Rajiv Gandhi Mission for Watershed Management

 
Rajiv Gandhi Mission for Watershed Development Started on 20th August 1994 with objective of improving the land and water resources and thereby productivity of 12 hectares of degraded land in Madhya Pradesh. The Mission attempts to integrate concerns of poverty reduction and environmental regeneration through a strategy of participatory watershed management. The Mission was premised on the understanding that the livelihood security crisis that people faced in environmentally degraded lands was the result of a distortion in the relationship between people and their natural resource base.
 
Objectives
 
  The other objectives of the Rajiv Gandhi Mission for Watershed Development are:  
· Providing sustainable livelihood to rural people.  
· Improving environmental resource base.
· Improving agricultural production from rain fed areas by treating12 lakh hectares in 5 years.  
· Maximising people's participation in the management of land and water resources.  
· Reducing the vulnerability of people to drought fluctuations in agricultural production.  
 

 
 
Strategy
 
· The strategy is to concentrate action on a watershed basis and plan for integrated and composite group of structures.  
· Pooling scientific inputs to provide a sound planning base through Technical advisory Group at State level, district watershed Development Team and Project Officer for each Watershed.
· Scientific geohydrological mapping of each watershed. 
· Involving people in the management of watershed.
· Enhancing skills through training.  
· Creating awareness in the community on the need to conserve land and water resources and on the method of doing this.  
· Developing institutional arrangements that bring people and technocrats together for watershed.
· Pooling sectoral funds for watershed development.  
· Phased implementation
· Pilot projects to be given to NGO/ Private Sector/ University where they become programme implementation agency.

 
 
Highlights of Mission Performance
 

·

 Mission now works in 7827 Villages in an area covering 33.91 lakh hectares.  
· Soil and moisture conservatio works have been completed in 12 lakh hectares of land.  
· 30344 User Goups and Self help groups formed in watersheds.  
· 5304 Women Thrift and Credit Groups operational with a saving of over 4.15 crore.  
· Over Rs. 3 crore has been voluntarily contributed by the user groups for the maintenance of the structures constructed.
· In over 3000 villages there has been an increase in the ground water levels.  

 
 
Challenges for the Mission
 

·

 The challenge before the Mission is to sustain investment into watershed management in the context of competing demands for the same pool of funds available under EAS which currently finances the programme.
· The Mission has also taken up the challenge work to create a policy environment favorable for sound environmental management.
· The Mission after 4 years has come to a stage where it confronts the issue of inequity in the water management policy.