Crisis of Commons in Rajasthan: Water Harvesting in Pugal IGNP Canal Area

The dominantly pastoral economy of Pugal got transformed into a peculiar capitalist economy maintained and sustained by the IGNP canal. It may be mentioned that the coming of the canal, with it's associated practices and institutions, ushers in a process of transformation of the interior regions of the border districts of western Rajasthan. These were regions where, till the coming of the canal, the modern state had been only able to achieve a very limited, almost negligible penetration. The transition that takes place in Pugal is in that sense part of larger geography of transformation. 

Along with the construction of the canal came new institutions of private property; these were incompatible with the existing communal conditions of production and required vast changes in the institutional rules for resource use. Therefore, the first step in the canal development process began with the implementation of radical land reform policies that dismantled the desert's common property regimes.         

The parts of western Rajasthan that comprise the canal command area were sparsely populated before the canal arrived, with a population density of approx. 5 persons per sq. km. Generally land use for mobile desert communities is distinct from land use by the settled communities in India. Before the canal was built, the desert's production conditions could not possibly accommodate new regimes of private property relations. For example, immediately preceding the canal's arrival, the percentages of areas dedicated to private cultivation in two of the canal districts, Bikaner and Jaisalmer, were 39% and 13% respectively, among the lowest in India. The dominant pattern of land use was highly extensive through natural forage production on pasturelands; locally consumed pulses, grains and vegetables were produced on a crop-fallow rotation system, which also shifted from location to location depending upon micro- climatic rainfall conditions.

Pre canal conditions were managed by the village institutions that were shaped by the characteristics of the area: low population density, low intensity land use, fluid land boundaries, mobile communities and herds, and the natural symbiotic qualities of animal husbandry and human land use.

In other words, western Rajasthan was very much a pastoral society and economy, dominated by communal institutions whose functions were inextricably linked to extensive pastoral lanes, vegetative cover and watersheds, watering holes and ponds of the wide open desert. Pastoral communities depended upon reciprocal, if not amiable, relations with the settled and semi nomadic communities settled in hundreds of miles in each direction.   

Pugal region, the beginning of Stage II of the IGNP, became a favoured place for rehabilitating families. Two successive waves of settlements first of the Pak Oustees from 1971 War and then of the erstwhile inhabitants of the 34 villages that were converted into the Mahajan Field Firing Range (MFFR) came in mid-eighties. It meant that the individual ownership over the new PPRs grew in an overall context of carving out private niches against the backdrop of being uprooted, displaced. This kind of a colonisation, looking at in the retrospect, had it’s own peculiar pressures to exert on the common property natural resource regimes then existing. The immediate past of displacement pushed these communities in a situation of distress that prompted unbridled use of the common natural resources properties for coping with difficult conditions of survival in the initial years. These years, when the new community water resources like the diggis (open reservoirs) were very few and the canal network was only in it’s infancy, created an overall crisis and contestation between this new settler population and the original natives (raiyas). It is to be noted that the existing common natural resources had to bear the pressure of most of this settlement.   Even after a decade and a half of the creation of the command area the weight of the pre canal geography (of vast stretches, sprawling grasslands, shifting sand dunes) is fairly dominant. The PPRs (in this case the allotted irrigable land holding unit of 6.2 hectares) have not yielded much, majority of them are poor and unfit for cultivation. So the members of the community came to possess PPRs that are unproductive, to maintain them is in fact a big drain on the meager resources.

The coming of the water was considered a harbinger of a new life based on irrigated cultivation. This was in contrast to the older life, where tradition, custom and CPR based natural resource use practices were dominant.

It is important to mention here that this shift did not only come from the above, from the realm of State policy, only. Rather it was a change that a large part of the community also wished. By wishing I mean that there was no large-scale opposition to the land and water regime that the IGNP proposed. The Government showed a dream with the IGNP that practically everyone believed in, and those who did not had little choice but to accept it.

Considerations of the pre canal geography of extensive land use and fragility of the ecology were completely kept at side and were ignored in this ambitious land use modeling by the humans.

Dissipating World Of CPRs

Last quarter of the 20th century has been a time of transformative changes in the Pugal region vis-à-vis the CPRs. The creation of the canal command area, and with it the penetration of the State as well as the market, has brought about far reaching changes in the status and relevance of CPRs.  The coming of the IGNP and the subsequent creation of the command area of the Stage II radically altered the natural resource use practices. The coming of the water was considered a harbinger of a new life based on irrigated cultivation. This was in contrast to the older life, where tradition, custom and CPR based natural resource use practices were dominant.

It is important to mention here that this shift did not only come from the above, from the realm of State policy, only. Rather it was a change that a large part of the community also wished. By wishing I mean that there was no large-scale opposition to the land and water regime that the IGNP proposed. The Government showed a dream with the IGNP that practically everyone believed in, and those who did not had little choice but to accept it.

Below are presented some testimonies of members of the community:

q  the rain water harvesting structures - the johads, nadis, kunds and kuans:     

   "If you take the case of Pugal, then 25 years from now, there were many johads and nadis- Harasar, Suvadesar, Bikampuria, Lakhasaria, Ranawala Nadia, Rawal Kheda and Amarsagar, etc. In total there were nine water ponds. The maintenance of these was done by the members of the community. To desilt them was considered as some sacred pilgrimage. When the water in the ponds used to dry up, people would go, all together, to desilt it. Care was kept in cleaning it and seeing to it that no one dirties the catchment area or no animals are allowed near it. Mostly the elders in the village used to take care of all this and they would educate the coming generations.."    

(Muktiyar, Pugal)

There were community sharing practices regarding the maintenance of these johads.

" There were two johads,…and if they used to get filled in sawan (July-August) and then the water would not finish the whole year. For a continuous water supply the johad was maintained by everyone. The silt in the johad, we used to call it khural (clayey silt), was taken out by everybody. After taking it out of the pond, khural was used to make a paste for plastering walls, etc. So there were many uses- we used to get the khural and the johad also got dug in the process. And water did not get spoilt in the khural."    

(Mohammad Yar Khan, Tharoosar)   

In a predominantly pastoral economy care had to be taken to protect the water in the ponds from the livestock.

"Some people at the johad would constantly remind that water is scarce, and livestock of others also has to drink water. Cows and Sheep were given water and then driven away. They were not allowed to stay on in the catchment lest they would soil it with their dungs." 

(Meera Bai, Hazra & Roshan, Pugal)

 

Apart from the johads, Pugal also had wells to augment it's drinking water supply.

