driven by convenience rather than
by water shed approach. If these
works are selected / identified on
the basis of water shed approach,
then for flood management, the
very same works could become
mitigation efforts like the de-silted
sand from a channel should be used
to create contour on the banks of
the channel thereby strengthening
and consolidating bunds against
overtopping.
Mitigation works for drought
management should also be
included in the list of works taken
by the Gram Panchayat annually.
Works like rejuvenation of water
sheds, creation of rain water
harvesting structures, creation of
earthen check dams to prevent run
off of excess rain water, creation of
percolation ponds.
Most of the Below Poverty
Line families are marginal farmers,
agricultural labourers or tenants
cultivating the land of the land
lord for one third of the produce.
In the event of heavy rain/flood/
drought and cyclone, crop loss is
a major factor which affects the
income generating potential of
the poor farmers. An agricultural
labour who does manual work
in the field of other farmers do
not have work when heavy rain
or floods occur. Similarly, the
marginal farmers who has small
piece of land is unable to cultivate
owing to flooding and unsuitable
conditions for cultivation. The
plight of the tenant farmer is even
more pathetic. He spends out of
his pocket to develop the land of
the land owner by ploughing and
manuring the field and due to the
YOJANA March 2012
onslaught of the rains and flood, he
loses his crop. The same is the case
where due to inadequate rain and
failed irrigation initiatives drought
like situation emerges, where again
he encounters crop loss.
Therefore, as seen from the
impact of the natural calamities
like flood, cyclone, heavy rain and
drought, agricultural sector of the
rural economy is seriously disrupted,
thus making the constituent
members viz. marginal farmers,
agricultural laborers and tenant
cultivators lose their livelihood and
thereby putting their food security
at risk. Under the MNREGA ‘Land
Development’ is a category in
the permitted list of works, but
rarely is it being taken up. Under
‘Land Development’ works like
tilling, ploughing, field bunding,
contouring of individual fields
with better gradient for drainage
facilities should be allowed to be
taken up by the concerned marginal
farmers himself in his own field to
ensure that water stagnation or
flooding does not occur in his paddy
field. If this activity is carried out
by the respective farmers in their
own fields during the summer
months, there can be no better
mitigation measure carried out by
the beneficiary themselves fully
aware of the benefits of their work
and the consequences of not having
carried it out before the on set of
rain/cyclone/drought.
Under the housing category,
Indira Awas Yojana, PMGY Credit
Linked Subsidy Scheme are some
of the Housing Schemes available
for Below Poverty Line families.
The financial assistance is given
to the beneficiaries in the form
of installments according to the
progress of the work. This scheme
is a beneficiary oriented scheme
in which the beneficiary himself
would be required to engage in
the construction of his house. An
amount of Rs. 45,000/- is provided to
the beneficiary in four installments
to ensure the completion of the
house. This amount is inadequate
for the construction. Therefore,
the beneficiary normally either
raise loan from other sources or
mortgages movable/immovable
assets for raising additional amount.
As it is seen, there is no type design
or standard plan for building a
house under this scheme and is
mostly left to the wisdom of the
individual beneficiaries. Though
the amount of Rs.45,000/- provided
is not adequate to cover the cost
of construction, it is expected that
the beneficiary has to factor in his
skilled and unskilled labour of his
family and also spend out of his
other earnings /assets to complete
the house. As it is seen from the
guidelines of the Scheme, effort
is made to get a decent shelter for
the poor without much restrictions/
requirements regarding the type or
nature of construction.
Now, let us discuss the various
DRR i