 The success of IGWDP-Maharashtra has led to setting up of Watershed Development Fund (WDF) in NABARD with a corpus of Rs. 200 crore (Rs. 100 crore each contributed by GOI and NABARD) with a broad objective of unification of multiplicity of watershed development programmes into a single national initiative through involvement of village level institutions and NGOs.
Utilisation of WDF
The Fund will be utilised mainly for the following purposes :
- Promotional efforts with Communities, NGOs, SHGs, Panchayats, Bankers and Government Departments on grant basis.
- Taking up capacity building phase of the projects, on grant basis, with Communities, NGOs, SHGs and Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in different states.
- Selectively, full scale financing of collaborative watershed projects on a pilot basis, with grant and/or loan finance, with any of the partners mainly for trying out new institutional or other arrangements.
- Supplementary flexible financing (grant and/or loan) for watershed projects, on selective basis, in government programmes, to fill in the critical gaps perceived in the field but which are not met under the existing budgetary arrangements.
- Financing implementation of watershed projects through the state governments on loan basis.
- Supporting (on grant and/or loan basis) promotional activities for micro-credit; promotion of SHGs of women, land-less, members of the SC/ST communities and other weaker sections of the community and other related activities in the watershed development program.
The WDF is to be operated flexibly and apart from the activities stated above, other related and essential activities will also be supported (on grant and/or loan basis).  WDF Guidelines
(a) One-third of the Fund is for the grant based activities viz. full grant based pilot projects, Capacity Building Phase projects, Feasibility Study Report preparation for Full Implementation Phase projects, training & capacity building activities, innovative and promotional activities.
(b.) Two-third of the Fund is used for giving loans to the state governments for implementation of watershed development projects during Full Implementation Phase.
Coverage of States
- At present 5 states viz. Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh are effectively participating in the programme.
- Watershed Development Projects in cluster aggregating 15000 ha per district are being implemented in 31 distressed districts (Maharashtra 6, Andra Pradesh 16, Karnataka 6 and Kerela 3) entirely on grant basis
Coverage of districts
It was envisaged to cover of 100 priority districts in the identified states as per the programme. As on date about 120 districts have been identified for coverage under the programme, of which the programme is under implementation in 83 districts.
Rate of Interest
The present rate of interest is 4.5% per annum on loans to be availed by the State Governments out of WDF during FIP.
Repayment period
The repayment period is 9 years including a grace period of 3 years.
Awareness creation
In an effort to promote participatory watershed management, exposure/ training programmes have been organised in project areas of IGWDP- Maharashtra and other successful watershed projects. So far, more than 1200 State Govt. officials, Officials of NGOs and NABARD officers, VWCsand villagers have been covered in these programmes.
Loan given to : State Governments.
Project Steering Committee:
(a.) There is a Central Steering Committee to frame policy , sanction and monitor the progress of WDF under the chairmanship of Secretary, Agriculture & Cooperation. , GoI. The other members of the committee are MD, NABARD, representative of selected State Governments and NGOs, by rotation.
(b.) A State level , the Steering Committee is headed by Agriculture Production Commissioner / Development Commissioner .
Initiatives / Policy Decisions
i. In order to showcase the unique features in watershed development, projects on grant basis in 2 clusters (of 3 to 5 projects) with an aggregate treatable area of 3000 ha in each cluster may be considered in each state.
ii. In participating states effective from 01 January 2005 for every 5 projects ( of an aggregate area about 3000 ha) in a cluster under loan component, one additional watershed would be covered under grant on satisfactory progress of loan projects.
iii. In the fifty Pilot Project for Integrated Development (PPID) blocks in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra,Tamil Nadu, Chhattaisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Uttaranchal and West Bengal one project per block will be covered under grant.
The other initiatives / policy decisions are:
i. The rate of interest has been reduced to 4.5% p.a. with a view to increase the credit flow.
ii. revolving Fund Assistance is sanctioned to NGOs on pilot basis from the fund to encourage post Watershed Development activities.
Monitoring Mechanism :
A systematic monitoring mechanism is kept in place at Regional Office levels (with the Watershed Development Fund Cell) for effective monitoring of watershed projects. Each watershed under CBP in visited once in 3 months. Visits are also made to watersheds prior to release of grant, sanction of CBP, FRs and FIP. The concerned District Development Managers (DDMs) of NABARD are also involved in the monitoring visits. The Project Facilitating Agencies (PFA) are required to send Half Yearly Progress Reports which are desk monitored by the WDF cells at RO levels. Regional Offices send monthly progress reports to HO indicating the details of releases, monitoring visits, training, etc which are scrutinized and consolidated at HO level
During FIP, monitoring visits are conducted every six months. The monitoring mechanism is also supported by the involvement of the Resource Support Organisations (RSO) / Technical Support Organisations (TSO).
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