The Organisation has six divisions
of activity:
1.
Research and Socio-economic Surveys division.
2.
Project Implementation division.
3.
Training division
4.
Monitoring and Evaluation division.
5.
Computers and Information Technology Applications division.
6.
Consumer Grievances Redressal division
The Centre has so far implemented about 200 projects in various districts of Madhya Pradesh and in other states, which include Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Delhi, West Bengal, Orissa, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra. The Centre's publications of project reports, documentation of human rights, periodicals, monographs and technical papers are readily available for reference. An NCHSE project in Jhabua on “Environmental and Soil Degradation Control”, was awarded for the United Nations Environment Programme's International Award in the year 1995.
The work done by each of these
divisions is briefly outlined below:
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NCHSE has carried out a research
study on the “Documentation of Human Rights and Citizens’ Entitlement” under an
assignment from the Ford Foundation, New Delhi. This Documentation has covered mainly the following subjects:
1.
Rehabilitation of Displaced Persons Due to Construction of
Major Dams.
2.
Documentation of Bonded Labour and its Abolition
3.
Documentation on Special Problems of Women and Their Rights.
4.
Human Rights and Citizens Entitlements in Protection of
Environment.
5.
Status of Women and Children in M.P.
6.
Study of Pattern and Problems of Migration of Tribal Women
Workers.
7.
Access to Education in India.
8.
Law Relating to Employment of Children.
9.
Forest and Rights in forest.
10.
Access to Municipal Services.
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Implementation
of development projects in rural and urban areas:
The largest programme presently
under implementation by NCHSE is Watershed Development under the Rajiv Gandhi
Watershed Mission- a focussed development initiative of the Govt. of M.P.
Projects under this programme are being implemented in the districts of Jhabua,
Dhar, Ujjain, Shajapur, Sehore, Vidisha and Hoshangabad in 15 development
blocks covering 124 villages. In all 112 micro and 17-milli watershed projects
have been taken up. The total area in these projects is 60,904 Ha. An area of
39,263.78 Ha. Has been treated due to which there has been a 48% increase in
irrigated area. Under afforestation approximately 19.10 lakhs plants have been
planted. Under the community organisation part of the watershed projects 508
women saving groups have been formed, having a membership of 5819 women. These
group members have collected along with other contribution a sum of Rs. 46.00
lakhs. Loan facility available to these SHGs from bank is Rs.46.00 lakhs and
total amount circulated by SHG members for various activities is Rs.1.87
crores. The percentage of recovery of the loans is very high of about 95 to
98%.
For the purpose of watershed
planning and implementation, a Geographical Information System (GIS) has been
used wherein the planning and development of micro watershed is carried out
with the help of a software WATMAN developed by the center’s computer wing. The
designing of this software was sponsored by the Ministry of Electronics (now
Ministry of Information Technology), Government of India. In addition to the development of GIS, NCHSE
has also prepared audiovisual multi media documents and training packages for
watershed development. Training
programme for various categories of trainees including Master Trainers,
Technical Officials in Agriculture, Engineering and Forestry, members of the Panchayats,
Watershed Committees and actual beneficiaries have been organised by NCHSE at
Bhopal head quarters and through Branch Offices in the Districts. The Centre
has brought out a number of publications on Watershed development, planning and
implementation.
Statistical coverage of NCHSE Watershed Development Projects:
Number of
Districts under Watershed Development: 7
Number of
Development Blocks covered: 15
Number of
Milli Watershed Projects: 17
Number of
Micro Watershed Projects: 112
Number of
villages covered: 124
Area
covered under implementation: 60904
Ha.
(more than 30,000 ha. area has
been already treated under watershed management and has been handed over to
village communities)
Number of
Watershed Committees: 112
Total area
treated so far against implementation area:
39,263.78 Ha.
Percentage
increase in irrigated area: 48%
Live plantation
carried out: 19,09,573
plants.
