INDIA: Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project

INDIA Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project (P007985)
First Implementation Support Mission, June 2011
Activity Current Progress Agreed Next Steps & World Bank Recommendations
3. Village Stakeholder meetings have been organized in 26 (of the
planned 80 villages), and with 221 SHGs (of the planned 600 SHGs) in
fishing villages in the priority investment stretches. Capacity building
training has been completed for 77 SHGs, and skill upgradation
training has been completed for 16 SHGs. A total of 22 SHGs have
been provided with an advance of Rs.50,000 each during the project
launch workshop organized at a fishing village where the Union
Minster for Environment participated.
4. The activities that have been identified in consultation with the 221
SHGs include composite pisciculture (43 SHGs), scampi culture (9
SHGs), shrimp culture (1 SHG), fish seed rearing (4 SHGs), sea bass
culture (1 SHG), fish drying (96 SHGs), value addition through
household level processing unit (3 SHGs), dairy and poultry (5 SHGs),
and individual other activities (57 SHGs).
5. Wherever possible and subject to fulfilling the objective of supporting
fisher persons who have been affected adversely due to ban on fishing,
the Fisheries Department is striving to use the existing but defunct
SHGs. New SHGs are being formed only when necessary. All SHGs
have a majority of women members, and in a near majority case, these
are all-women SHGs. Each SHG has a bank account.
6. For mobilizing and continuous capacity building of the SHGs,
procurement of an NGO for providing the required support was
proposed earlier. The SPMU has now decided to complement this by
recruitment of contract staff with suitable qualification in rural
development and social work and locating them in the villages. This
additional workforce from SPMU will not only support the Fisheries
Department, but all other PEAs as well. World Bank welcomes this
idea, as the presence of young, energetic and qualified staff in the
villages appears to be providing much greater and immediate success
in Gujarat, and similar result is expected in Odisha. SPMU has initiated
the process of recruitment of filed coordinators and community
organizers. Although the number of such contract staff needed may be
in excess of 40, the first batch of recruitment is of 27.
7. The Fisheries Department and the SPMU has participated in the
evaluation and stakeholder consultation related to the issue of
livelihood of fisher persons in Odisha organized and led by Greenpeace
strategic content in the choice of activities. This is important
particularly in the light of the objective that by the 3 rd or 4 th year, these
SHGs need to be organized (in federations or companies) to make
them sustainable in the long run, including financial and commercial
sustainability. To that end, the Fisheries Department shall take note of
the recommendations of the Greenpeace India Report (see below), and
the way the SHGs in the Chilika catchment are now slowly being
transformed into federations.
5. Fisheries Department will ensure that (a) priority will be to all women
SHGs or SHGs where all members belong to vulnerable communities
including scheduled tribe or scheduled castes; (b) further higher
priority to all-women SHGs, where all members belong to vulnerable
communities; (c) see that the bank account of the SHGs are operated
by the president and secretary of the SHGs; (d) very strictly, no
official of the government department should either have any
executive position in the SHGs, nor should any government official
should be involved in operating bank account of the SHGs. A few
instances were noticed during the field visits that officials or nominees
of the Fisheries Department are joint signatories in operating bank
accounts; or are holding a executive position in the SHGs. All such
cases should be immediately resolved; and all such actions taken to
ensure that there is no conflict of interest, and to ensure that there is
no liability of the Government in the running of the SHGs. Any
responsibility of the SHG that the Fisheries department desires to
monitor should be clearly specified in the contract document to be
signed between the PEA and the SHGs.
6. The recruitment of contract staff (filed coordinators and community
organizers) should be such that best people could be recruited. This
will mean, in addition to formal announcement and advertising,
writing to management institutions such as XIMB and NGOs involved
in such work to encourage young professionals to apply for such
assignments.
7. SPMU and the Fisheries Department will discuss the
recommendations from the Greenpeace India Report when available;
and prepare a brief paper on how these recommendations are already
incorporated in the Project, or could be incorporated. SPMU will
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