IRMA aspirants

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World Bank Assists Orissa to Address Key Social Development Challenges

Bhubaneshwar, March 1, 2006: The World Bank today announced a grant of $1,300,000 (approx.) to the Government of Orissa for its planned ‘Orissa Fund For Development Initiatives’ (OFFDI) aimed at addressing core social development issues facing the state. The grant has been created out of funds provided by the Government of Japan through Japan Social Development Fund Grant which is managed by the World Bank. OFFDI will be implemented in the Districts of Bargarh, Deogarh, Keonjhar and Sambalpur, in addition to Pallahara block of Angul District and Banei block of Sundargargh district.

Speaking at the launch of the programme, the Orissa Chief Minister, Hon’ble Mr. Naveen Patnaik said, “These programs aim to improve livelihoods in a sustainable manner and enhance incomes of the rural poor, particularly skilled workers in the informal sector. I hope this project will strengthen the community based organizations such as self help groups and Vana Samrakshana Samities”.

The key issues, at the center of pro-poor poverty reduction interventions, which OFFDI aims to address include: (1) focus on social inclusion by targeting marginal and vulnerable groups in Orissa; (2) linkage to market through process facilitation (e-market), business development services and (3) creating identity for products through branding. Such initiatives are expected to provide a good framework for linking formal and informal sectors of the economy in new ways that address forward market linkages and provide the support structures for local networks and quality control.

“Orissa’s handloom sector with its rich tradition and unique design has been the second largest source of employment to those who depend on them. Nevertheless, the number has been steadily decreasing due mainly to lack of markets. OFFDI would enable the Government to create a special registered brand for Orissa’s handloom in addition to identifying new products and linking them with markets through, among others, e-market.” said Sam Thangaraj of the World Bank.

According to A.K.Tripathy, Development Commissioner-cum-Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Orissa, the aim of OFFDI will be to help the Government of Orissa in partnership with Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) and community based organizations such as weavers cooperatives, private sector and financial institutions to develop sustainable livelihood systems centering on handlooms, sericulture and medicinal plants. This will enable the poor and vulnerable sections of communities, who depend on them, to have regular and improved income.

Some of the specific initiatives that the Orissa Government plans to undertake under OFFDI include:

1) Setting up of yarn banks, private auction houses for the sale of silk worm cocoons so that rearers get better prices;
2) Capacity building of weavers through training programs for their skills improvement;
3) Establishment of a “fee for service center” which would provide business development services such as new designs, new product development and marketing services.
4) Emphasis on cultivation of medicinal plants by farmers on their land and by community based organizations such as Village Forest Protection Committees. This will not only enable farmers to diversify from traditional agriculture but also help the community based organizations to cultivate them on degraded forest and other common land.
5) Support marketing of medicinal plants and their initial process for value addition

These initiatives will mainly be implemented through Community Livelihood Action Program (CLAP) through innovative pilot projects to be implemented by NGOs and financially viable weavers’ cooperatives and community based organizations. These pilots will be approved by the Government’s Committee for Community Livelihood Action Program which will also have representatives of NGOs.

The genesis of OFFDI can be traced to consultative processes involving NGOs and other civil society organizations associated with the preparation of Orissa Economic Revival Loan/Credit that has been named as Orissa Socio Economic Development Program. During consultations, the participants encouraged the Government and the World Bank to focus on sustainable livelihood systems centering on handloom, sericulture and cultivation of medicinal plants as they would help women and other vulnerable sections of society to have increased and regular income.

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Please visit the following websites for regular updates on India's rural/cooperative sectors--

www.techno-preneur.net/new-timeis/ ScienceTechMag/july03/yourqueries.htm
foodindia.org.in/projects.html
indiabudget.nic.in
dahd.nic.in/fish/marinfish.htm
www.infochangeindia.org/CorporatesrIstory. jsp?recordno=316&section_idv=11
www.hdfc.com/we_development.asp
handicrafts.nic.in/delhi.htm
www.agriclinics.net/subsidy/subsidy-ne.doc

Folks are requested to share whatever links they have for the rural sector, this will be helpful in preparing for the GK section of IRMA test.

