iczm roject west bengal · the cbos in order to have both social and financial inclusion. capacity...

ICZM

PROJECT:

WEST

BENGAL

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The Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project (ICZMP) is being implemented in West

Bengal as a pilot investment project to protect the coastal areas from the vagaries of

nature and also to contain the detrimental effects of the same on the life and livelihood

of the people residing along the coastal stretches coupled with conservation of

biodiversity of that area. One component of the Integrated Coastal Zone Management

Project (ICZMP) is “CBO (Community Based Organization) Coordinated Livelihood

Improvement & Market Access” programme which aims to address the critical area of

livelihood opportunities by exploring the livelihood options that can be sustained in a

calibrated manner. As a pilot investment the programme has been taken up for

implementation at Sagar block, in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. The project

component is being implemented and monitored by the State Project Management Unit

(SPMU) of ICZMP, West Bengal in conjunction with 6 consultant Non-Government

Organizations (NGO). The area of operation of 6 consultant NGOs operating in 9 Gram

Panchayats of Sagar Block who were selected through Consultants Qualification method

of the World Bank‟s procurement guidelines is shown below (fig A).

Fig: A

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The "CBO Coordinated Livelihood Improvement & Market Access” project component

comprises of three main sub-components for the coastal communities‟ of Sagar Block i.e.

Capacity Building: As the targeted CBOS were found to be socially downtrodden

and economically backward and consequently to be deficient in knowledge on

modern techniques of livelihood development as well as procedures (including

that of bookkeeping and fund management) for taking up works on their own

including in a profitable and sustainable manner, several capacity building

exercises were mooted and implemented for strengthening and mobilization of

the CBOs in order to have both social and financial inclusion. Capacity Building of

the targeted groups was taken up by the SPMU through the 6 consultant NGOs as

well as institutes of repute. One of the primary objectives of the capacity building

of the CBOs is to make them comfortable to handle the fund provided to them

directly by the SPMU through NEFT so that they can take up the works related to

Entry Point Activities as well as Income Generation Activities for enhancement

and diversification of their livelihood options in a sustained manner.

Construction of Micro – Coastal Infrastructures as part of Entry Point Activities

and

Promotion of various trade specific livelihood options through Income Generation

Activities

Both the Entry Point Activities and Income Generation Activities are to be directly

financed from SPMU to the CBOs whose members are mostly in an economically

disadvantageous position. Construction of Micro – Coastal Infrastructures as part of

Entry Point Activity is an attempt to thaw the process and also to accelerate the enabling

provisions for livelihood enhancement.

In this context a number of entry-point activities have been identified after initial

interactions, meetings and Participatory Rural Appraisal Exercises with the coastal

communities coupled with deliberations involving the elected people‟s representatives of

Sagar Block. ICZMP plans to create some micro- coastal infrastructures through Entry

Point Activities (EPA) in every Gram Panchayats of Sagar Block as part of community

mobilization process to get more and more participation of the community in the

livelihood component. ICZMP intends to act as an interface between the SPMU and the

coastal communities at large through the implementation of Entry Point Activities - an

„ice breaking‟ approach to win the trust and confidence of the local populace. The set of

Entry Point Activities as envisaged arouse interest among the coastal communities about

the programme and united them for collective action. Entry Point Activities are primarily

suggested by the coastal communities themselves and for which they offer local

contribution mainly in the form of land, supplementary materials, and unskilled labour.

Community contribution not only supplements funds that are being transferred to the

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CBOs for execution of Entry Point Activities from State Project Management Unit (SPMU)

– ICZMP, West Bengal but also generates a sense of ownership and support service that

needs to be nurtured and cultivated for sustaining the developmental approach in

harmony with the eco-system.

Entry Point Activities are being implemented as per the terms of tripartite contracts

signed amongst the Community Based Organizations (CBO), Consultant NGO and the

State Project Management Unit – ICZMP, West Bengal. Tripartite contracts are nothing

but legal covenants of the duly approved technical and financial proposals that the CBOs

have prepared after due consultation with its mentor NGO, Gram Panchayat and the

community at large. Works of Entry Point Activities provide a unique opportunity to the

coastal communities to be part of the process of addressing their long felt need which

can be put to immediate use from project conceptualization to implementation of the

work component. Gram Panchayats are not only part of the consultative process but also

had issued No Objection Certificate (NOC) in favour of the contracted CBO. NOCs

categorically stated that the elected body has no objection about the said Entry Point

Activity which will be implemented in the said Gram Panchayat and also the annual

developmental plan of the Gram Panchayat doesn‟t include the said Entry Point Activity.

