Angikaar: Campaign for Convergence and Change Management for PMAY-U Beneficiaries

June 30, 2020

By Simran Pal Kaur

Research Associate at IHF

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) launched Angikaar, a campaign aimed at mobilising communities for change management, on August 29, 2019. The campaign was implemented for beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Urban (PMAY-U) whose houses were completed under PMAY-U. After a month of conducting a needs assessment exercise, the campaign was launched at the city level on October 2, 2019 on the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

The Angikaar campaign had the dual focus of

ensuring convergence between PMAY-U and other Government of India (GoI) schemes and missions being implemented under different ministries, while
driving behaviour change among beneficiaries of PMAY-U using information, education and communication (IEC) activities.

Convergence

Under the Angikaar campaign, door-to-door surveys were conducted to connect PMAY-U beneficiaries to the following schemes and services:

Ayushman Bharat: Under the aegis of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), also known as Ayushman Bharat, offers free treatment at empanelled hospitals for eligible citizens.
Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana: This scheme under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas supports eligible households to shift to a smoke-free kitchen for better health by providing subsidised LPG connections.
Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM): Under MoHUA, SBM encourages waste segregation and cleanliness.
Jal Shakti Abhiyan: This scheme under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, works towards water conservation and promotes water conservation through rainwater harvesting, wastewater reuse and reduction in water consumption.
Tree Plantation: Under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC), this campaign was planned to conduct tree plantations drives at the ward and the city level.
Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA): This scheme under the Ministry of Power focuses on energy conservation and provides access to subsidised LED bulbs.
Solar Energy: This scheme is implemented by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) for promoting solar energy devices.

Figure 1 illustrates the comprehensive convergence of other schemes and services with the PMAY-U achieved under the Angikaar campaign.

Figure 1: Convergence of GoI schemes and missions under Angikaar

Source: PMAY-U Mission, MoHUA (https://pmay-urban.gov.in/assets/images/1.Campaign for Change Management.pdf)

Behaviour Change

The nation-wide change management campaign influenced social behaviour change among beneficiaries. This was ultimately aimed at going beyond the conception of a house as four walls and a roof, supporting PMAY-U beneficiaries in getting linked to basic amenities and lifestyle choices that would lead to a fulfilling experience and improved quality of life in their new PMAY-U house.

The households were supported to adapt to their new pucca houses and adopt the best practices that address the pressing lifestyle challenges of water and energy conservation, waste management, health and sanitation. This was expected to allow beneficiaries to learn efficient methods to maintain their new houses and simultaneously benefit from the provision of essential civic services.

Process

The entire campaign was monitored through committees constituted at the Central, state and district levels. All campaign activities were primarily funded through funds under PMAY-U earmarked for capacity building, IEC and administrative and other expenses (A&OE).

The campaign was launched on August 29, 2019, upon which an orientation was conducted for Angikaar Resource Persons (ARPs), State and City Level Technical Cells (SLTC/CLTCs), urban local bodies and nominated staff of other departments. ARPs included community resource persons (CRPs), self help groups (SHGs), civil society organisations (CSOs), educational institutions, domain experts, public representatives, corporate social responsibility (CSR) partners and other volunteers.

Following this, a door-to-door awareness campaign on schemes and services along with an app-based needs assessment survey was conducted by the ARPs during August 30, 2019 to September 30, 2019. The Angikaar module in the existing PMAY-U mobile app enabled the ARPs to capture the need assessment of PMAY-U beneficiaries during the door-to-door survey. The app worked in real time to synchronise with the Ayushman Bharat and Ujjwala schemes and check eligibility to provide benefits under the scheme to eligible PMAY-U beneficiaries. The app also allowed geo-tagging the photos of beneficiaries during the assessment. ARPs received an honorarium for each successfully uploaded needs assessment.

After the door-to-door survey and needs assessment phase was completed, city-level awareness campaigns were launched across the country on October 2, 2019. The dissemination of key messages at the ward level was done through SMS, distribution of leaflets, vehicular announcements, street plays and other campaign tools. The city-level awareness campaigns were conducted from October 3 to December 9, 2019.

Impact Assessment

Upon conclusion of the planned campaign activities, feedback on these activities was gained through telephonic calls and surveys to understand the effectiveness of the campaign. The impact assessment framework developed included both qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Impact assessment framework for Angikaar campaign

Source: PMAY-U Mission, MoHUA (https://pmay-urban.gov.in/assets/images/1.Campaign for Change%20Management.pdf)

Conclusion

The Angikaar campaign was successfully conducted under the vision of MoHUA to meet the multiple objectives of enabling beneficiary households in adapting to their newly constructed homes under PMAY-U through social behaviour change, while also aiding convergence with other essential GoI schemes and services related to basic household amenities as well as essential infrastructure provisions such as rainwater harvesting, waste management systems, tree plantation, etc. By encouraging the households to adopt sustainable and healthy practices that would contribute to a better lifestyle, the Angikaar campaign has provided a useful structure for ensuring that the housing infrastructure delivered under PMAY-U gets utilised sustainably and serves the long-term needs of the residents. To ensure continued success on this front, similar city-level awareness campaigns may need to be conducted on a recurring periodic basis after incorporating the learning from the impact assessment that was conducted for the inaugural city-level Angikaar campaigns.