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Towards A Blue Revolution

Just as the Green Revolution transformed agriculture in the 1960s, there is a need today for a Blue Revolution that will change the approach to water conservation and management. Water, as a critical issue, needs to move to the center stage of policy-making in this country, as this is a time bomb ready to go off any time. The current dispute arising out of Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) and Kavery river are a grave indicator towards this problem.
Most of us live with the delusion that water is an abundant resource, always available whenever we want it. However, ignorance is not always bliss; and India is undergoing a major crisis. By 2025, our annual water requirement is likely to rise by a huge 40 percent to 1,050 billion cubic meters from the current figure of 750 billion m3. Annual per capita water availability has dropped from 5,000 cubic meters in 1947 to less than 2,200 cubic meters now. A UNICEF report expects this figure to decline to 1,600 cubic meters by the next decade, a level determined by the United Nations as significantly "water-stressed".
Besides the impact of population growth, the demand for freshwater has been rising in response to industrial development, increased reliance on irrigated agriculture, massive urbanization and rising living standards. In this century, while world population has tripled, water withdrawals have increased by over six times. Moreover, the supply of freshwater available to humanity is shrinking, in effect, because many freshwater resources have become increasingly polluted. The World Bank has warned that lack of freshwater is likely to be one of the major factors limiting economic development in the decades to come.
A water-short world is an inherently unstable world. As the next century dawns, water crises in more and more countries will present obstacles to better living standards and better health and even bring risks of outright conflict over access to scarce freshwater supplies. Finding solutions should become a high priority now. We need to wake up before there is no water in our taps.
A holistic approach is needed that involves everybody. It is important to use water optimally and find ways for future reuse of water. Major initiatives require the concerted and coordinated efforts of government, industry, technology-providers and the general public. Construction of water harvesting and conservation structures like reservoirs, ponds, channels, etc. is important. Reducing the transmission and distribution losses would also yield significant benefits.
Industry needs to adopt measures to use less water, conserve more and recycle wastewater. An independent regulatory authority should lay down standards of water consumption and enforce those. The Govt. needs to strictly punish the defaulters and reward the implementers. Financial support and tax benefits need to be part of the overall strategy. With this industry needs to take lead.
Technology is there with enough success stories. What is needed is a change in attitude and an increased focus on this issue. Politically unpopular steps may need to be taken as pricing of water to better reflect market realities. Interestingly, some recent studies have shown a greater "Willingness to Pay" by the users as compared to the "Willingness to Charge" by the authorities. A realization that water is an expensive resource may act as the best spur for more action on this front. Community involvement and decentralized decision-making may be the best guarantee of success. The time for talk may be soon running out. Unfortunately, the time for action will also not be too long.

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INDIAN AGRICULTUREIntroduction

India has made lot of progress in agriculture since independence in terms of growth in output, yields and area under many crops. It has gone through a green revolution, a white revolution, a yellow revolution and a blue revolution. Today, India is the largest producer of milk, fruits, cashew nuts, coconuts and tea in the world, the second largest producer of wheat, vegetables, sugar and fish and the third largest producer of tobacco and rice. The per capita availability of food grains has risen in the country from 350 gm in 1951 to near about 400 gm per day now, of milk from less than 125 gm to 226 gm per day and of eggs from 5 to 30 per annum despite the increase in population from 35 crores to 95 crores. At present only 2330 per cent of the farmers are able to derive any benefits of extension services provided by various government agencies and every year about 20 per cent of the crop is lost due to mishandling, spillage, floods, droughts and pests and diseases. In fruits and vegetables the loss is around 30 per cent.

Outlook

Agriculture accounts for 22 per cent of the GDP and provides livelihoods to 58 per cent of the country's population. Over the years, the agriculture sector has not received as much attention as other sectors in services and manufacturing. The emerging areas in agriculture like horticulture, floriculture, organic farming, genetic engineering, food processing branding and packaging have high potentials of growth. Development of rural infrastructure, rural extension services, agro-based and food processing industries are essential for generating employment and reducing poverty.

