Decrease in availability of water in the springs have been observed during winters (Sharma et al., 2009, Tambe et al., 2011). This decrease in water sources in the district is a cause of concern for the communities as most of the communities are dependent on springs water and rainfall for their agriculture activities. Some of the springs located in the selected study sites are Thuola Dhara, Devithan Kholcha, Jhor Dhara, Durga Devi Mandir Dhara, Laxuman Dhara, Rizal Dhara, and Guruji Dhara. An interesting observation was that most of the springs are named and linked to names of God and Goddess as people of Sikkim, considers the air, soil, water and the biota all sacred and any human-induced perturbation is considered to spell disaster for Sikkim as a whole (Ramakrishnan, 1998). To revive and maintain the drying up of springs, the Government of Sikkim under “Dhara Vikas” programme has undertaken various initiatives such as digging trenches to collect the runoff water. Water storage facilities are available in almost every household with the tanks built under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). MGNREGA schemes along with water related initiatives such as building of water tanks, digging trenches has resulted in employment generation in the region. Although the quality of water is constantly monitored by the Government, communities mostly drink water after boiling as this has been practice since generations due to its cold weather.
due to low education, poor health, limited assets (both farm and non-farm assets), and due to gender discrimination. Deprivation in these sectors has further enhanced the vulnerability of the communities. Recent studies illustrate that people’s educational level enhance their ability to adapt to natural disasters including climate change (Striessing et al., 2013, Muttarak and Lutz, 2014b) and this has also been reflected in East Sikkim district of Sikkim. For example, low educational attainments among the communities had limited their participation in schemes and projects. Many of respondent in the region were unable to recall the name and budget allocated for schemes and projects implemented in the region. Lack of participation in schemes and projects has limited their opportunities to benefit from such schemes, which would have boasted their capacity to withstand the impact of such natural disasters. Similarly, the poor status of health and healthcare services are a concern in the region as it influences the vulnerability to the impacts of climate change (Hahn et al., 2009) and also reduces the opportunities available among the communities (Robeyns, 2013). Further, natural resource-dependent rural poor households are likely to ensure a disproportionate burden of the adverse impacts of climate change (Agrawal and Perrin, 2008). The findings from the field shows that majority of the household (80%) are dependent on agriculture for their livelihood and this is despite the fact that agriculture production remaining stagnant due to difficult topography, small and fragmented holdings, limited irrigation, and lack of farm mechanization and frequent occurrence of natural calamities like landslides, floods and earthquakes (Government of Sikkim, 2011a, Government of Sikkim, 2014) resulting in low and uncertain earnings among the communities. Further lack of non-farm assets, lack of access to market, small land holding size, low educational qualification, poor health, and limited opportunities and choices, has increased the vulnerability of the communities to climate change. Subsistence agriculture as the sole source of livelihood in the study
region seems inadequate, specifically with the lack of access to market, limited landholding size and reduced availability of water due to climate change.
Another concerns of the communities were related to non-farm assets (47%) as there are reports of lack of employment opportunities, skills, and as well limited assets which can be sold off during the time of emergencies. Further the communities were of the opinion that despite few opportunities available in the region, the communities did not have the skills to utilize benefits from such opportunities. For example, the national flagship programme, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) under non-farm sector can be become an important source of climate- proof cash income in the rural areas (Government of Sikkim, 2011c). However, as mentioned elsewhere, under MGNREGA schemes, the communities are mostly involved in unskilled works with lower pay as compared to skilled labourers. Most of the skilled workers are hired from outside the villages. Similarly, the very few household with higher agricultural productions have failed to sell the agriculture products due to lack of proper access to market.
Due to mismatch of skills and opportunities, people in the selected areas have failed to convert the existing opportunities (agriculture, MGNREGA, self-help group etc.,) into actual achievements, thereby limiting their economic facilities available to the communities. Similarly, the opportunities of vocational training under livelihood mission although are important and much needed, it have failed to benefit the large section of the people, as only few of them have attended such trainings. These lack of skills along with the mismatch in opportunities are likely influence the vulnerability among the communities. It is important to understand the underlying causes leading to lack of skills and go for a long term interventions that are crucial to improve the skills as well the opportunities available among the communities.
Another important sector that require special attentions are concerns related to gender equality. Gender equality are crucial for climate change adaptation as it is the female who are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The respondents were of the perception that the rate of school dropouts were higher among female child, poor access to health, and there are fewer employment opportunities for women apart from agriculture as compared to man. For example, in the employment generation schemes such as MGNREGA, it is the mostly the male members who holds the job cards to work under such schemes. Only a few female respondent that participated in the FGDs hold job cards. Although they hold the job cards many of them failed to work under such schemes as they are mostly engaged in managing the household chores which is reflected from the opinion of the participants below. Similarly, the culture of early marriages has limited the achievements of the female child in the region. It is observed that social setup such as early marriage, and as well the traditions of married women not going to schools have limited the freedom to attain school. Further, participation of female members in public discussion were low and it is likely to overlook the concerns of the female during designing of interventions. For instance, in one of the FGD conducted with the female members, many of the respondent in the FGD were of the opinion that they were not aware of the budgets, schemes, and policies that are implemented in the villages while most of the male respondent were aware of such schemes. This has further marginalize the female members in the society by limiting the social opportunities and transparency in the system of Governance. Similarly, most of the respondent were of the opinion that decision making power mostly lies among the male members of the household. This lack of decision making powers are likely to limit the capabilities by overlooking the concerns of the female during the implementation of projects related to education, health, housings, etc.
Therefore, it is crucial to focus on how these rural communities can derive maximum benefits from the present interventions to avoid the impacts of hazard and climatic variability and simultaneously enhance their ability to adapt to long term climate change.
To identify the GPUs which are relatively more vulnerable and need to be prioritized for reducing the vulnerability of the district, the multidimensional poverty assessment at GPU level is discussed in the next chapter.
5 CHAPTER 5: MULTIDIMENSIONAL POVERTY ASSESSMENT:
A SUB-DISTRICT ANALYSIS TO IDENTIFY PRIORITY AREAS FOR REDUCING CONTEXTUAL VULNERABILITY
15This chapter discusses the status of multidimensional poverty at sub-district level (GPU) in East district. It is interesting to note that there is a variation in the multidimensional poverty across the four GPUs, i.e. Rhenock Tarpin, Sudunglakha, Dolepchen and Rolep Lamaten, from Rhenock and Regoh development blocks. The MPAT scores reflect that the themes fall in high (30-60%) and moderate (60-80%) poverty levels (Figure 5.1 and Table 5.1). The discussion in the chapter is aimed to identify the most vulnerable GPUs theme-wise to prioritize the areas for reducing vulnerability.