Plantation
on Community Land: 14,51,275 "
Plantation
on Private Land: 4,58,298 "
Number of
Women Saving Groups (WSG): 508
Total
number of members under WSG: 5819
Deposited
amount by WSG: Rs.46,00,000.00
Loan
facility available to SHG from banks: Rs.
46,00,000.00
Total
amount circulated by SHG members: Rs.1,87,00,000.00
Percentage
of recovery of loans as to date: 95-98%
Afforestation Activity:
Afforestation is one of the main
activities of the organisation, since last 15 years. Tree planting has been
mainly confined to areas outside the Government Forests. Private land holdings
and community/panchayat lands have been the main target areas. So far 2.0
million plants have been planted including fruits, medicinal and economically
important species. The proportion over community and private lands is 3:1.
About 10,000 farmers so far have taken part in the activity, more are coming
forward to participate. It has created positive awareness among the farmers to
plant trees. The funding agencies for the activity are mainly Rajiv Gandhi Watershed
Mission, National Afforestation and Eco-Development Board, CAPART, etc. This
activity has a bright future, and is a pressing need of the day. Attempt is
being made to move the linked Departments like Rural Development and Tribal
Welfare Department to participate in the activity from their available funds.
It has a twin objective: economic upliftment of the rural population and
ecological development enriching the soil fertility and water conservation in
the area, and the resultant environmental upgradation through increase of
forest cover.
Central Rural Sanitation Programme (CRSP):
Under the scheme of Central Rural
Sanitation Programme (CRSP) a project for the construction of 196 low cost
latrines in eight villages of Jhabua block of Jhabua district has been
successfully completed with the financial support of CAPART and the local
community.
UNDP Biogas Project in Ghoradongri Block,
Betul District:
This project covers seven villages
and has resulted in the construction of about a hundred biogas plants. The project is significantly different from
others of its kind because the project provides for supply of pressure cookers,
which reduce cooking time and save fuel. The women are trained to use and
maintain the gas plants and the pressure cookers.
A natural fall-out of the project
is saving of fuel wood and the time spent on collecting it, a clean fuel source
and saving of labour. The project is replicated in Vidisha district through local
efforts.
World Food
Programme Project:
A couple of projects under the
United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) are being implemented in Jhabua and
Hoshangabad districts. This programme facilitates micro planning and
participatory development of selected tribal forest villages. NCHSE has taken up village Badlipada of
Jhabua district and village Dodi of Hoshangabad district under this programme.
Community organisation and economic progress with the support of village
development committees are the thrust points of the programme objective. In
village Dodi there are 78 families out of which 62 families are landowners.
Total geographical area of the village is 121.87 ha. Prior to the project only
90.6 ha. land was cultivated. There was no irrigation at all. Through construction of one earthen
structure and deepening of four wells, 118.00 ha. of land has become irrigated
and all the 62 families have benefited. Remaining 16 landless families have got
benefits from other income generating activities. Before completion of this
project, village development committee set out the rules for maintenance of the
physical assets created under the project. On completion of the project, the
village development committee has started taking care of all the activities themselves.
In village Badlipada, the villagers protected 360 ha. of forest waste land (a
hill piece of land) for fodder development. Women empowerment has been sought
to be achieved through forming self help groups. Five women self help group were formed, with 54 members. These groups are regularly saving money in
the saving fund and are utilising the amount for giving loans within the group
for various small needs of the members. Out of 54 group members, 24 women were
engaged in various income generating programmes. Presently NCHSE is
implementing WFP programme in two villages Koyadhariya and Amba of Jhabua
district. In these villages social
mobilization is one of the major activities.
Under this a large number of people are associated with the programme of
using organic manure and non-conventional energy sources like biogas. This
reflects the peoples' participation in the development process. Giving up of
liquor consumption, reduction in the number of child marriages, promotion of
education, health and hygiene is not only very much appreciated by villagers
but they are also taking initiatives in these activities.
