Puthuvaalvu Thittam

Name of the Department	:	“Rural Development & Panchayat Raj Department”
Head of office designation	:	District Project Manager
Address	:	58,C-Ramaiah Nagar, 1st Street,Manthithoppu Road Kovilpatti - 628 501.
Phone No	:	0461 – 220027
E’mail id	:	tutpvds(at)yahoo(dot)in

Pudhu Vaazhvu Project (Formerly known as Vazhndhu Kaattuvom Project)

Department Profile

Introduction

Pudhu Vaazhvu Project is an empowerment and poverty alleviation project implemented by the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, with World Bank assistance. The project is implemented over a 6 year period at an outlay of Rs.717 crores. The Project covers 2517 Village panchayat in 70 Backward Blocks in 15 districts. Though the project was launched in November 2005, effective implementation commenced only from August 2006.

Project Objectives:

To empower the poor by improving their livelihoods and reducing poverty by:-

Developing, strengthening pro-poor local institutions at the village level,
Building the skills and capacities of the poor,
Promoting their livelihoods by financing demand driven sub project investments.

Target Population:

The target population of this Project are the poor households, the most vulnerable sections including the physically challenged and the marginalized communities.

Project Principles

All activities of the project are implemented by adopting key Non - negotiable principles of the project.

Inclusion of the poorest & disadvantaged - 90% of project funds for every poor and vulnerable
Equity to the disadvantaged especially women
Participation - All decisions based on participating processes, involving at least 60% of the target poor.
Facilitating Style of functioning by officials and staff
Transparency & Accountability ensured at all stages of project implementation

Institutional Arrangements

To implement the project, the following institutional arrangements are in place:

A Society at the State level,

A Society at the District level,

A Project Facilitation Team at the cluster level, each covering 10-15 Village panchayats, &

At the Village panchayat level, an inclusive Community Organisation, by name, Village Poverty Reduction Committee is vested with the responsibility of project implementation.

SOCIAL MOBILISATION -INITIATION ACTIVITIES

The Project adopts community driven development approach, involving village communities at every stage of Project

implementation.

The Project activities, to start with, are aimed at social mobilization of the poor and marginalized. After formation and building the

capacity of the community organizations, the Project focuses on livelihood promotion of the target population.

• Initial Communication to create awareness on the Project.

• Identification of target poor by participatory method.

• Grama Sabha approval and release of panchayat initiation fund.

The Village Poverty Reduction Committee (VPRC)

The Village Poverty Reduction Committee (VPRC) is a community organization formed under the project

Predominantly, with the representatives of the target population. Each hamlet of the Panchayat is represented by a woman SHG

member from the target population. PLF office bearer, a representative of the disabled & 2 members from youth are also

nominated to VPRC by Grama Sabha. The Village Panchayat President is the EX-officio Chairperson of the VPRC.

Social Audit Committee (SAC)

Social Audit Committee (SAC) is constituted by Grama Sabha which plays the role of guardian of the project

principles during the project implementation. The Social Audit Committee is accountable to Grama Sabha and the same

submits the reports to Grama Sabha on regular basis.

PIP approval and VPRC formation in all Blocks.

The target people identified through the participatory method are formed as Village poverty Reduction Committee

(VPRC) in all panchayats. As on date, the details are as below.

S.No	Names of the Blocks	Total no of panchayats	Total no of Panchayats where the PIP list is approved	Total No of VPRCs Formed
1	Pudur - I Phase	44	44	44
2	Kayathar - II Phase	45	45	45
3	Kovilpatti - III Phase	45	45	45
4	Ottapidaram - IV Phase	56	56	56

VPRC Plan preparation:

After the VPRCs are formed, VPRC plan is prepared for the Panchayat by undertaking a visioning exercise. This is facilitated by the Project staff. The first instalment of VPRC fund is released after the VPRC plan was prepared and approved.

