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Transcript

Hello friends. In our last class we were discussing about the Firka Development Scheme, Servants of India Society and Indian Village Service. The core issues associated with development in different parts of the country that we could observe in these programs andhow these objectives were satisfied, that also we have seen. In today’s class we will be moving towards the southern part of India, where the development initiatives were taken by the then established provincial governments known as the Madras province. The Firka development scheme were supported by the then established government in the Southern part of India, Madras province. So the aim of this particular program was, attainment of Gandhian ideal of gram swaraj. So by the time, since this program was implemented in 1946, by Shri V.T. Krishnamachari. By the time the country understood the importance of Gandhian ideology and they started replicating the model. Similarly efforts were taken up in the Southern parts to attainment of the Gandhian ideal of the gram swaraj.

So how. So by bringing about not only in educational, economic and sanitary and other improvements in the village. But also making people self-confident. The similar issues that we discussed in our previous discussions also. And it is one of the principle as well as the philosophy of extension also. Helping the people to help themselves. Similarly we said that we are here to make the people self confident. So how can these things be achieved. So that is the major issue. So for achieving this particular thing. So the individual has to be self-reliant. The society has to be self-reliant. And the community has to become self- governing and self-managed. To achieve this particular thing, so they try to identify the administrative units known as the Firkas. The selection of the Firkas for the development initiatives was based on the general backwardness of the area, where there is possibility of initiating the cottage industries. When we think of these cottage industries. So this is the concept that we have been discussing in different programs.

The small scale industries, which are the part of the village economy. The thing that was planned was to enhance the skills of the people, so that we can improve the efficiency of those professionals and bringing the changes in the socio-economic conditions. That was the basic ideology. So when we look into the current initiatives again. So even though the program was launched around 70 years back. 70- 72 years back. So even after lapse of seven decades the priorities of established government remained almost similar. With the changes in technology, with the changes in situation and with the changes in the demands from the communities. So there are certain modifications, but the core issues have remained same. The cottage industries, development of the skill. Motivating the rural people. Then preventing the migration from urban areas to rural areas. So these are some of the core issues that the government is working upon, and that was the priority at that time also. So that is why they emphasized upon establishment of the cottage industries, so that we can bring that village, with from the tag of backward village to the developed village or the modern village.

So for which to achieve that particular aim, so the programs that were planned had two types of plans. Number one the short term plan, basically the development of the infrastructure, communications etc etc. Which can be achieved immediately, maybe in a span of 1 year, 2year, 3 year; so that we can bring in the changes. And there were some plans which were of long term plan like the knowledge inputs because knowledge inputs, providing knowledge inputs and enhancing their knowledge inputs and skills and all those things. It takes its own time. That depends on the participation of individual. To what extent that we can motivate them andto what extent then you can involve them, and to what extent that we can enhance their knowledge as well as skills. So that is another issue, so that is why it was kept under the long term plan. And attainment of the Gandhian ideal even today we are working on that. So in some parts of the country in some context it has been achieved. In many areas still it is to be achieved and that was another priority of the plans, which were planned at that point of time.

Then coming to for implementation of this entire modus-operandi. So they adopted the systematic organizational structure to achieve these objectives. So the collector was made responsible at district leveland for each cluster of 2 to 3 Firkas. So there was one rural welfare officer who was supported by the gram sevak or the revenue inspector. For a team of the revenue inspectors for each group of 5-10 officers for each Firka. So that they can analyze the situation, they can plan the programs, they can implement the programs. And they can evaluate systems and give the feedback to the administration.

So this was the organizational structure adopted for the program. Then for each Firka, a cluster of Firka team of professionals that were employed include. The agricultural fieldman to take up the issues associated with the agriculture and to provide advisory services to the farmers, as well as to provide them the appropriate inputs, timely availability of inputs, so that they can bring in the changes in their agricultural practices, they can adopt innovations and they can enhance their yields. Then there is one administrative officer to look after the management as well as the implementation of the program. The mistry is to take up the sanitation activities and other infrastructural development activities. Supervisors, it is part of the management program and irrigation overseers, so that management of the irrigation systems in the villages was another priority that was given. So in addition to agricultural fieldman, so there was one irrigation overseer also, who used to look after the issues associated with irrigation, like it may be a tank irrigation or it may be a canal irrigation. In those days it was not well developed but still how can we manage the water related issues in the field level, so that was the issue.

Then the priority areas of work that were planned under the Firka development scheme include the rural reconstruction, that was the core issue as we said in their aims as well as objectives of this program. Providing drinking water facility, sanitation and agriculture. In addition to these things, the issues that we were discussing under, we were discussing under the cottage industries, which cover the khadi and other village industries so that they can have these inputs then for increasing the income. Now coming to the implementation of this program and some of the limitations that the Firka development scheme has observed during its implementation is. The restricted scope. The restricted scope, because even though the government was emphasizing on the bringing in the changes in the rural areas. So the response of the community was not much. May be because of the administrative dichotomy of the professionals who were working there, or some other reasons. So restricted scope was observed. And lack of coordination between the professionals who were part of this particular system. And that was another important issue that came into the implementation of this program, and ultimately so it could not achieve the desired objective, but the impact that it generated among the communities led to the planning and implementation of such programs in future also.

And another important limitation that was observed under Firka development scheme include, the lack of direction from the higher ups and supported encouragement from the central authorities, so which was supposed to be given by the top level administrators and to the middle level managers, and middle level managers to the lower level managers. So these things did not happen and because of that it could not achieve the desired results. With this we are coming to conclude this particular Firka development scheme, wherein the development cannot be visualized in isolation, as we have seen in addition to the village industries or the cottage industries. Agriculture, the development issues related to agriculture are going hand in hand. And in Indian context development invariably and inevitably include agriculture. And that was witnessed through these programs which were implemented before independence.

So with this we are coming to the end of the third week. And by now we have discussed about the various major issues related to the concept of extension, the concept of program planning, the principles and philosophies of extension. Some of the pre-independence extension programs which were focusing on agriculture as well as the rural development in general. With this now you must be having some conceptual clarity regarding the concept as well as the process of extension. With this I would like to invite you all to be an active participant in the forum activities of this agMOOCs platform, so that you can come out with your doubts and get the clarification from your course instructor, and you can interact among yourself also, so that we can share and we can develop our knowledge base.

Thank You.