Indian agriculture suffers from a mismatch between food crops and cash crops, low yields per hectare except for wheat, volatility in production and wide disparities of productivity over regions and crops. Domestic production of pulses and oilseeds are still below the domestic requirements and India imports pulses and edible oils to satisfy domestic demand. India is the second largest producer of rice and wheat in the world, first in pulses production and fourth in coarse grains. A distinct bias in agricultural price support policies in favour of rice and wheat has distorted cropping pattern and input usage. Market for farm output continues to be subject to heavy procurement interventions. A shift from minimum support price system and developing alternative product markets are essential fro crop diversification and broad based agricultural development.

In recent years there has been considerable emphasis on the development of horticulture and floriculture through the creation of critical infrastructure for cold storage, refrigerated transportation, processing, packaging and quality control. India is the largest producer of coconut, cashew nuts, ginger, turmeric and black pepper and the second largest producer of groundnut, fruits and vegetables. India accounts for 10 per cent of the world fruit production with first rank in the production of banana, sapota and acid lime. India is also the largest producer of milk, the fifth largest producer of egg and the seventh largest producer of egg and the seventh largest producer of meat. It is necessary to improve cold storage and transportation facilities and develop efficient marketing and export networks to optimize the production and export potentialities in respect of these products.

Food management is inefficient with unsustainable level of food subsidies imposing heavy burden on Government finance. The rural economy and the private sector lack the basic infrastructure to build up sufficient buffer stocks and the country remains vulnerable to weather shocks. In recent years, the Central Government has provided various fiscal incentives for improving rural storage facilities. The Central Government is also providing financial assistance to the State Governments for procurement and distribution of food grains at subsidized rates, particularly to the families below the poverty line.

The enhanced availability of bank credits through priority lending to agriculture and agro based industries, favorable terms of trade, liberalized domestic and external trade for agricultural products attracted private investment in agriculture in recent years. It is likely that with the appropriate policy initiatives, this process will accelerate in the future.

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Bridge the Digital Divide - Innovation at the Grass Roots
One of the members of GCMMF, the Banas dairy, has started a unique initiative called the Internet Sewa Project in their district called Banaskantha. This is a village-level effort at bridging the Digital Divide by providing information kiosks at the Village Cooperative level. Each village has one information kiosk, which is the single point of contact for Internet and other e-governance activities for the co-op. Official forms, educational applications and local market prices are provided at the information kiosk so that people do not have to travel all the way to the district headquarters for this information. Go to http://www.banas.chiraag.com to see an actual site. To address poor connectivity at some sites, the Banas dairy uses a wireless connection to the Internet. The wireless equipment is cheap since there is only a one-time setup charge and no recurring charges. To improve the farmer members' living standards and to facilitate affordable Internet access services, the district union has also become a local Internet Service Provider (ISP) using these Village Information Kiosks. Today the services are subsidised but the goal is for the kiosks to become self- supporting.

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AGRICULTURE - IN AN ERA OF SELF-SUFFICIENCY

The present Indian agriculture scenario gives a picture of satisfaction and optimism. Today, India is the largest producer of fruits in the world and second largest producer of vegetables. The country which is self sufficient in food production is also one of the largest producer of milk. With a record production of more than 198 million metric tonnne of foodgrains last year, a fourfold increase over the output in 1947, India has indeed come a long way from the drought years of the mid-1960s when survival depended on ship loads of food aid.


Agrarian Reforms
The feudal order inherited from the colonial administration at Independence was stifling agriculture growth. Stratification of rural society into several layers of tenants, subtenants and rentier landlords, almost completely alienated the cultivator from the land. There was scarcely an incentive to invest in land and increase productivity.
Agrarian reform to abolish the old order and empower the tiller of the land was initiated by several States in the early 1950s through Land Reform legislation. Multiple land tenures were replaced by a simplified uniform system, whereby, almost all cultivators were accorded proprietary rights. The abolition of zamindari was a step towards a more equitable agrarian structure, one that encouraged investment in land and therefore, led to gains in productivity.
Another major step in agrarian reform was the consolidation of fragmented landholdings through legislation by various States. The Ceiling on Land holding Acts of the 1960s which placed a ceiling on ownership of different categories of land ensured redistribution of surplus land to the rural landless. Land reforms of 1970s provided for redistribution of and leasing out of surplus common village lands to the poor and landless in the rural areas, especially the scheduled castes and tribes.

