Implementing the Employment Guarantee Act- A Survey in Chitradurga District, Karnataka

The paper is a report of a survey done in Chitradurga District, Karnataka to know the functioning of NREGA and awarness of people about this Act.karnataka, india, NREG, Chitradurga, civil society, history, panchayats, wages, Amenities, worker, NGOs, national employment rural scheme, Delhi, Guarantee

Maternal Health in Karnataka—As Seen from Budget Data

The main objective of this paper is to present for wider discussion in civil society groups, in India and abroad, the key features of Karnataka’s maternal health situation. Rather than provide conclusions, the paper raise questions from a scrutiny of the data that could form the basis for wide-ranging debate seeking workable solutions. Karnataka has an active civil society that has taken up many issues and engaged with the state in a positive way. Reproductive and Child Health [RCH] issues therefore stand a good chance of being taken up if an informed discussion is embarked upon. This note hopes to start such discussion. [A Preliminary Analysis For Discussion Among Civil Society Groups]Karnataka, India, maternal, women, RCH, MDGs

How sustainable is participatory watershed development in India?

Watershed conservation is widely recognized as a major strategy for rural development throughout the developing world. In India, the apparent success of participatory approaches to watershed development resulted in a decentralization of project planning, implementation, and management to local communities at the village scale. We explore the effectiveness of this so-called community-based approach in achieving sustainable soil and water conservation in four semi-arid regions in India, and analyze what factors explain project success. We confirm the result of earlier studies that participatory approaches are more effective in establishing soil and water conservation in the short run. However, our main result is that investments in community organization fail to ensure household commitment to maintenance in the longer term. Without better returns to investment in soil and water conservation and without local institutions to coordinate investment in the long run, the sustainability of participatory watershed management is seriously threatened. Copyright 2007 International Association of Agricultural Economists.