Antyodaya

Awareness about scheme across religions:

The Total number of people aware of this scheme is 89 (25.14%) while 265 or
74.86% of them are unaware of this scheme. Of those who are aware, 56 are
Hindus, i.e. 62.92 %. The percentage of Hindus who are aware of this scheme is
24.24%. The number of Muslims aware is 33, i.e. 37.08%. The percentage of aware
Muslims among the total Muslim population is 26.83%. This means that there is
not much disparity among Hindus and Muslims when it comes to being
aware of the scheme, since the percentages of aware of Hindus and
Muslims is in close proximity to their population percentages, i.e. 65.25%
and 34.75% respectively.
Awareness about scheme across socio-economic groups:
The number of aware people of General category is 23, which is 25.84% of the total
number of aware respondents while it is 25.27% of the total number of people in the
General category. The respective figures for ST, SC and OBC categories are as
follows:
Categ
ory
ST
SC
OBC

Total number of aware

respondents
9
32
25

Percent of Total
Aware (in %)
10.11
35.96
28.09

Percent of Total Number in

that Category (in %)
14.52
25.81
32.47

While it is clear that SCs tend to have a better awareness of this scheme on the
whole, this percentage is far better than the proportion of SCs who are aware.
Awareness about scheme across Economic Classes:
50 out of 193, i.e. 25.90% APL card holders are aware. They constitute 56.18% of
all those aware of this scheme. When it comes to BPL holders, who are 149 in
number in Pandua, they form 40.45% of the overall number of aware respondents
and 24.16% of all BPL people are aware. As for SBPL individuals who are only 11 in
number, 3 of them are aware. 27.27% of them are aware.
The inter group awareness percentage is similar to the awareness proportion within
each group. So it cant be said that awareness about Antyodaya scheme
has any strong correlation with either caste, religion or economic class.
Where do people get information about the scheme?
The following table gives a picture of the diverse sources of information. Clearly,
most respondents find the Gram Panchayat to be the most useful in this regard.

35.96% of those aware came to know about the scheme from the Gram Panchayat.
The next most useful source of information happens to be neighbors.
Source
Gram Panchayat
Neighbors
BDO
Newspapers
Radio
TV
Other Sources (like market,
ration shop etc)

Percentage of People Who Became Aware from

this Source (in %)
35.96
48.31
1.12
1
1
1
15

This only reinforces the existing concept that informal social networks is
strongly persistent in rural India, whereby word of mouth rather than a
structured form of communication machinery helps dissemination of
information. Only 1 respondent came to know about the scheme from newspaper
and another 1 from TV. While the ultimate awareness is what matters at the end of
of the day, the administration will do well to bolster the formal communication
structure, like government programs on radio, TV or public announcements, posters
or even use of folk media like street plays etc. This will reduce a) dependence on
informal networks b) as a corollary to the first point, it will reduce dependence on
middle men who can hoard information and thereby obtain positions of power which
can even become exploitative and c) the perception of inaction and ineffectiveness
in peoples minds about government institutions.
Perception on Who Launched the Scheme:
Antyodaya is Central government scheme. However, in our survey, it was found that
those who were aware of this scheme did not always know which government
launched it. Only 15.73% of all aware respondents got the answer right, 10.11%
said it was launched by the State government while over 74% of respondents said
they did not know. In fact, several of the respondents showed little interest as to
who is the initiator of the scheme. They seemed more interested in what the
scheme provided. This is interesting in the sense that political parties will
be keen to know just how the perception about various welfare schemes is
shaping peoples opinions about the parties which can then get converted
into votes.
Availing Grains under Antyodaya:
Only 21 of the 89 aware respondents or about 24% said they availed grains under
AAY. Of them, 1 was an APL card holder while 18 BPL and 2 SBPL card holders
received grains under the scheme.

Quantum of Food Grain Received:

First we look at the basic amounts of grain received under AAY. The figures in the
left hand column are in Kg/month.

Amount of Grain Received

Less than 10
10-15
16-20
21-35
35+

Frequency
2
7
6
2
4

As we can see, most of the recipients (33.33%) received grains in the range of 1015Kgs/month. Only 9.5% received less than 10Kg. However, the stipulated amount
that should be provided by the authorities per month per family is 35Kgs. It is
interesting to note only 2 persons or 9.5% received in the range of 21 to 35Kgs.
Besides, as many as 19.05% received over 35Kgs.
The following three tables show the variation of grain amounts with religion, caste
and socio economic class.

