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Monday, 18 June 2012
Indo-US Strategic Dialogue
Friday, 15 June 2012
Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Award to Rashmi Singh
Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Award to Rashmi Singh, Director Mission Convergence (Samajik Suvidha Sangam), GNCTD |
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It was a proud moment for all women especially those whose lives have been touched by Ms Rashmi Singh, Director, Mission Convergence, Samajik Suvidha Sangam, as she received the Stree Shakti Puraskar-Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Award from President Pratibha Patil at a glittering ceremony held at the Vigyan Bhavan on March 8, Sunday, on the occasion of the International Women’s Day. Other notable personalities who were on the dais with the President included Ms Krishna Tirath, Ministry of Women & Child Development, Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission and Ms Girija Vyas, Chairperson, National Commission of Women. The Stree Shakti Puraskars are given by the Government of India to outstanding women for their exceptional work in fields related to women’s empowerment. Granddaughter of Shri Kamta Prasad Singh ‘Kamji’, freedom-fighter and MLA and daughter of Shri Shankar Dayal Singh, noted Hindi author and MP from Bihar, Ms Singh a native of Aurangabad district in Bihar, has inherited her passion for social service from her illustrious forefathers. A 1989 batch UTCS officer, Ms Singh has distinguished herself repeatedly through her selfless service to the masses especially the poor and marginalized women. She has also organized health camps in Deo, Aurangabad and Majhui, Rohtas districts of Bihar with the support of her father in law, late Dr. R R Singh, eminent medical practitioner. The award came with high praise from several quarters, with all those who have been associated with her appreciating Ms Singh’s missionary zeal in bringing about social justice and empowerment through a string of reforms and innovative concepts in all her assignments. It has been her constant endeavour to sensitize the government, the policy makers and the people towards various causes concerning women. Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia acknowledged the role of Mission Convergence, Samajik Suvidha Sangam, pioneered by Ms Singh as Mission Director, which as the name implies is an effort to reach out to the unreached the fruits of social security schemes of the various government departments through a single window platform with a special focus on women. Currently at the helm of Mission Convergence, a unique initiative of the Government of Delhi to reach the unreached by providing social justice to the underprivileged in an integrated manner through convergence of all existing social security and benefit schemes and empowering them to seek and demand their rightful dues thereby erasing social disparities and psychological distances within society, Ms Singh has in just two years brought the Mission closer to its avowed objectives through her dynamic leadership. The singular most significant contribution as Mission Director, Samajik Suvidha Sangam, made by Ms Singh is the development of broad based vulnerability indicators for identification of the marginalised poor of Delhi and migrants from neighbouring states like Bihar and UP living in slums and unauthorised colonies without an identity or access to welfare measures of the government. She undertook the Herculean task of leading the identification of each unaccounted poor through this unique process of door to door survey, covering a total of 42 lakh such people in a short span of six months partnering with 100 community based organizations (CBOs). The survey has laid special emphasis on the identification of widows, single deserted women, woman-headed households and homeless women staying in backward areas, slums, and unauthorized colonies under the vulnerable category. With a vision of functioning as a single window facilitation centre for reaching social assistance programmes to the marginalized community, the Mission has opened up channels for the social inclusion of urban poor through its unique model of community outreach with community participation. In her illustrious career spanning two decades, Ms Singh has consistently strived towards giving a voice to the poor and the marginalized women she came across during her tenure. Moved by the plight of the woman sweepers while working as the Director, Welfare, NDMC, in 1999-2004, she spearheaded their mobilization into an economically and socially empowered force by uniting them under the umbrella of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) Ms Singh had 200 such SHGs formed and thereby ensured that these women were now capable of raising their voices against exploitation and injustice. These SHGs were enlisted for running Mid-Day Meal Programme in NDMC schools replacing outsourced contractors. Among the welfare measures introduced by her are the mobile crèches for children of construction workers, new working women’s hostel and old age home for women and developing a new model of day care centre/recreation centre for senior citizens. Again, it was at her behest when she was working as the Nodal Officer, NCR for the GOI-UNDP project on National Strategy for Urban Poor in 2004-2006, that a dedicated unit on ‘Urban Poverty Alleviation and Livelihood’ was set up in Delhi to create an institutional mechanism for focused