March 2021 Combating COVID-19 by Panchayati Raj Institutions - a Comparative Study of Elected Vs Non-Elected Village Panchayats in Selected Districts of Tamil Nadu

Combating COVID-19 By Panchayati Raj Institutions - A Comparative Study of Elected Vs Non-Elected Village Panchayats in Selected Districts Of Tamil Nadu

"This research study is funded by Azim Premji University as part of the COVID-19 Research Funding Programme 2020."

Prepared by Mr. Inbarasan K G Mr. Gurusaravanan M Mr. Prabagaran M

Institute of Grassroots Governance Tiruppur, Tamil Nadu March 2021 Combating COVID-19 By Panchayati Raj Institutions - A Comparative Study of Elected Vs Non-Elected Village Panchayats in Selected Districts Of Tamil Nadu

"This research study is funded by Azim Premji University as part of the COVID-19 Research Funding Programme 2020."

Prepared by

Mr.Inbarasan K G

Mr. Gurusaravanan M

Mr. Prabagaran M

Institute of Grassroots Governance Tiruppur, Tamil Nadu March 2021 ©Institute of Grassroots Governance, Tiruppur Tamil Nadu and Azim Premji University, Bangalore

Cover Page designed by Mr.Kuppu Balaji LN.

Report Published by Institute of Grassroots Governance, 20/6, RVE Layout, 5 th Street, Thennampalayam, Tiruppur, Tamil Nadu -641604 [email protected]

RESEARCH TEAM

Principal Investigators

Mr.Inbarasan K G Mr. Gurusaravanan M Mr Prabagaran M

Research Officers

Dr.G.Rani Mr.M.Suriyamoorthy

Dr.A Ranjithkumar Ms P.Arockia Jenitta

Research Assistants

Mr.J.Lokeshwaran Mr. S.Azhagesan

Mr.S.Maruthupandian Mr.M.Mariapparaja

Field Assistants

Mr. S.Sivanvel Ms. M.Jenifer

Mr. S.Alexander Mr. A.Livingston Prabakar

Mr. P.Thamaraiselvan Ms. S.Ushakumari

Mr. V.Prabakaran Mr. M.Tamilarasan

Mr. E.Muthamizhnilavan Ms. K.G.Suganya

Ms. B.Maneesha Mr. S. Shabareesh

Mr. B.Arun Prasath

Acknowledgement

First and Foremost, We would like to thank the Research Center, Azim Premji University for giving us the first opportunity to exhibit our research skills through COVID 19 Research Funding Programme.

We would like to place our heartfelt thanks to our Mentor Dr.K.Gireesan for his valuable comments and suggestions.

For assisting the data collection efforts in the study area, we would like to thank Mr.Alagu Murugan, Office Assistant in Nanguneri Town Panchayat, Mr.Mohan, an alumnus of RGNIYD, Mr.Sivabalasubiramani , APO, Zonal officer, DRDA, Mrs. Sasireaka, Director, Small Saving Scheme, Thoothukudi and all the officials involved the study.

We would like to thank all the members of Institute of Grassroots Governance for their moral support and a special mention to Mr.M.Karthikeyan, Researcher, Institute of Grassroots Governance.

We would like to express our gratitude to our Mentor Dr.R.Anitha for her support in the preparation of report.

Last but not the least; we would like to place our highest gratitude to all the people in the village panchayats and staffs involved in the research.

Inbarasan K G

Gurusaravanan M

Prabagaran M

iii

List of Figures

Fig 3.1 Duration and Respondents of the Semi-structured Interview Schedules Fig 3.2 Study area of the research Fig 3.3 Timeline and the Process of the Research Fig 4.1Scenario of MGNREGA after Pandemic Fig 4.2Communicationabout COVID 19 Pandemic by Anganwadi worker Fig4.3 Details of Training programme for COVID-19 Fig 4.4 Works without Panchayat Presidents Fig 4.5 and Fig 4.6 Comparison of Elected and Non elected Village panchayats through Mind maps. List of Tables

Table 3.1 Selected study area Village Panchayat, Block and District Details Table 3.2 Details of the total number of the participants involved in the study Table 3.3 FGD with approximately 10 persons per village panchayat Table 4.1 Demographic profile of the Respondents Table 4.2 Mode of awareness about COVID 19 Table 4.3 Details of funds transferred based on other accounts of village panchayats List of Abbreviations

BDO – Block Development Officer VP – Village Panchayats VPP – Village Panchayat President VPS – Village Panchayat Secretary AWW – Anganwadi Worker VHN – Village Health Nurse ASHA – Accredited Social Heath Activist ICDS – Integrated Child Development Scheme COVID 19 – Corona Virus Disease 2019 ODK – Open Data Kit MGNREGA – Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

Table of Contents

S.No Contents Page No. 1. Research Team ii 2. Acknowledgement iii 3. List of Figures iv 4. List of Tables iv 5. List of Abbreviations iv 6. Executive Summary vi 7. Chapter I – Introduction 1 8. Chapter II – Review of Literature 4 9. Chapter III – Research Methodology 10 10. Chapter IV – Data Analysis and Interpretation 18 11. Chapter V – Findings and Suggestions 39 12. Annexure I – Interview Schedules 43 13. Annexure II –Fieldwork images of the Research 65

Executive Summary

Combating COVID 19 during the initial phases of the virus was an important aspect and the same has been handled by the Local Government in the respective states. States like Odisha has given the powers of district magistrate to the Village Panchayat Presidents to enforce the rules and regulations required in their own village panchayats. In the state of Tamil Nadu, 27 districts rural Local Government was established with the elected representatives in January 2021 and the COVID 19 Pandemic Lock down was enforced in March 2021. This research study made a comparison of the Elected Vs Non elected village panchayats in Two pair of districts( Cuddalore – Villupuram pair and Tirunelveli – Thoothukudi pair) in Tamil Nadu with cultural similarity but different organizational culture of Local Government with and without elected representatives. This study used a mixed methodology with Qualitative and quantitative methods through Open Data Kit software tool for faster analysis. The research staffs appointed from the same districts of study to follow the COVID 19 norms issued by the state government of Tamil Nadu from time to time. The researchers also visited the study area whenever required.

The ODK used in the study was useful to complete the analysis and monitor the researcher’s progress during the study. The focus group discussion with the people of the respective people, interviews with the officials and elected represented helps to triangulate the research output and helps to compare the analysis. The study made a comparison of the performance of the village panchayats through the effectiveness and efficiency. The key findings of the research study reveal that i) the elected village panchayats performed better as compared to non-elected village panchayats in tackling covid-19 ii) increased workload of the Special Officer ie., the Block Development Officer (Village Panchayats) due to the absence of Village Panchayat Presidents in the Non elected Village panchayats showcasing the dire need of elected representative in the village panchayat.

The funds availability and distribution was also faced shortage due to non- releasing of grants on time to the village panchayats that forced them to get funds from external agents. The MGNREGA works was helpful in the village panchayats for the livelihood of the people during the lockdown in elected panchayats with less COVID 19 areas but it wasn’t implemented in non-elected village panchayats. The research study suggests to conduct regular elections for all local governments on time and also to give necessary capacity building for the newly elected representatives immediately after getting elected.

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Ever since the outbreak of the pandemic, there has been a lot of discussion about the need for improved public health interventions. The Governance Global Practice (World Bank 2020) 1 highlights the need for fast, creative, effective, transparent and accountable governments. Notably, all levels of government need to take stock of the lessons learnt from their crisis response. As of October 2020, in India, 6312584 positive cases have been reported with a recovery rate of 85.33%. India, with a population of more than 1.34 billion—the second largest population in the world faced difficulties to handle the pandemic. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India has raised awareness about the recent outbreak and have issued guidelines to take necessary actions to control the spread of COVID-19. The Union and State governments in-turn have taken several measures and formulating several wartime protocols to reduce the number of COVID -19 cases. With the aim to reduce community transmission of the novel coronavirus, the Indian government came up with a 55-days lockdown throughout the country on March 25 th , 2020.The case of Kerala, Odisha in the initial phase of tackling COVID- 19 pandemic shows why local government institutions are very important in the fulcrum of decentralized governance in our country. The powers devolved by the respective state governments towards the local government institutions vary and it influences the nature of works/efforts need to be done at the grassroots level. In this scenario, it is imperative to study the third sphere of government i.e., local government and how they combated COVID-19.

The divide between the rural and urban local government institutions is clearly evident due to the geographical characteristics, population density etc.

1.1 Elected Vs Non-elected village panchayats

In case of Tamil Nadu, the Local Government Elections were conducted for the rural local government only in 27 of 38 districtsin December 2019. The elections were not conducted for the Urban Local Governments (ULG) in the state since 2016. This scenario makes it imperative

1 World Bank. (2020). Governance and Institutions Emergency Measures for State Continuity during COVID-19 Pandemic. Retrieved from: http://pubdocs.worldbank.org/en/333281587038822754/Governance-and-Institutions- during-COVID.pdf

1 to take up a comparative study between the VPs with elected leadership and VPs without elected leadership in the select Districts of the State, as that will enable us to analyze the effectiveness and efficiency of elected leadership in combating COVID-19 at the field level.

1.2 Role of Village Panchayats and other stakeholders during COVID 19 Pandemic

The Village Panchayats are playing major role in the grassroots sphere in the governance structure for the social justice and economic development. It was clearly visible during the COVID 19 Pandemic.

In the village panchayats of Tamil Nadu, Department of Health has its grassroots structure as Primary health Centre (PHC) and the Department of Women and children under Integrated Child Development Schemes (ICDS) as Anganwadi centres. These two institutions are coordinated and monitored by the Village panchayats as the Local Government at the grassroots.

The Department of Health has the Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) or the Village health Nurses (VHN) in the each village primary sub health centres. These primary sub- health centres are coordinated by the Primary Health Centres(PHC) with a Doctor. The PHCs at the village panchayats are coordinated by Block Medical officer in the Block Health Offices. The Block Health offices are coordinated by District Medical Officer at the District level. The ASHA / VHN will be visiting the villages based on a pre defined Schedule. Their job profile is to distribute medicines in the villages based on the requirements. They regularly made available in the PHCs for health checkups apart from the Schedule. The VHN /ASHA workers visited the villages for the distribution of the medicines available and basic medical checkups.

The Anganwadi Centres in the villages are coordinated by the Anganwadi Worker and Helper. These workers and helpers were periodically monitored by a Supervisor. The Supervisors will be monitored by Child Development Project Officer (CDPO) through ICDS Block office. They are monitored by the District Project Officer. The Anganwadis played important role to provide basic nutrition for the Child, Lactating Mothers and the Adolescent Girls. They also supported to create awareness among the women and children.

According to the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act 1994, the roles and responsibilities of the Village panchayat Presidents, Panchayat Secretary and the Special Officer nominated by the Government

2 of Tamil Nadu were briefed. In the elected Village Panchayats,the Panchayat Secretary has only the clerical role.

The Functions of the Executive authority as defined in section 84 of the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act 1994 is to execute the works passed through the resolutions of the Village Panchayat, to control all the officers and servants of the Village Panchayat and also to discharge all the duties specifically imposed and exercise all the powers conferred on the Executive Authority by the Act and through Government Orders.

But whenever the Special Officer is being appointed based on various Government Orders of Tamil Nadu, it is clear that the Executive Authority of 30-40 Village Panchayats will be transferred to a single official ie., the Block Development officer (Village Panchayats) in the case of village panchayats. It was in effect in all the non –elected village panchayats since October 2016.

The current study focuses on the nature and extent of combating COVID-19 by the Village Panchayats (VP) in selected Districts of Tamil Nadu. It also tries to compare the VPs with elected leadership and without elected leadership to ascertain the dynamics and dimensions of power and its application.

