<strong>NREGA</strong>: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGESAbsence of a thorough planning before taking up work for a water conservation structure is also the reasonfor a large number of incomplete or ab<strong>and</strong>oned structures. In fact, <strong>NREGA</strong> does not have any provisions forcompletion of works. Though the Act emphasises on village-level planning for assets creation, there is nomention of making the assets durable <strong>and</strong>, thus, productive. It is also a reflection of governments givingprecedence to employment creation over durable productive assets creation. “Without a completionprovision, governments just start works to meet job dem<strong>and</strong>s. Also, to meet the objective of creation ofproductive assets, they open up new works. There is no compulsion to complete the works,” says MihirShah of Samaj Pragati Sahayog, Dewas, who has been tracking the implementation of the <strong>NREGA</strong>.Many experts <strong>and</strong> Panchayat members feel that instead of opening up new works it is more important tocomplete the existing works under <strong>NREGA</strong>. “Government must finish water works within a time frame.Otherwise it means a huge wastage of money as well as it doesn’t prove to be useful,” says J Ventkataramana,head of Hulikallu Panchayat, Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh. In his village, the government starteddesilting a huge tank at a cost of Rs 17 lakh. But district officials stopped the work just before monsoons. Afterthe monsoons, the silt has flown back into the tank. Many Panchayat members say that each work must havea work completion time-frame (see Box: Rajasthan tackles drought through pokhars).RAJASTHAN TACKLES DROUGHT THROUGH POKHARSPrakashi Devi is happy her village pond still has some water left. “A little bit of water is good news,” says the 40-year-oldvillager from Kaila Devi gram panchayat. Rajasthan’s Karauli district has been reeling under droughts for the last four years.To tackle this, people there are reviving pokhar — a 200-year-old traditional water harvesting system. Which is why,Prakashi Devi’s village has water this year.Pokhars are ponds with 1-2 metre high embankments built of loose stones <strong>and</strong> earth on an elevated part of the village.They are fed by surface runoff from the surrounding catchment <strong>and</strong> help recharge ground water levels. Stored water fromthe pokhar is channelled out from kothis (outlets). Pokhars irrigate agricultural fields downstream. An average size pokharcan irrigate 2-4 hectares (ha), while the large ones can irrigate up to 15 ha. This water harvesting system used to helpvillagers tackle water scarcity in summer, irrigate crops <strong>and</strong> provide fodder for cattle.Found mostly in areas with ravines <strong>and</strong> rocky topography, there are about 2,000 pokhars in Karauli <strong>and</strong> Sapotra blocksof Karauli district. However, most of these have either silted up or have been breached due to years of neglect, partlybecause successive droughts had affected villagers that they couldn’t afford to maintain <strong>and</strong> repair their pokhars.Kinshuk Ram of Lakhroopi village says that the lack of functional rainwater harvesting structures has had a seriousimpact on local agriculture. A pokhar would help him harvest kharif crops, if the rains fell, he could even grow wheatduring the rabi season. Now, every year the region sees mass migration of men <strong>and</strong> cattle during summers due to lack ofwater <strong>and</strong> livelihood options.But this pattern is slowly changing. Realising the importance of these traditional structures, the Society for SustainableDevelopment (ssd), a Karauli-based ngo started reviving pokhars in the district during 1997. The outfit roped in localcommunities, asking villagers for their inputs <strong>and</strong> financial assistance. Villagers were initially suspicious <strong>and</strong> resistant to anexternal agency helping them revive this tradition, but ssd soon won their trust, says Ram Sumer Meena of Lakhroopi, whohelps ssd in their activities. The ngo provides half the cost of reviving a pokhar owned by an individual, <strong>and</strong> 25 per cent ofthe cost for community-owned structures.In villages across the district, watershed development committees were set up to run the revival project. Within the firstyear of the project’s implementation, pokhars supplied water to 130 ha in the district, increased the yield on this l<strong>and</strong> by65,000 kg. Badri Meena of Lakhroopi village, for instance, invested about Rs 4,000 to repair a pokhar in his village back in thelate 1990s. Within a year of the pokhar’s revival, he grew 1,800 kg of paddy <strong>and</strong> straw worth Rs 10,000 on his 2-ha plot.“The revival of these structures is crucial for coping with drought,” says Ganpath Mina, Lakhroopi village sarpanch.“Digging new ponds <strong>and</strong> check dams will help fight water scarcity to some extent, but when the rains fail these structuresare useless. The old water harvesting structures, which are a part of the l<strong>and</strong>scape, should coexist with the new structures.”Encouraged by ssd’s success, there’s now talk of using the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (nrega) fora large-scale revival of pokhars in the district.“The act has the potential to provide livelihood security <strong>and</strong> controlmigration,” says ssd executive director Arun Jindal. Though the district has given priority to water conservation, buildingcheck dams <strong>and</strong> digging new ponds only entail higher costs, he says. A farmer can’t even till l<strong>and</strong> near check dams.Repairing traditional structures are better investments, since they not only provide water but also decrease soil erosion byproviding conditions for vegetation to grow.46
<strong>NREGA</strong>: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGESChapter 6Panchayats are implementing more than 60 per cent of <strong>NREGA</strong> works buthave hardly any say over its implementation as stipulated in the Act.◆ ◆ ◆There is no village level planning for the <strong>NREGA</strong> works. The provision ofannual village plan has become a ritual with local government officialsdictating terms.◆ ◆ ◆The interim provision of adapting the NFFWP guidelines <strong>and</strong> plans hasprovided the right excuse to local government officials to bypass thePanchayats.◆ ◆ ◆Without participation of the local communities in the implementation,<strong>NREGA</strong> will not make any impacts on local development, as it will not reflectlocal needs.◆ ◆ ◆This is the reason why very few people are attending the Gram Sabhameeting on <strong>NREGA</strong> related issues.47
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