Working Paper
215
LIVELIHOOD PERSPECTIVE OF RURAL INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE AND E-GOVERNANCE READINESS IN INDIA: A CASE BASED STUDY Harekrishna Misra and B N Hiremath
The purpose of the Working Paper Series (WPS) is to provide an opportunity to IRMA faculty, visiting fellows, and students to sound out their ideas and research work before publication and to get feedback and comments from their peer group. Therefore, a working paper is to be considered as a pre-publication document of the Institute.
Institute of Rural Management Anand Post Box No. 60, Anand, Gujarat (India) Phones: (02692) 260181, 260186, 260246, 260391, 261502 Fax: 02692-260188 Email:
[email protected] Website: www.irma.ac.in June 2009
LIVELIHOOD PERSPECTIVE OF RURAL INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE AND E-GOVERNANCE READINESS IN INDIA: A CASE BASED STUDY Harekrishna Misra*and B.N. Hiremath† Abstract The role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in creating and managing information infrastructure for business processes is well documented. Most of the business-process led information infrastructures are well organised and their usability through ICT interventions can be conveniently projected. Egovernance initiatives are mapping the strengths of ICT enabled processes for better citizen-centric services and are globally acceptable as a means of development. Egovernance projects in India are rigorously embedding ICT enabled processes. However, in (business and governance) situations, usability and user acceptance have been a challenge before ICT planners, developers, and implementers. The situation is more complex in India where the information infrastructure for ICT enabled governance systems has to grapple with development challenges. Specifically, rural ICT enabled governance initiative faces a daunting task, not because it involves the rural infrastructure, but because of the complex process of involving rural masses who are least concerned with ICT initiatives. Technology adoption in rural India is highly dependent on people’s perception on its usability and contribution to their livelihood prospects. ICT enabled rural governance initiatives are, therefore, subjected to such vulnerabilities. In this paper we examine the current state of information infrastructure in India with respect to rural e-governance and posit that demand driven information *
Professor, Institute of Rural Management, Anand-388001, Gujarat, India. E-mail:
[email protected]
†
Professor, Institute of Rural Management, Anand-388001, Gujarat, India. Email:
[email protected].
infrastructure needs to be developed for successful implementation of e-governance systems. In order to provide demand driven rural information infrastructure in India, we argue that livelihood security based assessment of such information infrastructure would benefit rural households since livelihood systems are diverse in nature. This paper describes an assessment study which was undertaken in one of the districts in Gujarat. The organisation of the paper is as follows. In Section one, we provide a global perspective of e-governance initiatives, their rationale to adopt such strategies, challenges, and opportunities faced during implementations of e-governance projects. Underpinnings of global e-governance initiatives are also discussed in this section. We present the e-governance scenario and initiatives in India and discuss the challenges faced for its effective implementation in Section two. In Section three, we focus on the rural e-governance scenario and the role of ICT for development in the context of rural India through a model. The model is developed for the purpose of interfacing demand and supply characteristics of information infrastructure and relates them to e-governance models deployed nationally. In this section, we elaborate on the possibility of a village information system (VIS) with livelihood perspectives, which needs to be established before any ICT infrastructure is deployed. Through this model, we suggest that ICT initiatives involving feasible business practices (e-business, e-commerce, etc.), service oriented opportunities (egovernance, e-government, etc.), etc., should be integrated to meet the demand generated through VIS. In Section four, we discuss ICT enabled services which are primarily technology driven and examine possibilities and challenges for their adoption in rural areas with livelihood security as central issue. In Section five, we discuss the influence of information in livelihood framework and we consider that information is one of the assets for rural livelihood security. In Section six, we present the empirical results and analyse the extent of availability of information infrastructure and challenges before the e-governance implementing agencies to increase usability of the services planned. In the last section, we provide a direction for further research.
LIVELIHOOD PERSPECTIVE OF RURAL INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE AND E-GOVERNANCE READINESS IN INDIA: A CASE BASED STUDY 1.0 GLOBAL E-GOVERNANCE INITIATIVES AND EXPERIENCES E-governance has been a global phenomenon and is not limited to developed countries. Proliferation of e-governance efforts in many countries has been noteworthy, especially in developing countries. Because of this proliferation, egovernance issues have received due attention of academia, researchers, and government and non-government bodies. The United Nations (UN) and its member organisations have been contributing to e-governance efforts owing to its significance in the overall development of society. Because of its impact on society and abundant opportunities that e-governance systems could contribute to development, society and quality of life, efforts are being made across the globe to provide a direction. Various standards and architectures are evolving for e-governance systems for effective replication and interoperability (Archmann and Kudlacek 2008). The European Union has been working on egovernance architectures/standards for its member countries (European Commission [EC] 2005). “E-Inclusion” is being contemplated in EU countries through deployment of ICT with an aim to foster e-skills (Riga Ministerial Declaration 2006). The target is to reduce gaps in internet usage, increase digital literacy, and make all government websites accessible to citizens. However, a recent study (Riga Ministerial Declaration 2007) indicates that the steps taken are not free from challenges and recommends that ICT capabilities within communities is of prime importance in order to foster expected growth. Local populations need to be encouraged to accept and use the innovative use of ICT. It has also pointed out that innovative and sustainable use of ICT would largely depend on appreciation and motivation of local people (International Electronic Commerce Research Centre [IECRC] 2002). Since the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the United Nations in 2000, ICT has been considered critical to address social development issues (International Telecommunication Union [ITU] 2007 and 1
2006). Eight issues covered under MDG - poverty, universal primary education, gender equality, child mortality, maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS, ensuring environmental sustainability and development of global partnership - provide impetus to deployment and use of ICT. Such issues are understood to be influencers in e-governance initiatives in order to implement the MDG directives of UN. The United Nations Development Programme [UNDP] (2004), study for Asia acknowledges the difficulty in appreciating the role of technology in achieving MDGs, especially in addressing those issues related to poverty reduction, health, and primary education. It infers that growth of ICT in Asia has not been a critical factor in progress towards the attainment of MDG. The study indicates statistically insignificant correlations in the use of ICT and improvements in MDG indicators and strongly argues in favour of the role of ICT in addressing issues related to information asymmetry. In developed countries, MDG indicators are strongly correlated with ICT interventions. ICT infusion would largely depend on the demand for services and efforts should be made generate such demand through making ICT affordable, accessible, and usable (ibid.). MDG driven initiatives are best understood with the rationale that all of these initiatives are measurable. These measures are dependent on “readiness”, “availability”, “uptake” and “impact”. Progressively, all these measures are gaining importance globally. The measures discussed include policy measures driven by citizen - centric and demand driven outcomes. Today most egovernance initiatives are aimed at increasing ICT use in meeting MDG goals. Various attempts are being made in countries to embrace ICT enabled government services, to provide citizen interfaces with transparency in transactions, to build trust in government systems, and to deploy citizen-centric - services. In the paradigm of global e-governance, similar experiences as discussed in the MDG-oriented study are observed. Notwithstanding many successful efforts for implementation of e-governance projects globally, there have been challenges before the implementers to provide right services. However, successful efforts in e-governance projects worldwide have so far been characterised by many considerations which include a sound policy framework and strong ICT infrastructure at national level. The thrust has been 2