This exercise eliminates duplication of work and mobilizes resources for other prioritized

assignments. Implementation of the Entry Point Activities in this manner is a classic

example of bottom up approach of socio-economic development.

The number of Entry Point Activities contracted for execution under ICZMP is 207 and

they primarily include sinking of hand-pumps with raised platforms, construction of brick

paved roads, culverts, pay and use toilet and pond re-excavation. Sinking of hand-

pumps and construction of brick paved roads and culverts are addressing the issue of

availability of safe drinking water near the locality and rural connectivity respectively. On

successful fructification of the work components many of the communities now neither

have to trek far to access drinking water nor paddle through the muddy roads especially

during the monsoon season.

Execution of Entry Point Activities have in some way capacitated the CBOs to utilize the

capacity building sessions that they have undergone in terms of preparation of techno-

commercial proposals, floating and evaluation of bid/tender documents, evaluation of

bids and consequent awarding of work / purchase order to the successful bidder,

contract management, banking transactions of varied nature (as the funds are directly

transferred to CBO‟s bank account through NEFT from SPMU‟s end), record keeping and

reconciliation of books of accounts. The quality of work and transparency in the process

of implementation leads to increased trust of the coastal communities in the programme.

Apart from the field staffs of the consultant NGOs the work components are being

monitored by the members of the Social Audit Committees and Beneficiary Committees

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respectively – which comprises of the local coastal inhabitants who are also the

beneficiaries at the granular level.

Upon the completion of the Entry Point Activities, the same is being owned and managed

by the local community with the aid of Beneficiary Committees. Beneficiary Committees

are entrusted with the ways and means of managing the asset created through Entry

Point Activity in a sustainable manner. Maintenance of the assets is the responsibility of

the community itself based on the deliberations of the Beneficiary Committees so that

the burden on the public exchequer for the maintenance of the assets created under

ICZMP is eschewed to a certain level. Till date fund has been transferred to 101 no. of

tripartite contracts for execution of Entry Point Activities. Physical works related to 27

EPAs was completed. Physical works are going on for 45 EPAs and for 29 no. of EPAs

processes have been initiated or will be initiated soon. Total amount of fund transferred

to CBOs on account of EPAs is Rs 222.23 Lakhs.

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Snapshot of Physical and Financial Progress of EPA’s in Sagar Block

Type of

the EPA

Total

no: of

type of

contract

ed EPAs

Total

contract

value

(Rs. In

Lakhs)

Number

of type of

EPAs in

executio

n stage

Aggregate

amount of

contract

value per

EPA type

in

execution

stage (Rs.

In Lakhs)

Aggregate

amount of

fund

disbursed

to the

CBOS per

EPA type

(Rs. In

Lakhs)

Physical Achievement

Completed On-

going

Process

initiated/will

be initiated

Brick Road

Constructio

n

92 720

Tube Well

with raised

platform/

construction

of raised

platform

109 233

Concrete

culvert 4 7

Pay and use

toilet 1 9

Pond re-

excavation 1 5

Total 207 974

Blank cells to be filled up by SPMU

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Segregation of Entry Point Activities on Gram Panchyat and NGO

wise based on the release to contracted CBOs

Name of the Gram

Panchayat

Name of the

mentor NGO

Tube-well

with raised

platform/

construction

of raised

platform

Brick

road

Pay

and

Use

Toilet

Culvert Pond re-

excavation

Total

Rudranagar SEED

Muriganga I SEED

Muriganga II TSRD

Dablat TSRD

Dasparasumatinagar I PUPA

Dasparasumatinagar II Sabuj Sangha

Ghoramara Sabuj Sangha

Ramkarchar NEWS

Gangasagar VIB

Total

Blank cells to be filled up by SPMU

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Constructing Micro- Coastal Infrastructures

through CBOs in ……………Gram Panchayat

[NGOs are required to author a brief introductory note on the

selection and implementation process of the EPAs (Construction

of Micro- Coastal Infrastructures) in its entirety including

how their usage will address some immediate concerns of the

community at large in the Gram Panchayat. The note should also

highlight the uniqueness of this component, its social

acceptability, challenges, merits; constraints and tuning that

it require for harnessing a futuristic developmental approach.

Further to add the note should also ink geographic features,

demographic distribution, no of households, occupational

pattern and livelihood options of the Gram Panchayat including

that of vulnerabilities and opportunities that may be explored

for the betterment of the community.]

