terms and conditions resulting in abrupt withdrawal of scheme by the fund 3.078 8 Absence of law regarding participation of fund holders in decisions concerning portfolio selection 3.296 6 Ineffective grievance redressal 2.916 10 Compulsory demat accounts for online trading 3.607 5 Compulsory signing of a new contract for Mutual Fund trading by demat account holders 3.733 3 Additional charges like advisory fee, trading maintenance charge etc. for online trading 3.78 2
Source: Field Survey.
From the Table 2. it is clear that the main reason for non investment or withdrawal from mutual funds was underperformance of professionally expert managers. Mutual funds are funds in the form of trust having
8 ISSN 2348 - 3571 BHARATA MATA JOURNAL of Multidisciplinary Studies professional management. If the fund managers underperformed, it will affect badly on investors’ confidence. Additional expenses on online trading and demat accounts were other reasons for investors’ reluctance. The reasons for withdrawal or non investment in mutual funds were also cross tabulated with gender, age and monthly income of the investors. The gender wise analysis is exhibited on Table 3.
Table 3: Gender wise analysis of reason for withdrawal or non investment in Mutual Funds Male Female Reasons Mean Rank Mean Rank Less than expected return from MFs 2.828 10 3.702 2 Improper control of fund by regulatory 3.256 7 3.571 5 bodies like SEBI & others Underperformance of professionally 4.233 1 3.776 1 expert managers Very slow growth in the unit value 2.656 11 3.286 11 Insecurity of investment due to connivance 3.708 4 3.466 7 between fund managers and corporate houses Non understanding of certain technical terms and conditions resulting in abrupt 3.027 8 3.311 9 withdrawal of scheme by the fund Absence of law regarding participation of fund holders in decisions concerning portfolio 3.287 6 3.335 8 selection Ineffective grievance redressal 2.834 9 3.292 10 Compulsory demat accounts for online 3.616 5 3.565 6 trading Compulsory signing of a new contract for Mutual Fund trading by demat account 3.762 3 3.603 4 holders Additional charges like advisory fee, trading maintenance charge etc. for online 3.811 2 3.640 3 trading χ2 = 0.978ns; P = 0.328 Source: Field Survey; ns non significant at 0.05 levels
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The gender wise analysis also shows that the main reason for withdrawing from mutual fund is the underperformance of professionally expert managers. Wilcoxon signed rank test was conducted to test the significance, which is non significant at 5 per cent level. This implies that there is no difference in the opinion of both male and female. The age wise analysis is exhibited on Table 4.
Table 4: Age wise analysis of reason for withdrawal or not investing in Mutual Funds Below 20 20-40 40-60 60 and above Reasons Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Less than expected return 3.667 1 3.068 9 2.784 9 4.111 1 from MFs Improper control of fund by regulatory bodies 3.333 3 3.357 6 3.225 7 3.667 5 like SEBI & others Underperformance of professionally 3.667 1 4.098 1 4.265 1 3.722 4 expert managers Very slow growth 3.000 5 2.822 11 2.612 11 4.111 1 in the unit value Insecurity of investment due to connivance 3.500 2 3.638 4 3.711 4 3.611 6 between fund managers and corporate houses Non understanding of certain technical terms and conditions 3.167 4 3.120 8 2.968 8 3.889 2 resulting in abrupt withdrawal of scheme by the fund
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Absence of law regarding participation of fund holders in 3.500 2 3.306 7 3.271 6 3.389 9 decisions concerning portfolio selection Ineffective grievance 3.333 3 3.004 10 2.735 10 3.611 6 redressal Compulsory demat accounts 3.167 4 3.576 5 3.653 5 3.778 3 for online trading Compulsory signing of a new contract for 3.500 2 3.715 3 3.778 3 3.500 7 Mutual Fund trading by demat account holders Additional charges like advisory fee, trading 3.500 2 3.756 2 3.840 2 3.444 8 maintenance charge etc. for online trading χ2 = 2.835ns df=3; P = 0.418 Source: Field Survey; ns non significant at 0.05 levels
From the table 4, it is clear that, except in case of the age group of 60 & above, all others’ main reason for reluctance in the mutual funds was professionally expert managers were under performed followed by the expenses incurred for online trading. Friedman repeated measures on ranks were used for testing significance, which is found non-significant at 5 per cent level. This implies that there is no difference in the opinion among any age groups.
The Income wise analysis is exhibited on Table 5.
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Table 5: Income wise analysis of reason for withdrawal or non investment in Mutual Funds Below 10,000 - 20,000 - 30,000 - 40000- 50,000 and 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50000 above
Reasons M e a n Rank M e a n Rank M e a n Rank M e a n Rank M e a n Rank M e a n Rank Less than expected 3.612 7 2.545 10 2.871 10 3.933 1 4.246 1 3.826 1 return from MFs Improper control of fund by regulatory 3.653 5 3.065 7 3.332 6 3.731 3 4.033 2 3.565 2 bodies like SEBI & others Underperformance of professionally expert 4.000 1 4.386 1 4.119 1 3.789 2 3.508 3 3.391 4 managers Very slow growth in 3.429 11 2.471 11 2.767 11 3.317 10 3.344 7 3.348 6 the unit value Insecurity of investment due to connivance between 3.837 2 3.757 4 3.624 4 3.548 6 3.328 8 3.217 10 fund managers and corporate houses Non understanding of certain technical terms and conditions 3.510 9 2.924 8 3.074 8 3.298 11 3.508 4 3.130 11 resulting in abrupt withdrawal of scheme by the fund Absence of law regarding participation of fund 3.531 8 3.254 6 3.248 7 3.433 8 3.328 9 3.348 7 holders in decisions concerning portfolio selection Ineffective grievance 3.490 10 2.649 9 2.955 9 3.385 9 3.361 5 3.391 5 redressal Compulsory demat accounts for online 3.653 4 3.683 5 3.574 5 3.539 7 3.344 6 3.261 9 trading Compulsory signing of a new contract for Mutual Fund trading 3.612 6 3.870 3 3.748 3 3.567 5 3.180 11 3.348 8 by demat account holders Additional charges like advisory fee, trading maintenance 3.714 3 3.883 2 3.802 2 3.673 4 3.246 10 3.565 3 charge etc. for online trading χ2 = 8.870ns df=5; P = 0.114 Source: Field Survey; ns non significant at 0.05 levels
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From table 5, it is clear that, except in case of higher income groups, all others’ main reason for reluctance in the mutual funds was the under performance of professionally expert managers. Higher income groups argued that return from the MFs have been less than expected. Friedman repeated measures on ranks were used for testing significance, which is found non-significant at 5 per cent level. This implies that there is no difference in the opinion among any income groups.
Suggestions 1) The Asset Management Companies must ensure the best performance of fund managers. 2) Not even today, investors are familiar with online trading and they cannot afford the extra charges incurred on online trading. So proper investor awareness programmes must be provided. 3) Regulatory bodies like SEBI & others must be able to control fund properly. 4) Insecurity of investment due to connivance between fund managers and corporate houses must be eliminated. 5) Mutual Funds should try to meet the investors’ expectations.
Conclusion There is large scope for mutual fund business in India. Even today, mutual fund business is concentrated only in major cities. There is large untapped savings in the hands of rural people. So, concerted efforts are needed for its success. Success depends upon high returns and professional competence of Fund managers. It also has some draw backs such as low awareness, too many formalities, difficult to select. Finally, the MF should have great transparency, prudent accounting norms, less transaction cost, low management fees. The present study analyses the investors’ reluctance in
ISSN 2348 - 3571 13 Bharata Mata College, Thrikkakara mutual fund investments. This study is very important in order to rectify the problems of investors in a market like India, where the competition increases day by day, due to the entry of large number of players with different financial strengths and strategies. Therefore, it becomes imperative on part of the fund managers to rectify these problems for attracting more investors and also to retain the trust, the investors have in them.
References [1] Barber, B. M., Odean, T., & Zheng, L. (2000). The behavior of mutual fund investors. Unpublished working paper.
[2] Singh J. & Chander S. (2004). An Empirical Analysis of Perceptions of Investors towards Mutual Funds, Finance India, 18(4), 1673-1692.
[3] Berk, J., & Xu, J. (2004). Persistence and fund flows of the worst performing mutual funds. Unpublished Working Paper, University of California, Berkeley.
[4] Karvy (2012) Unpublished Wealth Report 2012.
[5] www.abhinavjournal.com
[6] www.googlescholar.com
[7] www.emeraldinsight.com.
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LINE ITEM ANALYSIS OF QUALITY EARNINGS IN BANKING INDUSTRY
B. Sudheer Kumar, Dr. V. Mallikaruna Department of MBA, Department of MBA Vaagdevi Institute of Technology & Science, Sri Sai Institute of IT and Management, Proddatur, Kadapa (DT), A.P, Kadapa, A.P, E – Mail Id: - [email protected],
Dr. N. Kumara Swamy Dean for Dept of Research & Development, Madanapalli Institute of Technology & Science, Madanapalli, Chittoor (DT), A.P,
ABSTRACT
In the present business scenario, often organizations publicize the financial accounting statement and the financial reports for the purpose of making the information available to all the people who are interested in the organizations financial condition. These reports are used by the investors, creditors, share holders, for making many decisions. So organizations try to manipulate these accounting reports and financial statements to show artificial profits to them. These manipulations in the financial statements, increase its earnings which will in turn increase their share price and hides the firm’s true financial status. Increased number of fraud that was accompanied with the bankruptcy of large companies created concerns about the health of earnings quality. In recent years, following the bankruptcy of some large companies in the world, researchers and financial analysts, in addition to existing practices are devising methods of assessing earning quality of the companies open for investment. Key Words: Assessment of Earnings Quality for Selected Companies, Relation B/W Revenue and DA, Relation between Shareholders Equity and DA, Relation B/W Contingency and DA.
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1. Introduction In the wake of highly publicized financial frauds and failures and accounting manipulations, the emphasis on earnings quality has renewed. That is why investors and creditors from all over the world are turning toward the assessment of the earnings quality of the individual company in which they are trying to invest. There are many ways through which organizations are manipulate their financial statements; they use certain approaches that help a firm to hide the true conditions. The investors need to assess the extent to which a firm's reported earnings are free from mistake or manipulation, so they should have an idea about the possible approaches and ways the firms use to manipulate profits. They are:
. Recording revenue too soon or of questionable quality,
. Recording fictitious revenue,
. Boosting income with one-time gains,
. Shifting current expense to a different period,
. Failing to record or improperly reducing liabilities,
. Shifting current revenue to a later period, and
. Shifting future expenses to the current period as a special charge.
2. Need of the Study The need for the earning quality method arises out of the increasing complexity of business transactions and a desire for more accurate financial information. First, we need to define what we mean when we say "quality", as earnings quality means different things to different users of financial statements. For example, regulators would view earnings quality as being high if the accounting had adhered to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), as GAAP is used by regulators to help ensure high quality in financial statements. Those businesses that generate revenue but
16 ISSN 2348 - 3571 BHARATA MATA JOURNAL of Multidisciplinary Studies not cash are not engaging in profitable activities. When you invest, make sure your company is taking its earnings to the bank. The earning quality is said to be low when the abnormal earnings are very high. Earning quality and abnormal earnings usually has an inverse proportional relationship between them.
3. Objectives of the Study . To determine the relationship between revenue and quality of earnings . To determine the contingencies and quality earnings . To determine relationship between the share holders equity and quality of earnings
4. Literature Survey 4.1 Earning management Arthur levitt, former chairman of the sec, noted:
Flexibility in accounting allows it to keep pace with business innovations, abuses business innovations. Abuses such as earnings management occur when people exploit this pliancy. Trickery is employed to obscure actual financial volatility. This in turn, masks the true consequences of management’s decisions. (Levitt, 1998). Accounting researchers have adopted a similar definition of earnings management. For example: Earnings management occurs when managers use judgment in financial reporting and in structuring transactions to alter financial reports to either mislead some stakeholders about the underlying economic performance of the company, or to impudence contractual outcomes that depend on reported accounting numbers.(Healy and Wahlen, 1999) Common to these definitions is the following feature: earnings management induces an intentional bias in financial reports.
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4.2 Incentives for earnings management While information relevant for valuing companies is provided through various channels (e.g., analysts research, business press, government statistics, management communications, etc.), company-issued financial reports constitute the primary source of information. Under US GAAP, Financial reporting should provide information that is useful to present and potential investors and creditors and other users in assessing the amounts, timing, and uncertainty of prospective net cash inflows to the related enterprise. (SFAC No. 1, para. 37) It is interesting to note that this is precisely the information that one would need to calculate the value of an enterprise. Thus, in setting accounting principles, the FASB appears to be emphasizing the valuation role of accounting information over other uses. The use of accounting information in valuation generates capital market incentives to manage earnings. Managers may manipulate earnings to improve market participants’ perception of the firm’s risk and performance. For example, extant research indicates that investors use benchmarks such as previous year earnings or analysts’ forecasts in evaluating performance, thus motivating firm’s to overstate earnings to meet or beat these targets (e.g., Burgstahler and Dichev, 1997).
5. Methodology 5.1 Collection of the data In this study, secondary data was used to achieve the designated objectives. The secondary data is from various websites, magazines, journals and financial newspapers.
The collected parameters are revenue, debt, assets, book value and cash flow from operations, fixed assets, expenses and employee cost. The analysis was made based on secondary data, published papers and expert opinion.
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5.2 Data analysis procedure For the study certain approaches are used to assess the quality of earnings, intellectual capital and stock returns.
Calculation of quality earnings
DAit = Quality of earnings is calculated through the following formula
DA i,t is discretionary accrual that is a proxy of earnings quality
Here the equation is in the form of y = a + x1b + x2c + x3d, through applying the regression analysis to the above equation we can get DA value. The regression analysis can be applied by the software that is analysis tool pak, after applying regression to the above equation the resulted x1 – intercept, x2 – intercept, x3 – intercept should be substituted in the DA formula to get the value of DA.
Caluculation of intellectual capital (VAIC) Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC) Calculation 1. Value Added (VA) VA = OUT – IN , OUT = Revenues IN = Expenses
2. Human Capital Coefficient (HCE) HCE = VA/HC , HC = Employee cost
3. Structural Capital Coefficient (SCE) SCE = SC/VA , SC = VA-HC SC = Structural cost
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4. Capital Employed Efficiency (CEE) CEE = VA/CA , CA = Book-value of net assets 5. Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC) VAIC = HCE+SCE+ CEE
Calculation of stock returns (R)
STOCK RETURNS (R) = (P1-P0)/P0*100
Here, P1 = Closing price
P0 = Opening price Calculation of Leverage ratio and size
LEVIT = Debt/Total Assets, SIZEIT = Total assets in millions
6. Data analysis and interpretations 6.1.1 Assessment of Earnings Quality for Selected Companies: -
Table 4.1.1: Values of DA of Andhra Bank
Year DA 2005 7.222673 2006 8.879892 2007 9.384476 2008 6.38728 2009 -1.71747 2010 6.802641 2011 2.745098 2012 10.23127 2013 8.682615 2014 11.19756
Regression Statistics Multiple R 0.388803322 R Square 0.151168024 Adjusted R Square -0.091355398 Standard Error 0.827325207 Observations 10
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ANOVA Significance Df SS MS F F Regression 2 0.85327448 0.42663724 0.62331309 0.563476827 Residual 7 4.791268988 0.684466998 Total 9 5.644543468
Standard Lower Upper Lower Upper Coefficients Error t Stat P-value 95% 95% 95.0% 95.0% Intercept 4.7202 2.4524009 1.924726 0.095662 -1.07881 10.5192 -1.07881 10.519206 X Variable 1 -0.668109 5.0135768 -0.13326 0.897738 -12.5233 11.1871 -12.5233 11.187116 X Variable 2 -0.001086 0.0015878 -0.683997 0.515974 -0.00484 0.00267 -0.00484 0.0026685
Standard Observation Predicted Y Residuals Residuals 1 2.67097 -0.7067 -0.969 2 2.33185 0.05539 0.0759 3 2.14651 0.38689 0.5303 4 1.95862 -0.0204 -0.028 5 1.6523 -1.3662 -1.872 6 1.74082 0.33155 0.4544 7 1.83586 -0.6432 -0.882 8 2.11659 0.60254 0.8258 9 2.17787 0.2002 0.2744 10 1.82559 1.15991 1.5897
Interpretation In the above table the DA values of the companies in 6 different industries are mentioned. It shows the best quality earnings and the least quality earnings of the company. For investor to acquire the better results regarding their investment they should consider the firm with high earning quality. The investment made in the firms with low earning quality are not suitable for the small investors they are only suitable for speculator.
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Note: I can mention one sample calculation of earning quality of selected industries and remaining as usual same as above example.