on “inclusive information society” in order to provide “right infrastructure”, enhance “e-skills”, and create an “accessible e-Government” for any good egovernance system with an expectation to improve upon the results and outcomes (Riga Ministerial Declaration 2006). It is also recognised that “e” part of “e-governance” is quite less critical in terms of assessing its success than the governance systems which need to adopt the right approach for process reengineering, better interface with citizens, and productive use of the process through innovation. Global e-governance efforts have amply demonstrated the role of ICT in improving efficiency in the level of governments, enhancing quality services, and collaborative transactions of citizens and governments (Organisation for Cooperation and Development [OECD] 2003). National egovernance initiatives and especially in developing countries are aimed at establishing networked government systems. E-governance initiatives, despite acceptance to an extent in the form of egovernment systems, have so far remained a hype in many parts of the world. Failure stories abundantly reflect that such initiatives with development perspectives have not yielded encouraging results. Estimates indicate that 35 per cent are total failures, 50 per cent are partial failures, and 15 per cent are successes in developing and transitional countries. It is argued that egovernance initiatives are often on project mode and each project forms island for deliveries creating an overwhelming gap between project design and on-theground reality (known as design-reality gaps). This gap contributes to failures (Heeks 2003). Despite such discouraging outcomes, e-government initiatives in developing countries have evolved to a level of acceptance among government agencies and backend service provisioning organisations. Most countries are now in the phase of assessing the “impact” on issues related to “efficiency”, “effectiveness”, and “equity” since they have gone beyond the initial phases of addressing primary challenges of “digital divide”, “setting up infrastructure”, and “spreading awareness” for ICT use and delivering citizen-centric egovernance services. Most of the countries are now able to showcase their egovernance services and declare the “availability” of these services uninterrupted crossing the spatial challenges (Figure 1). E-governance systems in many countries have evolved to the level of maturity. However, usage of 3
such services has been a challenge. E-governance systems have so far remained supply-driven in most countries and their actual use largely depends on the type of services rendered. E-government services are “mandatory” in nature and citizens are expected to use them. However, usage of many services which have development perspectives like income generation, health and education depends largely on the success of these services related to Figure 1: Changing E-Government Issues over Time
Impact - Efficiency -Effectiveness -Equity
Level of ICT4D Activity
Uptake - Demand - Usage - Use Divide Readiness -Awareness -Infrastructure -Digital Divide
Availability -Supply -Maturity Stage
Time
Sources : Heeks (2006), Heeks and Molla (2009).
citizen needs. Though it is argued that readiness, availability, and uptake phases of e-governance systems are not contemporary anymore for evaluation of success in managing such projects, most of the developing countries still grapple with this phenomenon. There is still use divide, low latent demand, and sub-optimal usage of e-governance services. Global e-government efforts strongly recognise the “e-inclusion” framework within which it is considered essential to ensure extension of benefits to those who do not have access to ICT or even do not know how to use ICT enabled services. The European Commission’s “e-Government Action Plan for 4
2010” seeks to ensure that “no citizen is left behind, by promoting inclusive eGovernment, under which specific measures are developed to connect and deliver public services to vulnerable groups at risk of exclusion” (European Union [EU] 2007). It is also recognised that ICT is being increasingly embedded into local and regional level government processes to deliver public services with a view to reducing the complexities in citizens dealing with administration and its intermediaries. The emphasis is now extending egovernment services on equal terms to all and focusing on including interests of potential service users, not the administrators. Increased attention is now towards tuning the e-government services to meet specific demand of users, enabling front-end dialoguing through ICT in lieu of traditional face-to-face modes and ensure that these processes are available at the users’ domestic, community, or institutional contexts. Despite these focused efforts to reengineer government processes, there are enormous challenges like widening gap among policy makers, practitioners, and ICT enabled service providers to converge to a common understanding and deliver desired services. This situation has led citizens to prefer using traditional channels instead of egovernance mediated services. According to one study, one-third of the EU population has shown this trend (ibid.). Therefore, in the global e-governance scenario, efforts are in place to provide services through alternate channels, to focus on easing citizen interfaces with public administration, increase better access to education, training and skill enhancement of citizens and social networks. This approach has recognised the importance of increase in coherence in e-governance policies with action plans. As per the e-government survey report of United Nations [UN] (2008), contemporary global egovernance systems emphasise knowledge management, provisioning of better services and more choices to citizens, and increase systems accountability. Figure 2 shows that the scope of e-government is not limited to evolve from a traditional government to ICT enabled services, but should aim to add value to existing services. Therefore, the focus is now on cost savings in government deliveries, connected governance, and having robust backend networks. Global e-government systems also now recognise that connected governance is better understood with a sustainable link to mainstream development thinking, 5
transforming public sector potential and networking all stakeholders in the process. It is strongly felt that in e-governance efforts, the role of ICT is quite critical for not only developing internal efficiencies for rendering e-services within each public institution, but it is also critical that ICT should also provide the right ambience to provide coordinated services offering one-stop shops to citizens and businesses through establishment of a network with external agencies. The service integration attributes are shown in Figure 3. Figure 2: Evolution of E-Governance
Traditional Government
Traditional Modes of Service Delivery
e-Government
Connected Government
e-Services
Value of Services
Source: UN (2008).
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Figure 3: ICT Enabled Connected Governance Internally Avoidance of duplication Reducing transaction costs Simplifying bureaucratic procedures Greater efficiency Greater coordination and communication Enhanced transparency Information sharing between agencies ICT-enabled connected governance contributes to:
Security of information management
Externally Faster service delivery Greater efficacy Increased flexibility of service use Innovation in service delivery Greater participation Greater citizen empowerment Citizen participation
Source: UN (2008).
As explained in Box 1, UN strongly recognises the contribution of information to citizen services and their development. Integration of required infrastructure and embedding them in citizen-centric service oriented process are the imperatives of transformation in e-government systems (OECD 2003). 2.0
E-GOVERNANCE: INDIAN PERSPECTIVE
Discussion on global e-governance systems suggests a clear direction to policy makers and implementers which calls for provisioning of converged and value added services to citizens with least cost, time, and effort. It is also evident that e-governance systems need to evolve to
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Box 1: Three Critical Considerations for Establishment of Connected Governance In order to establish ICT enabled connected governance, UN recognises following three areas: 1. Infrastructure: Creating an information infrastructure both within the public sector and across society at large, one based upon reliable and affordable Internet connectivity for citizens, businesses and all stakeholders in a given jurisdiction; 2. Integration: Leveraging this new infrastructure within the public sector in order to better share information (internally and externally) and bundle, integrate, and deliver services through more efficient and citizen-centric governance models encompassing multiple delivery channels; and 3.
Transformation: Pursuing service innovation and e-government across a broader prism of community and democratic development through more networked governance patterns within government, across various government levels and amongst all sectors in a particular jurisdiction.
