Bhopal:Thursday, May 1:More than five thousand herbal home gardens have been developed in remote tribal villages covered under Madhya Pradesh Rural Livelihoods Project. These herbal home gardens have come up in Dhar, Jhabua, Barwani, Mandla, Dindori, Anuppur, Shahdol and Sheopur. Developed under the Country Cooperation Fund of United Nations Development Programme, the purpose is to conserve bio diversity and revive indigenous knowledge system among the tribal communities. The tribal families would be encouraged to cultivate herbal plants in their backyards. This was informed during annual review of the MPRLP by the Department for International Development U.K. here today.
Project Coordinator Shri Jitendra Agrawal apprised the DFID review team about the progress in various sub-sectors and the scope of convergence of MPRLP with different rural development programme like National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.The DFID review team included Livelihoods Advisor to DFID Rachel Lambert, Governance Advisor Arif Gouri, Minaxi Nath, Anu Gupta, Mrs. Chris Chalmers, members of State Project Support Unit and Technical Cooperation Project Support Unit Mr. Duncan King, Shahzad Khan, Utpal Moitra.
It was informed that the Livelihoods Support Centres would be set up for registration of workers having skills in different trades would be done. Those migrating for better employment opportunities would also be registered and informed about their rights and entitlements, importance of job-oriented trainings at the Livelihoods Support Centres. One Livelihoods Support Centre would serve two Gram Panchayats. The data about rural artisans would be linked to District Employment Exchange for the convenience of potential employers. It would also help the employers to assess manpower requirements using the data.
During review of impact of convergence with National Employment Guarantee Scheme, the DFID team was informed that so far 49 thousand households in phase -I villages have been covered under net planning process. The net planning will inform the field staff about a particular resource or asset required by a household. It will save time in identifying needs of families and yield results faster. The net planning will be taken in new villages shortly.
Shri Jitendra Agrawal said that the Gram Sabha is central to the Project philosophy and the strategic steps have been taken to strengthen the institution of Gram Sabha. The Project is playing the role of a facilitator.It was informed that Management Information System has been designed and is being field-tested. It will capture vital information about the impact of the project interventions. The NREGS has brought forth immense opportunities for improving livelihoods of the poor by land improvement and watershed development.
The DFID review team visited remote villages in Shahdol and Anuppur and appreciated the field work.