Policy Initiative in the field of Watershed development

Home   Policy Initiative in the field of Watershed development

Policy Proposals

The watershed development programme of the Ministry of Rural Development advocated creating a maintenance fund through the contribution of the community. The first and second batches of the programme have completed implementation. During the programme, each village has an accumulated maintenance fund of about Rs 1.0 to Rs.1.5 lakhs. However the Government has frozen these funds to prevent them from being misappropriated. DSC prepared a strategy for utilizing development fund for "Watershed Plus". The chairman submitted the proposal to the government for consideration. The strategy was prepared on the basis of pervious experience and in consultation with other NGOs. DSC suggested dividing development fund under two heads:

• Maintenance Fund: The interest from this fund will be used for maintenance of only common assets. Users will maintain their private assets themselves. The maintenance fund is constituted by the contribution collected at the prescribed rate.
• Development Fund: The fund is constituted by the additional contribution collected by , over and above the prescribed rate. The principal and the interest from this fund will be used as a revolving fund for productivity enhancement activities. Government is expected to issue orders in short future.