Case Study on PME done in Gram Panchayat Kunda Dankot

 Place       : GP-Kunda Dankot (Surgad Unit)
 Occasion  : PME exercise,23rd July,2007
 Objective :  To organize PME in order to evaluate ongoing progress and
                 monitor various aspects of the project.

A Brief Detail :
The Project staff reached Kunda Dankot at about 11 am as per the time given by the villagers. Since July is a agricultural month, most of the villagers , especially the women folk were busy with their fields. First the team started off by taking feedback of Hamara Akhbar, put up in the village for the first time in the month of July followed up by some cultural events. Meanwhile, it was noticed that after coming to know or getting revised somehow details about the ongoing programs of Gramya ,especially the financial details through Hamara Akhbar , quite a few of the villagers came to PME ground having done a detailed homework. On any other day, it use to be really tough for the motivator to organize large gatherings but on this particular PME, people turned up of their own in large no., even the women working in the field managed some time out of their busy schedule.

It has been also noticed in most of the village meetings that the vulnerable group and the women folk are somehow hesitant to raise questions about financial matters .Because of the friendly environment created through cultural programs plus having their homework done, they were quite PME friendly.

Given a chance to keep their viewpoints, quite a few of them turned volatile in the beginning having confusion about the project cost and beneficiaries contribution. During the PME Group discussion ,at a particular point of time,it was beyond controlling limit of the PME team to manage the volatile crowd. However, gradually, on being explained & clarified the detail once again with greater patience, they became quite calm & satisfied. Then they came to know about the ballot box exercise. They were pleased to see that they can comment on various issues and points without the others knowing what they actually voted for, basically the opportunity to cast vote in a confidential matter. Towards the end, the PME crowd noticed unlike other developmental projects running the programs in a monopoly manner , everyone is being given a chance to express their views and raise doubts, even the poorest of the poor ones in-front the capable one. This led to a greater satisfaction level. Later, PME results were disclosed on the same date, problems and feedback were noted down assuring that required action will be taken.

When everything was done & Gramya staff was coming out of the village, they could see some of the most upset beneficiaries coming up with “Kakri, Mugri” etc. With both hands friendly folded, they said “ Bhul Chuk Maaf,dubara phir aana…..PME karenge”.

VG beneficiary Kalwati Devi was really pleased to know detail about VG fund and now that she can do IGA of her own,sang a song for us …..Door doore…gughuti.