Exploring the Employment Potential I N Rural Areas O F Bundelkhand Region Madhya Pradesh TIKAMGARH DISTRICT REPORT
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E x p l o r i n g t h e E m p l o y m e n t P o t e n t i a l i n R u r a l a r e a s o f B u n d e l k h a n d r e g i o n , M a d h y a P r a d e s h T I K A M G A R H & N I W A R I D I S T R I C T R E P O R T 0 2 0 2 R E B M E Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Good Governance and C E Policy Analysis D During the course of the Study, the Project Team from IGG benefitted immensely by the inputs gathered during several interactions with: The District Collectors The Chief Executive Officers of Zila Panchayats The district heads of the Departments of Agriculture, Horticulture, Animal Husbandry, Fisheries, District Industries Centre, Forests, Tribal Development. District Project Managers and staff of State Rural Livelihoods Mission Staff of Civil Society Organisations working on rural livelihoods in Bundelkhand region, namely, ASA, CARD, Development Alternatives, Haritika, Mahila Chetna Manch, PRADAN, Samarthan, and SRIJAN and World Vision Krishi Vigyan Kendras in the districts covered District Development Managers of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) The Project Team has also benefitted from the inputs from and interaction with the participants of three meetings with the district level heads of different departments and institutions organised by the District Collectors: At Sagar on 16th October 2019 At Damoh on 17th October 2019 At Tikamgarh on 29th January 2020 Disclaimer : During the course of the study, sizeable data was collected by the authors from various departments and official sources. In addition, a lot of historical information was obtained from the officers, community and other stakeholders through structured interviews and Focus Group Discussions. While the authors have taken due care to validate this data to the extent possible, not all of it could be verified or corroborated, and therefore, IGG cannot take responsibility for the accuracy of the same. Exploring Potential of Employment in Rural Areas of Bundelkhand Region of Madhya Pradesh District Tikamgarh & Niwari Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Good Governance and Policy Analysis, Bhopal December 2020 © Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Good Governance and Policy Analysis (IGG) Sushasan Bhawan Bhadbada Square, T. T. Nagar Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India, 462003 www.aiggpa.mp.gov.in This report is the property of IGG. We encourage dissemination of our work for non-commercial and non-exclusive purposes, so long as the source is properly acknowledged. To be cited as: IGG; Exploring Potential of Employment in Rural Areas Bundelkhand Region of Madhya Pradesh – District Tikamgarh & Niwari; Bhopal, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Good Governance and Policy Analysis (IGG); December 2020. This report is one of the outputs of the study commissioned by the Centre for NRM and Decentralised Governance, IGG on request of the Bundelkhand Development Authority (BDA) to assess the potential of enhancing employment in the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh. A separate report on the study of employment in urban areas is being published by IGG separately. This report presents district-specific situation and potential of rural employment in district Tikamgarh & Niwari. It should be read together with the Main Report covering the entire study area of five districts in the Bundelkhand Region of Madhya Pradesh. Conducted for: Bundelkhand Development Authority (BDA) Project Guidance: Mr. R. Parasuram, Ex-Director General, IGG Mr. Mangesh Tyagi, Principal Advisor, Centre for NRM & Dec. Governance, IGG Project Team: Dr. Anitha Govindaraj, Advisor, Centre for NRM & Decentralised Governance, IGG Mr. Yugandhar Mandavkar, Fellow, IGG Mr. Soumitra M. Peshave, Research Associate, IGG Mr. Dhananjay Singh Yadav, Research Associate, IGG Mr. Rohit Ranjan, Research Associate, IGG Key Words: Rural employment, rural enterprises, group enterprises, cluster approach, resource based potential, Bundelkhand The Key Takeaways The economy of Bundelkahnd region is primarily agrarian, and the prevailing conditions suggest the need to make agriculture more remunerative, so as to provide higher income to the people engaged in it. It is possible to strengthen the agriculture and allied sectors along with backward and forward linkages, along with increasing employment opportunities in other sectors in the short run. Key Recommendations Promotion of new sub-sectors and activities and to revamp the existing ones Skill building to improve employability and productivity of rural youth Capacity building of the entrepreneurs Establishing systems and other reforms 1. Sub-sectors and Activities 1.1 Agriculture Main crops : It is recommended that pulses (Bengal gram and black gram) and oilseeds (groundnut and sesame) should be promoted on a large scale, while wheat and soybean should be discouraged. Horticulture : Fruit crops recommended are lemon, papaya, gooseberry, guava and pomegranate; and vegetable crops recommended are ginger, turmeric, taro root, potato, chilli, in addition to the seasonal vegetables (like gourds, brinjal, cucurbits, etc). Aquaculture : District Tikamgarh and Niwari has several hundred tanks where fishes are cultivated and/ or harvested by the local fisherfolk. This activity can be strengthened further through technical and financial support. Similarly, water chestnut and lotus seed cultivation canbe promoted. 