Revitalization of Rivers in India Draft Policy - Isha Guru Jaggi Vasudev

Revitalization of Rivers In India
Draft Policy Recommendation
parallel bodies that have been created by various government departments
under various schemes. But natural resources are also issues of scale where
institutional structures and processes are required at different scales to deal with
issues of boundary, access, market economics and environmental sustainability.
A decentralisation approach would require such institutions to exist at each level
to undertake planning and implementation. Grassroot people’s institutions have
their own salience and function best when appropriately nested within statutory
institutions like Gram Panchayats, which can act as overarching governance
institutions.
THE ELEVENTH SCHEDULE AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
The 73rd Amendment to the Constitution in 1993 paved the way for a three-tiered
institutional structure of local government at district, block and village levels.
The Eleventh Schedule was added to the Constitution specifying 29 subjects
over which PRIs have jurisdiction. State governments were required to devolve
functions, functionaries, and funds to PRIs for these subjects. Eleven of these 29
subjects are related to natural resources. These are listed in Table 1 below.
TABLE 1: SUBJECTS RELATED TO NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN THE
ELEVENTH SCHEDULE (ARTICLE 243G)
S. No. Subjects
1 Agriculture, including agricultural extension
Land improvement, implementation of land reforms, land
2
consolidation, and soil conservation
3 Minor irrigation, water management, and watershed development
4 Animal husbandry, dairying, and poultry
5 Fisheries
6 Social forestry and farm forestry
7 Minor Forest Produce (MFP)
8 Drinking water
9 Fuel and fodder
10 Non-conventional energy sources
11 Maintenance of community assets
Annexures
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