Producer Companies —- (1)

Posted on February 6, 2013 by SRRF

A Producer Company is a new format of structure devised to improve the working of agriculture sector. Over next few posts, SRRF Dialogue will look at this structure, its origins, current status and likely future developments. Hope the members would find this useful.


Introduction

A Producer company is a corporate structure. It allows producers of primary produce (farmers, dairy-products producers, etc.) to organize themselves into a corporate entity.


Inspite of India mainly being an agrarian economy, as we all know that agriculture has become a sector from which a large number of farmers wish to exit. This is ironic considering that a number of corporates have entered into this business seeing the profits[1].One of the reasons for this, is that value addition to a product occurs only after the farmer has already exited after sale of his primary produce, hence s/he cannot share in these profits.


Historical Evolution


Recognising the above need, cooperative option came early into picture and was encouraged by the Govt, however experiment with cooperatives failed (today rather than being a panacea of problems of the farmers, large & successful cooperatives are few & numbered. This happened because one, they were considered more on the lines of welfare rather than undertaking business on commercial lines. Secondly the overpowering control of the state govts through Registrar of Cooperatives over these institutions throttled the growth of the very institutions it was supposed to nurture[1]. Most cooperatives need to take permission from the state govts for a number of activities, sometimes even for opening of offices, investment of surplus funds, issue of bonus shares, appointment of auditors, etc.


Thus the idea of a Producer company came from the felt need for an alternative institutional framework, free from regular interferences and which could easily undertake commercial transactions. Companies (Amendment) Act 2002 gave birth to a legal structure called ‘Producer Company’. It would be unfair, if the name of Dr YK Alagh is not mentioned here, who was the chairman of the Committee which gave recommendations and hence became part of Companies Act.


Legal features of incorporating Producer Company will be covered in the next Post

 

[1] A Study Paper titled ‘Producer Company Model – Current Status & Future Outlook : Opportunities for Bank Finance’ by EV Murray, Faculty Member, RBI, College of Agricultural Banking, Pune.

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SSA REPORT CARD

Posted on February 5, 2013 by SRRF

Allocations have arisen considerably in last three years.

  • 2011-12 :             Rs 55,746 crores  (30% increase over previous year
  • 2010-11 :             Rs 42,926 crores  (64% increase)
  • 2009-10 :             Rs 26,169 crores

While since 2009-10 there has been an increment of almost 113%, achievements seem to confirm the ASER finding that focus of SSA has been on infrastructure development rather than on learning. Since 80% of overall allocations in 2011-12 have gone towards teachers and school infrastuture.

First of all the achievements:

  • Most States have met the access norm of a primary school within 1 km of a habitation.
  • 52% primary schools have the mandated pupil-teacher ratio of 30:1.

These are no mean achievements considering the size and the population-density diversity of the country.

Major challenges in terms of targets remain,

  • 60% schools in Odisha, Karnataka & Jharkhand do not have a functional toilet.
  • Obviously 48% schools still have not achieved the mandated teacher-pupil ratio.

As revealed in the latest ASER report, learning is a huge challenge and should be the focus for the Govt. Now that it is moving in achieving the infrastructure targets.

________________________________ 
Socio Research & Reform Foundation
(A Non Government Organisation)
512 A, Deepshikha, 8 Rajendra Place, New Delhi – 110008
e-mail: socio-research@sma.net.in

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Gujarat Urban areas – Sex ratios are declining sharply

Posted on February 2, 2013 by SRRF

As per Census 2011 most of the major urban centres in Gujarat showed skewed child sex ratio. The worst among them is the Surat District with 788 females to 1000 (2001: 810). This is for the district as a whole, for urban areas it is only 757. Kutch District which is fast industrialising the ratio has come down to 907 from 942 in 2001. This is despite the fact that population of urban areas has grown faster than the rural areas of these districts, but sex ratio has come down considerably.

The Child-sex ratio of the 5 worst districts are, Surat, 836, Mehsana 845, Gandhinagar 847, Rajkot 854 & Ahemdabad 859.

While the best districts are The Dangs 963, Tapi 944, Dahod 937, Narmada 937 & Valsad 926.

The above is indicative of the country-wide trend that more & more urban areas, with large facilities of scan facilities are falling victims to the worsening sex-ratios. The NGOs working in these areas should consider undertaking projects with the concerned civic agencies to develop strategies for ensuring that such centres are monitored effectively to minimise gender selection tests.