[Insert the map of the Gram Panchayat-

to be done by the NGO]

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Snapshot of Physical and Financial

Progress of EPA’s in ……………Gram

Panchayat

Type of the

EPA

Total

no: of

type of

contrac

ted

EPAs

Total

contract

value

(Rs. In

Lakhs)

Number

of type of

EPAs in

executio

n stage

Aggregate

amount of

contract

value per

EPA type

in

execution

stage (Rs.

In Lakhs)

Aggregate

amount of

fund

disbursed

to the

CBOS per

EPA type

(Rs. In

Lakhs)

Physical Achievement

Completed On-

going

Process

initiated/will

be initiated

Brick Road

Construction

Tube Well

with raised

platform/

construction

of raised

platform

Concrete

culvert

Pay and use

toilet

Pond re-

excavation

Total

Blank cells to be filled up by the NGO

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Segregation of Entry Point Activities (Gram Panchayat and NGO wise) based on the

fund release to contracted CBOs

Name of

the

Revenue

Village

Name of

the

Sansad

Name of

the

contract

ed CBO

Type

of

EPA

Estimat

ed

Budget

Community

Contribution

*

Fund

received

from

SPMU

Actual

expen

diture

Surplus/

Deficit

from the

Estimated

Budget

Physical

Progress

Completed/

On-going/

Process

initiated/Pr

ocess will

be initiated

Remark

Total

Blank cells to be filled up by the NGO Community Contribution* includes land, unskilled labour, raw material, fuel and foodstuffs provided to the hired labourers

Documentation of each EPA needs to done by the mentor NGOs in order to have a broader understanding of the issues related

to idea incubation, social cohesion, micro-management of issues and developmental approaches to be adopted rather a clichéd

workflow process. The documentation should detail out the sequence of events that unfolded from the ideation to successful

accomplishment of all the assigned tasks involving all the stakeholders under each and every contracted Entry Point Activities.

State Project Management Unit – ICZMP, West Bengal came up with a framework of case study that the consultant NGOs are

required to act upon in terms of collection, collation and interpretation of data for each contracted EPA which are in execution

mode. The aforesaid framework has been delineated in the following page.

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[Mention the type of Entry Point Activity in

conjunction with the neighborhood- hamlet located

in……….revenue village]

[Insert the picture of the Entry Point Activity with community]

[NGOs are required to write an essay and introductory note

mentioning name of the contracted CBO and the type of EPA with

approximate cost that will be constructed. Further to add the

note should also script the neighborhood geographic features,

demographic distribution, no. of households, occupational

pattern and livelihood options of in and around the area of

the EPA site including that of vulnerabilities and

opportunities that may be explored for the betterment of the

community.]

Need Assessment of the community and identification of the CBO

Desk Appraisal of the targeted Community and CBOs on the basis of geographical

features, access to physical infrastructure, demographic distribution, no. of

households, occupational pattern and livelihood options (refer the documents that

the NGO has perused and considered)

Field Appraisal

Rapid community appraisal / PRA/ any other techniques that the NGO had

employed for identification and prioritization of a need of the community along

with the contracted CBO for implementation of EPA. State how granular level

competitive interests were addressed

Insert appropriate pictures of the PRA/village meeting or any other with date if

possible which the NGO may deem appropriate

CBO mobilization, preparation and submission of application for

execution of EPA Determination of contracted CBO specific information by the consultant NGO:-

Brief socio-economic profile of the contracted CBO. Mention the date of formation

of the group and the main signatories of the CBO.

Organizational capacity of the contracted CBO. Is there prior experience in

managing community projects by the CBO with the aid of NGOs, local

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government bodies and govt. extension activities? Is interaction and joint action

possible? Does the contracted CBO represent community interests?

What is the present set of activities that the members of the group act upon

either individually or in collective manner?

Financial and accounting skills. What is the volume of savings, internal loan and

external loan, interest payments for external loans and internal interest earnings

in aggregate terms along with the quantum of monthly subscriptions and interest

rate of the members of the CBO for the last two years before the CBO is being

contracted. State the how much of the fund accumulated is used for consumption

smoothening or promotion of trade and business.

Cost-benefit analysis. What are the costs of involving the CBO? What are the

additional risks? What are the likely benefits of involving communities and the

contracted CBO? Will such involvement result in more effective use, operating

and maintenance of facility? Is cost-sharing possible?

Delineate the level of interactions that the contracted CBO had within itself as

well as other with other stakeholders e.g. NGO staffs, Panchayat members, local

public opinion makers etc.

Beneficiary contribution. Can communities contribute? If so, how?

