Leading development expert, Sanjiv Phansalkar, is in awe of Deen Dayal Upadhya Antyodaya Yojana - a social programme that’s impacted over 86 million households through over 8 million self-help groups of women.
Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Antyodaya Yojana (DAY) was formed after integrating the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) and its urban counterpart to enable the rural and urban poor to search, create, tap and use opportunities in their surrounding areas to enhance their livelihoods and wellbeing.
DAY is among the largest anti-poverty programmes anywhere in the world. And its latest outreach figures of April 2022 are truly inspiring.
The centrally-supported programme operating in every state has reached out to over 86 million households through over 8 million women self-help groups (SHGs). Village SHGs are locally federated into Village Organisations (VOs). Of these there are 4.4 lakh in the country now, grouped into 27,100 cluster-level federations. The programme operates in 34 states and union territories and touches 5.7 lakh villages. The urban coverage is over and above this.
While the net economic impact of DAY is unfolding and in general positive, I am interested in the huge possibilities it offers and can continue to make in the social sphere – improving the wellbeing of people in no mean measure. For one of the most important dimensions, one must remember that this is the largest ever effort at creating “social infrastructure.”
Bureaucracy all over the world has always suffered from the problem of last mile reach. This established social infrastructure now offers a very useful pathway for the bureaucracy to reach out to the poor. At the same time, it has created a major channel for bringing aspirations, needs and demands of the poor to the surface in a very peaceful systematic manner.
The practical utility of this massive social infrastructure has been abundantly demonstrated in recent times. SHGs have acted as conduits for carrying messages and acted as platforms for a myriad of initiatives combating the pandemic.
There is overwhelming evidence, perhaps as yet not fully documented, about the critical role VOs and SHGs played in combating the pandemic. They did so on the one hand by organising exposure and training related to mask discipline, social distancing and basic preventive care. On the other hand they became instruments of producing and distributing masks and even sanitisers in very large numbers at affordable prices in virtually every part of the country.
They contributed to the systematic administration of quarantine centres in thousands of villages. And they became the focal points for mobilising people for vaccination. Without this mammoth social infrastructure, India’s fight against COVID-19 would have been much more tardy and possibly ineffective. (ALSO READ: Decentralization to localization: Collectives and local development)
The other aspect in which this huge social infrastructure has contributed is empowerment of women. There is an extremely widespread, if undocumented evidence, that the mere creation and regular functioning of SHGs, which is supported by the VOs, offers a social assurance system to women in their hours of distress. In numerous locations these local entities have taken initiatives to counsel and sort out domestic difficulties and held out a deterrent to gender-based violence. They have contributed in no mean way to building the identities and confidence of women. Also, the saving and credit function of the SHG has created a very helpful and sympathetic alternative to the ubiquitous and not infrequently villainous local money lender.
While the above two “side-effects” of livelihoods programmes are almost ubiquitous, there have been wider, if somewhat sporadic, positive impacts of this social infrastructure too.
Far more women have started taking part now in the Gram Sabha and in the affairs of the Gram Panchayat (GP) than ever before. Just as the devolution of funds to GPs under 14th and 15th Finance Commission provided muscle to them, the enhanced participation of women in their affairs have contributed to making them more responsive to the needs of the women and the poor. The extent to which this has happened, of course, varies.
Other related aspects touch upon the strengthening of demand on other welfare services in education, health, nutrition, social justice and the like. Once made aware of the functional utility of social mobilisation of women through the system of SHGs, VOs and cluster level forums (CLFs), it becomes a matter of only their imagination and a little external nudge for them to start taking interest in these matters.
There is also evidence of greater effectiveness of behaviour change in communication as well as higher and more confident engagement of the village community with the front-end of bureaucracy. Sporadic efforts are also under way to formalise the collaboration of the SHG-VO-CLF system with Gram Panchayats and local development administration for much enhanced delivery performance. (ALSO READ: Decentralization to localization: the emerging community–PRI–government compact)
Many scholars have looked at the concrete and measurable impact of DAY on income of the poor. In general such impact is as much a function of these forums working in the local economy as also the proximity of markets and their effectiveness in engaging with them.
The fidelity with which the economic aspects of the DAY have been implemented may also possibly vary across and within states. Yet the overall positive social impact of DAY-sponsored social infrastructure is nothing short of revolutionary and will go a far way in enhancing the total welfare of the rural poor.
The lead image at the top of this page shows the author Sanjiv Phansalkar.
Sanjiv Phansalkar is the director of VikasAnvesh Foundation, Pune. He was earlier a faculty member at the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA). Phansalkar is a fellow of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad.
