The personal, psychological, and communication characteristics of the rural women beneficiaries and Non-beneficiaries of MGNERGA of the Mandya were studied and quantified. The variables included for the study are age, education, marital status, type of family, family size, occupation, livestock possession, landholding, source of information, mass media participation, extension participation, cosmopolites, institute linkage, achievement motivation, risk orientation, aspiration level, deferred gratification, and fatalism-scientism. The results are systematically presented in
The age of the respondents shows maturity and thinking ability. It can be revealed from the results presented in
Education of the individual determines their knowledge level and the mental status of the individual. Results pertaining to the education level of the beneficiaries in the Mandya district depicted that nearly half (42.00%) of them had middle school education and nearly one fourth (22.00%) of them had primary school education, followed by 20.00 percent of them were illiterates and 14.00 percent of them belong to high school level of education, and two percent of them had PUC level of education. Whereas in the case of the non-beneficiaries, nearly half (48.00%) of the respondents belong to primary school education, followed by illiterates (30.00%), middle school (16.00%), and six percent of them belonged to high school level of education. Education helps to have a fair amount of knowledge about the government schemes and their benefits. The result shows that an awareness program about the scheme will have a greater impact in the understanding level of the farmers. The attributes contributing to a larger number of beneficiaries falling under the low education category is be due to financial constraints and lack of schooling facilities.
Profile Characteristics of the rural women of Mandya district (
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The results from
In the present-day context, the individuals are well aware of the importance of small families. The role of government and other NGO’s in bringing awareness on family planning and also the efforts of the mass media might have contributed to the above trend. Further, in the present study, we have seen that majority of the respondents belonged to a nuclear family. Hence, these are the reasons for the above trend.
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The landholding acts as a key indicator for the socio-economic status of the respondents. The majority of the study respondents, were having limited or no land for taking up agriculture. Hence, the respondents were enrolled in MGNREGA scheme for getting assured employment.
Data presented in
Mass media plays a major role in disseminating information effectively. Farmers in the present days are more accessible to the mass media such as television, radio, and smartphones. Mass media utilization explains respondents are very much dependent on mass media not only as a source of information but also as a source of entertainment. Mass media helps to update the latest developments, which are a good sign for the interest of farmers. Thereby the respondents can be aware of the things, which are happening in day-to-day life. The study depicts that the respondents having a medium level of mass media exposure have greater influence in getting better information.
The results regarding the extension participation revealed that 58.00 percent of the beneficiaries in the Mandya district had a high level, and 42.00 percent were found in the medium category. In the case of non-beneficiaries, the data depicted that 76.00 percent of them had a low level of extension participation and 24.00 percent of them had a medium level of extension participation.
The reason may be that the participation in the extension activities provides opportunities for contrived experiences and sources of improved agricultural production technologies prevailing in the region or locality. The extension activities conducted by different agencies were according to the needs and interests of the farmers. Hence, the results obtained may be due to the eagerness of the respondents to solve their problems with extension workers, also the interest in extension activities to gather recent information about programmes and schemes.
The reasons for the above trend are that respondents who are highly cosmopolite will visit the nearby villages and towns for purchasing essential commodities for farm and household purposes. In addition to that, the beneficiaries will visit the nearby cities to withdraw the wage amount from post offices or banks.
The result in
The results don’t reflect on the socio-economic status of the respondents as a majority of the respondents were linked with banking institutions for Jandhan zero banking account schemes. Besides this, beneficiaries need to have an account in the banks or post offices for getting the wages, and they have to obtain the necessary documents for enrolling as a beneficiary from different government institutions.
The results in
Achievement motivation is the value associated with an individual, which drives him to excel or do well in a task he undertakes. Achievement motivation helps an individual to decide and complete the tasks in a certain direction, which in turn helps in achieving the desired results. The beneficiaries did not have enough motivation as they are limited with credit support and mostly dependent on the wage from the scheme to undertake farming activities. At the same time, the non-beneficiaries are already carrying different farming activities and wish to excel. Hence, the majority of the respondents belonged to the low to high-level achievement motivation category.
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The reason for this kind of result might be that the risk-bearing capacity of an individual depends upon the personal, psychological, social, and economic conditions of farmers. The individual with better education, more farming experience and medium to high landholding, and more income might have exhibited a high to medium level of risk orientation. Further, achievement motivation and risk orientation are the two faces of the same coin. The risk-bearing ability of the respondents will play a vital role in getting better knowledge and benefits from the schemes of the government.