Source: UN (2008).
connected governance through establishment of robust infrastructure, backend integration with all stakeholders, and transforming the government itself through innovation and value addition. Information provided in Figures 1, 2 and 3 indicate that connected governance is possible through phases. It needs a concerted effort to graduate any e-government effort to connected governance. As shown in Figure 1 and Box 1, it is mandatory for any country to ensure its readiness in each stage before going to the next higher stage. In the context of Indian e-governance efforts, the situation is not different when compared to global e-governance scenarios, experiences, and trends. In India, foundation of e-governance was laid during 1954 when the Planning Commission introduced computers followed by setting up of the Department of Electronics (DOE) in 1970 and establishment of the National Informatics 8
Centre in 1970 as a national agency to make available necessary infrastructure across all states to provide required connectivity with the central government (Mishra 2007; Prabhu 2004). The government’s policies to encourage digital empowerment are presented in Table 1. Table 1: Indian E-Governance Genesis Year 1984 1986 1987 1994 1995 1997 1998 1999 1999 2000 2000 2000 2000 2004 2006
2007
Mile-stones for E-Governance Efforts New Computer Policy Policy on Software Export, Development and Training Setting up of NICNET, DISNIC Policy on National Telecommunication (NTP 94) Launching of Internet; Spectrum Allocation and Release Establishment of Telecom. Regulatory Authority (TRAI) National Task Force on IT Creation of Ministry of IT Policy on National Telecommunication (NTP 99) Formulation of IT Act Formulation of Communication Convergence Bill Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) Corporatisation of DoT (formation of BSNL) Formulation of Broadband Policy National E-Governance Plan (NeGP) Mission 2007
Goal Spread of Computer Use To promote Sectoral growth in ITeS, Business Process Outsourcing Setting up of IT infrastructure in Government Sector To ensure better Tele-density, focus on Rural Telephony Web Access and bandwidth allocation for use To unbundle telecommunication services (last mile) To formulate an IT policy document To oversee implementation of IT policy To accelerate tele-density To provide legal status to use of IT in business, government, and governance systems Convergence of content, convergence of carriage, and convergence of Terminal Fair and transparent telecom. Services Unbundling of the telecommunication sector, private sector investments and managing USO To implement broadband services in the last mile To formulate, plan, design, and deploy egovernment solutions and establish citizen interfaces To consider each village a knowledge centre
Sources: Misra (2009).
2.1
Infrastructure and E-Governance in India
As discussed in Figure 1 (Heeks 2006) and as recognised by UN (2008), infrastructure is a critical contributor to the success of “connected governance”. 9
E-governance efforts in a country strongly reflect the role and contributions of infrastructure in their policies, projects and implementation strategies. Infrastructural readiness is one of the concurrent evaluation criteria which have been set for the countries globally. There are various agencies involved in assessment exercises globally. Table 2 presents a list of such agencies. Egovernance assessment frameworks have evolved with the intention to benchmark the e-government strategies, policies and provide an environment of learning from these ever dynamic processes. It is largely recognised that egovernance efforts are country specific, related to national level policies, sociocultural systems and government systems. Though it is not easy to map all the success factors of e-governance efforts made in other countries to the Indian scenario, overall learning from them would help the country to improve upon. In India, various agencies are also involved in assessing e-governance efforts. The Ministry of IT has mostly spearheaded this effort according to their ambitious national e-governance plan (NeGP). A list of agencies involved in the process is provided to understand their rationale and importance of assessing the readiness (Table 3). While the number of agencies involved in the assessment process is not important, their approaches lead to the conclusion that the e-readiness exercises have their importance in any phase of deployment of e-governance. Egovernance efforts are continuous and these efforts require concurrent evaluation to add value progressively. In the Indian context, the global ereadiness exercises provide an insight to various challenges that the country faces to set up and use infrastructure. India, being a developing country, experiences harsh realities of e-readiness attributes explained in Figure 1. In recent times last mile dimensions of digital divide is increasingly being addressed through various policies like tele-density increase, broadband penetration, establishment of common service centres, and state and centre sponsored content management through state-wide area network backbones (SWAN) under NeGP. Table 2: Profile of E-Readiness Assessment Agencies (Global)
10
Study APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) CIDIF (Centre International pour le Development de I’Inforoute en Francais) EIU (Economist Intelligence Unit) with IBM IDC World Bank (KAM) McConnell International (MI) MN (Metric Net) MQ (Mosaic Group) NRI (CID, Harvard) CID (Centre for International Development) CIDCM (University of Maryland)
World Telecommunication/ ICT Development Report; International Telecommunication Union (ITU) SIDA (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency) USAID (US Agency for International Development) World Economic Forum; Global IT Report United Nations Development Programme World Economic Forum Measurement of Information Society, ITU Economic and Social Commission for Asia and The Pacific (ESCAP), UN United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Focus E-Commerce Readiness Internet Service Market E-Business Readiness Infrastructure K-Economy Infrastructure, Digital Economy, Education, and Government E-Economy Internet Infrastructure, E-Society, Policies, Digital Economy, Education, and Government Society Qualitative Assessment based on past performance and current internet pervasiveness Telecommunication; Measuring ICT for Social and Economic Development; Measuring ICT availability in Villages and Rural Areas Mainly SWOT analysis of a Nation Access, Government, E-Readiness E-Governance Global Competitiveness Report ICT Opportunity Index Regulations, Polices, Legal Framework Related to ICT; UN’s Global E-Government Survey ICT Indicators for Human Development; Democratic Governance Indicators
Sources:Budhiraja and Sachdeva (2009), UNDP (2004), Dutta et al., (2008),UN (2008), ITU (2007).
A close look at the global IT report indicates that India needs to improve upon many other dimensions of e-governance including digital divide (Dutta et al.2003,2004,2006,2007 and 2008; Dutta and Lopez-Claros 2005).
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Table 3: Profile of E-Readiness Assessment Agencies (India) Sr. No. 1
Agency IIM-A
2
Ministry of IT, Government of India
3
SKOCH Agency
Study Assessment of Infrastructure (India Infrastructure Reports); E-Governance Assessment Framework (EAF) E-Readiness Report for States in India Government Readiness; E-Government Projects; State Mission Mode Projects E-Governance Report
Sources: Department of Information Technology (2003, 2004 and 2006), Kochhar and Dhanjal (2005).
In Figure 4 the e-readiness components in India vis-à-vis other countries are shown in a time line. It may be observed that infrastructure readiness needs considerable attention nationally to achieve better e-governance service utilisation. Other readiness indicators have shown appreciable improvements in global standards, despite diverse socio-economic ambience. Individual readiness, government readiness, and political and regulatory readiness indicators support the fact that awareness among stakeholders to accept ICT enabled services has increased. 2.2
Availability of Integrated E-Governance Infrastructure and Services
Availability of integrated infrastructure in a nation is reflection of its sound policy and implementation strategy. In India ICT initiatives and their convergence are integral parts of its policies. Various policies and Five Year Plans have elaborated the role of connectivity and possible road maps for converged approaches. The tenth and eleventh five year plan documents (Planning Commission 2001) provide a comprehensive approach towards achieving convergence in ICT infrastructure and content management with special emphasis on rural development. Some among them are convergence bill, broadband policy, NeGP with MMPs, and universal service obligation (USO).