CASA Project:
A process oriented integrated
socio-economic development of selected tribal villages through peoples'
participation in Jhabua district has been financed by CASA (Church's Auxiliary
Society for Action). The project focuses on:
Improving the status of living
conditions of the village through health and sanitation measures. Training programmes are being organised for
women groups and Traditional Birth
Attendant (Dai) teaching them safe
delivery methods.
A number of night classes are
organised in nine project villages of Jhabua district. The basic objective of
the project is to educate people informally.
To achieve this goal there are a number of night classes for adults and
children. These classes are held in the
9 project villages. Presently out of
total 817 persons, 304 female and 337
male and 176 children are attending the night classes. Prior to project there were 303 boys and 148
girls enrolled in the local schools. Presently in all 637 boys and 371 girls
are attending school.
An unique feature of this project
has been to bring the people/community together through organising cultural
activities. To enable them to think and try to solve their social problems by
themselves, the cultural activity is perhaps the best source. Street plays and
various competitions designed to build up a positive attitude in matters of
importance are successful instruments of social engineering. There have been
direct results of such cultural activities viz. reduction in the number of
child marriages, controlling the dowry amounts, etc.
From the point of view of
sustainability an apex body has been constituted. The committee members are
nominated by the villagers of the nine villages under the project. These
members elect the President and the Secretary of this body. This apex body functions with the object of
solving the local problems with the support of the community and the government
agencies.
CAPART Project:
Integrated socio-economic
development of five selected villages of Jhabua block of Jhabua district is
sponsored by CAPART (Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology), New Delhi. Since last 3 years,
project activities are being under taken by NCHSE. Soil & water
conservation and social mobilization activities are successfully carried out in
the project area. Some of the notable results are:
Large scale of people's participation
reflects their close association with the developmental activities. Now
villagers understand the importance of Gram Sabha and more and more people
attend meetings.
Through soil and water
conservation treatment there has been an absolute increase in cultivated area
by 79.82 ha. Absolute increase in irrigated area is 111.50 ha. Water level has increased by 3-4 feet in the
post monsoon season. There has been reduction in the degree of migration. Reduction in the practice of bonded labour has also been witnessed.
Watershed development committee
introduced a distribution system for fuel and fodder in the village.
Now people are more aware of the
need for sanitation, which has been demonstrated through construction of low
cost toilets, soak pits, NADEP, smokeless chulhas and simple health and hygiene
related habits. Increase in the
awareness on the health front is demonstrated by 100 per cent child
immunization coverage and increase in accepting family planning methods. 12
informal literacy classes are conducted to educate the villagers of the project
villages.
28 women SHGs having 251 members
have been formed in the project villages. Out of these 121 members are engaged
in 10 various income generating activities. The SHGs successfully deal with the
necessary banking jobs and attend the group meetings regularly. Proceedings of the meeting are duly written
without any extraneous influence.
Baba Ambedkar Hasthashilpa Vikas Yojana (AHVY) sanctioned by the Development Commissioner, Handicraft, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, New Delhi. This project has an objective of training , development & promotion of bamboo crafts, bead work, tribal garments, terra-cotta and tribal doll making. Under this project the Jhabua Centre has procured about 8 machines for wood work and bamboo crafts which are under operation in Jhabua. Training programmes have been organised for 240 artisan members of the 22 Self Help Groups which are doing activities in production of various craft articles and the Centre is involved in marketing of these products through various linkages and famous exhibition-cum-sale & fairs at different places.
The Development Commissioner Handicraft, Government of India, Ministry of Textiles has also supported in a major way for the creation of a Craft Common Facility Centre (CFC) at Jhabua which train local artisans in various crafts as mentioned above by the expert designers. The CFC building has been constructed in the NCHSE Campus at Barkheda, Kalyanpura of Distt. Jhabua.
