allana management journal of research january-june …

ALLANA MANAGEMENT JOURNAL OF RESEARCH /JANUARY - JUNE 2014 / PAGE NO. 071

Maharashtra is the second largest state in India both in terms

of population and geographical area (3.08 lakh sq. km.). The

State has a population of 11.24 crore (Census 2011) which is

9.3 per cent of the total population of India. The State is highly urbanized

with 45.2 percent people residing in urban areas. The State has 35

districts which are divided into six revenue divisions' viz. Konkan, Pune,

Nashik, Aurangabad, Amravati and Nagpur for administrative purposes. As

per India's Human Development Report, 2011 Human Development Index

of India is 0.467 and the State ranks 5th in the country with Human

Development Index of 0.572 but in spite of this, the total percent of BPL

population in the state is 24.5% in 2009-10 as per the Planning Commission

report.

The basis for identifying the extent of poverty in India has evolved over

time. Attempts to define a “poverty line” that permits an estimation of

the extent of poverty have a fairly long history. Official methods of

determining poverty use average per capita energy intake norms of 2,400

kcal in rural areas and 2,100 kcal in urban areas. However, the use of a

minimum adequate norm of nutrition as a key criterion for defining the

poverty line has come in for criticism, both for the level at which it has

been fixed and for the inadequacy of the expenditure level of households

at which these norms are likely to be met in providing a minimum

standard of living. Poverty reduction requires that the earnings of the

poor increase, either through productivity or through income transfers. If

‘Whenever you are in doubt or when the self becomes too much with you,

apply the following test: recall the face of the poorest and the weakest

man whom you may have seen, and ask yourself if the step you

contemplate is going to be of any use to him.’

- Mahatma Gandhi

“A STUDY ON IMPLICATIONS OF FINANCIAL

ASSISTANCE SCHEMES FOR THE BPL FAMILIES

BY THE GOVERNMENT OF MAHARASHTRA

FROM 2008-09 TO 2012-13 IN PUNE CITY ”

DR. BHARAT MEGHE

DEAN

DEPT. OF COMMERCE, RTM,

UNIVERSITY OF NAGPUR

PROF. DHIRENDRA KUMAR

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

SIBAR, KONDHWA, PUNE

DR. VIDYA NAKHATE

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

SIBAR, KONDHWA, PUNE

GENERAL

MANAGEMENT


the options for improving income are either weak or absent, poverty will persist. Shocks can lead to a decline in income levels, for

instance crop failures, ill-health; disabling accidents or other disasters, the number of people who are poor will increase. Above

all, traditional reliance on joint family support and dependence on children in old age is largely fading away, as we drift to micro

families and as children migrate elsewhere to seek employment opportunities. Existence of formal Social Security System, in such

a scenario, acts as a cushion of adjustment in face of the changes in the social fabric and ensures sustenance to individuals or

families when they or the earning member of the family retire, die or suffer a disability. The recent Planning Commission's pegging

of BPL cap needs to be more pragmatic. At the National Level, anyone earning Rs. 672.8 monthly that is earning Rs. 22.42 per day

in the rural area and Rs. 859.6 monthly or Rs. 28.35 per day in the urban area is above the poverty line. Though the government

plays a significant support role, but the system needs to be more transparent and vigilant. The government policies towards

financial assistance schemes for the poor families should be in tuned with rise in prices.

LITERATURE REVIEW

To support the research study, various research journals on the related topics were referred. A report on causes of farmers'

suicides in Maharashtra by TISS mentioned- crop failures, inability to meet the rising cost of cultivation and indebtedness seem

to create a situation that forces farmers to commit suicide. The study was done in Vidarbha, Marathwada and Khandesh regions of

the state. However according to the report, not all farmers facing these conditions commit suicide- it is only those who seem to

have felt that they have exhausted all avenues of securing support have taken their lives. They recommended a long term solution

in the form of reducing interest rate & pro- farmer agricultural policies. In another paper by S Burrah: Towards a pro-poor

framework for slum upgrading in Mumbai examines the institutional framework and financial mechanisms for slum upgrading in

Mumbai. It discusses the historical relationship between the central, state, local governments and slum communities. It described

how the Government of Maharashtra introduced legislation that protects slum dwellers from demolition but has no proactive

provision to support resettlement. Throughout year after year substantial financial resources have been directed towards

promoting these schemes, there is lack of field level of monitoring. Nayak Radhika, Saxena N.C's Reaching the poor, the

influence of policy and administrative processes on the implementation of Government poverty schemes focuses on four

types of poverty reducing schemes i.e. income transferring to the poorest, enhancing their infrastructure, employment creation

and enhancing the self-employment possibilities.

SOCIAL SECTOR

Social development paves the way for economic development. The various social sectors schemes which have been studied are :

I) � EDUCATION

a) � ATTENDANCE ALLOWANCE SCHEME

In order to reduce the dropout rate of the girls studying, in Primary Schools, the State Government introduced 'Attendance

Allowance Scheme' in January, 1992.