1.3 The Main objectives of the study are

• To analyze the performance of the village panchayats in the selected areas in combating COVID-19. o Mobilization and utilization of funds, MGNREGA works, and awareness creation are used to measure the performance. • To study the functioning of the panchayat in utilizing the services of Anganawadi workers and helpers as well as the services provided by ASHA workers. • To compare the efficiency and effectiveness in handling the COVID-19 pandemic by village panchayats with and without elected leadership. • To bring out case studies of select Village Panchayats from the study area.

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

This chapter reviews few literatures relevant to the study as follows.

Palanithurai G. (1998) 2“New panchayati Raj System in the Development Process” has explained the process of development at the present and indicated the opportunity available for panchayat to make use of them for the benefit of the people. The pro-activeness of the village panchayats are expected during the COVID 19 Pandemic.

Geetinder Kaur (2003) 3wrote that panchayats were largely self governing although their social background was characterized by the rigid social structure. It is now widely accepted that self-governing institutions at the local level are essential for nation growth and for effective people’s participation and they are an integral and indispensable part of the democratic process. This in fact once again proved during the COVID 19 Pandemic by viewing the performance of the Panchayats especially in the presence of Leadership.

Devika Radha et. al. (2020) 4study is to understand the role of LSGs in COVID-19 management during the initial phase of the pandemic in Kerala. Managing the pandemic by planning activities at local level has gone a long way in controlling spread of the viral infection in Kerala, during the initial phase. This can serve as a model for effective implementation of public health programs as illustrated in the case of COVID-19 pandemic.

The place and role of local government in federal system was edited by Nico Steytler published at 2005. South Africa has embarked on an important experiment of creating a decentralized system of government comprising three spheres of government-national, provincial and local government has been given considerable constitutional recognition. In many respects, South Africa is a leader in the emerging role that local government is expected to play in entrenching democracy and promoting development.

2Palanithurai G, "New Panchayati Raj System in the Development process of the world to-day" (Tamil), Thittam, Vol.29: No.11 (July, 1998). 3 Geetinder Kaur, "Political Dynamics of Panchayati Raj in India", Third Concept September-2003, p17. 4Devika Radha et. al. (2020): Role of local self-governments in control of COVID-19 in Kerala: An Exploratory Study, International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health, Vol. 7, Issue. 12, pp. 5027-5034.

Palanithurai G. (1994) wrote an article on “Empowering People or Bureaucracy”. The author has critically evaluated the main provisions of the panchayats act in terms of the basic framework developed by the Indian government for devolution of power through the 73rd amendment. People should have been given supervisory and control power over the panchayat. It indicts the overriding power of the collector. It makes a fervent plea for the change of such provision.

Sing S.P. (2001) 5 in his study on “Management of People by Gram Panchayati for Rural Development” has explained the indicators of effective management of people by gram panchayats for rural development. The study finds human resource development, one of the most important indicators of people management, followed by coordination and communication at local level, and people’s involvement and participation in planning.

Jody and Juliet et.al (2010)6 says that findings of a project commissioned Local Government improvement and development involving leading experts, practitioners and decision makers. There were also individual discussions with local authority officers, leaders, and elected member whose ideas and experience have informed the content of the report. What is needed to support local government action to promote wellbeing is already in place, including the wellbeing power, the forth coming power of general competence and partnership working structures. This means that there is scope for councils to adapt mainstream services cost- effectively rather than requiring new expensive initiatives. Our aim in this report is therefore to reveal where opportunities exit to effect positive change. We draw on local authorities own experiences to provide guidance and tips for how to make this happen. Local authorities are arguably best placed to be the ultimate custodians of citizens. It is no secret that many councilors are over-worked and spend much of their time dealing with issues raised by individual residents. These are also likely to involve the organizations with key roles to play in the big society agenda: co-ops, mutual’s, charities and social enterprises. Consider the way in which the equality frame work for local government aims to position equality objectives within core council business. Here actions can be taken to raise awareness among citizens and within

5 Singh, S.P. (2002). “Management of People by Gram Panchayati for Rural Development", Journal of Rural Development, 2002, Vol.20 (2), 6The Role of Local Government in promoting Well Being Report was written by Jody Aked, Juliet Michaelson and Nicola Steuer, Deployment Unit National Mental Health, November 2010.

5 communities about what wellbeing is, and how it can be supported. The idea of mass localism - the mobilization of people on a large scale at local relationships and effective networks. The project commissioned to develop five ways to wellbeing Connect, Be active, Take notice, keep learning and Give. The main contribution of this works in comparative study shows how to improve various aspects of well-being in the sphere of local government.

An article entitled Social Development via People Participation written by Ranjith kumar A (2015) 7 discussed socio-economic status of the people in Village Panchayat. The study gathered people’s opinion on the performance of development function by the Village Panchayat. Though the study portrays the fair performance of the panchayat regarding the provision of basic amenities, yet the panchayat has not taken serious steps to provide market facilities to sell and purchase the goods for the villages (83%). The study found that the village Panchayat is very weak and is not able to perform functions properly as well as the village panchayat has inadequate financial resources. Author also found that Panchayat organization lacks adequate participation of all sections of people like Women, Youth, Dalits, etc. Lack of organic linkage among elected representatives, staff and the people is a major administrative problem, which needs to be done away with. The attitudinal change among the people and the elected representatives may create an environment for mutual understanding and thereby the involvement of people in gram sabha meetings may change. The success of democratic decentralization and development administration at the grassroots level depends wholly on the extent of the participation in the grassroots governance.

An article on Rural and Urban Disparities of Scheduled Caste Population: A Study with Special Reference to Viluppuram District, Tamil Nadu written by Ranjith kumar A (2020) 8. The main objectives of this study is To study the levels of scheduled caste population by residence, To examine the sex ratio in total and child population of scheduled castes by residence, To understand the literacy levels of the scheduled caste population by sex and, and To demarcate the work participation rate of the scheduled caste population by sex and residence. The study mainly focused on Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu and discussion carried out from the census of

7Ranjithkumar A (2015): Social Development via People Participation, Third Concept: An International Journal of Ideas, Vol. 29, No.343, September, pp.48-51. 8Ranjith kumar A (2020): Rural and Urban Disparities of Scheduled Caste Population: A Study with Special Reference to Villupuram District, Tamil Nadu, Journal of Social Science Research Vol. 16, pp.13-32.

India. It may be suggested that the District which have more proportion of scheduled caste population with low sex ratio both in total and child populations and high gender and residential differences in literacy rate and work participation rate may be more concentrated with suitable awareness and reformative social welfare measures.

Siva kumar I, et. al. (2020) 9 made a comparative study on rural and urban disparities to Accessing Public Health Facilities in Tamil Nadu. The study discussed the status of public health facilities among rural and urban populations of Karaikudi Taluk in Tamil Nadu based on the 2011 census and case studies. The study highlighted that The medical facilities in rural areas have not yet been reached and more than half (68.8%) of the population live in rural, Access to medical facilities creates inequalities among the rural and urban populations, and Nearly one- third of the population in India, those living in rural areas, till away from the basic medical facilities. The study rightly pointed out that Health is an integral part of human development which is associated with fundamental human rights. The study found that all kinds of health care facilities are not being accessed by rural communities. The study concluded all kinds of medical facilities are not being accessed by rural communities when compared with urban areas and rural communities till away from medical facilities and benefits of medical facilities are reaching mostly to urban communities. Regarding this, government shall be creating medical centre and physicians at every village with full infrastructure and facilities. Inequality accessing in Public Health facilities shall be removed in rural areas than the rural community will be benefited.

Iowa State University (2010)10 analysed all-hazards preparedness for Rural Communities which are vulnerable to any number of hazardous or threatening situations. These can include incidents caused by natural disasters, biological emergencies or man-made or technological threats. Some of hazards are Floods, Severe Thunderstorms, Tornadoes, Excessive Heat, Drought, Severe Winter Storms, Pandemic Influenza, Foreign Animal Diseases, Emerging and Zoonotic Diseases, Emerging Crop Diseases and Pests, Food Safety Recalls, Bio- and Agro- terrorism, Agrochemical Issues, Power Outages. Diseases that spreads rapidly from animal-to- animal and, if given the opportunity, from herd-to-herd; includes most emerging and foreign

9Siva kumar I, et. al. (2020): Accessing Public Health Facilities: Rural and Urban Disparities, Journal of Critical Reviews, Vol 7, Issue 3, and Pp.382-388. 10 Center for Food Security and Public Health (2010), All-Hazards Preparedness for Rural Communities, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

7 animal diseases.During an Outbreak Situation Cooperate with veterinarians and officials to prevent the disease from spreading further. In all hazards mitigation was the priority which reduces the damage among the people and property.

Decentralisation and Interventions In Health Sector: A Critical Inquiry Into The Experience Of Local Self Governments In Kerala was written by Thomas M.Benson & Rajesh.K published at 2011. The Democratic decentralization process was launched in Kerala with the peoples planning campaign in1996 followed by the 73 rd and 74 th Amendments to the constitution of India and the passing of the Kerala Panchayat Act. One of the major objectives of the decentralization process in Kerala was to strengthen the public healthcare network and improve the quality of public health service delivery. Kerala’s health sector has undergone radical changes in the last few decades. The democratic decentralization process launched in Kerala through the Panchayat Raj system and the People’s Planning Campaign was expected to address the challenges in the healthcare sectors the state. Decentralization succeeded to an extent in improving the infrastructure of the primary and secondary healthcare institutions. The labour and political movements in Kerala ensured that the government implement and various welfare policies for the well-being of the people. It resulted in the implementation of favorable policies particularly in the health and education sectors.

Siva kumar I, et. al. (2020) 11 critically examined Income and Food Habits on Health Issues among Rural Women in Tamil Nadu. The study said that Long journey of rural development programme, the government of India enacted MGNREGA to promote right to work, and right to food among rural residences. Authors pointed out that Women’s income in rural areas is significantly related to food habits on health issues of rural women as well as rural economy. The study also said that rural income inequalities lead to increasing of economic segregation of health issues, lack of the resources of families in poverty and so on and the income generation also leads to promotion of food habits which directly impact on health. There are two main objectives are; to understand food consumption pattern of rural women associated with their health, and to examine relationship between income and health issues among the rural women. The data for this study were collected from both primary and secondary sources.

11 Siva kumar I, et. al. (2020): Income And Food Habits On Health Issues Among Rural Women In Tamil Nadu, International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology, Vol. 29, No. 9s, (2020), pp. 1536-1541.

Primary data were generated through field survey and 384 samples were collected in Villupuram district. The study concluded that MGNEMGA gives positive impact on income generation among rural women. As a result health status of women is being slowly increased. The crucial steps to strengthening the rural economy are already being taken through various policies.

Ranjith kumar A (2018) 12 wrote an article on Social Justice through Rural Development Programmes in Tamil Nadu. The paper dealt with how MGNREGA contributes to rural development and what is the present situation of village and how rural development programmes lead to social justice? The study said that the conditions of the Indian villages are under gloomy and they are still poor and pointed out that rural development is traditionally focused on the exploitation of natural resources such as agricultural, forest and mining. Rural planning is the process of improving the quality of life and economic well being of community living in relatively unpopulated areas rich in natural resources. The study concluded that The MGNREGS helped to establish rural economic transformation. But it failed to establish social transformation. The study argued with field evidence that the just social orders cannot be constructing through MGNREGA in rural areas.

12 Ranjith kumar A (2018): Social Justice through Rural Development Programmes: A Case of MGNREGA in Tamil Nadu, Open Urban Studies and Demography Journal, Volume 4, pp.15-22.

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The study is both qualitative an d quantitative in nature and primary survey has been undertaken in select districts of Tamil Nadu. It is helpful to understand the ground reality village panchayats in the selected districts in depth and to triangulate the study outcomes. 3.1 Open Data Kit (ODK) Open Data Kit (ODK) 13 is a free and open source software that helps to accurately, offline and at scale. The software is in active use in all parts of supported by a large and helpful community. The ODK is being majorly used to reduce the time consumption for the analysis.