Green Revolution
The agricultural growth in the country saw three phases with the Green Revolution as watershed. The pre-Green Revolution phase was characterised by production gains achieved largely through area expansion. The Green Revolution, marked by productivity increases through the use of high yielding technology and modern inputs, has been the major instrument behind the impressive gains in foodgrain output in India. Foodgrain production increased almost four-fold from about 50 million at Independence to more than 198 million metric tonnne in 1996-97. Per capita availability rose from 395 grams per day to 578 grams in the same period.
Wheat output rose ten times from 6 million to 69 million metric tons in the past five decades. Rice output was relatively modest with only a fourfold increase from 20 million to 80 million metric tonne. Pulse production rose from about 8 million to nearly 15 million metric tonne. Despite variations in the performance of individual crops and regions, total foodgrain production maintained a growth of 2.7 per cent per annum, which kept ahead of population growth at about 2.2 per cent per cent per annum. In addition, the danger of severe food scarcities became a thing of the past as also the dependence on imports. Unlike the droughts of the mid-1960s, severe droughts in 1979-80 and 1987-88 were tided over largely from reserve domestic stocks. The country could take care of its food security.

White, Blue and Yellow Revolution
The third phase of agricultural growth is emanating from the diversification and commercialisation of agriculture to high value crops, horticulture, floriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries and sericulture. There has been commendable progress in the field of dairy, oilseeds, sugarcane and cotton. With 69 million tonne India is one of the largest producers of milk in the world. Milk production quadrupled from 17 million at Independence to 69 million metric tonne at present (popularly known as the White Revolution). Fish production rose from 7.5 million to nearly 50 million metric tonne during the last five decades (Blue Revolution). Oilseed production increased five times from around 5 million to 25 million metric tonne since Independence (Yellow Revolution).
Sugarcane production has risen fivefold from 57 million to 270 million metric tonne. Cotton production has registered an increase from 3 million to 15 million bales. India is the largest producer of fruit in the world and the second largest producer of vegetables.

Use of Modern Inputs
The High Yielding Varieties (HYVs) of seeds formed the core of the modern agricultural technology. Public sector institutions, such as the National Seeds Corporation, the State Farms Corporation of India and the State Seeds Corporations are engaged in the production and multiplication of improved seed and planting material. As a result, the quantity of certified and quality seeds almost negligible at the time of Independence has shown a quantum jump and is currently placed at 7 million quintals. In addition, over 500 private seed companies are engaged in their own research and also supply seed and planting material to the farmers.
The modern HYVs required associated inputs of irrigation, fertilizer and pesticides to be effective. The Indian farmer was quick to adopt the new practices. The consumption of fertilizers which was less than 70,000 metric tonne in 1950-51, shot to about 15 million metric tonne. Gross area under irrigation increased three times from 22 million hectare. Institutional Credit to agriculture was a mere Rs.240 million at Independence, it is now about Rs.290,000 million.

Price Policy and Market Support
Agricultural production received a further impetus from the Agriculture Price Policy of the Government which aims at ensuring that the farmer gets a remunerative price for his produce and that there is no occasion for distress sale. Enforcement of this policy has insulated the farmer from major price fluctuations and provided an assured market for his surpluses. Minimum Support Prices for as many as 24 major agricultural commodities are fixed on the basis of recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices and the Government organises price support operations through the Food Corporation of India, National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation, Cotton Corporation of India and the Jute Corporation of India.