interventions and better linkages to various schemes on livelihood and poverty alleviation with the Government. In-charge Stree Shakti Programme and ICDS in Delhi, Ms Singh set about bringing in systemic reforms to ensure better delivery of ICDS in Delhi. She set up a model whereby community woman groups like SHGs and Mahila Mandals were actively engaged in running of the ICDS centres and its supplementary nutrition programme. This not only ensured that the supplementary nutrition meant for children and lactating mothers reached them regularly but at the same time provided gainful employment and earning opportunities to hundreds of women from the economically weaker sections. Ms Singh took the ICDS and the Stree Shakti Programme to great heights during her tenure, making them more participative and inclusive. The latter, an innovative public-private partnership programme, provided outreach services to thousands of underprivileged women of slums and resettlement colonies in the areas of health, legal awareness, vocational guidance and training AIDS counseling and testing, nutrition, sanitation and hygiene. There was a perceptible change in the health-seeking behavior of women with access to health services becoming easier. An extensive cadre of health volunteers was the result of her tireless efforts and with the involvement of 70 NGOs to bridge the gap between demand and supply, around 200 Stree Shakti health camps were organized. The NGOs and volunteers were made partners in the process to pre-register women with adverse health conditions, bring them to the camps and do follow up of those cases that needed further referrals to hospitals. Around 3 lakh women were registered at these camps during her two-year tenure in this programme. Ms Singh received the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration (CAPAM) Award in 2006 conferred at Sydney, Australia for the Stree Shakti Programme. The programme won the Silver Award out of 112 entries received from different parts of the globe. Ms Singh worked extensively to augment the status of more such women and create avenues for imparting employable skills to them through GO-NGO partnerships. The canteen at the Delhi Secretariat being managed by woman SHGs is a unique and successful model of her efforts in this direction. Ms Singh has been instrumental in institutionalizing a network of community based structures called the Stree Kosh (Gender Resource Centres-Suvidha Kendras). 100 such centres were facilitated by her that act as a bridge between the government and the community. These centres act as one-stop facilitation centre for marginalized women and provide regular vocational training courses and assist in instituting SHGs. GRCs also help in building marketing linkages, organize health clinics, provide access to counseling, legal services and access to various government schemes and programmes. This structure has been adopted by the Government of India, Ministry of Women & Child Development as a replicable model for other states in India as announced at the launch of the Mission for Women’s Empowerment by Hon’ble President on March 8, 2010. As Mission Director, today Ms Singh leads a team of dedicated women officials, social workers, specialists and community workers motivated by her vision and a shared passion to make a meaningful difference into the lives of their less fortunate counterparts. Ms Singh has won several awards including the Woman of Excellence Award from FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) in 2009. She is also a distinguished speaker and a panelist on various national and international fora on social issues including gender and the rights of the marginalized. (Source: http://www.iasowaindia.in/) |
Speeches @ Samajik Suvidha Sangam Anniversary
Her Excellency, Smt. Pratibha Patil
President of India, during the Award Ceremony
Sheila Dikshit
CHIEF MINISTER
GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI
President of India, during the Award Ceremony
I am happy to be present here on the first anniversary of Mission Convergence, an innovative programmer launched by the Government of Delhi last tear. I would like to compliment all those involved in this Mission, Which aims to re-engineer the delivery process of service and benefits to the people, So that these are accessible with the least inconvenience. This is a laudable objective. I would like to congratulate all those who received awards today for their contribution to Mission Convergence.
India has the necessary pre-requisites for becoming one of the leading nations in the world. Its people when well-nourished and well educated will provide the hands and brains for the progress of the nation through their work and ideas. Empowering its people, therefore, lies at the very core of government. This empowerment, however, has to be inclusive and should take in its embrace all sections of society particularly the weaker and the vulnerable. I believe that many good schemes exit to provide amenities and extend support to the people for their empowerment. The factors slowing down the success rate of these schemes are delays in implementation on account of tardiness, some shortcoming of the delivery mechanisms and also of awareness among the people. A number of steps have been initiated the address the situation. The Delhi Government has initiated Mission Convergence for better and timely Implementation. I convey my good wishes to its efficient chief Minister, Shrimati Sheila Dikshit and her team for its success.
