With the 2017 panchayat polls being considered a make or break for the ruling BJD prior to the 2019 general elections, the party seems to have played the cards well as it has swiftly added numbers to its rural vote bank, much to the chagrin of opposition parties.
When a whopping around 40,000 SHGs (Self-Help Groups) in the State have gone kaput in 2014-15, the Government under the National Rural livelihood Mission (NRlM) and the Mission Shakti has gone not only on revival spree in 2015-16 and 2016-17 but also brought up new ones to shore up its committed vote base.
Also, in order to keep the vote base in good humour, the State Government has almost achieved or exceeded targets in the arena of assistance to Scheduled Caste families under various Central schemes like the PMGSY and made operational maximum ICDS blocks and Anganwadi Centres post the Nagada blues.
Now, consider the SHG factor. Under the NRlM, the target for adding new SHGs in Odisha till March 31, 2017 is around 14,000. And the Government has achieved 92 per cent of the target by December-end only. Also, the most startling news is the Government in a rare display of swiftness achieved 171 per cent of the target in endowing the SHGs with the Community Investment Fund (CIF).
The CIF will be a vote-clincher because it would enable members of the SHGs to access loans and undertake income-generating activities individually as per the Micro Credit Plan and increase their incomes.
In contrast, the Government’s alacrity was no more visible when it came to providing the Revolving Fund (RF) to the SHGs as the Panchayati Raj Department could achieve only 70 per cent of the target. Interestingly, the RF only supports building up institutional capacities of the SHGs besides meeting consumption and initial production needs. The RF is, however, essential for sound health of the SHGs as it addresses the fund constraint of the SHGs for catering to credit needs of their members. How it pinches the stakeholder was evident when a 2014 Nabard study revealed that sharecroppers in Odisha post the joining of SHGs have recorded a decline in dependence on moneylenders during the period 2010-2013.
Moreover, bedevilled by the ration card mess, the Food and Civil Supplies Department was on an overdrive to lift food stocks for distribution under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) as it overshot the target of by 17 per cent to touch 117 per cent. While the department scored around 100 per cent in lifting grains for the BPl people, the offtake has, however, been for the Antodaya Anna Yojana (AAY).
Still, the opposition parties have some burning issues at hand to target the State Government when data show the Government’s failure in accomplishing the targets in housing for rural poor and rural drinking water. While the Government could achieve only 32 per cent of the target under the Prime Minister Awas Yojana-Grameen (PMGA-Y), only 24 per cent of quality-affected habitations have been attended to under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme.