IRAP focuses on households and it measures their access needs in terms of the time and effort necessary to gain access to various goods, services and facilities as well as looking at the quality of services provided. The main aim of using IRAP as a planning tool is to identify problems that rural households have in accessing services and goods and to identify and prioritise interventions that will improve peoples’ access in rural areas.
This IRAP operation manual has been specifically developed for the State of Orissa in the context of the decentralised planning system in operation through the Panchayati Raj Institutions where the Gram Panchayat is recognised as the lowest mandated government unit responsible for local level planning.
IRAP in Orissa has been developed through pilot demonstrations in the state covering Khallikote Block of Ganjam District. This IRAP process has the potential to be mainstreamed and up-scaled by the Panchayati Raj Institutions for Gram Panchayat level micro planning.