Table No.3: Various Schemes to encourage education

Source: Directorate of Primary Education, GoM


b) � SPORTS EDUCATION

The State Government has established 'Shiv Chattrapati Kridapeeth' at Pune in the year 1995 with the motive of promoting sports

and develop excellence by upgrading the skills of sports persons.

Table No. 4 : Achievements of students of sports academies

Source : Directorate of Sports and Youth Services, GoM

II) � PUBLIC HEALTH

a) JANANI SURAKSHA YOJANA

Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) is being implemented in the State since 2005-06, to encourage institutional deliveries in rural &

urban areas and thereby to reduce MMR & IMR among beneficiaries (belonging to BPL, Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe

(ST) families) of age more than 19 years at the time of Anti Natal Care (ANC) registration. Number of beneficiaries and expenditure

incurred under JSY is shown in Table No.5.

Table No.5: Number of beneficiaries and expenditure incurred under JSY

Source : State Family Welfare Bureau, GoM + upto December

b) NAVSANJIVANI YOJANA

Matrutva Anudan Yojana (MAY) is being implemented under NSY to provide health services like ANC Registration, regular health

check-up and required medicines to pregnant women in tribal areas. Number of beneficiary mothers and expenditure incurred

under MAY are given in Table 6.

Table No. 6 : Number of beneficiary mothers and expenditure incurred under MAY (Rs. Crore)

Source : Directorate of Health Services, GoM


III) � WOMEN AND CHILD

a) GOVERNMENT WOMEN HOSTELS

Government Women Hostels are set up to provide shelter, protection and rehabilitation of the destitute, orphan, deserted, unwed

mothers, victimized women and those found in difficult situations between age group 16 to 60 years.

b) INDIRA GANDHI MATRITVA SAHAYOG YOJANA (IGMSY)

This scheme is being implemented since 2011 to improve health and nutrition level of pregnant and lactating women.

Table No. 7 : Women welfare schemes

IV) � POVERTY

a) � SEED MONEY SCHEME

This scheme is being implemented by GoM to encourage unemployed to take up self employment ventures through industry,

service and business by providing soft loans from institutional finance to meet part of the margin money.

b) MAHATMA GANDHI NATIONAL RURAL EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE ACT

National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) is being implemented in all districts except Mumbai city and Mumbai Suburban

districts as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). It is the combination of NREGA and old

Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS) which was exclusively implemented by the State.

V) HOUSING

A) URBAN HOUSING : BEEDI KAMGAR GHARKUL YOJANA

The State is implementing Beedi Kamgar Gharkul Yojana since July, 2001 for construction of houses at Solapur, Nashik, Pune,

Kolhapur, Nanded, Garkheda in Aurangabad and Kamtee in Nagpur for Beedi workers.

B) RURAL HOUSING: INDIRA AWAS YOJANA

Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) is being implemented in the State since April, 1989 to construct the houses for houseless BPL families in

the rural areas.


VI) WATER SUPPLY & SANITATION

a) 'MAHARASHTRA GOLDEN JUBILEE NAGRI DALIT VASTI WATER SUPPLY & SANITATION SCHEME’

This was launched under Maharashtra Sujal & Nirmal Abhiyan, to provide domestic water connection & individual toilet to the

families of Scheduled Caste & Nav Boudha.

b) NIRMAL BHARAT ABHIYAN

'Total Sanitation Campaign' scheme has been renamed as 'Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan' with effect from April, 2012.

VII) SOCIAL JUSTICE

a) SANJAY GANDHI NIRADHAR ANUDAN YOJANA

This scheme is applicable to destitute persons of age below 65 years, orphan children,all types of persons with disabilities,

patients suffering from severe illness (T.B., Cancer, AIDS and Leprosy), destitute widows including those of farmers who

committed suicide, destitute divorced women not getting maintenance allowance and women in process of divorce, women freed

from prostitution and outraged women.

b) INDIRA GANDHI NATIONAL OLD AGE PENSION SCHEME

Destitute persons of age 65 years and above belonging to BPL family are eligible under this scheme.

Table No. 8 : Details of important Social Justice Schemes

Source: Department of Social Justice and Special Assistance, GoM.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

Concept, need, significance and role of financial assistance schemes in Economic Development.

Demographic and socio-economic structure & its relations with these for the country as a whole and the state of

Maharashtra in particular.

It gives an idea about the effectiveness and utility of these schemes for the BPL families.

It provides an insight as to how these schemes can be more effective.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY


1. To study the various Financial Assistance Schemes of the Government of India/ Maharashtra

2. To study the demand and supply of these schemes for the BPL families

3. To study the various promotional activities by the Government in creating awareness about these schemes.

4. To study the efficacy and outcomes of these Schemes.

HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDY

H The beneficiaries are not aware about these schemes.0:

H The Government is ineffective in providing these schemes to the right beneficiary.1:

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The study made use of both primary data and secondary data.