In this regard, please refer to earlier post on SRRF Dialogue which highlighted how Kolhapur administration was able to reverse the declining child sex ratio using a software called ‘silent observer’ at various scan facilitiy centres. http://blog.srr-foundation.org/?p=568

________________________________ 
Socio Research & Reform Foundation
(A Non Government Organisation)
512 A, Deepshikha, 8 Rajendra Place,
New Delhi – 110008

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BRICS to launch a new Development Bank

Posted on February 1, 2013 by SRRF

BRICS (consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) is planning to launch a new Development Bank. The idea formally launched last March in a summit meeting of the leaders of the five emerging economies.

Presently a working Group has been set up, which will submit a report to the five finance ministers of the country, who will work on the final draft, before submitting it to the heads of the Govts. coming March at the summit in Pretoria in South Africa. While initially the World Bank was a bit doubtful of its viability has now officially stated that it will work in partnership with any such Bank. There are a number of challenges, including conflicting interests. For example China has been promoting the international status of its currency, Yuaan. Brazil already has a large development Bank, while India wishes to bring in more capital in the country. However consensus is emerging on a number of other issues, like the amount that each country will commit to the Bank. The Bank is likely to have a committed capital of around $240-250 billions. Further other areas where the Bank will be hosted is yet to be decided, though it is decided that it will be one of the BRICS country.

 ________________________________ 
Socio Research & Reform Foundation
(A Non Government Organisation)
512 A, Deepshikha, 8 Rajendra Place, New Delhi – 110008
e-mail: socio-research@sma.net.in

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Improvements in Economic Front – Census 2011

Posted on January 26, 2013 by SRRF

Household census of 2011 has thrown some interesting details, which indicates a definite progress in standard of living alongwith several contradictions. Here are a few facts for you to chew upoin:

  • Total number of houses in the country 26.93 crores, of which almost 2.5 crores are vacant.
  • 29% of the houses counted have become sturdier with concrete roof. In 2001 this was only around 19.8%.
  • It may be noted that 18% houses do not have any specified assets (radio, TV, computer, phone, means of transport including a bicycle).
  • 63.2% own telephone connection up from mere 9.1% in 2001.
  • In 2001 half of the Indian households did not own any of the specified mode of communication, By 2010 as mentioned 63.2% own telephone connections, 47.2% own television, 19.9% own radio / transistors.
  • Only 9% households own computers. Here there is a big divide between rural / urban. 20% households in urban areas own computers, while only 5% in rural areas. Of the 9% owning computers only 6% have internet connection. However with internet connection available in large number of mobiles, perhaps figure for interconnectivity needs reconsideration.

And the contradictions:

    • Only 32% of household have access to treated water. 33.5% still rely on hand-pump water.
    • 67% of households have electricity as the main source for lighting, while as many as 31% still rely on kerosene.
    • Still 53.1% households do not access to toilets. (also see our earlier post on this http://blog.srr-foundation.org/?p=737 )
    • 41.6% still do not have bathing facility in their houses, while another 16.4% have bathing facility but it is not covered.
    • Only 18.1% have closed drainage facility, 33% have open drainage, while almost 50% have no drainage in the houses.
    • While 28.5% have LPG/PNG connections, 49% use firewood.
    • With all the talk of financial inclusion, with more than 41% households not using any banking facility, challenge remains huge.

The above facts give you enormity of the tasks that any Govt faces in trying to reach out or getting those benefits to people.

________________________________
Socio Research & Reform Foundation (NGO)
512 A, Deepshikha,
8 Rajendra Place,
New Delhi – 110008

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Development Indicators Comparison – UNICEF 2012

Posted on January 21, 2013 by SRRF

Unicef’s report State of the World’s Children 2012 has been out. It is a good reference point for us to see where India stands in terms of important indicators relating to children. Here are some important facts.

  • Almost half the world’s children now live in urban areas (43%). Considering most of these children belong to low socio-economic background, people who have migrated from rural areas in search of jobs and hence the children of such families are likely to face harsh environments living in slums, or similar backgrounds, such as lack of access to adequate to water, sanitation (causing infectious and other health related issues), secure tenure (causing anxiety and insecurity within the family environment), poor quality of housing and adequate living space.
  • On some of the development indicators, India’s position is given comparing with some of the other countries, with similar or worse socio-economic backgrounds.