4.2.1 Relation b/w revenue and DA for andhra bank
Table 4.2.1: Relation between revenue and DA for Andhra bank
Years Revenue DA 2005 173.43 7.222673 2006 268.93 8.879892 2007 338.79 9.384476 2008 213.73 6.38728 2009 -131.08 -1.71747 2010 204.92 6.802641 2011 33.44 2.745098 2012 309.29 10.23127 2013 231.46 8.682615 2014 356.08 11.19756
Fig. 4.2.1: Relationship between REVENUE and DA of Andhra bank
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Interpretation The relation of VAIC and DA for all the companies represents same that the VAIC will have a positive influence on the DA because in the companies using its intellectual capital efficiently then the officials does not try to manipulate the earnings of the company.
4.3.1 Relation between shareholders equity and DA for Andhra bank
Table 4.3.1: Relation between shareholders equity And DA for Andhra Bank Year Shareholders Equity DA 2005 0 0.7062 2006 0 1.08207 2007 0 2.124989 2008 0 2.548224 2009 0 2.927648 2010 0 0.318862 2011 0 1.612003 2012 0 3.400351 2013 0 1.278943 2014 0 1.239789
Fig. 4.3.1: Relationship b/w Shareholders equity and DA of Andhra bank
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Interpretation When the stock return are high then the respective quality earnings are low, it can be observed in all the above figures of different companies from different industries. The reason for this is because if the stock returns are high that means that the organization is trying to boost its stock value by manipulating its earning values. Even though the company’s stock returns influence the earnings quality, no company has a significant relation between the stock returns and DA.
4.4.1 Relation B/W Contingency and DA for Andhra Bank
Year Contingent Liability DA 2005 394.3 0.7062 2006 173.87 1.08207 2007 201.3 2.124989 2008 123.83 2.548224 2009 49.64 2.927648 2010 75.29 0.318862 2011 111.7 1.612003 2012 169.46 3.400351 2013 189.05 1.278943 2014 211.94 1.239789
Fig. 4.4.1: Relationship b/w Contingency and DA of Andhra bank
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Interpretation Through the analysis of the obtained scattered diagrams, it is found that the relationships between VAIC and HCE, VAIC and SCE, VAIC and CEE are linear and directly proportional because,
. HCE represents the (human capital coefficient) intellectuals that are entered in the industry they contribute for the efficient VAIC to the firm which in term affects the quality earnings.
. SCE (structural capital co-efficiency), represents the optimum structure of the firm which points out low debts and better VAIC investment to enhance the value of the company and intellectual if considered appropriate structural capital, if not the debts will be high than the profits which becomes the reason for the companies to use manipulated earnings.
. CEE( Capital employed efficiency), is usually available for the firm for the purpose of operations it should be used intellectually, by the intellectual use of capital employed in the firm only the firm can perform better and avoid the fraud earnings representation in the financial statements.
Findings 1) Through present study on quality earnings, it was found that various earnings quality proxy’s which represent the quality of earnings position in the organization.
2) The quality earnings from a company to company vary according to the parameters they depend on. In the study the quality earnings often are high in personal care industry and leather industry.
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3) The results of present investigation show that intellectual capital has positive impact on earnings quality, because relationship between VAIC values and DA is linear and inversely proportional and its lead to conclude that intellectual capital has a positive role in best financial practices and reporting.
4) Earnings with high accruals suggesting low-quality earnings are associated with poor stock returns in that relative year.
5) The Human capital efficiency (HCE) and Capital employed efficiency (CEE) both have a positive relation with the VAIC whereas Structural capital efficiency (SCE) has a inverse relationship with VAIC because the employed capital is not properly used for the operating a structure that makes the intellectuals become efficient.
6) The components of the DA that are VAIC, LEVIT (leverage),
SIZEIT (total assets) combine shows a little effect on the majority of the companies however individual components especially VAIC has predominant influence on the quality earnings.
7. Conclusion The investors who are trying to invest in any company should not only consider the reported earnings but should also analyze quality of those earnings. In the study some of the Andhra Bank, HDFC, Indian Bank, SBI, Axis Bank showed good quality earnings so the small investors should try to invest their investment in these type of companies, whereas speculators can consider the companies like ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahendra Bank, SBH, KVB, Vijaya Bank that have somewhat low earnings quality because they are ready to face risk.
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References
[1] Abarbanell, J. S. and B. J. Bushee (1997), ‘Fundamental analysis, future earnings and stock prices’. Journal of Accounting Research 35(1), 1–24.
[2] Aboody, D. and R. Kasznik (2000), ‘CEO stock option awards and the liming of corporate voluntary disclosures’. Journal of Accounting and Economics 29(3), 73–100.
[3] Accounting Principles Board (APB) (1970), Business Combinations. APB Opinion No.16. New York, NY: APB.
[4] The Relationship between Intellectual Capital and Earnings Quality Roya Darabi, S.Kamran Rad and M.Ghadiri (2012)
[5] Earnings Quality Metrics and What They Measure Ralf Ewert and Alfred Wagenhofer (2009)
[6] Accruals Quality and Internal Control over Financial Reporting Jeffrey T. Doyle, Weili Ge, and Sarah McVay (2007)
[7] Line-Item Analysis of Earnings Quality Nahum D. Melumad and Doron Nissim (2008)
[8] Managerial Ability and Earnings Quality Peter R. Demerjian, Baruch Lev, Melissa F. Lewis, and Sarah E. McVay (2013)
Websites: - www.moneycontrol.com www.bseindia.com http://economictimes.indiatimes.com
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FUMED AND PRECIPITATED SILICA REINFORCED UNSATURATED POLYESTER COMPOSITES: MECHANICAL AND MORPHOLOGICAL PROPERTIES
Remya Suresh, Dr. Philip Kurian, Dr. Rani Joseph Department of Polymer Science and Rubber Technology, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Cochin, Kerala, 682022, India Corresponding author: [email protected]
ABSTRACT
Terephthalic unsaturated polyester resin (UPR) is modified by different types of silica fillers. Mechanical and morphological properties of the prepared composites were studied. The addition of fumed silica (FSi) and precipitated silica (PSi) into UPR results in the improvement of the mechanical properties of silica-UPR composites. Impact strength of UPR is improved by the addition of silica fillers. PSi filled composites show maximum improvement in tensile strength than FSi composites. Due to the thixotropic effect of FSi, viscosity of uncured resin increased and degree of crosslinking decreased due to low matrix-matrix interaction. Scanning electron micrographs of samples also supports the rough surface morphology of silica-UPR composites which is accountable for the improved mechanical properties.
1. Introduction Unsaturated polyester resin (UPR) is one of the most commonly used thermoset with application as engine parts, covers, electrical terminal boxes, swimming pools, boats and tanks. The curing of the UPR is performed via a free radical mechanism in the presence of a monomer (generally styrene) able to crosslink the polyester chains. However UPR show lower impact properties and mechanical resistance. Fillers can be added to improve the
28 ISSN 2348 - 3571 BHARATA MATA JOURNAL of Multidisciplinary Studies properties and industrial performance of UP resins. Silica is one of the reinforcing fillers widely used in composites. Synthetic amorphous silica can be mainly categorized into two types, precipitated silica (PSi) and pyrogenic silica or fumed silica (FSi). They differ from each other in manufacturing process and particle dimensions.
Ram Avatar Sharma et al studied the electrical properties of Silica- UPR composites by the addition of nano/micro silica into unsaturated polyester resin (UPR) [1]. It is observed that the higher the dispersion of silica in the UPR resin better is the electrical property of silica-UPR composites. Y. Jaya Vinse Ruban et al studied the inter-crosslinking networks of unsaturated polyester (UP)-toughened epoxy-nanosilica hybrid nanocomposites [2]. Significant improvement in the flexural properties, tensile properties and impact strength were observed in the UP–epoxy blends with increase in the percentage of amine-modified nanosilica particles. Michele Preghenella et al studied the effects of untreated silica nano powders in an epoxy matrix [3]. They found that all the thermal and mechanical properties showed non-monotonic trends with relative minima as the silica content increased. In the present work, comparative studies of the mechanical properties of FSi-UPR and PSi-UPR composites have been discussed.
2. Experimental 2.1 Materials Terephthalic unsaturated polyester resin (monomers are terephthalic acid, maleic anhydride, propylene glycol) was kindly provided by Riotech Industries, Pala. The promotor cobalt octoate (6% cobalt octoate in mineral spirits) and the initiator methyl ethyl ketone peroxide (8% active oxygen) were provided by Royal Cheme, Cochin. FSi (aerosol 200) and PSi fillers of nano meter size were provided by Merck specialties Mumbai.
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2.2 Preparation of unsaturated polyester FSi and PSi composites About 100g of the resin was weighed in a beaker. Add different wt% FSi (1, 1.2, 1.4, and 1.6%) with respect to weight of the resin. The mixture was then, subjected to ultrasonication (20 min) followed by mechanical agitation (20 min). Then add cobalt octoate (0.5 wt %) and thoroughly mix it with resin and then MEKP (1wt %) is added and the gel time is measured. The composite is casted into testing specimens based on ASTM requirements in Teflon moulds. All samples were cured at room temperature for 24 h and post cured for 4 h at 65oC.The same procedure is repeated for PSi composites also.
2.3 Mechanical and morphological properties 2.3.1 Impact testing The impact strength was measured on a Resil Impact analyzer as per ASTM D 256-88 specifications. The specimens were tested on the impact tester having 4J capacity hammer and striking velocity of 2.9m/sec. All specimens were casted in Teflon moulds having the same dimensions. A minimum of six specimens were tested for each composition.
2.3.2 Tensile testing The tensile test was done on dumb-bell shaped specimens using Universal Testing Machine (10 KN capacity), Shimadzu Autograph AG-1 series with a grip separation (gauge length) of 100mm as per ASTM D5083. The cross head speed given is of 5 mm/min. Rectangular specimens of dimensions150 × 15 × 3 mm were used for testing. Five identical specimens were tested for each composition.
2.3.3 Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) The morphology of impact fractured surfaces of neat UP resin and silica filled UP resin were observed with a JEOL Model JSM 6390 LV
30 ISSN 2348 - 3571 BHARATA MATA JOURNAL of Multidisciplinary Studies scanning electron microscope (SEM) instrument with 20 kV accelerating voltage. The failure surfaces of specimens were coated with Au thin films having a thickness of a few nanometers to make them conductive.
3. Results and Discussion 3.1 Impact strength Fig.1 shows the impact properties of the FSi/ PSi modified resin. Neat resin shows impact strength of 12.36 J/m. Impact strength increased to 17.4 J/m for 1.2 wt % of FSi. On increasing the amount of FSi, the impact strength first increases and then decreases. Impact strength first increases to a maximum value of 18.25 J/m and then decreases for PSi. The increase in impact strength is due to the rigidity and toughness provided by the fillers. [4]
Fig. 1: Impact strength of UPR-FSi/PSi composites
From the two results it is clear that the impact strength of precipitated silica composites is higher than that of fumed silica composites at 1.2 % loading. But the difference is not very much higher. Here we use the fumed silica which is commercially known as Aerosil 200. It has a thixotropic effect. When untreated silica is dispersed in a nonpolar liquid, the silanol groups on the
ISSN 2348 - 3571 31 Bharata Mata College, Thrikkakara surface of different particles can interact by hydrogen bond with each other to form connecting bridges. A three dimensional structure develops, which has a thickening effect. This effect is known as thixotropy. Due to the thixotropic effect of fumed silica at higher loading viscosity of uncured resin increases. That will reduce the degree of crosslinking and mechanical strength. As the filler amount increases gel time increases and it affects the crosslink density.
3.2 Tensile strength Fig. 2 shows the tensile properties of the FSi/PSi modified resin with 1% initiator. Neat resin shows tensile strength of 35MPa. Tensile strength increased to 52.73 MPa for 1.4 wt % of FSi. Tensile strength first increases to a maximum value 57.38 at1.4% of filler, then decreases for PSi composites. The increase in tensile strength is due to the rigidity and stiffness imparted by the filler [2]. At higher concentration, the tensile strength decreases due to agglomeration of fillers.
Fig. 2: Tensile strength of UPR fumed/precipitated silica composites
Comparing the tensile strength values, the greater value is obtained for UPR- PSi composites, because the cross link density decreases in FSi due to its thixotropic effect and hence tensile strength decreases slightly.
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3.3 Scanning electron microscopy Scanning electron micrographs of impact fractured surfaces of UPR containing FSi and PSi are shown in Fig 3. Fig. 3a shows the neat UPR. Neat UPR shows flat and featureless surfaces. No heterogeneity is observed here. So crack propagation takes place in an easy manner. The impact failure surfaces of FSi and PSi modified UPR is rougher than neat resin [5]. Here crack propagation is difficult. FSi shows a brittle surface morphology than PSi which have a more toughened morphology.
Fig. 3: SEM images of (a) neat UPR (b) UPR-FSi (c) UPR-PSi
From the SEM images it is clear that agglomerates are present more in FSi composites. Good dispersion and heterogeneity are achieved in PSi composites that will enhance the mechanical properties.
Conclusion The silica-UPR composites were prepared using the FSi and PSi particles. The mechanical properties of pure UPR resin and its composites were evaluated. The investigation revealed that the silica-UPR composites exhibited better impact strength, tensile properties and roughness when compared to the neat resin. This was due to the rigidity and stiffness imparted by the silica fillers. Due to the thixotropic effect of FSi, viscosity of the resin increases and it increased the gel time and decreased the degree of crosslinking. This slightly reduces the mechanical properties. Scanning
ISSN 2348 - 3571 33 Bharata Mata College, Thrikkakara electron micrographs (SEM) shows better dispersion for PSi composites and agglomerates for FSi particle. More toughened morphology is observed in PSi composites.
Acknowledgement The author gratefully thank Council for Scientific and Industrial Research(CSIR), India for granting permission to do this research work in Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kerala and financial support rendered by the commission is also greatly acknowledged.
References [1] Ram Avatar Sharma, Dawid D'Melo, Subhendu Bhattacharya, Lokesh Chaudhari, Sarojini Swain, Effect of Nano/micro Silica on Electrical Property of Unsaturated Polyester Resin Composites, Transactions on electrical and electronic materials, 2012, Vol. 13; 31-34.
[2] Y. Jaya Vinse Ruban , S. Ginil Mon, D. Vetha Roy, Mechanical and thermal studies of unsaturated polyester-toughened epoxy composites filled with amine-functionalized nanosilica, Applied Nano Science, 2013, 3; 7–12.
[3] Michele Preghenella, Alessandro Pegoretti, Claudio Migliaresi, Thermo- mechanical characterization of fumed silica-epoxy nanocomposites, Polymer, 2005, 46; 12065–12072.
[4] Verónica Morote-Martínez, Verónica Pascual-Sánchez, José Miguel, Martín-Martínez Improvement in mechanical and structural integrity of natural stone by applying unsaturated polyester resin-nanosilica hybrid thin coating, European Polymer Journal, 2008, 44 ; 3146–3155.
[5] Qi Chen , Ioannis Chasiotis , Chenggang Chen , Ajit Roy, Nanoscale and effective mechanical behavior and fracture of silica nanocomposites, Composites Science and Technology, 2008, 68; 3137–3144.
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A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON THE STRUCTURAL, OPTICAL AND ANTIBACTERIAL PROPERTIES OF NANO ZINC OXIDE VIA DIFFERENT ROUTES
Sreekala S Sharma 1, 2*, Dr. Shiny Palatty 1 1 Department of Chemistry,Bharata Mata College, Thrikkakara 2 Department of Chemistry,Sree Sankara Vidyapeetom College,Valayanchirangara E-mail ([email protected])
ABSTRACT
Zinc oxide with its multifunctional and unique properties has potential applications in several fields. The morphology, size, structure and properties of Zinc oxide nanoparticles can be tuned by varying the synthesis parameters. The present work aims to study the effect of varying precursor and method of synthesis on the morphology, optical properties and antibacterial activity of Zinc oxide nanoparticles. Zinc oxide nanoparticles were synthesized using two different processes, namely, precipitation process and thermal decomposition process. Controlled precipitation was carried out using Zinc nitrate (as precursor) and NaOH at low temperature (70oC). Zinc oxide nanoparticles were also synthesized using Zinc acetate as precursor by thermal decomposition method. The morphology of the samples obtained was characterised by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), structures were analyzed using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), optical properties by UV-Visible spectroscopy and crystalline nature was measured by X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and antibacterial properties was studied against a new strain of E.choli.