Anganwadi Workers (167 respondents) (12 minutes)

Semi Structured Interview Schedules

ASHA Workers or Village Health Nurse

(100 respondents) (12 minutes)

Fig 3.1 Duration and Respondent s of the Semi-structured Interview Schedules

13 https://getodk.org retrieved on 28/03/2021

3.2 Research Tools used in the Study The following research tools used for the collection of data through Open Data Kit (ODK). The Fig 3.1 indicates the duration and respondents of the Semi-structured interview Schedule. The duration varies for each respondent and hence the average of the time taken for all the respondents has also been given. All the selected village panchayats have been conducted with at least one Focus Group Discussion with a cross-section of the society with duration of 30 to 40 minutes with a special focus about the functions of the village panchayat, various institutions, accessibility to the heath facilities and their livelihood during the COVID 19 Pandemic. Participant observation and observation of the selected village panchayats helped to triangulate the research in multiple perspectives in the study. 3.3 Universe of the study The study area was situated in Tamil Nadu. The selected districts of the study are as follows. • Cuddalore (Elected)and Villupuram (Non Elected) • Thoothukudi (Elected) and Tirunelveli (Non Elected) The rationale for choosing these pair of districts in Tamil Nadu is that, they both are adjacent to each other and culturally similar in nature. The COVID 19 scenario is different in each selected pair. In Cuddalore Vs Villupuram Pair, Cuddalore has more number of cases and in Thoothukudi Vs Tirunelveli pair, Tirunelveli have more number of cases. 3.4 Sampling The samples of the districts are selected using the purposive sampling method to have the similar cultural nature and the adjacent districts having elected & non-elected representatives. The number of blocks in each selected district has been fixed as at least 50% of the total number of blocks through convenience sampling. Due to the general observation during the pilot study, it has been decided to learn about the accessibility of resources and medical facilities in the selected blocks wherein the blocks are selected with the criteria as follows. 1. Blocks which are Nearer to the District Headquarters – access to more medical facilities 2. Blocks which are far away from the District Headquarters – access to less medical facilities

Table 3.1 Selected study area Village Panchayat, Block and District Details

District Name of the Blocks Name of the Village Panchayats Kappur Koliyanur Maragadhapuram Anangoor Pidagam Esalam

Vikravandi Kayathur

Maurapakkam

Kuthampoondi

Kollur Mugaiyur Devanur Kandachipuram Manampoondi Pilliyar Kuppam

Thirunavalur Kalamarudur Villupuram Nemili (Non Elected) Pandur Koonimedu Kattalai Marakkanam Adasal Nagar Jeyankondan Gingee Anaieri Konai Jambodi Manandal Melmalayanur Kannalam Parayathangal Kadali Venkatrangapuram Tiruveruthanpulli Cheranmahadevi Karisalpatty Ulagankulam Vanniyakonendal Manur Manur Gangaikondan Tirunelveli Pettai rural (Non elected) Koonthankulam Munanchipatti Nanguneri Ariyakulam Ittamozhi Palaiyam chettikulam Ariyakulam Palayamkottai Munirpallam Ramayanpatti Levenchipuram Erukandurai Vallioor Therku vallioor Achampadu

Periyakanganakuppam Singirikudi Cuddalore Gunamangalam Karamanikuppam Aandamullipalayam Aalapakkam Kurinjipadi Kayalpattu Poovanikuppam Arangur Mangalore Kazhudhur Kallur Mangalore Gudalur Cuddalore Nallur Eraiyur (Elected) Veppur Nallur Rajendhirapattinam Paravalur Virudhachalam Manavalanallur Vettaikudi Meedhikudi B.Mutlur C.Kothangudi Parangipettai Poovalai Mudikandanallur Kandiyangkuppam Srimushnam Nadheeswaramangalam Valasakadu Nattathi Thirupanichettikulam Srivaikundam Sivakalai Arumugamagalam Ammanpuram Veeramanikam Thiruchendur Nallur Melaputhukudi KeelaVaippar MelaVaippar Vilathikulam Kolthur Thoothukudi Periyasamypuram (Elected) KelaArasadi Kurukusalai Ottapidaram Vellaram Katcherithalavaipuram Kelaeral Melaeral Kovilpatti Manjanayakanpatti T.shunmugapuram Thirukolur MelaAthoor Alwarthirunagar Sethukavaithan Rajapathi

Fig 3.2 Study area of the research

Source : diva-gis.org Table 3.1 depicts the selected Village Panchayats in each selected districts of the study. The blocks are selected through the purposive sampling with the above mentioned two criteria in a random manner. The villages are selected in the same manner through purposive sampling. The respondents of the study are selected through their designations and the persons involved in the Focus Group Discussion are selected through convenience sampling. Fig 3.2 depicts the study area of the research with clear boundaries of the districts slected for the research study. Table 3.2 and Table 3.3 indicate the number of samples selected among various respondents for each district and the total number of respondents for Focus Group Discussion (FGD) in the selected districts of the study respectively.

Table 3.2 Details of the sample size involved in the study Name of No of Total Panchayat Panchayat BDO Anganwadi ASHA District blocks selected Presidents Secretary workers /VHN selected panchayats Cuddalore 14 28 28 28 7 48 28 Villupuram 13 28 - 28 7 42 28 Thoothukudi 12 24 24 24 6 38 24 Tirunelveli 9 20 - 20 5 39 20 Total 48 100 52 100 25 167 100

Table 3.3 FGD with approximately 10 persons per village panchayat Name of District No of blocks Total Total general public for selected panchayats FGD in each district* Cuddalore 7 28 353 Villupuram 7 28 223 Thoothukudi 6 24 268 Tirunelveli 5 20 243 Total 25 100 1087

Fig 3.4 indicates the timeline and the process of the study. The recruitment of research staff completed in the end of September 2020 and selected from the respective districts of the study considering the sustainability and follow ups if any required for future utilization of their services. In case of health workers, the majority was Village Health Nurses and only a few villages in Tirunelveli had ASHA workers.

3.5 Timeline and the Process of the Research

The tools mentioned in the research are chosen with the specific reason. The Semi structured Interview Schedules are preferred mainly to get more qualitative data and also to question them with additional questions wherever required from the respondents such as Village Panchayat Presidents, Village panchayat Secretary, Block Development officers, ASHA/VHN and the Anganwadi workers. To cross verify the data given by the elected members & officials, Focus group Discussion was preferred for the people in the respective village panchayats that helped to verify the information through triangulation.

Fig 3.3 Timeline and the Process of the Research

The Open Data Kit (ODK) was used in the study to confirm the collection of the data from the only selected village panchayats and the location was verified as well as monitored by a Field Assistant regularly based on the entry submitted daily by the Research Staff.

The ODK Mobile Application was used to collect the data with five meters accuracy of the respondents of the study to ensure the physical collection of the data following all the COVID 19 norms of the Government. The collected data was regularly entered by the Research staff daily and monitored regularly by another staff to ensure the data collection and data entry regularly to avoid errors. The entered data was collected in the online Google drive and also the Focus Group Discussions are recorded and stored in the cloud storage for verifying the authenticity of the research. This saved quantum of time required for data entry. The Analysis of the research was prepared using the Microsoft Excel and SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences).

3.6 Limitations and challenges of the Study

• Interference of Cyclones such as Burevi and Nivar in the study area delayed the data collection process. • VHNs haven't shared the official data without any approval from Block and District Medical Officers. • Focus Group Discussions was a challenging part during the study especially mobilizing the people at a common location in the village. • Audio recordings of the FGDs and Photographs of the Interviews were not permitted for us in few village panchayats by the respondents. • Lack of response from public officials. • Lack of cooperation of village panchayat presidents in few villages. • Shorter duration of the research is also limitation.

CHAPTER IV

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

The fourth chapter deals with data analysis and interpretation which includes demographic details of respondents, awareness about COVID-19, fund, functions and functionaries of respondents, training for the respondents, communications, performance of panchayats, leadership, comparative analysis of elected and non elected village panchayat, and case study.

4.1 Socio Economic Data Analysis

Table 4.1 Demographic profile of the Respondents

Sl. No Demographic variables BDO VPP VPS VHN AWW Male 22 25 85 Nil Nil 1. Gender Female 3 27 15 100 167 Hindu - 47 92 - 144 2. Religion Muslim - - 2 - 2 Christian - 5 6 - 21 BC - 17 34 - 72 MBC - 7 33 - 40 3. Caste SC - 26 28 - 50 ST - Nil Nil - 3 OC - 2 5 - 2 Unmarried - 5 2 92 - Marital 4. Married - 47 96 7 - Status Widow - - 2 1 - 10 th - - 16 18 - 12 th 5 - 43 48 - Educational ITI/ Diploma 1 - 1 1 - 5. Qualification UG 15 - 36 13 - PG 4 - 4 7 - Others - - Nil 13 - 18-27 2 3 1 - - 28-37 - 9 17 - - 6. Age 38-47 3 20 59 - - 48-57 18 12 23 - - Above 58 2 8 Nil - -

Source : As computed from the research

The total number of Village Panchayats chosen for the study is computed as 100 and the total number of Developmental blocks is 25. Hence a total of 25 Block development Officers and 100 Panchayat Secretaries data has been collected and compiled. Table 4.1 shows the demographic profile of all the respondents which includes Gender, Religion, Caste, Marital Status, Educational Qualification, and Age. 88% of the BDOs are Male and only 12% are female. 85% of the Village Panchayat Secretaries are Male and 15 % are Female. A total of 52 Village Panchayats has the Elected Panchayat Presidents where the elections conducted in the Thoothukudi and Cuddalore Districts. While comparing the Panchayat Secretaries and the BDOs, 51.9 % belongs to Female and 48.1% belongs to male. This gender difference is due to the 50% reservation to Female for the Village Panchayat Presidents by the Government of Tamil Nadu. The Anganwadi and Health Centre showed the presence of AWW and VHN with 100% female.

During the pilot study few respondents have not responded for the basic information in the response and hence decided to not collect the education details for the Village panchayat Presidents and the Anganwadi Workers. It is also to be noted that the Elected Representatives doesn’t require any mandatory Education Qualification and the Anganwadi workers minimum educational qualification is defined as 10 th Standard.

The demography also indicates the caste details and religion details of the few respondents such as Village panchayat Presidents, Village Panchayat Secretary and Anganwadi Worker who are from the same village panchayat itself. VPP, VPS and AWW from Backward class is 32.7%, 34% and 43.1 % respectively. The most backward class comprises of 13.5%, 33% and 23.9% respectively for VPP, VPS and AWW respectively. In Scheduled Caste 50 % are VPP, 28% are VPS and 30% are AWW in the selected respondents. In Scheduled Tribes, only 1.8% of the AWW is present and not present in other two respondent categories. 3.8% of VPP, 5% of VPS and 1.2% of AWW belongs to the Other Castes.

Around 90.4% of VPP belongs to Hindu and 9.6% belongs to Christian. In VPS, 92% are Hindu, 2 % are Muslims and 6% are Christians. In AWW, 86.2% Hindus, 1.2% Muslims and 12.6% are Christians. The Caste and Religion details are not collected for the VHN and the

BDOs because they are being appointed by the respective department and not selected from the Village panchayat itself.

The marital status of the respondents within the village panchayat is also derived from Table 4.1. 90.4% of VPP, 96% of VPS and 7% of VHN are married. 9.6% of the VPP, 2% of VPS and 92% of VHN are Unmarried. It also indicates that the VHN are mostly unmarried. Only 2% of VPS and 1% of VHNs are Widow.

