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] 1 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 2 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 iv 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 v 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. vi 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.