9 lakh Community Resource Persons: the frontline of rural service delivery

Community Resource Persons: what happened?

A scheme made in Delhi only works when someone in the village explains it, fills the form and follows up. That someone is usually a local woman trained as a Sakhi, an ASHA or an Anganwadi worker. This backgrounder counts these cadres and explains the “community cadre approach”.

• Over 9 lakh CRPs work at the grassroots in agriculture, banking, insurance and social development.
• Nearly 4.08 lakh are livelihood CRPs; the remaining nearly 5 lakh are Bank Sakhis, BC Sakhis, Financial Literacy CRPs, Bima Sakhis and Gender Champions.
• Cadres are paid as per scheme guidelines, mostly activity-based incentives tied to outcomes.

What is the community cadre approach?

• A decentralised way of last-mile delivery through a trained local workforce.
• Cadres act as trainers (peer learning), service providers, behaviour change agents and scheme facilitators.
• They are drawn from the community and get training, field handholding and refresher courses.
• DAY-NRLM has mobilised more than 10 crore rural households into around 92 lakh SHGs, with Village Organisations and Cluster Level Federations above them.

Which cadres work in which sector?

Which constitutional provisions support local delivery?

• Article 243G: the Legislature of a State may endow Panchayats with powers and authority to function as institutions of self-government, including the preparation and implementation of plans for economic development and social justice.
• The release links Jal Jeevan Mission’s village water committees to the 73rd Constitutional Amendment.
• VWSC members are chosen through the Gram Sabha, with at least 50% women.

What do the numbers show?

How does a cadre turn a scheme into a service?

1. Identify eligible households in the village
2. Help with documents, verification and bank linkage
3. Raise awareness of schemes and digital platforms
4. Handhold the family through training and follow-up
5. Service delivered and used; household linked to many schemes

Why does Community Resource Persons matter?

What are the challenges in Community Resource Persons?

• Pay is mostly activity-based incentives, so income is uneven.
• ASHAs work beyond fixed hours as volunteers with performance-based incentives.
• Many schemes load extra tasks on the same cadres, such as ASHAs trained for sanitation and violence against women too.
• Small numbers in some areas: only about 2,012 Matsya Sakhis and 2,993 Van Sakhis.

What should be done next on Community Resource Persons?

• Keep training continuous, as NRLM does with induction, modules and refreshers.
• Build convergence through the joint advisory of the Rural Development, Women & Child Development and Health ministries.
• Train 50,000 CRPs in enterprise promotion and 50 lakh SHG members under the National Campaign on Entrepreneurship, as planned.

What can Prelims ask on Community Resource Persons?

• DAY-NRLM: around 92 lakh SHGs, more than 10 crore households.
• Krishi Sakhi: farm extension; Pashu Sakhi: livestock; Matsya Sakhi: fisheries; Van Sakhi: forest produce.
• BC Sakhi: doorstep banking; Bank Sakhi: credit linkage.
• SVEP = Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme.
• Swachhagrahis: SBM(G) motivators; Awaas Mitras: PMAY-G facilitators.
• VWSC: at least 50% women; members chosen by the Gram Sabha.

How to write about Community Resource Persons in Mains

Practice question (15 marks, 250 words): Community resource persons have become the backbone of last-mile delivery in rural India. Discuss their role and the challenges they face.

• Intro: over 9 lakh CRPs plus ASHAs and AWWs.
• Roles: trainer, service provider, behaviour change agent, facilitator.
• Sector examples with numbers.
• Challenges: incentive-based pay, work overload.
• Way forward: training, convergence, fair pay.

What should UPPCS aspirants note?

• The backgrounder cites Aarti of Basti district, UP, who rose from an SHG member to a Convergence CRP under the PRI-CBO Convergence Project.