MULTIDIMENSIONAL IMPACT OF AJK COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

This has always been the dream of development thinkers, academicians, researchers and policy makers to contribute in materializing the goal of sustainable development with maximum possible equity. A series of development programs have been launched in different regions of the country to materialize this dream. Now it has become a challenging question whether such initiatives are really contributing in the welfare of masses and if so, what sort of policy messages can be taken from such success stories? In this connection, the fundamental objective of this study was to empirically investigate the impact of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Community Development Program (AJKCDP) in multidimensional perspectives. This program was established to directly address the key issues for rural poverty reduction through empowering the community organization to assume the responsibility and ownership for decentralized planning and implementation of development activities. Both secondary and primary data was collected for analysis, for the objectives and thus for extracting meaningful results. The entire AJK was the universe of the study and a sample of 560 respondents was snapped by employing multistage stratified purposive random sampling technique. Four districts were selected from where both male and female respondents who were registered (70 percent) and non-registered (30 percent) were surveyed from selected villages in each of the districts. Data was gathered from the field through personal interviews by using a properly constructed interview schedule. Empirical analysis was operated by using different analytical techniques. There has been xxiii substantial difference in the trend of education profile of registered and nonregistered members from the base year (2003-04) to current year (2013-14). FGT measure of poverty was applied for estimating incidence, depth and severity of poverty in absolute and relative framework. There has been decrease in incidence poverty by 6 percent among the registered members but there was slight increase in depth of poverty. Similarly, the increase in relative incidence of poverty among members was 3 percent less than non-members. Relative depth of poverty has been decreased substantially showing the positive impact of developmental interventions as during the base year around 13 percent boost in income was required to come out of poverty. Now only 7 percent coverage is required. Inequality among the poor has also been reduced more among registered members than non-registered. There are varying reflections of incidence, depth and severity of poverty in different districts of AJK. Beside unidimensional poverty, multidimensional deprivation was also quantified for all registered and nonregistered members of AJKCDP under different arbitrary weight arrangements. Most of such empirics clearly demonstrate the fact that multidimensional poverty was reduced in a higher proportion among the members as compared to nonmembers except in Muzaffarabad. Health dimension has been emerged as the leading contributor in multidimensional poverty as health poverty increased almost in all districts of AJK. Had there been health related initiatives, the fall in multidimensional poverty would have been higher. Probability expressions were modeled with the aid of Logit to check correlates of poverty in the area. Education, cultivated area, assets, employment status, jobs of females, household size and the livestock are going to increase the probability of decrease in poverty. It is xxiv recommended that the success stories of this program should be replicated with great care as area specific interventions are more workable than initiatives in one stroke across the whole valley. One key policy message states that no intervention can be sustainably workable and highly successful in improving the welfare of the masses until health related issues are addressed in conjunction with other initiatives. It has been proved empirically that women‟s participation in economic activities plays a pivotal role in reducing poverty. Gender friendly policies are highly beneficial particularly in the remote regions. Health and education related infrastructure should be improved by involving the local community and by inviting private sector through the foundation of corporate social responsibility.