Amount of
Grain
2-10kg

2-25kg

30kg+

Frequency: Caste
Group
General -0
ST -0
SC -2
OBC - 0
General 1
ST 2
SC 11
OBC 1
General 2
ST 1
SC 0
OBC - 2

Frequency:
Religion

Frequency: Socio
Economic Class

Hindu 2
APL - 0

BPL- 2

SBPL- 0

APL -1

BPL- 12

SBPL- 2

APL -0

BPL- 5

SBPL-0

Muslim 0
Hindu 13
Muslim- 2
Hindu 1
Muslim 4

It may be interesting to look at this data at the village level. It is difficult to

ascertain any major discrimination from the limited number of respondents who
avail grains. However, it can be seen that Scheduled Castes have got a fair chunk
(over 73%) in the range 2-25Kg. Also, despite the fact that 33 Muslim
individuals said they were aware of the scheme, only 6 of them received
any grains under the scheme, i.e. 81.33% of Muslims who are aware of

AAY do not get any grains from this scheme. 32 Muslims or 21.62% of all
BPL card holders are Muslims. So only 18.75% of BPL Muslims are getting
grains from this scheme. However, the figure for Hindus is even worse,
since only 16 of 116 BPL Hindus, i.e. 13.79% BPL Hindus are getting grains
under AAY. The obvious discrepancy here is that one APL card holder has also
obtained grain under this scheme, even though it is specifically meant for BPL card
holders.
It would be interesting to see this variation at the village level. The following table
lays out this data in a clear manner:
Village Name
Panpa
Somraguri
Torgram
Magura

Grains Received
10-20Kg
20-35Kg
0
0
9
2
2
1
1
0

<10Kg
1
1
0
0

>35Kg
0
1
4
0

We see that the maximum number of recipients (12, i.e. 57.14%) is from
Somraguri but it is the second highest in terms of percentage of the total sample
population. The population of Somraguri interviewed is 105 which is 29.66% of the
overall population surveyed from the 3 villages. Torgram with a sample population
of 124 leads the pack but from that village, only 7 respondents got any grain from
the scheme.
AAY Awareness Variations Across Genders:
Of 190 males in the sample, 58 or 30.53% are aware of the scheme. Aware males
constitute 65.17% of the total number of aware individuals. The following are the
figures for awareness among females:
Total number of females in sample 164
Percentage of aware females in aware population 34.83%
Percentage of females who are aware of AAY 18.90%
It would seem that there is indeed a gender dimension to awareness,
since more males are aware than females in terms of percentage within
the respective gender group.
AAY Awareness Variation Across Education Levels:
The following table shows how education levels and awareness about the scheme is
varying:
Education Level (in years)

Frequency

Percentage of Total Aware

0-4
5-10
11-12
13+

37
37
6
9

41.57
41.57
6.74
10.11

Now we look at the joint effects of Gender and Caste, Gender and Religion and
finally Gender and Education on the awareness level of individuals with regard to
AAY.

Awareness about AAY: Combined effect of Gender & Caste

Number of Aware
Individuals in Group
Caste Group

General
ST
SC
OBC

Male
13
7
21
17

Female
10
2
11
8

Percentage of Aware
in that respective
caste
Male
56.52
77.78
65.52
68

Female
43.48
22.22
34.48
32

Percentage of
Male and
Female in Caste
Group
Male
Female
50.55
49.45
54.84
45.16
61.29
38.71
44.16
55.84

From the above table, we can see that in case of General and SC categories, the
percentages of aware men and women are in more or less the same proportion as in
the populations of respective caste groups, although for SC females the percentage
has dropped from 38.71% to 34.48%. However, when it comes to STs and
OBCs, the men are far more aware than the women of these caste groups.
While women constitute 45.16% of STs, only 22.22% of aware STs are women. The
drop is 22.94%. The same figure for OBC women is 23.84%.
Awareness about AAY: Combined effect of Gender & Religion:
Number of Aware
Individuals in Group
Religion

Hindu
Muslim

Male
38
20

Female
18
13

Percentage of Aware
in that respective
Religion
Male
67.86
60.61

Female
32.14
39.39

Percentage of
Male and
Female in
Religion
Male
Female
58.44
41.56
44.72
55.28

Here again we find that while both Hindu and Muslim males have
improved upon their percentages from the population share to awareness

level, the females have done worse off. The rate of drop of this
percentage is 28.74% in case of Muslim women while it is 22.67% for the
Hindu women.
Awareness about AAY: Combined effect of Gender & Education:

