POLICY ADVOCACY

The Development Support Centre(DSC), as member of several national, state and district level committees on Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM), Watershed Development (WSD), Agriculture Productivity Enhancement & improving livelihood programme(Watershed Plus) and Joint Forest Management (JFM) has been striving to influence public policies concerning these programmes to make them more friendly to the participatory approach being used by community based organisations (CBOs) NGOs and Govt. agencies. It tries to create policy environment conducive to sustainable community based management of natural resources. Its policy advocacy activities stem from familiarity with ground realities generated in the process of implementing projects, timely feedback from the field & the experience of its partner organisations to bring about the policy changes


DSC follows following strategy for policy influencing:

		Persuading Government about to set up consultative forums such as working groups and committees and organize workshops, training programmes on focused issues that bring together govt. officers, NGOs, academicians & farmers' representatives
		Demonstrating through its own field units and other government organisations the importance of participatory approach.
		Identifying issues and undertaking reseach studies that bring out policy dimensions
		Sensitizing Government functionaries through capacity building interventions.
		Initiating & participating in networks to bring about changes in Government policies & procedures.

The DSC has acted successfully as a catalyst in the formation of working groups and committees which draw their membership from variety of sources for PIM, WSD, Watershed plus & JFM programmes. These forums provide an opportunity to the NGOS & academicians to interact with policy matters. The DSC also functions as an informal secretariat for these committees, suggesting items for agendas, preparing draft minutes, suggesting and conducting follow up actions.


DSC's policy advocacy activities are more intense at the state level. At the state level, DSC has been active mainly in two areas, PIM and WSD, although the chairman, who had played a pioneering role in the introduction and growth of JFM in Gujarat continues to be involved in various formal and informal deliberations on JFM. With DSC's involvement, more than 56 policy decisions and proceedings have been either improved or introduced by Government of Gujarat and Government of India so far .