Research and Extension Work
Most of the technologies that have fuelled the Green and other revolutions of the past decades have been generated and disseminated from a research and extension institutional network painstakingly built up in the last fifty years. The national agricultural research system in India, with some 30,000 scientists, is one of the largest in the world. At present, there are 49 Central Research Institutes, 30 National Research Institutes, and several other sub-programmes functioning under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). Two international agricultural research centres, the ICRISAT and International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) are also based in India. In addition, there are 26 State Agricultural Universities and 262 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) engaged in the generation, assessment and refinement of technologies.
The story of extension services in the country is replete with innovations and unrelenting desire to reach the farmers. For dissemination of these technologies to the farmers there are some 110,000 extension personnel in the State governments. Besides, a National Agricultural Extension Management Institute, four regional Extension Education Institutes and State level Farmer Training Centres and agriculture schools conduct farmers training in the new technologies. Information support to agricultural extension has been developed through exhibitions, print media as well as the electronic media. Regular programmes for farmers, including news, weather and price bulletins and other market information are aired through All India Radio, Doordarshan, as well as local radio and Television stations.

Weak Areas
Spectacular, as these achievements have been, several worrying issues have surfaced. Among these are the relative tardiness in the rate of growth in comparison to other countries and the uneven spread of benefits of development across crops, regions and sections of the rural populace. The indices of agriculture production with 1989-91=100 as base year, only 116 in the case of India in 1996, 147 for China, 151 for Myanmar and 123 for Pakistan.
Again, as in other areas, we are not free from problems thrown up in the wake of prosperity. Second-generation worries plague us, concerning the sustainability of the use of our natural resources, particularly, land and water. There are also in place adhoc mechanisms such as market intervention scheme which address similar problems relating to perishable commodities, specially horticultural commodities. Though these interventions are fairly effective, the sheer magnitude of the task suggests that the issues of price and market support require special attention in future.

Looking Ahead
While the greatness of our very considerable achievements is a cause for pride and pleasure, the responsibility that we have now to shoulder to overcome the systematic weaknesses and to consolidate upon the inherent strength of the agriculture sector is of a sobering magnitude.
More than 300 million people remain undernourished, despite all our advances, and in the 21st century food needs of a population over billion people will have to be met. Moreover, the role of agriculture cannot be limited to fulfilling food requirements of the people, but would have to address the issue of providing enhanced incomes to farmers through higher value addition to their produce. Concerns of environmentally sustainable agricultural growth must necessarily be integrated into future development strategies. New agricultural technologies such as those provided by bio-technology will need to be generated, harnessed and rapidly disseminated, if these challenges are to be met.
It is estimated that by 2007 foodgrain requirement will be of the order of 285 million metric tonne if we are to feed a population of about 1102 million. Future strategies to ensure a minimum growth of 4.5 per cent per annum will envisage implementing agricultural reforms through policy and institutional changes.

New Management Approach The Central Government may have to move away from what currently appears to be a programmatic approach to a Macro Management mode. While the States must focus on the primary initiatives for the development of agriculture, the Central Government may supplement and complement these efforts and also undertake independent initiatives in areas directly in its purview.

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All about India's rural job guarantee scheme

Here's a primer on all you want to know about the government's rural job guarantee scheme.
The World Bank says that more than 30 per cent of the Indian population lives on less than $1 (Rs 43.50) a day, but Indian economists believe the figure of poor -- especially rural poor -- could be much higher.
We have tried to fight poverty by various means, but have met with little success. So what India needs is something more lasting than patchwork policies to help its millions of poverty stricken people.
The government feels that the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act can solve that problem, given that it has the potential to provide a livelihood of millions. But will the plan succeed? Why is there resistance to it? What will it cost the nation? Read on. . .
What does the Bill promise?
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill, 2004 promises wage employment to every rural household, in which adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. Through this Bill the government, aims at removing poverty by assuring at least 100 days' employment.
The word 'poor household' was replaced by 'household' for guaranteeing jobs in every household for one person.
The original Bill had laid down that it would be applicable only to families living Below the Poverty Line.

Jobs for rural poor: Will the plan work?

