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M.R.D.-103
RURAL DEVELOPMENT
PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
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Long Answer Questions

Attempt any One of the following:
Q. 1. Discuss in detail the planning process at the block level.
Ans. Planning Process at the Block Level: There is an important provision district perspective plan to
develop the districts basic amenities and generate employment for the people. The second is the annual plan, which
is derive from the Five Year Plan and the perspective plan.
Formulation of Perspective Plan
Although the perspective planning is aim to cover the information about the wage seekers and unemployed
persons, it also required detail information about the developmental work which can be helpful to generate wage
employment for the people. As mentioned in the guidelines to collect this information state/ implementation agencies
should use the participatory tools. Detail village wise and block wise information should be collected to complete the
district level plan. However, this needs a comprehensive exercise like Micro level planning which covers all sector
and information.
Preparation of Resource Inventory
Establishing the initial steps in preparing to conduct a community resource inventory; this guide outlines five
considerations on the road to readiness. These include:
 Defining the desired outcome(s) of the community resource inventory exercise.

 Determining the focus using a needs-based or resource-based approach.

 Budget preparation as key to the success of the process.

 Emphasizing public transparency and the importance of engaging the community as a whole.

 Deciding which resource inventories complement the community’s overall goal.

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 For all these items, we require specific information. These are:
 Type

 Location

 Quantity and number

 Quality

 Level of utilization

 Potentiality for future development

 Problems and constraints.

Comprehensive plan for participatory groundwater management based on the understanding and outcome of
aquifer mapping shall be taken up. Stakeholders should be motivated through appropriate mechanisms by exploring
the possibility of a dedicated programme on groundwater or implementation through other appropriate programmes.
Creation of state-level institutions to manage groundwater is suggested. There will be a parity of design and
mandate in the development of such State level institutions, based on existing good practice. The working group also
suggests creation of a network of institutions to facilitate the process of groundwater management. Strengthening the
mandate and design of institutions dealing with groundwater to enable them to perform their roles is strongly
recommended. Such strengthening will also draw from the fields of participatory management of resource, social
science and economics.
Planning for Suitable Schemes
The various programmes being implemented in the area by different departments and agencies have to be listed
out. A scheme due to various constraints like lack of technical know-how, lack of raw materials, inadequacy of
backward and forward linkages, poor response from the people and so on. The function of the Rural Development
Division is primarily to provide overall policy guidance in formulation of plans and programmes for Rural Development.
This is the nodal Division for matters relating to poverty eradication, employment generation in rural areas, development
of watershed and degraded land. The organize Working Group meetings to finalize the Draft Five Year Plan proposals
of the State Governments. This involves the preparation of background papers, discussions on inter-se plan priorities,
critical examination of plan proposals in relation to plan objectives and approaches, preparation of Working Group
Reports giving, interalia, outlays and physical targets.
Assessment of Backward and Forward Linkages
Production linkages can be further divided into backward and forward linkages, or, to use an alternative terminology,
up-stream and down-stream linkages. Backward production linkages refer to linkages from the farm to the part of the
non-farm sector that provides inputs for agricultural production, for example agro-chemicals. Forward production
linkages refer to the part of the non-farm sector that uses agricultural output as an input. The distribution and processing
of agricultural outputs are fundamental components of forward production linkages.
Expenditure linkages refer to the fact that households deriving income from one type of activity, farm or non-
farm, are likely to spend that income on products of other activities. Farmers buy non-farm products with income
generated from agriculture. Local entrepreneurs and wage earners use income from the sale of non-farm products to
buy food and other agricultural outputs. Expenditure linkages can be divided into consumption and investment linkages.
Consumption linkages refer to expenditures related to household consumption; investment linkages refer to expenditure
used to finance farm or non-farm activities. Investment linkages can be particularly important within households.
Returns on farm activities may be invested to initiate or expand non-farm activities and vice versa.

