SPECIAL EDITION - plantindia.org with page back round.pdf · We are happy to publish the special edition of Voice of Waves – VoW which is containing diversified articles written

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VOWVoice of Waves

SPECIAL EDITION

PARTICIPATORY LEARNING ACTIONNETWORK AND TRAINING

PRIVATE CIRCULATION ONLY

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EDITORIAL DESKDR.R.T.JOHN SURESH, MSW, MBA, LLB, PHD

EDITORPLANT RESEARCH CENTRE OF ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

We are happy to publish the special edition of Voice of Waves – VoW which is containing

diversified articles written by the Environmental Scientist, Social Scientist, Research scholars

from various academic disciplines. These articles highlights the method of coastal conservation

and fishery resource enhancement for the sustainable livelihood development of the coastal fisher

folk, livelihood options, Women Empowerment and awareness on Right to information act and

role of media. The research scholars based on the research study has contributed the articles on

management aspects such as Human Resources Development and Total Quality Management.

We take this opportunity to extend our sincere gratitude to the authors of the articles ie,

H.Mohamad Kasim, Former Principal Scientist, Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute,

Kochi – 682018, Ms.Sulokshana, Ms.Vijaya Ragini, Ms. Nirupuma, Ms. BW. Rita Catherine,

Research Scholars from Department of Public Administration, Madras Christian College,

Tambaram, Chennai – 600053 for their marvelous contribution to publish the research articles in

the Voice of Waves special edition. We also acknowledge the PLANT editorial team Ms.Amul

Rani, Mr.Anto Asirvatham and Mr.Veeramani for editing and designing this publication and our

special thanks to Mr.Emmanuel Christopher for web hosting in www.plantindia.org.

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CONTENT

SL NO TITLE NAME OF THE AUTHOR PAGE

1 ARTIFICIAL REEF FOR INCREASING H.Mohamad Kasim* 4

THE BIODIVERSITY AND BIOMASS R.T.John Suresh**

IN COASTAL ECOSYSTEM

2 TECHNO-ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY R.T.John Suresh* 17

STUDY TO START ENTREPRENEURSHIP

DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS AND INCOME

GENERATION PROGRAMMES IN RURAL AREA.

3 ROLE OF MEDIA IN COMMUNITY Ms.Sulokshana* 23

DEVELOPMENT

4 THE ROLE OF HUMAN RESOURCE BW. Rita Catherine* 28

PRACTITIONERS

5 TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN Ragini* 32

THE PUBLIC SECTOR

6 STATUS OF WORKING WOMEN Nirupuma* 38

–WITH REFERENCE TO CHENNAI

7 ADVANTAGES, KEY ISSUES AND R.T.John Suresh* 40

CONSTRAINTS IN IMPLEMENTING

THE RTI ACT – A STUDY

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ARTIFICIAL REEF FOR INCREASING THE BIODIVERSITY AND BIOMASS IN COASTAL ECOSYSTEM

H.Mohamad Kasim* and R.T.John Suresh**

*Former Principal Scientis, Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi – 682018

**Honorary Executive Director, PLANT, Ambattur, Chennai – 600 053

ABSTRACT

Artificial Reefs are reported to improve the coastal ecosystem by providing suitable substratum for the settlement benthic faunal and flora. Modern technique is to introduce complex concrete structures with more spread area to enable fouling organisms to colonise and increase the biodiversity. Standing stock biomass of sessile epibenthos from artificial reefs in Sathankuppam and Vairavankuppam was 2,586 to 3,998 g/m² on horizontal surfaces and 4,821 to 7,992 g/m² on vertical surfaces. An average sessile biomass was estimated to be 1,983 g/m² on the exposed outside surface of concrete reef structures and 3,813 g/m² on the protected interior of the reef structure along Bay of Bengal. This biomass and its eggs and larvae form the basic food for the other invertebrates and fish. Availability of sumptuous food and shelter naturally attract many small fishes followed by migration of large fishes which settle down and breed leading to growth in the population of a variety of species. Detailed analysis of the fish catch and revenue from the catch from artificial reef areas and non artificial reef areas reveal a robust economics among the gillnet and hooks & line units of artificial reef area owing to the availability of high quality fish at all time in good abundance, better harvest, freshness of catch, assured income, economical fishing operations due to low recurring expenditure on fishing, savings on fuel and time.

Keywords: Artificial Reef, biofouling, epibenthos, enhancement value, economic benefit, payback period.

Introduction

The decline in the biological resources and biodiversity along the Indian coast is attributed to

adverse impacts on the coastal and marine ecosystems by various developmental activities, pollutants,

excessive, intensive and extensive bottom trawling, inappropriate, illegal, unethical fishing practices

and on top of these, absence of proper management and conservation measures (Devaraj and

Vivekanandan, 1999). Considerable reduction in the stock size of the component species of many

fishery resources which may ultimately, adversely affect the country’s food security has lead the

Government and Non Government Agencies to find ways and means to improve the ecosystem health

and abundance of fishery resources (FIMSUL, 2011). One such intervention is the improvement of the

age old indigenous traditional knowledge on artificial reefs called “Mullam” by increasing its longevity

and ecosystem services to suit the current requirements (Sanjeeviraj 1989, 1996; Adams et al., 2011).

This, not only serves as a biological, biodiversity enhancement tool but also a technology to improve

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livelihood options and socio economic conditions of the poor traditional coastal fishers through an

active community participation blended with the technology transfer to reap the sustained benefit from

the nature (Vivekanandan, et al., 2006).

Post tsunami scenario

On 26th December 2004 tsunami almost destroyed the benthic fauna and flora of the mostly the

coramandel coastal ecosystem of Tamil Nadu (Kasim 2005). Many NGOs provided boats and nets to

strengthen the livelihoods of affected fishers. Sensing the adverse impact over fishing due to over

capacity on the marine living resources especially the fishery resources, the authors recommended to go

for the reconstruction of already mangled and destructed coastal ecosystem through appropriate

conservation activities such as the introduction of artificial reefs all along the Tamil Nadu coast.

Accordingly with the financial assistance from Ford Foundation under the CEL project, an artificial reef

consisting 3 types of concrete structures, i. Reef module ii. Grouper module and iii. Ornamental fish

module (Fig.1), totalling 105 numbers were fabricated at Sathankuppam, a marine fishing village (Map

1) and deployed in the inshore waters at a depth of 20 m in preselected site by People Learning Action

Network Training (PLANT) Trust, a Non Government Organisation with the active participation of the

fishermen community during 2005-06 at a cost of Rs.5 lakhs. The fishers were empowered through

training in fabrication and deployment of the AR structures and institution building in the form of a

committee called “Artificial Reef Fabrication, Deployment and Monitoring Committee” (AFDM

Committee) to execute the work and monitor the fishing activities. Latter in 2009, another one

consisting 210 numbers was deployed off Vairavankuppam, a marine fishing village located on the

northern side of Sathankuppam (Map 1) with the financial assistance by Chennai Water Desalination

Limited (CWDL), Minjur through CMFRI, as a follow up action on mitigation measures at a cost of

Rs.17 lakhs by PLANT. The 3rd one consisting 210 numbers were established in 2010 by PLANT

through community participation at a cost of Rs.10 lakhs funded by Tamil Nadu Fisheries Department

through Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI). In all these 3 occasions the senior

author was only responsible for the concept, technical guidance and the co author is fully responsible

for effective execution and successful completion of the work and the follow up studies.

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Concept

The concept is by increasing the spread area of sea floor in the light penetrating shallow waters we can increase the biomass taking advantage of the 3 dimensional biological productions in aquatic systems (Kasim, 2009). It is well known that the biological production can be increased many fold by increasing the bottom substratum of the sea floor which offers an excellent habitat for the settlers and fouling organisms to colonise, thereby increase the biodiversity. Many small fishes are attracted initially followed by large fishes. Abundant food and secured shelter in the artificial reef provide an excellent nursery and breeding grounds leading to a sustained increase in the population size of various fish species. Availability of fish at all time, very short fishing time owing to the short distance to the reef area, fuel and time saving, high quality fish catch, freshness of catch, better price etc., all these activities lead to a sustained growth in the economy of coastal fishermen (CMFRI, 2009).

Fig.1. Three types of Artificial Modules with dimensions

ORNAMENTAL FISH MODULE Diameter of each ring – 0.90m

Height of the ring – 0.6 m

Weight of one module – 0.65 t

No. of modules in a cluster – 70

REEF FISH MODULE

Height x Breadth x Length -1.5m


No. of module in a cluster – 70

GROUPER MODULE

Height x Breadth x Length – 1.5m


Diameter of inner pipes 0.30 mNo. of module in a cluster – 70

Methodology

As already mentioned above three types of artificial reef structures namely, i. Reef fish module with a surface area of 13.5 m2, ii. Grouper module, with a surface area of 16.04 m2 and iii. Ornamental fish module 10.2 m2 (Fig.1) were fabricated in the beach at Vairavankuppam and Lighthousekuppam and Sathankuppam with active participation of the fishermen. Each 70, totalling 210 numbers were deployed at the pre selected sites off the first two villages and 105 numbers off Sathankuppam. Deployment was also done by the fishers by carrying each module on board FRB catamarans and dropped at the preselected site in the near shore water at a depth of approximately between 10 and 20 m in a cluster, spread in an area of 1000 m2. Total volume of 210 modules was 446.25 m3 and the substratum provided was 2781.8 m2 and half of it was for 105 modules off Sathankuppam.

