Pilot Project for Tribal Development - West Godavari District - Action Plan

Abstract

West Godavari district, the second smallest district in Andhra Pradesh, is situated at the center of the Northern Circars and lying to the West of the river Godavari. This district presents a picturesque but varied landscape due to its geographical contracts. The tribal population of the District is mainly concentrated in Polavaram and its adjoining taluks of Chintalapudi and Kovvuru which harbour about 40,020 population. The rest of (11703) population are scattered in the remaining taluks of West Godavari District. The economy of the tribes is agro-forest based. Most of them 78% of the total population depends on agriculture for livelihood. Collection of minor forest produce and forest labour are the important subsidiary occupation. The existence of multiple tribes in the tribal belt gave rise to a variegated culture marked by racial, linguistic and occupational diversity. The social structure of the important tribes of the project area is also diverse. With the introduction of Community Development Prgoramme and subsequent extension of democratic decentralization to the tribal areas, the tribals have been involved in the various stages of development of their area. Intensive Development of Scheduled Areas and the Scheduled Tribes of this district commenced with the constituting of Polavaram and Buttayagudem Pre-Extension Blocks as early as in 1959. The expenditure analysis of the first, second and third plans throws light on a few important points. Communications programme was given top priority followed by Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Irrigation during First three plans. The project has been broadly classified into two major categories on the basis of their major source of livelihood viz., Land owning and Landless. In the project area various schemes like Agriculture, Schemes for Landless, Marketing and Link Roads, Animal Husbandry, Minor Irrigation, Agro-Forest Based Industries, Land Restoration and Fisheries were implemented. The Integrated Area Development Plan which covers the proposed project area also, has compiled basic data on the people and area which can be utilized as Bench Mark data. There are various factors rooted in the socio-cultural legacies of the aboriginal populations of the project area which determine the success of various programmes envisaged under the Pilot Project. Besides there may be various operational difficulties in the implementation process which may slow down the temp of various programmes. It is therefore felt necessary to conduct concurrent evaluation of the various programmes of the Pilot Project in order to identify different extra administrative barriers in diffusion of improved practice, administrative bottlenecks, operational break downs, lacunae etc., so as to remove them for improving performance level of the programmes.