The educational qualifications are collected only for BDOs, VPS and VHNs. For other respondents it wasn’t collected due to their hesitance during the pilot study itself.60% of BDOs, 36% of VPS and 13% of VHNs are Undergraduates. 48 % of the VHNs, 43% of VPS and 20% of BDOs completed Higher Secondary Course only. Likewise only 4% of VPS, 7% of VHN and 16% of BDOs are post graduates.

4.2 Awareness about COVID 19 Awareness about the COVID 19 and its symptoms as well as the necessary precautions required to be undertaken was given by the village panchayats with the support of the VHNs in respective village panchayats. Irrespective of the presence of Elected Representatives, all the Village panchayats have conducted awareness sessions about the Pandemic with the help of the Panchayat Secretaries. The awareness given was mainly about the symptoms of the COVID 19 disease and the necessary precautions such as using the facemask, sanitizers, social distancing and gloves. The awareness was also given through nukkad nataks or street plays in few village panchayats through the drama artists. These awareness programmes are arranged by the respective village panchayats. Based on the Interview conducted and through observations that there is no specific frequency for the awareness given by them but they have tried to cover the entire village panchayats.

4.2.1 Mode of Awareness The Table 4.2 shows the mode of awareness given by the Village Panchayats with the support of Village Health nurses during COVID 19 pandemic in their respective villages. It clearly shows that 98% and 89.5% of the elected village panchayats and panchayat secretaries preferred the traditional methods of distributing pamphlets and announcements through

20 microphones to the general public rather than opting for banners and other modes respectively. (Annexure II Fig 21) The images of flex banners and pamphlets are available with us and the videos or image of street plays and loudspeaker announcements are not available with us. The flex, notices are distributed by the Department of Health as well as by the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj from the District Head quarters to the villages as per their administrative structure. Based on the Focus Group Discussion, people said that the non-elected village panchayats seen less awareness through the village panchayats in comparison with the elected village panchayats. The Elected village panchayats have distributed the pamphlets through the respective ward members and the non- elected village panchayats, panchayat secretary distributed the pamphlets through the visitors of the panchayat office. Table 4.2 Mode of awareness about COVID 19 Mode of Awareness ElectedVillage Panchayats Non Elected Village (Out of 52) Panchayats (Out of 48) Pamphlets 51(98%) 43(89.5%) Loudspeaker/Microphone 51(98%) 43(89.5%) Announcements through vehicles Digital banners and others 11(21.1%) 21(43.75%) Source : As computed from the research 4.2.2 Hospital Distance Interestingly it is also identified that the Blocks far away from district Head Quarters especially the Virudhachalam block of Cuddalore district has hospitals which is more than 10 kms from their village panchayats that has faced difficulty in accessing the health facility required by the villagers during the Pandemic apart from the existing support received from the VHNs. In Villupuram District, the distance to the hospital facilities vary from 5-10 kms from the blocks to access the hospitals with more facilities. In the case of Southern district pair, Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi the hospital facilities are available to the people within 5km range with maximum facilities. 4.2.3 Relief Materials and its Distribution During the COVID 19 Pandemic, Lockdown have been severely affected the livelihood of the people involved in daily wage employments. The persons with savings were able to

21 manage the situation for an initial period of 1-2 month. The Village panchayats especially wherever the Community Based Organizations/ Non-Governmental Organizations situated have supported their own villages. Especially in the Tirunelveli district, Cheranmahadevi block was supported by CSR personnel of a leading company. In Thoothukudi, villages near the salt production companies received support from the CSR of the companies for 2-3 months. Apart from that, the village panchayat presidents in Cuddalore and Thoothukudi Districts tried to raise funds on their own within their village to support for the livelihood of the old age persons living alone in their villages and also to support people who are socially and economically weak in their own village panchayats. In the non elected village panchayats, if there is no external support from CBOs/NGOs the people are left helpless especially the villages which are distant from the blocks and district Head quarters. The relief materials are distributed mainly contains a medical kit with Kabasurakudineer, (Siddha herbal drink) Rice, vegetables and groceries required for a period of 10-15 days which vary from village to village. 4.3 Performance of the Village Panchayats The performance of the village panchayats were measured by the efficiency and effectiveness of the village panchayats. The effectiveness defined to produce desired results for the process and here it indicates the timely results and work to be done by the village panchayats. The efficiency is defined to achieve the desired outcome of the process. Here the efficiency is defined by the combating the COVID 19 by the village panchayats. 4.3.1 Scenario of MGNREGA during the Pandemic The pandemic not only affected people’s health but also impacted the livelihood and employment of the people. Especially in the rural areas people indulging in the agricultural works were not much affected but others who indulged on various other works such as carpentry, industry labours etc., within the villages were severely affected due to their dependency of jobs in the nearby urban areas which made them move towards MGNREGA works available within their villages. Fig 4.1 shows that the MGNREGA Job cards have been increased in the non-elected village panchayats which explains that many villagers are not having job cards for their work and they have received the cards only after the pandemic due to the pressure from the higher officials. But in case of the Elected Village panchayats, job cards have been issued and raised

22 marginally because the people in the village already got their job cards on time. The works have been slowly increased in the village panchayats in a short duration in all the elected village panchayats mainly due to the efforts of elected village panchayat presidents. Fig 4.1 Scenario of MGNREGA after Pandemic

70 33 60

50 Non elected village panchayats (out of 48) 40 32 Elected Village Panchayats (out 30 of 52) 52 20

10 19

0 Job card Increased MGNREGA works Increased

Source: As computed from the research

In Tamil Nadu, all the sanctions of the works under MGNREGA was given in the block through the BDO (VP) in consultation with the Village panchayat Council, But when the same person was appointed as Special Officer, all the decisions of the work was sanctioned based on the inputs of the Village Panchayat secretary with any detailed consultation with the stakeholders of the respective village panchayats. Interestingly few village panchayats in Thoothukudi and Cuddalore have given works under MGNREGA even during the lockdown period where they haven’t encountered any COVID 19 cases but it wasn’t the case in non-elected village panchayats. Observation from field visits in MGNREGA work sites also showed that people followed all the COVID-19 protocols and had taken preventive measures. In Villupuram district one of the village panchayat, people was also complained about the ghost beneficiaries in their villages who are the close relatives of the village panchayat secretary which also indicates the corrupt practices in the non-elected

23 village panchayats. The corrupt practices are not reported in the elected village panchayats due to the political involvement and community pressure in the village panchayats with elected representatives. 4.3.2 Fund Distribution and Financial Support In the initial phases of the Lockdown, the village panchayats with own financial resources was managed to provide the basic amenities to the people. When the lock down was extended and there was no financial support from the state Government to the village panchayats, village panchayats without any own source revenue was not able to manage the situation even for giving salary to the village panchayat workers. The village panchayats haven’t received any direct funds from the state government exclusively to combat COVID 19 activities. The funds from the Gram panchayat general fund were utilized by the respective village panchayats. There was no separate funds received by the village panchayat during the lockdown period and they are not able to utilize any tied funds available with them during the peak period of COVID 19 Pandemic in the state of Tamil Nadu. The State government hasn’t sent the 3 rd State Finance Commission funds and the 15 th Finance commission funds to the village panchayats.

Table 4.3 Details of funds transferred based on other accounts of village panchayats Sl. No. Fund Non elected village Village Panchayat panchayats (out of Presidents(out of 48) 52) 1 Transferred from Account 13(27%) 15(28.8%) Num 9/2/3 to Account num 1

2 Not transferred 35(72.92%) 37(71.1%)

Total 48 52 Source: As computed from the research

The village panchayats which are having income from their own tax revenue was able to spend the funds for tackling the COVID 19 pandemic and rest of the village panchayats are helpless in using the funds available under other heads. The approval to use the funds from other heads as debt and return after receiving funds for the spend head to handle the situation was

24 permitted by the state government only in the month of November 2020. This also was possible due to the continuous demand from various village panchayat presidents to release the funds. In case of elected village panchayats, panchayat presidents spent their own money without expecting any support from the administration in the initial stages and get reimbursed once the funds are available. The elected panchayat presidents faced problem in managing funds as the funds given are monitored by the BDOs in comparison with the non-elected village panchayats due to the administrative powers of the BDOs, they are able to utilize the funds in free hand but the utilization was not monitored by any third party or people due to the lack of transparency. The village panchayats which doesn’t have adequate funds to handle the pandemic situation, sought help from volunteers and industrial companies/firms present in vicinity of the villages.

Table 4.3 shows that the village panchayats were severely affected by the lack of financial support and the panchayats with the elected leadership tried to get necessary support. The District administration in Tirunelveli and the Thoothukudi districts tried to transfer funds through the BDOs to the village panchayats with the existing funds as informed that out of 25 BDOs, Six BDOs in the Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi districts said that the district administration supported through the existing funds than the Cuddalore and Villupuram districts of Tamil Nadu.

4.3.3. Training and Communication during COVID 19 The village panchayat presidents in Cuddalore and Thoothukudi have been newly elected in January 2020 and they haven’t given enough training on Panchayat Administration to handle the pandemic during the initial period of the COVID 19 pandemic. It was challenging for newly elected presidents to go to the field without any training being provided to them. They were able to manage the pandemic with the support of panchayat officials, BDOs along with the local Volunteers and NGO representatives in their own locality. Majority of the respondents haven’t received training and a few during the discussion informed that they have been told to follow only the instructions provided to them rather than offering training. Few respondents also said that the trainings had happened online where they haven’t given smart phones to attend the trainings in the PHC which forced some of the respondents to buy a smart phone to attend these online training programs. Fig 4.2 shows Trainings received to handle the pandemic. Majority of the respondents (80.6%) have not received any training, and 19.4% respondents said that theyhave received the

25 training online to handle the pandemic. Few also informed us that the training sessions only gave instructions to follow. Fig 4.3 shows the Communication received by the Anganwadi worker in both the elected and non elected village panchayats during COVID-19 pandemic. Majority of the respondents (86.8 percent) received Communication. 13.2 percent of respondents told that they haven’t received any Communication.

Fig 4.2 Details of Training programme for COVID-19

BDO 10 15

AWW 43 124

VPP 3 49 Yes No VPS 28 72

VHN 2 98

0 50 100 150 200

Source : As computed from the research

Fig 4.3 Communication about COVID 19 Pandemic by Anganwadi worker

Received Communication

13.2%

Yes No 86.8%

Source : As computed from the research

The mode of communication was 100% through Phone calls and using the online messaging applications like WhatsApp, Telegram and the official communications are very limited between the Block Development offices to the Village Panchayats.

With regards to the Anganwadis and Primary Health Centres, the instructions have been given separately from their respective Departments such as ICDS and Health Department separately. In the Elected Village panchayats, the village panchayats presidents personally monitored the activities of the Anganwadis and the Primary Health Centre which helped the VHNs to put up necessary health checkups for the people. In case of non-elected village panchayats, monitoring has happened only where the officials are interested to work for the welfare and development and there was no community will present there.

All the respondents such as Panchayat Secretary, Village Health Nurse and Anganwadi workers agreed that the importance of the Village panchayat president was felt during the pandemic for proper coordination and to make necessary arrangements in the village panchayat. During the Focus group discussions, people also felt that they doesn’t have any communication protocol to discuss their problems and the Panchayat secretaries were acted as officials (outsider) and not as a person who one among them which is possible only in the presence of the Elected Leadership that is the Village panchayat Council having elected Village panchayat president and ward members. With regard to the people’s participation, No Grama sabhas were conducted in the village panchayats in both the elected and non-elected village panchayats and the BDOs was given powers to approve the plans approved in village council and wherever village councils are absent the decision of the BDOs was final leading to the absence of the people’s participation in the People’s plan campaign in most of the villages. 4.4. Importance of the Village Panchayat President during Pandemic Based on the inputs from the Focus group Discussions and Interview Fig 4.4 indicates that the BDOs informed that they could work without any Elected Leadership in the Village Panchayats but the 57% Village Panchayat Secretaries wasn’t able to work in the village panchayats without the Panchayat Presidents and the Ward members.

