About

The Swiss Agency for Development and Co operation (SDC) is Switzerland's International cooperation agency within the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA).

SDC supports sustainable development and seeks to improve the living conditions and quality of life of disadvantaged people in the South and East.

In India, starting with technical collaboration in livestock improvement in Kerala in 1963, SDC extended its activities to other geographical areas and to other fields such as natural resurce management, rural finance and employment, rural energy and housing, decentralisation and local governance, empowerment and social justice, human and institutional strengthening and humanitarian aid.

The Programme of SDC on Capacity Development for Decentralisation in Kerala (CapDecK) was conceptualised to support capacity building for the democratic decentralisation process in Kerala.

As part of this, SDC collaborated with the Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA). Starting with the support for the transition from a campaign mode of capacity building to an institutionalised form, the KILA-CapDecK project developed under the leadership of KILA a decentralised training system and platforms for sharing and exchanging experiences and suggestions on decentralisation.

The CapDecK Programme also supported people driven and people centred decentralised democratic governance by empowering the citizens and their democratic bodies to play a more pro-active role in local development. These interventions were carried out through Panchayats (rural local governments), civil society organisations, academic institutions, local government associations, Kudumbashree Mission (State Poverty Eradication Mission) and State Women's Commission.

KILA - CapDecK
The project CapDecK was designed to support the Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA), the designated lead organisation in capacity building for decentralisation for the stabilisation and institutionalisation of the decentralisation process in Kerala.

The first phase of the project was divided into three Thrusts and six Components.

THRUST - A
Organisational Strengthening & Strategy/Programme Development
1. Organisational Strengthening of KILA
2. Strategy & Programme Development
3. Field Studies on Training Needs and Impact

THRUST - B
Implementation and Monitoring of On-going Capacity Building Activities
4. Support to/Monitoring of On-going Training
5. Mobile Field Teams

THRUST - C
Decentralised Infrastructure and Facilities
6. Provision of selected Infrastructure and Facilities

The first phase (1999 - 2003) facilitated the process of transition from a campaign mode to an institutionalised mode of capacity building which culminated in the formulation of an Operational strategy for capacity building for decentralisation in Kerala.

The second phase (2003 - 2007) was aimed at the formation of Platforms at state and district level for advocacy and exchange of ideas and experiences through intensive interaction between the various stakeholders in the decentralisation process and to support the implementation of the Operational Strategy.

The Programme supported KILA in its efforts to build capacities of local self-government functionaries through a decentralised training system.

District training centres were set in place in all the fourteen districts, with handbooks, modules and training of trainers organised by KILA.

The rationale for the concluding phase (01.10.2007-31.12.2009) of CapDecK programme was rooted in the needs to a) support Government of Kerala (GOK) in completing the unfinished agenda of mainstreaming capacity building in natural resources management (NRM) based local planning and gender balanced development b) consolidate the learnings and knowledge generated through the interventions made so far, with the objective to capitalise on the experiences in contributing to development of policies, strategies and directions in the area of decentralisation both at the central and States levels and c) support KILA to emerge as a national/regional training centre of excellence for local governance and decentralisation.

Strengthening Panchayati Raj

THE LOCAL INITIATIVES

The Programme had another component on activities that contribute towards developing replicable and adaptable models and experiences in local governance, thus creating a learning space.

It facilitated the establishment of a local government link with NGOs, CBOs and academic institutions to strengthen Panchayati Raj (local government system). The Programme also facilitated and provided need based and demand driven expertise in experimenting new initiatives.

These collective efforts and experiences made under the leadership of 71 Gram Panchayats (village local governments) and 16 partner organisations in the 14 districts of the State, to promote and strengthen decentralised governance and Panchayati Raj.

Decentralised training system provided training from the top to the functionaries of local governments. The local initiatives built experiences at the grassroots. The platforms were to serve as an interface between the two where experiences, learnings, knowledge and opinions are shared thus completing the cycle of capacity building.

Thematic Areas
The local initiatives were on a few thematic areas which were identified as felt needs as well as potentials for intervention:
  • Strengthening of Gram Sabhas (Village assembly)
  • Developing Panchayats as real institutions of local self governance
  • Empowering marginalized groups through Panchayati Raj
  • Mainstreaming gender
  • Empowering Community Based Organisations (CBOs) to strengthen Panchayati Raj
A few more sub areas evolved during the process.

The strategy was to have various types of initiatives by different Panchayats, supported by partner organisations. There were experiences, learnings, models, tools and methodologies developed during the process were to serve later in up scaling and mainstreaming.