I would like to emphasize that better delivery and performance required a change a change of mindset. Welfare schemes, in essence, create a right for individuals belonging to targets groups.Delivering their right to them is our duty and lack to deliver is our failure. It is importance that Government officials involved in administering programmers and NGOthe welfare sectors are well trained. Interventions such as skill building, non-formal education and legal awareness center require qualified persons. Voluntary services of community members should be sought for participating in training centers and awareness campaigns. All efforts and all work undertaken in respect of welfare schemes should place the beneficiary at the center. Systems setup for the purpose must be simple and easy
I am pleased that Mission Convergence is focusing on improving deliverability under the schemes by reorganizing government process. It is involving civil societies and community groups through SamajikSuvidhaSangam, a society formed for this purpose. Government elected representatives, the local administration and community members are all partner in development work. They should work together constructively towards the common mission of prosperity and growth.
I am told that Mission Convergence has developed broad vulnerability indicators for identification of families and individual as poor, for the purpose of their inclusion in the list of beneficiaries under the various welfare schemes. A Survey is underway for this purpose. This is a welcome step in our efforts towards inclusiveness.
From the individual’s point of view, the Suvida Card proposed by the Delhi Government is important as in it, all schemes whose benefits the card holder is entitled to, can be enumerated. Moreover, the SuvidaKendras which will function as the single window facilitation centers for availing social assistance programmers would be of great help to the people. It will also promote implementation in a transparent manner that will in turn result in greater accountability andintergrity in functioning. This is important for eliminating corruption and for ensuring that full benefits reach the people. Encouraging people to open a dedicated bank account for receiving monetary component of the welfare schemes would be useful for avoiding pilferages and eliminating bogus recipients. This manner of transmission would also make subsequent audits of schemes more systematic.
In conclusion, I recall the motivating message contained in Gandhiji’s word that, we must work “to wipe every tear from every eye”.Gandjiji’s life itself is an example of serving mankind selflessly and should be an inspiration for all those who have an opportunity and the responsibility to work for the welfare of the people. I congratulate all the awardees and would encourage them to continue their good work. I wish Mission Convergence of the delhi Government all success. I would once again like to congratulate the Chief Minister, Smt.SheilaDikshit for this scheme designed for the upliftment of the vulnerable sections of society with a view to empower them.
India has the necessary pre-requisites for becoming one of the leading nations in the world. Its people when well-nourished and well educated will provide the hands and brains for the progress of the nation through their work and ideas. Empowering its people, therefore, lies at the very core of government. This empowerment, however, has to be inclusive and should take in its embrace all sections of society particularly the weaker and the vulnerable. I believe that many good schemes exit to provide amenities and extend support to the people for their empowerment. The factors slowing down the success rate of these schemes are delays in implementation on account of tardiness, some shortcoming of the delivery mechanisms and also of awareness among the people. A number of steps have been initiated the address the situation. The Delhi Government has initiated Mission Convergence for better and timely Implementation. I convey my good wishes to its efficient chief Minister, Shrimati Sheila Dikshit and her team for its success.
I would like to emphasize that better delivery and performance required a change a change of mindset. Welfare schemes, in essence, create a right for individuals belonging to targets groups.Delivering their right to them is our duty and lack to deliver is our failure. It is importance that Government officials involved in administering programmers and NGOthe welfare sectors are well trained. Interventions such as skill building, non-formal education and legal awareness center require qualified persons. Voluntary services of community members should be sought for participating in training centers and awareness campaigns. All efforts and all work undertaken in respect of welfare schemes should place the beneficiary at the center. Systems setup for the purpose must be simple and easy
I am pleased that Mission Convergence is focusing on improving deliverability under the schemes by reorganizing government process. It is involving civil societies and community groups through SamajikSuvidhaSangam, a society formed for this purpose. Government elected representatives, the local administration and community members are all partner in development work. They should work together constructively towards the common mission of prosperity and growth.
I am told that Mission Convergence has developed broad vulnerability indicators for identification of families and individual as poor, for the purpose of their inclusion in the list of beneficiaries under the various welfare schemes. A Survey is underway for this purpose. This is a welcome step in our efforts towards inclusiveness.