"In the village Pugal there used to be an annual meeting for deciding about the usage of wells. In the village there were 7 wells. In an annual meeting of the village community it was decided that 1 well would be given on contract (to be run and maintained by one family). It was the duty of the contractor to make available water for livestock as well humans by running the well (there were different rates for water- viz. Rs 1/- for a cow; Rs 1/-  for 10 Goats / Sheep; Rs 1/- for a camel; Rs 10/- for a small camel cart tank; Rs5/- for one leather bag). From the rest six wells one belonged to the Thakurs of the Pugal fort who maintained it; one was for the Meghwals and Muslims. Rest four wells were kept in reserve for crisis periods…"

(Muktiyar, 34 Yrs, Pugal)

The wells were an important source of drinking water. It was on the sharing and access to water that the social discrimination by the high caste also manifested itself in the daily life of the village.

"…In the talai everyone had equal share. But on the wells Meghwals and Nayaks were not allowed to climb. There was one beri (a well) for us that we used. If we used the well then we had to draw water for others."

(Aduram Meghwal, Amarpura) 

Apart for the wells there used to be another kind of rain water harvesting structure that a critical relevance for drinking water for the humans. It was the kund.      

"People had made rain water harvesting kunds made of limestone. These were constructed by people themselves. Kunds were made in the catchment area in then hard, flat and plain areas. The rich got constructed five- six of these kunds for consumption. These kunds could store up to 25000 litres of water. In Pugal area to make these kunds lime was got from Ranisar (a nearby village). Then it was broken into small slabs which were then burnt in the fire wood. Then the lime was separated from the ash and used. The raised round ceilings and covers of the kunds were made from this lime. In some cases even phog wood was used for making the ceilings."  

(Muktiyar, Pugal)

The problem of brackish water was very severe and quite widely prevalent. Many settlements had sources of water that was brackish and not fit for drinking.

"…there are four wells, the water in all of them is different (brackish), so there was problem with drinking water. The rain water was collected in kunds, after that, 2 pots of water from the wells was mixed with 1 pot of water from the kund and then used for drinking. In this way we used to pass our time."

(Mohammad Yar Khan, Tharoosar)   

Especially in droughts the problem of water became very severe:

"When it did not use to rain, the water in these wells would not suffice. Water used to be got from Kakrala or Siyasar (nearby villages) and then we used to mix it with the brackish water in the wells of Tharoosar and pass out time. We used to give water to the livestock once in two-three days and thus save some water."

(Mohammad Yar Khan, Tharoosar)   

In this region slowly the IGNP canal replaced the drinking water sources in most of the villages in twenty thirty years.

q  The coming of the IGNP

The coming of the canal certainly is a very big event. The older water bodies, especially the catchments were mostly allotted. The canal command area by converting the majority of the land into individual land holdings undermined the extensive land use practices and eroded the very basis of pastoral livelihoods. Majorities of the people in the community were pushed into practicing intensive irrigated cultivation that was not so productive.

"The wells have crumbled, people have started cultivating the catchment of the ponds; it has been allotted to people. It is something like this - seeing the clouds you break the pot - similarly seeing the canal we forgot our traditional natural common resources.."

(Meera, 70 Years,Pugal)

"The Government has not left any land for the catchment of the johad. Earlier around 25 bighas was left for the johad, land that was taken care by the entire village."

(Mohammad Yar, Tharoosar)

"The Colonization Department sold all the land as johar - paitan land. According to today's rates, for each bigha of such land the Govt took Rs32000."

(Shiv Lal Purohit, Pugal)

"…the Government has sold so much land, has that not satisfied their greed! Will the Govt. get some special prize by allotting these ponds! These were there, amidst sand dunes, to take care of the water needs of travelers, animals, birds, deer for at least four months in an year. There was no higher authority to appeal to...people by having murabbas (private landholdings)  have reaped their own personal benefits.."

(Meera, Pugal)

But within the community there is a growing realization about the need to save the CPRs. As one of erstwhile PRI representative says:

"In the tradition of this place, CPRs were not a thing or a mere property but they were the very basis of life. After Independence and the coming of  the IGNP came up various Govt. Depts. And the hold of the community over the CPRs started weakening. With the fragmentation of families people's self dependence over their own resources started getting eroded. In the hands of corrupt politicians and the Govt. bureaucracy the status of the CPRs became unsafe. Today it has become very crucial that we inspire and mobilize the community to maintain the CPRs. I feel this is really the challenge of our times."

(Shiv Lal Purohit, Pugal)

Apart from the allotment of old water sources and the grasslands the coming of the IGNP had a very deep impact on the social bonding. The older collective values that were commensurate with the CPR usage have been replaced. Reflecting on them one says:

"One big damage that has happened is that brotherhood, love and spirit of sharing among people has finished. In today's time a brother is not willing to see the face of his own brother. With the coming of the canal water people have scattered into far flung, isolated dhanis (hamlets)  in the chaks."

(Nazru Khan, Ramada)     

Excerpted from Rahul Ghai, Whither Commons ! State and Land Use in the Canal Command Area in the Pugal Region, AZERC, URMUL Trust, For Shanti Maitri Mission Sansthan and Aga Khan Foundation India, March 2002, Bikaner, Rajasthan

IGNP Canal in Rajasthan: Experiences of People

The Indira Gandhi Canal Pariyojna (IGNP) initially known as the Rajasthan Canal Project (RCP) is one of the most significant projects of the modern state in the desert in Rajasthan.  It is one of the biggest canal networks in the world serving one of the least populated and most inhospitable regions. Though covering only 10-15% of the arid area of the       Thar it has been accorded prime importance and is the largest ‘public investment’ by the post-colonial developmental State in the state of Rajasthan having fed on liberal loans by the World Bank and the Japanese government. The IGNP has multiple objectives like “...provision of water for drinking, irrigation and industrial use; develop the vast land resources, settlement of the thinly populated areas; drought proofing; checking the spread of desertification and improvement of the eco-system; and overall development of the area through creation of infrastructure for exploitation of natural resources...”.

The IGNP was conceived in 1948 by the genius Rai Bahadur Kanwar Sain, the then Chief Engineer of the Bikaner State who thought it was feasible to ‘irrigate untold millions of acres in the Rajputana desert from the Punjab rivers’. Ideologically propped up by Jawaharlal Nehru as the 'kingpin' of State planning for developing the desert, the IGNP was started with generous loans from the World Bank and a favourable policy framework enabled by the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 between Indian and Pakistan under the watchful gaze of the World Bank. More than 3,200 million rupees have been spent on the canal network till 2008. The main components that have been accomplished till now are the 445 km long lined canal running parallel to the Indo-Pak  border, nine branches, seven lift schemes and twenty-one direct distributaries apart from 8187 km. of minor canal network. The state claims to have opened more than 9.5 lakh hectares of area for irrigation. Another 2 lakh hectares is being planned to be opened for irrigation in the Barmer district. Apart from this the IGNP provides drinking water to all the major towns and cities of the western Rajasthan, and more than 3500 villages and settlements in the command area as well as outside it. IGNP is a gigantic settlement and irrigation project that is supposed to benefit more than 2 million people. 

