Policy Advocacy

DHAN Foundation, through policy advocacy at the State and Central levels, has been giving suggestions for conservation of water bodies to help small and marginal farmers. The following are the efforts taken since 2000 through the programme.

Missions of Government, Working Committee

DHAN is a member of the High Level Committee on Comprehensive Watershed and Waste Land Development project of Tamil Nadu, as well as the Missions of Government Working Committee. DHAN participants shared their experiences on local management, optimal use of resources, conservation and tank cascade approach at a workshop on Water Conservation Mission by the Andhra Pradesh Government. As a member of Working Committee, a report on minor irrigation development and allocation of resources for the Tenth Five Year Plan was prepared for the Central Planning Commission.

National Level

DHAN Foundation is a member of the working group formed by the Central Planning Commission on minor irrigation during the tenth plan (2002-2007). It conducted a national policy seminar on ‘Revisiting Village Tanks: Conservation and Development’. It also presented its technical inputs in rural areas by participating in the ‘Consultation Workshop on Water Policy 2002’ of the Ministry of Water Resources on National Water Policy 2002, National Consultation on preparation of legal draft for Community Managed Tank Institutions in Karnataka organized by the National Law School India University and in a discussion conducted by Rural Technology Action Group.

State level

At the State level, DHAN prepared two draft guidelines – ‘Development of Minor irrigation Tanks in Tamil Nadu’ and the ‘Rehabilitation of Ponds for Providing Drinking Water in Drought-Prone Ramanathapuram District of Tamil Nadu’ – and based on these reports the Village Self Sufficiency Scheme was announced in the State budget. Policy workshops on Tanks and Ground Water Recharges, Tanks and Resource Mobilization, Tank-fed Agriculture and Traditional Technology, and Tank-fed Agriculture were also conducted. At a Consultation Workshop on 'Tamil Nadu Water Policy 2003', conducted by the Institute of Water Studies, DHAN suggested that the 1992 water policy be revived.

Global Water Partnership – South Asian Technical Advisory Committee

DHAN Foundation has been identified as driver agency for village tank management. Workshops on Village Tank Management, Village Tanks of South Asia, Tanks and Pond Study, National Policy Seminar on Revisiting Village Tanks Conservation and Development, and Road Shows on Water were organized.

Policy Seminars (Farmers Convention)

Policy seminars on conservation, encroachment eviction, ground water recharge, resource mobilization, conflict resolution, traditional technology, tank-fed agriculture and others were organized to share DHAN’s experiences with farmers, NGOs and Government departments. The seminar papers were brought out as publications.

COCOSWR

In Tamil Nadu DHAN Foundation has been taking up policy advocacy through members of the Conservation Council for Small Scale Water Resources (COCOSWR). The focus is to translate practice into a policy framework, reviewing existing policies and programmes of the State , to guide the Government and society on key issues and to conserve, revive water bodies, water ways for ecological security.

Membership

DHAN Foundation has served as advisor in some of the planning process related to small scale water resources:

	Working group formed by the Central Planning Commission on minor irrigation for the Tenth Plan (2002-2007)
	Advisor for Water Conservation Mission, Andhra Pradesh Government (1999 -2004)
	Steering committee member of NABARD – WDF Project, Chennai (2000 - 2002)
	Consultant for European Union funded Tank Rehabilitation Project, Pondicherry from September 1998 – July 2002. The programme provided professionals in sociology, hydrology, monitoring and evaluation, and water management.
	World Water Council
	Global Water Partnership
	International Water Management Institute, Colombo
	India Water Partnership
	Indian Institute of Public Administration
	International Association for Studies of Common Property
	University of Florida, Indiana, US
	UN Solution Exchange Network – Gender, Water & Sanitation, Microfinance, ICT, Work & Poverty, Community