Strengthening Gram Sabhas
  • Handbooks on Panchayati Raj and Gram Sabhas
  • Training, awareness building and follow up among CBOs
  • Resource Groups in the Gram Panchayats
  • Special Gram Sabhas to discuss locally relevant issues, Dalit Status Studies, Women Status Studies, Jaagratha Samithi (Vigilance Committee) and for the performance appraisal of the Panchayat
  • Model Gram Sabha to evolve steps towards an effective Gram Sabha
  • Intervention by neighbourhood groups in Gram Sabhas.
Panchayats as Real Local Governments
Administrative reforms from within
  • Development of Panchayat Management System
  • Preparation of Manuals by Panchayats for managing offices and institutions
  • Monitoring and review system for Panchayats
  • Plan Monitoring Cards
  • Methodology for a comprehensive Citizens' Charter
  • Local Self-Government Order (LSGO) in the lines of Government Order (GO)
  • Formation of Management Committees for Panchayat institutions
  • Tools for appraisal of Panchayats
  • Various tools and methodologies for ensuring transparency like social audit, grievance redressal, notice boards and news boards

Citizen's platforms
  • Function as watchdog as well as facilitator for Panchayats
  • Ensure informed participation of citizens in Panchayati Raj
  • The Panchayat Social Watch report

Code of conduct for NGOS in Panchayati Raj
  • A set of regulatory norms prepared by one of the partner organisations, explaining their approach to local governments

Empowerment of The Marginalised
Linguistic Minorities
  • Special programmes for linguistic minorities with handbooks in local languages along with training and awareness building programmes
Dalit Status Study and Empowerment
  • Gram Panchayat level study on the status of Dalits
  • Special Gram Sabhas to discuss the Dalit status report
  • In a few tribal areas, Tribal Development report
Women and Panchayati Raj
Jaagratha Samithis (Vigilance Committees)
  • Panchayat level quasi-judicial mechanism to protect the rights of women
  • Envisioned for mainstreaming gender in the decentralisation process
  • Takes steps to ensure safety and security of women
Jointly with the Kerala State Women's Commission, the SDC-CapDecK Programme catalysed the process of streamlining the functioning of the Jaagratha Samithi. This was accomplished through a handful of initiatives by a few Gram Panchayats and facilitated by partner organisations with the support of SDC-CapDecK.

Panchayat Level Study on Status of Women
The Programme developed a participatory process of identifying the status of women so that the Panchayat could intervene as well as sensitise the community on gender. Special Gram Sabhas were convened to discuss women's status.

Comprehensive Development Initiatives
Generally the interventions were focused on specific thematic areas, but there were also projects covering many thematic areas. Components of a few of them are listed below:

Linking Academic Institutions
Linked academic and research institutions with the Panchayats for local development.

Conservation Of Natural Resources
  • Projects for conservation of natural resources in Panchayat Plan
  • Panchayat Resource Centres for NRM and monitoring climate change
  • Tools for environmental impact assessment of Panchayat projects
  • Bringing water into the Panchayat agenda
  • Development of sustainable habitat norms by Panchayat
Village Master Plans
  • Participatory Village Master Plans especially found to be useful in the implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA)
Children and Panchayati Raj
Children's Gram Sabha
  • Gram Sabhas, meant exclusively for children
  • Many of the problems presented found place in the Panchayat's annual plan
Children's Panchayat
  • Aimed at orienting the children on Panchayati Raj and development
  • Facilitated children's participation in governance
Panchayat Scout
  • To create awareness about Panchayati Raj among the students
  • To channel the knowledge from schools to Panchayat development
  • To help in the conduct of the Panchayat's activities
  • To motivate the parents to participate in the Gram Sabha
A few more Partnerships
Kudumbashree
The Programme provided technical support to Kudumbashree (the State Poverty Eradication Mission) through Social Development Consultants to help Panchayats to prepare anti-poverty sub plans.

Panchayat Associations
SDC-CapDecK organised technical support for the preparation of the memorandum to the Third State Finance Commission, for the formulation of suggestions for the Tenth Five Year Plan and for setting up a Communication cum Information Centre.

Programme Coordination Unit
The Programme Coordination Unit facilitated these initiatives by
  • Channelising adequate information and knowledge.
  • Providing relevant documents, books.
  • Organising knowledge platforms for sharing of experiences.
  • Facilitating the link between Panchayats, NGOs, State government and KILA.
  • Organising trainings for partner Panchayats and organisations.
  • Publishing documents, books and newsletter.
  • Organising regular participatory review and monitoring workshops.
Evolving an approach
Strategy and operational framework for the Panchayati Raj Empowerment Programme were evolved through a long drawn out process, which included field studies, focus group discussions and analysis of previous experiences.