Key words: Zinc oxide nanoparticles, Controlled precipitation, Thermal decomposition, FESEM, FTIR, UV-visible spectroscopy, XRD, anti bacterial studies, E.choli
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1. Introduction Zinc oxide is a multifunctional material which finds application in electronics, optoelectronics, as a high transmittance conductive oxide coating for solar cells, gas sensors, UV-photo detectors etc., [1-2]. Zinc oxide is the main ingredient of many industrial products such as paints, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, textiles and floor coverings. Biocompatibility and biodegradability makes it an ideal material for biomedical applications. [3]. Different methods such as vapor deposition, sol-gel processing, precipitation in water solution, hydrothermal synthesis, precipitation from micro emulsion, mechanochemical processes, microwave techniques, thermal decomposition etc., have been employed for the synthesis of nano ZnO. The morphology, size, structure and properties of Zinc oxide nanoparticles can be tuned by varying the synthesis parameters. [4].The present work aims to study the effect of varying precursor and method of synthesis on the morphology, optical properties and antibacterial activity of Zinc oxide nanoparticles.
2. Experimental 2.1 Materials
Zinc nitrate hexahydrate Zn (NO3)2.6H2O, Zinc acetate dihydrate
Zn (CH3COO)2.2H2O, Sodium hydroxide (All analytical grade supplied by Nice chemicals) were used directly without further treatment.
2.2 Synthesis Precipitation process Sodium hydroxide (1.0M) was prepared in doubly distilled water and was heated under constant stirring to a temperature of 700C.0.5 M Zinc nitrate hexahydrate was added slowly to this hot solution (dropping time 30 minutes) keeping the temperature constant at 700C.The suspension was kept for stirring at 700C for 2 hours. It was then filtered, washed several times with distilled water and dried in an air oven at 600C overnight. Zinc oxide obtained by precipitation process was labelled as ZnO-I.
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Thermal decomposition process
1.0g of Zinc acetate dihydrate Zn (CH3COO)2.2H2O was taken in a crucible and calcined at 4000C for 3hours in a muffle furnace without any special atmospheric conditions. Zinc oxide nanoparticles were obtained as fine powder. Zinc oxide obtained by thermal decomposition process was labeled as ZnO-II.
2.3 Characterization The morphology of the Zinc oxide obtained by two different methods was observed by using a variable field emission scanning electron microscope (SEM, SU6600, Hitachi, Japan) at an accelerating voltage of 10kV. Fourier Transform Infrared spectra (FTIR) were recorded with a Bruker Tensor 27 spectrometer over the wave number range of 4000-400 cm-1. The UV-Visible spectrum of the Zinc oxide nanoparticles were recorded using Thermo scientific evolution 220 spectrophotometer in the range of 300–800 nm. The powder X-ray diffraction patterns were recorded on a Rigaku D-max C X-ray powder diffractometer with Cu-Kα radiation of wavelength λ= 1.542 Ao in the 2θ range 20-80o at the scan speed of 5 degree per minute, step size of 0.05 degree. Antibacterial activity was screened by Kirby-Bauer -Disc diffusion method against a new strain of E.choli. 3. Results and Discussion 3.1 Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) analysis
Fig.1: FESEM image of ZnO-I Fig.2: FESEM image of ZnO-II
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The FESEM images of nano Zinc oxide obtained by the two processes are shown in Fig.1 and Fig.2 respectively .As can be seen in Fig.1, the Zinc oxide nanoparticles obtained by precipitation process were in the form of flakes and the agglomeration of particles was also observed. The Zinc oxide nanoparticles obtained by thermal decomposition process showed rod –like morphology and the particles were more or less homogeneous in nature.
3.2 Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)
ZnO-1 ZnO-II
100 100
80 80
%T 60 60 %T
40 40
20 20
0 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 Wave number (cm-1) Wave number (cm-1)
Fig.3: IR spectrum of ZnO-I Fig.4: IR spectrum of ZnO-II
The characteristic peaks observed in the spectrum of ZnO-1 are at 914.14 cm-1, 1398.26cm-1,1641.25 cm-1and 3427.62 cm-1.In the case of -1 -1 -1 -1 ZnO-II, the peaks were observed at 452.72 cm ,732 cm ,904.16 cm , 1064 cm , 1596.15 cm-1, 3510.66 cm-1.The peaks at 3427.62 cm-1and 3510.66 cm-1 are due to O-H stretching,1641.25 cm-1 and 1596.15 cm-1can be assigned to Zn-O stretching and deformation vibrations. The FTIR spectra of ZnO-II exhibited the characteristic peak of Zn-O bending vibration at 452.72 cm-1 which is not prominent in ZnO-1 sample. The other bands can be due to the presence of trace amounts of nitrate group in the case of ZnO-1 and C=O stretching and bending vibrations in the case of ZnO-II sample. [5].
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3.3 UV-visible spectroscopy
0 . 8 0 . 7 5
0 . 7 0
0 . 7 0 . 6 5
0 . 6 0 0 . 6 e e c c 0 . 5 5 n n a a b
b
r r o
o 0 . 5 0 s 0 . 5 s b b A A 0 . 4 5
0 . 4 0 . 4 0
0 . 3 5
0 . 3 0 . 3 0 3 0 0 4 0 0 5 0 0 6 0 0 7 0 0 300 400 500 600 700 Wave length (nm) Wave length (nm) Fig. 5: UV-Visible spectrum of ZnO-1 Fig.6: UV-Visible spectrum of ZnO-II
The UV-Visible spectra of both the samples exhibit an absorption maximum around 341nm in the case of ZnO-1 and 337nm in the case of ZnO-II. For bulk ZnO, absorption maximum occurs at around 380nm. [6]. The blue shift in the absorption maximum indicates the formation of nano sized particles. According to the quantum confinement theory, the electrons in the conduction band and holes in the valence band are confined spatially by the potential barrier of the surface. Because of the confinement of electrons and holes, the optical transition energy from the valence top to the conduction bottom increases and the absorption maximum shifts to the shorter wavelength region [8]. The quantum confinement effect is very important for semiconducting nanoparticles, and the absorption edge will be shifted to a higher energy when the particle size decreases.
The optical band gaps of CIS QDs (Direct-gap semiconductor) could be roughly estimated by empirical formula ( )2 = Α( ‒ Ε ), where A is a constant that depends on the transition probability, Eg is the optical band �ℎ� ℎ� � gap energy, h is the Plank constant and ν is the frequency. The Eg of nano ZnO was calculated by extrapolating a straight line to the (αhν) 2 =0 axis in
ISSN 2348 - 3571 39 Bharata Mata College, Thrikkakara the plots of the (αhν) 2 versus optical band gap energy. The band gap obtained from Tauc plot, Fig.7 and 8 are 3.43 eV for ZnO-I and 3.47eV for ZnO-II respectively.
1 6
2 5 1 4
1 2 2 0 1 0
1 5 8
(ahv)2 6 ( a h v ) 2 1 0 4
5 2
0
0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5 . 5 h v ( e V ) h v ( e V ) Fig.7: Band gap determination of ZnO-I Fig.8: Band gap determination of ZnO-II
3.4 X-ray Diffraction (XRD)
ZnO-1 ZnO-II 12000 12000 10000 10000
8000 8000
6000 6000 I n t e n s i t y I n t e n s i t y 4000 4000
2000 2000
0 0
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 2 Theta Degrees 2 Theta(degrees)
Fig.7: XRD pattern of ZnO-1 Fig. 8: XRD pattern of ZnO-II
Fig.7 and Fig.8 shows the X-ray diffraction patterns of ZnO nanoparticles obtained by the two different processes. The diffraction pattern shows that the samples are well crystalline in nature. The peaks obtained in two samples at 2θ =31.4o , 34.0o , 35.9o, 47.2o ,56.3o,62.5o,67.6o corresponds to the lattice planes (100),(002),(101),(102),(110),(103),(112) respectively [7]. The intensity of the peak corresponding to (101) plane was more in the case of ZnO-II indicating smaller grain size [8]. The crystallite size of the samples were calculated by taking the major diffraction peak (101), using Debye-Scherrer
40 ISSN 2348 - 3571 BHARATA MATA JOURNAL of Multidisciplinary Studies formula D=Kλ/βcosθ, where D is average crystallite size, K is constant (K=0.90), λ is the X-ray wave length (1.54Ao), θ is the Bragg angle and β is the full width at half maximum(FWHM). The size of the crystallite as calculated by the Debye-Scherrer formula is 44.73nm for ZnO-I and 37.42nm for ZnO-II respectively.
3.5 Antibacterial activity Collection of Test Organisms The test organism was collected from nearby diagnostic centre and sub cultured on nutrient agar plates. Stock cultures were prepared in glycerine and stocked in refrigerator for the further uses.
Antibacterial Activity Test (Kirby-Bauer -Disc diffusion method). Organism was inoculated into 5ml of peptone water and incubated for 6 hrs at 37˚C. Muller Hinton infusion agar plates (MHA plates) were prepared and the test organism E.coli from peptone water was swabbed on MHA plates uniformly. After 10 minutes, without inverting plate, discs (Whatman no. 1 filter paper) were soaked in the samples ZnO-1 and ZnO-II, respectively, which were then placed in the culture plate using sterile forceps. Zone of inhibition was measured in millimeter after 24 hours incubation at 37˚C. Both the samples exhibited significant antibacterial activity. The zone of inhibition of Zinc oxide nanoparticles are shown in Fig. 9 and Table.1.ZnO-II having smaller particle size as indicated by the FESEM and XRD results exhibited better antibacterial activity than ZnO-1. The better antibacterial activity of ZnO-II can be attributed to its nano size which helped it to diffuse into the culture medium more effectively [9-10].
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Fig .9: Zone of inhibition of E.coli
Table 1: Antibacterial activity-Zone of inhibition
Sl. No. Test Organism Test Samples Zone of Inhibition(mm) 1 ZnO-I 7 2 E.coli ZnO -II 10
Conclusion Zinc oxide nanoparticles were synthesized using two different processes and by using two different precursors. The results of FESEM, FTIR, UV-Visible spectroscopy and XRD indicates that the morphology, particle size and structure of Zinc oxide obtained by thermal decomposition method was better when compared to that obtained by precipitation process. Nano zinc oxide synthesized using thermal decomposition is found to be more potent against the E.coli strain as indicated by the zone of inhibition of 10mm.
References [1] Zinc Oxide—From Synthesis to Application: A Review, Agnieszka Kołodziejczak-Radzimska, Teofil Jesionowski, Materials, 7, 2833- 2881, 2014. [2] Nanoscale metal-oxide based junctions for gas sensing: A review Derek R. Miller, Sheikh A. Akbar, , Patricia A. Morris Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical Volume 204, 250–272,2014.
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[3] ZnO nanoparticles: Structural, optical and photoconductivity characteristics, Sheo K. Mishra, Rajneesh K. Srivastava, S.G. Prakash, Journal of Alloys and Compounds,539,1-6,2012. [4] Synthesis, characterization and optical properties of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Kumar etal. International Nano Letters, 3:30 2013. [5] Structural and Optical Characterization of ZnO Nanoparticles Synthesized by Micro emulsion Route, Harish Kumar, Renu Rani, International Letters of Chemistry, Physics and Astronomy, 14, 26-36, 2013. [6] Zinc Oxide Nanostructures by Solvothermal Synthesis, M. Segovia, C. Soto mayor, G. Gonzalez, E.Benavente, Mol. Cryst. Liq. Cryst., Vol. 555: pp. 40–50, 2012. [7] ZnO nanoparticles: Structural, optical and photoconductivity characteristics, Sheo K. Mishra, Rajneesh K. Srivastava, S.G. Prakash, Journal of Alloys and Compounds 539 ,1–6,2012. [8] Synthesis of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles via Sol – Gel Route and Their Characterization, Riyadh M. Alwan, Quraish A. Kadhim, Kassim M. Sahan, Rawaa A. Ali, Roaa J. Mahdi, Noor A. Kassim, Alwan N. Jassi, Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, 5(1), 1-6, 2015. [9] Green synthesis of multifunctional Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles using Cassia fistula plant extract and their photodegradative, antioxidant and antibacterial activities, D. Suresh, P.C. Nethravathi, Udayabhanu, H. Rajanaika, H. Nagabhushana, S. C. Sharma Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing 31,446–454, 2015. [10] Green synthesis of Zinc oxide nanoparticles using Moringa oliefera leaf extract and evaluation of its antimicrobial activity, K. Elumalai , S. Velmurugan, S. Ravi, V. Kathiravan, S. Ashok kumar, Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, 143 158– 164,2015
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BREVITY- THE SOUL OF WIT?: EMERGENCE OF NANO FICTION
Varsha V Varma Bharata Mata College E-mail: [email protected]
ABSTRACT
It is most difficult for a work of literature to surpass the influence of the times in which it was written. Every age has its own typical characteristic features which affect the style and ideologies of the author. This might be the reason why the grand style of Homeric verses or the epic similes of Milton or the philosophic soliloquies of Shakespeare might seem a bit out of place (and at times, absurd) to a twenty first century reader, though most people prefer not to openly acknowledge it. This brings us to the question- Then what kind of literature suits the taste of a twenty first century reader? It is no surprise that a reader living in the fast moving e-age where technology is available at finger tips, prefer to browse for e-books (or better still, Cliffnotes or Wikipedia) rather than spend hours in a library, hunting for actual books. Being a generation born into the lap of virtual reality and social networking, with communication happening through Text messages, Whatsapp chats, Facebook statuses, Blogs and Tweets, authors prefer to convey their ideas in as limited words as possible. Shortened attention span of readers, difference in the imaginative perspective of the authors, and a generally busy lifestyle of the society has given birth to new and more adaptable genres in literature during the past few years. These new fiction prototypes include blog-format books, nanofiction, twitterature, cell phone novels et cetera. This paper focuses on the emergence of “brevity” as a new trend in literature in the twenty first century.
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About four centuries ago, when a busy playwright in his late thirties, penned down the highly philosophic words “Brevity is the Soul of Wit” to create situational irony at the expense of the old blabbermouth Polonious, least would he have expected his words to turn out to be so prophetic, that it could be used to describe the emerging trends in literature four hundred years later. Further assured, not even among his wildest imaginations of prophesying witches, bickering fairies and uncouth trolls, would he have supposed that years later two teenagers would shrink his longest tragedy of five acts into twenty tweets of less than 140 characters each, urging his shaken protagonist who had just seen the ghost of his departed father to tweet-
“AN APPARITION! This shit just got heavy. Apparently people don’t accidently fall on bottles of poison.”(Aciman and Rensin 17)
This paper attempts to trace the influence of the age on contemporary literature and development of Nano fiction in the 21st century, with special emphasis on Twitterature: The World’s Greatest Books Retold Through Twitter. Before proceeding with our investigation on the influence, we need to unfurl a crucial mystery- Who is the 21st century reader?
Belonging to the Generation One of e-readership, with communications happening through abbreviated texts and expressive emoticons, the mindset of the readers are programmed to decipher specific semiotic implications of a received message rather than take a leisurely stroll through the Elysian meadows and serene valleys of extended metaphors, savoring the delicacy of each word. In their fast moving personal sphere of virtual reality, where wifi and smart phones are indispensible parts of their existence and it takes Cliffnotes and Wikipedia to tell them who Mr. Darcy or Mrs. Dalloway was, readers prefer to confront genres of literature that are short, crisp and catchy. The internet memes and troll posts owe its popularity to this factor. With
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Facebook photos waiting to be ‘liked’ and Xbox games waiting to be played, who has the time to read all the nine books of Paradise Lost just to know what Satan was thinking when he tempted Eve?
“Life can offer us no greater treasure than art. It is all that is beautiful, and all that allows a man’s soul to take leave of the quotidian trifles that molest his waking mind, to be lifted to the highest peaks of experience, and to peer briefly into the sublime. It is that which removes man from static residue of time and casts him into the gentle waters of the eternal. It is to hear and to speak softly in the beauteous tongue of antiquity, and yet to foresee all that will unfold through the illimitably growing passage of our universe.
In short, art is pretty sweet.” (Acimen and Rensin xi)
The concluding line of the opening passage of the introduction to Twitterature sums up an author’s perception on the expectations of a 21st century reader. The intended reader community would simply skim through the complicated opening paragraph, deducing absolutely nothing, but would be thankful to have it summarized in a single line.
Proceeding with our investigation, we arrive at a juncture where we need to find the different genres of literature that satisfies the appetite of the above mentioned readers. Gone are those days when emotions used to pour down from the author’s quill like perennial rivers and flow as prolonged soliloquies and rhymed verses. Now they dwell in one liner statuses of Facebook page. Still in its evolutionary lines, several new experimental genres of short e-fiction have popped up in the recent years, owing its courtesy to the advancement in communication technology that act as its catalyst. Blogs, social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter and instant messaging services like Whatsapp and text messages have all played a
46 ISSN 2348 - 3571 BHARATA MATA JOURNAL of Multidisciplinary Studies significant role in this endeavor and given rise to new fiction prototypes including blog-format books, Nano fiction, twitterature and cell phone novels.
Twitter, the social-networking site that imposes a 140-character limitation on each communication or “tweet,” was originally launched in 2006 with the intention of connecting small groups of people. Abiding to the character restriction, you can “tweet” your opinions, publishing it to a larger milieu. Twitterature, as the name suggests, is a portmanteau of twitter and literature, used to describe the literary use of the micro blogging service Twitter. Urban dictionary describes Twitterature as “a written work (or body of works) of a particularly humorous, clever and/or poignant nature, and is artfully stated in 140 characters or less.”