Fig 4.4 Works without Panchayat Presidents 60 57% 50 43% 40

30 Yes 76% 20 No 10 24% 0 VPS BDO

Source : As computed from the research The BDOs were not able to provide the immediate grievance redressal to the queries of the people from the village panchayats even though they said that they could work without the elected leaders. The workload has been tremendously increased for the BDOs where they need to handle 30-40 village panchayats based on the size of the developmental blocks. BDOs majority shows that they are able to adopt the system in a period of 3-4 years without the elected Leadership. At the same time, the Panchayat Secretaries need to move the files physically to the Block office for any approval they require. In the case of the village panchayat located far away from the Block headquarters faced more difficulty for the approval. Along with this based on the Focus Group Discussion, People in the elected village panchayats able to discuss their problems with the elected ward members and the village panchayat president and people in the non elected village panchayats faced problems without the elected leadership. The VHNs also admitted that the elected leadership played an important role for organizing and mobilizing people for the health checkups without any hurdle when compared with the non elected village panchayats where the VHNs faced difficulties for the health check up and COVID tests in the villages.

Box 1. People’s view about the need for self-reliance

Tamil Nadu was the most urbanized state, this COVID situation created an understanding among the people about the importance of sustainable livelihood to an extent

(Source: Based on FGD)

The roles and responsibilities of Anganwadi Workers and ASHA workers are defined by the respective departments and coordination of various stakeholders in the village panchayats lies with the executive authority of the Village panchayat presidents. In case of Non elected village panchayats, the executive authority lies with Special Officer ie., BDO (Village Panchayats). Even though the Anganwadi worker and ASHA workers are able to work during the COVID Pandemic, the initial stages of Lock down people are hesitant to get their services and asked the ASHA Workers/VHN not to come to their respective village panchayats. Wherever the elected representatives present, they explained about the situation and convinced the people. But the problems exist in the non-elected village panchayats because of lack of local government representatives to explain and making people to understand. It also explains the importance and need of the Local Government Representatives.

4.4.1 Decision making during the COVID 19 Pandemic

Especially during the COVID 19 Pandemic, the Village Panchayat Presidents are directly elected by the people where they have executive authority to take decisions at the right time of the COVID 19 Pandemic and also have been viewed as the voice of the people in their respective village panchayats. The decision making at the village panchayats was centralized to the Block Development officer (Village Panchayats) ie., Special Officer for the Village Panchayats in a Development Block of the Non –elected Village Panchayats. The Panchayat Secretary was helpless without any specific funds in the village panchayat for handling the pandemic and also with the leadership vacuum at the village panchayats that made them to approach the Block Development Officer for any decision to be taken in the view of the Pandemic.

4.5. Change management

Since October 2016, the village panchayat secretaries worked in close relation with the Block Development officer (Village Panchayats) who was the Special Officer of the Village Panchayat for the entire block. Only in the month of January 2020, the Village Panchayats are elected by the people and formed the Village Panchayat Council. The period of 3.5 years from 2016 to 2019 made the village panchayat secretaries to work as an employee of the Block office where all the decisions are taken at the block itself without any consultation amongst the people or people’s representatives. This practice comes to an end only in 27 districts where the elected

29 representatives come into the power after the Local Government elections. But the Interpersonal relationship and cooperation between the Village panchayat secretary and village panchayat presidents was poor. Lack of complete training to the Village panchayat president to handle the panchayat administration, Financial Administration, Handling PFMS in the Village Panchayat was a disadvantage for the newly elected village panchayat presidents. These village panchayat presidents also become a dependent along with the village panchayat secretary for the BDO (VP).The empowered village panchayat presidents with self learning capacity and previously worked village panchayat presidents had an advantage to handle all these problems (Reference Case study 3 and 4).

4.6 Comparison of the Elected Vs Non Elected Village Panchayats Based on the Interviews, Focus Group Discussions and Field Observations from all the respondents following inferences are made for the comparison of the Elected and Non Elected Village Panchayats.

• The Elected Village Panchayats have shown the dedicated care to the people irrespective of availability of funds. In case of non-elected village panchayats, the care was given mainly based on the availability of funds and also in few cases without depending of the panchayats Village volunteers had assisted the general public and took care of the need of the Village people. • With regard to the formation of Disaster management Committee and Village Health and Sanitation committee (VHSC) to be formed in the Elected Village Panchayats only one panchayat has VHSC and 16 panchayats has Disaster management Committee. In case of non elected Village Panchayats no such committees has been existing to work for the Health Sanitation and Disaster Management and the roles of these committees are also handled by the Special Officer which further makes the decisions delayed in the non- elected village panchayats. • Based on the responses from the Focus Group Discussion, Interviews, it is computed that During the COVID 19 Pandemic Lock down, 42 % (22 out of 52)elected village panchayat presidents have fined people based on the guidelines from the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj for the violation of the COVID 19 rules. In the

case of non elected village panchayats, fines are not being collected in the village panchayats for violation of the COVID 19 rules. • The MGNREGA works were completely curtailed in the Non-Elected Village panchayats but the elected leadership in the Village panchayats paved the way to provide employment on the basis of less or nil COVID 19 cases in Thoothukudi and Cuddalore District (Reference - case Study ). To illustrate, the Village panchayat Presidents directly approached the Inspector of Panchayats (District Collector) for permitting the MGNREGA works in their village panchayats based on the less or nil COVID 19 cases for the employment of the people. • The people felt the absence of Elected leadership in the Non- elected village panchayats and felt that there wasn’t anyone to listen and address their issues/problems during the initial Lockdown period in the Villupuram District and In case of Tirunelveli the people was majorly supported by the CSR activities of TVS company that made them felt heard and safe even without the elected leadership. • The BDOs were given the Special powers of the Panchayats in decision making of 30-40 village panchayats. A single person visiting 30-40 panchayats created a huge trauma during the pandemic to take quality decision and this questioned the span of control in administration and the aspects of decentralization at the Grassroots. • The elected village panchayats directly supported the Anganwadi works and Primary or Sub Health Centre works wherein which they ensured their availability. And also monitored their works frequently but in case of Non-elected Leadership, only a few BDOs have taken responsibility to monitor the works along with their administrative responsibilities. • Issues Handled by the elected and non-elected village panchayats by Village Panchayat Presidents and Special officers respectively was depicted in the Fig 4.5 and 4.6.These mind maps will be easily make us to understand the issues faced by the Village panchayats and the people of respective village panchayats in a simpler way.

Job cards creation is quicker and faster

MGNREGA The works during lockdown in the no or less COVID 19 areas with the consent of District Collector

A team has been formed in Committees each village to handle the COVID 19

Elected representatives given responsibility to create awareness in respective wards Awareness Generation

Elected Village Panchayats PamphletsPamplets distributed distributed acrossacross the village panchayat through respective ward members

AllAll thethe complaintscomplaintsare are received either by ward members or by the Panchayat Presidents Grievance redressal during the pandemic The grievances are solved as early as possible in the village panchayats

The regular works of the Regualr works of Village panchayats handled by the Panchayat Village Panchayat Presidents quickly Fig 4.5

Job card creation delayed due to the Special Officer only in the Block

MGNREGA

No works commenced till the end of Lock down

No specific committees in Committees the villages

Awareness given only in the main area of the Village panchayat

Awareness Generation Non-Elected Village Panchayats Pamplets are distributed only from the Village Panchayat office

The complaints are received by BDO(VP) ie., the Special Officer Grievance redressal during the pandemic The Special Officer resolved the grievance slowly due to more work load

All the regular works of the panchayat was sanctioned Regualr works of Village by Special Officer only and Panchayat delayed delayed due to more work load

Fig 4.6

The following case studies have been documented in the analysis section to showcase the intricacies and dynamics of developmental issues at the village panchayats having elected and non-elected people representatives during covid-19 pandemic.

Case 1: Efforts of BDO as a Special Officer BDO of Manur Block took charge during April 2020 when the entire country was under lockdown. He was also given the responsibility as a “Special Officer” to handle the administration of all the village panchayats in the Manur Block which alone is a hectic task during the pandemic. Gangaikondan village panchayat is the gate way of Tirunelveli district which is located in this block. Thousands of people migrated to Tirunelveli from outlying states and other districts. All are examined by the medical team and kept in the quarantine centre at ELCOT. The food was arranged by the revenue and disaster management department for the persons in quarantine. Under his able leadership almost 15% to 20 % of the COVID positive people were identified, isolated and sent to the nearby hospital immediately that prevented the spreading of COVID-19.He personally monitored seven village panchayats where more persons from abroad returned. These villages were sanitized in an adequate manner. During the Initial period of Lock down, first COVID death was from this block in the Kodeeswaran nagar and the BDO was entrusted with the task of cremating the body. Most of the people in the area and the people of the local areas near crematorium have not been allowed to cremate. Later on he discussed with the District collector and cremated the dead body in an Electrical Crematorium under the Tirunelveli Corporation. Likewise he cremated around nine dead bodies in the block and told us that he saw them as his mother/father. During the initial period of lock down spraying of the bleaching powder mixed water was stopped by the people due to the lack of awareness amongst people. Later on he directly talked and convinced the people of the locality for improving hygiene. His family was not so supportive due to his engagement in these activities because of fear but he convinced them and continued his work as empathetic leader. He quarantined himself in his home separately due to his continuous exposure to the areas affected by COVID-19. He distributed masks, rice, pulses, and groceries to the poor people. He guided the village panchayat secretaries as a Special officer to handle the pandemic situation in the villages. With the coordination amongst the panchayat secretaries, he could do all the work in his

34 area. After COVID 19 lockdown period he was transferred to Vallioor block as BDO (Block Panchayats). He could be seen as one of the dedicated officials who worked for the welfare of the people in village panchayats in combating COVID-19.

Case:2 Caste Discriminatory Practice during the Pandemic without elected leadership Kappur is a large village located in Koliyanur Block of Villupuram district, Tamil Nadu with a total 914 families residing. During COVID-19 there were no funds allocated to this village panchayat. The Village Panchayat secretary used his own money during the lockdown to carry out the activities in the village. Also he has not received his salary for the past four month period that affected him in a personal level as well as professionally. The only reason to not receive the salary was that he was coming from a Scheduled Caste background and he has been discriminated ruthlessly by the BDO. The salary has to be approved by the Special Officer that is the Block development Officer (Village Panchayats). The same BDO was also authorized to transfer funds from one account to the other due to the absence of elected members in the village panchayat. Hence he was completely helpless without funds and powers with him to tackle the situation. Whenever people approached him for help, he was helpless to provide any relief to them apart from convincing them and trying to give a solution at his own level and capacities. The COVID situation was handled effectively by the VHN of the village panchayat due to the constant support getting from the Health department. Irrespective of the discriminatory situation the panchayat secretary handled the pandemic with utmost care for the Villagers. The discriminatory practices are still prevalent even during the Pandemic situation was the worst case to be recorded in this study.

Case 3: Performance of a Village Panchayat President in Thoothukudi The Village Panchayat President Mr.Prabanjan of Thirukolur village panchayat, Alwarthirunagar block of Thoothukudi district has taken multiple set ofinitiatives to support people during the pandemic situation. The village panchayat president had created a COVID 19 response committee along with the ward members and youngsters of the village panchayat.

He created a community kitchen to serve food for the 34 destitute in the village panchayat during the initial period of Lock down and it had extended up to 60 days even after the closure of lock down. They received food three times a day. The food prepared in the community

35 kitchen was delivered by the COVID 19 response committee through the youngsters. The Village Whatsapp group has been created with atleast one from each household or each street was created by the Village ward members, Village Panchayat President along with the youth volunteers. They were supporting the daily needs of the people such as groceries and medicines were delivered directly to the household for the entire period of Lock down until the regular activities have been permitted by the State Government. The problems faced by villagers during the pandemic were handled in a smooth way by the Thirukolur panchayat president with his able leadership. Lack of employment for the women were addressed by initiating a three month tailoring course for the village women to start garments in the village itself with the support of Networking and Collaboration with CSR activities of nearby industries.