Construction of women and child-care centre for GAIL:
Adding another dimension to the domain of NCHSE activities, a Herculean
task of constructing a women and child-care hospital in Jhabua was taken up.
Similarly this mission of introducing a health care centre in district H.Q. of Jhabua was taken up assigning the task to NCHSE. Jhabua lacks the health facilities, whereas the majority of population is the poor tribal people who have no choice but carrying on with their old traditional methods of approaching ojhas (witchcraft) for treatment
NCHSE took challenge and has completed construction of this hospital now ready with ultra modern facilities in the heartland of the district. This has certainly come like a boon for the people of Jhabua.
It
is a thirty-bedded hospital and has two core departments – gynaecology and pediatrics.
It has been constructed adjacent to the Government District. Hospital of Jhabua
and has emerged as a strong support unit for the district health services. On
the 9th April 2005 Hon’ble Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shri
Babulal Gaur inaugurated the hospital.
The whole project, right from acquisition of land to finishing the construction and hand over was completed in a record time of just five months. Organized work and efficient management was the principle followed and that is how this huge task was successfully accomplished.
GAIL also engaged NCHSE for design and construction work of an important square in Ujjain town on a the crossing, Nana Kheda bus stand. GAIL invited NCHSE to embark upon this another work of beautification and articulate design and construction of this square. The work included raising a circle with widening of roads, attractive fencing, etc. The task was completed well in time.
GAIL also
entrusted another major work of constructing a school, a connecting road for
villages. Construction of a check dam and providing drinking water facility in
selected villages of Mahidpur block of Ujjain district. NCHSE has completed all the work and handed
over to village community.
CHC Project:
Poverty alleviation through vocational training of tribal women in poultry at ‘Saheli Cluster’, Kesla Block, Hoshangabad District, Madhya Pradesh, India is sponsored by The CHC (The Canadian High Commission), New Delhi. Since last 2 years (Approx) (From January, 2004 to April, 2006) project activity had been taken by NCHSE. The Poultry activity is successfully carried out in the project area. Some of the notable results are:
i)
Poultry activity as a source of sustainable livelihood for
94 women from Nine SHGs of villages Ghograraiyat , Saheli, Moorpani, Taku and
Mandikho. Each woman member
is able to have a net income of Rs 20,000/- to Rs 30,000/- in a year . Their
net earnings would be more
than double once they pay
outstanding loans received from banks to establish their vocation. Banks have
given Rs 33 lacs as loans
including Rs 7.70 lacs
subsidy under SGSY.
ii)
The importance of 35 days skill upgrading training in
poultry activity as available from Canadian High Commission Project.
iii)
Financial support for women members below poverty line under
Swarna Jayanti Gramin Swarojgar Yojna (SGSY).
iv)
Availability of marketing support in nearby areas. NCHSE is
supporting opening of 4 retail shops to SHG members to provide stable and
appropriate marketing
support
v)
NCHSE’s role to facilitate poultry activity including
construction of sheds, availability of raw material, technical guidance,
marketing, etc.
The production of feed at
NCHSEs feed unit Ghograraiyat has helped to provide feed at reasonable prices
on time.
vi)
Building of confidence of women members.
Swashakti Project:
A special reference need to be mentioned about 58 SHGs in Kesla block of Hoshangabad district where SHGs have been formed under Swashakti Project sponsored by Ministry of Women Child Development, Government of India with the help of financial assistance from World Bank (IDA) (International Development Association) and IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development). This project of Women SHGs, initiated since March, 2001 has provided much needed support for women empowerment by way of social mobilisation and economic development. Representatives of World Bank have highly appreciated the efforts which have brought a change in livelihood and capacity building of women SHGs.
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There are 4 Well equipped training
centres of NCHSE, located in three districts :-
1. Distt.
Jhabua - Gramin Nirmiti
Kendra, Mojipada, Jhabua
2. Distt. Jhabua - Rural Training Centre (RTC), Barkheda, Near Kalyanpura,
Teh.