Selection of Panchayats and Organisations
  • Some of the panchayats approached directly and they chose their partner organisations.
  • The organisations considered were those that showed their interest in Panchayati Raj activities.
  • A few organisations approached the concerned panchayats and became their partners.
  • The organisations were selected on the basis of an appraisal by means of observation of their activities, field visits, discussions with people, considerations of location, interest in Panchayati Raj, past experience in collaborative efforts with panchayats, etc.
  • The organisations selected in this manner had detailed with the panchayats on the project and activities. Accordingly, at this stage there were 15 organisations and 71 panchayats. Later as a part of the activities of the Vigilance Committee, 5 panchayats and 4 organisations were selected.
Project Formulation
Before preparing the project, regional meetings of the office bearers of the organisations were held to explain and discuss various relevant aspects like aims and objectives of the Programme, strategy and operational framework, and the necessity of participation of the panchayats on the project formulation exercise.

Following this, projects were prepared by the organisations in consultation with the panchayats. There are panchayats, which presented these projects in the gram sabhas and had discussions on them.

Approval of Projects
The projects prepared in this manner were approved after presentation and discussion in a meeting attended by the members of the Panchayat Committee concerned, local citizens and specially invited experts. This procedure was adopted in accordance with the principle that programmes meant for a particular area have to evolve from that area itself and the related planning is done by experts from there.

Implementation of Projects
To ensure the smooth implemen-tation of the projects and for monitoring, joint committees with representatives of the organisation as well as panchayats were constituted for each project.

Review and Monitoring
At the local level, review and monitoring were carried out regularly at the organisational and core committee levels. In addition, monitoring and review were done at the Programme level in four different ways:
  • Field visits by PCU team.
  • On the basis of the three monthly reports sent by the organisations.
  • Workshops for participatory review and monitoring; mutual appraisal once in three months. The report for 3 months from each organisation is sent to other organisations. On the basis of the project presentation made in the first meeting, they study the report in detail and offer their comments in the review meeting. In the review meeting, every organisation was provided the opportunity to present its project and have discussions to remove doubts and clarify matters. In the subsequent review meetings, decisions were taken on matters like performance appraisal, follow up action, common programmes to be taken up and identification of areas for mutual support. Further, 'Input Sessions' were included to enable the participants to gain a deeper understanding of Panchayati Raj.
  • Towards the end of each project, social audits were conducted in all the project areas.
Social Audit
Towards the end of the project period, every organisation under the leadership of the panchayat committee, organized a social audit of the activities carried out till then. A report was prepared explaining the activities, the expenditure incurred, participation and how the activities were implemented. The report was distributed among the participants, presented and discussed. All relevant records including the account books were produced at the meeting. All questions could be answered with the help of relevant records. It was a new experience for the organisations, panchayats and participants. An average of around hundred people including people's representatives, officials, members of the working groups, and others participated in each meeting.

Support by PCU
The organisations were given all books related to Panchayati Raj that could be procured. Also, arrangements were made to supply copies of all government orders issued so far and the Panchayati Raj magazine. As part of this, different training programmes, seminars and workshops were organised.
  • At the beginning itself [2004 September 9,10,11], a three-day training programme on Kerala Panchayati Raj was organised.
  • As part of this, a document was prepared and distributed.
  • A two-day study programme was organised to create conceptual clarity on 'gender status'.
  • Based on the experience gained in the one-day workshop on 'Gram Sabha', two handbooks were published viz; 'Gram Sabha' and 'Transparency and the Right to Information in Panchayati Raj'.
  • Two-day camps at two stages were organized on 'Jagratha samithies'. A one-day seminar was also organized to share the experiences on Jagratha samithies.
Thanks to these collective efforts, small as well as big ideas emerged on creating a new awareness in the onward march of the panchayats. This proved to be of great help in the subsequent functioning of the panchayats.

Ms. Mariamma Sanu George (Nirmala) served as the Chief Programme Coordinator CPC). Previously Dr. Joy Elamon was the CPC with Nirmala as the Planning and Monitoring Coordinator. The team was supported by Mr. Madan Mohan K.B. who was the Panchayat Programme Associate.

Reports
Phase 1 and Phase 2 reports of the KILA-CapDecK Programme and the 'Report of the Project on Documenting the Experiences of the SDC-CapDecK Programme' by Prof. P.K. Michael Tharakan will give an overall picture of the Programme spread over a decade.

Phase 1 report

Phase 2 report

Report of the Project on Documenting the Experiences of the SDC-CapDecK Programme

The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. CapDecK. © 2009-10