From the individual’s point of view, the Suvida Card proposed by the Delhi Government is important as in it, all schemes whose benefits the card holder is entitled to, can be enumerated. Moreover, the SuvidaKendras which will function as the single window facilitation centers for availing social assistance programmers would be of great help to the people. It will also promote implementation in a transparent manner that will in turn result in greater accountability andintergrity in functioning. This is important for eliminating corruption and for ensuring that full benefits reach the people. Encouraging people to open a dedicated bank account for receiving monetary component of the welfare schemes would be useful for avoiding pilferages and eliminating bogus recipients. This manner of transmission would also make subsequent audits of schemes more systematic.
In conclusion, I recall the motivating message contained in Gandhiji’s word that, we must work “to wipe every tear from every eye”.Gandjiji’s life itself is an example of serving mankind selflessly and should be an inspiration for all those who have an opportunity and the responsibility to work for the welfare of the people. I congratulate all the awardees and would encourage them to continue their good work. I wish Mission Convergence of the delhi Government all success. I would once again like to congratulate the Chief Minister, Smt.SheilaDikshit for this scheme designed for the upliftment of the vulnerable sections of society with a view to empower them.
Jai Hind!
Smt. Pratibha Patil
President of India, during the Award Ceremony
President of India, during the Award Ceremony
Sheila Dikshit
CHIEF MINISTER
GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI
CHIEF MINISTER
GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI
Last fifteen years have launched Delhi as a centre of unprecedented economic growth in the country. This growth has also attracted a sizeable population from other part if the country compounding the stress of city and civic amenities. In the bright light of growth of and affluence, the millions of urban poor based in several slums tend to get ignored unless Government extends a helping hand to reach out to them.
The paradox in Delhi is that thought in financial terms the lesser privileged section of population not really deprived, they did not get access to the schemes run by the Government for healthcare, education, food and shelter, The main reason is lack of awareness. On the administrative front also there are several old age pension, disability schemes, women empowerment, window pension and other. But in the absence of proper data and lack of inter-departmental linkages, a lot of efforts are wasted and did not really reach those who needed them.
Against this backdrop, our Government decided to take some effective steps to correct this imbalance. To deliberate in these issues and come with a solution an Envisioning Workshop was held in May 2008 and this led to the formation and actualization of Samajik Suvidha Sangam (SSS), which is also known as Mission Convergence. It is a unique idea for harnessing government resources and private citizen partnership to spread awareness and facilitate access to various schemes run by the Government.
On 14 August, 2008, Mission Convergence was formally launched. This particular initiative has been very close to my heart since inception. From its beginning I have keenly watched the tremendous progress that SSS has made. The Annual Award Ceremony held to honors the ‘partners in progress’ of Mission Convergence was attended by Hon’ble President of India. People from all walks of life volunteers, NGOs, administrators, bureaucrats – have joined this mission to bring smile on faces that we will never see.
But we are not just sitting complacently on our laurels. The Mission is moving forward and has set many goals for itself, this publication covers just a small leg of its journey and it has yet to achieve its motto of reaching all unreachable. The mission will not be deterred until it achieves what it set out to do. I once against wish the very best to all.
The paradox in Delhi is that thought in financial terms the lesser privileged section of population not really deprived, they did not get access to the schemes run by the Government for healthcare, education, food and shelter, The main reason is lack of awareness. On the administrative front also there are several old age pension, disability schemes, women empowerment, window pension and other. But in the absence of proper data and lack of inter-departmental linkages, a lot of efforts are wasted and did not really reach those who needed them.
Against this backdrop, our Government decided to take some effective steps to correct this imbalance. To deliberate in these issues and come with a solution an Envisioning Workshop was held in May 2008 and this led to the formation and actualization of Samajik Suvidha Sangam (SSS), which is also known as Mission Convergence. It is a unique idea for harnessing government resources and private citizen partnership to spread awareness and facilitate access to various schemes run by the Government.
On 14 August, 2008, Mission Convergence was formally launched. This particular initiative has been very close to my heart since inception. From its beginning I have keenly watched the tremendous progress that SSS has made. The Annual Award Ceremony held to honors the ‘partners in progress’ of Mission Convergence was attended by Hon’ble President of India. People from all walks of life volunteers, NGOs, administrators, bureaucrats – have joined this mission to bring smile on faces that we will never see.