S.No	Names of the Blocks	Total no of VPRCs	Visioning Exercise completed	VPRC Plan approval	VPRCs signed agreement with District units	Fund released to VPRCs
1.	Pudur - I Phase	44	44	44	44	44
2	Kayathar - II Phase	45	45	45	45	45
3	Kovilpatti - III Phase	45	45	45	45	45
4	Ottapidaram - IV Phase	56	56	56	56	56

Details on Village Fund Release from 2006 – 2011 (in Lakhs)

All the funds viz., The VPRC fund, Amuthasurabi Fund to Panchayat level federation(PLF), Incentive fund to village Panchayats through the VPRC and funds to federation development(computer purchase) are channelled through the village poverty reduction committees

S.No	Names of the Blocks	VPRC fund	Amudha Surabhi Fund	VPRC incentive fund	VP incentive fund	Federation Development fund	Total
1	Pudur - I Phase	293.28	433.51	24.00	71.60	26.40	848.79
2	Kayathar - II Phase	349.64	435.86	12.00	81.00	27.00	905.50
3	Kovilpatti - III Phase	339.85	288.37	-	33.60	27.00	688.82
4	Ottapidaram - IV Phase	467.89	367.58	-	-	33.60	869.07

Self Help Groups (SHG)

Self Help Groups(SHG) the left out target poor, and persons with disability are formed into self help groups with 10-20 in a group or 5 - 10 in the case of persons with disabilities. The Members in the SHG are given training to build their capacities and encouraged to save money. They are then directly credit linked to banks, converged with the Government Schemes and ensured to access funds to start livelihood activities. Sufficient hand holding support is given to the SHGs which are monitored by CSTs (Community SGH trainers) who have been developed by the project.

Types of SHG

S.No	Types of SHG	Age limit
1	Women SHG	18-60
2	Youth SHG	18-35
3	Disabled SHG	5 and above
4	Tribal SHG	18-60

Mobilization of House Holds in to SHGs and Linkage’s Details

S.No	Names of the Blocks	No.of Target House Holds	No.of Eligible House Holds	No.of House Holds Mobilised in to SHGs			Total New SHGs (W+Y+T)	Total Existing SHGs	Total SHGs	SHGs given Seed Money	SHGs Received Revolving Fund		SHGs Received Direct Linkage		SHGs Received Economic Assistance
S.No	Names of the Blocks	No.of Target House Holds	No.of Eligible House Holds	Existing	New	Total	Total New SHGs (W+Y+T)	Total Existing SHGs	Total SHGs	SHGs	SHGs	Amount	SHGs	Amount	SHGs	Amount
1	Pudur - I Phase	5273	4094	2817	1277	4094	150	418	568	140	555	182.1	453	946.2	45	131.9
2	Kayathar - II Phase	5784	4959	3351	1608	4959	149	516	665	146	655	319.35	497	650.12	69	240.44
3	Kovilpatti - III Phase	7879	6580	3434	3146	6580	233	379	612	233	593	311.8	373	728.6	37	137.7
4	Ottapidaram - IV Phase	10607	8260	5552	2708	8260	223	599	822	211	573	257.25	257	279.8	13	30.25

Status of PLF Restructured and All Activities

S.No	Names of the Blocks	No.of PLFs Restructured	No.of PLFs Registered	No.of Members Enrolled		Total Members	No.of PLFs Received ASF				Total Amunt	No.of persons Received loan		No.of PLFs Received Bulk loan		No.of persons Received Bulk loan
				Target	Non Target		Ist Instalment		IInd Instalment			Members	Amt	PLFs	Amount	No	Amount
				Target	Non Target		PLFs	Amount	PLFs	Amount		Members	Amt	PLFs	Amount	No	Amount
1	Pudur I Phase	44	36	4578	5020	9598	43	253.83	26	104	357.83	3574	465.96	1	9.6	81	9.6
2	Kayathar II Phase	45	36	5213	6128	11341	45	296.34	-	-	296.34	2744	378.24	-	-	-	-
3	Kovilpatti III Phase	45	36	6666	4468	11134	45	288.37	-	-	288.37	2504	321.93	-	-	-	-
4	Ottapidaram IV Phase	56	38	7838	4334	12172	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

SPECIAL FOCUS FOR DIFFERENTLYABLED

Empower and mainstream the physically challenged and most vulnerable by proactively including them through the social mobilization and institution building of the Project and thereby providing livelihood opportunities, quality of life and securing their dignity. The project has been able to reach the marginalized like the differentlyabled, vulnerable and tribals and bring them into the mainstream. Apart from assisting special SHGs, financial assistance is also provided by the VPRCs to differentlyabled and vulnerable persons individually for starting livelihood activities. Some of the Project interventions are:

• Disability assessment

• National ID cards

• Aids and appliances

• Self help groups for the disabled

• Medical care

• Vocational skill Training

• Individual assistance for livelihoods

• Economic activity groups

• Old age Pension

• Insurance Scheme

Pudhu Vaazhvu project gives most priority to Differentlyabled and Vulnerable persons. The Village poverty Reduction Committees give a fair share of individual assistance to differently abled and vulnerable persons. The details are as below.