12
Figure 4: E-Readiness Indices of India
ICT Indices for India (No. of Coutries Assessed) 90.00 80.00
Percentile
70.00
Network Readiness Index
60.00 50.00
Individual readiness
40.00 30.00
Government readiness
20.00 10.00
Political & regulatory
0.00 2002- 2003- 2004- 2005- 2006- 200703 04 05 06 07 08 (82) (102) (104) (115) (122) (127)
Infrastructure
Note: Percentile displays the rank among participating countries; higher percentile indicates better status Sources: Dutta et al. 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008; Dutta and Lopez-Claros 2005.
As a strategic move, spread of basic telephony to all citizens has been part of India’s sound infrastructure policy. Telephony has been a powerful mode of establishing the required connectivity among citizens. It has catalysed the convergence of other stakeholders in the governance system which is involved in provisioning of user services. Telephony has also been instrumental in spread of Internet services and the Internet is the backbone of e-governance infrastructure today. Teledensity has been a globally accepted metric for understanding the spread of telephony because of such critical contribution. A comparative assessment of urban-rural teledensity in India is provided in Figure 5. The picture is far from satisfactory and there is a huge disparity in urbanrural teledensity despite policy level support.
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Figure 5: Tele Density in India
Telephony
TeleDensity in India (No. of Telephones per 100 Persons) 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 -10
Total
Total Urban Rural
1995- 1996- 1997- 1998- 1999- 2000- 2001- 2002- 2003- 2004- 2005- Sep' Feb' 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 1.28 1.56 1.94 2.33 2.86 3.58 4.29 5.11 7.02 8.95 12.7 23.2 25.3
Urban 3.95 4.76 5.78 6.87 8.23 10.4 12.2 14.3 20.8 26.9 39.5 56.9 64.5 Rural
0.29 0.34 0.43 0.52 0.68 0.93 1.21 1.49 1.57 1.73 1.86 7.3 9.03
Source: www.Indiastat.com, accessed on March 2, 2009.
Internet and telephone users in India are way below world figures. From Figure 6, it is evident that there is tremendous scope to improve upon the infrastructure as India’s rank ranges between 87 and 107 among 127 countries assessed. As regards Internet users in India, it is estimated that 12 per cent of urban population are using the Internet whereas only 1.2 per cent of rural population is using the Internet (JuxtConsultIndia Online 2008). Availability of services is another important dimension of e-governance systems. Conceptualisation, design, development, and deployment of electronic services online are major responsibilities of content management. The Convergence Bill of India calls for convergence of 14
Figure 6: Status of Internet and Telephony in India
Note: Lower the rank better the status. Source: Dutta et al. (2008).
content and convergence of carriage as national initiatives (Planning Commission 2001). Convergence of carriage calls for major changes in structures of the computer industry and more comprehensively the telecommunication and networking industry that are responsible for data communication and broadcasting of multi-media applications. The National Task Force on IT and Software Development recommended in 1998 in addressing the last-mile connectivity problem. Convergence of content calls for efforts in e-government and e-governance, and provision of a single window service to the citizen. Another issue to address the convergence of terminal in order to provide multilingual services on multimedia applications anywhere and anytime in India. Today there are various attempts made to provide the content in local languages including the operating system initiative of C-DAC named as the Bharat Operating System Solutions (BOSS). As regards service oriented contents, NeGP recognises the scope for large-scale implementation of application under mission mode projects (MMPs) with 15
emphasis on integrated services. Under NeGP, national level MMPs and state level MMPs are identified for implementation on scale-up mode as presented in Figure 7 (Ministry of Information Technology [MoIT] 2009a). Figure 7: MMPs under NeGP Central Income Tax Central Excise Passports/Visa & Immigration MCA 21 National ID Pensions Industry Initiative Banking Insurance
State
Integrated
Agriculture Land Records Transport Treasuries Commercial Taxes Gram Panchayats Registration Police Employment Exchange
e-BIZ EDI India Portal Common df EG Gateway E Courts E-Office E Procurement
States can add up to 5 state specific projects Source: MoIT (2009a).
Every interested state government is now under a state wide area network (SWAN). Each state is now in the process of having state data centres under the NeGP policy. This endeavour is part of state readiness exercise which is adapted mostly from the global information technology report framework published annually by the World Economic Forum. This assessment commencing in 2003 has provided insight to the performance of states which are placed in six categories: Least Achievers (L1), Below Average Achievers (L2), Average Achievers (L3), Expectants (L4), Aspiring Leaders (L5), and Leaders (L6). The latest rankings of the participating states are given in Figure 8.
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Figure 8: State E-Readiness Pyramid of the States
Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Chandigarh, Maharashtra
Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Goa, Gujarat
Uttar Pradesh, Pondicherry, Rajasthan, West Bengal
Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Sikkim, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand Mizoram, Meghalaya, Assam, Lakshadweep, Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar
Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar, Nagaland, Tripura, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu
Source: www.mit.gov.in, accessed on March 5, 2009.
E-readiness for districts has been on the agenda of the e-governance policy in India. This readiness is essential to implement e-district services which are parts of the state level mission mode projects under NeGP. It envisages provisioning of services through CSCs planned to be made available in every sixth village across the country and these services include district administration and citizen- centric government services (MoIT 2009b). 17
2.3
Uptake of E-Governance Services in India
As discussed in sections 2.1 and 2.2, it is quite evident that Indian efforts are in line with global e-governance scenarios and the Indian government is making all possible efforts to establish the e-governance infrastructure and provide converged services for the citizens. This supply mode of services has long lasting effect on the readiness of government systems and integration of backend services. As regards mission mode projects at the state and national levels, most of them are related to government systems and citizens would have no option but to accept them as made available to them. The real challenge, however, lies in assessing the net uptake of the services which largely depends on demand, usage and usage divide as shown in Figure 1. In the Indian context, these three dimensions of demand are quite relevant because of the digital divide. It is largely felt that the digital divide has now been converted to digital opportunities because of various policies/acts such as the Broadband Policy, NeGP, and RTI Act. There are many well documented challenges in India to maximise the uptake of services because of the diversity and disparities in the needs of rural-urban citizens. Despite many efforts, e-government services are yet to render the desired pro-citizen services and are mostly targeted towards internal efficiency (Bhatnagar 2006). Pro-poor services may be available through state and national MMPs in due course since the projects are in the phases of transition. 2.4
Impact of E-Governance Services in India
The current scenario e-governance efforts has provided the right platform to render effective services at the national and state levels through organised backbones, data centres, and MMPs. NeGP caters to the 100,000 CSCs and provides the platform for convergence of various services through the privatepublic-partnership (PPP) mode. There is a significant change in the way government systems are working now because of the impact of the information technology Act, and the RTI Act. MMPs alike NCA-21, Income Tax, and Railways have added the right impetus to citizen-acceptance of IT enabled services. Penetration of telephony (wire and wireless) has been phenomenal, triggering the right ambience for m-government (mobile government) 18
applications. But the real challenges to improve upon the impacts are many. It is argued that mere provisioning personal computers, connectivity, and content do not correlate with actual use of services (Heeks et al. 2009). This situation is prevalent especially in rural areas. 3.0 MOTIVATION FOR THE STUDY In the previous sections, we discussed e-governance efforts supporting the development process in developing countries. E-inclusion has been a critical consideration for global apex bodies such as UN, EU, UNDP, and ITU in provisioning of e-governance services to citizens. MDG efforts include ICT enabled services as one of the most critical indicators for understanding the success of goals set. It is also recognised that global e-governance efforts face challenges of infrastructure, integration, and transformation. There are many failures in implementing e-governance projects and some of the attributes leading to unsuccessful results are design-reality gaps, digital divides, supplydriven services and scanty usage of services. In India, e-governance services has gone beyond the phases of incubation, prototyping and showcasing of standard software engineering processes. Despite sincere efforts, the services have remained supply driven and need to be transformed to a level of high use through creation of latent demand at village level. NeGP has laid emphasis on deploying MMPs at state and central government levels and has provided the desired attention to integrate them so as to generate citizen-centric services on demand and to increase the latent demand. In Figure 9, the approach to integrate various services is presented.