But we are not just sitting complacently on our laurels. The Mission is moving forward and has set many goals for itself, this publication covers just a small leg of its journey and it has yet to achieve its motto of reaching all unreachable. The mission will not be deterred until it achieves what it set out to do. I once against wish the very best to all.
Jai Hind!
Sheila Dikshit
CHIEF MINISTER
GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI
Rashmi Singh
Mission Director
GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI
Mission Director
GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI
It is a proud moment for us to see this website launched. I reminisce of the days when Mission was just a conception and it gives us great pleasure to see it having braved the difficult and unfamiliar terrain that it has had to traverse to reach the stage that it is in today. This journey has had its share of ups and downs, but for the support of our Chief Minister, Smt. Sheila Dikshit and the visionary leadership provided by the Chief Secretary, Shri. Rakesh Mehta, Delhi, Mission Convergence programme would not have seen the light of the day. Each day has been a learning experience and today Mission Convergence is emerging as a replicable model for the country.
The Delhi Human Development Report 2006 pointed out glaring disparities of social exclusion. In wake of this, Mission Convergence was conceived as a paradigm shift in governance to re-engineer the process of service delivery through Public Private Community Partnership, where the idea is to make the system more responsive to the citizens and Delhi an inclusive city. Much of the first year of its inception was spent in building an institutional framework for better delivery of services. Today we are ably equipped with an NGO management unit, documentation unit, research and policy unit, finance cum administrative unit which work tirelessly as a cohesive unit to achieve its objective.
In a first of its kind, creating poverty maps opened avenues not only for identifying the areas of interventions but also conducting a massive household survey to create a database of socially and occupationally vulnerable households and individuals. Two phases of survey have identified 9 lakh potentially vulnerable households comprising 42 lakh individuals, for which a huge cadre of community mobilisers engaged with the GRC-SKs were pressed into action. We are making the best efforts to cover the uncovered vulnerable population in the ongoing third phase survey. This database would help in customized and location specific interventions possible.
The Gender Resource Centre-Suvidha Kendras set up by the Samajik Suvidha Sangam across Delhi, is a unique model that combines social assistance and social protection measures with community development. Today a network of 100 centres have been set up to provide services to the community with focus on women.
We have surmounted many hurdles that have come in our way with resolute that stems from the valuable support of Sh. Harsh Mander, Sh. N C Saxena, CFAR, St. Stephen’s Hospital and our MNGOs, Modicare and SOSVA. The unflinching determination and support of all our stakeholders in this Journey of Partnership is commendable.
This website would provide relevant information to our partners, stakeholders and beneficiaries and will be updated from time to time to keep everyone informed of any new developments. Informing the larger populace on the components, activities and initiatives is central to the commitment of the programme. Thus informing the masses through the internet on the activities, policies and decisions would be a right step towards awareness creation and demand generation. And for this I would also like to thank my team members who have toiled to make the launch of this website possible. Last but not the least, we request the audience to provide timely feedbacks to help make the website more user-friendly.
The Delhi Human Development Report 2006 pointed out glaring disparities of social exclusion. In wake of this, Mission Convergence was conceived as a paradigm shift in governance to re-engineer the process of service delivery through Public Private Community Partnership, where the idea is to make the system more responsive to the citizens and Delhi an inclusive city. Much of the first year of its inception was spent in building an institutional framework for better delivery of services. Today we are ably equipped with an NGO management unit, documentation unit, research and policy unit, finance cum administrative unit which work tirelessly as a cohesive unit to achieve its objective.
In a first of its kind, creating poverty maps opened avenues not only for identifying the areas of interventions but also conducting a massive household survey to create a database of socially and occupationally vulnerable households and individuals. Two phases of survey have identified 9 lakh potentially vulnerable households comprising 42 lakh individuals, for which a huge cadre of community mobilisers engaged with the GRC-SKs were pressed into action. We are making the best efforts to cover the uncovered vulnerable population in the ongoing third phase survey. This database would help in customized and location specific interventions possible.
