For K Srinivasan, the deputy commissioner (DC) of West Singhbhum in Jharkhand, where Saranda comes, the Saranda Development Plan (SDP) has been a success story a year since its launch. But it’s also one that has come with a cost — the district administration, it turns out is stretched thin by SDP.

“All our resources, including manpower, are now focused on the success of SDP. So while I can say there have been significant successes in Saranda, it is becoming taxing on the entire district to see that SDP sails through smoothly. We need more people (and) staff dedicated for the plan,” Srinivasan told Governance Now while discussing progress of SDP’s implementation.

When pointed out that there seems less than expected work on ground, the district chief said, “If you compare with what was before, you will realise that what is there today is a significant change. After last year’s paramilitary operations, it was the first in 11 years that a DC could enter Saranda when I visited.”

As the conversation steered towards implementation of the plan, Srinivasan listed the distribution of solar lamps, transistors and bicycles and construction of 1,200 Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) houses as the most significant achievements over the last one year. “When I visited Ushariya, I found greater number of people on the roads than I had seen before. In Saranda, bicycles have helped people greatly,” he said.

On the issue of the IAY outreach, he admitted to progress being staggered. “Banks need to be given a greater stake for handling the volume of accounts, which will eventually just be used for receiving the one-time IAY grants. Otherwise, as is the case, they will have little interest in being proactive,” he reasoned.

When pointed out that there had been two account-opening camps held at the Manoharpur block office, Srinivasan admitted that these were welcome steps but questioned their success. “Recently, we requested the local branch of State Bank of India to increase outreach by opening 3,000 accounts. They did open 3,000 accounts but these are not numbers that can help us,” the DC said. “It turned out that in many cases individual members of a listed household were now account holders.

“We could use less than even half the number of accounts opened.”

Some hits, some misses
On ground, accessibility and a lack of awareness seem to be as much a hindrance as banking inclusion is. Most beneficiaries lament the fact that the rules for IAY grants necessitate photographic evidence of construction with the first instalment of the two-instalment grant for the second to be release.

“Getting a photographer to come and click is a costly affair, as he will charge anything between Rs 100 and Rs 200 per photograph, depending on the distance from Manoharpur. This is apart from the print charges,” said Sanika Dhanwar of Kolbonga village. “So when we have to rely on the rozgar sevak to come and click, we have to wait for his convenience.

“Sometimes, the rozgar sevak, too, charges us.”

With the integrated development centre (IDC) at Digha, one of the 10 government service delivery hubs planned for the six panchayats under SDP, scheduled for completion by the coming February, the focus is now on two other IDCs: one at Hatanaburu-Ushariya, the other at Thalkobad (both remote villages of the Digha panchayat). The one at Digha is being constructed at a cost of nearly Rs 5.5 crore by the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) as part of its corporate social responsibility programme.

SAIL mines from the iron reserves of Saranda.

“We have started prospecting for land and have identified one at Ushariya,” Srinivasan said. “But we are waiting for funds from the union government and will start formally once we have received it.”

The mention of funds brought us to the topic of expenditure incurred so far under the plan. Srinivasan said while nearly Rs 1.15 crore was spent in Saranda villages on Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MNREG) projects, the district has received Rs 14 crore and spent Rs 12 crore of a total Rs 30 crore allocated to the six panchayats for IAY.

“Our slowest expenditure has been on the road network (a 130-km stretch under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana). Of Rs 70 crore we have received from the rural development ministry, we have spent around Rs 6 crore. My biggest challenge is fast-tracking these projects,” he said.

Given security concerns, the district administration had chosen wisely to focus on stretches proposed to be built in the proximity of existing paramilitary camps.
 
One of the most significant expenditures that would directly impact livelihoods in Saranda has been on the integrated water management programme (IWMP). The programme envisages bolstering agriculture-based livelihood in the region by harvesting water of forest streams and using it to irrigate small holdings cultivated by the villagers to raise paddy, maize and other crops.

Under the programme, which incidentally was a medium-term goal (delivery within 3-5 years) of SDP, two check-dams have already been built at Digha.

Besides, self-help groups (SHGs) of women, nicknamed water SHGs, are being formed and trained for capacity building. The forest department has been engaged to prepare a project report detailing sources of water and planning access to it. “So far, we have spent Rs 3 crore to Rs 4 crore on various overheads, including training of women. The entire programme is budgeted to cost nearly Rs 45 crore,” the DC said.

However, Digha villagers have a different take on the issue. When Governance Now visited the village, Jablun Dhodrai, the atirikt rozgar sevak, took us to loosely laid pipes in uncovered trenches and pointed to a length where a section had splintered after it came under a truck. “We were promised almost immediate water supply. Either they (administration) shouldn’t have begun the work now or they should have finished it. Either way, it should not have been left halfway,” Dhodrai said.

“Now that such damage is happening, they might come some day to inspect and blame the villagers for it. Besides, the least they could have done is get the trenches covered,” Dhodrai added.

Just a few feet away, a solitary borewell stood as signs of both — a promise of strengthening livelihood and a possibility of the government apathy killing such promises.

The administration, however, calls these routine challenges of working in a difficult region. The terrain is difficult, the security of government functionaries working in the deeper parts of the forest is a constant worry, and access a headache due to the lack of road network. “We are now carrying out capacity building by ourselves since NGOs we had hoped to enlist, especially for training villagers in diversifying agricultural practices, are shying away from working in the area. The security perception is still such,” Srinivasan explained.

Not all is hopeless, though
But it is not all dull-grey, the deputy commissioner insisted. The district administration is working toward other development goals that are to be achieved in tandem with the Saranda Development Plan. “We are planning to set up a PARFI (Pan-IIT Alumni Reach for India) Gurukul by the end of January in Jagannathpur (an assembly constituency around 50 km from Manoharpur).  PARFI, partnering private firms and the state government, will set up a residential industry-skills training centre for the youth. Preference for enrolment will be given to the youth of Saranda,” he said.

Once training is completed, the youth will be absorbed as skilled workmen in sectors such as construction, Srinivasan said.

While SAIL already runs such programmes, IL&FS will start such a project at the Digha IDC once the IDC is built.

The mention of the state government set off an uneasy topic. By any rubric of governance, the Jharkhand government seems to have, thus far, taken a hands-off approach so far as SDP is concerned. “I can’t comment on the issue but I think that there is a need to involve the state government more,” was all we could coax out of the deputy commissioner.

Almost immediately, one wondered what could be a greater stake for any government than ensuring inclusion of all its subjects. Saranda, incidentally, is India’s largest iron-ore reserve.

If that is a stake good enough for the government, shouldn’t its people be as well? The Jharkhand government can’t afford to keep away, believing SDP to be just another union government-sponsored scheme.