Support Services to
District/ Cluster Level Livelihoods Resource Centers

 

Role of Members of Consortium and Other NGO Resource Organizations[1]

 

Background:

Building capacities of relevant stakeholders is one of the important thrust areas of APRLP. To facilitate this process, GoAP established 55 Cluster Level Livelihoods Resource Centers in all districts and District Level Livelihoods Resource Centers. Each center is appropriately staffed with Course Director and Assistant Course Director. GoAP issued separate circulars/ GOs to explain different aspects of the strategy from time to time. AMR APARD is anchoring these centers and providing support (administrative and financial). As a result of efforts made by WASSAN, some NGO Resource Organizations are functioning as anchors of the D/CLRC. GoAP and these NGO Resource Organizations have entered into a formal partnership.   

 

Achievements so far:

  1. 55 CLRC and 22 DLRC are established. Course Director/ Assistant Course Director are appointed.
  2. These centers made efforts to develop action plans/ calendars for capacity building and implement them.
  3. Funds are released to these centers for implementing the action plans.
  4. Series of district level workshops are organized to explain the concept and administrative aspects of D/CLRCs.
  5. Unit costs for running the programs at CLRC are developed by AMR APARD with the support of WASSAN and shared with DWMA.

 

Gaps and Challenges:

Several operational issues/ problems are identified in the functioning of the D/CLRCs. WASSAN conducted a detailed study of the functioning of the NGO anchored D/CLRC and shared the report with senior officers of GoAP. The main gaps in operationalization of these centers are listed below.      

 

Government Anchored Centers:

1.      Several government centers are identified as D/CLRCs. These centers are offering only infrastructure, but not the institutional support (managerial and administrative) to the centers.

2.      Some of the government centers do not have adequate and appropriate infrastructure or the maintenance of these centers is poor.

3.      There are delays in approval and implementation of action plans for capacity building. Ad hoc approaches are still in place. 

 

NGO Anchored Centers:

  1. DWMA do not completely appreciate the role of NGOs as anchoring institutions.
  2. Unit costs are not operationalized.
  3. Funds are released on ad hoc basis or not released.
  4. Capacity building action plans are not formally approved and necessary administrative steps are not taken.  

 

General Enabling Environment:

  1. Absence of PFA: Project Facilitation Agencies are expected to mobilize the participants for learning events in CLRCs.  In the absence of PFAs, several training programs are getting postponed or the logistical arrangements are getting disturbed. 
  2. Release of funds to Grama Panchayati/ Village Organization for capacity building purpose with clear instructions on the purpose of the funds is not yet operationalized. 
  3. Non availability of adequate resource persons, material and modules.

 

Given this background, the need for involving the members of Consortium and other NGO Resource Organizations was recognized. Based on the discussions during the Core Group meeting, this discussion paper is prepared by WASSAN for the consideration of the members of Consortium of Resource Organizations on 16th and 17th Nov 2005.

 

Salient Features of the Proposed Strategy and Role of Consortium Members and NGO Resource Organizations. 

 

Guiding Principles of Capacity Building Strategies: 

1.      The D/CLRC need to be perceived as “service centers” to the projects of GoAP. The services could be the following.

a.       Conducting Training programs

b.      Developing capacity building action plans and calendars.

c.       Field level support to selected villages/ Grama Panchayati/ Village Organizations

d.      Provide information to villagers in the neighborhood.

e.       Conduct review meetings of several projects

f.        Any other

2.      The government projects such as watershed projects/ CLDP/ NREGP and others are the clients of these centers.

3.      The government projects have to pay the “service charges’ to these centers for availing the services from these centers.

4.      The centers are expected to develop their own resource and be sustainable over a period of time. For this purpose, the unit cost as worked out by AMR APARD need to be strictly followed at district level.

5.      Effective hand holding and monitoring support would be established for these centers. NGO Resource Organizations/ Members of Consortium of Resource Organizations would be requested to offer “support services” to these D/CLRCs.

 

These support services are mainly into the following categories:

Category of Support Services

Nature of Services

What AMR APARD[2] could do?

Hand Holding existing D/ CLRC by providing the following services.

▪   Establishing Institutional Arrangements/ Role Clarity.

▪   Preparing the pool of resource persons

▪    Identification of resource persons

▪    Developing their capacities

▪    Linking the centers with PRP

▪   Developing/ collecting/ using modules

▪   Supporting planning and review meetings for CB

▪   Provide interface between CLRC and DWMA in administrative aspects

▪   Independent Feedback to State/ District on D/CLRC

 

▪  Support the salary of a Senior Program Officer within the NGO and an administrative support 

▪  Cost of conducting the following activities.

         i.            Quarterly review and planning meetings on quarterly basis

        ii.            At least three orientation programs to selected Resource Persons

      iii.            Production of resource material and modules (at least three number per year)

▪  Overheads on monthly basis (Travel, stationery, communications, computer time)

 

Anchoring D/CLRCs:

▪   Offer infrastructure of the centers

▪   Develop capacity building action plans and calendars

▪   Conduct training programs to the selected target groups

▪   Reporting the progress to DWMA/ AMR APARD

 

▪  Deploy Course Director and Assistant Course Director and meet their cost (salary, ect).

▪  Overheads on monthly basis

▪  Services would be paid as per the unit costs developed by AMR APARD. 

 

The following steps are proposed to be followed for developing the partnerships between members of Consortium/ NGO Resource Organizations:

 

1.      Commissionerate, Rural Development requests AMR APARD to identify appropriate resource organizations from NGOs and Consortium and develop partnerships around this agenda.

2.      AMR APARD proposes this in the meeting of Consortium.

3.      AMR APARD also indicates the roles and responsibilities of the NGOs and support to be offered by AMR APARD.

4.      Willing organizations would express their interest and enter into formal partnership with AMR APARD in pursuing the agenda.                 


 

[1] A Discussion Paper Prepared by M V Rama Chandrudu, WASSAN.for 3rd Meeting of Consortium of Resource Organizations. This paper may be used as basis for developing the over all strategy on 16th Nov 2005.  

 

[2] Indicative. To be finalized by CRD and AMR APARD.