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Annual Block Plan
The agriculture remains the principal source of livelihood for more than 58% of country’s population. Indian
economy is growing and to sustain this growth agriculture sector has to perform well. How to produce more of
agriculture produce with limited natural resources in sustainable manner for ensuring food and nutritional security and
increasing income of farmers, are major challenges before the Nation. The Annual Block Plan is linked to the annual
district plan and indicates the priority area, the schemes to be implemented (both new and ongoing schemes), the
outlays, and the targets.
Formulation of Action Plans
An action plan is a way to make sure your organization’s vision is made concrete. It describes the way your group
will use its strategies to meet its objectives. There are certain factors, which have to be kept in view while doing this
exercise.
Selection of Schemes and their Location
The critical importance of rural infrastructure in the development of village economy is well known. A number of
steps have been initiated by the Central as well as the State Governments for building the rural infrastructure. The
public works programme has also contributed significantly in this direction. Besides feasibility and viability, we may
have to give priority to certain schemes, which are the felt need of the people and, therefore, need to be implemented
speedily.
Financial Component
For annual action plan, the financial implication has to be worked out. It aims at improvement of agricultural
sector and increasing the competitiveness of agricultural products, enhancement of market efficiency and adjustment
standards in the fields of environmental protection, public health care, animal and plant health, wellness of animals and
safety at work.
Medium Answer Questions
Attempt any Two of the following:
Q. 1. Discuss the main concerns of project evaluation.
Ans. Concern of Evaluation: Now we will discuss some of the concerns related with the evaluation.
Assessment of Outcome–Evaluation is concerned with assessment of outcome. Few of the issues considered
in outcome evaluation are:
 Whether the beneficiaries have gained the benefits.

 Whether beneficiaries are better off to non-beneficiaries.

 To what extent the programme is responsible for the observed benefits?

 What are the changes noticed and occurred?

 Have there been any adverse, unintended effects of the project?

Measurement of Project Efficiency–There two essential yardsticks which are used to measure the project
efficiency:
 Cost efficiency which measured in terms of outcome per unit of cost.

 Project effectiveness measured in terms of outcome per unit of effort.

Once a project is operative, it may be necessary to modify the design and an interactive form of evaluation is used
to obtain data from the participants to establish if the design of the project is working well or needs to be changed. To
ensure that the project meets its objectives it is necessary to monitor the progress of the project being evaluated.

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Purpose Oriented Evaluation
The purpose of the evaluation will also help clarify the role that the evaluator will play. Is it to be a critical friend
to the project team, involved in project meetings, asking searching questions to challenge thinking, monitoring the
progress of the project, recording the processes of the project including decision-making and management, and
providing regular formative feedback to the project team? There is two important categories of evaluation:
Formative Evaluation–Formative evaluation is generally any evaluation that takes place before or during a
project’s implementation with the aim of improving the project’s design and performance. Formative evaluation
complements summative evaluation and is essential for trying to understand why a program works or doesn’t, and
what other factors are at work during a project’s life. Formative evaluation does require time and money and this may
be a barrier to undertaking it, but it should be viewed as a valuable investment that improves the likelihood of achieving
a successful outcome through better program design.
Summative Evaluation–Summative evaluation looks at the impact of an intervention on the target group. This
type of evaluation is arguably what is considered most often as ‘evaluation’ by project staff and funding bodies–that
is, finding out what the project achieved. Summative evaluation can take place during the project implementation, but
is most often undertaken at the end of a project. As such, summative evaluation can also be referred to as ex-post
evaluation.
Summative evaluation is often associated with more objective, quantitative methods of data collection. Summative
evaluation is linked to the evaluation drivers of accountability. It is recommended to use a balance of both quantitative
and qualitative methods in order to get a better understanding of what your project has achieved, and how or why this
has occurred. Using qualitative methods of data collection can also provide a good insight into unintended consequences
and lessons for improvement.
Prerequisites for Evaluation–In the end, the worth of evaluation is judged by its utility. What is considered
useful in this context could be the extent to which the evaluation contributes new insight, its impact on decisions, or its
relevance in a making or changing policy. The actual outcome of an evaluation largely depends on the way it is
designed, conducted, distributed and used. Evaluations can and do make a difference. Most people think of the
outcome in terms of the quality and distribution of the evaluation report. Others claim that it is the evaluation process
itself that is the most useful: it offers an opportunities to prepare essential information, thinking through objectives and
strategies, and getting inputs on essential matters from external specialists. Another view is that the “threat” of a
formal evaluation may be more effective than the evaluation itself, since it tends to have a disciplining effect on the
management of projects, much in the same way as the threat of an audit will have a positive effect. In general terms,
it is common to distinguish between whether evaluations are of direct or indirect use. By direct use is meant that
decision makers use evaluation findings directly, for instance by making specific decisions about immediate courses of
action in the project that has been evaluated. By indirect use is meant that the use of evaluations influence thinking in
a general way, for instance by sensitising individuals to certain problems or by indirectly having an impact on policy or
procedures. Clearly, evaluators have a responsibility to optimise the direct utility of their work. But they also have a
more difficult task to maximise the indirect utility, for instance by assessing their findings in a broad perspective. In
order to make evaluations useful there are a number of measures that needs to be taken by the commissioning party
as well as the evaluators at different stages of the evaluation process.
Evaluations need to respond to interests of others. In the quest to make evaluations useful, it may be necessary
with broad participation in the evaluation design process to ensure sensitivity. This will also help sorting out differences
in values and perspectives between the evaluators at the outset to avoid conflicts when the work is presented. Prior