Who will run the show?
State governments, Panchayati Raj institutions as well as non-government organisations would be involved in implementing the law.
Who is the chief designer of the scheme?
Jean Dreze, a Belgian economist, who is currently with the Delhi School of Economics, is the chief author of the scheme.
What is the minimum wage promised?
The minimum daily wage had been pegged at Rs 60.
How much has been allotted for this purpose?
The United Progressive Alliance government in the Budget for 2005-06 had raised the allocation for the Rural Development Ministry to Rs 24,000 crore (Rs 240 billion).
How much will it cost India annually?
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act will cost about Rs 40,000 (Rs 400 billion) crore annually.
According to another estimate, however, it could cost about Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion) annually, or about slightly less than 2 per cent of GDP.
Where will the money come from?
The rural development ministry currently is allocated Rs 24,000 crore (Rs 240 billion) annually for all its schemes. To meet the total cost of the ambitious scheme, states will still have to shell out Rs 4,000 crore (Rs 40 billion). The rest of the Rs 12,000 crore {(Rs 120 billion) assuming the total cost works out to Rs 40,000 crore} might be raised from other schemes whose allocations may now be merged into this project.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram says that the government will meet the requirement for the job guarantee scheme by:

• Normal increase in budgetary support;
• Savings from existing employment schemes; and
• Additional allocation in gross budgetary support to states.

Chidambaram said the states' share in the funding is only 10 per cent. In his Budget for 2005-06, Chidambaram had stated that the National Food for Work Programme would be converted into the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme with an allocation of Rs 11,000 crore.
Where will it be first implemented?
To begin with, as many as 200 districts, including 150 districts under the Food for Work Programme, would be covered under the Bill. It would be extended to all the 600 districts in the country within five years.
The Bill also provides for unemployment allowances if the job, under the scheme, is not provided in the rural households.
What is India's rural population?
According to the last Census, 72 crore (720 million) people lived in rural areas.
What is the unemployment rate in India?
Currently it is said to be around 7.8 per cent, unemployment has been rising in India. This has led to a migration of huge numbers of people from rural to urban areas.
With over 65 per cent of India's population under the age of 35, the country needs to create 6 crore (60 million) jobs over the next five years to prevent the unemployment rate from gaining unmanageable proportions.
What are the demerits of the Bill?

• The decision to provide Rs 60 per day for a guaranteed 100 days rural employment translated to only Rs 500 a month, which is not sufficient to run a family.
• The law could lead to friction within a family over selection of the member to be provided the job.
• It is feared that in the process women and physically challenged could be left out.
• The decision to make the state governments finance 10 per cent of the scheme could lead to financial problems because of the poor financial conditions of some states.

Why is there more resistance to the scheme?
Many people feel that the huge cost of the scheme might not be affordable for the country. Some analysts say that this could lead to a sharp rise in interest rates and the nation's fiscal deficit.
Other critics of the scheme say that this will spawn, nay encourage, corruption.

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WATERSHED DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA
1. BACKGROUND

Watershed development activity was taken up in the country prior to independence in the state of Maharashtra (then Bombay State) as scarcity relief work during drought years in which contour bunding programme for conservation of moisture and control of soil erosion was mostly undertaken. After independence, during the second five-year plan, soil conservation research, demonstration and training centres were established in different agro-ecological zones. In the State of Uttar Pradesh, the state government established a soil conservation research and demonstration training centre at Rehmankhera. Simultaneously, soil conservation activities on farmers’ fields were also started in different states for which almost all the states formulated State Soil Conservation Acts based on the model act circulated by Government of India, Ministry of Agriculture. Uttar Pradesh also formulated an Act in the year 1954, which was replaced by the modified act of "U.P. Bhumi Evam Jal Sanrakshan Adhinium, 1963". This was done to overcome the practical problems faced in the implementation of some provisions of the earlier Act. Soil and Water Conservation Boards are established to guide, monitor and take up soil conservation activities in the state. In fact, soil conservation activities taken up earlier were on watershed basis, which have now been renamed as "watershed development programmes".
Subsequently, a number of schemes and projects like soil conservation in predominantly agricultural lands, soil conservation in drought prone areas (DPAP), soil conservation in chronically drought-affected areas, soil conservation in flood prone areas, soil conservation under desert development programme, soil conservation in catchment areas of dams, that is, river valley projects, Damodar valley project, National Watershed Development Programme for Rainfed Areas (NWDPRA), Million Wells Scheme (MWS), etc. were taken up in different states and different regions.
In fact, soil conservation activities being labour intensive, were also undertaken as calamity relief measures during floods, droughts, etc. as a measure of sustenance for the poor people of the affected areas. Two major employment generation programmes of National Rural Employment Programme (NREP) and Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme (RLEGP) had a major component of soil conservation activities.

