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Jalanidhi to be made more people-friendly: Minister

Staff Reporter

Premachandran says Government will rectify faults in the programme

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Government is studying ways to make the Jalanidhi programme more beneficial to the poorer sections of society, Minister for Water Resources N. K. Premachandran has said.

He was inaugurating a discussion on the role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in development organised here on Monday by the Confederation of NGOs in Rural India (CNRI).

The Government does not intend to terminate the programme but will work to rectify the faults in the programme. Very often the conditions imposed by international funding agencies prove detrimental to the interests of the common man. A very poor family will find it impossible to meet the `beneficiary contribution' stipulated by the World Bank under the Jalanidhi programme. Moreover, such families will also not be able to bear the cost involved in operating and managing the individual drinking water schemes.

Many NGOs who get involved in the commissioning of a scheme do not stay on to help in its operations and maintenance activities. The Government is now thinking of involving the Kerala Water Authority in major Jalanidhi schemes, he said.

Against public good

International funding agencies often seem to be against the very word `public'. They seem to be against public taps, a public education system and so on. Their thinking is that the Government should withdraw from all such activities.

Although it is a good thing that NGOs are involved in development activities, the extent and manner of their involvement should be decided by sovereign governments and not by bodies such as the World Bank, he said.

Given that there are a lot of NGOs in operation today and given that there are a lot of such organisations that are bogus, it would nice if a code of conduct for NGOs is evolved, he said.

Umbrella organisations such as the CNRI can take the lead in monitoring the activities of NGOs, Mr. Premachandran said.

`Major role'

In her address Nirmala Deshpande, MP, said the major role of NGOs is to empower people at the grassroots level of society.

NGOs should also take the lead to see that good government schemes are implemented properly and that the benefits actually reach the target population.

NGOs should try to identify and rectify loopholes in government schemes by first going to the officials concerned. If not successful they should take to the streets, organise protests and dharnas to draw attention to the faults.

Citing the example of the Employment Guarantee Scheme of the Central Government Ms. Deshpande pointed out there are too many things to be done as part of the scheme like giving of job cards and the right kind of work.

NGOs can help implement such schemes without leaving that entirely to government officials, she said.

Such schemes can be implemented by NGOS in a less expensive manner, the MP added.

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