Community Development Work in India

Meeting report

PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
9 November 2005
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT WORK IN INDIA

Chairperson Mr P J Gomomo

Documents handed out:
Department presentation on Community Development Work in India
Social Stratification in India - provided by DPSA
Structure of Rural Local Government in India -provided by DPSA
Community Development Workers Report on Training in India on Rural Development

SUMMARY
The Department of Public Service and Administration gave a briefing on the month-long visit of more than 100 community development workers to rural India to observe Community Development schemes in that country. The lessons learnt were highlighted as well as recommendations arising from the experience.

A parliamentary researcher highlighted best practices for compiling and considering annual reports of departments and their agencies.

MINUTES
Community Development Work in India - briefing by Department (DPSA)
Mr Emmanuel Kgmo Chief Director for Public Service and Administration, presented a report on the visit to rural India to observe Community Development Welfare (CDW). Delegates had visited India between 28 February and 30 March this year. The delegation consisted of more than 100 national, provincial and district management officials, as well as community development workers from all provinces. The aim was to expose the delegates to the Indian community work experience based on fifty years of implementation. It was established that communities were mobilised to help themselves and that the self-government system had become institutionalised. The report outlined the lessons learnt and recommendations (see document for full details).

Discussion
Ms Maloney (ANC) commented that India was a very self-reliant community and asked if there was a rigid code of leadership and was it true that the caste system was still operating.

Mr Kgmo replied that in the rural areas there was a strong code of leadership. In India 80% of people are poor and 20% are rich. The rich rule. Often the strong caste system prevents success. He explained that India was a society in motion. Everyone was busy. The Indian culture encouraged independence. He had noticed that officials houses were not on a grand scale nor were their vehicles, but cleanliness was very apparent.

Mr Baloyi (ANC) asked whether the volunteers in India were accountable and if so, to whom were they accountable. Mr Kgmo told the meeting that the volunteers did not have power. They merely ascertained the needs of the people and facilitated meetings and workshops. They transformed information into action.

Mr Minnie (DA) asked about the interaction between the different levels and how it compared with the South African model.

Mr Mathebe (ANC) asked how Indian self-governing laws compared to this country's local committees.

Mr Kgmo replied that the lowest village level corresponded with the ward level in this country. Although there were similarities, lessons could be learnt from the way they organised their public service. South Africa still had gaps, for example, an official could not be moved from provincial level to national level. In India, personnel could be moved at anytime. The disadvantage of this was that the official was at the whim of the system. Promotion in India depended on the particular need of the system. The skills level of officials was very high.

Mr Baloyi (ANC) asked the presenter about sustainability.

According to the presenter, sustainability was effective although some schemes took as many as eight or ten years before citizens could manage without government assistance. However, many people did become entrepreneurs in their own right.

Ms Mgabadeli (ANC) asked whether schemes were aimed at women or used by women because they needed them the most. Did the Indian Government have control mechanisms in place to ensure that technical assistance was used in a proper way. Mr Kgomo replied that the government drew up schemes for women and people of low caste. There were mechanisms in place to ensure the proper use of technical assistance.

Mr Gcwabaza (ANC) expressed interest in whether the government had any control over interest rates when applying for funding from private sector banks and whether their simple teaching methods were combined with literacy programmes.

Mr Kgomo explained that agreements were put in place and interest rates negotiated to between 1% and 2%. Government assisted banks with this. Some banks that were used were state banks. At the present time the South African government had agreements with certain universities including the University of South Africa (UNISA) to train Community Development Officers up to Masters Level. Municipalities were also identifying skills shortages and providing education to improve skills. In India children of low caste were expected to go to school. However culturally, children were often taken out of school early to assist parents in family-run businesses. This mind set was slowly being changed.

Mr Kgmo added that very often in this country, representatives were not sure of their role and that workshops were being convened to address this issue. Officers needed to be informed before they attend meetings. Municipalities should know who the Ward Councillors were. Councillors need information in order to perform their roles. Corruption has been uncovered and the SAPS and the Scorpions called in. Corruption must be exposed. Social problems also neeedd attention and therefore social workers should also sit in on Forums and Meetings. He added that officials at all levels were responsible for monitoring progress.

The Chairperson thanked Mr Kgmo. He added that gaps in service delivery caused tension and that notice should be taken of the pertinent aspects of this trip to India. It was interesting to hear about the Indian system and he thought that other Portfolio Committees should be invited to see the presentation.

Compilation and Consideration of Annual Reports
Mr Shuaib Denysson (Parliament researcher) briefed the Committee and the Department on best practices when either compiling or considering annual reports of departments and their agencies. When commenting on the format of DPSA Annual Report, he said that it needed to more clearly link itself to the entities for which it was responsible (South African Management Development Institute, Public Service Commission, State Information Technology Agency) and show how they relate to one another. He referred to the Office of the Presidency Annual Report for 2005 as an example of best practices. It provided a useful narrative that connected outcomes to objectives for itself and its entities and related to both those it addressed and those it affected. Reports needed to refer to how problems of previous years had been turned into challenges and how these challenges would be or had been solved. Reports should make it easier to check on how funds were spent. He noted that a discussion about this issue would take place with Treasury. Parliamentary committees were concerned with service delivery so evaluation was key to establish if goals had been reached. He also pointed to the Auditor General’s Audit Report on a department and its public entities / agencies as being a very useful oversight tool.

Discussion
The Chairperson agreed that parliamentary committees did forget to follow up on whether objectives had been met.

Ms Mashangoane felt that the Auditor General Report was not a good example as it did not reflect the situation in rural areas.

Ms Mgabadeli agreed about the format for reports but queried the Committee's influence over its content. The Committee could only observe the finished Department Report. They needed a way of influencing the content.

Mr Skhosana (ANC) added that a resolution should be taken to allow for this.

The Chairperson concluded that there was a need to follow up on these issues.

Committee Report: Provincial Oversight Visits
The Committee was given copies of this report and the Chairperson asked members to read through it so that it could be fine-tuned for adoption at the next meeting.

The meeting was adjourned.