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to, or as part of evaluations it might be useful to include an assessment of utilization. Evaluators and decision makers
need not only to share an understanding of the purposes for which a study is undertaken but also agree on the criteria
by which its successful utilization may be judged. An effort should be made to judge the extent to which the uses of
findings are likely to meet these expectations.
Q. 2. Describe the nature of the planning machinery at the state level.
Ans. Machinery for Planning at the State Level: We have already learned about the various organizations
and departments working in the planning process. Now we will learn about the organizations which are working
under the state level:
State Planning Department
The department of planning in the state government is primarily responsible for making a development plan for
the state, to initiate and undertake necessary exercises for this purpose and oversee and take an over-all view of the
implementation of the plan, without diluting in any manner the role of different departments of the State government
in the formulation and implementation of their respective plans.
In each State, there is a Planning Department, which is responsible for the preparation of the Five Year Plans,
Annual Plans, monitoring of the plans, etc. Planning is an interdisciplinary task and requires equal participation of
technologists, geographers, economists, statisticians, sociologists, management experts, general administrators and scientists.
In addition, it also requires a very deliberate and systematic inflow of reliable information regarding the perceptions,
needs preferences of people in general and beneficiaries of specific programmes in particular. The Five Year Plan for
the State provides the framework within which Annual Plans are prepared. In most States there exists a State Planning
Board. It comprises the Ministers concerned, experts, non-officials and officials.
Departments of Economics and Statistics, Manpower and Evaluation
The every state planning department consists departments of Economics and Statistics, Manpower and Evaluation.
The Department of Economics and Statistics provides technical personnel at the State and lower levels. On the other
hand, the Manpower Department assesses the requirements and need for manpower in the within the country and
enables the planning process to incorporate action plans for meeting the needed goals. The Evaluation Department is
responsible for the task of conducting evaluation studies of the various programmes being undertaken on concurrent
or ex-post facto basis.
District Planning Agencies
District Planning is the process of preparing an integrated plan for the local government sector in a district taking
into account the resources (natural, human and financial) available and covering the sectoral activities and schemes
assigned to the district level and below and those implemented through Local governments in a State. District is the
most suitable administrative unit for decentralized planning below the state level as it possesses the required heterogeneity
and is small enough to undertake people in planning and implementation and to improve productivity; district planning
is an important tool.
Most of the district planning agencies headed by the Executive Engineers for PWD, Irrigation, Public Health,
Engineering Department, State Electricity Board, District Education Officer, Chief Medical and Health Officer, etc.
Some of the renowned district level agencies are IRDP, NREP and RLGP, District Rural Development Agencies
(DRDA) which were set up to plan, implement and monitor district level programmes. Panchayati Raj institutions
have important roles to play in the context of planning rural development programmes.
In State like Maharashtra, there are District Planning and Development Committees (DPDC), which take important
decisions with regard to planning rural development programmes at the district and lower levels. The DPC could also