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The reefs were closely observed by underwater SCUBA diving during the initial maturation

period of 6 months. Roving Diver Technique (RDT; Schmitt and Sullivan 1996),

a visual survey method was employed for studying

the flora and fauna assemblage, abundance and

succession during study period. During the

underwater survey, the SCUBA divers swim freely

throughout a artificial reef site and record every fish

species that can be positively identified. The goal is

to identify as many species as possible, so divers are

encouraged to look under ledges and up in the water

column. At the conclusion of a survey, each recorded species is assigned one of four abundance

categories based on how many individuals were seen throughout the dive (single [1], few [2-10], many

[11-100], and abundant [>100]).

The reefs were ready for fishing after an initial maturation period of 6 months when the

cement structures are covered fully by the as many as 32 varieties of fouling organisms. The AFDM

Committee by evolving a customised fishing practice permit gillnet and hooks & line fishermen to fish

in the artificial reef area on turn. There is a customary accounting procedure in the village where all the

fishers pay their share of village fee based on their fish catch and the revenue realised. This formed the

data base for the fishery in the artificial reef area and other than the reef area. To supplement these data,

sampling of the fish landing in these villages was carried out with the assistance of field enumerators.

The price per kg of fish, average investment cost on boat, net, operational expenditures and other

related information were collected from the landing centre by enquiry with the fishermen. Two gears

gillnet and hooks & line alone were allowed to fish in the reef area, the species wise catch and effort

and the revenue realised from the fish catch by these two units were used for this study.

.Bio-fouling on Artificial Reef

Immediately after the deployment of artificial reef structures biological fouling, an accumulation process of micro-organisms, algae and diatoms, plants, and animals started taking place on surfaces of the artificial reef structures. Initially the bacteria form biofilms or slimes on the rough surface of the artificial reef structures and the organisms aggregate on surfaces using colloidal hydrogels of water and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) (polysaccharides, lipids, nucleic acids, etc). The bio-film structure is usually complex. Bacterial fouling is observed to occur under either aerobic (with oxygen dissolved in water) or anaerobic (no oxygen) conditions. Under aerobic condition bacteria prefer open systems, when both oxygen and nutrients are constantly delivered, often in warm and sunlit environments. Anaerobic fouling is reported to occur in closed systems when

FOULING AND FISH ASSEMBLAGE

FOULING FISH

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sufficient nutrients are present. This type of fouling leads to the settlement of more than one foulant or more than one fouling mechanism working simultaneously. The process of multiple fouling in which, the mechanisms may interact with each other resulting in a synergistic fouling which is more than a simple arithmetic sum of the individual components

Quantification of fouling

The community eventually consisted

of representatives of seven phyla and about

38 species, as follows: 8 polychaetous

annelids, 9 crustaceans, 7 mollusks, 6

coelenterates, 2 bryozoans, and 2 others. The

amphipod crustaceans, three caprellids and

three tube-building gammatid amphipods,

were the earliest and most abundant settling

foulers. This unexpectedly high abundance

of amphipod crustaceans is assumed to result

from the high turgidity in the study area.

Polychaetes (nereids and polynoids),

molluscs (sessile bivalves), and other fouling

organisms such as hydroids, actinians, and

bryozoans, were lately represented. Algal

succession on artificial reefs was comprised

of filamentous algae were the primary

colonizers; the fleshy brown alga, appeared

soon after. Low light penetration through the

water owing to the suspended sold load

during certain period and selective browsing

by herbivorous fishes favour the blue-greens to be the dominant algae in the climax community which,

occurs within a year period.

SOME FOULING ORGANISMS

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Assemblage of fauna

The samples from Vairavankuppam indicated significantly higher abundances of total infauna,

and of polychaetes, bivalves, isopods and cephalopods. Within a few weeks, SCUBA divers had

observed lobsters on the reef, even though the reef blocks had been deposited on flat sand some

distance (3 km) from the nearest natural lobster ground. Colonization by epibiota was monitored using

direct observation and photographic recording of block surfaces. Epibiota showed seasonal variations in

abundance throughout the year overlain with a progression in the numbers of species present and a

maturation of the population towards the epibiotic populations seen on local rocky terrain. Adult

lobsters and crabs from the local natural non reefs area were recruited to the reef within 3 weeks. The

most numerous shoaling fish congregating around the reef units has been the caranagids and rays,

Diagramma sp, butterfly fish, squirrel fish, groupers, sweet-lipped breams, red snappers, catfish, small

coloured coral fishes like the blue damsel, wrasses and dumbheads. Shoal size was commonly

estimated at around 200 individuals per reef unit.

Sessile epibenthos

The samples collected from artificial reefs in Sathankuppam, Variravankuppam and

Lighthousekuppam had a standing stock biomass of sessile epibenthos of 2,586 to 3,998 g/m² on

horizontal surfaces and 4,821 to 7,992 g/m² on vertical surfaces. An average sessile biomass was

estimated to be 1,983 g/m² on the exposed outside of concrete reef structures and 3,813 g/m² on the

protected interior of the reef structure along Bay of Bengal.

Predation

The grazing of reefs by both vertebrate and invertebrate predators can greatly reduce the

biomass of the fouling community. Significant grazing of macrophyta by sea urchins on the reef in

Sathankuppam , Vairavankuppam and Lighthousekuppam was quite common. Dense mats of blue

green algae that appear in spring are often grazed clean by fish, crustaceans and starfish before winter.

Since there were also predators, such as crabs, lobsters, starfish and sea urchins, on the inside of the

unit that undoubtedly grazed on the protected fouling growth, the actual predation rate on the

unprotected exposed area was probably considerably higher than that observed. Standing stock biomass

is only a static measurement of the productivity of a reef. It is not an indication of all the biomass that

was produced over the extended time period before samples were collected.

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Succession

It is generally noted that fast-growing, short-lived species are usually the first fouling organisms

to colonize tropical reefs, followed by slow-growing, long-lived species which eventually replace the

initial colonizers. Off Pulicat, hydroids, bryozoans, barnacles and ascidians are the first visible

organisms to appear on reef substrates, followed by anemones, stony coral and sponges. The following

succession stages on reef structures was identified over a 2-year period: a. Bacteria – Algae, b. Barnacle

– Hydroid, c. Mollusk – Polychaete, d. Sponges - Ascidian and e. Anemone.

Enhancement Value

When the benthic community is dominated by a mixture of polychaetes, small crustaceans such

as amphipods, smaller less-domineering molluscs, and other macrofauna the wet weight biomass of the

area can be about or greatly exceed 500 g/m². When these species are not colonizing an area, the wet

weight benthic community biomass is commonly an order of magnitude less, or about 30-50 g/m². The

enhancement ratios of standing stock biomass of the artificial reef habitats (57,075 g/m², minus fish

biomass) vs. sand sediment infauna range from 24 to 123 times for clam-dominated sand substrate and

771 to 2,195 for polychaete crustacean-dominated sediments. Concrete reef exhibited an enhancement

ratio of 168 to 354 times the infaunal biomass from an equivalent area of the surrounding sandy

sediments. Another ultimate succession stage, is dominated by cnidarians, such as anemones and

hydroids. Cnidarians are of little value as food for other marine life, and this represents a much less

productive reef community in terms of providing habitat for fish and lobster. Therefore, the

enhancement ratio of a cnidarians-dominated reef would be much lower than that of other reef

structure. The high biomass of clam-dominated sand bottom illustrates the importance of the open sand

in providing a food resource for reef inhabitants. For this reason, reefs should be constructed apart from

each other, separated by extensive expanses of sandy bottom.

Fishery from AR and NAR sites

An estimated annual average catch of 3080t valued at Rs.1459 lakhs were landed by 63,294

units of gillnet and hooks & line during 2007 and 2008 at the catch rate of 49.1 kg/unit form NAR sites,

in which 47,486 gillnet units landed 2300t value at Rs. 834 lakhs, at the catch rate of 48.4 kg/unit and

15,808 units of hooks & line landed 779t valued at 625 lakhs, at the catch rate of 49.3 kg/unit. In AR

site, 28,666 units landed 1432t valued at Rs.860 lakhs, at the catch rate of 50.8 kg/unit, in which 21,774

units of gillnets landed 1070t valued at 561 lakhs, at the catch rate of 49.1 kg/unit and 6,892 units of

hooks & line landed 362t valued at Rs.299 lakhs, at the catch rate of 52.5 kg/unit (Table 1).

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The annual average catch, effort, value, catch rate , value rate by gillnet units from NAR sites in the 3 fishing villages are given in Table 2 , the performance of the hooks & line units in these 3 villages from NAR sites are given in Table 3. Similarly the performance of the gillnet and hooks & line units from the NAR and AR sites in these 3 villages are given in Table 4 and 5 respectively. These data clearly indicate that the performance of these two gear types in AR sites was better than the NAR sites.

