Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized SFG3370 Tamil Nadu Rural Transformation Project Social Assessment Final Report April 2017 iii Abbreviations AIDIS All India Debt and Investment Survey ASSOCHAM The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industries of India BC Backward Caste BPL Below Poverty Line CDD Community Driven Development CGF Credit Guarantee Fund CLF Common Livelihood Federation CLG Common Livelihood Group CPIAL Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers DDS District Diagnostic Study EDP Entrepreneur Development Programme FDI Foreign Direct Investment GDI Gender Development Index GEM Gender Empowerment Measures GSDP Gross State Domestic Product HDI Human Development Index ICC Internal Complaints Committee ICT Information Communication Technology IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development IGA Income Generating Activities INR Indian Rupee IPC Indian Penal Code IT Information Technology ITDA Integrated Tribal Development Areas LCC Local Complaints Committee LPG Liquified Petroleum Gas MBC Most Backward Caste MGNREGA Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act MIS Management Information System MSME Macro, Small and Medium Enterprises NGO Non Governmental Organisation NRLM National Rural Livelihood Mission NRLP National Rural Livelihood Project NSSO National Sample Survey Office OP Operational Policy of World Bank PDO Project Development Objective PIP Participatory Identification of Poor PVP Pudhu Vazhvu Project The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land RCTLARR acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 SA Social Assessment SC Scheduled Caste SE Sampling Error SHG Self Help Group SSI Small Scale Industries ST Scheduled Tribe TDP Tribal Development Plan TN Tamil Nadu TNEPRP Tamil Nadu Empowerment and Poverty Reduction Project TNRTP Tamil Nadu Rural Transformation Project iv TNSRLM Tamil Nadu State Rural Livelihood Mission UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Programme VCA Value Chain Analysis WHH Women Headed Household WPR Worker Participation Rate v Contents Executive Summary .............................................................................................................. 1 1. Managing the Transition in Tamil Nadu’s Rural Economy ................................................. 5 The Project ........................................................................................................................ 9 Study Objective ................................................................................................................. 9 2. Overview of Women Development Programs in Tamil Nadu ........................................... 11 Human Development and Gender Development in Tamil Nadu ....................................... 11 Gender mainstreaming and Gender budgeting in Tamil Nadu ......................................... 15 Rural Poverty in Tamil Nadu ............................................................................................ 16 Programmes of the Government of Tamil Nadu for the Empowerment of Women ........... 18 Tamil Nadu Rural Transformation Project - Project Design ............................................. 30 Policy and Legal Framework ........................................................................................... 36 3. Survey Design and Methodology ..................................................................................... 40 Study Objective ............................................................................................................... 40 Methodology .................................................................................................................... 40 Sampling Error ................................................................................................................ 41 Disclosure and Consultations .......................................................................................... 44 4. Findings of the Social Assessment .................................................................................. 45 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 45 Demographic Profile of the Respondents ........................................................................ 45 Women and Self-help Group ........................................................................................... 51 Women and Economic Activity ........................................................................................ 52 Economics of the Economic Activity ................................................................................ 55 Difficulties in Undertaking the Economic Activity .............................................................. 57 Support Required to Expand Activity ............................................................................... 58 Training Requirement ...................................................................................................... 59 Women in Employment / Wage Labour ........................................................................... 59 Difficulties in Employment ................................................................................................ 61 Women Not in Workforce................................................................................................. 63 Profile of Schedule Caste Women ................................................................................... 64 Profile of Disabled Women .............................................................................................. 66 Outcome of Stakeholders Consultation Workshop ........................................................... 66 5. Findings and Conclusion ................................................................................................. 68 Demographic Indicators of the sample respondents ........................................................ 68 Promotion of Value added enterprises ............................................................................. 69 Skill Training and Job Opportunities ................................................................................ 71 Project Support and Management ................................................................................... 72 Appendices I. List of FGDs Conducted ……………………………………………………………………………..74 II. List of Government Scheme ………………………………………………………………..……… 77 III Questionnaire Administered for Social Assessment …………………………………………….. 81 V District Wise Survey Findings …………………………………………………………………….... 87 IV Minutes of the Stakeholder Consultation Workshop and List of Participants ……………..…116 vi Executive Summary 1. The World Bank is currently supporting Tamil Nadu Empowerment and Poverty Reduction Project (TNEPRP)1 and National Rural Livelihoods Project (NRLP) which supports the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) - both are flagship programs in the State for rural livelihoods and community mobilization. Launched in 2004 and 2011 respectively, the TNEPRP and NRLP are supporting the empowerment of the poor and improving their livelihoods by developing, strengthening, and synergizing pro-poor community institutions/groups; enhancing skills and capacities of the poor (especially women, youth, differently-abled, and the vulnerable); and financing productive demand driven investments in economic activities. 2. The Government of Tamil Nadu is now preparing the Tamil Nadu Rural Transformation Project (TNRTP) to be implemented in 120 development blocks across 26 districts in Tamil Nadu. The proposed TNRTP whose Project Development Objective (PDO) is to “promote rural enterprises, access to finance and employment opportunities in selected blocks of Tamil Nadu” would support the mobilization and strengthening of producer organization and finance their business plans by providing start-up capital that will go towards productive investment, technical assistance and business development. The project components will provide support value chain gap financing which will be structured around cluster development approach and will be aligned with business plans of producer organizations. Furthermore, the project will support skill development initiatives, convergence and partnership for skill promotion and jobs, strengthen local implementation capacity for skill development, and implement innovative pilots on the skilling and employability. 3. An important focus of the TNRTP is support to women entrepreneurs and women-led enterprises under the proposed project that builds on TNEPRP and global experiences which show that women face significant constraints in starting enterprises or advancing the nano/micro units into small/medium enterprises. While the key challenges and opportunities for these are broadly known, this Social Assessment (SA) was undertaken to assess the current status of women, and their households’ socio-economic condition, including livelihood initiatives, in order to provide more granular analysis from the potential project beneficiaries to better inform the design and component focus for the project. 4. The SA was undertaken in four pilot districts viz. Cuddalore, Namakkal, Virudhunagar and Tirunelveli to assess the current status of women, and their households’ socio-economic condition, including livelihood initiatives. A sample of 1735 households was selected from amongst the Tamil Nadu State Rural Livelihood Missions (TNSRLM) master list