Thar and IGNP Stage II

The 256 km long main canal in Stage II starts near Sattasar, (km 189) in Bikaner district and extends all the way to Mohangarh (km 445) in Jaisalmer district. It can be said that in Stage II the interaction between the three meta processes of colonisation and allotment of land; construction of the canal network and development of the command area; and irrigating the command area, that together constitute the basic structure of the IGNP, reached a level of complexity that is not to be seen in Stage I. All through its flow area the canal passes through highly undulating terrain of high and medium sized sand dunes, many of which are shifting, covering regions in Pugal and Kolayat (Bikaner district) and Nachna, Mohangarh, Ramgarh, Jaisalmer (Jaisalmer district) covering an area of 5 lakh ha (CCA). Additional area (2 lakh ha CCA) under Gadra Road extension (Barmer and Jaisalmer) have been recently included. Droughty and calcareous soils having low fertility, negligible farming, low population density, scattered settlements and a pastoral way of life situate the regions in Stage II as markedly different from Stage I. Though the area to be opened for irrigation in Stage II is almost double that of the Stage I it is here that the irrigation potential has been the most difficult to create and utilise problems of which have been compounded by the low rate of settlement of potential farmers.

The coming of the IGNP in these arid and hyper arid regions ushered in processes of radical transformation. For the communities as well as the state the scale and scope of changes entailed has been unprecedented. No other single development project has had so significant an impact on the workings of the state, the destinies of the communities and the fragile ecology of these regions as the IGNP in the last thirty years.

The narratives of the experiences of survival by plebeian settlers offer a different perspective to the ‘greening of the desert’ than the dominant narratives from the top about this mega initiative of ‘making the desert bloom’. These panegyrics, zealously proclaimed from the corridors of power, ivory tower pedestals of politicians, technocrats and canal elites, invoke metaphors of equating Indira Gandhi Canal akin to Saraswati, the mythical river of abundance. Applauding it as the supreme feat of technology and human ingenuity, as the hallmark of modern progress and development in the inhospitable Thar desert has been the dominant narrative of ‘modern development’ in Thar.  

In sharp contrast to these eulogising epithets, the narratives of existence of plebeian settlers reveal quite a different story about these staggering costs and awesome labyrinthine hydraulic spectacle that IGNP has inscribed on the face of the Thar. The canal in transforming the desert that it thought was ‘waste’ has created its own miseries and in fact has not only done irreversible harm to the fragile ecology of the area but has introduced structural inequalities and laid the conditions for a new order of exploitation. What is really tragic is the ‘waste’ that the canal has wrought upon commons, pastures, rangelands, their bio diversity, traditional dry land farming practices combined with intricate use of rain water harvesting structures, and so on.  The coming of the IGNP can be seen as initiating processes that mark a decisive break with the pre modern customary sanctions and practices. The canal command area created by this hydraulic network has set in processes of reshaping the distinct natural resource regimes of the Thar by demarcating and dividing them indiscriminately into slices of private  agricultural land holdings (6.2 hac. each). In doing this, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the IGNP has tampered with the essential integrity of the fragile ecological base of the Thar. It has not only restructured the physical landscape but has put in place a set of attitudes and ambitions which bear a sharp contrast to older way of life in Thar. 

Never has the rhetoric of productivity of land and indeed man as a productive and individuated unit governed the popular psyche so much before in the Thar where communities have long survived through shared communal traditions and have been known for celebrating what is rustic and elemental in life venerating nature as sacred. As many settlers sagaciously point out increasing desertification is not the nightmare; it is the increasing laying waste and rapacious plunder of nature orchestrated by the sway of private capital and maximising greed brought by the canal that is.

But this is not really an ‘ecological critique’ of the canal or a mournful lament at the loss of the pristine desert or counter sloganeering against big canals etc. The ensuing narratives are firmly embedded in the experience of engagement of people with the massive edifice of the canal in this harsh terrain as they battle their lives toiling hard in the changed landscape of the desert.  The ecological sensibility that we wish to recover from the dusty layers of Thar and the intricate network of canals, small and big, is constituted of the experience of the travails of people in the material history of everyday life in the canal command area. This diverse world of the settlers is constituted by both the old natives, those who have come from other parts of Rajasthan as well as the wealthy farmers from the northern state of Punjab. Among them are landless agricultural labour often belonging to low caste, women who toil in the agricultural fields and are dextrous embroiderers as well, erstwhile nomadic pastoralists as well as those who stubbornly continue to be semi nomadic pastoralists against all odds, sedentary husbandsman who has made a successful transition to stall feeding of a few milch animals and sells milk to the dairy, new farmers who have successfully lived up to the ‘individualist-frontierist’ ethic of colonising the perilous desert, poor allotees who could not save their land due to paucity of resources, allotees who have been rehabilitated after being displaced from their generations old ancestral villages because of war or the coming of a firing range, traditional elders as well as PRI / Chak Samiti representative, young teachers who are eager to be seen as more ‘cultured’ than the ordinary mortals, a range of casual workers from the ranks of labouring poor, etc. 

The voices of these different kind of settlers are not 'individual feelings' alone. This polyphony of voices has its own share of rustic reckonings, existential ramblings, joyous expressions of success and represents an echoing of the perceptions and values of a much larger community in telling about the tenacious moral economy of the desert natives helping us understand the story of the peculiar ‘green revolution’ by this desert canal from below. These testimonies while recounting the daunting perseverance of the settlers point to the miserable travesty this piped dream of making the desert bloom has been smothered to, a chimera that continues to produce and reproduce its own mirages.

Pastoralism in Rajasthan, Thar: IGNP and Settlements in Bikaner North west Rajasthan

The coming of the IGNP canal in the seventies in the western Rajasthan has brought far reaching fundamental transformations in a pastoral region. Chhatragarh  is located on the right bank of the IGNP main  canal around  82km from Bikaner in the north western direction  on  the Bikaner - Anupgarh route.In Bikaner district IGNP canal passes Chhataragarh bisecting the regions into two parts -the right bank that is the canal command area and the left bank where rainfed drylands continue.  

Animal  husbandry has been the major occupation of the people  in the  region  .  The local inhabitants  of  the  region   Jalukas, Johyas, Nayachs, Samejas, Utteras, Goperas, Parihars,  have  been semi nomadic cattle breeders who have distinguished themselves as breeders  of  the Rathi breed. The area is known  for  indigenous wool  yielding breeds of sheep like Magra, Chokla,  Pugal,  Nali. Life  revolved  around livestock in this region along  with  some cultivation  of  bajra, moth, til, gowar mainly  for  subsistence needs. The large herds of cattle and sheep could be sustained  on the rich variety of fodder which was available in this region  in plenty.  The  grasslands used to have many protein  rich  grasses like  sewan,  bhurat, ganthil, talla,  bhankhri,  bekaria,  baru, dhaman,  murat and trees and bushes like khejri, ker, ber,  phog, kumta.  Water  was available in wells, talais, johads  and  tobas which were either used and managed by the entire village or  were caste or clan based. In fact the area around Chhatragarh was well  known among the nomadic pastoralists for these  sources  of water  and fodder. The tract of `chitrang', the native  term  for this area, was famous for the conducive conditions it offered for not  only  pastoral groups settled there but even  to  those  who passed through it  during their seasonal migrations.