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Figure 9: NeGP Approach for Integration
State Wide Area Networks to provide 2 Mbps connectivity up to Block level State Data centers 100,000 Common Services Centers
20 GOI Deptts. 35 States / UTs 360 Deptts @ states Major capacity Building Programme in pipeline
Rs. 23,000 Crores (Estimated)
Connectivity Capacity
Capital
Health Education
Content
Citizen Interface Cyber Law Digital Signature Online Returns
Employment Services Vehicle Registration Driver’s License Passport / Visa
Source: www.mit.gov.in, accessed on March 5, 2009 and MoIT (2009b).
In this integrated approach NeGP intends to provide a service grid through adequate connectivity, increased influx of capital with focused deliveries, increase in the capacity and capabilities of service provisioning agencies in the government, providing adequate content in local languages, establishing required policies and legal frameworks to encourage convergence of services and service providers, establish security standards, and channel the grid based services to citizens through an established channel of interface. The citizen interface is the most critical element in the grid which largely influences the success of e-governance services. In this paper, we hypothesise that services supplied would meet their desired level of success through 20
sustained use by end users. The study discusses the interface of NeGP services being planned, designed, and deployed with that of the latent demand and its influencing factors. The objective is to understand user-divides prevalent in rural areas in India since the success of e-governance efforts largely depends on their contributions to rural development indicators nationally and as per MDG imperatives. This study is largely a continuation of our work in the sample district in Gujarat in India (Misra and Hiremath 2006). The study also posits that user-divides in rural India is intensely influenced by livelihood security metrics of the households. In this paper, an attempt is made to explore the effects of livelihood metrics on the latent demand of the information and services network being deployed. 3.1
Study in Gujarat
Gujarat has been an aspiring leader in implementing e-governance services. Its e-readiness has been noteworthy in comparison with other states in India. During 2008, e-Gram services have been extended to panchayats in the state. A part of extensive application of the Gujarat State Wide Area Network (GSWAN) services across the state, Common Service Centres (CSCs) are also rolling out with focus on NeGP services. All these services are quite capital intensive and rural citizens are expected to receive most of the benefits of egovernance. Therefore, the state provides the right ambience to study the convergence opportunities that e-governance services bring in, with specific relevance to citizen-centric development initiatives. 4.0
PROPOSED LIVELIHOOD SECURITY BASED FRAMEWORK
In Figure 10 a framework is presented through which the interface for citizen services (here rural citizens in particular) between services offered through NeGP networks and services demanded through village information systems (VIS) is explained. The framework suggests that supplies of information through NeGP may converge through adequate backend networking with all possible stakeholders in development and business processes (B2B, B2G, B2C etc.). It may also take care of supplying policy-driven government services and establishing the right ambience for capacity building of citizens, providing 21
adequate connectivity, provisioning required capital and content through CSCs which have been set up in every cluster of six villages. However, the framework suggests it to be equally important to establish an adequate framework to interface with citizen demand in villages. Figure 10: Proposed Framework
Programme, Policy and Schemes
Capacity
Household livelihoods security plan NeGP Services (Supplies)*
Citizen Interface
Content
Village Information System (demand)
Demand on Village Resources
Connectivity
Capital
(*interfaces with VKC, VRC and alike; C2B, B2B,B2G…)
Household IS plan
Sources: Adapted from Misra and Hiremath (2006), MoIT (2009b).
It is argued that each household in a typical Indian village has specific latent demand on information, which is based on its “livelihood security” opportunities and challenges. This latency becomes critical when the related infrastructure is not available in the proximity of a village. Meeting this demand would attract an interface with NeGP services at the household level and a sustainable synergy among related infrastructure and services. It is important that a VIS plan is articulated and documented to capture the dynamic needs of villagers and this needs to be interfaced with NeGP and other networked service providers. Therefore, VIS needs to capture this latent 22
demand and interface with NeGP services on a sustainable manner. A mere aggregation of household information at the village level would not perhaps raise the latent demand (Misra and Hiremath 2006). 4.1
Livelihood Security Based Village Information System Framework
The village information system assumes a critical role in contributing to the national information services plan. Diversity in social, cultural, demographic, economic and infrastructural assets in a village influences the household livelihood security options and thus generates a unique scenario. Information economics principles has a far-reaching effect on VIS which argues that information is increasingly recognised as a capital and can add to the livelihood pentagon framework which has five faces of capital to assess the livelihood of a household: financial, human, natural, physical, and social. This information capital can be used for the advantages of citizens in developing countries to support livelihood options (Heeks et al. 2009; World Bank 1986). Box 2 explains these advantages. Availability of information capital at the household level in developing countries can immensely influence local livelihood opportunities through information management at right time, at appropriate locations, and with right language interfaces. Therefore, it is important that information availability is measured through its proximity to the source and recipient, latency in extending information and its related services, decrease in the uncertainty in provisioning of information through integration, and ability of citizens to gain access to the information at affordable cost. The proposed framework aims to establish a synergy between the information provisioning agencies and citizens in the villages and map the services through these metrics. It is posited that VIS would assume this role in establishing the required synergy. In Table 4, indicative VIS metrics are discussed.
23
Box 2: Advantages of Information Capital for Rural Citizens in a Developing Country Information absence: key information that development actors need is not available. Information quality: key information that development actors need is available but of poor quality. Information uncertainty: key information that development actors need is available but its quality is uncertain. Information asymmetry: some development actors have access to key information that others lack. Information cost: key information can only be obtained at high cost (often a physical journey). Source: Heeks and Molla (2009).
