Rural Development
Bore Well Irrigation
Without having a substantial increase in the agricultural production, the economy is not in a position to achieve the plan objectives. ICDA has provided bore well for irrigation in Padhani Gram Panchayat under Bhadrak Dist. The entire program is participatory in nature. The stakeholders were motivated to carry out the entire activities of installation of bore well and its maintenance. There are 6 groups of such stakeholders and each group consists of 10 no. of marginal farmers. The project has been conceived to provide irrigation to minimum 60 hact. of land. As regards the functioning of the groups; they are transferred with the rights to manage the irrigation system. Every group is functioning in a democratic and economically efficient manner. The need of each and every member has been taken care of. A sense of the ownership of the system and its management has been instilled into them for optimum management of water.
Inter Cropping & Crop Diversification
We had put strenuous and continual effort to develop our farmers’ aptitude towards crop diversification and inter cropping system. Human activity is not only determined by capability but it is also subject to external influences such as social and moral values and an economic incentive which determines the attitude and motivation to adopt new methodologies/technologies. We are content to place here that 280 no. of house holders of marginal farmers were covered under the present program, whose attitude to agriculture underwent a dramatic change.
Drinking Water
Consumption of contaminated drinking water was another area, which drew attention of ICDA on an urgent basis. Six no. of hand pumps were installed in Padhani Gram Panchyat for safe drinking water. The community was involved in the implementation, acceptance and maintenance of hand pumps. Special drives were organized using members to contact groups from each village and trained over five days on the linkages between water and disease and the importance of hygiene. Another area of concern here was in the disposal of wastewater. This problem was solved by the community who undertake the responsibility of diverting the stagnant water around the hand pumps for productive purpose, as for instance, for growing plants etc.
