India - Rural Women's Development and Empowerment Project

Report No. PIC3422 Project Name India-Rural Women's Development and... Empowerment Project Region South Asia Sector Human Resources Project ID INPA44449 Implementing Agency Department of Women and Child Development Ministry of Human Resources Government of India Date Prepared November 1996 Project Board Date January 1997 1. Project Objectives. Given the pervasive nature of the issues that negatively impact on women, the overall objective of the project would be to strengthen processes that promote economic development of women and create an environment for social change. The specific objectives would be to: (a) establish women's self-help groups (SHGs) which build self-reliance and self-confidence and provide them greater access to and control over resources; (b) sensitize and strengthen the institutional capacity of support agencies (government, NGOs and banks) to proactively address women's needs; (c) increase the incomes of poor women through their involvement in income generating activities, thereby contributing to poverty alleviation; (d) develop linkages between SHGs and lending institutions to ensure women's access to credit financing; and (e) improve access to better health care, education and drudgery reduction facilities. 2. Project Description. The project would be implemented over a five year period and would pursue its objectives through the following components: (a) Institutional Capacity Building for Women's Development. The project would finance establishment of women's thrift and credit SHGs with the help of NGOs, and building their capacity through training and awareness raising. The project would assist SHGs to establish a track record of sound credit management based on their own savings and strengthen the capacity of support agencies, e.g., WDCs, NGOs, banks and line departments to provide them better service; (b) Establish Support Mechanisms for Income Generating Activities. The project would assist SHGs to access group loans from lending institutions for investments in income generating activities, following demonstration of capacity for credit management. In addition, it would finance skill training, technology transfer, technical support and promotion of market linkages; (c) Establish Mechanisms to Access Social Programs and Leverage Funds for Creation of Community Assets. To improve quality of women's lives and release time for productive purposes, the project through financing for training, provisions of simple health and  functional literacy kits and advocacy would assist in improving women's access to social services such as health and child care. It would also help to finance community assets such as drinking water and multipurpose meeting halls by leveraging contributions from on-going government programs and the community. Priorities for such investments would be decided in consultation with the communities; and (d) Provide an Effective Project Management System. The project would finance strengthening of management capacity of central and state level agencies to implement the project based on implementation experience and feedback provided by the concurrent monitoring and evaluation system to be established under the project. 3. Project Implementation. The Department of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Human Resource Development, GOI (DWCD) would be the overall coordinating agency for the project. At the central level, an advisory body comprising of experts drawn from official and non- official sources and NGOs with experience in SHGs would be established to guide the implementation of the project. This body would also advise states in the selection of appropriate NGO partners. Within the states, the project would be coordinated by the Women's Development Corporations (WDCs), except for Uttar Pradesh where the Land Development Corporation would be the executing agency. The principal partners in implementation would be the NGOs, credit institutions, district line departments and other technical support agencies. Under WDCs, a Project Management Unit would be established in each state and Project Coordination Units would be established in each district. At the district level, linkage with the line departments and other support service providers would be achieved through a District Project Coordination Committee chaired by the District Magistrate. Management of the dairy sub-components would be integrated with the UP and Bihar Dairy Federations' on-going programs for the formation of WDCS. 4. Project Cost and Financing. Total project costs are estimated to be Rs. 2,310 million (US$53.5 million equivalent), including physical and price contingencies (US$2.5 million) and taxes and duties estimated at US$0.9 million equivalent. The direct and indirect foreign exchange cost is estimated to be US$1.6 million, or 3t of total project costs. The project costs in the different participating states would be: Bihar - US$5.4 million; Gujarat - US$9.0 million; Haryana - US$4.8 million; Karnataka - US$9.0 million; Madhya Pradesh - US$8.5 million; Uttar Pradesh - US$14.5 million and the CPSU - US$2.3 million. 5. The proposed external financing for the project of US$38.7 million would comprise an IDA Credit of US$19.5 million and an IFAD loan of US$19.2 million. This would finance 74 W of the project costs net of taxes. If the institutional finance contribution to the project is excluded, the project cost becomes US$45.0 million and the external assistance of US$38.7 million then represents 86t of the project costs which represent expenditure by Government. The Governments of Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh would finance US$2.9 million (6.3w of project costs) including taxes of US$0.8 million and GOI US$0.5 million including taxes of US$0.1 million. - 2 -  Institutional finance would finance US$8.5 million (16t of project costs) and the beneficiaries would contribute US$2.9 million (5.4w of project costs). The IDA Credit/IFAD loan would be made available on the standard terms and conditions to GOI which would bear the foreign exchange risk. As a centrally sponsored project, the proceeds of the credit/loan would flow through MHRD/DWCD to the states as grant. 6. Environmental and Social Aspects. Environmental Impact. The project is unlikely to have any negative impact on the environment. Credit for dairy animals would be dependent on the cultivation of adequate supplementary fodder. Smokeless chulas and bio-gas plants would be encouraged to reduce pressure on the forests for fuelwood. Micro- enterprise activities would be artisan based, small enterprises which will neither adversely affect the natural resource base nor cause atmospheric pollution. Poverty Aspects. A large proportion of project beneficiaries will be from poor and underprivileged segments of the states' population. Gender Issues. The project would provide women with greater access to credit, develop self-reliance amongst women, create institutions to improve delivery mechanisms for credit and services, and strengthen womens' ability to control their own affairs by strengthening their management and technical skills. Specifically, the project would expand the involvement in economic activity and increase the incomes of beneficiary households. In addition, the project would establish the creditworthiness of the beneficiaries, improving their prospects for obtaining credit in formal financial sector institutions. The project would also contribute to strengthening the various intervenors, enabling them to be more effective in implementing similar programs. Indigenous Populations (Scheduled Tribes). With a tribal population in the districts chosen for project investment ranging from between 7t (Kolar, Karnataka) to 459 (Panchmahals, Gujarat), tribal peoples are likely to be substantial beneficiaries of the project in selected districts. During preappraisal, the needs of tribal women and their constraints in providing these needs would be identified and a specific action plan would be developed to address these needs. Contact Point Ashok Seth, Task Manager The World Bank Washington D.C. Tel: (202) 458-1438 Note: This is information on an evolving project. Certain components may not necessarily be included in the final project. Processed by The Public Information Center week ending November 15, 1996. - 3 -