Insert appropriate pictures of the CBO meetings and its deliberations with other

stakeholders e.g. NGO staffs, Panchayat members, local public opinion makers

etc

Project Planning and Preparation

Technical Appraisal by NGO and the contracted CBO with local engineer

Environmental issues factored in as delineated in the EPA checklist

Brief technical description of the EPA submitted to SPMU for approval

What was the total estimate time and budget of the EPA?

How much community contribution was needed? (Cash/in kind (land, labour, raw

material, fuel, foodstuff)

How much fund that the CBO would require from SPMU based on the approval of

the EPA?

Mention the details of bank in which the CBO maintained its account

Insert appropriate pictures of site inspection and technical appraisal

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Approval of EPA, Pre-launch training to CBO, Signing of tripartite contract and other associated activities including that transfer of

tranches

Process of intimating the CBO about the approval of the EPA.

Consequent set of activities that the NGO and the CBO have to do in order to

maintain the time frame for signing of the contract.

Demarcation of the set of responsibilities amongst the NGO staffs and CBO

members with respect to accounting and book keeping, store-keeping and

negotiation with the potential bidders.

Capacity building exercises of the CBO members for execution of the EPA

Explain the process of transferring of tranches to CBO‟s account

Describe the spate of activities that ensue for physical implementation of the EPA

after the fund transfer from SPMU end to CBO‟s account had taken place. If there

is a time lag for not starting the aforementioned activity- then specify the reason.

Formation of Purchase Committee, Social Audit Committee and Beneficiary

Committee. Elucidate their composition and responsibilities. Mention name of the

important members and their designations of the aforesaid committees.

Insert appropriate pictures of CBO‟s capacity building and meetings with different

stakeholders.

Procurement

Was a procurement plan developed? By whom?

State the process of preparing the indent and floating of the tenders and the

procurement method followed. Specify the types of goods and services that were

tendered and procured including that of tender opening, bid evaluation, name of

the competing parties, issue of work/ purchase order, delivery period, EMD

and/or Performance Security taken or not and etc. Here services include

engagement of skilled and unskilled labor.

Detail out the wage rate for skilled and unskilled labor, period and time of

engagement, no. of man-days generated, mode of payment to the skilled and

unskilled labor, document maintained with respect to labor component.

How the inventorization of the goods procured was done.

Risks associated with the procurement process i.e. anthropogenic or adverse

environmental factors

Insert appropriate pictures of inventorization of raw materials

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Suppliers/Contractors

Did the goods and services are provided/ delivered in time? Are there any

time lags from that of stipulated time in work/purchase order?

Briefly describe the scope of work of the Suppliers/Contractors

How and also to what extent Suppliers/Contractors have executed it?

State the process of quality control on the services and goods that were

provided by the Suppliers/Contractors. Mention any case of return of

goods and services to the Suppliers/Contractors.

Briefly state the payment process and schedules to the

Suppliers/Contractors

Physical implementation & Supervision

State the time frame of the physical execution of the work component

Who have supervised/monitored the work component? Monitoring includes fund

management, procurement and physical work component. Detail out the process

for reporting on physical achievements, monitoring day to day progress of the

work component.

Did community have technical skills to supervise? If not, was someone hired to

supervise?

Is there joint assessment of progress and quality of work by the consultant NGO

and panchayat members?

Point out how does the certification of payments being done on the progress of

work so that the successive tranches may be released. Role of Social Audit

committee, engineer and NGO staffs .Preparation of master role and

measurement book

State the problems that were accosted during the construction phase and how it

was resolved

Were any revision needed with respect to original engineering design of the

component and if yes, how it was sorted out

Were there any extension work required to be done

Briefly state the post completion services required if any

Were post completion services adequate?

Was there a warranty clause on the entire work done by the Supplier and

Contractor?

State the process of handing over the Asset to the community at large and to the

Maintenance/ Beneficiary Committee in particular.

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Whether the EMD/ Performance security has returned to the contractor on

successful completion. Is there any case of forfeiture of EMD/ Performance

security?

Insert Appropriate pictures of the physical execution of the work component

Sustainability

Processes to ensure quality and sustainability of the asset that has been created.

Detail out the asset management plan developed by the community

Operations and maintenance. Who has the responsibility (detail out the

composition and activities including fund generation for the maintenance of the

asset by the Beneficiary Committee). Also state the no. of members who are part

of the Beneficiary Committee and beneficiary management committee. List out

the no. of households who are indirectly part of the beneficiary group and

beneficiary management committee.

