Swaniti Initiative

The Andhra Pradesh government seeks to become a model state for the inclusivity and effectiveness of its planning and implementation processes for all government policies and programmes. The Swaniti Initiative has the specific goal of increasing inclusion of vulnerable populations in government schemes by 25-30%.

There are many challenges to this stated social development goal. For starters, the base levels are quite low as there is a high unemployment rate (8.7%) and many regions witness poor health indicators. Some districts like Rayalseema and the northern coastal districts also lag behind on many economic indicators and efforts are required to address this disparity. The COVID-19 pandemic, the following lockdowns and the resultant migrant worker crises have only made the situation worse – over 52,00,000 migrants have moved back to rural areas in Andhra Pradesh; some of them may never go back to their urban jobs and will resort to practising agriculture for income.

Building lasting systemic changes within the government requires a deep understanding of the subject matter of different departments plus the inner workings of government agencies. This understanding serves as the basis of subsequent efforts to build capacity and introduce evidence-based models of functioning, a task that may require some hand-holding in the transition process.

Swaniti Initiative has developed a three-tier strategy on the basis of this to ensure the effectiveness of its intervention:

• Identify Bottlenecks
  • Conduct on-ground assessments of the various government programmes.
  • Identify systemic gaps and issues that are hampering the effectiveness or efficiency of these programmes.
  • Recommend feasible solutions to rectify or improve the status quo.

• Implement Policy Recommendations
  • Work with the administration of the relevant department to build capacity and support.
  • Identify ways to substantively institutionalise programme support.
• Ensure Systemic Changes
  • Introduce systemic changes in policy design processes.
  • Institutionalise cultural change in policy processes.

The schemes adopted for this intervention are:

• Rythu Bharosa (Agriculture & Allied Activities)
  Rythu Bharosa is a welfare scheme through which the state government provides financial assistance of ₹13,500 to farmers every year. If implemented fully, this scheme will benefit over 50,00,000 farmers in Andhra Pradesh.
• REWARD (Watershed Management)
  The ‘Rejuvenating Watersheds for Agriculture Resilience through the Innovative Development (REWARD) is a scheme for efficient water management and soil maintenance to improve fertility through the use of standard agricultural practices that enhance cultivation.
• MGNREGA (Livelihood & Employment)
  In Andhra Pradesh, there are 300,000 registered families who avail of the 100 days of guaranteed work under the MGNREGA scheme. This number rose during the pandemic, with more than 330,000 job cards issued in just six months.
• Unnathi (Rural Development & Skilling)
  The Unnathi scheme is designed to provide sustainable livelihood opportunities and income generation to the most vulnerable and under-served communities. It aims to create an annual income of ₹60,000 for each household for three years.

Swaniti Initiative has conducted gap assessment studies with the Department of Panchayat Raj and Rural Development, Government of Andhra Pradesh and has developed the following policy recommendations:

Rythu Bharosa (State-wide Implementation)

• Digitisation of land records, as this eases bureaucratic paperwork and improves land record digitisation.
• Reform the Andhra Pradesh Crop Cultivator Rights Act, 2019, especially the provisions requiring tenant farmers to have written consent of landowners to avail of the scheme.
• Improve linkage and access to markets for small and marginal farmers.

REWARD (Watershed Management)

• Improve the selection and prioritisation processes of Mandals and villages under the scheme.
• Mandate rooftop rainwater harvesting structures as this is an underutilised source of water.
• Introduce crop water budgeting to improve the incentives for water conservation.
• Promote Public Private Partnerships in integrated water management programmes.

MGNREGA

• Focus on individual and community assets based on geography for diversification of income (Mangrove farming, the greening of hillocks, bamboo plantation, etc). This has the benefit of being resilient to a shock that impacts any one of these assets.
• Reduce rejected payments and decode payment issues.
• Set up an effective redressal mechanism.
• Increase the percentage of Aadhar and UID Seeding.

Unnathi

• Swaniti Initiative has co-created a scheme roll-out plan with the government and helped identify training providers for the scheme.

New Livelihood Models

• 100,000 farmers have been identified for dragon fruit cultivation, an intervention where there is potential for generation of ₹1-2 lakh income per acre per family for 20 years.