Community Participation in its Development Programmes

Hivare Bazar A Model of Community Participation Hiware Bazar lies in the drought-prone Ahmednagar district. In 1993-94, Hivare Bazar was selected as potential Model village under the scheme. A project of 5 years was completed in a small period of 2 years by the villagers under the stewardship of Popatrao Pawar, a youth Sarpanch then. The Development is the result of enhanced peoples’ participation, convergence of several departments of Government and active role of the Gram Panchayat, …..

Community Participation Our Traditional and Cultural Heritage Britishers brought Legal applications in social and community life of India. We were made to follow the orders of the British Government thus loosing the pro active and self driven approach of management of resources. But , Community participation is not new to India. Before the rule of Britishers, we used to have communities taking decisions on all the aspects concerning development. Villagers used to manage their own water resources. Villagers used to plan Crops to be grown as per the climate conditions, they used to select their food even. We were self disciplined… HIVARE BAZAR focused on this underneath belief of community led action.

Initiatives Taken at Hivare Bazar Villagers have resolved, accepted and adopted the 7 Principles of social discipline (Saptasutri) in totality. They are... Family Planning, Ban on Alcohol, Ban on Tree Cutting, Ban on Free Grazing, Voluntary Donation of Labour, Ban on Open Defecation, Ban on Borewell for Farming. Vllagers manage their resources by regulating and enforcing norms through community decisions taken solely in Gram Sabha meetings attended by the entire community. Voluntary labour by villagers (one member of each family) or shramdhaan has formed a critical component of watershed programs. School children must read rain gauges, measure groundwater levels and present this data to the Gram Sabha. Women collect and manage the monthly water tax at monthly Sujal Mahila meetings. Using a ‘water bank’ principle, the Water budget ensures that the village does not draw more water than it stores in a year, and a small amount is kept in reserve. We have banned tube wells (for irrigation). Depending on rainfall in the year, available water is allocated amongst various uses, with the first priority for drinking water for humans followed by crops.

Extension of Hivare Bazar Experient in other villages through “Ideal Village Scheme of GoM In the last 5 years various success stories have emerged. Some of them are.. SC community village like Godhani (Dist. Nagpur), ST community Village like Khor (Dist. Buldana), Sakhara (Dist. Washim), Suicide prone village like Kothoda (Dist. Yawatmal) from Vidarbha region; Water scarcity village like Kingaon (Dist. Aurangabad) from Marathwada Drought Prone villages like Nivdungewadi (Dist. Ahmednagar), Bhagdi (Dist Pune) from Western Maharashtra … and many more ….

Replication of Success Nivdungewadi : This village, in water scarcity zone of Ahmednagar District was selected in 2012. Deep CCTs and compartment bunding resulted in increasing the water level of the wells and smalls dams located in the watershed area. A community led efforts of just 2 years in the watershed area freed the village from its tanker fed identity. The change in the cropping pattern and the success of community driven approach attracted the nearby big village Takli Dhokeshwar to adopt the pathway followed by its small village.. Nivdungewadi.

Replication of Success Kingaon : This is a village with a total geographical area of 1050 Ha. It is located in the scarcity prone area of Fulambri Block of Aurangabad District. It was selected in 2012. Villagers build up large community hall by contributing a large quantum of funds themselves. With the development of watershed by Deep CCTs, compartment bunding works, the increase in water level helped harvest a good crops in the last 3 years.

Replication of Success Godhani : Village is located near Nagpur in Umrer Block. Scheduled caste community forms its major portion of the population. Villagers have developed their own model of Community participation in Government Programmes (e.g. social forestry) Women and Youth of the cillage have come forward to form various self help groups and they are taking care of all the community initiatives.

Replication of Success Sakhara : The villagers of Sakhara village in Washim District has focused on Education, Dairy and Agri based Community entrepreneur activities. This village has become a model for quality education where teacher, parents and villagers are working together to completely change the education environment. 60% of the students come from adjoining villages to take education from the Sakhara school. Increase in water levels has in turn resulted in development of Agriculture, Agro based economic activities and Dairy. Thus resulting in the increase of per capita income of the village.

Maharashtra - a Grim Situation Total No. of Farmers – 1.37 Crores Affected Farmers – 89.7 Lakhs (65%) Total Villages – 39453 drought affected Villages – 23811 Severity Districts – Nashik, Aurangabad, Nanded, beed (Marathwada Region) Buldana, Amravati, Nagpur, Wardha, Yavatmal (Vidarbha Region) 6. Support Provided by Govt of Maharashtra – Rs. 2000 Crores 7. Centre Support sought by Govt. of Maharashtra – Rs. 3000 Crores

Our Efforts and Our Successes (in Drought Affected Areas of Maharashtra) Marathwada Region - Kingaon (Aurangabad), Palaskheda (Beed) Davangaon (Latur) Vidarbha Region - Godhani (Nagpur) Rajgad (Chandrapur) Kothoda (Yavatmal) Khor (Buldana)

The Process and Methods

Gramsabha at Vill. Palaskheda, Dist Beed

Community Development activity Tree Plantation in Vill. Bhagdi Shivar Pheri at Vill. Nivdungewadi, Dist Ahmednagar

Voluntary Labour in the work of Deep CCT (Vill. Nivdungewadi)

Results of Community Participation Deep CCT in Vill. Kingaon Mgt of Social Forestry Scheme (Vill. Godhani)

One Village, One Community, One Colour

Community Led Initiatives Private Partners in Development Supported by Government and Private Partners in Development

“Swachhata Abhiyaan “ Govt. of Maharashtra

“Satya Mev Jayate” -Water Cup” Initiative Attempts initiated by Celebrities “Satya Mev Jayate” -Water Cup” Initiative “Naam” Initiative

Drought in India (2015-16) - A Challenge Sr. No. State Total District Affected District 1 Karnataka 30 27 2 Andhra Pradesh 13 7 3 Telangana 37 33 4 Madhya Pradesh 51 41 5 Maharashtra 36 20 6 Uttar Pradesh 75 50 Zharkhand 24 8 Odisha 25 9 Bihar 38

Facing the Challenges - Ways Mass Awareness (using all ICT mediums and tools) on the Issues of Water Scarcity and Water as Scarce resource Encouraging More and More Community Participation in all the stages of Water Resources’ Development cycle Incorporation of Syllabus of “Water Awareness” since primary education Enforcing stringent penal action for erring functionary Enhancement of Public Private Partnership in Water Resource Management Encouraging Private Development Partners in “Capacity and Resource Development” Enforcing an Appropriate Ground Water (Regulation and Management ) Act

THANK YOU !!!ù