1. Course Code : MRD-101
Course Title : Rural Development: Indian Context
Assignment No. : MRD-101/AST/TMA-1/2012
What was the logic behind creating ‘District Rural Development Agency (DRDA)’ in
India? Discuss its relevance or non-relevance in the light of 73 rd Constitutional
Amendment.
The DRDA Admin. Section is the office in-charge of implementing the DRDA Admin. Scheme
through which the Central share of fund is directly releases to the District Rural Development Agency
(DRDA). The DRDA is the principal organ at the district level to manage and oversee the
implementation of different anti-poverty programmes of the Ministry of Rural Development. It is a
supporting and facilitating organization which plays a very effective role as a catalyst in
development process.
Mission / Vision Statement
The objective of the scheme is to strengthen and professionalize the DRDAs so that they can
effectively enhance the quality of implementation.
Brief history
“DRDA Administration” Scheme was introduced from 1 st April, 1999 under which the salary and
administrative expenses of DRDAs are funded on a 75:25 basis between Centre and State
Governments. However, from 2008-09 the funding pattern for N.E. States has been changed from
75 : 25 to 90 : 10.
Duties
Dealing with all issues related to DRDA policy and all matters, in so far as it relates to administration
of DRDAs.
Main activities / functions
• To formulate policy guidelines for DRDAs
• Release of funds under DRDA Administration Scheme
List of services being provided with a brief write – up on them
• Allocation of funds under DRDA Administration Scheme
• Release of funds under DRDA Administration Scheme
• Organization of Conference of Project Directors of DRDAs
73rd Constitutional Amendment
Though the Panchayati Raj Institutions have been in existence for a long time, it has been
observed that these institutions have not been able to acquire the status and dignity of
viable and responsive people's bodies due to a number of reasons including absence of
regular elections, prolonged supersessions, insufficient representation of weaker
sections like Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women, inadequate devolution of
powers and lack of financial resources.
2. Article 40 of the Constitution which enshrines one of the Directive Principles of
State Policy lays down that the State shall take steps to organise village panchayats and
endow them with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function
as
units of self-government. In the light of the experience in the last forty years and in view of
the short-comings which have been observed, it is considered that there is an imperative

2. need to enshrine in the Constitution certain basic and essential features of Panchayati Raj
Institutions to impart certainty, continuity and strength to them.
3. Accordingly, it is proposed to add a new Part relating to Panchayats in the
Constitution to provide for among other things, Gram Sabha in a village or group of villages;
constitution of Panchayats at village and other level or levels; direct elections to all seats
in Panchayats at the village and intermediate level, if any, and to the offices of Chairpersons
of Panchayats at such levels; reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes in proportion to their population for membership of Panchayats and office of
Chairpersons in Panchayats at each level; reservation of not less than one-third of the
seats for women; fixing tenure of 5 years for Panchayats and holding elections within a
period of 6 months in the event of supersession of any Panchayat; disqualifications for
membership of Panchayats; devolution by the State Legislature of powers and
responsibilities upon the Panchayats with respect to the preparation of plans for economic
developments and social justice and for the implementation of development schemes; sound
finance of the Panchayats by securing authorisation from State Legislatures for
grants-in-aid to the Panchayats from the Consolidated Fund of the State, as also
assignment to, or appropriation by, the Panchayats of the revenues of designated taxes,
duties, tolls and fees; setting up of a Finance Commission within one year of the proposed
amendment and thereafter every 5 years to review the financial position of
Panchayats; auditing of accounts of the Panchayats; powers of State Legislatures to make
provisions with respect to elections to Panchayats under the superintendence, direction
and control of the chief electoral officer of the State; application of the provisions
of the said Part to Union territories; excluding certain States and areas from the
application of the provisions of the said Part; continuance of existing laws and
Panchayats until one year from the commencement of the proposed amendment and
barring interference by courts in electoral matters relating to Panchayats.
What do you understand by IEC Strategy? What type of combination of media will be
useful to make rural development programmes effective?
Literally, IEC means "information, education and communication". The terms
"information", "education" and "communication" are defined below.1 The acronym IEC
refers to a comprehensive programming intervention ─ an integral part of a country
development programme, which aims at achieving or consolidating behaviour or attitude
changes in designated audiences, using a combination of communication technologies,
approaches and processes in a flexible and participatory, though systematic and
wellresearched
manner.
IEC's starting point is to contribute to solving a developmental "problem" or to
supporting an issue among designated audiences in the context of a programme. Those
designated audiences may include policy makers, service providers, change agents,
communities and/or users of services.
A separate IEC unit was set up in the Ministry during the 4 th Plan period. Earlier the unit was
christened as publicity and media unit. Over the last three plan periods on an average Rs.100 to
120 crores have been spent on IEC activities mainly comprising of dissemination of information and
awareness generation regarding various schemes and programmes operated by the Ministry.
Duties
Generate awareness through dissemination of information leading to adequate programme literacy
regarding entitlements and processes both for the beneficiaries as well as the implementers to ensure
optimum results.
Main activities / functions
The Functions and Responsibilities of the IEC Division are under: -