The Gender Resource Centre-Suvidha Kendras set up by the Samajik Suvidha Sangam across Delhi, is a unique model that combines social assistance and social protection measures with community development. Today a network of 100 centres have been set up to provide services to the community with focus on women.
We have surmounted many hurdles that have come in our way with resolute that stems from the valuable support of Sh. Harsh Mander, Sh. N C Saxena, CFAR, St. Stephen’s Hospital and our MNGOs, Modicare and SOSVA. The unflinching determination and support of all our stakeholders in this Journey of Partnership is commendable.
This website would provide relevant information to our partners, stakeholders and beneficiaries and will be updated from time to time to keep everyone informed of any new developments. Informing the larger populace on the components, activities and initiatives is central to the commitment of the programme. Thus informing the masses through the internet on the activities, policies and decisions would be a right step towards awareness creation and demand generation. And for this I would also like to thank my team members who have toiled to make the launch of this website possible. Last but not the least, we request the audience to provide timely feedbacks to help make the website more user-friendly.
Jai Hind!
Rashmi Singh
Former Mission Director
GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI
Former Mission Director
GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI
(Source: http://www.missionconvergence.org)
The President, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil received a copy
Central Government — 18 May 2012
(Click here to read full text)
VLCC joins hand with Government of Delhi
India's first comprehensive vocational training academy, VLCC Institutes, announced first-of-its-kind Public-Private Partnership (PPP) with the Government of NCT of Delhi for providing beauty vocational education to the underprivileged section of the society. The agreement was signed between VLCC & Delhi Govt. to mark the birth anniversary of Late Prime Minister of our country, Indira Gandhi. The prestigious Agreement was signed between Rashmi Singh, MD-Samajik Suvidha Sangam (SSS) under Delhi Government and Narinder Kumar, Group CFO & Business Head Education, VLCC in the presence of Sheila Dikshit, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Delhi, Kumari Selja, Hon'ble Minister for Tourism, Transport & Urban Development, A K Walia, Hon'ble Minister, Urban Development, Govt. of Delhi, P.K. Mohanty, Joint Secretary & Mission Director - JNNURM, Ministry of HUPA, Govt. of India and Vandana Luthra, Founder & Mentor, VLCC and other dignitaries. In addition to the development VLCC has also announced Priyadarshini Award.
As per the agreement, VLCC Institutes will offer skill based beauty vocational education in select districts to encourage employability, self-reliance and entrepreneurship. A group of 40 students per batch will be trained at the VLCC Institutes on the beauty treatments. On the successful completion of the course, the students will be provided a joint certificate by VLCC in association with the Govt. of Delhi. The institutes will also assist the students in securing placements as well as guiding the students for starting their own venture.
Speaking on the occasion Vandana Luthra, Founder & Mentor, VLCC Group said "We at VLCC feel grateful to the Government of Delhi for providing us with such a great opportunity of helping the underprivileged women and youth through vocational training which will help them secure decent livelihood. I have always tried to be a part of noble causes which aims at providing aid to the people in need. We at VLCC are equipped to train about 20,000 students per annum. This project is very close to my heart and hence I will closely monitor the progress of the same."
"It gives me immense pleasure to announce the association with the VLCC Institutes for providing vocational training to the underprivileged. A high number of women and youth living in slums and other vulnerable areas do not have access to good quality training for skills development and employment. I am sure this association will help in redefining public service by helping the underprivileged section of the society by giving them best opportunities for skill enhancement and improved income levels" said Rashmi Singh, Mission Director, Samajik Suvidha Sangam, Government of NCT of Delhi.
(Source: Indiaprwire)
As per the agreement, VLCC Institutes will offer skill based beauty vocational education in select districts to encourage employability, self-reliance and entrepreneurship. A group of 40 students per batch will be trained at the VLCC Institutes on the beauty treatments. On the successful completion of the course, the students will be provided a joint certificate by VLCC in association with the Govt. of Delhi. The institutes will also assist the students in securing placements as well as guiding the students for starting their own venture.