For the welfare of youth empowerment, he created a separate employment cell for current openings/requirements in various fields. He supported village people to get government subsidies for agriculture activities’ and other benefits for widow, old people and people belong to below poverty line. He was also working on providing drinking water connection to each household during the pandemic. Further, the village panchayat president is also supporting the informal education of the kids by conducting various drawing, essay writing and speech competitions through Social media pages and Whatsapp group of the Village Panchayat to enhance the learning for the kids during the lock down. The case of Thirukolur Village panchayat showed that, an elected leader had provided his fullest support towards all sections of the people in the village panchayat for their welfare development.

Case:4 Performance of Village Panchayat President in Cuddalore district Arangur is a large village in the Mangalore Block of Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu. During the time of COVID-19 pandemic, the panchayat was not allotted any special funds. Abdul Kalam Illaignar Narpani Sangam (Abdul Kalam Youth Charitable Association), was started by the youth of Arangur Panchayat continues to function with the guidance of the Panchayat President. The strong network of youths, both in the village and abroad helped, not only at the time of pandemic, but also to rectify the common problems affecting the village. The Village Panchayat was led by Mr. Raja who was one of the young village panchayats in Tamil Nadu elected by the people with the support of the youth club. They used the existing financial resources from the panchayat for relief materials. They also collected funds, donations from their

36 village individuals who are working abroad as well as collected from NGOs. They have collected roughly about 3 lakh rupees fund as a donation from various individuals and organizations including 50,000 rupees worth of vegetables and groceries. The panchayat president created a quick response team by uniting different sections of people of their village. They have started separate Whatsapp groups for every section of people including volunteering youths, ward members and village officials, self-help groups, common people and village officials etc. All the important information and updates regarding COVID-19 as well as general problems were shared and addressed quickly through that group. The Village Panchayat distributed the relief materials includes Mask, sanitizer, kabasura kudineer (Siddha herbal drink)/ Nilavembu kudineer (herbal drink) to all the people in the village and vegetables, rice, groceries to people in below poverty line as well as migrant workers who stuck in the village at that time of COVID-19 pandemic. The Village Panchayat has created a Village Health and Sanitation Committee consists of Village Panchayat President, Village Panchayat Vice-President, Village Panchayat Secretary, Village Administrative Officer and Ward members. He also created a disaster management committee consists of Village Panchayat President, Village Panchayat Vice- President, Volunteers, and Ward members. These committees were largely helped to sanitize the village as well as identify, trace and track the COVID patients. Further, the village panchayat president has developed strong belief among the village residents in Siddha/ Ayurveda medicine, instead of referring to Allopathic medicine for corona treatment.

The Anganwadi of that village was worked at that time of pandemic through providing dry ration to the children, sanitary pads, vitamin tablets and counseling to the adolescent females, health mix to the pregnant women and health mix as well as counseling to the lactating mother. Also, the Anganwadi workers were very helpful in conducting health camps, vaccination, and corona test by mobilizing people to the camps and had done door to door surveys to identify COVID affected peoples in the village. She has conducted many health awareness camps as well corona camps in that village. Also, she was having 24/7 work during the corona period. She took surveys in each and every house with the help of Anganwadi workers with proper safety kit (It was not provided by the health department, but she bought from her own money). She distributed vitamin tablets to pregnant women door to door with the help of Anganwadi workers. She came to the village by her own vehicle at the time of lockdown. Her family members were very supportive during the duty. But there was no allowance allocated for COVID duty. Lastly, as

37 observed from the field, the villagers have great faith in the village panchayat president. All works including village developmental activities at the time of COVID-19 pandemic were clearly evident and were echoed by the people during the focus group discussion.

CHAPTER V

FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS 5.1 Key Findings o COVID 19 Pandemic showed the Union Government and the State Government about the importance of the Local Government in both the rural and urban areas. It was observed that the village panchayats having elected leadership reasonably performed well in tackling COVID-19 compared to the non-elected village panchayats in the selected four districts of Tamil Nadu. o Leadership vacuum was evidently visible in the non elected village panchayats at the grassroots sphere in terms of decision making. o In the non- elected village panchayats, the spirit of collaboration & coordination between the village panchayat and Anganwadi and PHCs are majorly missing amongst its stakeholders irrespective of their services provided to the Village Panchayats. o The newly elected village panchayat presidents in the districts of Thoothukudi and Cuddalore are not trained well especially in the Panchayat and financial Administration to execute the developmental works and the administrative works. These trainings are not required by the former elected representatives re-elected for another tenure and only requires an upgradation. o Only a few village panchayat presidents have done their best and others irrespective of political will don’t have the expertise in handling a huge pandemic immediately after taking charge as elected representatives in January 2020. But the village panchayat secretaries doesn’t have the executive authority powers to handle the situation and purely depends on the special officer for all the regular activities of the village panchayat. o Focus group discussions with the members of the Gram Sabha concluded that the common people felt satisfied with the efforts and services provided by the village panchayats along with the support of all possible institutions in the village panchayats. o The timely distribution of the funds by the way of State Finance Commission Grants and Central Finance Commission Grants was lacked during the COVID 19 Pandemic worsened the situation. o The COVID Response Team, Village Health and Sanitation Committee and Disaster management committees created in the Elected village panchayats helped to mitigate the effects of pandemic.

o It was observed that the public officials are not visiting the Government offices on time especially in the non-elected village panchayats. o The people migrated from Chennai and outskirts to the Villupuram and Cuddalore districts during the peak of COVID 19 situation. They haven’t followed the protocols, due to fear of Quarantine which enhanced the spread in both the districts from the hotspots such as Koyembedu market thereby showing the lack of checks and balances in the village panchayats. o It is identified that few elected representatives in Cuddalore district have spent their own money and crowd fundings for the benefit of Village Panchayats wherein they showcased their best leadership skills amidst the lack of availability of funds. The elected village panchayats in Thoothukudi district utilized CSR funds from the nearby corporate companies to curtail COVID-19 with the support of a few Block development officers, NGOs and Volunteers. It is clear that the elected leadership in both the districts showed the dire need and importance of collaborative interventions to collectively combat COVID-19. o The study also observes that the pamphlets were issued by Various Departments such as Health and Family Welfare, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj and also given by the respective panchayats. o The newly formed districts of Tamil Nadu don’t have elected representatives for Local Government because of the delimitations and various reasons quoted by the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission. Special officers like BDOs cannot perform people welfare activities for more than 30-40 village panchayats at a time. 5.2 Suggestions • The elected representatives from the village expect and demand help from the district and block officials. It reduces the local governments as a mere implementing and monitoring agency of the state and central governments. The Panchayat raj institutions required to strengthen with financial as well as administrative powers to run a transparent and accountable grassroots level democratic government in real. • The funds, functions and functionaries given by the 11 th Schedule of the constitution has to be devolved to the Village Panchayats with a clear activity mapping to perform the effective functioning for the welfare and development of the people. • The tied funds available under various heads of the village panchayat account should have been relaxed during the pandemic and disaster situations. It will support the village

40 panchayats directly to handle the situation immediately without looking for the state Government Funds. • The creation and maintenance of decentralized quarantine centers by respective panchayats similar to the Odisha model of quarantine centre would be the solution to identify and quarantine the migrants towards the village in each village panchayat instead of few centralized quarantine centers in the district. • Necessary trainings and capacity building activities has to be provided for all the panchayat presidents immediately after the election within a month in the respective Regional Institute of Rural Developments (RIRDs). • A certificate course may be offered to all the elected village panchayat presidents before taking charge as village panchayat president for the basic knowledge about the panchayat administration. In addition to that a required effort has to be taken for providing bridge courses for the illiterate panchayat presidents. • A standing committee has to be created in each village panchayats specifically to tackle disasters. • Disaster Management and Risk Reduction plan has to be created in each village panchayat through the standing committee. • The availability of funds to the village panchayats by the State Government has to be informed in the beginning of each financial year to plan for the activities through Gram panchayat Development Plan. Without knowing the fund availability, planning and executions of works will be difficult, clearly evident from the Pandemic. • The cooperation between various departments especially between the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, Department of Health and Family Welfare and Department of Social Welfare has to be established and necessary instructions has to be issued for making the Village Panchayat Presidents made responsible for monitoring the activities of the Anganwadi and the Primary and Sub Health centres of their village panchayats. • Government of Tamil Nadu can avoid transfers of officials in the Health Department during disaster/pandemic situations for the regular activities. • In the case of non-elected village panchayats, the study recommends that Local Government Election should be conducted from time to time and regularly.

• Tamil Nadu State Election Commission has to be given autonomy for their funds and functions. The elections has to be conducted regularly by the commission independently without any interference from State Government as per the article 243 K and 243ZA of the Constitution of India and Section 239 of Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act 1994

5.3. Conclusion The local government played an important role in combating COVID-19 thereby coordinating with institutions like Anganwadis and primary health centres in organizing Medical camps and awareness camps in the respective village panchayats. This effective coordination and monitoring has been possible only because of the elected representatives of Village Panchayats. The Special officers appointed in non elected village panchayats are not able to coordinate and organize the activities in each village Panchayats separately but tried to coordinate with the help of volunteers and civil society organizations. They couldn't work for all the village panchayats in their block jurisdiction. In this regard, the research study opines that the elected village panchayats performed well in Combating COVID-19 as compared to non- elected village Panchayats. Hence state government has to realize the importance of elected representatives at the sphere of local government. The state government has to conduct local government elections for remaining districts at the earliest and follow the due procedures regularly which will exhibit proper functioning of decentralized local self government in the state of Tamil Nadu.

Annexure I

i. Schedule Number ______Date ______ii. Name of the Interviewer ______iii. Time of Interview ______To ______iv. Location : GPS in ODK I. Demographic Details

1. Name of the District :

2. Name of the Block :

3. Name of the Village panchayat :

4. Name of the Respondent :

5. Contact Number :

6. Gender : 1.Male 2.Female 3. Third Gender

7. Age :

8. Religion : 1.Hindu 2.Muslim 3.Christian 4.Buddhists

9. Name of the Caste : 1. BC 2.MBC 3.SC 4.ST 5.OC

10. Marital Status 1. Unmarried 3. Widower 5. Widow 2. Married 4. Divorce 11. Educational Qualification : 1. 10th 4. UG 6. Other(Specify) 2. 12th 5. PG ______3. ITI / Diploma

12. Present Occupation : 13. How many years are you working in present position? ______14. Whether you or your family members had been elected as Ward member/Panchayat President/any other elected member? 1. Yes 2. No a. If yes details ______b. How many years you worked/working as a Elected representative? ______II. Awareness about COVID – 19

43 15. Whether you gave any awareness to the people of the panchayat. 1. Yes 2. No 16. How you gave awareness? 1. Distribution of Notice/pamphlets 3.Digital Media 2. Loudspeaker Announcements 4. Any other (Specify) ______17. Whether you distributed any relief materials 1. Yes 2. No

a. If yes, list of materials 1. Mask 4. Kabasurakudineer / 6. Any other 2. Sanitiser Nilavembu kudineer (specify)______3. Handwash 5. Food ___