& Distt. Jhabua
3. Distt.
Hoshangabad- Rural Training Centre(RTC),
Kesla, Tehsil Itarsi, Distt.
Hoshangabad.
4. Distt.
Bhopal E-5/A Girish Kunj,
Arera Colony Bhopal
Gramin Nirmiti Kendra is a
production centre of low cost building material where following items produce :
Cement Solid Bricks, Paving cell, ventilation, Smokeless chulha, Stop dam
gates, Kavelu, Road side display board etc. In this centre we have all related
machine & blocks. We provide mason training also at this centre.
RTC Barkheda, & RTC Kesla are
NCHSEs rural training centre where from trainings with demonstration, lodging
& boarding for rural persons are provided. Some training units are
regularly run by both centres like : Low cost Building Material production
unit, Handloom Unit, Carpentry Unit, Iron Fabrication Unit, Handicraft Common
Facility Centre etc., we have also for demonstration of Poultry, Nursery,
NADEP, Vermi-compost, Bio-Gas, Low cost latrine in the training centre premises
itself. We have adjoining areas for field visit of trainees. We can show all
rural development activities in this area some examples are : Afforestation
work, Silvi-pasture work, Soil Conservation work, Water Harvesting Structures,
Horticulture & Vegetable growing with the use of bio-fertilizers, Nursery
raising, SHGs and theirs various Income Generating Activities.
Distt. Bhopal Centre is well
equipped and well furnished centre where we provide knowledge based delivery of
lectures in different issues/topics for NGOs & various government deptts.
We have a GIS cell in computer division of the head office where we provide GIS
application training for students, NGOs, and various government departments as
per their field need. We have a high-tech studio for video-conferencing
supported by ISRO with V-SAT etc.
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A large number of monitoring and
evaluation studies have been carried out in NCHSE under assignments from
government departments, public sector undertakings and local bodies. Prominent amongst these are:
·
Evaluation of Minimum Basic Services of the Municipal
Corporation of Delhi.
·
Concurrent Evaluation of all Rural Development Programmes
viz. NREP, IRDP, Rural Water Supply Scheme, DPAP and Jawahar Awas Yojana.
·
Study and Evaluation of Indira Awas Yojana. This study was
carried out in the states of Madhya
Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Haryana and Karnataka under an assignment
from Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, New Delhi.
·
Evaluation of Step Up / Step Up in selected towns of Madhya
Pradesh - assigned by Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, New
Delhi.
·
Concurrent Evaluation of NWDB projects in ten districts of
Madhya Pradesh.
·
Evaluation study of IWDP
project in Mhow and Indore blocks of Indore district.
·
Evaluation of Implementation of Ceiling of Agricultural
lands in the State of Madhya Pradesh.
·
Evaluation study of TRYSEM in Madhya Pradesh.
·
Survey of Cash distribution scheme in selected districts of
Madhya Pradesh.
·
Evaluation Study of Grant in Aid projects under NAEB in the
states of Gujrat and Maharastra
·
Mid term evaluation of 25 micro-watershed of Zila Panchayat
Bastar in Chattisgarh.
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Computers
and IT Application Division:
In NCHSE, computers have been used
right from the inception of the institution. It developed most of its resources
through funds available within the centre, which were augmented through
financial assistance from IDBI (Industrial Development Bank of India).
Today the Unit specialises in the
area of GIS applications. A sub unit called "GIS Application Cell"
has been established under special funding from Ministry of I.T., Govt. of
India. This Unit has the following resources :
Hardware :
Computers : A series
of high performance Pentiums with special configurations for large data and
images handling capacity.
Digitiser : The cell has capacity to Digitise maps of
size as large as A0.
Optical Scanner : To enable on screen vectorisation the cell has in-house scanning facility. The cell also has graphic treatment facility on computer for quality improvement of map images.