Settlements on the right side of Chhatragarh are heterogeneous in terms  of cultivation patterns and residential population.  There are  old  settled villages which are now either fully  or  partly irrigated. Sattasar, Loonkha, Kishanpura, Kankrala, Tharoosar have been concentrations of nomadic and semi nomadic pastoral groups. A   number of new chaks have come up  in  these  villages.  The settlers  in the irrigated area  are older natives of  this  area including  the  pastoralists, new allottees who  have  come  from nearby villages and from other districts of Rajasthan,  including the  settlers  in the Bhoodan land. These settlements present a scenario of an expanding irrigated agriculture, conversion  of natural  grasslands into Forest land and degradation of the  rich bio-diversity, increased dependence on the canal water with  it's new  cycles  whereas the traditional water  sources  like  wells, johads,  tobas have either fallen out of use or are in a  damaged state.

The  villages on the left side of Chhatragarh are a thick  spread of  old,  fairly  big rainfed villages.  Kela,  Sadolai,  Rajasar Bhatiyan,  Mahadeowali, Kundal are populated by pastoralists  who still keep large herds of sheep and cattle. Livestock farming is

still the main occupation of the majority of people. Husbandry of animals retains it's traditional ties with rain fed  cultivation despite  the  fact that more land is used  for  agriculture.  The gochars  in these villages are in a degraded state. Although the

reliance  on  traditional  water sources  like  individual  kuis, johads  and  kunds  is there, even these  villages  are  becoming dependent for their drinking water supply on the canal water.

                                                                                                       

The third cluster of settlements which the team retained contacts with  are  a  group of villages on the  northern  border  of  the Bikaner  district.  Jalwali,  Malkiyawali,  Jinnatawali,  Kundal, Shekhra and Rojhri are old `classic' settlements of semi  nomadic

pastoralists  of  the Chitrang tract. The  major  inhabitants  of these villages are Jalukas, Johyas, Raths, Parihars, Kharals  who are  widely recognized as breeders of Rathi and  Sahiwal  cattle. Some  of  them  originally belong to areas  near  Fort  Abbas  in Bahawalpoor  and had come to settle here around 1947. Others  had come  to Chitrang from villages in Ganganagar and Punjab in  1947 and  then slowly branched off in these villages. Now the _and  of Jalwali,  Malkiyawali,  Jinnatawali comes in  the  command  area.

Almost all the earlier water sources have been either allotted or have  a marginal significance because of the availability of  the canal  water. Most of the grasslands have been  either  converted into Government fodder farms or have been acquired by the  Forest Department. The crisis of grazing space and prospects of earning more  profits  from  cultivation of cash crops  like  cotton  and groundnut  have impelled these people to take different  tangents away  from the sole occupation of livestock rearing which  relied on extensive grasslands and was nomadic in nature.

Apart from the muslim population which constitutes the majority of the pastoralists, sheep and cattle are kept in different units by Jats, Rajputs, Meghwals, Nayaks, Suthars, Sansis. The practice of  intensive cultivation even on a small scale has  exercised  a considerable  influence  on  the  life  of  the  semi  nomads  in particular  on the species composition of herds, the  routes  and seasonal prevalence of pastoral migrations. In the irrigated area there is an increasing trend towards keeping less animals with  a preference for cattle. The spread of irrigated agriculture  seems to  have  affected  sheep population more than  the  cattle.  The resource  intensive inputs in irrigated agriculture  need  cattle for  they serve as useful draught animals as well as are a  handy source  of manure. The trend increasingly is to maintain  smaller herds of cattle ( around 5 - 10) who can survive on green  fodder which  the pastoralists grow in their fields. These  pastoralists mostly  rely on stall feeding and sedentary pasturage  in  nearby areas. Increasingly fewer people are keeping large herds of sheep (150  and  more) for that would entail practicing  long  distance migratory   pasturage.   This  is  prevalent   more   among   the populations living in settlements which are partly irrigated. The decisions to keep smaller flocks of sheep (less than 100)  depend upon local availability of pastures.

Those  who  keep  small  units of both sheep  and  cattle  go  on migrations  but which are shorter both in time and distance  from the  longer cycles of seasonal transhumance. A few muslim  groups like  Jalukas,  Johyas still keep large herds  of  Rathi  cattle (around 200 - 300). They own irrigated land but do not  cultivate it themselves. They have given their land to others to  cultivate for them on a sharecropping basis, whereas they still continue to practice  husbandry  as  their  prime  occupation.  In  order  to maintain these large herds they have migrated to the area in  and around  the mandis of Punjab and have settled there on an  almost permanent   basis.   This   is  suggestive  of   a   process   of sedenterization which has been on the way since the last  decade.

But  the  shift to intensive cultivation is far  from  total  and cannot be said to be uniform. In fact the different  combinations of livestock keeping and intensive cultivation show the different transitional  states  ranging  from an adaptation  of  the  older traditions   of  husbandry  to  changed   conditions,   different combinations  of  smaller herds depending upon  local  ecological conditions  to even cases of total depastoralization.

This variety perhaps cannot be explained by the physical  changes which  the canal has brought along with it. These are related  to factors   like  availability  of  resources  required   for   the transition to intensive cultivation, nature of division of labour

within  the household for agriculture and livestock  farming  and comparative  prospects of earning cash from livestock rearing  or intensive  cultivation.  Moreover the changing attitudes  towards husbandry  have  affected decisions made at household  level

with mostly the younger generations finding the older pursuit  of their  elders as `hard', `time consuming' and  `unproductive'  in the contemporary context.

 Excerpted From: Tradition and Change: A Report on the Ecological Conditions of North west Bikaner, AZERC, URMUL Trust, 1994

 A Sandy Paradox, click here

Pastoralism and Diversity of Livestock Keepers in Rajasthan Thar

Livestock has been an important natural resource of the arid  and semi-arid  districts  of western Rajasthan for  centuries.  These districts  are  populated  by a large number  of  sheep,  cattle, goats,  buffaloes  and camels. Livestock rearing as  compared  to settled   agriculture  has  relatively  more  tolerance  to   the harsh  environmental harsh conditions and the erratic  variations of rainfall and temperatures in the arid zone. The resource  base of   the   arid  regions  imposes  limits  on  the   choices   of diversification  of  cropping  patterns.  These  conditions  have proved more feasible to maintain large herds of domestic  animals by  moving them from one place to another utilizing the  seasonal abundance  of  grazing resources in different parts of  the  arid region.  This has contributed to the growth of a system of  mixed farming which adjusts better to the limits and potentials imposed by the natural resource base.  Moreover rearing of livestock acts as  a buffer against drought. Drought occurrence has less effect on  livestock  production.  Various studies  have  revealed  that whereas  agricultural  production  falls to less than  10%  of  a normal  year, livestock production is still over 50% of  that  of that  of the normal year. Thus it ensures stability  of  earnings against seasonal variability of weather.

