What ails Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs)?

What is the objective of Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs)? The government of India has set up 727 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) to undertake significant activities across the country with the mandate of technology assessment and demonstration for its application and capacity development. KVKs organize training programs for farmers including rural youth and women farmers for their knowledge and up-gradation of their skills in agriculture and allied sectors.  Besides these, various agro-clinical services like soil, water, leaf, and petiole analysis for effective nutrient utilization and disease and pest analysis are also provided by the KVKs. 

KVKs are envisaged to provide the necessary technical input and development initiatives under the District Agriculture Plans.  KVKs contribute along with ICAR and the state agriculture universities (SAUs)  to the preparation of the District Agriculture Contingency Plans (DACP), recommending location-specific climate-resilient crops and varieties and management practices for use by the state departments of agriculture and farmers. MoRD has joined up with KVKs to train the workers under MGNREGS for organic manure preparation and basic storage of the crop produce. Krishi Vigyan Kendras provides the skill training conducted on the Qualification Packs developed by the Agriculture Skill Council of India (ASCI) in agriculture & allied areas in compliance with the National Skill Qualification Framework. 

The challenges faced by KVKs are listed below: 

1. Lack of  Budget and Human Resources: There are huge numbers of unfilled vacancies for technical support staff and especially scientists. Several KVKs have infrastructure such as laboratories and equipment for soil testing but lack technical assistance. There has been a reduction in budgetary allocations over the years which is minimizing the coverage of KVK activities. There have also been delays in sanctioning budgets, leading to a financial crunch and affecting the activities of KVKs housed in SAUs.   

2. Failure to pay for Extension Services: The ability to pay for extension services is another significant hurdle in the effective delivery of services. This is both due to the social unwillingness to pay for government programs and the economic inability to do so. 

3. Emergence of Private Extension Services:  There has been a rise in the private players providing extension services to the farmers' associations and farmers. They have limited reach and generally are linked to input supply or output purchasing and contract farming arrangements. They provide agricultural extension services to the extent necessary to preserve the profit margin they gain from selling products. eg ( JFarm Services by TAFE)

KVK as part of the public extension system has to be reoriented away from traditional supply-driven, production-focused approaches, and towards more market-oriented approaches. Delivery of public extension services could be improved by introducing decentralized strategic planning, with the active participation of farmers and other stakeholders.  The roles of extension in KVKs at the grassroots level are changing. These changes will involve capitalizing on ICTs as a viable option. GoI is also planning a scheme in PPP mode on the delivery of digital and hi-tech services to farmers by involving public sector research and extension institutions with private agri-tech players. The future lies in the customized solutions and diffusion of innovations in agriculture and technology to the farmers. The shift in strategy has been done in selected KVKS from target crops to target farmers' needs through all the initiatives.

Link Worker Scheme

The Government of India estimates that about 2.40 million Indians are living with HIV (1.93 ‐3.04 million) with an adult prevalence of 0.31% (2009). For the readers, there is a popular myth that HIV, or AIDS is an urban disease. As per the HIV Sentinel Surveillance (HSS) of 2007, it was identified that 57% of the HIV-positive persons in India are estimated to be living in rural areas.

Under the NACP III, Link Worker Scheme was designed for rural prevention and NACO implemented this program with the financial support of Global Fund through Lead NGOs. Link Worker Scheme was launched to saturate the reach of HIV-related services to high-risk groups based in rural areas. The scheme aims to build a rural community model to address the complex needs of rural HIV prevention, care, and support requirements. Under this scheme, a person who has been trained and has been made responsible for carrying out specific activities is called a Cluster Link Worker. I visited the field office of Humana People to People India (HPPI) in Lucknow on a learning tour about the Link Worker Scheme. A Red Ribbon Club (RRC) in the villages has been formed to prevent AIDS. This was done due to the dormant village health committee and uneasiness among village elders to take up issues related to sexual health. I observed that women from higher caste and men are reluctant to talk openly. Cluster Link Worker told me about the few cases referred to STI services under this intervention. Information materials & commodities (condoms, needles/syringes) through collaborating with the nearest government health facilities have been distributed among the youth in the community.

Numerous NGOs and CBOs are working on HIV/AIDS issues in India at the local, state, and national levels. The events organized by NGOs are limited to shouting slogans and carrying placards depicting various messages related to HIV/AIDS. They also help in social marketing (SM) of condoms. The campaign uses targeted ads and community engagement opportunities to change the way men and women think about HIV/AIDS. The major reasons for AIDS can be attributed to Unsafe Sex and Low Condom Use. But it arises from the Low levels of literacy leading to myth and misconception. STIs very often go untreated due to both a lack of information and healthcare facilities. Stigma towards people living with HIV is widespread among urban and rural communities. Sex workers are hiding in plain sight.

The high-risk group (HRG) among the population includes Female Sex Workers (FSW), Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) & Injecting Drug Use (IDU). The Bridge Population is truck drivers, male and female migrants while the vulnerable Population constitutes migrant spouses, HRG spouses, and trucker's spouses. Youth migrating for work and trafficked women form a critical group because of their ‘mobility with HIV’. Migration for work leads them to new living and working conditions without family support. Sexually active age and separation from regular partners for extended periods predispose them to paid sex or sex with non-regular partners. Movement is not a necessary element in the trafficking process, with the mechanisms of deployment, payment of advances, and wages bearing a striking similarity across the country. The various reasons for trafficking are a result of a complex set of Gender discrimination, illiteracy, No sex education, violence against women, vulnerability and ignorance of girls, and finally lack of opportunity.

People have not suddenly understood the old arguments spread by social workers. There is a lot of awareness now of HIV than a decade ago and the attitudes about AIDS changing gradually. The HIV-positive population needs the provision of safe spaces and support systems to overcome shameful anxieties, fragile hopes, and guilt. I saluted the guts of the social worker who works in the community on such a taboo issue. Much moral courage is required to meet an outcast and convince a socially rigid community.   With consistent awareness, the masses get used to the message, and AIDS loses its disgust value. And the new generation is just much more open.