The result indicated in
The aspiration of the respondents helps him to motivate to do what he wanted to do. The above results can be attributed to unemployment, and poor socio-economic status in the study area hinders the aspiration level of the respondents. Further, gambling with monsoon and difficulties in farming contributes to the above trend.
It could be observed from
The theoretical meaning of the differed gratification is the resistance to the temptation of an immediate pleasure in the hope of obtaining a valuable and long-lasting reward in the long term since a majority of the respondents in the study area having poor socio-economic status and low level of aspiration leads them to have a low-level deferred gratification.
The data presented in
Fatalism is the belief that all events are predetermined and therefore inevitable. The reasons for the above trend are the poor socio-economic status and low literacy level of the respondents. Further cultural beliefs and norms contribute to the level of the fatalism of the respondents.
Sustainable livelihood through
Shobha immediately applied for the house, and the project was sanctioned on 06 January 2017. The foundation of her new home was laid on 01 February 2017. She, in spite of her poor health, worked under MGNREGA along with her family to make the house a reality. The construction was completed on 01 April 2017. A two-bedroom house, along with a kitchenand a separate bathroom was built in an area of250 sq. feet.
Though the family possessed a MGNREGA job card, never before had they worked under MGNREGA. They began working under MGNREGA, and earned the wages. Farm ponds are one of the innovations of the model. The same was proposed for Shobha land, and subsequently, a farm pond was constructed under MGNREGA.
She also wanted to build a cattle shed but did not have enough resources. Her prayers were answered when the Gram Panchayat came forward to help her in making a shed for her animals through MGNREGA. She also worked as a laborer for building the shed next to her house.
This is a true example of how MGNREGA not only supports wage employment but also contributes to the larger goal of social protection of the rural poor. Water, undoubtedly, is the elixir of life, and this structure is expected to give life not only to the plants but also to their hopes. With the construction of the shed, the animals are protected and live a healthy life.
FARM POND - A Ray of Hope
Any farmer would love to work on his own land. The farm that Devamma owned was a barren piece of land. As there was no source of water, she could only get one crop during the year.
Devamma had a big family and forced to work in others’ fields to make ends meet. She thought this is the kind of life that would lead forever until MGNREGA arrived, and things took a turn. MGNREGA gave me resources and labor to build a farm pond on my field. Rainwater can now be stored in a farm pond and used for irrigation during the dry seasons. Now, She can harvest three to four crops in two seasons and also started cultivating fish in the pond of about 50 fishes that has been reared presently. MGNREGA has opened up avenues for my family and me.
Farm ponds enable year-round cultivation of different crops in a drought-prone area without irrigation facilities. In the longer term, these small ‘water assets’ have the potential of transforming the barren lands into fields of plenty.
Trenching for Better Farming
Gowramma has taken nearly 50 Trenches across the area under MGNREGA scheme, where she is growing
The Boundary Trench work is taken up along the boundary of the fields with a measurement of 4*1*1 mts (length, width, depth). The bund can be strengthened across the boundary with the earth excavated from the Boundary Trenches. This will provide percolation of rainwater not only in the trenches but also in the entire field as it slows down the run-off and increases the percolation.
Through MGNREGA, Gram Panchayat has sanctioned nearly 14000/- for the construction of these bunds; as a result, water holding capacity and groundwater storage has improved. In the coming days, she has been planned to grow some fruit crops to enhance the income and also suggesting other farmers take up these kinds of structures to improve the livelihood of the one.
These soil water conservation trenches will increase the soil moisture, also retains the fertility of the soil. The Farmer can raise bund plantation and earn additional income from the land. The revenue earned by Gowramma supported her family. She is now happy because she has a sustainable source of income.
The impact assessment of this programme would be useful for knowing the ground realities as to how rural women to respond to the development interventions of the government. Lack of awareness regarding the scheme has reduced its success rate. To create awareness among the women regarding MGNREGA, apart from brochures, newspapers, television, radio etc., proper campaigning through street drama, loudspeaker, writing on the wall about MGNREGA can be an effective measure to increase awareness. To increase awareness, women need to be educated. More initiation and awareness should be given to the rural poor women about MGNREGA. The wage differential in irrigated agriculture is relatively small compared with the wage differential between farm and non-farm wages. Hence, even in the irrigation-dominated region, the economic scarcity of labor is not due to MGNREGA wage but due to a hike in non-farm wages. It is important that the MGNREGA is treated as an exercise in empowering the poor economically and politically to help them get out of poverty and share the benefits of development. Solutions could come through enacting livelihoods-improvementfriendly policies for emergency preparedness and contingency planning and actually implementing such policies.