Main Pastoral Communities in Thar:

Pastoral Groups:

 1. Sindhi Muslims

   a. Samma

   b. Sanad

   c. Gajju

   d. Bhia

   e. Panno

   f. Sithar

   g. Somra

   h. Mohr

   i. Dhatis   

   j. Khudalis

 2. Jaluka

 3. Johya

 4. Sameja

 5. Balochs

 6. Parihars

 7. Pawars

 8. Rajputs

Agro- Livestock Keepers:

 9. Jats

 10. Bishnois

Carriers and Breeders:

  

  11. Rajputs (Gour, Rathore, Diama, Solanki, Bhati)

  12. Birm Bhats

  13. Bagora Bhats

  14  Maru Bhats

  15. Kachhela Charans

  16. Maru Charans

  17. Lohannas (Camel Carriers)

  18. Gawarias

  19. Multani Muslims

  20. Mular Brahmins

  21. Dewasi Rabaris

Shepherds:

   

  22. Ahir

  23. Rabari / Raika

  24. Ghosi

  25. Gujars

Occupational Castes who are shepherds and also rely on livestock produce:

 1. Kassai (mutton sellers)

 2. Khatik (wool shearers)

 3. Regar  (leather tanners)

 4. Nayak  (bones and hides)

 5. Sansi  (bones, hides and leather)

 6. Meghwal

 7. Bhambi

 8. Gurra

 9. Sargara

10. Kamaria

11. Dabgar

12. Rabdasis (leather workers)

13. Satia    (castrators)

Seasonal  migration  of  livestock  herders  has  been  a  widely prevalent  strategy of  survival in the arid and semi arid regions of western Rajasthan . This adaptive strategy has contributed to both  inter  regional interaction between the tracts  of  Western

Rajasthan  as  well as with the neighboring areas  like  Gujarat, M.P., U.P., Haryana, Punjab. According to migratory patterns and utilization of grazing space the arid region of Rajasthan can be divided into two zones - the western and the eastern. The western

portions of these districts are characterized by the presence  of largely  semi-nomadic and nomadic pastoralists. They rely  mainly on  a  localised migratory pasturages well  as  transhumant  long distance  migration.  On the other hand the pastoralists  in  the

eastern  zone rely mainly on long distance migrations  which  are definite  and  follow  a  particular  cycle.  The  long  distance migratory are a more regular feature of the sheep herders.  The conservative estimates of the Sheep & Wool Department testify  to a  regular  migration  of  around 20%  of  them.  More  realistic estimates would be around 45% of the sheep breeders migrating  in a normal year and as high as 90% migrating in the recent years of drought. The sheep breeders of the eastern districts like Pali and Nagore migrate southwards to Madhya Pradesh, taking different routes  through Kota and Jhalawar. Sheep from parts  of  Jodhpur, Jaisalmer,  Barmer  and  Jalore migrate  towards  Gujarat.  Sheep breeders  from Bikaner, Sikar, Churu follow  different  migratory routes  to  reach the irrigated tracts of  Punjab,  Haryana,  and eastern  Uttar  Pradesh.  Over the  last  few  decades  livestock  migrations  both  localised  and  long  distance  take  place  in conditions of distress which are increasing. These involve meting out relations with the settled farmers who no longer need them so desperately, the hostile settled  population, negotiate with  the neighbouring  states  on inter state dues and the  ever  expanding control of the Forest Department over large tracts of grasslands.

Livestock  as a resource has multiple values in the  society and economy  of Western Rajasthan. The presence of these  animals  in such  large numbers mediates economic relations, social ties  and exchanges  between  a  range of upper and  lower  social  groups.

Livestock  has  been regarded as wealth which  was  exchanged  as `gift'   on  ceremonial  occasions  like  marriage  as  well   as transacted  in the market. There are many livestock  fairs  which spring  up in different places in Western Rajasthan.  Fairs  like Mallinath  ka  Mela at Tilwara, Tejaji Ka Mela at  Parbatsar  and fairs  in  Kolayat, Gogamedi and Nagore have a  long  history  of being  sites for the exchange and transaction of  animals.  These fairs  are  attended by not only local population of  the  nearby villages  and  districts  but are attractions  for  traders  from Punjab,  U.P.,  M.P., Haryana who have have been  coming  to  buy livestock  from a long time. These fairs apart  from  serving  as sites for the transaction of livestock are places where  exchange of news, customs, and even ways of life takes place. Even in  the cultural  life  of people cattle, sheep and camels  occupy  a prominent  place. 

Livestock Census 2012 of Rajasthan Click here 

Internal Migration and Urbanisation in India: A perspecitve

Given the differentiated nature of India's urbanisation the article attempts to analyse the phenomenon of migration at both ends of the migration spectrum, i.e., a famished, left behind rural countryside, as well as the proliferating range of urban settlements and agglomerations.2 Life cycles and subjective
experiences of migrants suggest that these two are inseparably bound in time in their life histories. The specific degree of importance accorded to each may vary,depending on the particular context of
the existence of migrants to the extent that either one of them may be discernible only as a symbolic presence, intangibly felt. It may be argued that this reinforcing complementarity of ‘rural’ and ‘urban’in the lives of migrants necessitates a perspective more rooted in the realities of an expanding rural–urban continuum.

For reading more ....... click on the title


The Emerging Underclass of Urban India
By Ajay Dandekar, Rahul Ghai and Poornima Dore
IIC Quarterly, Autumn 2015  

Rajasthan Thar Desert, Droughts and Challenges for Civil Society Action

Before I get down to the task of delineating issues for NGO Action in the context of the ‘drought conditions’ that engulf all the regions of western Rajasthan, it would not be inappropriate for me to devote some time on my understanding of this ‘crisis’. For, as would become clear, this definitely influences my delineation of the issues. Delineation of issues for action, to my mind, also carry the responsibility to think, reflect, discuss and debate. Perhaps we need to realize that as NGOs we have devoted far less time to these things that we ought to have. And it is clear that any discussion about the issues for action has to take into account, more than ever before, the long term.   

In 2002, the spectre of a severe ‘drought’ started haunting the communities of western Rajasthan ever since the State declared the ‘failure of crops’ in it’s Girdawari Report for the rabi crop in May and the relief works in June-July.  As the months have been passing in this unusually long and hot summers, the anticipated problems, because of the crisis apparently caused by the failure of monsoons in entire North India, have become issues of concern among the State, the Donors and the NGO development sector in western Rajasthan. Many, in western Rajasthan, are talking about

possibly the worst drought in recent human memory here.