1.2 Livestock Buffalo rearing is a common practice, which may be encouraged along with fodder cultivation. Goat and backyard poultry should be promoted among the poor households. In both the cases, provision of healthcare services would greatly improve the profitability. Such services may be provided through farmers producer organisations. Cattle feed manufacturing plant is recommended. 1.3 NTFP Collection Collection of non-timber forest produce like neem seeds, tendu leaves, mahua,and chironji support several households, who could be organised into SHGs or JFMCs and provided with working capital support so that they can help the member by preventing distress sell. IGG (2020) Potential of Rural Employment in District Tikamgarh & Niwari Page i 1.4 Traditional industries It is suggested to strengthen the existing traditional village industries like bamboo crafts and brass ware by providing working capital and by providing systematic marketing channels. 1.5 Other industries Production of woven fabric, apparels (tailoring), incense sticks, etc. is carried out as individual and group activities on a limited scale. No additional efforts are suggested in this sub-sector. 2. Skills and Capacity Building of Youth and Farmers Extension services in agriculture and livestock need to be seriously strengthened and outreach increased to the farm level. It is recommended to engage CSOs to provide training, field level technical support on a massive scale. It is recommended to develop cadres of barefoot professionals for agriculture and for livestock healthcare in all blocks. It is possible to promote new FPOs and strengthen the existing ones for this extension and promotion of scientific agriculture. 3. Capacity Building on Entrepreneurship Managerial skills and marketing skills should be build in entrepreneur groups (SHGs, FPOs, etc). Attempts to teach every entrepreneur to become an accountant, a manager, salesperson, trader and marketer should be avoided. A cluster approach is recommended in this case. 4. Establishing Systems and Sector Reforms 4.1 Agriculture extension This was found to be the weakest link in the entire region. The Department of Agriculture should take urgent steps to correct this malady. It is recommended to engage competent CSOs to provide training, on-site technical support and field level handholding on a comprehensive scale. 4.2 Market information and linkage While there is a huge amount of raw information available on the internet or announced on radio broadcasts, there is a need to process it and present it in a comprehensible and meaningful manner to the farmers and entrepreneurs in the villages. 4.3 Institutional credit It was observed in district Tikamgarh that the banks are generally hesitant in extending credit to the individuals and SHGs. There is a need to expand the borrower through both micro finance and mainstream credit institutions. IGG (2020) Potential of Rural Employment in District Tikamgarh & Niwari Page ii The Opener Employment creation assumes a great importance for policy makers and development administration as a natural response to the development challenges of Bundelkhand region. Rural Bundelkhand is characterised by poor resource endowment, recurrent droughts, poverty, and resultant migration. Low natural resource endowment, together with low rate of industrialisation and commerce, has resulted in low employment opportunities for the people. Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Good Governance and Policy Analysis (IGG) conducted a study on Exploring the Employment Potential in Bundelkhand Region of Madhya Pradesh. It was commissioned by the Bundelkhand Development Authority (BDA) towards the overall development of the region with focus on rural employment. It covered five districts of Bundelkhand region namely, Chhatarpur, Damoh, Panna, Sagar, and Tikamgarh & Niwari. Niwari is recently bifurcated from district Tikamgarh, but for this report Tikamgarh and Niwari are considered as one undivided district. The study was carried out with a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods using information gathered from both primary and secondary sources. This report is a result of the hard work and persistent efforts of Dr Anitha Govindraj, Advisor and Mr Yugandhar Mandavkar, Fellow. Their efforts came to fruition as the study was industriously supported by the team of Research Associates Soumitra Peshawe, Dhananjay Singh Yadav and Rohit Ranjan. The work could not have been completed without the encouragement and valuable guidance of Mr Mangesh Tyagi, Senior Advisor. Special thanks are due to Ms Shristi Kushwah of the CSO, Self Reliant Initiatives for Joint Action – SRIJAN, for her untiring support during the field investigations. Several individuals and institutions provided useful insights into the phenomenon of rural employment and shared their experiences of various interventions.