Plotter : High quality multi-colour large size plotter
is available for printing of maps. Plotting of large maps can be produced with
extreme precision and superior quality. Even the original maps can be printed
with enlargement or reduction to any
desired dimensions.
Software :
GIS : Standard GIS software packages are put to use for generation of
maps. All kinds of maps with any complex level of information and details can
be produced with high quality. The capabilities are very strong at processing
and integration of maps, spatial analyses and map merging, meeting high cartographic standards etc.
Remote Sensing Interpretation
Software: Advanced facility of Digital Remote Sensed Data Interpretation and
Analysis is available, which accommodates
national and international Remote Sensed data.
'WATMAN' Package:
NCHSE has developed 'WATMAN' a
software package under a special assignment from Ministry of IT, Government of
India. The package is highly useful for watershed management activities, especially
for planning. The unique feature of the
package is that it combines the technical and scientific information about the
watershed areas with the people's requirement.
This is the first ever package which acts as a guiding tool for evolving
a suitable action plan where the field requirements are given due weightage
and, thus, the grass root level workers also find it of great assistance in
their field work. It may be
worth-mentioning here that the package
actually consists of "software and written documentation",
where the latter helps the user to systematically carry out data collection and
interpretation exercises and also guides as to how the software should be used,
and the former (i.e. software) helps execute some very complex processes of altering
scales and bringing the information down to the field useable levels. The software also contains support material
for educating field personnel at points, as well as, includes some multimedia
clippings for explaining to the villagers about the importance of technical
intervention in the watershed development activities.
The package is supplied along with
some other useful material such as guide books for data collection,
interpretation and recommendations on subjects like forestry, soil conservation
and land development, water, livestock and socio-economic activities. The centre also provides a couple of video
presentations for education and awareness regarding watershed activities for
use of villagers, which can be very useful during the course of Participatory
Rural Appraisal (PRA) sessions.
This division is fully equipped for the
following types of work:
Digitisation: Facility
exists for in-house vectorisation of maps. Both the equipment and the manpower are
attuned to the task of digitisation of maps with utmost precision and quality.
The maps of any size and variety can be vectorised.
Software development: User
oriented application software development on GIS and CAD platform is performed for specified disciplines for
mechanising the large processes. Watershed and Natural Resource Planning
related solutions are available.
Training: Routine and special courses on GIS fundamentals,
operations and concepts of Applications are regularly organised for sponsored
candidates and individuals.
Remote sensing interpretation: Visual and digital interpretation
of remote sensing products is also carried out by the Cell. Thematic maps are
prepared, based upon the imageries, and are converted into the digital form for
analyses and other GIS related works.
Map preparation: The task of thematic map generation is performed by
the Cell. By linking the area information and details to the location map,
presentable maps containing these features are prepared. Quality maps are generated for various
natural resources and socio-economic details.
Watershed development planning: GIS is
being applied to Watershed Development Planning in an unique manner. The work
includes map preparation on multiple themes to do with Natural Resources Socio-
economic details, etc. These themes are superimposed and merged for further
analysis. The task of identifying treatment of area and locating the suitable
sites is undertaken along with peoples' participation.
The second exercise of direct
application of transfer of technology is the establishment of a computer
enabled centre called “Samadhan Kendra” which is visualised as a computer
application centre to be established at the Panchayat level to serve a cluster
of villages within the Panchayat area and subsequently getting linked to the
district and higher levels.
The working of a 'Samadhan Kendra'
in such a village would reveal the importance of work being carried out at the village level and
would serve as an instrument for providing the “RIGHT OF INFORMATION” to the
common villager.
Multimedia Presentations: Several
educational modules have been produced covering the items such as Introduction
to Watershed and its various components, Soil & Water Conservation
activities, Watershed development and GIS supported planning, etc. The details
are given below:
Watershed “Ek Parichay” Basic details of
Watershed (Duration: 8 min.)