In the proposed framework, VIS metrics are posited to be the interfaces with the livelihood security oriented delivery systems for rural citizens. This delivery system needs to understand the ICT imperatives to provide livelihoodcentric information. These metrics will be used to examine critically the processes and services available to citizens. In Table 5, VIS metrics are mapped to the four stages of evolution in e-governance services, readiness, availability, uptake, and impact. Readiness would relate critically to local infrastructure and local sources for information retrieval and integration among these sources in order to encourage citizens to avail such services. Availability largely depends on the readiness of infrastructure and integrated services. Besides, it is also largely influenced by the cost factor. Increase in uptake would depend on availability of integrated services and low latency with focus on livelihood-centric services because it might build trust in the system. 24
Table 5: Relationship of VIS Metrics with E-Governance Evolution
Stages of EGovernance Evolution
VIS Metrics Proximity of Source of Information/ Services
Latency in Availing Information/ Services
Requirement of Integrated Information
Cost of Services
Readiness
+++
+
+++
+
Availability
+
+++
+++
+++
Uptake
+++
+++
+++
+
Impact
+
+++
+++
+
Highly Critical: +++
Important: +
Impact assessment is also an important stage in the evolution since it measures the net effect of e-governance services. Latency and integrated services in a sustainable manner are expected to provide a larger impact. While all stages of evolution in e-governance services are expected to be largely influenced by the integrated information infrastructure, latency in availing and providing services are the next most important metric for successful evolution. Proximity and cost of information and services are considered important metrics; they are largely critical for the readiness, availability, and uptake stages of the evolution process. 5.0
METHODOLOGY
Village Information System (VIS) is the core issue in this study. The research propositions are as follows: 1. VIS is expected to provide the desired interface with the citizens and supplied services for supporting their livelihood prospects in local conditions. 25
2. VIS is treated as “atomic1” in order to establish the uniqueness of the demand that the concerned village would place on the service providing agencies to meet livelihood security based challenges at the household level. It is argued that each village has uniqueness in raising demand on egovernance services. Each village is therefore, a unit of study. Each village provides an aggregated ambience based on household level demand to understand prioritised information requirements. 3. Proximity to information and service resources, latency, integrated information, and cost of services influence readiness, availability, uptake, and impact in provisioning e-governance services. The research propositions demand a primary survey at the household level because of the premise that each household has uniqueness in placing its demand on the “orchestrated” information network available through the egovernance policy framework. In this paper, severity metrics are formed to support the measurements. Severity is presented as a term associated with difficulty/importance attached to citizens’ critical needs to support livelihood security. Severity metric depends on quantifiable parameters of the livelihood security profile of a household aggregated at the village level. This metric indicates the difficulty level of a household/village to get support from agencies for receiving information. In Table 6, this severity is explained for the purpose of benchmarking results that the proposed framework examines. 5.1
Sampling Plan
Village is the unit of study for appreciation of VIS plan. The study also envisages inclusion of household as a subset of the village for aggregation of demand on information and services. In order to test the fitness of the proposed framework, we chose Dahod district in Gujarat where majority of the households face challenges of livelihood security. Land based activities cannot support the livelihoods of rural households in the district. Because of degraded, unproductive land, rural communities are forced 26
to migrate to urban areas in search of employment. Drought prone characteristic of the district further accentuates the process of migration. The migrant communities face a number of problems including unavailability of information on job opportunities, transport facilities, labour laws, suitable work at destination, exploitation and harassment at destinations, difficulties in sending money, communicating with home, etc. In 2002, the Gramin Vikas Trust (GVT) initiated the Migrant Labour Support Programme to address the problems faced by them. The programme involved establishing a migration information centre (with a simple telephone line) to provide information needed by the migrating population to make migration more productive. Today, MICs have become an integral part in this area. During our initial association with GVT, we attempted to understand the reason behind the success of MICs. We developed a framework to capture the attributes of the success of ICT applications and we found that MICs are truly citizen-led because of their strength to support livelihood security. A detailed exercise through participator rural appraisal (PRA) tools led us to believe that livelihood security oriented services would render fruitful and sustainable ICT enabled services (Misra and Hiremath 2006). The present work is an extension to the earlier work in this district. In the intervening period, the Gujarat government and NeGP have established e-Gram and CSCs respectively in these areas. Thus, the sample includes panchayats where e-Gram services and CSC infrastructure are established and villages where our earlier work was carried out. Our familiarity with the district, accessibility, study population, and cooperation extended by GVT and the households led us to choose Dahod district for this study. Data were collected from seven villages where MICs are located. Within the selected villages, households were chosen at random. Information received through the primary survey was triangulated with information available with panchayats, CSC centres, and the district collectorate.
27
6.0 RESEARCH FINDINGS The sample villages are relatively homogeneous since the district population is tribal. Thus, the survey carries immense importance since the tribal population had extreme difficulty in listing their information requirements and showed much indifference to understanding the impact of policies framed through NeGP. 6.1
Food Security Orientation
Our primary survey explored the farming status in the sample villages. Family size, land holding, and availability of irrigation are taken as critical inputs for assessment of food security. In Figure 11, categorisation of farmers is presented. Almost all (more than 90 per cent) respondents are small and marginal farmers. The break-up of farmer categories is presented in Figure 12. Village-wise average size of landholdings is shown in Figure 13. The average landholding differs across sample villages. The largest landholding is seen in Rai (over 4 acres followed by Bar’s (3.5), and the lowest in Bara village. The variation is fairly narrow ranging from 2.6 to 4.1 acres. In most tribal areas of Gujarat, average landholdings are small with very few households belonging to the landless category.
28
Figure 11: Farmer Category of the Sample Villages
Farmer Category 80 60 40 20 0 Landless
Marginal
Semi-Medium
Small
Farmer Category
Figure 12: Type of Farmers
Types of Farmers
N=284
120 100
Percent of Respondents (Marginal farmers)
80 60 40 20
Percent of Respondents (Small farmers)
iy a
aV ad
R ai
N av
Ba r
ar a D ak
an li M
a Ba r
di
0
Va lu n
Percentage of Respondents
N=284
.
29
Figure 13: Average Land Holdings
N=284
In Figure 14, family size is reflected. The average family size by sample village is around 9. The range in family size is between 7.8 to 9.2. Figure 14: Family Size
Average Family Size
R N ai av aV ad iya
ar B
an li M
B
ar a
Average Family Size
D ak ar a
V
al un di
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
N=284
30
Although the average family size is around nine members, the number of adult members exceeds the number of children. This is true in all the sample villages (Figure 15).This amply supports the fact that the sample is homogeneous in land holdings, family size, and family composition. Figure 15: Family Composition
Composition of Family
N=284
6 5 4
Average No. of Adults in Family
3 2 1
Average No. of Children in Family
R ai N av aV ad iy a
ar B
an li M
ar a B
D ak ar a
V
al un di
0
Given small land holdings and a large family size, food production from land based activities is not sufficient to feed for the entire year. In Figure 16 we present village-wise food-grain availability of households. Except in Dakara, food produced on other villages lasts for six months or less. In Dakara village it lasts for 10 months and in three of the sample villages, it is around four months. In order to meet the food deficit, most households resort to selling their meagre assets. The proportion of households selling assets in sample villages is presented in Figure 17.
