Case - Apnagaon

1. APNAGAON – AN
ANALYSIS
COMMUNITY MOBILIZATION AND
INSTITUTIONS BUILDING
Archita Mishra
Chirag Garg
Puja Thakkar
Sampad Acharya

2. COMMUNITY DIMENSION
ASSESSMENT
Cohesive Indicators Neutral Indicators Divisive Indicators
Most crucial
• The presence of multi-castes structure in the village led
to availability of diverse occupations that
complemented each other
• Abundant availability of natural resources (green cover,
water in form of Banki river and farm land)
• Equal representation in the committee set up by
Sudhaar
• Barter system
• Bataidari System because of
which both the communities
benefited.
• Existence of good
infrastructure ( good road,
metal road)
• Availability of alternates
through consumerism.
• Availability of diverse
professional skills.
Most Crucial
• Non-inclusion of crucial communities in the decision
making process who happened to be direct
beneficiaries
• Gender inequality that was seen in the absence of
female members in executive meetings
• Caste based hierarchy
Crucial
• Interaction with district headquarters increased
• Introduction of cash based transaction system
Crucial
• Lack of focus on community education and literacy.
• Approach to propose alternate livelihoods was
isolated in nature
• No scientific training on growing vegetables was
imparted to the beneficiary community
Crucial in the long run
• Intervention by external agencies to provide viable and
alternative livelihood options for villagers
• Rise in standard of living among villagers due to
livelihoods intervention became a role model for
neighbouring hamlets
• Increase in green cover
Crucial in the long run
• A latent disparity among castes
• Abrupt replacement of barter system with another
system of transaction
• No alternate livelihoods option
• Stringent policies and regulations of the forest
department

3. INTER-RELATIONSHIPS
BETWEEN INDICATORS
 While there was a disparity between castes in the village, it also led to availability of
multiple professional skills that could complement and supplement each other
whenever required
 Representation of women in the executive committee was strong but involvement
was low, and at instances almost negligible. Even when women were asked their
reason of non-involvement, they cited that it was not their job
 There was access to executive class of the government structure through the
district headquarters, but no actionable outcomes came out of it
 Livelihoods option was designed with a very myopic viewpoint, isolating other
facets, communities
 While the livelihoods option was implemented well, the outcome after two years
was dismal due to a lack of scientific approach in disseminating information
 There were attempts at preservation of forest resource by intervention of external
agencies to provide viable and alternative livelihood options for villagers but the
intervention was not as successful as it should have been because there was no
alternative livelihood option in case of failure

4. MITIGATING DIVISIVE
INDICATORS - APPROACHES
 In order for villagers to take an informed decision and to interact with the outer
world, education is very important. The illiteracy rate is way too high with the
average literacy rate is just 20% and for the women it is12%, which is more worse.
 The technological skill of the badhai was not taken under consideration while
introducing the other livelihood options. The livelihood option similar to the
furniture making may be introduced or the substitute of the wood like plywood,
plastic moulded gate may be used
 The training imparted to the farmers was not sustainable. No scientific knowledge
transfer was done about the soil preservation, fertiliser use, crop rotation. Over
cultivation eventually led to drop in soil fertility.
The intervention should have been planned for providing an alternate livelihood.
What it actually did was making a skilled person unskilled. The project must be
designed in such a way that the alternate livelihood should supplement and not
substitute the core livelihood in place.
The selection of the president was done by the external agent. Had it been done by
the villagers, this divisive indicator could have been mitigated.

5. MINIMISING THE EFFECT OF
DIVISIVE INDICATORS -
STRATEGIES
The livelihood intervention may be focussed on the women of the village and
designed in a way to develop their leadership qualities. 40% of the executive
committee’s member strength were women, however a very minimal involvement of
the women was seen in the committee meetings and decision making process. The
women should be encouraged to come forth and give a full fledged contribution in
the functioning of the FPC.
The alternative livelihood option was designed only for the badhai community with
the intention to protect the forest. This lead to the distress among the other castes.
Therefore an approach should be adopted, that includes the participation of all the
castes.
The technological skill of the badhai was not taken under consideration while
introducing the other livelihood options. The livelihood option similar to the furniture
making may be introduced or the substitute of the wood like plywood, plastic
moulded gate may be used.

6. PROMOTING COHESIVE
INDICATORS - STRATEGIES
The village has an abundance of forest cover, therefore apart from timber wood,
focus can be drawn upon the production non-timber forest products (NTFPs),
also special, non-wood, minor, alternative and secondary forest products such
as nuts, seeds, berries, mushrooms, oils, medicines, peat etc.
An equal representation of all the castes was ensured in the FPC , however the
higher castes dominated in most of the decision making. More emphasis has to be
given on empowering the lower caste people and promoting the sense of equality
and togetherness among the people.
 By having a reservation for the women in the FPC, the first step has been taken
towards women empowerment. But, more has should be done for empowering
women, so that the women may able to take the decision on their own. This can be
done by the set up of some self help groups working on the co-operative model

7. PROMOTING COHESIVE
INDICATORS - STRATEGIES
 The Badhais, were not trained in vegetable cultivation, therefore apart from
vegetable cultivation, focus should have been in other livelihood options like
carpentry
With growing dependence on agricultural activities, there has to be a focus on
providing crop insurance facilities to the farmers, to safe guard their interests in
case of a crop failure
The framework designed by the FPC, can be successful if execution is efficient and
people involved recognise their roles
 Steps can be taken to encourage the farmers to grow different varieties of
vegetables. The crop rotation method, use of the organic manure should be given
emphasis for long term sustainability

8. THANK YOU.
Archita Mishra UR15008
Chirag Garg UR15015
Puja Thakkar UR15032
Sampad Acharya
UR15037