Briefly state the functioning of the beneficiary committee with respect to-

No. of meetings per month (month or year) will be held by the beneficiary

group and beneficiary management committee on an average

Adherence to the uniform business conduct rules formed by itself or by the

mentor NGO

Creation fund for maintenance of the asset created through EPA. How it is

being managed and utilized. What is the quantum of fund collection per

month or any other prescribed period in aggregate terms? What is the

subscription rate for the members of the Beneficiary Committee/ Group?

How much fund has been collected and utilized till date?

The opportunities and challenges that the beneficiary groups have to

accost with. Insert appropriate pictures of the activities of the beneficiary

committee

Banking, Finance and Auditing Issues

Detail out the accounting process followed by the contracted CBO with aid of the

mentor NGO

Types of documents that are being maintained by the contracted CBO

CBO‟s interface with Audit function for financial supervision of the utilization of

the fund

Is there any departure from other govt. aided schemes?

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Volume of banking transactions before and during the course of execution of EPA

by the contracted CBO

Tranche system of funding-benefits/constraints

Bottlenecks (if any) for carrying out banking transactions

Social Issues

Perceptions about community contracting.

Degree of community participation(accountability, transparency issues)

Perceptions about the different committees (Purchase Committee, Social Audit

Committee and Beneficiary Committee). How were they chosen?

Degree of community‟s participation in original idea and in design

Degree of financial contribution and non-financial contribution

Degree of ownership and control of facility. Whether social cohesion is there or

disintegration in thought process still remains?

Communication from NGO to the members of the CBO, Social Audit

Committee and Beneficiary Committee

Communication flows- who talks to whom? Document the process of 1) earning

the trust of and prove the NGO‟s credibility to the community and CBO in

particular; 2) tackling the delicate issues of confidentiality and privacy, 3) dealing

cultural sensitivities when interacting with community members 4) Innovative

approaches employed by the NGOs to understand and respond with compassion

to the feelings and concerns of community members.

How the implemented activity has been canvassed to the public at large

Intervention of Local Government officials/ Gram Panchayat members

Level of involvement in the project – elaborate how they have facilitated the pace of

work including that of conflict resolution amongst the competing stakeholders

Inauguration/investiture ceremony with pictures

Explicate with photographs the Inauguration/investiture ceremony (mention

dates) of the Entry Point Activity by the dignitaries including their valued opinion

coupled with feeling of the local public at large.

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Visit of the Government/NPMU/SPMU/World Bank Officials

Briefly state when and also the purpose of Government/NPMU/SPMU/World Bank

Officials visit to the work site and the deliberations that they had with the

consultant NGO and CBO respectively. Elucidate with pictures.

Benefits & Impediments

Benefits (Direct, Indirect and Induced) of the implementation of the Entry Point

Activity, major constraints in implementing the work, lessons learned and

recommendations.

Whether the implementation of the EPA has been at a reduced costs or it is cost

neutral?

Whether the implementation of the EPA has become a catalyst for wider social,

environmental and commercial benefits? Explain in detail.

What does the members of the contracted CBO gained in particular?

Whether the members of the contracted CBO were capacitated in other trade

specific skill base? If yes then specify

Whether the CBO has been contracted for Income Generation Activity?

Whether the CBO has been facilitated by the NGO in the preparation of Business

Development Plan which has been submitted to financial institutions

Whether the CBO has been facilitated by the NGO in the establishment of linkages

with Banks/Financial Institutions/ Govt. Depts.

[NGOs are required to author a concluding note based on the

implementation of the contracted EPAs by way of highlighting

the following points:-

The nature of participation in community managed projects. Who participates? Does participation increase

ownership?

Capacity-building- Does it build capacity and diversify the skill base of the community or does it create elite?

Social Capital- Does managing a project build trust and social capital within the community?

Or do communities with high social capital succeed are managing projects?

Is there more community ownership if a project is implemented by the community? Does it increase

sustainability?

Type of employment generation and enhancement of retail/wholesale trade of building materials and hardware

components i.e. pipes, fixtures and etc.

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How this fund injection has helped the rural economy from a macro –perspective. Does it have any multiplier impact?

Whether the activities are capital or labor intensive?

Value for money: are resources used effectively and efficiently, without waste and in a way that optimizes

the public benefit?

Fairness and integrity: In what way the mentor NGO has facilitated in the execution of the EPA by way of

adhering to norms of public finance and accountability.

Draw a schematic diagrams of the entire workflow processes of the type of EPAs]

iczm roject west bengal · the cbos in order to have both social and financial inclusion. capacity...

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