Block Wise - Project Assistance as on September 2011

S.No	Names of the Blocks	No of Differently abled identified		No of Vulnerable Identified
S.No	Names of the Blocks	Total Differently abled identified	No of persons received Individual assistance for livelihood	Total Vulnerable identified	No of persons received Individual assistance for livelihood
1	Pudur - I Phase	1291	1287	939	937
2	Kayathar - II Phase	1436	1436	783	783
3	Kovilpatti III Phase	1392	1190	1399	1188
4	Ottapidaram IV Phase	1669	1404	2401	1782

Differently abled persons - Social Entitlement data as on September 2011

S.No	Names of the Blocks	Total Differently abled identified	Entitlements
			Disability Id Card			Aids and Appliances			Nirmaya Health Insurance card
			Eligible	Received	Balance	Eligible	Received	Balance	Eligible	Received	Balance
1	Pudur - I Phase	1291	1147	1147	-	205	216	-	172	116	56
2	Kayathar - II Phase	1436	1333	1333	-	279	237	42	179	52	127
3	Kovilpatti - III Phase	1392	1304	1304	-	209	195	14	166	-	166
4	Ottapidaram - IV Phase	1669	1409	1409	-	304	89	215	-	-	-

Social Safety - data as on September 2011

S.No	Names of the Blocks	Total Differently abled identified	Social Safety net - Measures
			MG Grants			PHP			OAP			Livelihood financial assistance				Housing Schemes		AAY
			Eligible	Received	Balance	Eligible	Received	Balance	Eligible	Received	Balance	DRI loan	NF HDC	SGSY/ DDRO	IAY	KVVT	Free house	AAY
1	Pudur I Phase	1291	164	164	-	248	151	97	693	679	14	27	-	22	172	53	32	1188
2	Kayathar II Phase	1436	203	203	-	334	146	188	1216	983	233	4	-	8	451	32	5	1059
3	Kovilpatti III Phase	1392	308	303	5	130	92	38	1310	1270	310	-	-	-	168	20	12	1130
4	Ottapidaram IV Phase	1669	228	116	112	1078	172	906	2074	335	1739	435	-	834	791	86	38	1179

AMUDHA SURABI

Amudha Surabi is an additional financial resource provided to the community and is expected to supplement the revolving fund and bank loans provided to SHGs.

• Amudha Surabi is a corpus fund of minimum Rs 6 lakhs, given to each VPRC to help SHG members to start economic activities.

• This fund will be managed by the PLFs on behalf of the VPRCs.

• The PLF will provide loans to SHG members at reasonable rates of interest giving priority to the target population while sanctioning the loans.

• The PLFs have to be restructured as per the guidelines of the government and registered under TN Societies Act, 1975 to be eligible to handle the corpus fund.

LIVELIHOOD PROMOTION

To promote the livelihoods of the poor, the project follows three approaches.

SKILL DEVELOPMENT TRAINING

Job oriented skill development training for youth leading to employment in corporate sector or self employment

S.No	Blocks	Eligible youths	No.of youths undergone training	No.of youth skill trainings completed	No.of youths employed
1	Pudur - I Phase	2526	146	2779	2520
2	Kayathar - II Phase	2437	107	2010	1826
3	Kovilpatti - III Phase	3392	241	2026	1884
4	Ottapidaram - IV Phase	3353	477	1481	1345

ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES / FEDERATIONS

• Promoting individual livelihoods through small loans from VPRCs or through the

Livelihood Corpus Fund available with Panchayat Level Federations (PLFs) of SHGs. Promoting small group activities through

Revolving fund and other Bank linkages.

• To achieve sustainability and scale, the project supports formation of Economic

Activity federations around major economic activities in which the poor are engaged.

Economic Activity federation fund details :( period 2008 – 2011)

We have formed Five Economic activity federations from among our target poor people. All the economic activity federations covered 98 target families.