Whereas there is little disagreement about the pervasiveness of the crisis, there is definitely a conflict of opinions regarding the causal factors that lie behind these ‘drought conditions’. These differences in situating causes result in differing perceptions that determine the kind of issues one delineates for future action.

‘Drought’: The Dominant Paradigm

If one traces the persistent rhetoric of the State, in the last few months, there has been a clear tendency to attribute the scarcity to the failure of monsoons in the State. ‘Drought’ then becomes a ‘natural disaster’, an unfortunate happening for an otherwise dynamic developmental State. In fact it would not be an exaggeration to say that the term ‘drought’ is a lever to trigger off ‘relief works’ in the State. ‘Relief works’ that are eagerly awaited in the circles of bureaucrats and rural elites for the prospects of quick profits they represent. This is a view that derives strength and legitimacy from the structures of power and control in the society that are deeply entrenched.

Here it needs to be pointed that this perception of  ‘drought relief’ following the ‘declaration of drought’ by the State has been solidified over decades since Independence, and it has become an integral part of State policy and planning. Each subsequent year has only reproduced this notion with greater force and penetration. In popular folk memory it has contributed to the formation of a distinct image of ‘profit maximization’ (associated with corruption, hoarding, wage exploitation etc.) by the elites at the expense of the poor.       

Although in the last few years there has been a trend to formulate long term planning (e.g. Water Vision-2045, Government of Rajasthan) to address the problems faced in the water sector), one sees, as yet, very little evidence of the translation of these ‘long-term plans’ on the ground. Moreover this new found ‘optimism’ in long term planning has also to do a lot with organizing funds from international agencies, who for the most part prescribe these formats. Somehow the lower bureaucracy and the Panchayats are so well attuned to reproducing the older patterns of ‘drought relief’, stripping them off these older practices has proved too cumbersome and difficult. However much hope lies in this ‘turn’ of the State towards ‘long term planning’ in which concepts like participation of the community, decentralization of decision making play a key role. Perhaps the NGOs need to enter into a more organized dialogue (both amongst each other and with the State) on these developments at the policy level, set up mechanisms for monitoring it and be ready to participate. I would elaborate on this more when I discuss the issues pertaining to this.

Many NGOs in western Rajasthan began with ‘combating drought’ as one of their most critical objectives. Especially after the drought of 1986-87, the space for NGO action, within the interstices of the State, expanded. In fact in the hey days of NGO work there was an attempt to consciously distance oneself from the dominant logic of ‘relief operations’ of the State by these NGOs. What situated these NGOs as different from the State was the quality of the reach of the NGOs among the community right from identification of the most needy, disbursement of wages and food, to reaching out to people in the far interiors. These practices have contributed to the formation of a distinct work culture by the NGOs. Of late, these have been recognized by the State as well.

However the NGOs, apart from some exceptions here and there, were not really able to articulate an alternative framework for ‘combating drought’. This was most apparent when it came to planning interventions for long-term consolidation or ‘drought proofing’. Perhaps planning for the long term called for certain skills that were either absent or were present in a very elementary form among the NGOs. As a result no conscious and strong alternative to the State ‘model’ of planning and action could come forth. NGOs continued to operate within the dominant framework of the perception of the ‘drought’ and the planning for ‘relief’ spelt out by the State.

In this viewpoint, emergency relief becomes a transitory issue to avert the ‘natural’ disaster. What then follows is a discussion about determining the intensity and spread of ‘relief’ operations. The issues for ‘future’ action then are discussed within the dominant framework of ‘emergency relief’. Often couched in the language of humanitarian concern, the arguments advanced seek to get moral and emotional legitimacy from various sections of the civil society. Although there is an allusion made to long- term consolidation, very few concrete measures are posited. Understandably the vision that characterizes the planning and execution of relief interventions remains wedded to the short term, the immediate.

Here I may point out that the problem that such a viewpoint confronts in the present scarcity conditions is precisely the time frame. This year, the stock, the normal time period of emergency relief, the months of May to July, has been stretched. Somehow, planning ‘emergency relief’ for a longer period becomes unrealistic, calling for huge amounts of funds. An impasse has been reached regarding decisions pertaining to the kind of interventions to be implemented and within what time frame. One manifestation of this impasse has been the inability of the NGOs / Donors to begin any tangible drought ‘relief’ work, despite admitting the severity of the situation on the ground. 

           

‘Drought’: Another View!

Whereas there is little doubt that there has been a failure of monsoons, opinions differ as to the role of this in making the ‘drought conditions’. Proponents of another view would not accept the ‘drought conditions’ as a ‘natural disaster’. Rather they would tend to situate the causes in the interplay of interconnected factors over a long period of time, climatic changes being one of them.

For those of us in the field, in a way, ‘drought’ has never gone off the ground since 1998. It could be argued that the ‘severe crisis’ that we are facing now, is a result of slow, persistent degradation that has been taking place all these years.

Many would argue that the ‘drought conditions’ today are, in a larger measure, a result of long term processes triggered by changing policies and nature of the State and the forces of the market. So instead of situating the present scarcity as a ‘natural disaster’ they would like to view it as a ‘policy drought’. Thus squarely laying the emphasis on socio-economic and political causes rather than climatic.

Moreover they would argue that the role of climatic has to be seen in a more complex way than a mere reductionism of a ‘drought’ from the ’failure of rains’. Failure of monsoons, in this case, has to be made sense of. There are many who attribute India's errant monsoons and consequent drought to larger climatic changes the world over and in the South Asian region. Through the nineties we have learnt to appreciate the intimate interconnectedness of natural phenomenon on the earth. There are many who have made us see that the biosphere is as much a site for politics and control as are economies and polities. Global warming and the related changes are no longer a matter of seminar room talk only. What I mean to say is that the failure of rains is also a manifestation of the all out onslaught on our biosphere by global capital. This is one dimension that we need to integrate and factor in our discussions about ecological stability and sustainability of the Thar.

There is, of course, the question of forecasting these adverse events. For changes in weather and rainfall, the ability to forecast droughts and floods well in advance has not been perfected. The problem is one of imperfections in our scientific instruments. Satellites can give us information only a bit in advance. But full forecasting, with reasonable probability of occurrence, is a long way off. However, considering that adverse climatic patterns do occur now and then, there must be a set of

policies to deal with the situations. Unfortunately, this is not happening in India.

Collapse of agriculture and other livelihoods just by a failure of rains, even after fifty years of planning, raises many basic questions about our planning and programmes.

For the last ten years we had a series of average or above average rainfall years -- a very unusual meteorological phenomenon. In eight years rainfall was 101 to 119 percent of average and in                  the remaining two, above 90 percent (90 to 110 percent is the "normal" range). Ten good monsoons and we still managed to wreck Indian agriculture

There are strong contending views in the contemporary literature on the Indian agricultural policies that vulnerability of Indian farmers greatly influenced by Globalization and the policies of WTO and GATT. Investment in agriculture collapsed in the 1990s The ministry of agriculture as well as the ministry of commerce have admitted that the hopes from an international regime that talked of establishing a fair and market-oriented agricultural trading system  have been belied.