Micro-watershed Development
Planning through GIS Use of GIS
in Watershed: A case study (Duration:
10 min.)
Watershed programmes its
components and activities Set of
presentations on Watershed, (Duration: 20 min.)
Video documentation of field activities of NCHSE Detailed coverage of various watershed and field activities of NCHSE (Duration:20 min.)
Awhaan (vkOgku) SHG activities of Women (Duration: 30
min.)
Preparation of Health Information Management System
Madhya Pradesh is a populous State with a large number of villages. Access to health facilities is very poor and the government’s infrastructure is also limited and does not match the requirement any way. The health services also are not effective because of large geographic dimensions, poor connectivity and disproportionate deployment of manpower and resources.
The Department of Family Welfare and Public Health, Government of M. P, manages these services through a large infrastructure spread over across the State. It runs several family welfare programmes involving heavy funds and large resources. But, it is unable to exercise effective control over the activities as it lacks the exact information about its own infrastructure and activities. Unfortunately, neither such information is readily available nor there is any defined mechanism to maintain such vast information about the entire machinery.
DANIDA, the Danish International Development Agency has been supporting Department of Health on resource development, training, family welfare (especially women and child) activities etc. It completed its tenure of stay in Madhya Pradesh in December 2004.
DANIDA and Health Department’s higher authorities felt the strong need of compilation of up-to-date information from the field and realized this as the basic necessity to manage the huge infrastructure and the services associated. It was decided to develop a multifaceted database for the entire State covering information on health infrastructure, services, family programmes and the indicators of its impact. The information items to include were chosen as detailed information of all types of health service providers (individuals like qualified, nonqualified and traditional practitioners and government and private institutions) information on women such as pregnancy registration, ANCs, delivery, etc., information on children like births, birth rates, immunization etc.
The challenge was to cover the entire state, all its villages and towns and it called for a very large primary survey for getting the information from the very source in the field. NCHSE was invited to do the job which included carrying out the entire survey, computerization of the information, linking it to village maps and finally formulate a Geographic Information System on Health.
Since the DANIDA had a schedule of closing its operations in December 2004 and whereas the work was assigned only in the month of April 2004, there was extreme time pressure to accomplish the whole task without any time delays. The mandate was to cover 48 districts – nearly 54000 villages and 329 towns – big or small, accessible or inaccessible.
NCHSE started the work with activities pertaining to data collection from the field which involved pin pointed planning about the field coverage, deployment of field staff along with their orientation training, conducting survey, supervision of field work, compilation of data and scrutiny and quality checks. In subsequent phase, the data entry and validation activities were managed, and a narrative database of all the information was created which was linked to maps of villages, yielding a GIS. To make it easy to use the information for the Health Department’s field functionaries, a special software was created for accessing and working with database. The package works on MapInfo.
All the components of the project – the survey, the data entry and the mapping, were simultaneously carried out by separate teams in full consonance amongst themselves to produce the desired outputs in time. The final product was delivered to the department along with installations of the package done at every Block Medical Office.
Special training was also imparted to each and every concerned staff of the department such as B.M.O., District Resource Person, CMO, etc. with a view to give them essential knowledge about features and capabilities of the package.
The Department of Health might be the only organization, which now possesses all relevant information, in the form of package commissioned at all the basic field offices and with the fully trained manpower to use it.
DANIDA
has awarded to NCHSE a special certificate of accomplishment of having
completed this nearly impossible task satisfactorily, punctually and with high
quality.
NCHSE is
managing another prestigious project on Rural Communication network established
by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). CIDA, IBM and their Indian counterpart BSNL
appointed NCHSE as the local service provider for the project of ICT
application in M. P. The project pilot
has been located at Hoshangabad (in Babai Tehsil) and Harda districts (in
Khirkia Tehsil). The project offers rural connectivity through Information and
Communications Technology (ICT) linking over 30 centres in villages. There are latest and modern IT and electronic
equipment deployed at these centres called Gyan
Sanchar Kendras.