In this Research paper, researcher adopted various techniques to collect the data as.

a) Personal interview - through correspondent

b) Telephone survey - through telephone

c) Questionnaire - By making the set of questions & giving it to the respondent to collect the data.

The Research Methodology adopted in the research is Judgement / Purposive where information collected & utilized to study

implications of Financial Assistance Schemes for the BPL families by the Government of Maharashtra. The Research Methodology

adopted include following steps.

a) Sampling.

b) Data collection.

c) Analysis & conclusion of data.

a) SAMPLING METHOD

the sampling method chosen is Judgment / Purposive sampling which are types of Non- Probability sampling.

Four areas of Pune have been judgmentally selected. BPL Families have been randomly selected from each area. Areas of Pune

selected are :

b) Sample Size : 600

Table No. 9 : Number of BPL families in Pune District


Out of the scattered BPL families as mentioned above, we have selected four regions on the basis of highest number of BPL families

for the study.

PRIMARY SOURCE OF THE DATA

Collection of primary data is by distributing the questionnaire to the selected samples to obtain their views on research by mail or

through personal interview.

SECONDARY SOURCE OF THE DATA

Technical and trade journals, books, magazines and newspapers, report and publication of various associations

connected with business and industry, banks, stock exchange; etc.

Public records and statistic, historical documents and other sources of published information.

Through the direct search on the Internet.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The study helps in knowing and creating awareness amongst the BPL families for these schemes.

The study will help in finding out the challenges involved by the beneficiaries in getting the benefits of these schemes.

It will help in revealing the satisfaction level of the beneficiaries regarding these schemes.

The study will help in taking corrective measures by the Government regarding accessibility of these schemes.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

a. Any statistical technique employed has some inherent assumption, which may or may not distort the references.

b. Analysis is made on the information provided by the BPL families in four areas of Pune District.

c. The Sample size chosen may not be enough to give a true representation of the total population.

d. It was not possible for the researcher to cover all the financial assistance schemes of the GoM.

e. The perception of researcher and the beneficiaries may differ regarding the benefits of the schemes.

HYPOTHESIS TESTING

1) H The beneficiaries are not aware about these schemes.0:

To test this Hypothesis, research asked following question to the respondents.

Which are the Financial Assistance schemes you know (Total=169)

Table No.21: Awareness of Financial Assistance Schemes


Table No. 22 : Frequency Table of Question 3


Table No. 23 : Hypothesis 4 : Chi-Square Test

Reject Ho because 66.2 is greater than 9.488 (for alpha = 0.05)

To check this hypothesis researcher applied chi square test of uniformity. As p value is greater than 0.05, researcher working

hypothesis “Most of the beneficiaries are not aware about these schemes.” is rejected at 5% level of significance.

2) H The Government is ineffective in providing these schemes to the right beneficiary.1:

“I am satisfied with the role of Government in proceeding FA schemes”

Table No. 25 : Hypothesis testing


Reject H1 because 13885.28 is greater than 9.488 (for alpha

= 0.05)

To check this hypothesis researcher applied chi square test of

uniformity. As p value is greater than 0.05, researcher

working hypothesis “I am satisfied with the role of

Government in proceeding FA schemes” is rejected at 5%

level of significance. Hence the Null Hypothesis i.e. most of

the respondents are not satisfied with the role of

Government in proceeding FA schemes is accepted.

FINDINGS

1. Most of the respondents knew about the one or the

other schemes but only few knew about all these

schemes.

2. Out of the total schemes studied, most of the

respondents or any of their family members were

availing benefits of MNREGA, Seeds money

schemes, Indira Awas Yojana and old age pension

schemes.

3. Most of the respondents knew about the financial

assistance schemes only through their neighbours /

friends / relatives. Government personnel's were

less involved in promoting or creating awareness

about these schemes.

4. Lengthy procedures are the major problems faced

by the respondents in availing the benefits of these

schemes.

5. The respondents were able to afford meals on day to

day basis but at the same time most of them were in

favour of increasing the amount of financial

assistance schemes.

CONCLUSION OF THE STUDY

Based on the findings we can conclude that no doubt most of

the respondents know about various schemes but still lot has

to be done by the government in creating awareness about

these schemes. The procedures need to be made very much

transparent and systematic in order to target the right

beneficiaries. These schemes no doubt have been helpful in

raising the standard of living but at such a high rate of

inflation, the compensatory amounts need to be hiked.

REFERENCES

· Kapur Aasha, Shepherd Andrew'sINDIA CHRONIC POVERTY REPORT:

Towards Solutions and New Compacts in a Dynamic Context.

· Economic survey: Government of Maharashtra 2012-13

· www.tiss.edu : cause of farmers suicides in Maharashtra : An

Enquiry

· Burrah S : Towards a pro poor framework for slum upgrading in

Mumbai

· Economic survey : Government of India 2012-13

· Shekhar T.V : Special financial incentive schemes for the girl child

in India

· Nayak Radhika, Saxena N.C , Reaching the poor: the influence of

policy and administrative processes on the implementation of

Government poverty schemes in India.

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