Table 1. Estimated catch, catch rate by gillnet and Hooks & line units in AR and NAR sites in Pulicat

Particulars NAR site AR site

Effort GillnetHooks &

lineTotal Gillnet

Hooks & line

Total

Total units 47486 15808 63294 21774 6892 28666

AFH 414603 102493 517096 171615 40155 211770

Catch t 2300 779 3080 1070 362 1432

Actual units 190 63 253 87 28 115

CPUE 48.4 49.3 48.9 49.1 52.5 50.8

CPAFH 5.5 7.6 6.6 6.2 9.0 7.6

Value (Lakh Rs) 834 625 1459 561 299 860

Value/unit 1757 3954 2855 2579 4332 3455

Value/AFH 201 610 406 327 743 535

Value /kg 36.3 80.2 58.2 52.5 82.5 67.5

C/U/YEAR 12106 12373 12239 12296 12916 12606

V/U/YEAR 439197 991984 715591 645337 1066151 855744

Table 2. Annual catch, effort in Units and Actual Fishing Hours (AFH), value, catch rates, value rates and catch per kg fish by gill net units fished in NAR sites off 3 fishing villages in Pulicat

Fishing Village Units AFH Catch (kg)

Value (Rs) CPU

(kg)

Value/ Unit (Rs)

CPAFH (kg)

Value/ AFH (Rs)

Value/kg

(Rs)

Sathankuppam 28475 227800 1462304 46903411 51.4 1647 6.4 206 32.1

Vairavankuppam 12813 121724 605665 27495913 47.3 2146 5.0 226 45.4

Lighthousekuppam 6198 65079 232160 9048110 37.5 1460 3.6 139 39.0Total 47486 414603 2300130 83447434 48.4 1757 5.5 201 36.3

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Table 3. Annual catch, effort in Units and Actual Fishing Hours (AFH), value, catch rates, value rates and catch per kg fish by hooks & line units fished in NAR sites off 3 fishing villages in Pulicat

Fishing Village Units AFHCatch (kg)

Value (Rs)

CPU (kg)

Value/ Unit (Rs)

CPAFH (kg)

Value/ AFH (Rs)

Value/kg (Rs)

Sathankuppam 11750 70500 546036 48888354 46.5 4161 7.7 693 89.5

Vairavankuppam 2500 18750 144446 7384879 57.8 2954 7.7 394 51.1

Lighthousekuppam 1558 13243 88993 6221783 57.1 3995 6.7 470 69.9

Total 15808 102493 779475 62495016 49.3 3954 7.6 610 80.2

Tabel 4. Annual catch, effort in Units and Actual Fishing Hours (AFH), value, catch rates, value rates and catch per kg fish by gill net units fished in AR sites off 3 fishing villages in Pulicat


Value (Rs)

CPU (kg)

Value/ Unit (Rs)

CPAFH (kg)

Value/ AFH (Rs)

Value/kg (Rs)

Sathankuppam 11546 80822 404110 24495532 35.0 2122 5.0 303 60.6

Vairavankuppam 6373 54171 318650 16280373 50.0 2555 5.9 301 51.1


Total 21774 171615 1069710 56144308 49.1 2579 6.2 327 52.5

Table 5. Annual catch, effort in Units and Actual Fishing Hours (AFH), value, catch rates, value rates and catch per kg fish by hooks & line units fished in AR sites off 3 fishing villages in Pulicat


Value (Rs)

CPU (kg)

Value/ Unit (Rs)

CPAFH (kg)

Value/ AFH (Rs)

Value/kg (Rs)

Sathankuppam 3765 18825 153320 15134479 40.7 4020 8.1 804 98.7

Vairavankuppam 2123 13800 161260 11362144 76.0 5353 11.7 823 70.5


Total 6892 40155 361657 29852233 52.5 4332 9.0 743 82.5

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Economic performanceThe economic performance of gillnet from NAR and AR sites is given in Table 6. The recurring

expenditure in AR site was lower than the NAR site and the net income of the gillnet unit in AR site was higher (Rs.1809) than the NAR site (Rs.427 only). The economic performance of hooks & line unit given in Table 7 indicate that the recurring expenditure in AR site was lower ie., Rs.2260 per operation than the NAR site ie., Rs.2630 per operation and consequently the net income was also higher in AR site (Rs.2071) when compared to the NAR site (Rs.1323).

Table 6. Economic performance of gillnet units in NAR and AR sites in Pulicat

AR site NAR site

Recurring expenditure Total (Rs) Recurring expenditure Total (Rs)

Wages for 3 fishers @ Rs.200/day 600 5 fishers @ Rs.200/day 1000

Fuel 2 liters/day 100 5 liters 250

Depreciation 10% on cost of boat & nets 60 10% 60

Miscellaneous Insurance etc. 10 Insurance etc 20

Expenditure per unit operation 770 Expenditure/unit 1330

Revenue from fish catch Revenue from fish catch

Gross Revenue per unit (56144308/21774) 2579 83447434/47486 1757

Net revenue per unit (2579-770) 1809 1757-1380 427

Total Net Revenue (21774 units @ Rs1809) 39389166 47486 units @ Rs427 20276522

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Table 7. Economic performance of Hooks & line units in NAR and AR sites in Pulicat

AR site NAR site

Recurring expenditureTotal (Rs)

Recurring expenditureTotal (Rs)

Wages for 3 fishers @ Rs.200/day 600 4 fishers @ Rs.200/day 800

Fuel 2 liters/day 100 5 liters 250

Cost of Bait 1500 1500

Depreciation 10% on cost of boat & nets 50 10% on cost 60

Miscellaneous Insurance etc. 10 Insurance etc 20

Expenditure per unit operation 2260Total Expenditure per

unit 2630

Revenue from fish catchRevenue from fish

catch

Gross Revenue per unit (29852233/6892) 4331 62495016/15808 3953

Net revenue per unit (4331-2260) 2071 3953-2630 1323

Total Net Revenue (6892 units @ Rs2071) 14273332 15808 unitsb @ Rs1323 20913984

Economic benefit

The cost of the 3 artificial reef deployed in these 3 villages was Rs.32 lakhs. The interest on the

cost of the artificial reefs and depreciation on the reefs have been worked out and deducted from the net

income of these two gear types. After deduction the final net income of these two gear types was

Rs.1921 per unit in which the net income of these two gear types operated in NAR sites was deducted to

get the economic benefit as shown in Table 8. The economic benefit is estimated to be Rs.1046 per unit

in AR site when compared to the performance of these units in NAR site.

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Table 8. Economic Benefit by Comparing the net income from fishing by two gear types in AR and NAR sites

AR site NAR site

Recurring expenditureTotal (Rs) Recurring expenditure Total (Rs)

Investment cost

Cost of 3 ARs & deployment (Rs.5+17+10 lakhs) 32,00,000 Nil

Interest on investment @ 12% 384000 Nil

Depreciation @ 5% 160000 Nil

Total deduction 544000

Revenue Revenue

Gillnet net revenue/unit 1809 427

Hooks & line revenue/unit 2071 1323

Depreciation+Interest on cost of reef/unit 19.0 1750

Gillnet net revenue/unit-Depreciation+interest 1790.0GN+H&L

expenditure/unit 1980

Hooks & line net revenue/unit-Depreciation+interest 2052.0 GN+H&L revenue/unit 2855

GN+H&L net income/unit 875

Gillnet + Hooks & line net income/unit 1921.0

Economic benefit in AR Rs per unit 1046.0

Payback period (years) = Total cost/Total Economic benefit (3200000/(1046*28666)= 0.11years

Payback period

The payback period is worked out as per the following equation:

Payback period = Cost of AR/Economic benefit = 3200000/(1046*28666) =0.11year

The payback period seem to be very low when compared to the estimates obtained by Kasim et.al., (in press) (0.21 year) and Vivekanandan et.al., (2006) 1.22years. The short payback period will be immense help to fishers if they avail loan to install artificial reef to return the loan easily.

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Conclusion

The rich biodiversity and biological resource enhancement capacity of artificial reef exhibit a viable economics with short payback period. It is recommended that the deployment of artificial reef may be considered all along the shallow suitable waters of Tamil Nadu so as to improve the ecosystem and to enhance the livelihoods of coastal traditional fishers through better abundance of fishery resources and better revenue from the artificial reef sites.ReferencesAdams, C., B. Lindberg and J. Stevely. 2011. The economic benefits associated with Florida’s artificial

reefs. ADIS Document No. FE 649 Food and Resource Economics Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. (http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/).

C.M.F.R.I., 2009. Site selection and monitoring of artificial reef in eleven selected locations in Tamil Nadu. Final Report Submitted to Tamil Nadu Fisheries Department under the Project code No.6016000070: 157pp.

Devaraj, M. and Vivekanandan, E.1999. Marine capture fisheries of India: challenges and opportunities. Curr. Sci., 76: 314-332.

FIMSUL (2011). Marine Fish Production in Tamil Nadu & Puducherry. A Report based on a

detailed analysis of Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute Data. (Authors: Kasim,H.M. and Vivekanandan, V.) 24 pp.

Kasim, H.M., 2005. Effect of Tsunami tidal waves on marine fisheries of Tamil Nadu. Sea Food Export Journal, XXXV (1):15-19.

Kasim, H.M., 2009. Artificial Reef for the enhancement of biological resources and livelihoods of fishermen. CMFRI’s Final Report Presentation: Chennai, 18th May 2009. Fishing Chimes;29(5):31-34.

Kasim, H.M., G. Syda Rao, M. Rajagopalan, E. Vivekanandan, G. Mohanraj, D. Kandasami, P. Muthiah, I. Jagdis, G. Gopakumar and S. Mohan, (in press). Economics of artificial reefs deployed along Tamil Nad coast. Indian J. Fish.,

Sanjeevaraj, P.J., 1989. Modified artificial fish habitats on the Tamil Nadu Coast of India. Bull. Mar. Sci., 44(2):1069-1070.

Sanjeevaraj, P.J., 1996. Artificial Reefs for a sustainable coastal ecosystem in India involving fisherfolk participation. Bull. Cent. Mar. Fish. Res. Inst., 1996, 48: 1-3.

Schmitt EF, Sullivan KM (1996). Analysis of a volunteer method for collecting fish presence and abundance data in the Florida Keys. Bulletin of Marine Science. 59(2): 404-416.

Vivekanandan, E., S. Venkatesan and G. Mohanraj. 2006. Service provided by artificial reef off Chennai: a case study. Indian J. Fish., 53(1): 67-75

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Techno-Economic Feasibility study to start Entrepreneurship Development Projects and Income Generation Programmes in rural area.

