Presented By :

MUKUL NARAYAN
IIIrd YEAR B.Tech. Agrl.
Engg.
TNAU
TAMIL NADU, INDIA
E-mail :
mukulnryn@gmail.com
 NGO
and its role in
WATERSHED
DEVELOPMENT
 NGO
NGO (Nongovernmental Organization) is an
organization that is not part of the local or
state or federal government.
OR
It can also be defined as autonomous non-profit
and non-party/politically-unaffiliated organizations
that advance a particular cause or set of causes in
the public interest.
The NGO’s may be broadly classified as
traditional, community based and
government sponsored.
In this, Government sponsored voluntary
sector comprises agencies engaged in
welfare programmes such as rural
development, afforestation programmes
(Vana sama rakshana Societies), watershed
management, health and education
services (Parent Teacher associations,
Village Education Committees) as well as
those engaged in research and evaluation.
Watershed development is not merely a
matter of harvesting rainwater. Its success
crucially entails working out collective
protocols of equitable and sustainable use
of surface and ground water, bringing
together of scientists and farmers to evolve
a dry land agriculture package and a host
of other livelihood options and the
mobilisation of rural communities in the
direction of the disadvantaged. Many NGOs
in India have set examples in one or more
of these challenges.
We, therefore, tend to agree with the
National Advisory Council that the role of
NGOs can be very important. But it is clear
that two problems need to be addressed:

– How to find genuine NGOs with quality

and

– How to ensure that NGOs do not end up

becoming mere oases* of excellence.
 GO – NGO collaboration

Joint Forest Management and Watershed

Development from 1990 onwards is a good
example of a sustained effort at testing the
efficacy of different institutions with respect to GO-
NGO collaboration. Several institutions have been
involved in these programs.
 In 1994, the department of land
resources of the Ministry of Rural
Development had circulated the Guidelines for
Watershed Development (GWD). GWD aimed
to bring local communities to the center stage
and move the administration towards a
facilitating role. It proposed a user-friendly
organizational structure with Watershed
Associations (WAs) and elected/nominated
watershed committees undertaking
field/village-level implementation of each
watershed.
The Haryali Programme from 2001 made
panchayat bodies sole managers of watershed
development activities. Other institutions that
had participated effectively in watershed
management were completely sidelined.
Moreover, Haryali guidelines have also
reduced the budget for community
development and capacity building.
One of the main criticisms of the Haryali
Guidelines has been that they completely do
away with the concept of the Village
Watershed Committee (VWC). The Haryali
Guidelines hand over the VWC's role to the
Gram Panchayat (GP).
The panchayat bodies have not always been
efficient watershed managers largely because
they are territorial units and not ecological
entities and technically not equipped.

So it was decided that ,if a Grama panchayat

has several watersheds, then each
watershed area should have its own
Watershed Association (WAs)
Joint Forest Management with participation
of local communities was another initiative
started in the nineties under different D.O.s in
different states.

However, the Clauses governing the setting up of

the Committees often created an asymmetrical
power structure with the government department’s
nominee having the power to dissolve the
Committee.
 CAPART’s achievement in Watershed
Training Program

A very interesting innovation in this

regard has been attempted by ‘Council for
Advancement of People’s Action and Rural
Technology’ (CAPART) through its Support
Voluntary Organisation (SVO) programme
for watershed training. SVOs have also set
up an excellent system for capacity building
and field-support.
The idea of this organization was that each
state would have one or more (depending
on training needs) SVOs who could help
develop one or more Master Trainer
Organisations (MTOs) at the district-level.
MTOs would in turn take up the
responsibility of training PIAs within the
district.
 NGO’s as facilitating agencies

Rural Communities, if they are to be

promoted and developed as community-
based organisations, require facilitating
agencies that are skilled in motivating and
organising local groups to work for a
common purpose.

Facilitating agencies, preferably competent

NGOs, should be selected through a
rigorous and transparent process as
indicated in the guidelines to be formulated
by the respective national board of each
In Watershed Development - (MoRD,) only
PRIs can work as facilitating agencies. Scope
for selecting more suitable facilitating
agencies even when available with proven
record is very limited.

In Joint Forest Management –(MoEF) there is

no mention of the role of facilitating agencies.
The role of NGOs is mentioned as motivators
without specifying their position in the scheme
and financial support.
 CONCLUSION

To correct improper land use and provide

sustainability of the natural resources within
watersheds, the contribution of local people
is so necessary. NGOs can play very
important roles in such participation.
 REFERENCE
1. www.wassan.org
2. www. watershed.rajasthan.gov.in
3. www.ispwdk.org
Thank
You