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 major programme.
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