Guinea Pig On A Roller Coaster Ride- A Short Story of a Development Professional at a CLF

In 2020, a pilot program was started with the aim to advance the existing CLFs into Model CLFs (Cluster Level Federations). In consultation with the World Bank, Jeevika-Bihar SRLM decided to place?YPs at?the CLF level as YP- CLF Managers.

Unexpectedly, I was one of the guinea pigs (YP- CLFM) in the core team for the model CLF project. At first, I felt a tad nervous because no YP had ever been assigned to this level. Nevertheless, I agreed to ride on this roller coaster and had one of the best experiences. I joined as YP- CLFM at the Sarojini Mahila Swablambi Sankul Stariye Sangh (Cluster Level Federation)- Sarojini CLF at Patarghat block of Saharsa. The BPIU Patarghat team welcomed me, and I was then introduced to the CLF office bearers, meeting a few members and some cadres. Needless to say, I was offered the warmest reception by the Jeevika Didis (Didis are members of Jeevika SHGs) at the Sarojini CLF. The finest aspect was that I was not given a separate workspace. Serendipitously, it pushed me to delve deeper into the lives of community members and aided in my development of a thorough understanding of their socioeconomic and political ecosystem.

As a CLFM, the main objective was to understand, analyse and design a roadmap on which the CLF members (Jeevika Didis) were to travel and turn their CLF into a prototype for others. I was to act as a torchbearer for them. Although I was well aware of my role as a catalyst, the community started?suspecting?me as the protagonist. In order to help the community members understand that they were the drivers, not the commuters, I first applied the BCC model after learning about their perspective. Along this line, the community-based NGO- PRADAN introduced the ‘Drishti Nirman Exercise’ for the CLF and VOs (Village Organisations) office bearers. The exercise was unique in its approach to introspecting one's capabilities as a leader.

?On another hand, managing community finance was becoming a challenge. Improper utilisation of funds, the time lag in loan disbursement at the community level, increasing NPAs, bank linkages, fewer savings etc were picking the news. Everyone was whispering and making incorrect assumptions. Fake news on financial fraud was on the air. To tell you, in village areas, it spreads like fire. No matter how it had to be stopped. Therefore, a customised?3D strategy was formulated to resolve this. At the first level, we started with a financial literacy campaign at the CLF level, where I, along with BPIU staff and learned community cadres participate in at least 4 SHG meetings every day for the next three months to sensitise the treasurer and the community mobiliser about the books of record. Simultaneously, capacity-building exercises of cadres were commenced by the IB&CB team. Lastly, an award-based review mechanism for the cadres was put in place at the CLF level. The results were fabulous. The number of SHG meetings was improved with the good participation of the members. Accounting errors were reduced. And to my surprise, the domino effect worked and the Panchsutra model of Jeevika was subconsciously regularised. It brought positive vibes and satisfaction to the community. People, who were earlier not part of the Jeevika SHGs, started visiting CLF and asked to add them to SHGs. The Panchayat Dhabouli-East, West, South, and Kapsiya were saturated in the subsequent months as a result of a rise in the number of SHGs from 4922 to 5349.

Another task was to promote and diversify livelihood opportunities for the community. Although the potential was limitless, there were numerous obstacles. The primary being the yearly floods due to the Koshi river basin. The majority of residents of the Patarghat block were engaged in the primary sector, and their fields were waterlogged for two to three months. Fortunately, the Hon’ble CM of Bihar started a program on Mulberry cluster development under the banner of “Mukhya Mantri Koshi Mulberry Project”. The project was specially developed for districts of the Koshi region with funds of more than Rs 600 crores. The chance was at hand. Sadly, I learned of the program's dismal failure in the Patarghat block last year. I did go read and analyse the project, though. I met with the community members, who were involved in it, to understand the project's constraints. To my knowledge, the major bottlenecks were - fewer farmers agreed and small lands provided for mulberry plantations, convergence issues with Jeevika and MGNREGA in fund disbursement, technical support on the ground, timely supply of plants with required nutrients and other administrative challenges. After receiving an assurance of the necessary assistance from the Jeevika District team and Saharsa District Administration, I chose to move forward with the project. The technical team was engaged on a project basis, camps were organised to explain to farmers the benefits of?the mulberry project, and a specific monitoring system was placed at the district level under the supervision of the DM, Saharsa. The outcome was fantastic, and Sahara became the site of Bihar's first mulberry processing plant.?I can still feel the Mulberry tale in my head. Though, the Sarojini CLF was indeed characterized by a wide range of anecdotes about farm, non-farm, and off-farm livelihoods.

To the members of the SHGs, Sarojini CLF was not just an infrastructure but an institution. The results of the 2020 Bihar legislative elections and the 2021 Bihar Panchayat elections witnessed the success of Jeevika Didi in politics. Out of 5 Panchayat seats in the CLF area, 2 seats were won by SHGs members. The CLF as an organisation gave them the strength as well as the identity to participate and win in the election process.

My journey as a YP- CLFM ended in a short span of 19 months. The community, however, continued the momentum and took over as the engine. Recently, I got to know that the Sarojini CLF has secured the first position in East India for the prestigious SHG Federation Awards 2022 conferred by NABARD and APMAS. With this recognition, I believe that the CLF has?learnt the self-driving and the dream of a model CLF is becoming true. I am glad to say that I was part of this journey with the Sarojini CLF. I congratulate team Jeevika- Saharsa. Special thanks to the PRADAN district team, community cadres and CLF managers of the BRLPS- YP 9th cohort.

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????????? ??Siddhant Raj

????????? ? ?Ex- YP, Jeevika

Once a Jeevikan, Always a Jeevikan