Education Level (in

Years)
0-4
5-10
11-12
12+

Number of Aware
Individuals in Group

Male
23
22
5
8

Female
14
15
1
1

Percentage of Aware
in that respective
education level
Male
62.16
59.46
83.33
88.89

Female
37.84
40.54
16.67
11.11

Percentage of
Male and
Female in
Education level
Male
Female
53.40
46.60
47.58
52.42
63.16
36.84
88.89
11.11

Unlike caste and religion, which are not ordered variables, education is an ordered
variable. So it is expected that for any gender, the level of awareness will only
increase with education level. It is disappointing to see that while the percentage of
women in the 11-12 category is 36.84%, the corresponding figure for the awareness
level is only 16.67%. Similarly, even for the 5-10 or 0-4 categories, awareness levels
have dropped from population shares. The rate of this drop is 54.75%, 26.48%
and 18.8% for women with 11-12 years, 5-10 years and 0-4 years of
education respectively. That is, the drop is the highest in case of women with 1112 years of education.

Annapurna Scheme:
Awareness:
The number of people aware of this scheme are 37, i.e. 10.45% while 317or 89.55%
are unaware. People seem to be more aware of Annapurna then compared
to Antyodaya in which the awareness percentage was 74.86%.
Awareness Across Caste Groups:
Caste
Group
General
ST
SC
Others

Frequenc
y
11
7
11
8

Percentag
e
29.73
18.92
29.73
21.62

Percent of Total Number in that Category (in

%)
12.09
11.29
8.87
10.39

As in case of AAY, there are no particularly striking differences on the basis of caste,
as most caste groups are aware in comparable proportions, although the General
category is only marginally ahead.
Awareness Across Religious Groups:
Of the 37 persons aware of Annapurna Yojana, 23 are Hindus (62.16% of all aware
and 9.96% of Hindus) and 14 are Muslims (37.84% of aware and 11.38% of Muslim
population). The respective percentages for Hindus and Muslims are quite
comparable and hence there is not much stark difference.
Awareness Across Gender Groups:
23 males are aware of Annapurna scheme and they constitute 62.16% of the total
aware sample. Among males, this value amounts to 12.10%. For females, the
percentage of aware women among the total female population is lower
than the men, standing at 8.5%.
Awareness Across Various Education Levels:
Education Level (in years)
0-4
5-10
11-12
13+

Frequency
18
14
13
2

Percentage of Total Aware

48.65%
37.83%
8.11%
5.41%

Awareness Across Economic Classes:

Economic
Class
APL
BPL
SBPL

Frequenc
y
23
13
1

Percentage of Total
Aware
62.16
35.14
2.70

Percentage of Aware in Total

Class
11.92
8.78
9.09

If we look at the last column, once again, as in case of caste and religions,
there is not much variation in awareness of this scheme based on
economic class.
Awareness about who are eligible for Annapurna
The three major criteria for being eligible for this scheme are as follows:
1. BPL cardholder
2. Above 65 years of age and

3. Those who fulfill the first two conditions and are not getting grains under Old Age
Pension Scheme.
Only 37.84% could point out the necessity of BPL card while 16.21% knew about the
age barrier. 9 respondents or 24.2% of total number of aware persons did not
know about the eligibility criteria at all. Nobody could point out the 3
criteria together.
Where do people get information about the scheme?
Of the 37 aware individuals, 15 or 40.54% came to know about it from Gram
Panchayat, 20 people or 54.05% came to know from neighbors and 2 came to know
about it from other sources. Once again, we find that the informal source of
information is more effective than the government sources.
Perception on Who Launched the Scheme:
Like Antyodaya, Annapurna Yojana is also a Central Govt. scheme. However, most
dont even know who has launched the scheme and of those who say they do know,
only 13.5% are correct. 16.21% said it is a scheme of the State Govt.
Availing Grains under Annapurna:
Only 5 respondents said that 1 family member receives rice under this scheme. This
is 13.51% of those who are aware. The rest of the aware interviewees, 32 in number
and the percentage being 86.49% said they dont get any grains from under the
scheme.
Amount of Rice Obtained - Variations with Various Parameters:

Amount of
Grain
0-10Kg

10kg+

Frequency: Caste
Group
General -1
ST -1
SC -1
OBC - 0
General 1
ST 1
SC 0
OBC 0

Frequency:
Religion

Frequency: Socio
Economic Class

Hindu 2
APL - 1

BPL- 2

SBPL- 0

APL -0

BPL- 2

SBPL- 0

Muslim 1
Hindu 1
Muslim- 1

Unfortunately, the data set is too small to reach any meaningful conclusion.
However, it is interesting to note that once again, 1 APL card holder said that they
receive grains under this scheme.