31
Figure 16: Foodgrain Availability Duration of Foodgrain Availability in Months
N=284 Valundi
10
Bara
8
Manli
6
Dakara
4
Bar
2
Rai NavaVadiya
0 Village
Figure 17: Assets Sold to Meet Foodgrain Shortfall
Assets Sold in Village N=284
80
Percent of Respondents
Availability in Months
12
70 Valundi
60
Bara
50
Manli
40 30
Dakara
20
Bar
10
Rai NavaVadiya
0 Asset Sold for Purchase of Food grain (yes %)
32
Bar village has the highest proportion (70 per cent) of households selling assets for meeting the food requirements while Nava Vadiya has the lowest proportion (5 per cent). Our survey shows that selling surplus livestock is a common practice in all seven villages to meet the food deficit (Figure 18). Because of distress sale the value realised from livestock sale is often not satisfactory. Only in Valundi the sample households realised proper value from sale of livestock. In other villages the realised value was far less (Figure 19). To sell their livestock, often at low prices, households have to travel an average of 10-12 kms. to reach the place of sale. Distances from the sample villages to the market are shown in Figure 20. Figure 18: Surplus Livestock Sold by Households
Livestock Sale Value
N=284
Average Value in Rs.
6000 5000
Valundi
4000
Bara Manli
3000
Dakara
2000
Bar
1000
Rai NavaVadiya
0 Village
33
Figure 19: Sale Value Realised from Livestock Sales Proper Livestock Sale Value
N=284
120 Valundi
Yes in Percent
100
Bara
80
Manli
60
Dakara
40
Bar Rai
20
NavaVadiya
0 Village
Figure 20: Average Distance Travelled for Livestock Sale
Distance Travelled for Selling Livestock
N=284
Average Distance in Km.
14 12
Valundi
10
Bara
8
Manli Dakara
6
Bar
4
Rai
2
NavaVadiya
0 Village
34
It is not uncommon in tribal areas to see households selling stored foodgrains (retained for self consumption) whenever there is a need to purchase items like cooking oil or salt. Except in two sample villages in which the, the average sale value varied from Rs. 912 to Rs.2000 a year (Figure 21). Figure 21: Sale of Stored Foodgrains
Average Stored Foodgrain Sale N=284
Annual Sale Value in Rs.
2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0
Food Grain Sale Value (Mean)
Valundi
912.5
Bara
1250 0
Manli
1400
Dakara Bar
0
Rai
1166.67 2000
NavaVadiya
Value realised from sale of foodgrains again was not very satisfactory. In Bara and Rai, 50 per cent and in Valundi 25 per cent of the respondent households said they got proper value. In other villages none had received a fair value for the foodgrains they sold (Figure 22).
Figure 22:
35
Value Realised from Foodgrains Sales
Proper Foodgrain Sale Value
N=284
60 50
Percent
40 30 20 10 0
Food Grain Sale Proper (Yes %) Valundi
25
Bara
50
Manli
0
Dakara
0
Bar
0
Rai
50
NavaVadiya
0
In order to sell foodgrains the households had to travel some distance. The average distance to the point of sale is shown in Figure 23. The point of sale was the village itself in Manli Bar and Nava Vadiya. In other villages the distance varied from 3 to 14 kms. The point of sale of foodgrains has cost implications for the households. Very few of the sample villages had any work opportunities within the village itself. Over 80 per cent of the respondents from the sample villages said that there were no work opportunities in the village (Figure 24). Figure 23: Average Distance to the Point of Sale of Foodgrains
36
Proper Foodgrain Sale Value
N=284
60 50
Percent
40 30 20 10 0
Food Grain Sale Proper (Yes %) Valundi
25
Bara
50
Manli
0
Dakara
0
Bar
0
Rai
50
NavaVadiya
0
Figure 24: Availability of Work Opportunities Availability of Availability of Work WorkOpportunity OpportunityininVillages Villages 120
N=284 Valundi
Percent said "No"
100
Bara
80
Manli
60
Dakara
40
Bar
20
Rai NavaVadiya
0 Village
37
When there were some opportunities to work within the village, the duration was limited. Manli was slightly better-off in terms providing work for a longer duration (over 50 days/year). In the remaining villages available work did not exceed 30 days. In Rai and Bara there was almost no work (Figure 25). Figure 25: Duration of Work Availability Work Opportunity in the Village
N=284
60.00
Duration in Months
50.00 40.00 30.00 20.00 10.00 0.00
Duration of Work Opportunity in the Village in Days in a Year 28.23
Valundi Bara
4.00
Manli
55.00
Dakara
24.00
Bar
19.50 0.00
Rai
20.00
NavaVadiya
Valundi households received better wages of Rs.60/day (Figure 26) compared to other sample villages (Rs. 40-60/day). In the absence of local work opportunities to supplement the food requirements of the family, besides selling livestock and foodgrains reserved for family consumption, households also are sometimes forced to sell household assets. Figure 26: Average Wage Rate
38
Wages Available in Village N=284
Average Rate per day in Rs.
70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
Average Wage Rate (Rs./Day) 60
Valundi Bara
0
Manli
40
Dakara
50
Bar
48.33
Rai
0 50
NavaVadiya
Nearly two-thirds of the households reported selling household assets for purchasing foodgrains (Figure 27). Given the precarious food insecurity, most households have adopted migration as a coping mechanism. Distress migration is rampant in Dahod district. From the sample village data presented in Figure 28, we observe that in five villages over 90 per cent households undertook migration, in Bara also the migration was high (80 per cent).
Figure 27: Households Selling Assets for Food-grains Purchase
39
N=284
Assets Sold for Food
Yes No 32.75
67.25
Figure 28: Household Migration
Migration Status
N=284
Percent of Respondents
120 Valundi
100
Bara
80
Manli
60
Dakara
40
Bar Rai
20
NavaVadiya
0 Village
40
Most households migrate to cities for three to five months in a year. Valundi households migrated for more than five months and Bara recorded the low of around three months. The number of members per household migrating was less than two in Manli while it was over three in Bara (Figure 29). Figure 29: Duration of Migration and Number of Migrating Family Members
Migration Status N=284
6 5
Valundi
4
Bara
3
Manli
2
Dakara
1
Bar Rai
0 Migration Duration in Months
No. of family Members Migration
NavaVadiya
The productivity of migration depends on the wage rate and the number of days actually employed rather than the duration of migration. We could not obtain the figures for days of actual employment and therefore we used income generated from migration as proxy. Wages from Rs.60 in Nava Vadiya to Rs. 90 in Valundi (Figure 30).
41
Figure 30: Daily Earnings from Migration
Wage Earned during Migration
Average per Day in Rs.
N=284
100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
Valundi Bara Manli Dakara Bar Rai NavaVadiya
Village
Data on expenditure from migration earnings on food, education, health, and social causes are given in Figure 31. Social causes followed by food expenditures are relatively high in all sample villages compared with expenditure on education and health. In three villages the proportion of migration income spent on social expenditures exceeded 60 per cent while for food it was 50 per cent or less. Households in Valundi and Dakara villages recorded the highest proportion of migration income spent on food. Migration income spent on health and education was below 15 per cent in all sample villages (Figure 32).