Today, at a time when food production struggles to keep pace with the burgeoning population growth, farmers are being asked to diversify, produce crops that are suitable for export                  and to compete in the international market. With the promise of cheap food available off the shelf in the global market, the focus has shifted from agriculture to industry, trade and commerce, from the small and marginal farmers to the agri-processing companies, which alone can bring in investments and add value to produce.

The poor yields and the fluctuations in production are indications of the scant attention                         drylands have received from policymakers and planners. The problem of increasing productivity on drylands has serious socio-economic implications. With every passing year, the gap between the farmer's yields in irrigated areas and in the dry farming region is widening. One year of drought is enough to push a farmer into a deep well of poverty for another two to three years. Drought                         is a recurring phenomenon in arid and semi-arid areas. Fifty years after Independence, life for millions of people somehow surviving in the drylands continues to be worse than before. The farmers in the dry lands (fragile areas) are among the worst hit. 

Rajasthan's rural poor are seeing the shredding of the little food security they were left with.

The rural poor, especially landless labourers have suffered in the following ways. A fall in income is obvious. For many, the period from about August to October is anyway critical. As food prices rise, so will hunger in rural households.  Many who own a few goats or fewer head of cattle could lose them. The debt situation gets much worse.  The pressure on women in rural households will be huge. The time and energy they spend in fetching water, firewood and fodder shoots up. But their food intake goes down. The policies of the past decade have smashed what little the rural poor have had on the public health front.

And yet, the drought is discussed mostly as a natural phenomenon. As if everything was fine until it came along. And the failure to cope with it seen as one of "faulty implementation" of noble projects and schemes. Really? In fact, as P. Sainath  says”…the problems lie first in the policies. Most of them anti-poor in design and content. In fact, the last decade saw the best implementation of the worst policies.” 

In fact it would not be an exaggeration to say that the end of nineties represented the culmination of a process of liberalization and the marginalization of poor that started almost a decade and a half earlier. 

Over time there has been what could be referred to as the ‘retreat of the State’ where it’s welfare role has practically minimized having it’s manifestations in cuts in social spending, primary health, security and education. These cuts have had drastic consequences for the survival of poor communities in the rural regions. This ‘retreat of the State’ has had it’s impact on the growth of the NGO sector in the Thar. The nineties has seen the mushrooming of many small, localized NGO initiatives. Voluntary spirit to work at the grass- roots was outpaced by the proliferation of localized organizations for ‘rural development’. This has impacted on the ‘distinct work culture’ of the NGOs I mentioned in the last section.

All this has triggered off a crisis of legitimacy of the NGOs in the civil society. Although still quite nascent, there have been beginnings made on the questioning of the legitimate space of the NGOs vis-à-vis the community as well as the different levels of the State. As many NGO workers from different NGOs in the Thar would testify, the contestation of the space vis-à-vis the community as well different levels of the State has almost become a daily existential question. In a period of heightened scarcity like ‘drought’ such contestations become more sharpened and acute.

Changes because of policies and their implementation; increasing role of the market and the changing role of the State manifest themselves in ever increasing disparities between the rich and the poor; pauperization of the poor; loss of markets and livelihood opportunities for the poor; diminishing entitlements of food and water for the poor, especially low caste and women; exorbitant rates of interest for credit; perpetuation of extremely exploitative work conditions for the low caste, etc.  

And these manifestations happen in a fragile eco-system like that of the Thar, where natural resource use, in many spheres, has reached limits. In the last four decades the Thar has become a more crowded place and the impact of anthropogenic pressures on the natural resource base has been quite massive. In the last fifty years, the contraction of vegetation cover / bio- mass has assumed catastrophic proportions. This is important since it severely limits diversity of an already fragile ecosystem.  

THE WORLD OF POOR & VULNERABLE IN THE THAR

In the meeting of the Desert Forum held in the month of August 2002 it was decided to do a rapid survey especially focusing on the condition of the most vulnerable families and the stocks of food and fodder and water storage capacity available with the poor families in villages. The following NGOs participated in the survey and generated a fair amount of data in a short span of time.

NAME OFTHE NGO	PROJECT AREA	DISTRICT
1. UMBVS	PHALODI &	JODHPUR &
	POKARAN	JAISALAMER
2. Marushakti	SUJANGARH	CHURU
3. Prayas Sansthan	SINDHARI	BARMER
4. Lok Kalyan Sansthan	BAITU	BARMER
5. Srajamyaham	SAM	JAISALMER
6. Sahaj Sansthan	PHALODI	JODHPUR
7. School of Desert Sciences	LUNI	JODHPUR
8. Khejari	JAYAL	NAGORE
9. Jan Kalyan Sansthan	POKARAN	JAISALMER
10. Samaj Evam Paryavaran Sansthan	BALESAR	JODHPUR
11. SURE	CHOHTAN	BARMER
12. Gramin Vikas Parayvaran Sarankshan Sansthan	KHICHAN	JODHPUR
13. Shanti Maitri Mission Sansthan	PUGAL	BIKANER
14. Mahila Mandal	SHIV	BARMER
15. UNNATI *	JODHPUR
16. AZERC, URMUL Trust *	BIKANER

 * - Research and Support Centres

 

I would not go into the interpretation and analysis of the data generated by these different NGOs as that is being done. Rather I would just mention the broad trends it reveals about the world of the poor and vulnerable in the Thar. A world full of stress and has broken down in this crisis.

The survey reveals that so far as the stocks of food grains and fodder is concerned, most of the households have no storages except for the same day. If some of them do have food grains or fodder that is good enough for a week or so only. This shows how much dependent they are on the market for these essentials. And how vulnerable to indebtedness which is bound to grow by leaps and bounds during this period. In fact many in the survey pointed out that the scarcity this year is so severe and the prospects of future so bleak that the moneylenders in the village have refused to give credit. Similarly the situation of access to drinking water is a sordid tale with most of the families having to buy their daily / weekly quotas of water. The poor have no storages that makes their condition even worse. The public water supplies do not reach those living in interior settlements.

The vulnerability to succumb to the pressures of the market has increased tremendously. Distress sales of the livestock have dropped to more than half. Wage work in the market is not there or is available at very low prices. Migration has increased but this time since the scarcity is equally there in the adjoining states of Punjab, Gujarat and Haryana, there is not much to be found there either.       