Dr.R.T. John Suresh, MSW, MBA, LLB, PHD

I. Introduction:

The purpose of IGP project feasibility study is to find whether the project is feasible-Technically, Economically, Financially and managerially.

Basic Consideration:

Is the unit on SSI unit?

A) Is it eligible for credit facilities under any of the bank’s scheme; otherwise a reference has to be made to the controlling authority.

B) Scheme: Who prepared the IGP project proposal, NGO, private consultant or the entrepreneur or technical bodies?

II. Mission of the project.

To capacitate the people to assess the need and analyze the potential of the people, resources, market and technical feasibility and economic viability which can provide significant avenue for the self employment to the needy through in tiny and rural industries towards sustainable livelihood practice in order to generate alternative and additional income by the people by themselves and enable them to become self reliant which leads to quality of life and prosperity.

III. Objective of the IGP feasibility study

To find out the Technical Feasibility

To find out Economic Viability

To find out Financial Feasibility

To find the managerial viability

IV. Assumption:

To determine whether the IGP project is feasible Technically, Economically, Financially and marginally.

V. Feasibility Studies:

a) Technical Feasibility:It covers a wide spectrum of all goods and services needed for the production process such as land and building, machinery, raw materials, supplies, fuel, power, water, technical know-how, skilled and unskilled labour etc., In spite of all these elements pollution control system is an another essential element whether the IGP unit has instituted adequate pollution control system and obtain clearances from the local authorities.

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Ex. Lobster fattening, solar dry fish process.

Careful examination has to be made of the continuous availability of each item/factors at estimated budget.

b) Economic Feasibility.The economic feasibility study focuses on the earning capacity of the project. The sustained earning capacity of the project has to be studied in the context of social, economic, political to implement the project activities without any problems.

Economic Feasibility is studied under the following heads:

1. MarketabilityMarketability: The following question would establish whether the unit’s product can be market.

1. How big is the Market?2. How much it will grow?3. Who are purchasers?4. Is the unit a single product firm or a multi-product firm or service unit?5. What is the nature of the industry? Consumer industry or capital industry or capital goods industry

or export goods industry?6. What is the percentage of sales of the unit to the present total market for the product?7. What is the percentage of the sales to the present total market for the product?8. How much more it can capture?9. What are the plans of the competitors for the present and for the future?10. What is the marketing plan and also future plans of the unit?11. Does it match up with the competition?

2. Sales & Cost of manufacture1. What are the strategies adopted by the similar units?2. What is the proportion of credit sales and cash sales?3. What is the discount offer?4. What are the promotion measures proposed to be adopted by the unit?5. Is the distribution strategy is appropriate?6. Are the strategies or plan in respect of the publicity, advertising, cash incentives, employment of

salesmen etc?7. Is it realistic and cost effective?

3. Profitability

1. Has the unit got an appropriate costing system for its products/ services?2. For small units a rough estimate of the sales price, cost of production and the net profit would

suffice?3. The profitability estimates should be called for and should be thoroughly scrutinized?4. To establish the reasonableness and practically, the assumptions behind the profitability estimates

require careful validation. 5. The figures have to be compared with those of the similar units in the locality of with those of

unit financed at the neighboring branches.6. It has to be ensured that the estimate of the sales is reasonable and realistic provision has been

made for each and every expenses related to the manufactures.

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The fund flow statement/cash flow statement should be scrutinized to validate the cash flows.

c) Financial Feasibility:Financial feasibility of the project is study the adequacy of the project promoter’s availability of fund, Budget constrains, the investment cost whether it is low budget or high budget and out side loan facility.

In this study the promoter have to ensure that the cost of the project has been carefully estimated, escalation should be taken in to account, and adequate provision should be made for contingency.

d) Managerial Feasibility: This study will help us to understand the managerial competence of the SHG, the existence of appropriate costing system, management information system, and management stability, Entrepreneurial succession are some of the essential aspects on which the SHG or beneficiaries has to satisfy themselves. The new IGP project required much more careful scrutiny. The following ratio will indicate the managerial competence.

ProfitabilitySales/Total working fundStock turn overSundry debtorsSundry creditorsExpensesRetained profit/net profitTrend of salesProvision for depreciation/taxation etc.,

Efficiency of Rural Women

Rural areas can provide significant avenues for self employment to illiterate, literate, skilled as well as semi skilled women through activities in small tiny village, rural industries and sustainable livelihood

practices like mushroom, poultry, vegetage farming etc.,

Areas of Employment

The areas of employment can be broadly discussed under following heads:

Fishery and Dry Fishery

Fishery and dry fishery is presently being considered as viable means of employment among rural women. This sector is opening more opportunities like net weaving, mending, carp spawn rearing, hand picking, seed stocking, fish breeding, processing for value added products such as fish and prawn pickle, instant fish curry, fish cutlet and finger fish and hygienic dry fish production, Lobster and crab fattening through cage culture, sea weed culture, ornamental fish rearing, lime shell production unit, ornamental shell making, community based eco tourism, etc. Pricing, credits, accounting and savings are also directly fix by women. In India retail fish trade is heavily dominated by a woman which is the additional source of income for their family members. By fish retailing and other fishery related duties a women can easily earn up to Rs.50/- per day.

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Paper and Leaf Products

This refers to the products made from paper and leaves such as disposable food plates, dolls, stationary items etc. out of which disposable food plates now-a-days are mostly demanded in urban areas particularly in functions. By working 5-6 hours, two rural women can produce up to 500 numbers of plates by which they can earn Rs.50/- to Rs.60/- per day.

Tailoring and Dress Making:

This is a profitable venture exclusively for women in rural areas. There is a wide scope for tailoring and readymade garments, toys and craft. Regional rural banks also provide loans on low interest basis to buy a new tailoring machine and to setup their own tailoring shop. One can earn up to Rs.2,000/- per month.

Handicrafts and Cottage Works:

Toys, carpet making, cloth weaving, rope making, are some of the examples of handicrafts and cottage works by which the rural women derive their income.

Spawn and Mushroom

Mushrooms are used for preparation for various culinary items and medicines preferable in urban areas. Its production procedure is very simple and economical. Women can spare their leisure period for the production of mushroom spawn and mushroom. So by harvesting mushroom they transport it to urban areas at a rate Rs.70/- and Rs.40/- to to/- for paddy straw and oyster mushroom respectively. They can also preserve surplus mushrooms in form of pickles, dried powder and mushroom nodules etc and sell it during off season. By following this practices a women having 3-4 mushroom beds at regular interval can easily earn upto Rs.100/- per day.

Bee Farming

It is a gainful employment for rural women. It provides stable source of income. It does not require any sophisticated equipment and high investment. The technology employed is very simple and within the grasp of even a illiterate women. It is also a landless based zero investment activity where KVIC and National Honey Bee Research Centre encourage landless rural women to adopt apiculture on a small scale. An individual woman can conventionally manage up to 30 bee colonies which can give her rupees upto Rs.1500/- per month. With proper management Italian Honey Bee (Apis Millifera) produces 35 to 40 kgs box per year, where as Indian honey bee (Apis Cerana Indica) 6-8 kg per box per year. This shows that it creates a tremendous impact on rural women as income generating activity.

Duckery and Poultry:

Traditional and commercial poultry and duckery now-a-days are gaining more popularity among rural women. It also gives handsome income within a short period by selling birds and eggs. A matured birds can give a profit Rs.10-15 per poultry bird and almost Rs.1.50 to Rs.2.00 per egg.

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Livestock Management:

Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development play a dominant role in rural economy by supplementing the additional income to rural women. It also provide ready and sure source of income to buy other inputs such as seeds, fertilizer, pesticides.

Nursery Raising (Both Horticulture and Forestry):

Fruits and vegetable has been a major food for mankind since time immemorial. They not only play significant role in human diet but well known for their medicinal values. Hence productivity of fruits and vegetables enhanced only by quality seeds and seedling productions. In rural areas women employed in seedling raising and seed collection. So, it will create an extra income for them. There is a great scope of raising vegetable seedlings like tomato, brinjal, chilly, drumstick, papaya and forest seedlings like cajurina, cashuew, pongamia, eucalyptus, bamboo, cassia, mengium etc., Rural women also collect seeds and seedlings of important rare species which is very much demanded at local as well as national market. Field study reveals that women usually shell the vegetable seedlings in bunches of hundred where fruit & forestry seedlings in single poly packs which make them earn up to hundred rupees per day during seasonal period.

Vegetable Farming:

Vegetable farming in rural village is an old phenomenon. There is always a large demand of quality and fresh vegetables all-round the year. Growing of price-fetching vegetables like cabbage, cauliflowers, capsicum (California wonder), tomato, okra(arka anamika), broccoli (KTS-1), sweet peeper, ginger and turmeric not only provide extra income but also assured nutritional security among rural women. These vegetables can also be grown under low cost poly house which helps the farm women in getting early off season vegetables. This is very useful for rural women who want to take both nursery raising and off season vegetable farming as agribusiness.

Floriculture:

Floriculture till recently considered to be a simple garden activity can be better performed by women. Besides religious offering and home decoration now-a-days it is engaged as important agribusiness enterprises. National Horticulture Board (NHB) under the Ministry of Agriculture also introduced several new schemes for women growers from package of practices to post harvest handling of the produce. Financial assistances is also given by NHB and State Horticulture Board for setting of Floriculture Units both for expert and direct marketing. Besides that value added products like perfumes, essential oils and medicines are promoted by Agriculture and Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) under the Ministry of Commerce.