We also tried to find if there was any gender based discrimination when the older
women (i.e. above 65 years of age) and quite possibly widowed went to collect their
share of grains under the scheme. We found the following figures:
Grain amount
0-4 Kg
5-12 Kg

Male
3
1

Female
0
1

Now, as with AAY, we look at the joint effects of Gender and Caste, Gender and
Religion and finally Gender and Education on the awareness level of individuals with
regard to Annapurna Scheme.
Awareness about Annapurna Scheme: Combined effect of Gender & Caste
Number of Aware
Individuals in Group
Caste Group

General
ST
SC
OBC

Male
6
5
7
5

Female
5
2
4
3

Percentage of Aware
in that respective
caste
Male
54.55
71.43
63.64
62.50

Female
45.45
28.57
36.36
37.50

Percentage of
Male and
Female in Caste
Group
Male
Female
50.55
49.45
54.84
45.16
61.29
38.71
44.16
55.84

Once again, as in the case of AAY, it can be seen that the rate of drop in the
percentage of awareness for ST women from their population percentage (given in
last column) is the highest. This drop is 36.74% while the same for OBC women is
32.84%. It may not be exaggeration to point out now that since ST and OBC
women in cases of both Antyodaya and Annapurna show poor level of
awareness comparatively, their overall level of awareness needs to be
given special attention by concerned personnel.

Awareness about Annapurna Scheme: Combined effect of Gender & Religion:

Number of Aware
Individuals in Group
Religion

Hindu
Muslim

Male
15
8

Female
8
6

Percentage of Aware
in that respective
Religion
Male
65.22
57.14

Female
34.78
42.86

Percentage of
Male and
Female in
Religion
Male
Female
58.44
41.56
44.72
55.28

Once again, females of both religions seem to be less aware than males of either
religion. The rate of drop of Muslim females [from population share to awareness
level share] is 22.67% while the corresponding figure for the Hindu females is
16.31%. So going by this figure, the Hindu females are performing better
in terms of awareness than Muslim females.
Awareness about Annapurna Scheme: Combined effect of Gender & Education:
The following table outlines the major findings:

Education Level (in

Years)
0-4
5-10
11-12
12+

Number of Aware
Individuals in Group

Male
12
7
2
2

Female
6
7
1
0

Percentage of Aware
in that respective
education level
Male
66.67
50
66.67
100

Female
33.33
50
33.33
0

Percentage of
Male and
Female in
Education level
Male
Female
53.40
46.60
47.58
52.42
63.16
36.84
88.89
11.11

Unlike the case of AAY, the rate of drop in percentage from population share to
awareness levels is maximum in case of those women who have more than 12 years
of education, but that is only because the number of aware women in this category
is only 2. That aside, the rate of drop of percentage is maximum in 0-4
category, i.e. 28.75%.
How Many Days FPS Shop Should Remain Open:
No. of Days
0-3
4-7
Dont Know

Frequency
228
108
18

% of Total
64.41
30.51
5.08

This response set is reflective of the actual practice, since in almost all the villages
a large chunk of respondents said that the Fair Price Shop remains open only for 0-3
days, which is why the corresponding percentage is coming to be 64.41%.
In the next table, we look at the village level distribution of this figure:
Village Name
Panpa
Somraguri
Torgram
Magura

0-4 Days
Percentage
7.14
16.67
40.87
35.32

4-7 Days
Percentage
20.24
75
4.76
0

It is clear from the above table that Somraguri has a big share of the
number of respondents who said that the FPS should remain open for
more than 4 days a week. The figure for Magura is quite dismal as all
respondents from that village said that FPS should remain open for less
than 4 days.
Complaints and Grievances:
Where do People Go for Getting Grievances Addressed:
Pie Chart