42
Figure 31: Patterns of Expenditure from Migration Income
Pattern of Expenditure
Percent Spent
N=284
70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
Valundi Bara Manli Dakara Bar Rai NavaVadiya Percent of Percent of Percent of Percent of Migration Migration Migration Migration Earning Spent Earning Spent Earning Spent Earning Spent on Food on Social on Health on Education
Figure 32: Overall Expenditure Pattern of Income from Migration N=284
Percent of Migration Earning Spent on Food
12%
31% 11%
Percent of Migration Earning Spent on Social Percent of Migration Earning Spent on Health Percent of Migration Earning Spent on Education
46%
43
In terms of access to various services and infrastructural facilities, the sample villages showed variations (Figure 33). Households in Nava Vadiya travelled 15 kms. to avail health related services from PHC. Distance to PHCs ranged from two kms. to six kms. in other villages. However, the distance to a public telephone was less than five kms. Distance to the nearest market varied between four kms. and 12 kms. Among the infrastructural facilities and services, only village panchayats were located within three kms. In general, essential facilities and services were located at a distance in most sample villages. Figure 33: Remoteness of Essential Infrastructural Services in Sample Villages
Distance of Village from Resources
N=284
16
Distance in Km.
14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0
z` Distance: Distance: Distance: Distance: Distance: Distance: Distance: Distance: PHC in Public Market in Vet. Bank in Medicine PDS Panchaya Km. Telephon Km. Hospital Km. Shop in Centre in t in Km.
Valundi
1.00
0.43
11.78
1.00
5.82
9.36
1.44
0.51
Bara
3.95
4.32
4.29
9.52
4.48
4.68
8.16
1.26
Manli
5.73
5.34
5.73
5.73
5.73
5.73
5.73
1.29
Dakara
5.00
5.00
5.00
10.00
5.00
5.00
10.00
1.13
Bar
5.02
1.05
12.00
12.00
12.00
12.00
12.00
0.56
Rai
2.23
2.38
13.19
13.19
13.19
13.19
13.19
0.92
NavaVadiya
14.66
1.95
5.00
7.47
5.00
5.07
3.71
3.09
Overall demand on information to support food security in the villages is shown in Table 7. Villages like Manli, Bar, Rai, and Nava Vadiya need 44
Table 7: Information Severity for Food Security Food Security Indicators
Sample Villages
Reference s
Valundi
Bara
Manli
Dakara
Bar
Rai
Sufficiency on food
++
++
+++
+
+++
+++
Nava Vadiya +++
Availability of work opportunity locally VIS Metrics Proximity of Source of Informa-tion/ Services
+++
+++
+++
+++
+++
+++
+++
24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30,32
+++ For Market
+++ For PDS
++ For all services except Pancha yat
+++ For Market, Bank, PDS
+++ For Market Bank, and PDS
++ For Market Bank
Figure 32
Latency in Availing Informa-tion/ Services
+++
+++
+++
+++ For PDS, ++ For all other services except Panchayat +++
+++
+++
+++
Require ment of Integrated Information
+++
+++
+++
+++
+++
+++
+++
Cost of Services
+++
+++
+++
+++
+++
+++
+++
Information Severity of Food Security
++
++
+++
++
+++
+++
+++
Critical since there is no formal source of information Information is required in Village Could not be verified since there is no formal source of information Critical since there is no formal source of information
Figures 16,17,18, 19,20,21, 22, 23,27, 31, 32
Note: +++ = Very Severe
++ = Severe
+ = Less Severe
45
concerted efforts to support food security of the households. Information severity is quite critical in other villages as well. Proximity for access to information on market, PDS, banks etc., is critical for these households and all respondents are unanimous on getting information on income generation opportunities. All households are critical on the latency they face for integrated information and services at one access point. They all need income generation opportunities at the village. Information on a source for income generation opportunities before they attempt to leave the village is also quite critical for them. 6.2. Health Security Orientation Health security is an important component of livelihood security. Central and state governments provide public health services to both urban and rural citizens, especially to the poor. The private sector also provides health services mostly in urban areas. However, traditional health practitioners have been popular in rural areas. In this section we discuss the status of health services focusing on the sample villages in particular and at the taluka and district level in general. The results of the sample survey are shown in Figure 34. Figure 34: Village-wise Public Health Services PHC Services for the village Quality of Service - PHC (Satisfactory %)
110 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 a di y
ai
Va
R
r Ba
ra ak a
N
av a
D
an li M
ra Ba
di
Distance District/Taluka Health Centre
Va lu n
Percent of Respondents
N=284
Village
46
Quality of Service - District/Taluka Health Centre (Satisfactory %)
The quality of public health services is highly satisfactory in Valundi at the village level and at the taluka and district level. In all other villages, quality of services by PHCs was not satisfactory. The quality of private health services was more satisfactory in Valundi and Bara compared to other sample villages. Over 50 per cent of the respondents in Valundi, Manli and Bar and Rai villages rated traditional health services as satisfactory (Figures 34 and 35). Figure 35: Private and Traditional Health Service Providers
Percent of Respondents
Private/Traditional Health Services 110 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
N=284
Valundi Bara Manli Dakara Bar Rai NavaVadiya Quality of Service - Private Hospital (Satisfactory %)
Quality of Service - Traditional Health Service (Satisfactory %)
In terms of preventive health care, over 50 per cent of the respondents in Valundi, Bara, and Manli said that immunisation services were available in their villages. In all sample villages, very few respondents ( 80 per cent said Yes + (Less Severe) 40 per cent ++ (Severe) 5 < 10 Kms ++ (Severe) > 10 Kms +++ (Most Severe) Availability of Work Opportunity in Village
Important High Very High
Important High Very High
> 80 per cent said Yes + (Less Severe) Important 40 per cent ++ (Severe) High 80 per cent said Yes +++ (Most Severe) Very High 40 per cent ++ (Less Severe) High said Yes < 40 per cent said Yes + (Severe) Important Accessible to Health Infrastructure Human < 5 Kms + (Less Severe) Important > 5 < 10 Kms ++ (Severe) High > 10 Kms +++ (Most Severe) Very High Availability of Health Services in the Village > 80 per cent said Yes + (Less Severe) Important 40 per cent ++ (Severe) High 80 per cent said Yes + (Less Severe) Important 40 per cent ++ (Severe) High 80 per cent said Yes + (Less Severe) Important 40 per cent ++ (Severe) High 80 per cent said Yes + (Less Severe) Important Important 40 per cent ++ (Severe) High High 5 < 10 Kms ++ (Severe) > 10 Kms +++ (Most Severe) Formal Education Facility (Secondary) > 80 per cent said Yes + (Less Severe) 40 per cent ++ (Severe) 5 < 10 Kms ++ (Severe) > 10 Kms +++ (Most Severe) Formal Education Facility (Higher) > 80 per cent said Yes + (Less Severe) 40 per cent ++ (Severe) 5 < 10 Kms ++ (Severe) > 10 Kms +++ (Most Severe) Ability to meet Household Expenses > 80 per cent said Yes + (Less Severe) 40 per cent ++ (Severe) 80 per cent said Yes + (Less Severe) 40 per cent ++ (Severe) 5 < 10 Kms ++ (Severe) > 10 Kms +++ (Most Severe) Savings Activities > 80 per cent said Yes + (Less Severe) 40 per cent ++ (Severe) 80 per cent said Yes + (Less Severe) 40 per cent ++ (Severe) 80 per cent said Yes + (Less Severe) 40 per cent ++ (Severe) 80 per cent said Yes + (Less Severe) 40 per cent ++ (Severe)