3. i. To undertake communication needs assessment for the target groups under each of the
programmes of the Ministry.
ii. To develop key messages which are required to be communicated to the various stakeholders
including the beneficiaries and implementers.
iii. To develop an integrated IEC strategy and put in place measures for implementing it by selecting
appropriate medium of communications.
iv. Take on board state governments, SIRDs, DRDAs, blocks/panchayats, other nongovernment
organizations, government agencies etc. for effective implementation of the
IEC upto grassroot level.
v. To develop audio visual, print, outdoor outreach IEC materials both in Hindi, English and
other vernacular languages and circulate the same upto Panchayat level.
vi. Liaise with Programme Divisions, providing IEC services to them.
vii. Preparation of annual report, bring out monthly newsletters, other printed materials,
preparation of guidelines of different programmes.
viii. Service the Standing Committee on Media and Coordinate with I&B Ministry Media
Units.
ix. Brief the creative talents hired by DAVP and empanelled producers and oversee
production of AV materials.
x. Brief Directorate of Field Publicity & Song & Drama division/ SIRDs regarding field
level interpersonal communication activities, liaise for special campaigns using folk and
interactive media.
xi. Administrative arrangements including budgeting and accounting of funds, release of
funds to Media units, Monitoring of utilization, commissioning of impact studies and
follow up.
xii. Liaise with PIB for conducting press, publicity, organizing press meets, conducted press
tours, etc. to ensure adequate coverage of issues and concerns of the Ministry in the main
stream media.
xiii. Liaise with publication Division, NIRD, autonomous bodies, NGOs, States, and DRDAs.
To arrange wide coverage of regional SARAS fairs, main SARAS at IITF, National
Short Notes
Micro Credit : Microcredit is the extension of very small loans (microloans) to impoverished borrowers who
typically lack collateral, steady employment and a verifiable credit history. It is designed not only to support
entrepreneurship and alleviate poverty, but also in many cases to empower women and uplift entire communities
by extension. In many communities worldwide, in developed and developing nations alike, women lack the
highly stable employment histories that traditional lenders tend to require. This reality might result from factors
such as leaving the paid workforce to care for children and elderly relatives.
Microcredit is a division of microfinance, which is the provision of a wider range of financial services,
especially savings accounts, to the poor. Modern microcredit is generally considered to have originated with the
Grameen Bank founded in Bangladesh in 1983. Many traditional banks subsequently introduced microcredit
despite initial misgivings. The United Nations declared 2005 the International Year of Microcredit. As of 2012,
microcredit is widely used in developing countries and is presented as having "enormous potential as a tool for
poverty alleviation.
District Planning Committee : District Planning Committee(DPC) is the committee created as per
article 243ZD of the Constitution of India at the district level for planning at the district and below. The
Committee in each district should consolidate the plans prepared by the Panchayats and the Municipalities in the
district and prepare a draft development plan for the district.