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constitute a few sectoral sub-committees for both the envisioning and the consolidation processes. The task of
sectoral Sub Committees is to go into the details of each development sector assigned, such as proper quantification
and description of service available in the sector, whether these meet the norms prescribed, the gaps that need to be
filled and track data availability, in consultation with local Bodies, public and private organizations before finalizing the
vision of that Sector. The Constitution of India provides the DPCs two specific responsibilities. In preparing the draft
development plan, the DPC shall have regard to matters of common interest between the Panchayats and the
Municipalities including spatial planning, sharing of water and other physical and natural resources, the
integrated development of infrastructure and environmental conservation and the extent and type of available resources,
both financial or otherwise.
Short Answer Questions
Write short notes on any Five of the following:
Q. 1. Perspective Planning
Ans. Perspective Planning: The principal task of the Planning Commission is to formulate the five-year plans.
In this context, proper planning procedure is followed for the most effective and balanced utilisation of the material,
capital, and human resources. Special emphasis is given to appraisal of the progress in the implementation of the plan
from time to time you can say 10 to 15 years, and to recommend adjustments of policy and measures that are
considered to be necessary in the light of such appraisal. The Planning Commission also oversees the development
programmes of the Central ministries and the state governments with a view to achieve coordination at the highest
level. In the Indian scenario this can be observed in the context of the Minimum Needs Programme (MNP) and the
Garibi Hatao Andolan in our country.
It has witnessed in the Sixth Five Year Plan the prime emphasis on elementary education, rural health, rural water
supply, rural roads, rural electrification, housing for landless labour, environmental improvement of urban slums,
nutrition, etc., and the government set the target of achieving the goals in the era between 90s and 2000. In the year
1980 the Sixth Five Year Plan comes with the objective of bringing down the percentage of population below the
poverty line from about 50 per cent to 10 per cent in the year 1995. And moreover the Seventh Plan set the target of
around 15 years in achieving its goals.
Q. 3. Financing of Village Development Plans
Ans. Financing Village Development Plans: Many State governments attempted to translate this Directive
Principle into practice by enacting necessary legislation and creating Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) but with
limited success; such efforts were confined to selected States. Against this background the need for providing a firm
Constitutional status for PRIs became necessary. And after a great deal of efforts the 73rd and 74th Amendments to
the Constitution have been passed which provide Constitutional status to the PRIs and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).
As per the 73rd Amendment, the PRIs are the local level institutions comprising of elected representatives entrusted
with the responsibility of identifying, formulating, implementing and monitoring the local level developmental and
welfare programmes. The framers of the Constitution were aware of this Indian heritage in village panchayat system.
Accordingly, they provided for Village Panchayats under the Directive Principles of the Constitution. Thus, article 40
of the Constitution requires that “the State shall take steps to organize village panchayats and endow them with such
power and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as units of self-government”.
Q. 5. CAPART
Ans. CAPART: Formal recognition of the role of voluntary organisations in the Seventh Plan documentled to the
formation of the Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology (CAPART) in 1986, as a nodal

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agency for catalysing and coordinating the emerging partnership between voluntary organizations and the Government
for sustainable development of rural areas.
CAPART was formed by amalgamating two agencies the ‘Council for Advancementof Rural Technology’ (CART)
and People’s Action for Development India (PADI). CART came with the mandate to promote voluntary action and
appreciate rural technologies for the benefit of rural masses. PADI is started with the campaign named “Freedom for
Hunger”. CAPART is an autonomous body registered under the Societies Registration Act 1860,and is functioning
under the aegis of the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India. Today, this agency is a major promoter
of rural development in India, assisting over 12,000 voluntary organizations across the country in implementing a wide
range of development initiatives.
Objectives–Following are few of the objectives of the CAPART:
 To encourage, promote and assist voluntary action in the implementation of projects for the enhancement of

rural prosperity.
 To strength and promote voluntary efforts in rural development with focus on injecting new technological

inputs in this behalf.

