1. Ground Realities of Convergence for Agriculture Development By Dr. J.S. Samra CEO, NRAA, New Delhi 06-12-2008 1

2. RKVY is an innovative scheme to manage resources and fill up gaps Convergence, coordination and networking are essential to harmonise with other progressive policies, programmes and investment portfolios Decentralized comprehensive planning is now a constitutional requirement Continued 2

3. Role of Panchayati Raj Institutions and Potential Links Plans (PLP) of NABARD is emphasized in the RKVY guidelines Guidelines of NREGA, Watershed Development Projects etc. also support convergence BRGF and other pools of untied funds also provide opportunities for convergence 3

4. A Unique Example of Convergence at Village Hiware Bazar, District Ahmednagar, Maharashtra Resources of 9 schemes were converged by the village level institutions under the dedicated leadership of Shri Popat Rao Pawar BPL families reduced from 162 (93% of the total families in 1992) to only 3 in 2007 Out of 80 permanently migrated families, 50 returned back About 90% of the families used to migrate for four months a year which has completely stopped 4

5. 5 RKVY 75% New proposals 25% gap filling NWDPRA IWMP. Micro Irrigation. AGWR, AIBP. CAMPA Hort. & Bamboo Mission NREGA (40% material) SGSY (Self employment) Vth & VIth schedule Forest & Agriculture shared Watershed BRGF State Finance Commission MPLAD Others Planning at the grass-rootPlanning at the grass-root Convergence Opportunities

6. Participatory Planning is the Key “In the past State used to plan for the people” “Now people are planning for the State” However many villages reported that the plans prepared at the village level get lost in the district plan document In some cases when we asked for district plan they submitted BRGF plan because they received funds for the preparation of documents from the Panchayati Raj Ministry Continued 6

7. In other case they submitted RKVY plan since funds for the exercise were received form the Ministry of Agriculture This indicated ignorance about a comprehensive development plan Some of the District Planning Officers told that they normally compile statistics and prepare annual district report rather than doing planning 7

8. APPROVAL PROCEDURE AT THE DISTRICT LEVEL Different patterns were observed in different states which could be categorized as follows i)Schemes having definite budgetary allocation for the district, block and village Panchayats etc. are approved by the DPC ii)Another set of schemes related to health, education and sanitation are approved by a Committee Chaired by District Collector Continued 8

9. iii) Some of the schemes are approved by the head of the line Departments iv) Duplication, overlapping, conflicts and loss of synergies is a serious casuality 9

10. CONVERGENCE WITH NREGA Current year budget of this scheme is Rs. 26,500 crores and is a large investment portfolio Guidelines prescribed 80% of works to be land, water and vegetation related. About 10% connectivity related and 10% any others In Rajasthan about 80% of the activities were related to rain water conservation, desilting of water bodies, digging / construction of ponds Continued 10

11. In the North East States, villagers accorded highest priority on the village link roads In Andhra funds of NHM and micro-irrigation were converged to NREGA In Punjab and Haryana NREGA funds were given to the Irrigation Department for renovation of the canal systems and Irrigation Department was reluctant to implement Continued 11

12. Real convergence will happen if the line Department implements the NREGA scheme but they are reluctant due to lot of paper work and transparent payment procedures In most of the States more then 90% of the implementation is being made by the Panchayats against stipulated 50% 12

13. BRGF It is untied fund Gaps in the ongoing or other schemes can be filled up However more than 90% budget has been utilized in civil and contracted works. Improving livelihood is ignored 13

14. If you ask me the best and sustained watersheds they will be where forest and downstream private lands where treated simultaneously. Although livestock related interventions were not supported milk and meat became major source of enhanced income. However, this is most difficult convergence 14 Agriculture and Forest shared watersheds

15. 15 THANK YOU