Along with Twitterature, terms such as “twovel” (Twitter Novel), “twiction” or “tweet fic” (Twitter Fiction), “twiller” (Twitter Thriller), “twister” (single tweet micro short story) and “phweeting” (Fake Tweeting) have found their way into the 21st century vocabulary. There also exist versions of Twitterature that are serialized. They can last for months, with one or more tweets daily, their context maintained by a unique hash tag. Examples include Jennifer Egan’s Black Box, first published in about 500 tweets in 2012, and David Mitchell’s The Right Sort, first published as almost 300 tweets sent over a week in 2014. “Twovels” like Small Place by Nick Belardes published in 2008 further evolved into “interactive twovel” like the one that was initiated by Neil Gaiman and later published as an audiobook under the title Hearts, Keys and Puppetry.
But the term “Twitterature” gained its popularity with the publication of Twitterature: The World’s Greatest Books Retold Through Twitter. The brainchild of two nineteen year old students, Twitterature is the retelling of over 80 of the world classics in the form of short tweets, with characters’
ISSN 2348 - 3571 47 Bharata Mata College, Thrikkakara tweeting and interacting and often using modern ‘slangs’. The review on the back cover says, “...Twitterature provides everything you need to master the literature of the civilized world, while relieving you of the burdensome task of reading it.” Now that sounds like melody to the ears of a 21st century literature student, who would go to the end of the world to procure a book that would relieve them off the pain of having to read the original classic works. However, anyone who bought the book considering it a swift escalator to the world of literature would be met with total disappointment.
Though not faithful to the classics being “retold”, the book is intrinsically linked to the lifestyle of the times, presented in a language and style that the younger generation can easily understand. For instance, Dante under the twitter pseudonym @HolyHaa tweets “I’m having a midlife crisis. Lost in the woods. Shoulda brought my iphone” (23). The book also includes a glossary of online acronyms and “Twittery” terms to aid the amateurs. But if you are naive enough to refer to “iphone” on the glossary, your enquiry might be received with bulging eyes and wrinkled forehead, before you are responded with a highly ‘literary’ description that iphone is “An electronic device that is, if you already dint know (like, uh, what kind of loser are you?), basically the best thing bequeathed to mankind by kindly Steve Jobs from up on Mount Olympus”. (139) Now, if the dramatic and emotional essence of the classics is what the reader desires to experience, they might very well want to read ‘soul-melting’ words tweeted by Shakespeare’s most celebrated hero- @DefNotaHomeo aka Romeo, when writhing in pain at the death of his beloved he ‘tweets’- “What? Juliet is dead? No. Orders to kill me on the spot? No! Curse the stars that led me to believe in Hollywood endings.” (57)
Twitterature can be considered more of a satire than an adaptation or retelling. In an interview with Feathered Quill Book Reviews, the authors themselves confess that the book has no intention of “...removing
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Shakespeare from the shelves...” and that they “have no lofty aspirations towards making literature the last nail in the coffin of a lost generation... (They) just want to make children laugh.” The book, more than summarising the classics, reviews them with a tinge of satire in a way the current generation can comprehend and relate to. Here is how the book has translated certain sections of a few of the classics:
Robinson Crusoe- “Incredible. Everything one might EVER need survive on an island was in that ship. Guns, food, bread, books, you name it” (54)
Frankenstein- “Digging up body parts and putting them together seems pretty out there. Maybe add a million volts of electricity?” (99)
Macbeth- “Old hags say Macbeth is killed by no man of woman born. Relieved. Terminator not invented yet.” (11)
The book was received with mixed reviews consisting of both extreme positive and negative reviews. On one end, it was received by comments like “I never thought classics could be so funny” (Blogcritcs) and “The classics are so last century”, while there were also a group that thoroughly opposed the book for demeaning and destroying the sanctity of classics. A news report on James Joyce Broadsheet under the title “Joyce Untwittered” read, “With trepidation, we opened Twitterature...only to find, consolingly, that the great works of James Joyce had not been distilled into the latest of modern day idioms by Alexander Aciman and Emmett Rensin.” It would have been a hard hitting heart-breaking scenario for the editors when in a later edition of Twitterature the young duo included not one, but two of James Joyce’s work.
Hardcore fans of Classics voiced their outrage in their online reviews. Some of them read as follows:
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“Dear God, help us all... I can’t adequately express my outrage at the fact that a social networking tool will now be now ruining every single one of my favourite books.”
“Twitterature makes me want to punch someone. Preferably the ‘authors’.”
“Let’s get one thing straight. This is utter blatant satire... the authors are trying to poke fun at the foundation that literature is based on.”
The authors seemed to embrace such criticisms boldly, explaining that “we prefer to think of ourselves as modern day Martin Luthers.” (xiv) They consider the project as funny and rebellious, and contradictory to their previous claims, an attempt to honour or to pay homage to the canon, though I highly doubt that Conan Doyle would have been pleased to see his legendary detective being portrayed as a wasted drug addict.
Does Twitterature and other such books stand for the literature of the age and contribute to a realistic and concrete knowledge of the times we live in? Though lacking in merit of literary quality, it is hard to completely deny the book’s contribution towards literature. Twitterature is a symbol of the evolving pattern of readership and the influence of current social media, especially social networking sites on the young generation. It also throws light on the culture of brevity that is encroaching upon the contemporary literature at a strikingly fast pace. In short, 21st Century is witnessing a new transformational literary trend, producing what can be called ‘mini-capsuled’ versions of literature, and as Acimen and Rensin might say, ‘Let’s kick it FTW!’
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Bibliography
[1] Aciman, Alexander, and Emmett Rensin. Twitterature. London: Penguin, 2009. Print.
[2] “Author Interview with Emmett Rensin”. Feathered Quill Book Reviews. 22 Dec. 2009. Web. 29 Dec 2015.
[3] “Joyce Untwittered”. James Joyce Broadsheet. James Joyce Broadsheet, 5 Feb. 2010. Web. 30 Dec 2015.
[4] Rebecca. “Twitter Book Infuriates English Teachers Everywhere.” 24 June 2009.Web. 27 Dec. 2015.
[5] Twitterature: The World’s Greatest Books in Twenty Tweets or Less. Penguin.com (USA). 2009. Web. 28 Dec 2015.
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A STUDY ON THE STATUS AND UTILITY OF GOVERNMENTAL SERVICES OF SLUM DWELLERS IN ERNAKULAM DISTRICT, KERALA.
Dr. Sheena Rajan Philip Bharata Mata School of Social Work, Thrikkakara
ABSTRACT
Improving quality of life in the slum is one of the development goals of the new millennium. The existence of slums is essentially a manifestation of poverty, along with the economic and industrial development. Slums will continue to exist and grow further. Kerala has been able to provide for the basic needs of most of its citizens. This is revealed by comparative indicators of health, education and demographic transition. Increasing numbers of slums constitute a major challenge to the development. The result emphasizes the need for measures to improve the physical environment of the dwelling places like basic amenities of toilets, proper drainage, and sewerage system etc. The main aim of the researcher is to study the socioeconomic problems faced by the people living in the slum which will help in understanding the rate of literacy in slum population, awareness of health and hygiene. It will also help in understanding the welfare policies offered to the slum dwellers by the government and the role of non-government organization in enhancing the status of the slum dwellers in Ernakulam, Kerala. The major findings were that nearly (99%) of the respondents are not satisfied with the living conditions, nearly half (78.3%) of the respondents are not aware about the scheme. The researcher used SPSS to test the data. Then the data was subjected to the preliminary method of analysis in percentage. The data were systematically processed and analyzed with appropriate statistical techniques like chi-square, percentage analysis, ANOVA Correlation, Z-Test.
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Introduction The present study is focused on the portray of the characteristics of a particular situation. The status and utility of governmental service of slum dwellers. Hence the researcher has adopted Descriptive research design. India is the largest democracy in the world today with an estimated population of about 121 billion people. Over the past two decades, it is noted that India has emerged as one of the most vibrant and fastest growing economies, with a steady annual growth rate of 7 to 9 per cent. As the economy gears up, the economic status of people residing in the nation has also undergone drastic changes. The free trade, deregulation and the rapid growth of Information technology are without doubt responsible for a heralded rise of a global middle class, mostly in India. But there is also a parallel reality - the “surplus population” of the poor still living below the poverty line. These people usually inhabit the slum areas which are an integral part of the city.
What is a slum? The United Nations’ definition of the slum is a “run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security”.
Slum Population in Ernakulam District4 Ernakulam district formed on 1st April 1958 carving areas of erstwhile Travancore-Kochi-Malabar kingdoms. A Major portion of the district is from the Kochi kingdom. The district consists of the mainland Ernakulam, the man made Willington Island, Mattanchery, Fort Kochi, world’s most populous area of Vypeen Island, Bolghatty Palace etc. Kochi is the most modern city of Kerala where the best shopping, markets and bazaars are located. From time immemorial Arabs, Chinese, Dutch, British and Portuguese seafarers followed the sea route to Kochi and left their impressions in the town. The Chinese fishing nets, believed to be erected in
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1350 AD, swaying in the breeze over backwaters, the Jewish Synagogue, Dutch Palace, Portuguese Architecture, Bolghatty Palace etc. enrich the heritage of Kerala.
The major slums in Ernakulam district are ‘Vathuruthy’ and ‘Karithalaparambu colony’. ‘Vathuruthy’, a big slum is located in the Willingdon Island the city of Kochi (known as queen of Arabian Sea) of Karalla. The area is thickly populated with 22,000 people of 2100 families (1500 Tamil families and 600 Malayalam families) packed like beehives. Natives have their own houses of various types with a few cents of land. All the migrant people are living in rented huts. A long shed is cut up into 30 to 40 square foot area, thatched and mud or cement floored rooms which are rented out by natives.
Government Schemes and Programmes for Slums National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy, 2007 which is aimed at promoting sustainable development of habitat in the country with special focus on the provision of affordable housing for the Economically Weaker Sections(EWS)/Low Income Groups(LIG) sectors.
Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) which was launched on 3rd December, 2005 with the objectives of augmenting infrastructure facilities in cities and towns along with provision of shelter and basic civic services to slum dwellers/urban poor.
Interest Subsidy Scheme for Housing the Urban Poor (ISHUP) started in 2009 which provides for a Central Government subsidy of 5% on home loans up to ` 1 lakh to EWS/LIG households for acquisition and construction of houses.
Scheme of Affordable Housing in Partnership started in 2009, which is aimed at encouraging public-private partnerships in land assembly for
54 ISSN 2348 - 3571 BHARATA MATA JOURNAL of Multidisciplinary Studies affordable housing by subsidizing the cost of external and internal infrastructure connectivities in such projects
Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY)has been announced by Hon’ble President of India in June 2009, for the slum dwellers and the urban poor. This scheme would aim to provide support for shelter & basic civic and social services for slum redevelopment and for creation of new affordable housing stock to States that are willing to assign property rights to slum dwellers.
Ayyankali urban employment guarantee scheme (State Plan) The scheme is proposed to be a right-based scheme parallel to the NREGS which covers rural areas only. The scope, objective and the detailed guidelines for implementation of the scheme will be issued by the LSGD in consultation with the State Planning Board. The implementation of the scheme will be purely according to the guidelines issued by the Government.
Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme (Ihsdp) (CSS).Integrated Housing and slum Development Program (IHSDP) area for housing and infrastructure development in urban slums by combining the centrally sponsored schemes of VAMBAY and NSDP.
Slums and slum population in Kochi
No.of Slum Total BPL Location Slums population Population Kochi 280 127872 213120 Urban outskirts 131 4548 276226 Total 411 132420 489346
Government's Approach to Slum Development
Patel, Joshi, Ballaney & Nohn (2011) acknowledges the importance of tenure history and upholds formal and informal right of Landowners,
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Communities and the Government. It describes a network of local, state and national agencies for rapidly structuring and implementing slum planning schemes, promising rapid and sustainable improvement and integration of slum communities within the formal city. The urgency to scale up slum - improvement and integration programs makes it imperative that SPS institutional structure be highly decentralized. Decentralization will better allow the use of detailed local knowledge, encourage the structuring of locally suited SPSs and make it possible to mount the levels of effort required to tackle the slum problem in Indian cities. Mitra ( 2010) deals with significance of social capital. The concept of Social capital ‟provides substantive basis to the understanding of how the urban labour markets function in developing countries. Relating to social capital (conceptualized in terms of various social networks), the study notes its significant roles in providing job market information to low income householders in urban areas. In accessing the minimum source of livelihood, social contacts are indeed helpful to the bulk of the workers engaged in the lower rungs of the internal sector.
Mitra (1994) examines the pattern of urbanization particularly city growth in India, employment structure in the cities, impact of rural urban population movement on the urban informal sector, interlink ages between rural and urban poverty, incidence of slum population and shortage of basic amenities in various cities and the residual absorption of slum in habitants in low productivity activities. In order to tackle these problems it reinforces the importance of productive employment generation in the urban areas. Mohapatra (2009) deals with causes and motives of rural urban migration in general and growth of slums in Bhubaneswar, the capital of Orissa in particular. It shows that the economic conditions of slum dwellers mostly scheduled caste and scheduled tribes in Bhubaneswar have improved after their migration from their native places. Finding of his study suggests that
56 ISSN 2348 - 3571 BHARATA MATA JOURNAL of Multidisciplinary Studies the “push” factors in the rural areas rather than “pull” factors constitute that main factor in the process of rural urban migration and creation of slums in the urban areas.
Several studies have examined various aspects of slums and come out with diverse findings. While some studies have concluded the impact of the government programmes to be ineffective or moderate in reducing growth of slums, (Hussain et al.,) others indicate that the socioeconomic condition of the slums is worse (Ali and Joran, 2003) and yet others suggest that the utilization of health services are inefficient (Jatindar). Here we have made an attempt to review some important socioeconomic aspects of slums in the world.
Objectives of the Study
. To find out the socio-economic status of the slum dwellers in Kochi.
. To investigate the health aspects and basic needs of the respondents.
. To find out the quality of lifestyle being led by slum dwellers.
. To ascertain the schemes and support services received from the governmental organization.
. To find out the problems associated with sanitation and the environment.
. To analyze the various factors of quality of life style.
Research Methodology The study conducted by Rajiv Gandhi Rojgar Yojana slum clearance programme, the lowest frequency of slums is Cochin. Frequency of slums is lowest but problems of slum dwellers are severe. So a study related to the
ISSN 2348 - 3571 57 Bharata Mata College, Thrikkakara socioeconomic aspect of slums is relevant in the current scenario. Cochin is a typical example for slums with various kinds of inconvenience and suffocations.
Scope of the Study The scope of the study would include an explanation of the origin and creation, definition, character, theories of slums, historical conditions, demographic conditions in Cochin especially the growth of slums, the facilities provided by the local bodies and governments in slum areas of Cochin, policy for the development of slums, etc.
The study would assess the socioeconomic status of slum dwellers by analyzing the available facilities including basic requirements of housing, drinking water, toilet facilities, sewerage system, drainage system, Awareness of health and hygiene, the rate of literacy in slum population, the Government provides welfare policies to the slum dwellers, education facilities and the role of the government organization in enhancing the status in slum dwellers providing any benefits to slum areas.
Table 1. Distribution of respondents based on their occupation
Sl.No Occupation No of Respondents Percentage 1. Professional 2 0.7 2. Clerical 3 1.0 3. Skilled worker 1 0.3 4. Semi-skilled worker 8 2.7 5. Unskilled worker 123 41.0 6. Unemployed 163 54.3 Total 300 100.0
This Table shows that high unemployment rate, low income, high population growth, unequal distribution of land, demand for higher
58 ISSN 2348 - 3571 BHARATA MATA JOURNAL of Multidisciplinary Studies schooling, prior migration pattern and dissatisfaction with housing have been identified as some of the prominent determinants of Rural Out- Migration.
Table 2. Distribution of respondents based on mode of addict of family member
Sl.No Mode of addict of family No of Percentage member Respondents 1. Smoking 92 30.7 2. Alcoholism 130 43.3 3. Drugs 5 1.7 4. Pan masala 4 1.3 5. Others 69 23.0 Total 300 100.0
It is found from the above table that 43.3 per cent of the respondents were addicted to alcoholism, 30.7 per cent of the respondents were addicted to smoking, 23.0 per cent of the respondents were addicted to other habits, 1.7 per cent of the respondents used to take drugs and remaining 1.3 per cent of the respondents take pan masala.