18. Who are all part of the distribution team? 1. Village Panchayat 4. Village Health and 7. Block Officials Presidents Sanitation Comnmittee 8. District Officials 2. Ward Members 5. Anganwadi 9. Any other (Specify) 3. Panchayat Secretary Worker/Helper ______6. ANM/ASHA/VHN 19. What Type of Treatment people wanted or Available? 1) Allopathic 2) Siddha 3) Ayurveda 4) Unani 5) Others ______20. What is the distance of hospitals near your Village? 1) 1-3 Km. 2) 4-6Km. 3) 7- 10 Km. 4) Above 10 Km III. Performances of Village Panchayat 21. Whether regular work has affected after lockdown? 1. Yes 2. No a. If yes, list the affected works 1. MGNREGA Works 4. Maintenance works (street lights, 2. Works planned under GPDP roads, panchayat building, etc) 3. Administration works of Panchayat 5. Waste management 6. Others (Specify)______22. Whether MGNREGA card has increased after lock down? 1. Yes/ 2. No a. If yes, state the reasons ______23. Whether the water supply was increased in the panchayat after COVID19? 1. Yes 2. No 24. After allowing MGNREGA works in the panchayat, whether social distancing followed? 1. Yes 2. No 25. Have you received any funds exclusively for handling COVID 19 Pandemic?1.Yes 2.No a. If yes give details ______26. Whether the existing financial resources in the panchayat was used for relief materials.? 1. Yes 2. No a. If yes, how much the panchayat have spent ______b. If no, how you have handled the situation without funds ______27. List of activities for which the funds utilized. 1. Distribution of relief materials 3. Creation of containment zones 2. Sanitization of Panchayat 4. Any other (Specify) (Bleaching powder, etc.,) ______

44 “Combating COVID-19 by Panchayati Raj Institutions – A comparative study of Elected Vs Non-elected Village Panchayats in selected districts of Tamil Nadu”

28. How you utilized the services of Anganwadi workers in your VP? ______29. How you utilized the services of workers ANM/ASHA/VHN workers? ______30. Whether people migrated to the panchayats during COVID 19 ? 1.Yes 2. No a. If yes, how they have quarantined?______31. Does the panchayat has any quarantine centres? 1.Yes 2. No a. If yes, which place utilized as quarantine centres ______

32. Does the panchayat has any COVID wards created? 1.Yes 2. No a. If yes, which place is utilized ______

33. Whether the panchayat has Village Health and Sanitation Committee? 1.Yes, 2. No a. If yes give details______

34. Whether the panchayat has Disaster Management Committee? 1.Yes, 2. No a. If yes give details______

35. Did you make any new rules and regulation to control over covid-19? 1. Yes 2. No a. If Yes, what are the new rules and regulations

36. Did you collect fine for violating rules and regulations? 1. Yes/ 2. No a. If yes how much you have collected______37. How many People Affected (COVID-19) in your Area ? ______38. What you think about women/youth participation in your VP after COVID 19? ______39. After COVID-19, whether people cooperate with VP? 1. Yes/ 2. No 40. Whether you have undergone any training to overcome the COVID-19 Pandemic? 1.Yes 2. No a. If yes, details ______IV. Leadership

41. 39 From whom you received communication during the COVID 19 for handling the Pandemic situation? ______42. How you received communication during COVID 19 pandemic 1. Phone call 2. SMS 3. Mobile applications 4. Written communication through proper channel 5. Any other (Specify)______43. Do the people represent their problems to you directly?1. Yes 2. No 44. What kinds of problems are represented by the people? a. Central and State Government Schemes b. Problems affecting the people c. Individual member problems d. Problems between hamlets 45. Do you take immediate action on people’s representations? 1. Yes 2. No 46. Do you inform about COVID 19 through the Gram Sabha/panchayat meeting to all the village people? 1.Yes 2.No 47. After COVID-19, whether domestic violence has been increased? 1. Yes 2. No a. If yes, what are the reasons? ______48. Did you implement any innovative ideas to control the pandemic in your village? 1. Yes 2. No a. If yes, what are they? ______

************

“Combating COVID-19 by Panchayati Raj Institutions – A comparative study of Elected Vs Non-elected Village Panchayats in selected districts of Tamil Nadu”

INSTITUTE OF GRASSROOTS GOVERNANCE Interview Schedule for Panchayat Secretary i. Schedule Number ______Date ______ii. Name of the Interviewer ______iii. Time of Interview ______To ______. iv. Location : GPS in ODK II. Demographic Details

1. Name of the District :

2. Name of the Block :

3. Name of the Village panchayat :

4. Name of the Respondent :

5. Contact Number :

6. Gender : 1.Male 2.Female 3. Third Gender

7. Age :

8. Religion : 1.Hindu 2.Muslim 3.Christian 4.Buddhists

9. Name of the Caste : 1. BC 2.MBC 3.SC 4.ST 5.OC

10. Marital Status

1. Unmarried 3. Widower 5. Widow

2. Married 4. Divorce

11. Educational Qualification : 1. 10th 4. UG 6. Other(Specify) 2. 12th 5. PG ______3. ITI / Diploma

12. How many years are you working in present position? ______

13. How many years you are working in this Village panchayat? ______

14. Do you have any experience before joining this position with regard to Local Government? 1.Yes 2.No a. If yes, details______

15. Previous Occupation ______

II. Awareness about COVID – 19 16. Whether you gave any awareness to the people of the panchayat. 1. Yes 2. No 17. How you gave awareness? 1. Distribution of Notice/pamphlets 3.Digital Media 2. Loudspeaker Announcements 4. Any other (Specify) ______18. Whether you distributed any relief materials 1. Yes 2. No

a. If yes, list of materials 1. Mask 4. Kabasurakudineer / 6. Any other 2. Sanitiser Nilavembu kudineer (specify)______3. Handwash 5. Food ___

19. Who are all part of the distribution team? 1. Village Panchayat 4. Village Health and 7. Block Officials Presidents Sanitation Comnmittee 8. District Officials 2. Ward Members 5. Anganwadi 9. Any other (Specify) 3. Panchayat Secretary Worker/Helper ______6. ANM/ASHA/VHN 20. What Type of Treatment people wanted or Available? 1) Allopathic 2) Siddha 3) Ayurveda 4) Unani 5) Others ______21. What is the distance of hospitals near your Village? 1) 1-3 Km. 2) 4-6Km. 3) 7- 10 Km. 4) Above 10 Km III. Performances of Village Panchayat 22. Whether regular work has affected after lockdown? 1. Yes 2. No a. If yes, list the affected works 1. MGNREGA Works 4. Maintenance works (street lights, 2. Works planned under GPDP roads, panchayat building, etc) 3. Administration works of Panchayat 5. Waste management 6. Others (Specify)______23. Whether MGNREGA card has increased after lock down? 1. Yes/ 2. No a. If yes, state the reasons ______24. Whether the water supply was increased in the panchayat after COVID19? 1. Yes 2. No 25. After allowing MGNREGA works in the panchayat, whether social distancing followed? 1. Yes 2. No 26. Have you received any funds exclusively for handling COVID 19 Pandemic?1.Yes 2.No a. If yes give details ______27. Whether the existing financial resources in the panchayat was used for relief materials.? 1. Yes 2. No a. If yes, how much the panchayat have spent ______b. If no, how you have handled the situation without funds ______

28. List of activities for which the funds utilized. 1. Distribution of relief materials 3. Creation of containment zones 2. Sanitization of Panchayat 4. Any other (Specify) (Bleaching powder, etc.,) ______29. How you utilized the services of Anganwadi workers in your VP? ______30. How you utilized the services of workers AMN/ASHA workers? ______31. Whether people migrated to the panchayats during COVID 19 ? 1.Yes, 2. No a. If yes, how they have quarantined?______32. Does the panchayat has any quarantine centres? 1.Yes, 2. No a. If yes, which place utilized as quarantine centres ______

33. Does the panchayat has any COVID wards created ? 1.Yes, 2. No a. If yes, which place is utilized ______

34. Whether the panchayat has Village Health and Sanitation Committee? 1.Yes, 2. No a. If yes give details______

35. Whether the panchayat has Disaster Management Committee? 1.Yes, 2. No a. If yes give details______

36. Did you make any new rules and regulation to control over covid-19? 1. Yes 2. No a. If Yes, what are the new rules and regulations

37. Did you collect fine for violating rules and regulations? 1. Yes/ 2. No a. If yes how much you have collected______

38. What you thing about women/youth participation in your VP after COVID 19? ______39. After COVID-19, whether people cooperate with VP? 1. Yes/ 2. No 40. Whether you have undergone any training to overcome the COVID-19 Pandemic? 1.Yes 2. No a. If yes, details ______

IV. Leadership

41. Are you able to work without Panchayat President? 1.Yes 2.No 42. During COVID 19, do you think that the role of Village Panchayat President is important? 1. Yes/ 2. No a. If yes why ______b. If no, why ______

43. From whom you received communication during the COVID 19 for handling the Pandemic situation? ______44. How you received communication during COVID 19 pandemic 6. Phone call 7. SMS 8. Mobile applications 9. Written communication through proper channel 10. Any other (Specify)______

*****************

“Combating COVID-19 by Panchayati Raj Institutions – A comparative study of Elected Vs Non-elected Village Panchayats in selected districts of Tamil Nadu”

INSTITUTE OF GRASSROOTS GOVERNANCE Interview Schedule for Block Development Officer

i. Schedule No. ______Date ______ii. Name of the Interviewer ______iii. Time of Interview : Starting time: ______Ending time: ______iv. Location : GPS in ODK I. General Information 1. Name of the District : 2. Name of the Block : 3. Name of the Respondent : 4. Age : 5. Gender : 1. Male 2. Female 3. Thirdgender 6. Educational Qualification : 1. 10th 3. ITI / 5. PG 2. 12th Diploma 6. others 4. UG 7. When did you join as a BDO : 8. How many months/years you are working in this office ____ Months ____ years. II. Awareness: 9.Whether the Block development office given any Training to the Panchayat Presidents and ward members of various panchayats for combating COVID 19 Pandemic? 1. Yes 2. No a. If yes give details ______

10. Whether the Block development office given any Training to the Panchayat Secretary of the Village panchayats for combating COVID 19 Pandemic? 1. Yes 2. No a. If yes give details ______

III. Funds and Administration Responsibility

11. Whether funds were allocated from government for COVID19 : 1. Yes 2. No a. If Yes: i) How Much?

ii) In Which account

12. What basis you transfer funds to each VP?

______13. How did you distribute fund during COVID-19 to all VP? How much amount distributes to each VP? ______

14. Whether funds were allocated from District Administration for COVID19 1. Yes 2. No

15. If Yes: i) How Much? ii) In Which account 16. Whether funds were allocated from Panchayat union for COVID19? 1. Yes 2. No

17. If Yes: i) How Much?

ii) In Which account 18. Whether the funds are allocated for COVID 19 are adequate? 1. Yes 2. No a. If No How much you are expected……….

19. In what are the ways are you spending allocated funds for COVID 19:

1) Awareness Meeting ……. 4) Workers Salary or expenses …….. 2) Mask …… 5) Kitchen -….. 3) Sanitizer …….. 19. Are you using funds from panchayat for COVID 19 ? 1. Yes 2. No 20. Whether using Panchayat funds this affect the other functions of panchayats works? 1. Yes 2. No a. If yes . What Kind of problem facing. 21. How did you overcome the Financial aspects in the period of COVID19? ______22. What are the regular activities affected by COVID19? ______23. In what are the ways the allocated funds were used to improve the economical needs of the people?

