Reports

  • Producer Companies Linking Small Producers to Markets

    Reports
    Producer Companies Linking Small Producers to Markets
    Enhancing livelihoods of small producers below the poverty line has unique challenges. It requires capital and knowledge infusion from outside to enhance production as well as increased linkages with external markets. However, markets are often situated far away from villages where small farmers and artisans stay. There is need for aggregation, sharing services and absorbing price risks, leading to the necessity of promoting producers’ organisations that serve these needs in a sustainable manner. Important too is the need for these producers’ organisations to adhere to principles of member-ownership, members’ participation in governance, efficient operating systems and transparent processes.
    Date
    February 13, 2017
  • NREGA Beyond Wages to sustainable livelihoods

    Reports
    NREGA Beyond Wages to sustainable livelihoods
    The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) came into force in September 2005. The guidelines issued by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) emphasise that it is a rights-based programme, which makes the State legally accountable to provide wage employment to those who demand it. The Act provides a social safety net to the rural poor by providing wage employment in times of dire need. The various provisions in the Act – such as, legally binding the State to provide employment, total ban on the use of contractors, transparency and accountability at all stages through social audit, unemployment allowance if employment not given – are path breaking in the history of rural development in India. The Act also aims to strengthen decentralised planning and implementation by making Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) the implementing agency for the schemes.
    Date
    February 13, 2017