S.No	Names of the panchayats	Names of Institutions	No of Beneficiaries	Fund Released from PVP
1	KeelaArunachalapuram	Charcoal Federation	14	80,670
2	Chennampatti	Charcoal Federation	14	77,055
3	Gowdanpatti	Masonry Federation	30	1,60,000
4	Mathalapuram	Garment Federation	20	1,55,000
5	Lakshmipuram	Charcoal Federation	20	58,000

Common Livelihood Groups (CLG)

The CLGs are formed from among the individuals doing same business .The CLG promotes the marketing and Infrastructure for the

business improvements.

S.No	Blocks	Common Livelihood Groups				Total
S.No	Blocks	Dairy	Goat	Garments	Others	Total
1	Pudur - I Phase	5	38	2	7	52
2	Kayathar - II Phase	26	23	1	6	56
3	Kovilpatti - III Phase	5	44	4	1	54
4	Ottapidaram - IV Phase	5	30	1	-	36

Community SHG Trainers, Trained

S.No	Names of the Blocks	No.of CSTs	No.of CSTs Trained
S.No	Names of the Blocks	No.of CSTs	MI	MII	MIII	Book Keeping
1	Pudur - I Phase	76	76	76	76	76
2	Kayathar - II Phase	71	71	71	71	71
3	Kovillpatti- III Phase	78	78	78	78	78
4	Ottapidaram-IV Phase	73	73	73	73	73

Community Professionals - Block Wise

S.No	Names of the Blocks	No.of CPs
S.No	Names of the Blocks	No.of CPs
1	Pudur - I Phase	89
2	Kayathar - II Phase	90
3	Kovillpatti- III Phase	81

Panchayat Level Federations Trained

S.No	Names of the Blocks	No.of PLFs Restructured	No.of PLFs Trained
1	Pudur - I Phase	44	44
2	Kayathar - II Phase	45	45
3	Kovillpatti- III Phase	45	45
4	Ottapidaram-IV Phase	56	46

Self Help Groups Trained

S.No

Names of the Blocks

SHG -Categories

No.of SHGs

No.of SHGs Trained

MII

MIII

A&R Book Keeping

Pudur - I Phase

Target Women

Special Groups

Youth Groups

Existing Groups

104

418

104

418

104

418

104

418

104

418

Kayathar - II Phase

Target Women

Special Groups

Youth Groups

Existing Groups

109

516

109

516

109

516

109

516

109

516

Kovillpatti- III Phase

Target Women

Special Groups

Youth Groups

Existing Groups

190

101

379

190

101

379

190

101

379

190

101

379

190

101

379

Ottapidaram- IV Phase

Target Women

Special Groups

Youth Groups

Existing Groups

106

128

599

106

128

599

103

128

599

103

127

599

103

123

599

Community Professionals (Grade Wise) honorarium

S.No	Grade	With in the District		Out side the District
S.No	Grade	Project	Other Department	Project	Other Department
1	A	200	250	300	350
2	B	150	200	200	300
3	C	125	150	175	250
4	D	125	150	175	200

Community Professionals - Subject Specialization

S.No	Subject Specialization	No.of CPs
1	VPRC	82
2	PLF	31
3	SAC	24
4	Book Keeper	29
5	SHG	69
6	YOUTH	2
7	AUDIT	4
8	ANNUAL PLAN	1
9	SUBCOMMITTEE	6
10	COMMUNICATION	1
11	MONITORING	1
12	COMMUNITY SCORE CARD	10

Creating Social Capital

A remarkable innovation in the project has been the transfer of experience gained by village level workers from one village to another and building training capacity at the village level itself. This social capital has been very useful scaling up the project within a short period of time.

The project has established a cadre of community level professionals (CPs) who are willing to provide their services as trainers to other project villages or line departments.
To provide an institutional mechanism for the CPs to provide services on a continuous basis, Community Professional learning and training centres (CPLTC) have been established and are managed by the community themselves.
CPLTCs provide a platform for community members to share their learning and experience and are meant to facilitate community to community learning.
250 community professionals have been trained in the project districts and are rendering useful services to the project villages.
The project provides initial seed money to set up CPLTC.
To know more about the CPLTC, you can contact Phone No: 04632 - 225 221

The PVP has been expanded to Vilathikulam Block as per G.O.(MS)No..27/R.D&P.R, Department dt: 28.02.11