2. SHORTCOMINGS IN THE EARLIER PROGRAMMES

1. All these programmes were government-run programmes having negligible ownership by the beneficiaries.
2. People’s participation was missing. This has resulted in apathy of the beneficiaries and they never owned the activity.
3. The entire watershed was not taken up for treatment. Only agricultural lands belonging to farmers were treated. There was partial treatment, and as such common properties/lands were left uncovered. The ridge to valley concept was ignored.
4. There was no provision for maintenance of works.
5. Holistic approach was missing, that is, only infrastructural soil conservation works like contour bunding, land leveling, gully plugs, check dams, etc. were constructed with no follow-up of agricultural production activity. It was left to normal production programmes, which was not done in a systematic way. There was a lack of multi-disciplinary approach.
6. Therefore, since there was lack of participatory approach, local knowledge of beneficiaries and their traditional conservative practices and experiences were not utilized.
7. Different cost norms and subsidy patterns for different schemes and projects, for the same type of work, created fuss amongst beneficiaries.
8. There were strict and rigid guidelines, while they should be flexible.

<B> 3. CHANGES DONE

</B>In the decade of the nineties, all soil conservation activities were remodeled, based on past experiences. Major thrust was given on participatory approach in all activities from planning, execution and monitoring of programmes. In fact, now funds are provided for complete watershed treatments. National Watershed Development Programme for Rainfed Areas (NWDPRA) was launched in which a holistic approach including basic soil conservation activities along with production was initiated. At present, two ministries in Government of India are implementing watershed development activities, viz. Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperation (NRM Division) and Ministry of Rural Development (Land Resources Department). Earlier, these ministries followed different guidelines, but now both ministries have adopted common guidelines.
Along with government departments, NGOs are also now involved in the implementation of the programme. For ensuring beneficiary participation, Watershed Development Teams (WDTs), Watershed Associations (WAs) and Watershed Committees (WCs) are formulated. These committees are involved at all stages, right from planning to execution and monitoring. Beneficiaries are also supposed to contribute in the execution upto 10 to 20 percent in terms of labour or cash involvement. In fact, earlier programmes executed with no beneficiary contribution resulted in higher cost of works and also lack of ownership by the beneficiaries.

<B> 4. PANCHAYATI RAJ AND WATERSHED DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

</B>Under the 73rd Constitutional Amendment, all village developmental activities are to be undertaken by Panchayats. While guidelines formulated provide for a number of committees and teams, this may result in some conflict of interests. In fact, Panchayati Raj Institute (PRI) is a permanent constitutional body as against temporary teams and committees constituted under watershed management guidelines issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperation, Government of India. There is a need for having linkage between the two.
This issue was thoroughly discussed during the recent International Conference on land and water resource management held at New Delhi in November 2000. It was agreed that the Chairman of the WC would be nominated as the ex-officio member of the Land and Water Management Committee of the Panchayat. This body should take up follow-up activities as well as maintenance of the works. Panchayats may charge or put some levy for generating funds for maintenance of works executed in the project area. This way, proper linkages can be established and there should be no conflict. In fact, the Ministry of Rural Development should issue such directives to State Governments. Each State Government can issue necessary instructions to Panchayats to nominate the Chairman as one of the ex-officio members of the Land and Water Management Committee and ensure proper linkages between panchayats and watershed development programmes. Panchayats themselves may take up the role of Project Implementor (PI) wherever they can take up these activities. However, since Panchayats are responsible for multifarious activities like education, sanitation, health, etc., it will not be proper for them to take up watershed development activities. These works should be entrusted to Watershed Associations (WAs) and Watershed Committees (WCs) given in the guidelines.