Table 3: Distribution of respondents based on the type of disease suffered by family members No of Respondents Sl.No Disease Percentage (n:300) 1 Asthma 11 3.67 2 Cardiac diseases 7 2.33 3 Water borne diseases 58 19.33 4 Others 224 74.67 Yes 300 100.0
The slums are infested with diseases caused by stagnant water, poor ventilation, congestion, excessive smoking, consumption of alcoholic drinks
ISSN 2348 - 3571 59 Bharata Mata College, Thrikkakara and tobacco chewing and these diseases finally result in the untimely deaths of the dwellers, due to lung cancer and chronic bronchitis. Slum dwellers also suffer from taking overdoses of cheap alcohol. Another big problem faced by slum dwellers in the area is that adequate toilet facilities are not available. Economic condition of slum dwellers is a serious issue. Slum dwellers take up different occupations like sweepers, coolies, cobblers, beggars, D.D.T sprayers, male nurses, railway painters and ward boys in the locality.
Table 4. Distribution of the respondents based on availing government scheme
Availing government Percentage Sl.No No of Respondents scheme (%) 1. Yes 65 21.67 2. No 235 78.33 Total 300 100.0
It is inferred from the above chart that more than three-fourth (i.e.) 78.3 per cent of the respondents had not availed any Government schemes and only 21.7 per cent of the respondents had availed Government schemes.
Table 5: Distribution of the respondents based on overall quality of life style
Sl. No Quality of lifestyle No of Respondents Percentage (%) (n:300) 1. Low 79 26.33 2. Medium 78 26 3. High 143 47.67 Total 300 100
It is evident from the above chart that the present status level of problems of slum dwellers in Ernakulam district in Kerala, nearly half (n=143, 47.7 per cent) of the respondents were in high level, 26.3 per cent of
60 ISSN 2348 - 3571 BHARATA MATA JOURNAL of Multidisciplinary Studies the respondents had low level and 26.0 per cent of the respondents had medium level of overall problems in slum area and the quality of the life style was low level in slum area.
Table 6: Distribution of respondents based on the opinion of slum dwellers
No of Sl.No Opinion of Slum Dwellers Respondents Percentage (n:300) Whether satisfied with living 1. conditions Yes 3 1.0 No 297 99.0 Adequate work being done by 2. Government No 300 100.0 3. Being a migrant No 300 100.0 Whether satisfied with service of 4. NGO No 300 100.0
It is very evident from the above table that most of the respondents (i.e.) 99.0 per cent of them did not feel satisfied with the living conditions provided in the slum area and only the remaining 1.0 per cent of the respondents were satisfied with the living conditions in slum area. It is found from the above table that 100 per cent of the respondents felt that the Government had not done adequate work in slum area. It is also evident from the above table that 100 per cent of the respondents stated that they were not migrants. It is known from the above table that 100 per cent of the respondents did not satisfy with the support and service of NGOs
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Table 8: Distribution of the respondents based on availing government scheme Availing government Sl.No No of Respondents Percentage (%) scheme 1. Yes 65 21.67 2. No 235 78.33 Total 300 100.0
It is inferred from the above chart that more than three-fourth (i.e.) 78.3 per cent of the respondents had not availed any Government schemes and only 21.7 per cent of the respondents had availed Government schemes.
The study reveals the truth that the irresponsibility of authority makes the life condition of slum dwellers more vulnerable. The existing social, political order is held responsible for the creation of slums. Poor quality and overcrowded housing, poor hygiene, unsafe water and lack of decent toilets are the major problems of slum dwellers.The slums are the reality of today and cities are collective future of human beings. We should take collective responsibility for their future development.Through this study analyses that the people who live in slums are not satisfied with their life condition. The problem prevailing in slums gives us the challenge to build a society that is more equitable where equal opportunities could be provided to all to live with dignity. This objective can be achieved by overcoming many hurdles.
Reference
[1] Ahmad, Kaikaus. Slum growth in the rapidly urbanizing developing world. The University of Texas at Dallas, 2009.
[2] Bane R, Rawal A (2002). Slums-A case study of Anand City, M.S. University of Baroda, Gujarat.
[3] Bandyopadhy A (2000), Text Book of Town Planning, 1st Edition, Books & Allied (P) Ltd, Kolkata, India.
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[4] Report of the Ernakulam District : Census 2011 data http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011-Documents/Slum-26-09-13.pdf
[5] A Critical Analysis of Economic Activities of Slum Dwellers http://www.theijm.com/vol1issue2/The%20IJM%204.pdf
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AGRIPRENUERSHIP: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF AGRICULTURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN INDIA
Dr. Gimson D Parambil P.G Department of Commerce, St. Xavier’s College Vaikom
ABSTRACT
The performance of the agriculture sector influences the growth of Indian economy. Agriculture and allied sectors are considered to be the mainstay of the Indian economy. They are the important sources of raw materials and they create demand for many industrial products like fertilizers, pesticides, agricultural implements and a variety of consumer goods. They contribute nearly 22 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India. It is known that 65-70 percent of the population is dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. Considering these facts, it is imperative that there is an urgent need to focus upon government initiatives and a policy framework for agripreneurship and thereby rural development. Agriculture Business Management is emerging as an important area in the agricultural sector with the liberalization of World Trade in order to examine the issues / processes related to entrepreneurship development among farmer’s, to analyze different experiences of agripreneurs and to understand the issues related to sustainability of agricultural enterprise. The paper highlights the various aspects of agripreneurship education and its development.
Keywords: Agripreneurship, Entrepreneurship Development
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Introduction Robust growth in agriculture is instrumental in development-induced rural diversification in the country. One of the recent studies shows weakening of the above linkage in rural economy. There is a need to identify reasons for weakening of such linkages and strategies for balanced development of rural sector. Existing institutional framework for agriculture and rural development is often found to be inadequate; though alternate institutions are emerging and their performance needs to be evaluated. There is also need for reorienting the existing public institutions to promote agripreneurship and rural development through public private partnership and knowledge management as rural development in general is used to denote the actions and initiatives taken to improve the standard of living in non-urban neighbourhoods, countryside and remote villages. Agricultural activities may be prominent in this case whereas economic activities would relate to the primary sector, production of foodstuffs and raw materials.
Rural development actions mostly aim at the social and economic development of the areas. These programmes are usually top-down from the local or regional authorities, regional development agencies, NGO’S, national governments of international development organizations. But there is need of initiatives for development like agricultural entrepreneurship.
Though government has taken number of initiatives for creation of socio-economic development of the rural areas but addressing the challenge of unemployment in the rural areas and to bridge the rural-urban divide, there is a pressing need of policy reforms to encourage entrepreneurship in agriculture and rural development.
The present paper describes the role of agripreneurship and how it is a need of the day for development and growth of a nation like ours. The paper
ISSN 2348 - 3571 65 Bharata Mata College, Thrikkakara also highlights the importance of developing entrepreneurship in the area of agriculture.
Review Literature At the time of independence, more than half of the national income was contributed by agriculture along with more than 70 percent of total population was dependent on agriculture (Pandey, 2013).
Agriculture and allied sectors are considered to be mainstay of the Indian economy because these are important sources of raw materials for industries and they demands for many industrial products particularly fertilizers, pesticides, agriculture implements and a variety of consumer goods (Bairwa et al., 2014a).
It is also worth noting that the emergence of the free market economies globally has resulted in the development of a new spirit of enterprise “Agripreneurship” and the increased individual need for responsibility for running their own businesses (Alex, 2011).
Dollinger (2003) defines entrepreneurship in agriculture as the creation of innovative economic organization for the purpose of growth or gain under conditions of risk and uncertainty in agriculture.
Gray (2002) on the other hand defines an entrepreneur as an individual who manages a business with the intention of expanding the business and with the leadership and managerial skills necessary for achieving those goals.
The Agripreneurship program is necessary to develop entrepreneurs and management workforce to cater agricultural Industry across the world (Bairwa et al., 2014b).
Agripreneurship is greatly influenced mainly by the economic situation, education and culture (Singh, 2013).
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Personal qualities of an agri-entrepreneur/farmer significantly affect the agribusiness (Brockhaus and Horwitz,1986; Verhaar and Hoeve, 1999; Elfring, 2000; Nandram and Samson, 2000; de Buck et al, 2000). Brockhaus, R.H. and P.S. Horwitz. (1986), The psychology of the entrepreneur (in D.L. Sexton and R.W. Smilor (eds.),
Nandram, S.S. and K.J. Samson. (2000), Successful entrepreneurship: more a matter of character than of knowledge (in Dutch with English summary). Self - criticism, leadership, market orientation and creativity are important for successful entrepreneurship (Nadram and Samson,2000). Based on the field experience, twelve personal qualities of farmers were identified as the most important factors that influence agri-business (Cardien de Lauwere et al, 2000).
Objective . To unearth the concept of agripreneurship in Indian context of agrarian economy.
Methodology The study is to unearth the concept of agripreneurship in India and its importance in upliftment of farmers in the country. The study is a descriptive analysis of the present literature available in this area.
Background Indian economy is basically agrarian economy. On 2.4 percent of world land India is managing 17.5 percent of world population.India’s economic reforms that began in 1991 have barely scraped the surface of agricultural policy in the country. This in a context where over 700 million Indians directly depend on agriculture for a living is not just a drag on the economy but also raises fundamental questions on the “inclusiveness” of the
ISSN 2348 - 3571 67 Bharata Mata College, Thrikkakara economic policies of the country. Many of the government interventions, policy barriers and market distortions in agriculture hinder efficient use of scarce resources and even as value addition remains low in the sector.
Due to the changing socio, economic, political, environmental and cultural dimensions over the world, farmers’ and nations’ options for survival and for sustainably ensuring success in changing their respective economic environments has become increasingly critical. Farmers are taken initiative to supply high vale added agri-products despite the constraints with regard to input and infrastructure availability and marketing arrangements. Farmers have taken several initiatives to deal with the constraints such as credit and marketing arrangements, accessing new technologies, etc. These “agripreneurs” have demonstrated that given a fair chance they could transform Indian agriculture to meet the emerging challenges and needs of the country and perhaps the world.
Agricultural Entrepreneurship
Agriculture all over the world is going through a phase of transition. Introduction of new economic policy leads to many drastic changes in agricultural activities. Agricultural companies increasingly have to adapt to the vagaries of the market, changing consumer habits, enhanced environmental regulations, new requirements for product quality, chain management, food safety, sustainability, and so on. Activities like diversification, value addition, precision farming, high-tech farming, global marketing, organic farming etc. are gradually getting due attention of people involved on redefining agriculture. These changes have cleared the way for new entrants, innovation, and portfolio entrepreneurship. In the face of growing unemployment and poverty in rural areas and slow growth of agriculture there is need of entrepreneurship in agriculture for more productivity and profitability of agriculture
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Agripreneur defined as “entrepreneur whose main business is agriculture or agriculture-related”
Agriculture + Entrepreneur = Agripreneur
There is no single definition of the term “Agrirepreneur”. However, an agrirepreneur may be thought of someone who undertakes a variety of activities in agricultural to be agrirepreneur. Thus an agrirepreneur may undertake a range of different activities which have a common link - the perception of an opportunity and the willingness to do something to take advantage of it. In short, agrirepreneur is a risk-taker and has the opportunity to initiate and to implement decisions which deal with the uncertain agricultural business environment within which the firm operates.
Agripreneurship defined as “generally, sustainable, community- oriented, directly-marketed agriculture. Sustainable agriculture denotes a holistic, systems oriented approach to farming that focuses on the interrelationships of social, economic, and environmental processes”.
Agripreneurship requires more than just the identification of new opportunities. Additional qualities such as imagination, commitment, decisiveness and self confidence are also important elements of the entrepreneurial process. Thus the agrirepreneur introduces change into the market place but must also be aware of the outside pressures for change which are being experienced as the result of other entrepreneurial activity. Agripreneurship can result in improved performance of an individual that can contribute to employment generation, poverty reduction and human resource development.
Agripreneurs world wide In China, Cargill is collaborating with the Coca-Cola Company and the World Wildlife Fund to help smallholder corn farmers improve their
ISSN 2348 - 3571 69 Bharata Mata College, Thrikkakara livelihoods through training and information in techniques to improve yields, conserve water, improve crop storage, protect wetlands, and reduce the environmental impact of agriculture in Jilin Province. Only in its first year, the project has already reached 6,000 farmers. Their experience shows that the private sector – including some 450 million smallholder farmers and entrepreneurs in the global food chain – can be an engine to alleviate hunger and poverty. However, there are preconditions for lasting success. Among the most critical are policy frameworks that enable smallholder farmers to evolve into commercially viable businesses – policies that include property rights, markets and trade, infrastructure and investment and risk management. There is ample and compelling evidence that investing in agricultural intensification is among the most effective means to reduce global poverty and hunger and save the environment. Doing it all right requires the public and private sectors to work together to implement policies and make investments that motivate farmers at every level to increase production responsibly and that enable food to move more freely from areas of surplus to areas of deficit.
Legislation National Agricultural Policy (NAP) in July 2000 seeks to actualize vast untapped growth potential of Indian agriculture, strengthen rural infrastructure to support faster agriculture development, promote value addition, accelerate growth of agribusiness, create employment in rural areas, secure a fair standard of living for farmers and agricultural workers and their families, discourage migration to face challenges arising out of economic liberalization and globalization, etc. National agricultural Policy (NAP), among other things, accord a very high priority to application of frontier sciences like bio-technology, pre and post harvest technologies, adequate and timely supply of quality inputs NAP also envisaged development of human
70 ISSN 2348 - 3571 BHARATA MATA JOURNAL of Multidisciplinary Studies resources through capacity building and skill up gradation of public extension functionaries and other extension functionaries.
The draft policy frame works for Agricultural Extension (2001) envisages a multi-agency, pluralistic extension system for the future. Draft policy recognize and accept other players such as farmers organizations, farmers cooperatives, agree-graduates, etc. which are expected to play an increasing role in agricultural extension in the future.
Personal Traits of Agripreneurs Personal qualities of an agri-entrepreneur/farmer significantly affect the agribusiness (Brockhaus and Horwitz,1986; Verhaar and Hoeve, 1999; Elfring, 2000; Nandram and Samson, 2000; de Buck et al, 2000). Self criticism, leadership, market orientation and creativity are important for successful entrepreneurship (Nadram and Samson,2000). Based on the field experience, twelve personal qualities of farmers were identified as the most important factors that influence agri-business (Cardien de Lauwere et al, 2000).ie. Market-orientation, Perseverance, Empathy, Leadership, Achievement- orientation Inspiration, Flexibility, Creativity, Self-criticism, Laziness, Initiative, Passivity.
In any country or region, strategies for improving agricultural productivity or income of the farmers, it is necessary to develop an entrepreneurial culture among farmers. This has been rightly indicated by Peter Drucker (1985) that “The essence of economic activity is the commitment of present resources to future expectations, and that means to uncertainty and risk”. This has been rightly stated by Best (2001) that it has to be focused and riveted on the breeding of local agripreneurs, who are not just farmers, but are also thinkers, risk takers and business people. To make this approach successful all the aspects such as cultural, social and political situations must be addressed in a holistic way at the regional level
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Amidst the changing paradigms and demanding global structure, India, in order to remain a front-runner needs to primarily focus on the agriculture sector, the backbone of the economy. This specialization is developing agripreneurs with distinct traits and skills to exploit opportunities galore in the field of agriculture. Among the various strategies to promote planned growth in this sector, focus on promoting viable enterprises is certainly helping to exploit its operational efficiency to the hilt.
Why India Promoting Agripreneurship In India, 52% of total land is cultivable as against 11% in the world. All 15 major climates of the world, snow bound Himalayas to hot humid southern peninsula; Thar Desert to heavy rain areas all exist in India. There are 20 agro-climatic regions and nearly 46 out of 60 soil types in the country. Sunshine hours and day length are ideally suited for round the year cultivation of crops. India is the centre for biodiversity in plants, animals, insects, micro-organism and accounts for 17% animal, 12% plants and 10% fish genetic resources of the globe. In the live stock sector, India has 16% of cattle, 57% of buffalo, 17% of goats and 5 % of sheep population of the world. Agriculture contributes 24.2% to GDP, 15.2% of total exports and provides employment to 58.4% of country’s work force.
. Agriculture remains a key sector of the Indian economy accounting for 25 per cent share in the gross domestic product (GDP) and about 13 per cent of the total export earnings.
. India is the second largest producer of rice and wheat in the world; first in pulses and fourth in coarse grains. India is also one of the largest producers of cotton, sugar, sugarcane, peanuts, jute, tea and an assortment of spices
. In terms of the real value added, the Indian agriculture sector ranks third, after China and the United States.
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. The share of agriculture in the total value added to the economy, at around 25 per cent, is still quite high. This implies that agriculture is likely to remain a priority, both for policy makers as well as businesses, in the foreseeable future and any move to ramp up the sector calls for a multi-pronged strategy.
. In recent years, there has been a considerable emphasis on crop diversification towards horticulture (fruits, vegetables, ornamental crops, medicinal & aromatic plants and spices), plantation crops (coconut, cashew nuts and cocoa) and allied activities.