The main
objective of the project is to disseminate knowledge and useful information to
villagers through modern means available right in villages. Special portal based services are provided
such as accessing mandi rates, weather forecast, knowledge on latest
agricultural practices, animal husbandry, etc.
E-governance services are also enabled via the network on issue of
khasra nakal (land records), grievance redressal, application for income and
domicile certificate, etc. Besides,
there is a special broadband-based facility of video conferencing with about 12
villages for direct interaction between government officials and
villagers. The Kendras also offer IT
training to village youths and children.
The project emphasises ensuring benefits to women and people from
backward classes. The project has
succeeded in obtaining participation of various government and private
organizations for supporting or sponsoring various services; these include
District Administration, Department of Agriculture, Veterinary, Health, NCDEX,
Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Co. Ltd., State Bank of India, Emami
products, Videocon etc. Thus many
services other than those based on ICT are also offered by the Kendras.
The
Kendras are run by a local person whose selection is done on recommendation of
Village Panchayats. Rigorous training
on IT skills, communications, account keeping etc. has been given to them so
that they are able to manage Kendras independently.
Today, the
Kendras are serving the village population same as information kiosks in an
urban centre would do. People of all
ages, come to the Centre and are taking advantage of the facilities. The villagers are given services on charge
basis, which helps raise necessary income for the Kendras to run.
NCHSE’s
role is to provide backend support to the Kendras. The training, mentoring and assistance for technical maintenance
are arranged by NCHSE. Liaisoning with
sponsors and government departments is also done so as to ensure that services
are run smoothly. Even the marketing
and publicity support is provided to these Kendras. In other words, NCHSE is playing role of a friend, philosopher
and guide to the operators.
This
is first ever such a big venture which BSNL and NCHSE together are trying to
nurture. There are plans to expand the network to other districts and states
also.
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Consumer Protection and Citizen's Entitlements:
There is a great deal of
exploitation of consumers by unscrupulous traders and service providers. The
main reasons for this exploitation are lack of knowledge on the part of
consumers and the absence of an organisation to protect their interests. As a
part of its effort to promote citizens' entitlements, the National Centre for
Human Settlements and Environment has established a “Citizen's Entitlement
Division”, with focus on consumer protection. In addition to this a District
Consumer Information Centre (DCIC) was sanctioned by the Government of India
Ministry of Consumer Affairs Food and Public Distribution, Department of
Consumer Affairs, New Delhi for a total amount of Rs.5.00 lakhs in July 2001 in
a building owned by NCHSE in its campus, at Girish Kunj, Bhopal.
The Centre regularly organises
training programmes, information dissemination camps, seminars and workshops
and supports these activities through distribution of leaflets, folders, newsletters,
etc. There is also a counseling service available in the Centre. On an average
the Citizen's Entitlement Division deals with about five complaints a day.
Apart from giving advice to the complainants the Centre also acts a
representative of the consumers in the consumers courts in selected cases.
The Centre has tried to carry the
message of citizen's entitlements to institutions such as schools and colleges
and it has also set up a network of consumer organisations functioning in
Madhya Pradesh. The centre has carried out six awareness camps in the various
slums of Bhopal since its establishment.
Five Awareness Camps have also been carried out in the rural villages of
Bhopal District. Training programmes and lectures have been arranged for various
strata of Consumer Audience. With the inspiration, guidance and assistance of
NCHSE the Barkatullah University authorities are in the process of establishing
a Student Consumer Information Centre for the benefit of staff, students and
residents of near by areas of the University. There is a close linkage with
apex organisations such as CERC, CCC, CGSI, CUTS, Common Cause, etc. The Centre
has also been active in assisting institutions such as Banks, LIC, etc. in
preparing their respective 'citizen's charters'. The Centre actively
participates, in national and state level campaigns for furthering the cause of
consumer protection.