Development Indicator/

(Position from bottom)

India

Pakistan

S.Africa

Egypt

Viet Nam

Infant Mortality Rate (Under 1 Yr)

48

70

41

19

19

Under 5 yr Mortality Rate

63 (46)

87 (33)

57 (51)

22 (91)

23 (90)

Neo-natal (Mother) Mortality Rate

32

41

18

9

12

Annual No. of Births (000’s)

27165

4741

1059

1881

1467

Gross National Income per capita (US$)

1696

1050

6100

2340

1100
% share of National Income 2000-2010          

Lowest earning 40% population

Highest earning 20% population

19%

45%

21%

42%

9%

63%

22%

42%

18%

45%

Life Expectancy at Birth

65

65

52

73

75

Total Adult Literacy Rate

63%

56%

89%

66%

93%

Primary School Net Enrolment Ratio

97%

66%

90%

95%

NA

Anyone wanting to see full report click on link http://www.unicef.org/sowc/files/SOWC_2012-Main_Report_EN_21Dec2011.pdf

________________________________       
Socio Research & Reform Foundation
(A Non Government Organisation)
512 A, Deepshikha, 8 Rajendra Place, New Delhi – 110008
e-mail: socio-research@sma.net.in

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Prisons – Places of Reform or Hotbed of crime?

Posted on January 16, 2013 by SRRF

All of us are aware of the overcrowding in the prisons. A large amount of population made up in these prisons is of Undertrials.

  • At the end of 2007, almost 2/3rd (66.6%) of all inmates in prisons in various parts of India were under-trials. As per a recent data released for Tihar jail for 2011 this figure was as high as 73.5%.
  • A large number of these persons are those who could not afford a bail, since they belong to poor families, and could not find / afford sureties.
  • A study undertaken by Raman Nanda for PUCL found several malpractices in jails. It found that young vagabond girls, either orphans or without any homes, often picked up on petty charges / vagrancy (Awaragardi) (under S. 169 of IPC) are bailed out by single male warders / police officials on understanding that they would cohabit them. The study points out several pitiful cases of sexual abuse of such young girls.
  • It also quotes of instances where even young boys (who have no roots in the city / state) are picked up on petty charges and once charged are made to do all menial work. They have no facility in the prison and treated more like slaves.
  • Some young undertrials alleged that even if they manage to get bail, but since they come to court regularly for attending their trials, police picks them first if there is any incident in their locality.
  • Yet another allegation is that often police will demand hafta from them, and if they do not pay are thrown inside jails on some petty charges, while the ones who pay are allowed to go scot free, even if they are commiting crimes simply because they are paying regular hafta.
  • One of the major reasons for these large undertrials is simply because their cases are languishing in the courts for years together. Since courts have failed to deliver timely justice, perhaps releasing under-trials may be one way of reducing over-crowding in the prisons, inhumane treatment of people and making hardened criminals of petty criminals.

– Largely based on a Study undertaken by Raman Nanda for PUCL

______________________________________

Socio Research & Reform Foundation (NGO)

512 A, Deepshikha, 8 Rajendra Place, New Delhi – 110008

e-mail: socio-research@sma.net.in

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Child Malnutrition – Need to rethink the strategy and focus more on Adolescent Girls

Posted on January 14, 2013 by SRRF

All of us have seen the figures relating to high prevalence of malnutrition in children in India published on the basis of Hunger and Malnutrition Survey in rural India, HUNGaNA 2010-11. The survey focussed on 100 districts (referred to as focus districts) which were at the bottom  of the Child Development Index developed in 2009 by Indicus Analytics for Unicef. Some of the facts are as follows.

 

    • 42% of under-five children in focus districts are underweight. Although compared to 53% of 2002-04, there appears to be a improvement.
    • 59% of under-five children in focus districts are stunted (being height less than expected)
    • Even in the six best district (other than the above 100 districts), where Child Development Index was much better, under-weight (33%) and stunting (43%) though lower was still substantially high – suggesting endemic and persistent nature of problem.
    • An important finding of the survey is that lower the socio-economic background of the family / mother (including lower level of education of the mother), higher the malnutrition %.
One of the conclusions coming out of the survey is that children born to mothers who are undernourished or are not in good health will be at a greater risk of undernourished. As per NFHS-3 data, 36% of mothers are undernourished, 11% are less than 145 cm tall and 55% are anaemic. Thus present intervention under ICDS and other health programmes which focus on health of mothers who are expecting, perhaps is a bit too late. While this would help in controlling Infant Mortality Rate (in which India has made considerable progress), however perhaps it is required that there is a need to focus on adolescent girls to help improve the malnutrition of children.