Vermi-Composting and Compost Making:

Vermicast, vermiwash and vermicompost are the value added byproduct of vermitechnology. In view of the greater demand for organic food stuffs both in domestic as well as expert markets the demand for

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organic agriculture gradually increasing, which by vermin-compost and compost making. A women can earn Rs.8/- to Rs.10/- per Kg and in a bulk Rs.300/- for 50kg bag by selling in the market. The demand of compost application is increasing day by day. Hence it holds a promising future for entrepreneurial opportunities and employment generation among rural women.

Women oriented projects need to be given priority to help development of rural women. In fact looking at the potential of women employment in rural areas there is a strong need to implement various projects which not only bring employment of individual rural women but also add quality of life including prosperity.

Conclusion:

Any project or business activities need to be thoroughly studied by the entrepreneur before the implementation of the project. It is very essential to study the project feasibility -Technically, Economically, Financially and marginally so that the proposed project can succeed without any problems.

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Role of Media in Community Development

Sulokshana,

Research Scholar, Department of Public Administration, Madras Christian College, Tambaram, Chennai – 600053.

Abstract: This article is about the role of media in community development. It is a summary on the history and development of media in India, the impact of media in creating Social awareness, Economic Upliftment, Educational Development, Promoting better Health and environment, Women and Child Development, Political Liberation, process of promoting Good Governance and Public Administration. The extent to which media contributes towards community development is discussed.

Introduction

In a country like India, media plays a vital role in creating awareness amongst people about the policies and programmes of development. It endeavours in motivating people to be active partners in the nation-building. Mass media reaches a large proportion of the population. Media, acts as the fourth pillar of democracy, it needs to be strengthened by the government, the owners, the judiciary, the professional forums and civil society, etc. The media influence has grown a lot with the advancement of technology. First there was the telegraph, then the radio, the newspaper, magazines, television and now the internet. We live in a society that depends on information and communication that keeps people informed on what might be going around them daily. The media plays a very complex role in society today. It shapes and frames the mindset of many specially the youth, particularly are inspired by it in their learning and day to day activities. Adults deal with it comprehensively and utilize it for their everyday functions. The media is an important part of the worldwide communication. Media, hence, plays a pivotal role in education, entertainment and information to the society; it certainly proves to be an agent for national security and public safety.

The Historical Development of Media

Indian media consist of several different types of communications, such as television, radio, cinema, newspapers, magazines, and Internet. The Indian media was initiated since the late 18th century with print media started in 1780, radio broadcasting initiated in 1927 but became state responsibility only in 1930. Television programming began in 1959 and complete broadcasting followed in 1965. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting owned and maintained the audio-visual apparatus—including the television channel Doordarshan—in the country prior to the economic reforms of 1991. The Government of India played a significant role in using the audio-visual media for increasing mass education in Indian rural areas. The first major newspaper in India—The Bengal Gazette—was started in 1780 under the British Raj. Other newspapers such as The India Gazette, The Calcutta Gazette, The Madras Courier (1785), The Bombay Herald (1789) etc. soon followed. These newspapers carried news of the areas under the British rule. The Times of India was founded in 1838 as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce by Bennett, Coleman and Company, a colonial enterprise now owned by an Indian conglomerate. The printing press preceded the advent of printed news in India by about 100 years. It was in 1674 that the first printing apparatus was established in Bombay followed by Madras in 1772. India's first newspaper, Calcutta General Advertise, also known as the Hicky's

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Bengal Gazette was established in January 1780, and the first Hindi daily, Samachar Sudha Varshan, began in 1854. The Bombay Herald, The Statesmen in Calcutta and the Madras Mail and The Hindu, along with many other rivals in Madras represented the metropolitan voice of India and its people.

Role of media in creating Social awareness

In the world of today, media has become almost as necessary as food and clothing. It is true that media is playing an outstanding role in strengthening the society. Its duty is to inform, educate and entertain the people. Apart from this, its important role is to create awareness among masses on social, national and international issues, besides bringing the nations closer to each other. It has the responsibility to inform the public regarding the diseases, women and child abuse, education to young and adult people, plans and policies of the Government, employment opportunities, science and technology, industry, geography, agriculture, sports and current situation around the world. The media have an essential part to spread awareness in the education of young people in a spirit of peace, justice, freedom, mutual respect and understanding, in order to promote human rights, equality of rights as between all human beings and all nations, and economic and social progress. Equally, they have an important role to play in making known the views and aspirations of the younger generation. The media has the potential to create widespread awareness on diseases such as HIV/AIDS, to promote the positive attitudes towards people living with HIV/AIDS, and influencing people to change high risk behavior that make them vulnerable to the infection. It has a pivotal role to play in a fight against AIDS. Media has been used to open the channels for communication and promote discussions about HIV and interpersonal relations. Media is also an instrument in breaking the silence about the disease and in creating an encouraging behavior for combating with existing social norms and making positive changes in the society.

Role of media in Economic upliftment

Media helps in the economic upliftment of the people and country. It conveys the schemes and policies framed by the government for the benefit and welfare of the people, which is useful in improving the economic standard of the people. Media also supplies the information regarding the internal and external market situations, demand and supply of goods, prices, profitability, industry, agriculture, production and share market situations, which is helpful to the nation in order to face the world market competitions and also highlights other opportunities to bring improvements in the economic growth of the country. Therefore, media plays a vital role in bringing economic development of the poor people and the country.

Role of media in Educational development

Media plays a very important role in education. Through the advent of new technology the world has been brought closer together in attempts to share knowledge and educate the masses. There is no department in education which is not been impacted or influenced by the information technology and news media. The different mediums of media like print, radio, television, internet and cinema are playing a vital role in the Education sector. It has provided new and better ways of learning and education. Media can also enable us to find valuable information that helps us to take good decisions in the future. We have better access to good information today than we did before via Internet. In India,

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the public service broadcaster, Doordarshan (Gyan Darshan channel) and Radio (Gyanvani channel) are dedicated to transmit educational programmes.

Role of media in Promoting better Health and environment

The rapid expansion and new breakthroughs in the arena of science and technology have taken humankind into a new era. The technological developments have both advantages and disadvantages. On one hand, technological developments has brought about progressive developments in almost every aspect of human life, on the other hand, it also has its devastating effect by its exploitative nature. Therefore, mankind faces double challenges from modern machines and from saving the nature. At this paradoxical juncture, the role of media becomes very important and worthwhile. In this modern society, media plays the role of facilitator of development, disseminator of information, and being an agent of change. Regarding the issue of environment awareness, media plays a vital role in spreading the true message. It tries to suggest alternatives to people and policy-makers through debates and discussions. First of all, the mere awareness also creates a genuine interest to probe into the exact matter. Thus, environment awareness is one of the important issues which media presents consciously and effectively to convey few things to the people. The awareness on environment has shown multiplicity of results in the form of different issues of livelihood rights, of displacement and rehabilitation, of sustainability, of pollution led damages and its control etc., Thus, the media has really raised the awareness on environment among people.

The media have become increasingly popular as a strategy for delivering preventive health messages. The Government and other organizations use television, radio and the print media to bring health awareness among the people. The media have been used in attempts to modify a wide variety of health related behaviour, including smoking, drink and driving, exercise and water safety amongst others. Seemingly, an increasing proportion of health promotion funds have been spent on media programmes and many health departments now appear to see that an important aspect of their task is to market a health message through the media.

Role of media in Women and child development

The media carries to the people of the plans and policies framed by the government. The schemes of the Government which aims to improve the nutritional and health status of vulnerable groups including pre-school children, pregnant women and nursing mothers. A package of services includes - supplementary nutrition, pre-school education, immunisation, health check-ups, referral services and nutrition and health education. The media helps the women on providing the information regarding national policies for the empowerment of women which helps them in decision making, property rights, poverty eradication, economy, micro-credit to start business, agriculture, industry and education, etc. It is also used to portray images of consistent with human dignity of girls and women. Media helps in highlighting the strict enforcement of laws against prenatal sex and the practices of female foeticide, female infanticide, child marriage, child abuse and child prostitution etc.

Role of media in facilitating political liberation

Media is the overseer of the political system. If the media plays its role honestly, it will be a great force in building the nation. It plays a great role in bringing common man close to their leaders.

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The media focuses in bringing details of all major political situations, decisions and scenarios. Hence people can better understand their rights and make better decisions with the help of media. Many political parties have started media for themselves and utilise it for their own selfish ends, the role of the media is very much narrowed. Therefore, free media helps the public through the informations regarding the political parties, their promises in the elections which are advantageous to the people in selecting their leaders.

Role of media in the process of promoting good governance and public administration

Reducing poverty through achieving sustainable development is the key objective of UNESCO programmes and good governance is central to these efforts. Governance implies the ways through which citizens and groups in a society voice their interests, mediate their differences and exercise their legal rights and obligations. Good governance includes notions of greater participation by civil society in decision making, instituting the rule of law, anti-corruption, transparency, accountability, poverty reduction and human rights. The media plays an important role in providing information of legislation, public institutions and organizations for the benefit of the public which is a key parameter of good governance. The aspects of good governance are facilitated by a strong and independent mediascape within a society. Only when journalists are free to monitor, investigate and criticize the public administration’s policies and actions, good governance can take place. Thus, independent media should be welcomed when there is nothing to hide and much to improve. Indeed, this is the concrete link between the functioning of the media and good governance. The media allows the people to check and assess the activities of the government and helps in bringing their voices and ideas into the open by providing a platform for discussions.

Democracy cannot prevail if development remains unattainable. Media, specifically independent, free and pluralistic media, has a crucial role to play for good governance of democratic societies, by ensuring transparency and accountability, promoting participation and the rule of law, and assuring development in every sphere. The media has three key roles in contributing to democratization and good governance such as a watchdogs over the powerful by promoting accountability and transparency; as a civic forum for political debate, facilitating informed electoral choices and actions; and as an agenda-setter for policy makers, strengthening government responsiveness for instance to social problems1. The media serves the public by informing of the schemes and policies of the government, helps in curbing corruption and enhances people participation in political process.