4. The Constitution of India provides the DPCs two specific responsibilities. In preparing the draft development
plan, the DPC shall have regard to matters of common interest between the Panchayats and the Municipalities
including spatial planning, sharing of water and other physical and natural resources, the integrated development
of infrastructure and environmental conservation and the extent and type of available resources, both financial
or otherwise. The DPC in this endeavor, is also mandated to consult such institutions and organizations as may
be specified. In order that the plans at different levels are prepared as envisaged in the previous chapter, there is
need to strengthen the system comprising the machinery of planning and the process of consolidation of plans at
the district level.
There is confusion in states as to whether the DPC is to be established as a separate and permanent office or
whether it denotes only a meeting that is periodically called and which can be serviced by a part-time
secretariat. There is a feeling that the DPC ought not to emerge as yet another layer of bureaucracy to vet
people’s plans. At the same time, the fact that the DPC is held intermittently and without permanent support
undermines its effectiveness as a constitutional institution and a coordinating mentor. On balance, the DPC
merits the status of a permanent institution, with adequate Secretariat to service it at the District level. It could
also be provided the means of drawing experts to assist it whenever required.
Sample Survery : In statistics, survey sampling' describes the process of selecting a sample of
elements from a target population in order to conduct a survey. A survey may refer to many different types or
techniques of observation, but in the context of survey sampling it most often involves a questionnaire used to
measure the characteristics and/or attitudes of people. Different ways of contacting members of a sample once
they have been selected is the subject of survey data collection. The purpose of sampling is to reduce the cost
and/or the amount of work that it would take to survey the entire target population. A survey that measures the
entire target population is called a census.
Survey samples can be broadly divided into two types: probability samples and non-probability samples. Only
surveys based on a probability samples can be used to create mathematically sound statistical inferences about a
larger target population. Inferences from probability-based surveys may still suffer from many types of bias.
Surveys that are not based on probability sampling have no way of measuring their bias or sampling error.
Surveys based on non-probability samples are not externally valid. They can only be said to be representative of
the people that have actually completed the survey.
Put another way, if a probability-based survey of the United States household population finds that 59% of its
respondents support a piece of legislation there is mathematical reason to believe that the proportion of all the
persons living in households in the United States who support this piece of legislation is close to 59% (within
the margin of error). If a non-probability survey conducted in the United States finds that 59% percent of its
respondents support a piece of legislation that is the only conclusion that can be drawn, no statement about the
target population can be made.
In academic and government survey research probability sampling is often regarded a standard procedure that
must be employed regardless of the cost. The Office of Management and Budget's List of Standards for
Statistical Surveys states that federally funded surveys must be performed,
selecting samples using generally accepted statistical methods (e.g., probabilistic methods that can provide
estimates of sampling error). Any use of nonprobability sampling methods (e.g., cut-off or model-based
samples) must be justified statistically and be able to measure estimation error.
Many statisticians disagree with these views. For example, Valliant, Dorfman and Royall explain,
To claim that, in general, probabilistic inferences are not valid when the randomization distribution is not
available is simply wrong. This is not to deny that randomization is valuable, but only to deny that it represents
the basis for all valid, rigorous, probabilistic inference.
The extreme position, that no inferences can be made unless the selection probabilities of the sample units are
known would make it impossible to draw inferences from most samples. For example, most surveys have

5. substantial amounts of nonresponse. Even though the units are initially chosen with known probabilities, the
nonresponse mechanism is unknown and must be modeled, as in an observational study.
Civil Registration System
In India the system of civil registration has been in operation for over a century.
• Objectives
– To provide an essential document to general public in the form of birth/death certificate having
evidentiary value for proof of age, domicile, inheritance, etc.
– To generate demographic data for national and state level planning of welfare activities
Registration of births and deaths is done under the Registration of Birth and Death Act, 1969.
• The Act came into effect from April 1970.
• Registration of births and deaths is compulsory under the Act.
• Although a Central Act, implementation is the responsibility of the State Governments.
• Registration of vital event has to be done at the place of occurrence of the event.
Consolidation of Holdings
Consolidation of holdings means the bring together in one compact block all plots of land farmer which are
scattered all over the villa.
Under the scheme all land in the village is first pooled into one compact block and it is divided into smaller
blocks called chalk and allotted to individual farmer. This is a noble scheme to provide solution to the problem
of fragmentation of holdings. The scheme has been launched in 10 states of the country and it has made
considerable progress in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
Up to 31st January, 1956 only 4.5 million hectares of land was brought under consolidation. The figure rose to
33 million hectares by 1972, 45 million hectares by 1985 and 62.97 million hectares by 1995. Out of this, two
states like Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh accounted for 213 lakh hectares and 179 lakh hectares respectively.
Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh are other three states which have taken up the work of consolidation of
holdings seriously. Bihar and Jammu and Kashmir have kept the scheme in abeyance and in West Bengal and
Assam it has not been implemented.
Taking the country as a whole only 44 per cent of the cultivated land has been brought under this scheme. This
depicts slow progress of the scheme and various hurdles in its implementation.
(a) Farmers are generally extremely attached to their ancestral land and, therefore, are not willing to take
advantage of the scheme.
(b) Those farmers who own better quality of land do not like the scheme for fear of getting the inferior quality
of land after consolidation.
(c) Consolidation is a cumbersome process. The government officials who implement the scheme are generally
slow and often corrupt.
(d) In general the scheme did not receive desired support and co-operation from the farmers.
(e) The scheme has paved way for litigation and court cases many of which are pending in the different court
since long time. This vitiates the serene atmosphere of the rural areas.

6. (f) Since there is no restriction on the existing law of inheritance and partitioning of field-plots, hence,
fragmentation process goes on till the entire gain of consolidation is nullified and need for new consolidation is
felt.
(g) In every consolidation about 5 to 10 per cent of village land is taken out for providing house sites to weaker
sections of the society, approach 0chak) roads and village utility services. Hence, if the process is repeated three
or four times a sizeable portion of agricultural land would be lost.
(h) The cost of consolidation is realised from the farmers which has adverse effect on their resources and
economy.
(i) It has also been realised that small farmers are generally allotted inferior quality of land and due to lack of
money power they are neither able to bribe the officials nor get proper justice in the court.
It is, therefore, imperative that efforts should be made to remove these pitfalls in the consolidation scheme to
make it more fruitful and useful.