. Creation of critical infrastructure for cold storage, refrigerated transportation, rapid transit, grading, processing, packaging and quality control measures open major opportunities for investment.
. Second highest fruit and vegetable producer in the world (134.5 million tones) with cold storage facilities available only for 10% of the produce.
. Second highest producer of milk with a cold storage capacity of 70,000 tonne.
. Fifth largest producer of eggs. Investments in cold chain required to store 20% of surplus of meat and poultry products during 10th plan requires` 500 Crore (US$100M)
. Sixth largest producer of fish with harvesting volumes of 5.2 million tones.
The need of the hour is to set a new goal for "Agri-Export Revolution" to strengthen and revitalize the economy of the country. While India holds an important position in the export market for a set of traditional agricultural commodities, new areas and new commodities are likely to emerge such as live animals and animal products, fruits, vegetables, floriculture, medicinal
ISSN 2348 - 3571 73 Bharata Mata College, Thrikkakara plants and processed agricultural products. In order to anticipate the emerging challenges and to identify ways and means of placing our country as a major player in the global export market for agricultural products.
Innovation and skilled man power is the need of the hour as the economy moves towards a competitive innovation based economy. Increasing focus on knowledge creation is required to fuel innovation and productivity, growth. Government requires a focused approach towards spearheading innovation, entrepreneurship and skill enhancement in the economy. The skill shortage needs to be plugged and effort is required towards acquisition of new skills. Government has to take adequate steps for creating and encouraging an environment which promotes research and development, nurtures entrepreneurial skills and helps in acquisition of new skills attuned to the needs of the economy so as to raise productivity levels in the economy. Agro processing and value addition, and safe to eat and organic mode of production are to be supported further to improve incomes of the farmers.
Since, two-thirds of the Indian population is employed in the agriculture sector, providing viable and sustainable business opportunities in agribusiness is imperative for generating employment for the rural people. Sustainable agribusiness can promote job-led economic growth in rural areas through harnessing science and technology. Entrepreneurship in sustainable agriculture has the potential to transform the face of rural India, the prime driver of our economy.
Conclusion There is a need for efficient support organisations to monitor the activities of small enterprises. Prediction of the future demand, introduction of modern technologies, cost control and business expansion is the important areas, where entrepreneurs need regular support. Suitable legal support may
74 ISSN 2348 - 3571 BHARATA MATA JOURNAL of Multidisciplinary Studies also be required to protect the traders engaged in unfair trade practices. It is better to promote agro-based enterprises in rural areas, as the local people have the required skills and most of the businesses help the entrepreneurs to ensure food security. The outputs of such business have ready demand even in rural areas and hence the market opportunities are better. With a strong agro-based programme, nonfarm activities can also be initiated when the entrepreneurs are more experienced and capable of taking risk and can manage the programme better. Promotion of direct marketing by establishing close interaction between producers and consumers will further enhance the benefits, while encouraging a large number of unemployed rural youth to turn into micro entrepreneurs and traders.
Reference [1] Pandey, Geeta (2013) Agripreneurship Education and Development: Need of the Day, Asian Resonance, 2(4)155 – 157. [2] Bairwa, S. L., Kushwaha, S., Meena, L. K., Lakra, K. and Kumar P. (2014a) Agribusiness Potential of North Eastern States: A SWOT Analysis. In Edited by Singh et al., 2014 “Agribusiness Potentials in India: experience from hill states”. EBH Publishers (India) Guwahati – New Delhi. PP 544 – 556. [3] Alex, Lwakuba (2011) A Review and Analysis of Policies on Farmers’ Entrepreneurship Development, A publication of PELUM, Misereor, pp. 1 – 55. [4] Singh, A. P. (2013) Strategies for Developing Agripreneurship among Farming Community in Uttar Pradesh, India, Academicia: An International Multidisciplinary Research Journal, 3(11) 1- 12. [5] Gray, C. (2002) Entrepreneurship, Resistance to change and Growth in Small Firms. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 9 (1), 61-72.
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[6] Bairwa, S. L., Kushwaha, S., Meena, L. K., Lakra, K. and Kumar P. (2014a) Agribusiness Potential of North Eastern States: A SWOT Analysis. In Edited by Singh et al., 2014 “Agribusiness Potentials in India: experience from hill states”. EBH Publishers (India) Guwahati – New Delhi. PP 544 – 556. [7] Dollinger, M. J. (2003) Entrepreneurship – Strategies and Resources. Pearson International Edition, New Jersey. [8] The art and science of entrepreneurship. Ballinger publishing company, Cambridge, pp. 25-48. Verhaar, C.H.A. and A. Hoeve. (1999), Mega- enterprises in Dutch agriculture (in Dutch), Stoas Research Wageningen, 147 pp. [9] Nandram, S.S. and K.J. Samson. (2000), Successful entrepreneurship: more a matter of character than of knowledge (in Dutch with English summary). [10] Ketelaar-de Lauwere, C.C., J. Luttik, K.H. de Greef, P.W.G. Groot Koerkamp, J.W.A. Langeveld and G.B.C. Backus. (2000a), Turning point and future of the livestock industry, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Lelystad.
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SWITCHING BEHAVIOUR IN RETAIL BANKING
Dr. L.P. Ramalingam Principal and Associate Professor in Commerce, Sourashtra College, Madurai-625 004, Tamil Nadu E-mail: [email protected]
ABSTRACT
Until the implementation of the Narasimham Committee recommendations, banks in India operated under protected environment. Retail Banking has always been an integral part of the Banking activities world over. The year 1995 marks a starting point of Retail Banking Revolution with foreign banks and new generation Private Banks taking the lead. In an era of mature and intense competitive pressures, many firms are focusing their efforts on maintaining a loyal customer base. Improving customer satisfaction, and hereby retention rates, can come a variety of activities available to the firm. The existing evidence suggests that major gains in customer satisfaction are likely to come from improvement in – Service quality; Service features; and Customer complaint handling. Switching behaviour in services indicates that defection involves a gradual dissolution of relationship which is due to multiple problems encountered over time. While it is acknowledged that a severe critical incident can convince a customer to exit immediately. In retail banking, the switching process is particularly complex.
Keywords: Retail Banking, Switching process
Introduction Historically, banks world over grew under protected environment. The high-rate buildings of British banks were originally intended to instill a sense of fear and awe in the minds of general public. In India having an account with Imperial Bank of India was a sign of status symbol and pride. Banking
ISSN 2348 - 3571 77 Bharata Mata College, Thrikkakara for long was a sellers’ market. In this context, market orientation and customer focus was almost an alien idea for most bankers. The liberalization, privatization and globalization (LPG) introduced in 1991 and subsequent reforms have changed the banking landscape in India dramatically.
Until the implementation of the Narasimham Committee recommendations, banks in India operated under protected environment. Events after 1993 saw the emergence of a new breed of banks called “New Private Sector Banks” and opening of more foreign banks in India. The nature of competition that characterizes the banking industry before and after 1993 is depicted in Table 1.
Table 1: Nature of Competition in the Banking Industry before and after 1993
Indicator Before 1993 After 1993 Customer Service Mandated by Consciously practiced as a way committee reports and of banking law Customer Done based on Willingly attempted feedback regulator’s guideline complaint / suggestion boxes symbolized this Product Minor Variations of New products with value Innovation vanilla products additions Functional style Bureaucratic Entrepreneurial Tools Manual Technology driven Delivery Channel Branch More alternate delivery channels like ATM, Phone banking, internet banking, mobile banking Pricing Price = Cost plus Profit Profit =Price minus Cost Orientation Inward looking Outward looking Status of the Slave to the bank King with more bankers consumer chasing him Branch ambience Resembled erstwhile Aims to simulate supermarket Government offices buying experience
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Retail Banking Retail Banking has always been an integral part of the Banking activities world over, but it is only in the recent past that it has gathered special momentum. Though internationally this revolution started in 1980’s with the advent of credit cards followed by other products of Retail Financial Services, as far as India is concerned, the year 1995 marks a starting point of Retail Banking Revolution with foreign banks and new generation Private Banks taking the lead. Till 1990’s only foreign banks were the dominant players in Retail Banking activities.
In an era of mature and intense competitive pressures, many firms are focusing their efforts on maintaining a loyal customer base. This is particularly true in the financial services sector where deregulation has created an environment that allows consumers considerable choice in satisfying their financial needs. In response, many retail banks are directing their strategies towards increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty through improved service quality.
Improving customer satisfaction, and hereby retention rates, can come a variety of activities available to the firm. The existing evidence suggests that major gains in customer satisfaction are likely to come from improvement in –
. Service quality
. Service features; and
. Customer complaint handling
Service Quality There are strong linkages between service quality dimensions and overall customer satisfaction. The contention that service quality consists of
ISSN 2348 - 3571 79 Bharata Mata College, Thrikkakara five basic dimensions namely, reliability, responsiveness, courteous, tangibility and empathy; the service quality is also viewed by core service quality, relative service quality and value added service quality. These service qualities are primarily for any service organization to avoid the customers exit from their units.
Service Features Customer satisfaction is also related to the service offering. With retail banking, the convenience and competitiveness of the providers offering can be expected to affect a customer’s overall satisfaction and ongoing patternage. Underlying location are the customer benefits of convenience and accessibility which are enabling factors that make it easy for the customer to do business with the bank. The bank’s ability to deliver these benefits on an ongoing basis to its existing clientee will probably have impact on customer satisfaction.
Customer Complaint Handling A major reason why customers switch service providers is unsatisfactory problem resolution. When customer faces a problem, they may respond by exiting, voicing or loyalty. Given that customer of retail banks have relatively high switching costs; it is likely that a dissatisfying experience will evoke a passive reaction or a complaint. Given that the customer complaints, the bank’s response can lead to customer states ranging from dissatisfaction to satisfaction. In fact, there are so many evidence of the influence of customer complaint handling on customer satisfaction and retention.
Service Failures and Customer Expectation of Service Recovery Service feature is, typically determined by elements such as the nature of the service encounter, the cause of the problem, and the psychographics of the individuals involved. The service incidents are related to:
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. Employee responses to customer needs such as customer preferences and admitted customer error;
. Employee’s responses to service failures, such as unavailable or slow service;
. Unprompted employee actions, to include attention paid to the customer and performance under adverse circumstances; and
. Problem customer; encompassing lack of co-operation.
. The service failures may be also classified into – a) Service provider error; b) Customer error; and c) Associated organization error.
Leins and Sotiris (2001) identified the important service failures in retail banking are lack of reliability, mistakes, delay in processing, poor interaction with a bank employee and insufficient branches. There are no differences between the men and women in assessing the magnitude of service failures. Upper income groups are more dissatisfied with the service and also the recovery strategies of the banks. The customer expectations for service recovery are related to the length and financial importance of their relationship with the bank.
Customer’s Expectations for Service Recovery: If customer perceives a service failure, with respect to any dimensions of service quality, then their service expectations are not met. Why this happens, another set of customer expectations become active, service recovery expectations. These service recovery expectation among the customers are:
. To receive an apology for the fact that the customer is inconvenienced;
. To be offered a ‘fair fix’ for the problem;
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. To be treated in a way that suggests the company cares about the problem, about fixing the problem, and about the customer’s inconvenience; and
. To be offered value – added atonement for the inconvenience.
Service Failures Service failures are identified and classified in retail banking as –
1) Banking procedures; bureaucracy and slow banking; and failure to keep customer fully aware of their banking solution; 2) Mistakes; 3) Employee behaviour and training; employee ignorant of certain banking procedures; and employee unwilling or slow to help the customer; 4) Financial/technical failures; long and/or unorganized queues; ATMs out of order; limited network of ATMs; limited network of branches; and incomprehensible statement of accounts, terms of loans, convention, etc.; 5) Actions or omissions of the bank that are against the sense of fair trade.
Recovery Strategies The recovery strategies usually adopted by the banks are –
1) Corrections: making things right, eliminating the cause of the initial dissatisfaction;
2) Exceptional treatment of the complaining customers;
3) Explanations with respect to what the bank had done wrong, had not done wrong and / or what the customer do to avoid the same problem again;
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4) Apologies; e.g. from an employer or manager;
5) Compensation: monetary or other;
6) Redirection of the complaint to another employee or higher level of management;
7) Nothing, in response to the complaint.
Berli et al., (2004) examined the relationship between perceived quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty in retail banking. There is a significant positive relationship between satisfaction and loyalty whereas the significant positive relationship is existing between perceived quality and customer satisfaction. The degree of elaboration does not have moderating influence on the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty.
Switching Process Switching behaviour refers to the decision customer makes to stop purchasing particular services or patronizing the service firm completely. Switching behaviour in services indicates that defection involves a gradual dissolution of relationship which is due to multiple problems encountered over time. While it is acknowledged that a severe critical incident can convince a customer to exit immediately. In retail banking, the switching process is particularly complex.
Customer switching in service environments, that is customer siling to one service provider from another, is a well-researched topic in the services marketing and relationship marketing literature. Much of the work has been in the realism of profitability of customer retention or minimization of “customer churn” in services markets by studies carried out by Loveman (1998) and Garland (2002). Minimization of customer churn is a priority for most banks. Personal retail banking is a typical subscription market characterized by customers not regularly switching among reparative of
ISSN 2348 - 3571 83 Bharata Mata College, Thrikkakara brands (unlike fast moving goods), and giving most of their banking business to one or two suppliers for long periods of time. Customer switching, defection or exit research in retail banking has received recent attention from authors such as Stewart (1998); Danenberg, Sharp (1999) and Trulik and Smith (2000). Hence, the present study focuses on the switching behaviour among the customers in retail banking.
The Antecedents of Switching Behaviour: The switching antecedents are several. It may be related to the specific problems, events and non-service factors. The five major casual factors for switching behaviour among the customer in banking are –
1. Core Service Failures : Incidents due to mistakes or other technical problems with the service
2.Service encounter failures : Problems due to the interaction between the service employee and customer.
3. Service recovery failures : Problems arising due to the failure of the service firm to resolve previous complaints or problems.
4. Inconvenience : Incidents where the customer felt inconvenienced by aspects of the service, for example, waiting in queues or operating hours.
5. Pricing : Problems associated with fees, charges, prices and price deals associated with the service
Complaining in the Switching Process
Despite the growing body of knowledge regarding the switching process, its antecedents and the acknowledgement that complaining plays an
84 ISSN 2348 - 3571 BHARATA MATA JOURNAL of Multidisciplinary Studies important role in this exit process. Service recovery and defensive marketing strategies are based on the assumption that a severe problem will cause a customer to complain to the firm about that issue before contemplating switching. Therefore, complaint management and service recovery programmes have been postulated as an effective method to retain customer because it is suggested that customers are likely to complain about the same problems that would lead them to exit.
Conclusion The advent of new delivery channels viz. ATM, Internet and Telebanking have revolutionalised the Retail Banking activities. These channels enable banks to deliver Retail Banking products and services in an efficient and cost effective manner. Now-a-days the banks are under great pressure to attract new and retain old customers, as margins are turning wafer thin. In these circumstances reducing administrative and transaction cost has become crucial. Banks are making special offerings to customers through these channels. Retail Banking has been immensely benefited with the revolution in IT and communication technology. The automation of the banking processes is facilitating extension of their reach and rationalization of their costs as well. They are the engine for growth of Retail Banking business of banks.
References
[1] Barbara R. Lewis and Sortiris (2001), “Service failures and recovery in Retail Banking: the customer’s perspective”, International Journal of Bank Marketing, 19 (1), pp.37-48.
[2] Beerli, A., Martin, D and Quantana (2004), A., “A model of customer loyalty in the retail banking market”, European Journal of Marketing, 38 (122), pp.253-257.
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[3] Garland, R. (2002), “Non-financial drivers of customer profitability in personal retail banking”, Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis in Marketing, 10(3), pp.232-248.
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PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF MGNREG SCHEME WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ARPOOKKARA PANCHAYAT, KOTTAYAM
Mathew Abraham*, Dr Alice Mani** *Bharathiar University, Coimbatore **Professor, Christ University, Bangalore
ABSTRACT
Work consists of regular routine activities and forms an essential framework for the personality, giving the worker status and a sense of identity, both within the family and in the outside world. Unemployment is a social evil. In order to maintain a high and stable level of employment Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) 2005 was enacted on 7th September 2005 and was established as a national goal. Arpookara Panchayat have a total number of 860 workers working under MGNREGS. The study reveals that majority of the beneficiaries are female and are aged between 30 to 40 years. It ensures a pivotal role is played by women in their empowerment as well. Each family of the respondents have at least one or two members working under MGNREGS. Year wise performance on the number of working days shows that 2013-14 got double the number of working days as against 2014-15. MGNREGS has provided for rural development in Arpookara Panchayat by way of job guarantee, eco–friendly surroundings, hygienic environment, skilled workers, increase in savings, strengthening the lively hood resource base and creation of durable assets.