Suggestions The media must serve essential functions in the society by accepting and fulfilling certain obligations to the society. The obligations are mainly to be met by setting high professional standards of informativeness, truth, accuracy and objectivity. In accepting and applying these obligations the elements of the media should be self-regulating within the framework of law and established institutions. They should avoid the activities that might lead to crime, violence or civil disorder or give offence to any group of people in the society.

1 Henry O. Maina, (2010) The role of the media in promoting good governance in the region, Nairobi, Kenya

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Recommendations

The media play an important role in community development. It is therefore a duty of the media to keep our communities connected to the past by communicating the stories and traditions. And at the same time connect our communities to the present and to the future by delivering images and news of our people around the world and forming the foundation and values for our children to continue.

The media has its bad effects too. Many of them are giving biased information to the public according to their philosophy and try to change the public opinions about many matters. Such media activities should be controlled. It should be made sure that the information we receive through the media is cent percent reliable and true.

There are lot of plus points for use of media but there are also many disadvantages associated with in. Media has the bad effect of inducting baseless ideas through advertisements. People are forced to buy harmful or substandard products. Sometimes, the Media develops unnecessary sensation and distortion of truth to attract attention. Because of its power to build public opinion, the influence of media can even make or break the government. If the media are to function in the public interest, governments have to protect the independent functioning of the media and allow various valid viewpoints to flourish in society.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_of_India

http://www.pressreference.com/Gu-Ku/India.html#ixzz1DFgyNEGb

http://www.aifs.gov.au/nch/pubs/issues/issues16/issues16.html

http://heapro.oxfordjournals.org/content/5/1/85.full.pdf

http://www.cyberessays.com/

http://www.oppapers.com/essays/

http://www.rajputbrotherhood.com/eng/articles/

http://www.micci.in/pdf/

http://necareerguidance.blogspot.com/

http://harowo.com/2011/02/04/media

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The role of Human Resource Practitioners

BW. Rita Catherine,

Research Scholar, Department of Public Administration, Madras Christian College,

Tambaram, Chennai – 600053.

The practice of Human Resource Management (HRM) is concerned with all aspects of how people are employed and managed in organizations. It covers activities such as: Strategic HRM, organization development, knowledge development, resourcing (HR planning, recruitment and selection and talent management), performance management, reward management, learning and development, employees relations and employees well-being. This foundation has been built with the help of a multitude of research projects.

Role of the HR function

The role of the HR function is to take initiatives and provide guidance, support and services on all matters relating to the organization’s employees. Essentially, the HR function is in the delivery business – providing the advice and services that enable organizations to get things done through people.

The function ensures that HR strategies, policies and practices are introduced and maintained which enhance the employment relationship, develop a positive psychological contract and cater for everything concerning the employment, development and well-being of people and the relationships that exist between management and the workforce. It plays a major part in the creation of an environment that enables people to make the best use of their capacities, to realize their potential to the benefit of both the organization and themselves, and by improving the quality of working life, to achieve satisfaction through their work.

Increasingly the role of the HR function is seen to be business-oriented – adding value and helping to achieve sustained competitive advantage. As such it contributes to the formulation of business strategy by ensuring that people issues affecting developments and performance are properly considered. This may involve bringing attention to the people issues related to new business development, expansion and takeovers, especially those concerning the availability of talent and making good use of it. The function contributes to the achievement of the business strategy by ensuring that the talented people required are available, and that high levels of performance are engaged and maintained.

This is the policy line taken by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), but one of the issues explored by Francis and Keegan (2006) is the tendency for a focus on business performance outcomes to obscure the importance of employee well-being in its own right. As Ulrich and Brockbank (2005) point out, ‘caring, listening to, and responding to employees remain a centerpiece of HR work’. Members of the HR function have to be aware of the ethical dimensions of their activities.

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The philosophy of HRM

As originally conceived by the pioneers in the 1980s, the concept of HRM was based on a philosophy which was fundamentally different from the personnel management practices of the time. Today many pressures are demanding a broader, more comprehensive and more strategic perspective with regard to the organization’s human resources. These pressures have created a need for a longer-term perspective in managing people and consideration of people as potential assets rather than merely a variable cost.

Human resource policies should be integrated with strategic business planning and used to reinforce an appropriate organizational culture, that human resources are valuable and a source of competitive advantage, that they may be tapped most effectively by mutually consistent policies that promote commitment and which, as a consequence, foster a willingness in employees to act flexibly in the interests of the ‘adaptive organization’s’ pursuit of excellence.

The philosophy underpinning this notion of HRM provided a new vision which was strongly criticized by many commentators during the 1990s. In some quarters the term ‘people management’ has been adopted, possibly by those who dislike the connotations ‘human resources’ with its apparent emphasis on exploitation and treating people as factors of production. However, whether it called human resource management or people management, the essential nature of the ways in which organizations manage and relate to their employees has not always changed significantly from that of personnel management, although new techniques may have been introduced.

In 2010 if one asked the question, ‘The name has changed but has the game remained the same?’ The answer would still be the same. A more recent and less philosophical reference to HRM was made by Boxall et al (2007), who defined it as ‘the management of work and people towards desired ends’.

The purpose of HRM

The overall purpose of HRM is to ensure that the organization is able to achieve success through people. HRM aims to increase organizational effectiveness and capability of an organization to achieve its goals by making the best use of the resources available to it. The following policy goals for HRM were suggested by David Guest.

Policy goals of HRM

Strategic integration: the ability of the organization to integrate HRM issues into its strategic plans, ensure that the various aspects of HRM cohere, and provide for line managers to incorporate an HRM perspective into their decision making.

High commitment: Behavioral commitment to pursue agreed goals and attitudinal commitment reflected in a strong identification with the enterprise.

High quality: this refers to all aspects of managerial behavior which bear directly employees and investment in high-quality employees.

Flexibility: functional flexibility and the existence of an adoptable organization structure with the capacity to manage innovation.

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The policy goals for HRM identified included managing people as assets which are fundamental to the competitive advantage of the organization, aligning HRM policies with business policies and corporate strategy and developing a close fir of HR policies, procedures and systems with one another. HRM also has an ethical dimension which means that at it expresses its concern for the rights and needs of people in organizations through the exercise of social responsibility.

The role of HR practitioners

The roles of HR practitioners vary widely according to the extent to which they are generalist (with titles such HR director, manager and business partner) or specialist (such as head of learning and development, head of talent management and head of reward), the level at which they work (strategic, executive or administrative) the needs of the organization.

The overall role

HR practitioners can play a proactive role, contributing to the formulation of corporate strategy, developing integrated HR strategies and volunteering guidance on matters related to upholding core values and ethical principles. They are involved in business issues and working with the lime managers to deliver performance targets, but they are also concerned with people issues. They help to improve organizational capability.

For many HR practitioners their most important function is service delivery, which includes transactional activities such as recruitment, training and advisory services. The importance of this aspect of their work should not be underestimated by focusing on the more glamorous roles of business partner or strategist.

The business partner role

The concept of HR practitioners as business partners is that HR specialists share responsibility with their line management colleagues for the success of the enterprise, and get involved with them in implementing business strategy and running the business. They are often embedded in business units or departments. They are aware of business strategies, and the opportunities and threats facing the organization. They are capable of analyzing organizational strengths and weaknesses, and diagnosing the issues facing the enterprise and their human resource implications. They know about critical success factors that will create competitive advantage, and they adopt a ‘value added’ approach when making a convincing business case for innovations. In HR speak, a value-added approach means creating value through HR initiatives which make a significant contribution to organizational success.

Strategic-level roles

The HR specialist contributes to the development of business strategies. They do this by advising on how the business can achieve its strategic goals by making the best use of its human resources, and by demonstrating the particular contribution that can be made by the talented people it employs. They work alongside their line management colleagues to provide on an everyday basis continuous support to the implementation of the business or operational strategy of the organization.

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The innovation role

This approach has to demonstrate that the innovation is appropriate, beneficial and practical in the circumstances which can be implemented without too much difficulty. Although the constant worry of all HR administrators in this approach is their inability to prove that they are making a contribution to the enterprise. Their pre-occupation is with the search for ‘gimmick’ which will impress their management colleagues.

The ethical dimension of HR practitioners is:

Treat people equally in terms of the opportunities for employment, learning and development provided for them. Treat people according to the principle of procedural justice that is, the ways in which people are managed are fair, consistent, transparent and properly consider the views and needs of employees. Treat people according to the principle of distributive justice: in other words, rewards are distributed to them according to their contribution and they receive what was promised to them.

Treat people according to the principles of natural justice: individuals should know the standards they are expected to achieve and the rules to which they are expected to conform, they should be given a clear indication of where they are failing or what rules have been broken, and except in cases of gross misconduct, they should be given a chance to improve before disciplinary action is taken.

Treat people with respect. Avoid treating people as mere factors of production. Be concerned with the well-being of employees as well as the pursuit of commercial gain. Offer as much security of employment as possible. Provide a working environment that protects the health and safety of employees and minimizes stress.

Act in the interest of providing a reasonable balance for employees between their life and their work. Protect employees against harmful practices at work, such as bulling, harassment and discrimination.

Guidelines for HR innovations

The HR must be clear on what has to be achieved and why. Ensure that what you do fits the strategy, culture and circumstance of the organization. Do not follow fashion – do your own thing as long as it is relevant and fits the organization’s needs. Keep it simple since complexity is a common reason for failure.