–       Based on an article appearing in Indian Express

________________________________       

Socio Research & Reform Foundation

(A Non Government Organisation)

512 A, Deepshikha, 8 Rajendra Place, New Delhi – 110008

e-mail: socio-research@sma.net.in

 

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Social Enterprises – new face for impacting the Society

Posted on January 9, 2013 by SRRF

Social Enterprises are becoming more and more popular as means of bringing changes in the society. These enterprises work by identifying a social need and provide service on low cost basis. Thus fulfilling a demand and meeting the costs of service from the user of service. Their model is always a low cost one and have no qualms for being ‘For Profit’. Here is an example to illustrate what is making these popular.

Ravi Ghate, a 12th pass who failed his diploma started a project SMS-one way back in 2005. The concept was to send community based news relevant to youth through SMS by working with a community leader (generally a school dropout) who would forward SMS rec’d by him within his community – cluster of around 1000-1500 families. Idea was that messages would be relevant for the person receiving the message and would have some small cost for the person receiving the same.

Idea flourished, Ravi Ghate’s enterprise has earned huge accolades both at national level as well as international. It won several awards, including Clinton Global Initiatives, NASSCOM Social Innovation Honor Award. It stood amongst Top 15 Best Ideas in the World at California based N2Y4 Mobile Innovation Challenge-2009. SMSONE also has been featured in several international newspapers & forums, such as Washington Post, AsiaMag-Singapore, Entrepreneur-India, NCERT-CIET, VODAFONE, UNESCO-IFAP, FICCI reports and was included in Hot 5 start-ups in India by most renowned Forbes magazine. Research studies have also been conducted by IIT-B, IIM-A, Oxford-DCI, Stanford-Seeds of Empowerment.

Ravi Ghate did not form an NGO, but took it as a profit venture. He has since formed a Pvt Ltd co, which runs not only SMS-one but several other projects on similar lines. Principles are simple that costs are low Rs 30 for 100 SMS. It also covers upto 3 questions which will be answered by experts. These include eduVARTA (Education Alerts) – providing SMS alerts about courses in colleges. This service is marketed to young girls & boys or their parents. bizVARTA (Business Alerts) –  For educated but unemployed youths for self employment promotion. He has plans to start new services for particular castes providing news about their castes, etc.

________________________________       
Socio Research & Reform Foundation
(A Non Government Organisation)
512 A, Deepshikha, 8 Rajendra Place, New Delhi – 110008
e-mail: socio-research@sma.net.in

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Sarpanch to be the new face of rural Justice

Posted on January 8, 2013 by SRRF

In 2012 Bihar Govt issued instructions to the Police Dept. not to take up petty complaints, which are supposed to be taken up by Gram Panchayats as identified in the Bihar Panchayati Raj Act 2006.

A number of cases of thefts upto Rs 10,000, family disputes, criminal trespass and several others fall under the jurisdiction of Panchayats. Police stations have been instructed not to take up cases, which fall in the jurisdiction of Panchayats. Panchayat Orders will be completely legal. A Sarpanch can fine upto Rs 1000/-. These can be appealed against within 30 days before a full bench of Gram kachahari and later before the District Court.

It is hoped that petty matters can be resolved at local level at a faster pace and would also deter people approaching kangaroo courts held by Naxals in some areas. A Sarpanch, who does not enjoy any police protection, if faces any violence could approach any police station. The state govt. Has stated that any person hurting a sarpanch will face stringent action, with instructions to DSP/SP to immediately take up any such cases immediately.

While the reform is laudable for making legal system more accessible to the people, however seems to rely on the personal effort / goodwill of Sarpanch and hence success would need to be evaluated only after sometime.

_______________________________          
Socio Research & Reform Foundation
(A Non Government Organisation)
512 A, Deepshikha, 8 Rajendra Place, New Delhi – 110008
e-mail: socio-research@sma.net.in

Posted in Governance Reforms | 3 Comments