Keywords: MGNREGS, Rural Employment, Women Empowerment
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1.1 Introduction Work consists of regular routine activities and forms an essential framework for the personality, giving the worker status and a sense of identity, both within the family and in the outside world. Unemployment is a social evil. In order to maintain a high and stable level of employment Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) 2005 was enacted on 7th September 2005 and was established as a national goal.
The act was introduced with an aim of improving the purchasing power of the rural people primarily semi or unskilled work to people living in rural India, whether or not they are below the poverty line. Around one third of the stipulated work force is women. The law was initially called the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) but was renamed on 2nd October 2009.
An act to provide for the enhancement of livelihood security of the households in rural areas of the country by providing at least one hundred days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work and for matters connected therewith or incidental there to. They are provided with a statutory minimum wage of ` 229 per day according to March 2015. The central government outlay for the scheme is ` 34699 crores in financial year2015-2016.
The most significant feature of MGNREGA is that it vests the country’s rural communities with rights to demand employment and binds the government to time – bound legal guarantees to honour and fulfil the demand. This is a promotional measure and is rights based.
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The study focusses on the effectiveness of MGNREG Scheme. That is, whether this scheme provides 100 per cent job guarantee to its workers, whether the funds are properly managed and utilised through MGNREGS, does MGNREGS increase the purchasing power of people in rural areas, whether it purely reduces the poverty and unbalanced condition in rural areas, whether it provides job and other benefits to right hands, is the functioning of MGNREGS on regular basis or not, whether the workers are completely satisfied or not, if the funds are from right sources, if there is minimal participation from SC and ST’s, how far it has improved the income of the family, is there any shift in the expenditure pattern of family, is there any shift in the expenditure pattern of family, has it made any impact on empowerment of women, and their status, has it created constructive social assets etc. must be evaluated in the performance of MGNREGS in Kerala with special reference to Arpookara Panchayat in Kottayam district.
1.2 Objectives of the study The study attempts to evaluate the MGNREGS as a measure to reduce unemployment and provide rural development by measuring its performance with special reference to Arpookara Panchayat in Kottayam district.
1.2.1 Following are the specific objectives . To assess the extent of job guarantee under MGNREGS . To analyse the problems and difficulties faced by the workers under MGNREGS, if any. . To examine the income and savings of the workers after starting MGNREGS. . To understand whether implementation of MGNREGS boosted the earnings and the intra-house status of women. . To identify the rural development in Arpookara Panchayat due to MGNREGS.
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1.3 Hypotheses The following hypotheses were formulated and tested in the course of analysis of this study.
Ho1: There is no relationship between age of beneficiaries and their interest towards the scheme.
Ho2: MGNREGS has not increased the savings of beneficiaries.
1.4 Methodology Both primary and secondary data have been used for the study. However primary data is extensively used and secondary data is used to intensify and support primary data. Primary data is collected by conducting a sample survey. The beneficiaries of MGNREGS in Arpookara Panchayat in Kottayam district constitute the universe of the study. This Panchayat has given employment to a total of 860 workers since 2008 to 2012 and the area of the Panchayat is 24.53 sq.kms. The sample size is 80 workers who were working under two different mates. The two mates were selected randomly and the entire workers working under those two mates were determined as sample.
The study is mainly depending on the data collected from the beneficiaries of the scheme and for this purpose, a structured questionnaire was used to derive answers from the sample beneficiaries. With the help of the questionnaire, primary data was collected directly from the beneficiaries by the researcher.
1.5 Data Analysis All the data collected have been sorted, classified and tabulated for giving easy and clear comprehension. Statistical tools like average, percentage, correlation, graphs etc. are used for analysing the data.
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Table 1.5.1: Age – wise classification
Sl. No Age Group Number Percent 1 30 - 40 35 44 2 41 - 50 20 25 3 51 - 60 18 23 4 61 - 70 7 8 Total 80 100 Source: Primary Data
Table 1.5.2: Gender – wise classification
Sl. No Category Number Percent 1 Female 77 96 2 Male 3 4 Total 80 100 Source: Primary Data
Table 1.5.3: Qualification of Respondents
Sl. No Workers Number Percent 1 SSLC 50 63 2 PDC 10 13 3 Others 30 24 Total 80 100 Source: Primary Data
Table 1.5.4: Job Cards Issued
Sl. No Category Number Percent 1 Below 15 days 63 79 2 After 1 month 7 9 3 After 3 month 3 3 4 After 6 months 7 9 Total 80 100 Source: Primary data
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Table 1.5.5: Number of members in a family Working under MGNREGS Sl No No of members No of respondents Percent 1 1- 2 60 75 2 3 - 4 20 25 3 5 - 6 0 - Total 80 100 Source: Primary data
Table 1.5.6: Number of working days for the last 2 years
Sl. No Years No of days Number of members Percent 1. 2013–14 60 50 62.5 Below 60 30 37.5 60 30 37.5 2. 2014 – 15 Below 60 50 62.5 Total 80 100 Source: Primary data
Table 1.5.7: Nature of activity engaged
Sl. No Category No. of workers out of 80 Percent 1 Cleaning 70 88 2 Flood Control 62 78 3 Water conservation 50 63 4 Road 50 63 5 Foot path 20 25 6 Private hand cleaning 40 50 Source: Primary data
Table 1.5.8: Time for Receipt of Payment
Sl. No No. of days No. of workers Percent 1 After 15 days 50 63 2 After 30 days 10 13 3 After 60 days 7 8 4 After 90 days 13 16 Total 80 100 Source: Primary data
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Table 1.5.9: Facilities at the work site
Sl. No Facilities Percent 1 Safe drinking water 100 2 Shade for children 50 3 Break time 75 4 First aid box 100 5 Medical treatment 100 Source: Primary data
Table 1.5.10: Difficulties faced by beneficiaries
Sl. No Problems No. of members Percent 1 Lack of work 30 38 2 Lack of information 10 13 3 Unemployment 25 31 allowance 4 Delay in payment 15 18 Total 80 100
40 30 20 10 0 No. of members No. of members P e r c e n t a g e
Source: Primary data
Figure 1.5.1: Difficulties faced by beneficiaries
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Table 1.5.11: Increase in the monthly family income of workers Whether monthly Number of workers Family income has increased. Yes 70 No 10 Total 80 Source: Primary data
Table 1.5.12: Utilization of the wage money Sl. No Utilization Number Percentage 1 House hold expenditure 50 63 2 Savings 10 12 3 Both savings and expenditure 20 25 Total 80 100 Source: Primary data
Table 1.5.13: Increases in savings before and after MGNREGS
Sl. Monthly Before starting After starting No savings MGNREGS MGNREGS (Rupees) Number Percentage Number Percentage 1 Below 250 35 44 15 19 2 Between 251 25 31 40 50 and 300 3 Between 301 20 25 25 31 and 500 Total 80 100 80 100 Source: Primary data
Source: Primary data Figure 1.5.2: Savings before implementing MGNREGS
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Source: Primary data Figure 3: Savings after implementing MGNREGS
Table 1.5.14: Status and earnings of women
Sl. No Particulars Number of female Workers Increased Decreased Total 1 Intra house hold status 65 12 77 2 Earnings 77 0 77 Source: Primary data
Table 1.5.15: Rural Development in Arpookara Panchayat
Sl. No Factors for development Percentage 1 Job guarantee 100 2 Eco – friendly surroundings 90 3 Hygienic 90 4 Savings increased 70 5 Skilled workers 100 Source: Primary data
1.6 Testing of Hypotheses The statistical technique of “correlation” was used to test the hypotheses. Through this, the degree of relationship between the variables under consideration is measured.
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Hypothesis I There is no relationship between age of beneficiaries and their interest towards the scheme.
The 2 variables are - age of beneficiaries and their interest towards the scheme. Correlation can be used to find out the relationship between the variables.
Table 1.5.16: Calculation of Correlation Co efficient
Age of No. of Percentage X = X 2 Y = Y 2 XY beneficiaries workers of interest (x-x) (y-y) 30 - 40 35 44 15 225 19 361 285 41 -50 20 25 0 0 0 0 0 51 – 60 18 23 -2 4 -2 4 4 61 - 70 7 8 -13 169 -17 289 221 Total 80 100 398 654 510 • x = 80/4 = 20 y = 100/4 = 25 Source: primary data
Co – efficient of correlation (r) = ∑ xy √∑x 2 ×√∑y 2 = 510 √398 x √654 =.99
Correlation is said to be positive, as the values of age of beneficiaries and their interest towards the scheme move in the same direction. Thus we can say that as the numbers of workers are increasing, percentage of interest also increases. Table shows that numbers of workers are more in age group 30 – 40 and it gets decreased by the increasing age group.
From the above it is understood that the hypothesis that is “There is no relationship between age of beneficiaries and their interest towards the scheme” stands rejected. Therefore it can be concluded that there is
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Hypothesis II MGNREGS has not increased the savings of beneficiaries
With reference to the table 13 and figures 2 and 3, it was identified that there was considerable increase in savings of beneficiaries after implementing MGNREGS. Hence the second hypothesis that is “MGNREGS has not increased the savings of beneficiaries” also stands rejected.
1.6 Findings And Conclusion 1.6.1 The role of Gram Panchayat in promoting the MGNREGS in the Panchayat Gram Panchayat is the main institution responsible for the implementation of the scheme at the local level. It assists the implementation of the scheme-
. By identifying and prioritizing project as per recommendations.
. By preparing the annual development plan and maintaining shelf of works after getting necessary approvals.
. By registering all potential workers, issuing job cards to them, receiving application for work and informing the applicants as and when work is available.
. By implementing this scheme in a transparent manner with accountability and ensuring regular social audit of all works taking place within its area.
. By reporting on a regular basis and ensuring that records and documents are displayed or available in a convenient form for public scrutiny.
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1.6.2 Role of Gram Panchayat in the planning process of MGNREGS For the perfect performance of MGNREGS, participation in the planning of the scheme is essential. With regard to the same, there exists a well efficient administrative body consisting of the Secretary, Overseer, LD Clerk, Mate and Workers in the order of administrative power. The Gram Panchayat should consolidate the requirements and then identify, prioritize and recommend works and send these recommendations to the Programming Officer.
1. Types of work undertaken under this scheme Creation of durable assets and strengthening the livelihood resource base of the rural poor are the important objective of the scheme. Basically, selection of works depends upon the geographical area. The nature of activity engaged by the workers under the scheme MGNREGS in Arpookara Panchayat consist of cleaning, flood control, road construction, footpath, private land cleaning, water conservation and constructing small canals for irrigation, agricultural activities, collection and destruction of floating plants etc. and any other work notified by the central government.
2. Do women get a fair share of employment through MGNREGS Yes, Due Priority and participation are given to women. Moreover, majority of the applicants, who have registered and requested for work are women.
3. The mode of payment of wages to the workers Wages shall be paid in cash only. All wage payments shall be made through the individual or joint savings bank accounts of workers. No payment is allowed in kind.
4. Fixing the rate of wages Basically, MGNREGS is a target based project. So fixation of wages is based upon completion of work. That is, if an adult person works for
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9 hours and attaining the target he/she would earn a wage equal to the minimum wage (Rs.229 at present) specified by the Central Government.
5. Safeguards against corruption There is a strong provision for transparency and accountability at all levels. Job cards are issued to all registered households, wages paid through SB account of concerned, numbered muster rolls will be issued by the programming officer and displayed at Gram Panchayat Office until wages are paid, all documents shall be available for public scrutiny, all complaints shall be redressed within 7 days, utilisation certificates are issued by the implementing agencies, regular social audits are conducted and so on. The Central Government, on receipt of a complaint regarding improper utilisation of funds, may go for an enquiry and stop release of funds to that scheme and institute appropriate measures. The RTI (Right to Information) is an important tool for the eradication of corruption and is essential for the success of the MGNREGS.
6. Publicity related to MGNREGS in the Panchayat Office Notices related to the scheme are displayed in the notice board of the panchayat office regularly. The mate also acts as an informer to the workers regarding work, worksite, etc. Mate is the channel of information between officials and workers.
7. Overall opinion about MGNREGS MGNREGS- a scheme for providing job guarantee in every financial year to those who are willing to do public work; helps in improving the purchasing power of the rural people, whether or not they are below the poverty line. It provides for social benefits, rural development and improvement in the standard of living.
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1.7 Conclusion Arpookara Panchayat have a total number of 860 workers working under MGNREGS.
The study reveals that majority of the beneficiaries are female and are aged between 30 to 40 years. It ensures a pivotal role is played by women I n their empowerment as well. Each family of the respondents have at least one or two members working under MGNREGS. Year wise performance on the number of working days shows that 2013-14 got double the number of working days as against 2014-15. An increasing trend in employment generation in each financial year concludes that there is higher extent of job guarantee in Arpookara Panchayat under MGNREGS. Workers are prone to certain problems and difficulties such as lack of work, lack of information, difficulty in getting unemployment allowance, delay in payment and so on. MGNREGS has caused for increase in monthly income of majority of workers after its implementation. It naturally increases their purchasing power. There is increase in the savings pattern of workers after starting MGNREGS. There is increase not only in the amount of savings but also in the number of workers with ability to save. MGNREGS helped to empower women by providing them work, earnings, and participation in the decisions of their family and society. Thus the scheme boosted the earnings of women and their intra household status.
MGNREGS has provided for rural development in Arpookara Panchayat by way of job guarantee, eco–friendly surroundings, hygienic environment, skilled workers, increase in savings, strengthening the lively hood resource base and creation of durable assets.
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References
[1] Ambasta,Pramathesh‘Two Years of NREGA: The Road Ahead’, Economic and Political Weekly Vol. 43, No. 8 (Feb. 23 - 29, 2008), pp. 41-50
[2] Durgaprasad, P ‘Rural Poverty Alleviation in India: Contribution of NREGA’, IASSI Quartrely, Vol. 27 Nos. 1&2, pp 15-28
[3] Mihr, Shah ‘NREGA: A Historic Opportunity’ Economic and Political Weekly, December 2004
[4] Hirway, Indira ‘A component of full employment strategy in India’, Centre of Development Alternatives, Ahmedabad.
[5] ‘Towards Transforming Rural India: Challenges and opportunities of MGNREGS’ Institute for Human Development, New Delhi.
[6] Institute of Rural Management, ‘Usefulness and sustainability of the asset created under MGNREGS’
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FINANCIAL INCLUSION – A MYTH OR REALITY Dr. Jaya K. R.
P. G. Department of Commerce , Cochin College, Kochi
ABSTRACT
Financial inclusion is the provision of all financial services at an affordable cost to economically backward communities by the organized sector. The Government of India jointly with RBI stresses the need for including all categories of people in the formal system. NABARD is spending time and resources to organize micro credit institutions as a support to formal banking system in enhancing inclusion. Public sector banks are playing a pivotal role in this respect. Financial illiteracy is the most serious threat to be tackled.
Keywords: Financial Inclusion, Financial Exclusion, Financial Literacy, Organized Financial Sector, Poverty.
1. Introduction The banking industry in India, especially public sector banking organizations, has been playing a significant role on the development process of Indian economy. The banking sector has dominated the Indian financial services sector by mobilizing maximum amount of deposits, allowing, huge volume of credit and extending its network throughout the country. But this commendable performance is not free from the criticisms that the organized financial system as a whole is concentrated in metros, urban and semi urban areas leaving the poor in rural in the hands of private money lenders. The need to improve financial access for the poor motivated the nationalization of commercial banks in the late 1960s, and an aggressive drive through 1970s and 1980‟s to expand rural banking (Basu, 2006). Access to finance for rural
102 ISSN 2348 - 3571 BHARATA MATA JOURNAL of Multidisciplinary Studies poor has improved somewhat over the past decades, with public sector commercial banks being the dominant providers of formal rural finance. By the end of March 2009 the number of scheduled banks including RRB‟s in the rural India was 31695 of which the share of public sector commercial banks amounted to 18941 and RRBs 11626 (RBI 2009). The insignificant role of private sector banks in the rural banking is evident from the fact that they own only 3.56 per cent of the total rural bank branches in India. The vast majority of India’s rural poor still does not have access to formal finance (Basu). The World Bank National Council of Applied Economic Research – Rural Finance Access Survey reveals that rural banks serve primarily the needs of richer rural borrowers. 66 per cent of large farmers the have deposit accounts, 44 per cent have access to credit. But rural poor faces severe difficulties in accessing savings and credit from the formal sector (RFAS, 2003).
