E x p l o r i n g t h e E m p l o y m e n t P o t e n t i a l i n R u r a l a r e a s o f B u n d e l k h a n d r e g i o n , M a d h y a P r a d e s h D A M O H D I S T R I C T R E P O R T 0 2 0 2 R E B M E Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Good Governance and C E Policy Analysis D During the course of the Study, the Project Team from IGG benefitted immensely by the inputs gathered during several interactions with: The District Collectors The Chief Executive Officers of Zila Panchayats The district heads of the Departments of Agriculture, Horticulture, Animal Husbandry, Fisheries, District Industries Centre, Forests, Tribal Development. District Project Managers and staff of State Rural Livelihoods Mission Staff of Civil Society Organisations working on rural livelihoods in Bundelkhand region, namely, ASA, CARD, Development Alternatives, Haritika, Mahila Chetna Manch, PRADAN, Samarthan, and SRIJAN and World Vision Krishi Vigyan Kendras in the districts covered District Development Managers of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) The Project Team has also benefitted from the inputs from and interaction with the participants of three meetings with the district level heads of different departments and institutions organised by the District Collectors: At Sagar on 16th October 2019 At Damoh on 17th October 2019 At Tikamgarh on 29th January 2020 Disclaimer : During the course of the study, sizeable data was collected by the authors from various departments and official sources. In addition, a lot of historical information was obtained from the officers, community and other stakeholders through structured interviews and Focus Group Discussions. While the authors have taken due care to validate this data to the extent possible, not all of it could be verified or corroborated, and therefore, IGG cannot take responsibility for the accuracy of the same. Exploring the Employment Potential in Rural Areas of Bundelkhand Region of Madhya Pradesh District Damoh Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Good Governance and Policy Analysis, Bhopal December 2020 © Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Good Governance and Policy Analysis (IGG) Sushasan Bhawan Bhadbada Square, T. T. Nagar Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India, 462003 www.aiggpa.mp.gov.in This report is the property of IGG. We encourage dissemination of our work for non- commercial and non-exclusive purposes, so long as the source is properly acknowledged. To be cited as: IGG; Exploring Potential of Employment in Rural Areas Bundelkhand Region of Madhya Pradesh – District Damoh; Bhopal, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Good Governance and Policy Analysis (IGG); December 2020. This report is one of the outputs of the study commissioned by the Centre for NRM and Decentralised Governance, IGG on request of the Bundelkhand Development Authority (BDA) to assess the potential of enhancing employment in the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh. A separate report on the study of employment in urban areas is being published by IGG separately. This report presents district-specific situation and potential of rural employment in district Damoh. It should be read together with the Main Report covering the entire study area of five districts in the Bundelkhand Region of Madhya Pradesh. Conducted for: Bundelkhand Development Authority (BDA) Project Guidance: Mr. R. Parasuram, Ex-Director General, IGG Mr. Mangesh Tyagi, Principal Advisor, Centre for NRM & Dec. Governance, IGG Project Team: Dr. Anitha Govindaraj, Advisor, Centre for NRM & Decentralised Governance, IGG Mr. Yugandhar Mandavkar, Fellow, IGG Mr. Soumitra M. Peshave, Research Associate, IGG Mr. Dhananjay Singh Yadav, Research Associate, IGG Mr. Rohit Ranjan, Research Associate, IGG Key Words: Rural employment, rural enterprises, group enterprises, cluster approach, resource based potential, Bundelkhand Key Takeaways Given the primarily agrarian nature of rural economy of District Damoh and high unemployment rate in the rural areas, especially among women, the strategy should focus on making agriculture more remunerative, so as to provide higher income to the labour force engaged in it. It is suggested to strengthen the agriculture and allied sectors with backward and forward linkages to address the twin problem of poverty and unemployment. Availability of productive forest lands with reasonable tree cover presents scope for promoting NTFP based livelihoods. Main Recommendations Promotion of new sub-sectors and activities and to revamp the existing ones Skill building to improve employability and productivity of rural youth Capacity building of the entrepreneurs Establishing systems and other reforms 1. Sub-sectors and Activities 1.1 Soil Water Conservation District Damoh has a limited irrigation coverage necessitating productivity interventions in dryland farming technology. Rainwater harvesting and efficiency in water use hold the key, thus prompting for integrated interventions on soil and water on watershed basis. It is recommended to increase the coverage of watershed project in the entire district. 