Evaluation of Bonai ITDA of Sundargarh District

Abstract

The Bonai ITDA is one of the oldest ITDA at the National level and has been working for the development and welfare of different tribal communities residing in the four operational blocks of the ITDA. The evaluation study of Bonai ITDA was undertaken by SCSTRTI with the objective to understand the institutional efficiency and effectiveness of the ITDA and measures taken by the ITDA in addressing & resolving tribal development issues. The study examined the institutional capacity of the ITDA in implementing different schemes/programs and delivering required services for tribal development; and assessed the various measures taken to strengthen ITDA and its functioning. The tribal households residing in four operational blocks of the ITDA was considered as study population and samples were collected from all the four blocks based on Stratified Random Sampling Method.The study covered four blocks (100%), 22 GPs (40% of the GPs under ITDA), 61 villages (10.6% villages), 674 households and 36 community organizations.Performance of the ITDA was assessed from five broad aspects, i.e. Service Delivery Capacity of the ITDA, Funds Flow to ITDA,Human resource development,Livelihood support services and Infrastructural facilities. It was observed that many sanctioned posts have been remaining vacant at the ITDA level. Poor staff strength has been one of the critical bottlenecks in delivering required services and conducting monitoring and follow-up. Fund allocation to ITDA under different schemes / programs reflected fluctuating trend i.e. there is non-linear growth in fund allocation when emerging requirement for tribal development remain high in different areas. The Focus Area Development Program (FADP) and Cluster Development Approach have been the main vehicles for livelihood promotion which have been beneficial but a comprehensive and composite approach seems essential.However, the overall outcome is limited, more specifically in livelihood promotion and strengthening, including improving accessibility of tribal households to various other schemes/programs and in improving the overall socio-economic status of the tribals. While Institutional capacity has been inadequate to meet the requirement, there has been no participatory planning where tribal share their concerns and activities are planned as per the actual needs of people. Land holding status of some of the tribal families found increased due to access to land under FRA. The convergence approach has been successful in implementing some of the activities in agriculture, horticulture, fishery and labour oriented activities (MGNREGA). Based on the observations of the evaluation, initiating certain measures may help to further strengthen tribal development in the ITDA. A structural and operational transformation may be thought of with additional experts and required human resources.To make the development plan more ownership driven and sustainable, participatory planning process may be focused upon and the planning process should take in to account convergence benefits of other schemes/programs. In order to enhance the employability of the tribals, skill building measures should be taken in a large scale. Priority sectors of engagement need to be identified through consultations with industry and other market players and wider coverage should be focused upon. For income generation, formulating SHG specific strategy in the promotion of off-far and non-farm IGA could be beneficial. Such approach can be considered as a part of cluster development strategy where production/processing/post-harvest management/service delivery can be taken up in a larger scale. Exploring Public Private Partnership (PPP) in cluster development and enterprise promotion, including value addition and market linkage can give edge to the overall effort. Besides, a robust monitoring mechanism need be developed and put in place and steps taken towards enhancement of allocation of funds for the ITDAs and periodic review need to be done to achieve the desired outcomes.