Serving the poor is not considered as attractive to bankers in India due to the uncertainty arising from their volatile income streams and the high transaction cost. Even though the SHG bank linkage programme created a very good outreach of savings and credit facilities for poor, there has been a huge gap between demand and supply of credit from formal financial system (Wadhva, 2004). Now foreign banks and private banks have started lending to the rural community through their own local agents and micro credit system but they are charging a higher rate of interest than the risky business loans (Thingalaya, 2006)
1(a) Financial Exclusion and Inclusion Financial exclusion is somewhat related to social exclusion. In sociology the phrase social exclusion is used to describe both a situation and a process. In industrial economics the word exclusion is used to describe the process. In this sense, the concept of exclusion is used to focus on how social
ISSN 2348 - 3571 103 Bharata Mata College, Thrikkakara and economic forces operate to accentuate the exclusion of individuals or groups from livelihood or rights which are the basic sources of well being. In the market economies, economic stratification is inevitable. Economic stratification is the process which distributes the benefits of economic growth, integrating some and marginalizing others. Exclusion is therefore inherent in the logic of markets (Thorat, 2004). Financial institutions are not ready to serve the poor not because they are poor, but it is not profitable to serve them and hence keep a distance from them. The concept of financial exclusion can be illustrated with the help of the following figure.
Fig. 1: Financial Exclusion
The recognition of “exclusion” underlines the fact that this problem is systemic. Addressing it will require a focus that is sharp and consistent with the objective of drawing people into the financial service market in a structured manner, similar in many ways to the large number of people who participate now in the telecom market (Titus, 2006). Financial exclusion in developing countries is linked to the poverty levels and absence of capital
104 ISSN 2348 - 3571 BHARATA MATA JOURNAL of Multidisciplinary Studies resources. One of the key reasons is that these countries have predominantly rural based socio economic structure (Carbo, Edward and Philip, 2007). A key objective in development economics is to work out ways to lift people out of poverty. Access to finance has been seen as a critical factor in enabling people to transform their production and employment activities and to exit poverty (Banerjy and Newman 1993; Aghion and Bolton 1997; Banarjee 2001).
Financial inclusion has become a buzz word internationally – even in developed countries there are concerns about those excluded from the banking system. The barriers to access to formal banking system have been identified as relating to culture, education, gender, income and assets, proof of identity remoteness of residence and so on. (Thorat, 2006) The term financial inclusion is defined in two different senses, firstly in a narrow sense; it is including the unbanked poor in the organized money market by allowing them to open a savings bank account. Definitely opening a savings bank account is a stepping stone in the inclusion process. But a person cannot be counted as financially included on the basis of having a savings bank account is nonsense. In a broader sense financial inclusion may be defined as “the delivery of financial services by the financial system at affordable costs to vast sections of disadvantaged and low income groups” (Thorat, 2006). Financial services include savings, credit, health and life insurance, payments and remittance facilities and financial advice. Further financial inclusion can be made effective only by improving the financial literacy of the excluded population. This cannot be handled by banking sector and hence NGOs and local governments must take the lead role in this respect. The popularity of private financiers in Kerala is an indication of low level of access to credit and feeble financial literacy of people.
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2. Objectives of the study Financial exclusion is considered to be the most serious block in the achievement of inclusive development. The present research paper is focused on the following objectives:
. To assess the extent of the inclusion of rural poor in the organized financial sector and the role played by the banks in supporting them.
. To identify whether the level of inclusion/exclusion depends on the basis of social communities, size of land holdings and the place of residence.
. To comprehend and distinguish the significance financial inclusion in the context of developing country like India wherein a large population is deprived of the financial
. Services which are very much essential for overall economic growth in the country.
3. Methodology The study is based on secondary data collected from the official websites of NSSO, RBI and UNDP. The collected data are tabulated and analyzed with the help of percentages and chi square test is used for testing hypothesis. The discussions were based on the theme of financial inclusion.
4. Discussion of Result The situation Assessment Survey revealed the following statistics households in India.
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Table 1: Distribution of Financial Exclusion of Farmer Households
Number (million) Farmer Financially Financially Households Total Excluded Included Small/ marginal 40.27 34.70 74.97 (53.71%) (46.29%) (83.91%) Other than small 5.66 8.72 14.38 Marginal (39.36%) (60.64%) (16.09%) Total 45.93 43.42 89.35 (100%) (100%) (100%)
The data regarding the distribution of financial exclusion of rural households in India revealed that out of 74.97 million rural farmer households, 53.71 per cent are financially excluded where as the rate of exclusion in case of households other than small /marginal households in India was 39.36 per cent.
Rural farmer households in India comprise different social classes like scheduled caste, scheduled tribes, other backward communities and others. The data provided by NSSO may be used to test whether there is any association between the social class and exclusion.
Table 2: Distribution of Social Class wise Exclusion in India Social Groups Included Excluded Total Scheduled Caste 7.83 7.76 15.59 (50.22%) (49.78%) (17.47%) Scheduled Tribes 4.33 7.59 11.92 (36.33%) (63.67%) (13.36%) Other backward 19.05 18.00 37.05 classes (51.42%) (48.58%) (41.51%) All others 12.20 12.49 24.69 (49.41%) (50.59%) (27.66%) Total 43.41 45.84 89.25 (100%) (100%) (100%) Source: NSSO (59th Round) No. in millions)
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Socially and economically backward classes are usually more prompt to be excluded from the formal financial services. The data obtained by the Situation Assessment Survey revealed that there is no much difference between scheduled caste, other backward classes and other general communities. But the scheduled tribes are found to be more excluded (63.69%) excluded from the financial sector. The most pathetic thing is that there are many rural households with no owned land and purely depend on agricultural labor were totally excludedby both formal and informal sector. The following hypothesis was formulated to test whether there is any association between the social communities in the level of financial inclusion.
Ho: There is no association between the social community and the level of inclusion of farmer households.
Chi Square test is used to test the hypothesis and the calculated value of the test statistic is found to be 0.99 and the table 3. Since the table value is much higher than the computed value at 5 per cent level of significance, the Ho is accepted. Hence the social community of the people and the level of inclusion are independent. While observing the real statistical data, it is clear that people belonging to scheduled tribe are the worst excluded in India.
Since the situation assessment survey was conducted during the year 2003 recent developments regarding the banking penetration has to be analyzed to see whether the organized financial services sector is really responding to the call of the government and the RBI. The bank branches opened and closed in different categories of population groups is analyzed for this purpose.
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Table 3: Number of Bank Branches Closed in Different Population Groups from 2003-04 to 2013-14
Over the years, closure of bank branches decreased considerably from 240 branches in 2003-04 to 11 branches in 2013 -14. From 2003-06 rate of closure in rural areas were not comparable with any other population groups. Even though there is significant reduction in the absolute number of branch closures in India in recent times, the proportion of closures increased considerably.
Branch licensing rule between 1977 and 2000 succeeded in coercing commercial banks to open branches in backward rural locations. Without state coercion it is unlikely that the vast majority of India’s rural poor would have been reached by banking services. It is established that Indian rural
ISSN 2348 - 3571 109 Bharata Mata College, Thrikkakara branch expansion significantly lowered rural poverty and increased non agricultural output (Burges and Rohini, 2003). After 2000 also the commercial banks are opening new branches in different parts of the country. But the statistics regarding the branch opening shows a clear discrimination by banks towards rural community.
Table 4: Number of Bank Branches Opened in Different Population Groups from 2003-04 to 2013-14 Population 03-04 04-05 05-06 06-07 07-08 08-09 09-10 10-11 11-12 12--13 13-14 Groups Rural 53 80 88 175 553 606 623 629 673 741 856 (5.54%) (5.79%) (6.20%) (7.69%) (13.39%) (16.02%) (15.55%) (15.66%) (15.62%) (16.34%) (17.64%) S e m i 218 309 276 681 1238 1186 1375 1523 1772 1892 2025 Urban (22.75%) (22.38%) (19.45%) (29.91%) (29.97%) (31.33%) (34.32%) (37.96%) (41.13%) (41.72%) (41.75%) Urban 348 510 550 832 1357 1097 1123 987 1023 1011 1217 (36.36%) (36.93%) (38.76%) (36.54%) (32.86%) (28.98%) (28.03%) (24.58%) (25.33%) (22.29%) (25.09%) M e t r o 338 482 505 589 982 896 885 876 840 890 752 (35.32%) (34.90%) (35.59%) (25.87%) (23.78%) (23.66%) (22.05%) (21.81%) (20.80%) (19.62%) (15.50%)
Source: www.rbi.org.in
Commercial banks in India are expanding their branch networks. During the last 6 years 13053 branches were opened in India, out of which only 1555 (11.91%) are in rural areas. 35.96 per cent of the new branches were opened in urban areas and another 3908 branches were opened in semi urban areas. A notable development in the branch opening policy took place 2007-08 when 553 branches were opened in rural areas as compared to 175 branches in 2006-07. The possible reason behind the opening of new branches may be either due to the financial inclusion initiatives or due to the increased income of citizens.
Socially and economically backward communities are marginalized by not providing the basic financial services essential for improving their standard of living. Differential Interest Rate Scheme, originally designed for uplifting to weaker sections by granting loans at a subsidized rate is an indicator of how genuine is the inclusion efforts of Indian banks.
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Table 5: Balance Outstanding in DRI Scheme
Bank group 1996 1998 2000 2003 2006 2009 Amount 13959 12120 9100 4300 7815 2900 outstanding (20.6%) (22.3%) (21.6%) (14.38%) (15.9%) (5.9%) SBI Group No of 4.70 2.98 1.92 1.18 2.25 1.77 accounts (30.3%) (32.93%) (32.5% (31.89%) (58%) (56.9%) Nationalize Amount 53807 42245 33100 25600 41207 46300 d outstanding (79.4%) (77.7%) (78.4%) (85.62%) (84.1%) (94.1%) Banks No of 10.82 6.07 3.98 2.52 1.63 1.34 accounts (69.7%) (67.07%) (67.5%) (68.11%) (42%) (43.1%) Source: www.rbi.org.in (Amount and No. of accounts in Lakhs)
The subsidized loans granted to socially and economically weaker sections of the societies was beneficial to more than 25 lakh households in 2006. But the number of beneficiary households decreased to 3.11 lakh in 2009. The public sector banks are participating in this programme of supporting the poor but the balance outstanding in this scheme decreased from 13959 lakh in 1996 (in case of SBI groups) to just 2900 lakh in 2009. Share of nationalized banks in DRI scheme has increased from 79.4 per cent in 1996 to 94.1 per cent in 2009. The amount outstanding in this scheme has steadily declined from ` 53807 lakh in 1996 to 25600 lakh in 2003 but again the nationalized banks shows an interest in this scheme and amount outstanding increased to ` 46300 lakh in 2009. The role of private sector banks in this respect is not even reported by the RBI.
5. Suggestion and Conclusion a. Suggestion The growth trend in Indian economy over the last few years appears to indicate the beginning of a new phase of growth. On the savings front the increasing trend in gross domestic savings as proportion of GDP witnessed
ISSN 2348 - 3571 111 Bharata Mata College, Thrikkakara since the early 2000s has also continued unabated. But the growth in GDP and domestics savings are not influenced the savings pattern, access to credit and other safe and low cost financial services to millions of poor in India. Lack of savings and savings avenues means recourse to non-formal lenders like money lenders. Once access to financial services improves, inclusion affords several benefits to the consumer, regulator and economy alike (Mohan, 2006). Based on the observations and the review of the literature the following suggestions have been offered.
Since it is not possible to make changes in the stream of income flows and assets of the poor immediately we should build a strong structure for deepening financial inclusion. The first and the foremost ground work to be done in this respect are to eradicate financial illiteracy among the poor. The banks, already with tight workload cannot do much in this respect. Hence local authorities should join hands with teachers and other educated people in the nearby locality to organize special financial literacy programmes for the poor in their respective areas. To make the programme more successful educated people belonging to the weaker sections of the society should be given training in this field and their services can be effectively utilized.
Recommendations of the Report of the Expert Committee on Harnessing the India Post Network for Financial Inclusion dated 16th June 2010 should be implemented effectively. The recommendations number one, two and eight can bring sea changes in the level of inclusion in rural India. But care should be taken to give proper training to the officers to the local post offices and additional hands should be provided to support the existing staff to take up the additional duties. Bank should create a customer friendly atmosphere so that the poor people may feel comfortable to visit the bank branches and gain confidence.
112 ISSN 2348 - 3571 BHARATA MATA JOURNAL of Multidisciplinary Studies b. Conclusion The Government of India, RBI and NABARD are taking special care in widening the formal financial services network among the rural households. The banking sector, especially the public sector is contributing a lot, but they can do better. The recent efforts of Indian Postal Department will be beneficial to the rural people as well as to the department. The financial illiteracy is found to be a block in the road and hence its eradication should be taken up as a serious matter.
References
[1] Aghion, P. and Bolton (1997) A Theory of Trickle- Down Growth and Development, Review of Economic Studies 64(2)
[2] Banarjee, Abhijit and Andrew Newman (1993) Occupational Choice and the Process of Development, Journal of Political Economy, 101.
[3] Banarjee, Abhijit (2001) Contracting Constraints, Credit Markets and Economic Development, mimeo, MIT
[4] Basu, Priya. Improving Access to Finance for India’s Rural Poor, Washington DC, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 2006. Print
[5] Burger, Robin. Rohini Pandey. Do Rural Banks Matter? Evidence from the Indian Social Banking Experiment, Discussion Paper, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, 2003.
[6] Corbo, Santigo. Edward P.M. and Philip Molyneux. Financial Exclusion, Rev. JK. Pandey, Pune, 2007
[7] Mohan, Rakesh. Financial Sector Reforms and Monetary Policy: The Indian Experience, www.rbi.org.in
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[8] National Sample Survey Organisation of India. Report on Financial Access Survey of Farmers, New Delhi. 2003.
[9] Thingalaya, N.K. (2006) Financial Inclusion: Better Late Than Never, Industrial Economist May.
[10] Thorat Y.S.P. Financial Inclusion: Readings on Financial Inclusion, Indian Institute of Banking and Finance, Mumbai.(2006)
[11] Thorat, Usha.(2006) Financial Inclusion for Sustainable Development, www.rbi.org.in
[12] Titus, Mathew. Financial Inclusion-Does Micro Finance Demonstrate any Lesson for Public Policy: Readings on Financial Inclusion, Indian Institute of Banking and Finance, Mumbai.(2006).
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114 ISSN 2348 - 3571 Bharata Mata College, Thrikkakara, Kochi
Guidelines for submission of research paper
1. Electronic submission of the manuscript as MS word file attached to an e- mail message sent to [email protected] along with a hard copy, is the desired format for submission of papers. 2. Manuscript should have a size of 7-10 pages (A4 sized) ; 12 point Times New Roman, 1.5 spacing. Papers from humanity category should follow the MLA style of documentation. 3. Centred title should be brief, followed by centred name, affiliation and address of author(s). Indicate to whom correspondence should be sent, including a telephone number and e-mail address. 4. Manuscript should be in the order – 100 to 150 word abstract, 200 to 300 word Introduction followed by the main text document and 50-100 word conclusion summarising the findings of the paper. 5. Illustrations a. Computer generated graphics should be in tif files, in 300 dpi resolution b. Graphs should not be larger than 20x25 cm. Measurements should be indicated in SI units. Grids should not be shown in the graph. c. Photographs should be supplied as glossy prints, of the same size as they are to appear in the journal. d. Illustrations should be referred to as Fig.1, Fig.2 etc followed by a caption at the bottom of the figure. 6. Journal and Book references should be identified in the text using the Vancouver system (numbered throughout the text and numbered list at the end of the article). Reference should be listed by number at the end of the manuscript as reference number, Author(s), title of article, Journal name, year of publication, volume; page. Eg. 1. Name A.A. , Name B.B. , Effect of Carbon Black on Devulcanized Ground Rubber Tire Vulcanizates, Journal of Elastomers and Plastics, USA, 2013, 56(2); 275-283. Text references as reference number, Author(s), name of the chapter, Name of the book and publisher, year of publication, page. 7. Figures, tables and equations should be inside the text near/after where they are referred in the text. Tables should be numbered consecutively with a heading. Use Arabic numerals. Column headings should be explanatory and carry units. Do not include vertical lines.
122 BHARATA MATA JOURNAL of Multidisciplinary Studies
Table 1 Damage location accuracy Sl.No Predicted Actual Error location(m) location(m) (%) 1 1.54 1.53 0.002 2 1.98 1.67 0.006 3 1.87 1.61 0.224
8. Papers prepared on the basis of a questionnaire survey must include the questionnaire also along with the manuscript. 9. Contributors’ assurance in the prescribed format that the paper is original in nature and has not been published/accepted for publication elsewhere is needed. 10. The copyrights of the contributions published in the journal lie with the publishers of the journal. 11. The author alone will be liable in respect of any dispute involving violation of the copyright in respect of the material given by him or her for publication in the journal. 12. The editor reserves the right to make required editing of the manuscript. 13. The journal is published bi-annually in January and July. 14. The decision regarding the acceptance or otherwise of any contribution will normally be intimated within two months. We do not take the responsibility to return unaccepted manuscript.
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