Speaking on the occasion Vandana Luthra, Founder & Mentor, VLCC Group said "We at VLCC feel grateful to the Government of Delhi for providing us with such a great opportunity of helping the underprivileged women and youth through vocational training which will help them secure decent livelihood. I have always tried to be a part of noble causes which aims at providing aid to the people in need. We at VLCC are equipped to train about 20,000 students per annum. This project is very close to my heart and hence I will closely monitor the progress of the same."
"It gives me immense pleasure to announce the association with the VLCC Institutes for providing vocational training to the underprivileged. A high number of women and youth living in slums and other vulnerable areas do not have access to good quality training for skills development and employment. I am sure this association will help in redefining public service by helping the underprivileged section of the society by giving them best opportunities for skill enhancement and improved income levels" said Rashmi Singh, Mission Director, Samajik Suvidha Sangam, Government of NCT of Delhi.
(Source: Indiaprwire)
On a mission to empower the urban poor
Anna Nath, Oneworld South Asia
Mission convergence, is a unique initiative by the government to bring about qualitative improvement in the lives of the urban poor. Rashmi Singh talks about the convergence model applied to bring various beneficiary and welfare oriented entitlement schemes to the urban community at the district level and to help them find their identity.
Rashmi Singh is heading a unique initiative of Delhi Government namely the Mission Convergence-a programme for social justice and empowerment. A 1989 batch UTCS officer, she has been instrumental in several policy level changes for social development in Delhi. Her Public Private Community Partnership modules for social development have been hailed as replicable models of inclusive governance and adopted by the centre & several state governments.
She has won several awards including the Stree Shakti Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Award 2009 by the President of India on International Women’s Day, 2010 this year for her unique contribution to the field of gender empowerment, the Women of Excellence Award by FICCI in 2009, Commonwealth Association Silver Award in 2006.
This interview is part of a special series of interviews “Behind the City Lights’ brought to you as a collaborative initiative of OneWorld South Asia (OWSA) and Urban Health Resource Centre (UHRC). The special series is aimed to enhance focus from different quarters on the subject of equitable health provision in cities in the international year of ‘Urban Health’OneWorld South Asia: What are the reasons that results in large proportion of urban poor- finding it difficult to access services?
Rashmi Singh: Large numbers of urban poor are the migratory population who come in search of better life and job to cities. First of all, finding their feet in a big metro like Delhi becomes very difficult, as they have to struggle with the basics and are sometimes not able to meet two square meals in a day.
They are mostly engaged in the unorganised sector and live in slums or in the resettlement colonies. The crucial aspect missing is the social bonding and the absence of a governance structure, unlike in rural areas. Whether strong or weak, the presence of local governance structures, local panchayats help the rural communities raise their issues, and community channels through which they feel counted.
In the urban system people do not have a voice mechanism and they become invisible. There is the whole question of identity and being rooted to the community to which they belong. When the first step is itself weak, the question of being able to navigate into the second step, into governance structure becomes difficult.
The urban poor also face the problem of proving their identity that becomes one of the major bottlenecks in accessing services. Getting their ration cards, election and other identity proof means producing many more documents which is like a vicious cycle. So while they may exist physically their problem to the accesses is compounded by facts each of them related to the other. They are fighting a battle to count. The absence of traditional institution mechanisms, community channels also makes the process more cumbersome and difficult for the urban poor to access benefits.
OWSA: We understand that Mission Convergence is surveying the poor habitation of the Delhi Urban Poor. Please throw some light on this and give an estimate of the vulnerable population in Delhi?
Rashmi Singh: Under Mission Convergence for the first time in Delhi we did the exercise of the identification of the vulnerable population. So far the system in the capital was not based on the identification of the counting at the household levels, based on survey methodology. The BPL list which one would find existing in many states has been based on some survey, in Delhi it was not. Those who wish to apply; fill up a form and given income certificate, they would be considered whether entitled to a BPL ration or not.
So the food and civil supplies department has largely been the custodian of data meant for poor and also for many of the other departments, and so if they have to ride on the scheme meant for BPL they would have to ask the civil supplies department. But here again there was no identification done in a proactive manner.
While conducting the exercise of identifying the urban population we found that many deserving people who should have been classified as BPL were actually left out of the system and ironically were drawing the ration which was meant for above poverty line, whereas many drawing ration under below poverty line were actually ones who should not have qualified. So we decided to go to the field and cover the areas of geographic vulnerability. And it was not difficult to do that because we mapped off the areas looking at all our slums and Jhuggi Jhopri clusters, FG and H category of clusters, and found 90% of the urban poor reside in these areas.