Do not rush as it might take longer than you think. Assess resource requirements and costs. Pay close attention to project planning and management. Remember that the success of the innovation rests as much on the effectiveness of the process of implementation as it does on the quality of the concept. Pay close attention to change management approaches – communicate, involve and train.

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TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

Ragini

Research Scholar, Department of Public Administration, Madras Christian College,

Tambaram, Chennai – 600053.

Abstract: This article presents a brief view of the evolution of Total Quality Management, the process of total quality management in the Public Sector, total quality management standards, need for ISO14000 standards, the concept of continuous improvement by TQM and the implementation of quality principles. Finally, this article includes a comparative analysis between the theories in relation to Total Quality Management.

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a management approach that originated in the 1950's and has steadily become more popular since the early 1980's. Total Quality is a description of the culture, attitude and organization of a company that strives to provide customers with products and services that satisfy their needs. The culture requires quality in all aspects of the company's operations, with processes being done right the first time and defects and waste eradicated from operations.

Total Quality Management seeks to establish zero defects in any part of an organization, and which uses teams, worker empowerment and creative problem solving to accomplish this aggressive goal. Originally developed for the manufacturing sector, TQM programs are now found in many different types of organizations, including marketing, production, finance, design, engineering, and customer service, etc. TQM is a method by which management and employees can become involved in the continuous improvement of the production of goods and services. TQM is thus a management philosophy that seeks to integrate all organizational functions to focus on meeting customer needs and organizational objectives.

THE EVOLUTION OF TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT

W. Edwards Deming is often referred to as the “father of quality control.” He was a statistics professor at New York University in the 1940s. After World War II he assisted many Japanese companies in improving quality. Historically, poor quality was blamed on workers, on their lack of productivity, laziness, or carelessness. However, Deming pointed out that only fifteen percent of quality problems are actually due to worker error. The remaining eighty five percent are caused by processes and systems, including poor management. Deming said that it is up to management to correct system problems and create an environment that promotes quality and enables workers to achieve their full potential. He believed that managers should drive out any fear employees have of identifying quality problems, and that numerical quotas should be eliminated. Proper methods should be taught and detecting and eliminating poor quality should be everyone’s responsibility.

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Deming outlined his philosophy on quality in his famous “14 Points.” These points are principles that help guide companies in achieving quality improvement. The principles are founded on the idea that upper management must develop a commitment to quality and provide a system to support this commitment that involves all employees and suppliers. Deming stressed that quality improvements cannot happen without organizational change that comes from upper management.

After W. Edwards Deming, Dr. Joseph Juran is considered to have had the greatest impact on quality management. Juran originally worked in the quality program at Western Electric. He became better known in 1951, after the publication of his book Quality Control Handbook. In 1954 he went to Japan to work with manufacturers and taught classes on quality. Though his philosophy is similar to Deming’s, there are some differences. Whereas Deming stressed the need for an organizational “transformation,” Juran believes that implementing quality initiatives should not require such a dramatic change and that quality management should be embedded in the organization. One of Juran’s significant contributions is his focus on the definition of quality and the cost of quality. Juran is credited with defining quality as fitness for use rather than simply conformance to specifications.

Juran is well known for originating the idea of the quality trilogy: quality planning, quality control, and quality improvement. The first part of the trilogy, quality planning, is necessary so that companies identify their customers, product requirements, and overriding business goals. Processes should be set up to ensure that the quality standards can be met. The second part of the trilogy, quality control, stresses the regular use of statistical control methods to ensure that quality standards are met and to identify variations from the standards. The third part of the quality trilogy is quality improvement. According to Juran, quality improvements should be continuous as well as breakthrough. Together with Deming, Juran stressed that to implement continuous improvement workers need to have training in proper methods on a regular basis.

Kaoru Ishikawa is best known for the development of quality tools called cause-and-effect diagrams, also called fishbone or Ishikawa diagrams. These diagrams are used for quality problem solving. He was the first to emphasize the importance of the “internal customer,” the next person in the production process. He was also one of the first to stress the importance of total company quality control, rather than just focusing on products and services. Dr. Ishikawa believed that everyone in the company needed to be united with a shared vision and a common goal. He stressed that quality initiatives should be pursued at every level of the organization and that all employees should be involved. Dr. Ishikawa was a proponent of implementation of quality circles, which are small teams of employees that volunteer to solve quality problems.

TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT PROCESS

According to TQM a quality product comes from a quality process. This means that quality should be built into the process. Quality at the source is the belief that it is far better to uncover the source of quality problems and correct it than to discard defective items after production. If the source of the

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problem is not corrected, the problem will continue. Quality at the source exemplifies the difference between the old and new concepts of quality. The old concept focused on inspecting goods after they were produced or after a particular stage of production. If an inspection revealed defects, the defective products were either discarded or sent back for reworking. All this cost the company money, and these costs were passed on to the customer. The new concept of quality focuses on identifying quality problems at the source and correcting them.

TQM extends the concept of quality to a company’s suppliers. Traditionally, companies tended to have numerous suppliers that engaged in competitive price bidding. When materials arrived, an inspection was performed to check their quality. TQM views this practice as contributing to poor quality and wasted time and cost. The philosophy of TQM extends the concept of quality to suppliers and ensures that they engage in the same quality practices. If suppliers meet preset quality standards, materials do not have to be inspected upon arrival. Today, many companies have a representative residing at their supplier’s location, thereby involving the supplier in every stage from product design to final production.

TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT STANDARDS

Increase in international trade during the 1980s created a need for the development of universal standards of quality. Universal standards were seen as necessary in order for companies to be able to objectively document their quality practices around the world. In 1987 the International Organizationfor Standardization (ISO) published its first set of standards for quality management called ISO 9000. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is an international organization whose purpose is to establish agreement on international quality standards. It currently has members from 91 countries, including the United States of America. To develop and promote international quality standards, ISO 9000 has been created. ISO 9000 consists of a set of standards and a certification process for companies. By receiving ISO 9000 certification, companies demonstrate that they have met the standards specified by the ISO. The standards are applicable to all types of companies and have gained global acceptance. In many industries ISO certification has become a requirement for doing business. Also, ISO 9000 standards have been adopted by the European Community as a standard for companies doing business in Europe.

In December 2000 the first major changes to ISO 9000 were made, introducing the following three new standards:

ISO 9000:2000–Quality Management Systems–Fundamentals and Standards: Provides the terminology and definitions used in the standards. It is the starting point for understanding the system of standards.

ISO 9001:2000–Quality Management Systems–Requirements: This is the standard used for the certification of a firm’s quality management system. It is used to demonstrate the conformity of quality management systems to meet customer requirements.

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ISO 9004:2000–Quality Management Systems–Guidelines for Performance: Provides guidelines for establishing a quality management system. It focuses not only on meeting customer requirements but also on improving performance.

To receive ISO certification, a company must provide extensive documentation of its quality processes. This includes methods used to monitor quality, methods and frequency of worker training, job descriptions, inspection programs, and statistical process-control tools used. High-quality documentation of all processes is critical. The company is then audited by an ISO 9000 registrar who visits the facility to make sure the company has a well-documented quality management system and that the process meets the standards. If the registrar finds that all is in order, certification is received. Once a company is certified, it is registered in an ISO directory that lists certified companies. The entire process can take 18 to 24 months and can cost anywhere from $15,000 to $ 40,000. Companies have to be recertified by ISO every three years. One of the shortcomings of ISO certification is that it focuses only on the process used and conformance to specifications. In contrast to the Baldrige criteria, ISO certification does not address questions about the product itself and whether it meets customer and market requirements.

NEED FOR ISO 14000 STANDARDS

The need for standardization of quality created an impetus for the development of other standards. In 1996 the International Standards Organization introduced standards for evaluating a company’s environmental responsibility. These standards, termed ISO 14000, focus on three major areas: management systems standards, operations standards, and environmental systems standards.

Management systems standards measure systems development and integration of environmental responsibility into the overall business. .Operations standards include the measurement of consumption of natural resources and energy. Environmental systems standards measure emissions, effluents, and other waste systems. With greater interest in green manufacturing and more awareness of environmental concerns, ISO 14000 may become an important set of standards for promoting environmental responsibility, total quality management has impacts on every aspect of the organization. Every person and every function is responsible for quality and is affected by poor quality. For example, recall that Motorola implemented its six-sigma concept not only in the production process but also in the accounting, finance, and administrative areas. Similarly, ISO 9000 standards do not apply only to the production process; they apply equally to all departments of the company. A company cannot achieve high quality, if its accounting is inaccurate or the marketing department is not working closely with customers. TQM requires the close cooperation of different functions in order to be successful.

THE CONCEPT OF CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT BY TQM

TQM is mainly concerned with continuous improvement in all work, from high level strategic planning and decision-making, to detailed execution of work elements on the shop floor. It stems from the belief

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that mistakes can be avoided and defects can be prevented. It leads to continuously improving results, in all aspects of work. Continuous improvement must deal not only with improving results, but more importantly with improving capabilities to produce better results in the future. The five major areas of focus for capability improvement are demand generation, supply generation, technology, operations and people capability.

A central principle of TQM is that mistakes may be made by people, but most of them are caused, or at least permitted, by faulty systems and processes. This means that the root cause of such mistakes can be identified and eliminated, and repetition can be prevented by changing the process. There are three major mechanisms of prevention:

1. Preventing mistakes /defects from occurring, (Mistake - proofing or Poka-Yoke).

2. Where mistakes can't be absolutely prevented, detecting them early to prevent them being passed down the value added chain (Inspection at source or by the next operation). 3. Where mistakes recur, stopping production until the process can be corrected, to prevent the production of more defects. (Stop in time).

