Meghalaya villagers to be trained for managing natural resources

SHILLONG: The Government of Meghalaya has decided to train all villagers on 'Natural Resource Management' (NRM) – a collective action plan by MBMA, Soil & Water Conservation and C&RD Departments. in line with the State Water Policy, three active and committed youths or village facilitators from each village will be given intensive training in this sector. Meghalaya is the first State to go for a 'State Water Policy' for guiding the implementation of NRM, particularly water-related interventions. An agreement was signed between the Meghalaya Basin Management Agency (MBMA) and the Soil and Water Conservation Department (SWCD) under the CLLMP project. This will enable the State to launch a Statewide awareness campaign on NRM, which would be conducted by the department in every single village. The agreement was signed on December 16 for the implementation of a one-of-a-kind effort which is the training of every single villager on proper and sustainable NRM.

Meghalaya is one of the richest States in terms of natural resources, from rainfall to minerals and flora and fauna. But, the State still falls behind in terms of development due to improper management of these resources. In the past few years, the State has been making significant investments into NRM.

Under MGNREGA, the largest programme supporting NRM, investment into overall NRM grew from 24% of the total budget in 2018-19 to 45% in 2020-21, with a total of Rs 270 crore.

For water-specific activities, investment in the same period grew from 11% to 20%, with an amount of Rs. 115 crore and one quarter still remaining. Similarly, significant investments are being made through the 'Externally Aided Projects' (EAPs).

An amount of Rs 62 crore has been invested through the IFAD-funded 'Meghalaya Livelihood and Access to Markets Project' (Megha-LAMP) besides Rs 37 crore through the World Bank-funded 'Community Led Landscape Management Project' (CLLMP).

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