 

ISSUES

In delineating issues for some of the critical areas that need urgent attention by the grass root NGOs I am aware that most of these issues mentioned are mostly those around which the NGOs are already implementing activities. In mentioning them I am not doing anything new. Well, the aim is not to mention anything new. Rather the delineation of issues that follows is a submission of a kind. Some issues mentioned try to reiterate elements pertaining to processes or mechanisms regarding key interventions in the light of the field experience of many field workers in the Thar during the last decade. They are outcomes of learning from the grass root experience of development projects. Others attempt to anticipate the possible scenarios / trends that are emerging in resource distribution and use and considerations on sustainable development in Thar in the light of new, fairly radical changes that are coming in the Thar. In that sense they strike a note of caution, and imbued with a sense of urgency coax the NGOs to act in a more collective manner relying on different, higher forms of organisation.    

WATER

1. Renovation of TWHS in Both Drylands & IGNP Canal Areas

q  Emphasis on the Water Catchment Structure and Not Earthwork

q  Integrating Afforestation with TWHS Renovation

q  Removal of Prosopis Jurifora rubble and obstacles from water catchments

q  Ensuring Community Participation Not Only in Construction of TWHS But Maintenance and Water Distribution

2. Need to Work Closely With State PHED Dept., GoR

q  Operations and Maintenance of Pipelines and Wells

q  Participation of the Community

3. Application of Renewable Energy (Especially Solar & Wind) For Harnessing Water

4. Devising Strategies for Community Based Cooperatives for Under Ground Water Use

5. Exploring Renewable Technologies for Under Ground Water Use

6. Promoting Desalinization Plants on a Decentralized Basis

7. Policy & Public Advocacy on Water

q  Water Vision 2045 (GoR)

q  National & State Water Policy

q  Underground Water Bill

q  PIM Act 2000

q  Access to Water By Low Caste

8. Setting Up of A Resoure & Training Centre in Pugal, Bikaner for Popular Institutions (Chak Samities / Forest Committees) For Efficient Water Management in the IGNP Stage II Command Area

9. Promoting Cartage of Water By Camel Carts to Interior Settlements

LIVELIHOODS

AGRICULTURE

1. Setting Up of Seed Banks of Indigenous Seeds
2. Agricultural Land Bunding For Small & Marginal Farmers
3. Promoting Organic Manure & Compost Pits
4. Piloting & Dissemination of Sustainable Agricultural Practices Using Participatory Technology Development Approaches
5. Advocacy on Integrating Water-Course Covering & Diggi Construction As Essential Components in Farmer Managed PIM In the IGNP Stage II
6. Facilitating Farmer participation in Seeds & Fertilizer Market
7. Creation of Producers’ Cooperatives & Federations

LIVESTOCK REARING

1. Promoting Breed Improvement of Hardy and Indigenous Breeds like Thar Parkar, Rathi, etc
2. Facilitating Linkages of Pastoral Groups with Govt. Veterinary Services
3.  Develop and Institutionalize Village “Goshalas” with year round back up of pasture, animal husbandry and breed improvement support
4. Use of Cow Dung and Urine to Prepare Variety Of Bio products For Economic Upkeep and Sustenance of “Goshalas”
5. Promoting Goat rearing As a Livelihood for Poor In an Ecologically Sustainable Manner
6. Advocacy on Recognition of Communal Usufructory Grazing Rights of Pastoralists
7. Regularising Health Facilities for Livestock as well as Humans Along Major Migration Routes

NON-FARM LIVELIHOODS

1.       Promoting Handicrafts

2.      Formation of Women SHGs and Producer Cooperatives at the Village level

3.      Easy Availability of Rural Credit for Setting Up Small Business

4.      Developing Vocational Skills Other Than Traditional Crafts As Livelihood Options

FOOD STOCKS & DISTRIBUTION

1.       Coordinating with the Supreme Court Secretariat for Proper Implementation of Food & Nutrition Schemes of the Govt. 

2.      Liasioning with the District Supply Officer / Education Dept.

3.      Building Community Based Nutrition Monitoring Networks

4.      Promoting Decentralized Locally Designed Storage Structures

5.      Facilitating Exchange Among Inter-Regional Networks of Grain Banks 

 FODDER & GRASSLANDS

1.       Monitoring Bio Mass and Vegetation Cover

2.      Revival and Rejuvenation of “Orans” and “Gouchars” By Removing Exotic Species and widening water channels and water bodies located in these CPRs

3.      Promoting traditional stocking strategies for Fodder Storage

4.      Efforts To Increase Genetic Diversity

5.      Plantation of Herbal Plants on a large scale

6.      Promoting Decentralized Fodder Storage

7.      Making Use of Good Rainfall Years to Increase Bio Mass Production

8.     Advocating for Protection / Conservation of Natural Grasslands

9.      Facilitating Regeneration / Regulation of Village pastures for Small Livestock Owners

10.  Community Participation and Decision Making In Bio Mass Regeneration

POLICY ADVOCACY LINKED TO ‘DROUGHT’

1.       Assessment Process & Declaration of ‘Drought’

q  The Production of Girdawari as a Document - Is it adequate?

q  Question of Crop Failure as an Index, why not have biological yields per hectares as an Index!

q  Indicators for Assessing the Status of Livestock Keepers & Grasslands

q  Ascertaining Migration patterns of Humans / Livestock

q  'Critique' of the Rajasthan Famine Relief Code

q  Role of Climate Changes & Changing Structure of Drought

q  When does 'drought' end? 

2.      Drought Relief: Policy & Practice

q  Awareness Sessions / Campaigns for the NGOs / Community

§  Provisions relating the Right to Minimum Wages & Employment Schemes

§  Prevention of Corruption Act

§  Application of the Right to Information Act to Drought Relief Works

q  Litigation on Enforcement of Minimum Wages

q  Liasioning with the District Labour Commissioner / Dept.

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

1.       School Going Children in the Villages Be Educated On Causes of Drought and Be Trained In Upkeep of Natural Resources of the Village

2.      College and University Students Of Western Rajasthan Be Involved in Impact Assessment, Awareness Programmes and Management of Drought Relief Programmes

3.      Rajasthan Board and State Universities Must Incorporate Topics like Causes of Drought; Traditional and Scientific Remedial Measures Including Economic Issues in Their Syllabi with mandatory Field Visits to Rural Areas to Develop An Understanding the Dynamics of Drought

4.      NGOs Should Make Natural Resource Monitoring A regular part of their programmes

5.      Develop Centralized Resource Centre with Appropriate Decentralized Mechanisms for regular and timely Information Dissemination About ‘Drought within the NGOs’  

                       

RESEARCH

1.       Linking Up With Bio Technology Research, even if critically

2.      Review of DDP / BADP / DPAP Programmes Since Independence

3.      Impact of On-Going Development Programmes / Schemes on Poor / Natural Resource Base

4.      Climate Change and Impact on Biosphere In The Thar

5.      Regular Seminars / Workshops on Key themes Relating to Natural Resource Use in  the Thar

(Note Presented At Desert Forum of NGOs at Jodhpur on 9 October 2003)