The other alternative can be as suggested in the guidelines for NWDPRA, that is, the Panchayat should nominate one of their members on the Watershed Committee (WC) or the Watershed Committee should be declared as a sub-committee of the Management Committee under the Panchayati Raj Act. It is worth mentioning here that the "Ralegaon Siddhi Project" in Maharashtra, Tejpura Project in Jhansi and Sukno Majri Project in Chandigarh are all good examples of watershed development activity with people’s participation. This has to be taken as an important national programme and we should encourage a movement for watershed activities, particularly in predominantly rainfed areas. Water harvesting should be a major component of this programme, which will ensure improvement in productivity from rainfed areas besides maintaining ecological balance.

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ICRISAT to collaborate with CII and Coca Cola Foundation on watershed development.

CII - ICRISAT & Coca-Cola Foundation Collaboration for Backward Areas Development through Strategic Intervention in Watershed Development The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Coca-Cola Foundation will collaborate for sustainable and equitable management of Rural Water Resources Infrastructure and other Natural Resources Management (NRM) through "watershed+" interventions in Dungarpur district in Rajasthan and Thirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu.

The objective of the collaboration is to improve the livelihood of poor and marginal farmers in the project villages. Further, this is also to evolve a strategy for rapid up scaling in the region such that optimum scales required for translating development interventions in to significant enhancements of land & water use productivity, agri production and rural incomes are achieved. This will be through plugging gaps in soil and water conservation projects, creating water access for poorly endowed families and efficient use of rainwater for improved agricultural practices. The farmers' income will be further enhanced through diversification into high-value water efficient crops.

The collaboration is expected to lead to a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between ICRISAT and CII, which will provide a framework for cooperation on NRM and related activities in rainfed areas. ICRISAT and CII will undertake
action-research on rainfed agriculture, conjunctive use of water resource and development of policy and institutions for sustainable & equitable management of water and other natural resources. Training and capacity
building of target communities will be an important part of this project.

Within the framework of the MoA the Coca-Cola Foundation's financial support will be used to implement "watershed+" interventions in Dungarpur and Thirunelveli districts. The Coca-Cola Foundation -- supported by the Company and its bottling partners - works around the world to improve the quality of life in their communities.

According to Dr William Dar, Director General of ICRISAT, the collaboration with CII and the Coca Cola Foundation will strengthen the institute's partnership with the private sector to help the farmers in the drylands of
India. This collaboration will add to ICRISAT's public-private partnerships, which include collaboration on watershed development with the Sir Dorabjee Tata Trust and the TVS Agricultural Science Research Institute."

According to Mr. S. Sen, Dy. Director General, Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), "The CII slogan for the year 2005-06 was 'Inclusive growth' and a number of initiatives have been taken by CII in the Private-Public partnership model to improve the livelihoods of the Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP). CII believes that a third category of partners i.e., knowledge partner is required to provide science and technology inputs. This project being presented here is a first step in this direction." These projects have evolved through CII initiative and it will be facilitating the smooth execution of these projects. CII appreciates the efforts of Coca-Cola India to help forge this linkage between Coca-Cola Foundation and ICRISAT.

According to Mr. Deepak Jolly, Vice-President, Public Affairs & Communication, Coca-Cola India, "A rapidly growing population, increasing food requirements and improved lifestyles along with industrial development
in the country has resulted in competing demand for finite water resources. To achieve food and fodder security and to tackle the water scarcity problem in the country demands efficient use of rainwater and an overall water
management plan. We are happy that our Foundation is supporting two such initiatives where ICRISAT in partnership with CII will be undertaking watershed development projects in Dungarpur and Thirunelveli."

The one-year project will have a project outlay of US$ 140,000 entirely supported by the Coca-Cola Foundation. ICRISAT has a long-standing experience in watershed development research. In addition to several watershed projects in the India, the institute has implemented projects in Thailand, Vietnam, China, and Ethiopia. These projects are implemented in partnership with the national agricultural research systems, the private sector, NGOs, and farmers.

In ICRISAT's integrated genetic and natural resources management programme, the aim is to use participatory research and development to build the capacities of the farmers and community-based organizations to manage their resources efficiently and sustainably. The immediate result of integrated watershed management is enhanced water availability (both groundwater and surface water) for drinking and agricultural purposes. ICRISAT leverages its strength in quality research to help the poor by building their capacity to help themselves.