24. Whether the financial resources to the Panchayat affected in the period of curfew?1. Yes 2.No IV. FUNCTIONARIES: 25. What are the activities you are doing during the pandemic? ______26. Does Panchayat officials cooperate with you to do work for COVID19: 1.Yes 2.No a. If no, Reasons ______

27. What kind of helps are you providing to people affected by COVID19? ______

28. Does Panchayat Presidents/ward members cooperate with you to do work for COVID19: 1.Yes 2.No 29. How is your working for COVID 19 in the absence of elected representatives of people? ______30. Are you able to do welfare activities for people directly and completely in the absence of representatives of people 1.Yes 2.No a. If no what are the difficulties are you facing? ______31. During and after lock down, did you create any new rules and regulations? 1.Yes 2.No

V. COMMUNICATION 32. How do you communicate to VP representatives? a. Phone call b. SMS c. Mobile applications d. Written communication through proper channel e. Any other (Specify)______33. How do you communicate to VP secretary?

a. Phone call b. SMS c. Mobile applications d. Written communication through proper channel e. Any other (Specify)______34. How do you communicate to the people? a. Phone call b. SMS c. Mobile applications d. Written communication through proper channel e. Any other (Specify)______35. How do you communicate to your office staff? a. Phone call b. SMS c. Mobile applications d. Written communication through proper channel e. Any other (Specify)______

36. Whether panchayats got support from other than government officers in the period of curfew? : NGOs/ volunteer/individuals 37. What are the factors that caused the corona to spread in the village panchayats ? 1. Over population 2. Less awareness 3. Migration towards the Panchayat 4. Other (Specify) ______38. Whether the curfew was easy to enforce in the panchayat: 1.Yes 2.No a. If no reasons ______

***********

“Combating COVID-19 by Panchayati Raj Institutions – A comparative study of Elected Vs Non-elected Village Panchayats in selected districts of Tamil Nadu”

INSTITUTE OF GRASSROOTS GOVERNANCE Interview Schedule for ASHA/ ANM/ VHN i. Schedule Number ______Date ______ii. Name of the Interviewer ______iii. Time of Interview ______To ______. iv. Location : GPS in ODK III. Demographic Details 1. Name of the District : 2. Name of the Block : 3. Name of the Village panchayat : 4. Name of the PHC :

5. Name of the Respondent : 6. Gender : 1.Male 2.Female 3. Third Gender

7. Name of the position : 1. ANM 2.ASHA 3.VHN 4. Others

8. Marital Status 1. Unmarried 3. Widower 5. Widow 2. Married 4. Divorce 9. Educational Qualification : 1. 10th 4. UG 6. Other(Specify) 2. 12th 5. PG ______3. ITI / Diploma 10. Working experience:

11. Nature of work: 1. Permanent 2. Temporary

12. Monthly Income :

Functions 13. During COVID – 19, how do you worked at PHC/sub center for the general health care system in your VP? ______14. During COVID – 19, how do you distribute general medicines to the people in your VP?

______15. Did you organize any general health care awareness programme? 1. Yes 2. No 16. Did you organize COVID-19 awareness programme? 1. Yes 2. No 17. Do you provide Kapashubhaneer? 1. Yes 2. No 18. Did you provide vitamin tablets to the people in your VP? 1. Yes 2. No 19. What you think about private hospital during COVID19? ______20. Are you following all the precautions when you meet the people? : 1. Yes 2. No 21. Did you give treatment to corona patients? : 1. Yes 2. No 22. Where was the Corona camp held? : 23. Whether People cooperated well during the COVID 19 Treatment? 1. Yes 2. No 24. Whether the Village Panchayat cooperated with you well during the COVID 19? 1. Yes 2.No 25. Whether you received any special training to handle the COVID 19 Pandemic? 1.Yes 2.No a. If yes Details, ______26. In what are the ways the panchayat cooperate with you : ______27. Which of the following gave instructions to you in the period of COVID 19 ?

1. Village Panchayat President 4. Health Department

2. Panchayat Secretary 5. Any other (specify) ______3. Block Development officer

28. Did your working hours changed after corona period? : 1. Yes 2. No 29. How did you prevent yourself from COVID19? ______30. How was your family members and people got used with you? ______

31. When you identify a corona affected person, what did you do?

32. Are there enough doctors to give treatment to the patient? : 1. Yes 2. No a. If no did you inform to the higher officers? ______b. Did they take immediate action : 1. Yes 2. No 33. How did you work in the primary health center before COVID ?

______34. How did you maintain the primary health center after COVID19

______35. Did you give awareness to people precautionary measures to protect themselves from COVID19? : 1. Yes 2. No

33. List of medical kits given to ASHA/VHN for ensuring their own safety during the COVID 19 ?

1. Mask 3. PPE kits 2. Sanitizer 4. Others (Specify) ______36. Under whose guidance did you conduct the awareness program:

1. Village Panchayat President 4. Health Department

2. Panchayat Secretary 5. Any other (specify) ______3. Block Development officer

37. Did people cooperate and follow them? 1. Yes 2. No 38. How did you come to work in lockdown period?

______39. What kind of difficulties were you faced in your work? ______40. How did you give treatment to pregnant women during corona period

______41. How did you give treatment other than COVID patients?

______42. After established COVID centers what about number of COVID patients: 1. Increased 2. Decreased

43. What are you think about awareness of people about COVID19?

______44. Give your view about the functioning of Village Panchayat during COVID19?

With Panchayat President ______Without Panchayat President ______

*********************

“Combating COVID-19 by Panchayati Raj Institutions – A comparative study of Elected Vs Non-elected Village Panchayats in selected districts of Tamil Nadu”

INSTITUTE OF GRASSROOTS GOVERNANCE Interview Schedule for Anganwadi workers/helper i. Schedule Number ______Date ______ii. Name of the Interviewer ______iii. Time of Interview ______To ______iv. Location : GPS in ODK

I. Demographic Details

1. Name of the District : 2. Name of the Block : 3. Name of the Village panchayat : 4. Name of the Respondent : 5. Religion :1.Hindu 2.Muslim 3.Christian 4.Buddhists 6. Caste : 1. BC 2.MBC 3.SC 4.ST 5.OC 7. Name of the Anganwadi : 8. The status of the Working hours after COVID pandemic 1. Increased 2. Decreased 3. Not changed 9. The status of the work load after COVID pandemic 1. Increased 2. Decreased 3. Not changed 10. Whether you received any training to handle the pandemic ? 1.Yes 2. No a. If yes , Details ______11. Whether any Services provided by Anganwadi during Lock down to Children?1.Yes 2.No a. If yes , Details ______

12. Whether any Services provided by Anganwadi during Lock down to Adolescent Female ? 1.Yes 2. No

59 a. If yes , Details ______

13. Whether any Services provided by Anganwadi during Lock down to Pregnant Women ? 1.Yes 2. No

a. If yes , Details ______

14. Whether any Services provided by Anganwadi during Lock down to Lactating Mothers? 1.Yes 2. No

a. If yes , Details ______15. Whether anganwadi received any funds specially to combat COVID 19 Pandemic? 1.Yes 2. No

a. If yes , Details ______

16. Whether anganwadi received any relief materials from their Department to be distributed during COVID 19 Pandemic? 1.Yes 2.No

a. If yes , Details ______

17. Whether anganwadi received any communication about COVID 19 Pandemic ? 1.Yes 2.No

a. If yes , Details ______

18. Whether anganwadi received any communication from the Village Panchayat Presidents during the COVID 19 Pandemic? 1.Yes 2.No

a. If yes , Details ______

19. Did any other volunteers or organizations help you? 1.Yes 2.No

a. If yes, Details ______

20. Whether any nutritious food given to the Anganwadi kids during Pandemic ? 1.Yes 2.No

a. If yes , Details ______21. Whether the anganwadi functioned during the Pandemic? 1.Yes 2. No 22. Whether you worked in close with the Health Department workers such as ASHA/ANM/VHN, etc.,

a. If yes , Details ______

23. Whether the Village Panchayat helped to provide the services to people? 1.Yes 2.No a. If yes , Details ______

**************

“Combating COVID-19 by Panchayati Raj Institutions – A comparative study of Elected Vs Non-elected Village Panchayats in selected districts of Tamil Nadu” INSTITUTE OF GRASSROOTS GOVERNANCE Focus Group Discussion Schedule i.Name of the District : ii.Name of the Block : iii. Name of the Village Panchayat : iv.Total Number of the Participates : v.Date and Time : vi.Location : GPS in ODK 1. How COVID-19 created impact in your Village Panchayat?

2. What is the source of Income for the people during the COVID 19 Pandemic Lockdown?

3. What are the support you received during the COVID 19 Pandemic from the Village Panchayat?

4. How your Village Panchayat handles COVID-19 Pandemic?

1. During lock down

2. After lock down

5. How you got home based needs things during lockdown?

6. What about migration in your VP?

7. What you think about agro-economy during lockdown?

8. How you feel about water supply in your VP?

9. How Village panchayat gave awareness during the Pandemic?

10. Details about the new rules and regulation introduced by Village Panchayat during COVID 19 Pandemic?

11. With absents of VP president, how you feel about present leadership?

12. How you access the general health facilities during lock down?

13. Impact of the COVID 19 Pandemic in the Education of Children in your Panchayat?

14. What are the difficulties have been faced by you during lock down?

****************

62 Combating COVID-19 by Panchayati Raj Institutions – A comparative study of Elected Vs Non-elected Village Panchayats in selected districts of Tamil Nadu” Focus Group Discussion Attendance Sheet

Village Panchayat ______Date & Time ______

Block ______District______

S.No Name Designation/Job Gender Age Education Contact Number Signature Qualifications 1.

10. `

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

64 Annexure II

Fig 1. Fig 2.

Fig 1 and Fig 2 represents the focus group discussion held at Kallur Village Panchayat, Mangalore Block and Mudikandanallur Village Panchayat, Srimushnam Block of Cuddalore District respectively.

Fig 3. Fig 4.

Fig 3 and Fig 4 represents the focus group discussion held at Anangoor Village Panchayat, Koliyanur Block and Konai Village Panchayat, Gingee Block, Villupuram District respectively.

Fig 5. Fig 6.

Fig 5 and Fig 6 represents the focus group discussion held at Vellaram village,Ottapitaram block and Sivakalai village,Srivaikundam block Thoothukudi District respectively.

Fig 7 Fig 8

Focus Group Discussion held at Palaiyamchettikulam village, Palayamkottai Block and Levengipuram village,Valliyoor Block Tirunelveli District respectively.

Fig 9. Fig 10.

Fig 9 and Fig 10 represents the Interview with Manavalanallur Village panchayat President, Viruthachalam Block, Cuddalore and Singirigudi Village Panchayat President, Cuddalore Block, Cuddalore District respectively.

Fig 11. Fig 12.

Fig 11 and Fig 12 represents the Interview with Village Panchayat President and Panchayat Secretary in Kela Eral, Kovilpatti Block, Thoothukudi District and B.Mutlur, Parangipettai Block, Cuddalore District respectively.

Fig 13 Fig 14

Fig 13 and Fig 14 represents the interview with Village Health Nurse of Ammanpuram village, Thiruchendur block and MelaEral village, kovilpatti block in Thoothukudi District

Fig 15. Fig 16

Fig 15 and Fig 16 represents the Interview with VHNs of Pillayarkuppam, Kalamarudur and Nemili Village Panchayat at Thirunavaloor Primary Health Center, Thirunavaloor Block, Villupuram District and Tiruveruthanpulli Village Health Nurse at the Sub Health Centre, Cheranmahadevi Block, Tirunelveli District.

Fig 17 Fig 18

Fig 17 and Fig 18 represents Interview with Block Development officer, Cheranmahadevai Block, Tirunelveli District and Mugaiyur Block, Villupuram District respectively

Fig 19 Fig 20

Fig 19 and Fig 20 represents the Interview with Anganwadi Worker of Gunamangalam Village Panchayat, Cuddalore Block and Valasakadu Village Panchayat , Srimushnam Block in Cuddalore district respectively.

Fig 21 Awareness Painting and Flex banners kept by Village Panchayats and Pamplets issued by the various departments through village panchayats in all the 4 districts of the study.

Fig 22 Fig 23

Fig 24 Fig 25

Fig 22, Fig 23, Fig 24 and Fig 25 represents the Discussions with the Research staffs and sharing necessary inputs required for at the time of Data Collection by Principal Investigator and Co investigators of the Research in Villupuram, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Cuddalore Districts respectively.

************