 To act as the national nodal point for coordination of all efforts at generation and dissemination of technologies

relevant to rural development in its wider sense.

 To act as a catalyst for development of technology appropriate for the rural areas, by identifying and funding

research and development efforts and pilot projects by different agencies and institutions particularly voluntary
organizations.
 To act as a conduit for transfer of appropriate technology to Government Departments, public sector undertaking,

cooperative societies, voluntary agencies and members of public to encourage adoption of modern techniques
and appropriate technology in rural development.
 To act as a clearing house of information and data bank.

 To disseminate knowledge on rural technology to manufacturers of machinery tools, equipment and spare

parts so that large scale production of technically improved machinery etc. is carried out in the private cooperative
and public sectors.
 To promote aid, guide, organize, plan undertake, develop, maintain and coordinate projects/ schemes aimed at

all round development, creation of employment opportunities, promotion of self-reliance, generation of awareness,
organization and improvement in the quality of the life of the people in rural areas in general and of the
economically and socially handicapped as also those who are physically, orthopedically and visually handicapped
and mentally retarded in particular.
 To assist and promote programmes aimed at conservation of the environment and natural resources.

 To strengthen existing institutions of research and develop or set up institutions, so that national level institutions

on matter of purely or largely rural interest are built up.

 To collaborate with other institutions, associations and societies in India or abroad including concerned

international agencies constituents of the U.N. system interest in similar objects.

 To conduct or sponsor training programmes, conferences, lectures and seminars on rural development activities

of particular interest to women, with an accent on improved technologies appropriate to their role in rural
development.
 To conduct or sponsor training programmes for trainers, particularly in the voluntary sectors, so that improved

technology is disseminated to participants in development in the rural areas.

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  To conduct or sponsor training programmes/ seminars, workshops and meetings to promote interaction between
government agencies and voluntary agencies working in the field of rural development and technology.
 To carry out research studies, survey, evaluation and the like on the use of appropriate technology and to offer

fellowships, scholarships and prizes in furtherance of the objects of the society.

 To prepare, print and publish paper, periodical-monographs and books in furtherance of the objects of the

society.
 To do all other such things as the society may consider necessary, incidental or conducive the attainment of its

objectives.
 To create awareness amongst rural people and provide a series of escort services to them through the NGOs

on matters relating to Intellectual Property Right (IPR) issues in the context of WTO and assist them by
protecting rights and all matters connected therewith.
Q. 6. Self-Help Groups
Ans. Self-help Groups–A self help group is a voluntary association of people, which functions democratically
and accountably, to attain the collective goals of the group. SHGs may be formed for any purpose. Some examples
are: savings and credit groups, empowerment groups, rights groups, learning groups, mutual support groups and so on.
The size of the SHG can vary from group to group depending on the context, though homogenous, democratic and
accountable groups are better sustained. An external facilitator may facilitate the formation of the group. But the
group is controlled by its members. The goals of the SHG need to be clear, to arise out of the aspirations of its
members and should be known to all members. The SHG is better sustained if all its members have contributed to its
formation in some way. SGSY is implemented through the DRDAs. These organization would have to be supported
by NGOs, PRIs and other community based organization in the formation of the self-help groups.
Q. 7. Mahila Mukti Morcha
Ans. Mahila Mukti Morcha–Dalli Rajhara–Dalli-Rajhara is a city and a municipality in Balod district in the
state of Chhattisgarh, India. Dalli Rajhara is home of iron ore captive mines for Bhilai Steel Plant, the largest integrated
steel plant in India. The mines here are largely worked manually through contractors. The women took a leading role
in organizing social action struggles. For example, in 1979-80, the wages of the workers improved after a successful
struggle. In 1982 the women started their own forum called Mahila Mukti Morcha (MMM).