IMPLEMENTATION OF QUALITY PRINCIPLES

A preliminary step in TQM implementation is to assess the organization's current reality. Relevant preconditions have to do with the organization's history, its current needs, precipitating events leading to TQM, and the existing employee quality of working life. If the current reality does not include important preconditions, TQM implementation should be delayed until the organization is in a state in which TQM is likely to succeed.

If an organization has a track record of effective responsiveness to the environment, and if it has been able to successfully change the way it operates when needed, TQM will be easier to implement. If an organization has been historically reactive and has no skill at improving its operating systems, there will be both employee skepticism and a lack of skilled change agents. If this condition prevails, a comprehensive program of management and leadership development may be instituted. A management audit is a good assessment tool to identify current levels of organizational functioning and areas in need of change. An organization should be basically healthy before beginning TQM. If it has significant problems such as a very unstable funding base, weak administrative systems, lack of managerial skill, or poor employee morale, TQM would not be appropriate. However, a certain level of stress is probably desirable to initiate TQM. People need to feel a need for a change.

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CONCLUSION

TQM encourages participation amongst shop floor workers and managers. There is no single theoretical formalization of total quality, but Deming, Juran and Ishikawa provide the core assumptions, as a "discipline and philosophy of management which institutionalizes planned and continuous improvement and assumes that quality is the outcome of all activities that take place within an organization; that all functions and all employees have to participate in the improvement process; that organizations need both quality systems and a quality culture". TQM is thus the foundation for activities, which includes Commitment by senior management and all employees of the organization. TQM views an organization as a collection of processes. It maintains that organizations must strive to continuously improve these processes by incorporating the knowledge and experiences of workers. The simple objective of TQM is "Do the right things, right the first time, every time". TQM is infinitely variable and adaptable. Although originally applied to manufacturing operations, and for a number of years only used in that area, TQM is now becoming recognized as a generic management tool, just as applicable in service and public sector organizations.

References

1. Ishikawa, K., What is Total Quality Control? The Japanese way. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Prentice- Hall, 1985.

2. Hill Stephen., "Why Quality Circles failed but Total Quality management might succeed." British journal of industrial relations, 1991.

3. Gilbert, G., Quality Improvement in a Defence Organization. Public Productivity and Management Review, 1992.

4. Martin, L., "Total Quality Management in the Public Sector," National Productivity Review, 1993.

5. Smith, A.K., Total Quality Management in the Public sector. Quality Progress, June, 1993.

6. Swiss, J., Adapting TQM to Government. Public Administration Review, 1992.

7. Hyde, A., The Proverbs of Total Quality Management: Recharting the Path to Quality Improvement in the Public Sector. Public Productivity and Management Review, 1992.

8. Tichey, N., Managing Strategic Change. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1983.

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STATUS OF WORKING WOMEN –WITH REFERENCE TO CHENNAI.

Nirupuma

Research Scholar, Department of Public Administration, Madras Christian College, Tambaram

Chennai – 600053.

City of Chennai which was once a place of serene and silence filled with traditions and tranquility has wholly transformed into a near cosmopolitan with hustle and bustle in every nook and corner. Our city can be spotted with huge number of immigrants from other states solely on employment grounds. Discussing on which, Chennai has become a hub for employment with fresh jobs rolling out every now and then. The launch of BPO’s and IT firms both International and domestic have paved to the drastic availability of jobs.

One of the major reasons for spotting this major change in the scenario is the predominant voluminous increase of women who have opted to work. Young girls who are fresh out of the university take up jobs as early as possible. Girls all over India head straight to Chennai for work and find joy making Chennai their second home. Economy is booming and financial independence is prominent among young lasses, which was once a distant dream. Employment enhances the life of each woman and the financial independence encourages them to face the realistic world with ease and confidence. Naturally bold and beautiful women are gradually induced with even more have become more daring to encounter any odds of life.

Discussing on the same lines, as the coins are two sided; the boon which is evident also has a bane. Working women are targets to various anti social behaviors every single minute of the day. Women are prey to harassment and abuses as they still considered the weaker gender and it proves that our society is still gender based. Working women especially in cities like Chennai, opt to stay single, go in for quick divorces which have also become an order of the day. Women also get into wrong relationships which s completely against our cultural practices. Statistics prove that there is a steep rise in divorces, which was once against our moral life.

Working Women Status

The major factor contributing to the status of women is the change in the structure of the economy that offers lesser role for women in the productive function. Women’s status in the family would be identified or definitely related to whether she is engaged in gainful economic activity or not excluding women from economic activity and restriction on conjugal relationship are the two elements that put women in subordinate position. Economic well being as a result of employment would help to raise the freedom of women. It has got a higher priority than any other consideration in the problem of status. Women’s access to an independent income is a key to an important in her position.

Social & Economic conditions may prompt a woman to take up career, apart from the fact that she herself may be oriented towards taking up a career. As the level of education increases there will be a significant improvement in the standard of living. Women have been trying to overcome this “gender bias” of gain entry into those vocations which have been traditionally reserved for male.

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Personal motivation and high cost of living is forcing women into employment. Their main objective is the better most of the quality of life for their family rather than their own benefit. They need more encouragement and support at every stage of their career .Reasons why women do not advance in management and reach the top are based on the link of power to gender. It is chiefly rooted in social psychology in order to explain women’s inequitable treatment in organization and thus their under representation in management.

Working women constitute an important section of every society through their taking up employment outside the home are a recent phenomenon. This emerging social trend gives rise to much speculation regarding its effect on family relationships of working women.

A woman, who was created with par to men by God, gradually declined from her status and has come down a few steps from her original position. There might be innumerable reasons, which have created a setback for our women but in spite of those pre-dominated forces, which has pushed women down the ladder; our women have never sustained that vulnerable situation. They have always tried to fight against those evil conditions and worked hard to climb up to their royal positions which equalize women with men. Employment has enabled the once feeble women to get more proactive in our society. Work for women is not a alien term as it is imbibed with each and every girl from the day of her dawn in this universe. But the contemporary term reflects in all her moves that can be traced evidently. The work of women can be described as an exercise of each and every person, through their physic and their mind, which co-exist simultaneously.

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Advantages, key issues and constraints in implementing the RTI act – A study

Dr. R.T. John Suresh

It is a privilege created for all the citizen of India to have a right to access information which is under the control of government authorities to promote transparency and accountability in the functioning of every public authority.

In order to promote transparency and accountability in Indian Public Administration, the Indian Parliament enacted the Freedom of Information Act, 2002, which was repealed later and a new act, The Right to Information Act, came into force on 12 October 2005. The new law empowers Indian citizens to seek information from a Public Authority, thus making the Government and its functionaries more accountable and responsible. The Act has now been in operation for over five years and has benefited many, including the poor and the underprivileged.

In India, each one of us wants to win an individual battle. Everyone wants to challenge the authority or governance but cannot as he finds the process extremely time-consuming and complicated. Right to information bridges this gap between an individual and an authority. It empowers all citizens to raise their voice to access the information that they required to fight for their justice.

This Act empowers people's right to know about the government and governance. Enactment of RTI Act enables an individual citizen and public to monitor the functioning of government activities.

The Right to Information is derived from our Fundamental Right of Expression under Article 19 of the Constitution of India. But there all lot of challenges ahead in promoting the importance and uses of the act appropriately by the individual citizen. There are lot of loopholes and negligence by the duty bearers to provide information on time to the petitioners even though the act enforced certain time frame and penalty to the Public Information Officer.

Therefore this study highlights the pros and cons of the RTI Act, key challenges and issues and suggests appropriate recommendations to strengthen the use of RTI act effectively by an individual citizen of India without any discrimination.

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For consultation contact:Dr.R.T. John Suresh

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Chennai – 600063. Tamilnadu, India.

Phone: 91-44-26570929, 91-9840740929Email: [email protected],

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Artificial Reef Fabrication and Deployment to enhance the Marine Resources

Artificial reefs are manmade structures deployed in the sea bottom to increase the surface area available for various marine organisms as well as to create shelter for fish and lobster to breed and feed. As an outcome within a period of six months since installation, the biological process starts with the formation of bacterial bio-films, succeeded by the settlement of algae, seaweeds, barnacles, ascidians, sponges, hard and soft corals, gorgonids, star fishes, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, bivalves, chanks, crabs, lobsters, other crustaceans etc., and finally a variety of fishes and other vertebrates. The micro-fauna such as the copepods, polychaetes, cladocerans etc. also increase in abundance. All these foulers and settlers have a series of different maturation and breeding periodicity. Accordingly either one or a few species will be continuously breeding in the artificial reef site which form the basic food for the fishes and other vertebrates as this area looks like an organic soup which attracts all variety of fishes and other vertebrates and these species continuously migrate into the artificial reef site. The visitors tend to settle down in the reef area and construct their population through protected breeding in the reef site.

So far, PLANT has successfully implemented seven major Artificial Reef fabrication and deployment projects in Thiruvallur, Kanchipuram, Thanjavur and Kanyakumari districts with the support of government and private organizations and going to be implemented in other coastal states in India. Presently, PLANT is implementing in another five coastal villages in Tamilnadu, India.

Recently PLANT has inaugurated Artificial Reef fabrication and Deployment project in the esteem presence of Mr.C.Munianathan, IAS, Director, Fishery Department of Tamilnadu in Kalpakkam with support of Madras Atomic Power Station of Nuclear Power Corporation India Limited

Therefore the deployment of artificial reef plays a vital role in enhancing the marine fishery resources for the sustainable livelihood of the fishermen communities as well as to enrich the coastal biodiversity.

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