We conducted the survey in two phases and covered 9 lakh household and then 5 lakh more households-in total 60 lakh people. In the first two phase of survey of the 9 lakh we saw around 5 lakh were in social and occupational vulnerability. Later when we did this estimation five lakhs were in the broad category of vulnerability and there were around two and half lakh households which were classified as most vulnerable equated with the Antyodaya. One lakh homeless people are still in the process of being surveyed, after which we will be able to clearly come up with a figure.
OWSA: What value do civil society organizations add to the government initiatives by providing social benefits to the vulnerable sections?
Rashmi Singh: The government has its strengths and limitations. It can provide regulatory mechanisms, funding support, resource support, linkages, technical support, over site mechanism. The civil society organisations, on the other hand have a lot of strength in terms of bringing to the government certain areas of flexibility and outreach in terms of community participation, engagement, and mobilisation.
When it comes to actual mobilisation of the community and reaching out to those who are most vulnerable, going door-to-door, bringing people into the folds, spreading information and awareness, doing counseling, and doing a need assessment, we found that engagement of civil society organisations has been far more beneficial than a normal governmental channel. Also these civil organisations have managed to reach out to such areas which were not covered in government system.
The solution couldn’t be that we add more staff and more departments and have more offices; rather we decided to adopt the public-private partnership model which was cost effective also. There was the flexibility that we provide them funds, and they could rent out spaces, going into the interiors right in the midst of the community. On the other hand if we would have had to do it alone like for capital assets, buildings, creating structures, and hiring people, then it would have taken five years. So the flexibility in the operation and cost effectiveness was what made us engage the NGOs and other community organisations.
So we see the civil society engagement very important in Mission Convergence as it is been all about GON, NGO and community and private sector partnership. This is a unique model in which there has been the spirit of partnership between all the sectors. So it brought out lot of innovative elements, strength of each of these partners into the programme which has added to the strength of the programme as a whole.
OWSA: We are aware that Mission Convergence has proactively set District Resource Centers in all nine districts (Samajik Suvidha Sangam Kendras) of Delhi. Please tell us what progress has been made and the challenges faced during implementation?
Rashmi: There are these district resource centers at district levels and these are housed in the office of the Deputy Commissioner. The Deputy Commissioners were earlier doing revenue related work and regulatory work. But with Mission Convergence the government has given them a developmental approach, where they would also be looking at the social developmental needs of a community living in the particular district. These district resource centers were actually provided to be run by district nodal NGOs.
The Nodal NGOs were not only housed in the office of the Deputy Commissioners but they also became a kind of regular partners in this exercise which meant that in every district they had to call and organise a collective forum of the various departments involved which were basically looking at any welfare schemes.
This means involvement and coordination of departments like social welfare, health, education and women and child, labour and urban development, and food and supplies. All these departments were sitting together in the district convergence forum meeting which is organised every month. This is a break from the usual. Earlier people at district level were not talking to each other; every department was doing its own thing. Bringing the entire department together became a very powerful tool for us where the problem was raised department wise, and the NGOs, the resource center became a coordinating body.
The resource center became a body where the information of the district regarding the vulnerable people is housed and then they do the district level planning as to what programmes can be targeted and to look at the eligibility of the family to the specific programme looking at the vulnerability and matching it with the different programmes. It has become a very important institutional mechanism to actually reach out and give a response which is need based.
In terms of challenges, since it has been a major departure from departmentalised functioning that we have been used to, the transition has not been easy and there has been a lot of resistance, there has been the huge problem of changing the mindset of stakeholders. Also people look at their own small little role, but not at the broader vision, of what we are trying to do as a family. It has been a huge challenge, rather then scheme wise how to make all the departments look at it like a family. The transition has been very challenging.
There are three-four models that are being followed:
- One is the public-private partnership and community partnership
- Use of information-technology, to be able to provide better sense of transparency and accountability into the system, to track the development, the outcomes
- The integrated approach, the inter-sectoral which we call the single-window, intervention which range across various issues.
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