REPORT OF THE CDW TRAINING IN INDIA ON RURAL DEVELOPMENT

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REPORT OF THE CDW TRAINING IN INDIA ON RURAL
DEVELOPMENT MICRO PLANNING, MARCH 2005 A
presentation to the Portfolio Committee
9 November 2005
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CONTENTS
1 OBJECTIVES PURPOSE OF TRIP
2 CONTEXT
3 DELEGATION
4 LESSONS CONCLUSION
5 RECOMMENDATIONS
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Objectives and purpose of the trip

• To expose the CDW learners to the Indian
  community work experience gained over decades
• To expose the CDW learners to the Indian Rural
  development initiatives, and
• To learn about the local democratic governance
  system in India, with emphasis on the rural
  sector community participation approach

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Context

• President ADJ Abdul Kalam visited a High School.
  He held long discussions with the students. After
  much discussion a question was asked, Who is our
  enemy? many answers were given. These answers
  were all discussed, and at the end consensus was
  reached that the one correct answer is, Our
  enemy is poverty.

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Context

• The study trip was conceived as a part of the
  agreement between the two countries to exchange
  training of public servants
• The training would be on human relations
  management and development
• A hundred places were reserved for SA to send
  public servants for such training

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Delegation

• Make up of the delegation
• 30 CDWs who included provincial coordinators
• 7 officials from The Presidency, DPLG, DPSA,
  SAMDI and the GTZ
• Provinces selected candidates
• Delegation left on 28 Feb.
• 6 officials returned after 10 days. Rest of
  delegation returned on 2 April

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Location

• The delegation was hosted by the NIRD in
  Hyderabad
• NIRD were prepared to devise a special programme
  based on CDW training requirements
• Most lectures took place at NIRD campus
• Visits to outlying villages were also undertaken,
  for case study purposes

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Lessons

• Curriculum/ Programme developed based on joint
  discussions
• Lessons learnt in the areas of
• Local rural self-governance
• Self Help Groups
• Approaches to micro planning
• Sustainability of programmes

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Lessons cont.

• Govts challenges approaches towards the
  development of poor communities
• Integrated approach to community development
• Historical inputs by great leaders in the form of
  Mahatma Gandhi

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Rural local self-governance

• Empowering structural organisation of self
  governance at village level
• Enabling legislation, granting adequate powers
  and functions for self development
• Women and disadvantaged groups beneficiaries of
  enabling legislation
• Mysore District govt structure an e.g.

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Self-Help Groups

• These groups implement govt programmes as
  entailed in the SGSY and SGRY schemes
• They assist families out of the poverty trap.
• The SGSY - self help schemes run by teams of
  individuals (Stokvel type schemes)
• The SGRY - govt initiated opportunities to combat
  poverty (EPWP-type schemes)

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Self Help Schemes cont.

• Govt provides technical assistance, i.e. training
  resources
• Govt encourages environmentally friendly
  practices
• Govt facilitates private sector funding for SHS
  mostly through commercial banks

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Micro planning and approaches

• Community Develoment Officers provide technical
  assistance to communities
• Approaches and techniques are basic and simple
  for illiterate, elderly people to follow
• Community participation in decision-making is the
  pillar for development

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Case study approaches

• Social stratification has a large impact on the
  degree of success
• Case studies were used to look at social
  development e.g. in areas of education, health,
  housing, welfare and micro-economic development

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Conclusion

• India has over 50 years CDW experience, pioneered
  by Mahatma Gandhi
• The model is different to the concept being
  developed in SA
• The self governance system has become an
  institutionalised forum for decentralisation
  planning and implementation of rural govt
  programmes

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Conclusion cont.

• SGSY and SGRY schemes are implemented in a
  pragmatic and effective anti-poverty manner
• These schemes mobilise the community, especially
  women, and imparts skills and opportunities
  towards self development

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Recommendations

• Case study approach towards development
• Improve community participation by embarking on
  simple and relevant engagement techniques
• Provide sufficient resources for self development
• Encourage decentralised planning - IDP