1.2 Agriculture Field Crops : It is recommended to promote pulses (red gram, black gram, lentil and Bengal gram) and oilseeds (mustard and sesame) on a larger scale. Black wheat has shown promising results and should be expanded to larger area. Horticulture : Fruit crops recommended are citrus, papaya, sapota, mango, ber, and pomegranate. Vegetables (potato, onion and tomato) and spices like chillies, turmeric, cumin, coriander and carom seed (ajwain) can be grown in addition to the seasonal vegetables (like gourds, brinjal, cucurbits, etc). Red chilli clusters should be developed in all the blocks. Backward linkages: Promotion of organic manures and plant growth promoters through SHGs and farmers groups is also recommended, esp in the existing and prospective vegetable clusters. Agricultural implements : Custom Hiring Centres should be established to cater to the demands of such pump sets and large machinery, whereas the small implements should be provided to the farmers on subsidy. Appropriate tools and implements to reduce drudgery of women in agriculture is an expressed need of the farmers. Forward Linkages : The district has sizable scope for promoting food processing units in form of rice mills, dal mills, oil mills, and processing units for turmeric and other local crops. IGG (2020) Potential of Rural Employment in District Damoh Page i 1.3 Livestock and Dairy There is a scope of strengthening dairy activity by supporting village level milk collection and cluster level chilling centres. SRLM is working on this area and is likely to launch few milk routes; it may be replicated in more clusters. Goat and backyard poultry should be promoted among the landless households and among small and marginal farmers. In both the cases, provision of healthcare services would greatly improve the profitability. Such services may be provided by the department through FPOs or SHGs (see 4.2 below). 1.4 NTFP Trade Collection, aggregation and trade of non-timber forest produce like Mahua, Amla, and Chironji can be promoted especially among the poor. 2. Skills and Capacity Building of Youth and Farmers It is recommended to build the skills and capacities of the farmers and youth in appropriate farming techniques. It will require serious strengthening of extension services in agriculture and livestock at the farm level. It is recommended to engage CSOs to provide training and field level follow up on a massive scale, while the government departments and KVKs get prepared for this. It is recommended to develop cadres of barefoot professionals for agriculture and for livestock healthcare in all blocks. It is possible to promote new FPOs and strengthen the existing ones for this extension and promotion of scientific agriculture. 3. Capacity Building on Entrepreneurship It is suggested to build capacities of individual and group entrepreneurs in terms of enterprise- specific knowledge and skills on a limited scale in the next few years. 4. Establishing Systems and Sector Reforms 4.1 Agriculture extension This was found to be the weakest link in development of agriculture, livestock and allied sectors in the entire region. The Department of Agriculture should take urgent steps to correct this malady. Until the time the departments gears up to address this critical gap, it is recommended to engage competent CSOs to provide training, on-site technical support and field level handholding on a comprehensive scale. 4.2 Institutional credit Access to institutional credit is a common constraint in district Chhatarpur. It is recommended to expand the borrower base through SHGs and FPOs under the recently launched Atmanirbhar Bharat programme of the government. IGG (2020) Potential of Rural Employment in District Damoh Page ii The Opener Employment creation assumes a great importance for policy makers and development administration as a natural response to the development challenges of Bundelkhand region. Rural Bundelkhand is characterised by poor resource endowment, recurrent droughts, poverty, and resultant migration. Low natural resource endowment, together with low rate of industrialisation and commerce, has resulted in low employment opportunities for the people. Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Good Governance and Policy Analysis (IGG) conducted a study on Exploring the Employment Potential in Bundelkhand Region of Madhya Pradesh. It was commissioned by the Bundelkhand Development Authority (BDA) towards the overall development of the region with focus on rural employment. It covered five districts of Bundelkhand region namely, Chhatarpur, Damoh, Panna, Sagar, and Tikamgarh and Niwari. Niwari is recently bifurcated from district Tikamgarh, but for this report Tikamgarh and Niwari are considered as one undivided district. The study was carried out with a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods using information gathered from both primary and secondary sources. This report is a result of the hard work and persistent efforts of Dr Anitha Govindraj, Advisor and Mr Yugandhar Mandavkar, Fellow.