Women and watershed development in India: Issues and strategies

A paradigm shift in soil and water conservation measures from an isolated approach to integrated watershed development programmes (WDPs) in the early 1970s emphasised the active involvement or sense of ownership of the farming community for economic and social uplift on a holistic basis, particularly of the weaker sections and women. Guidelines issued by the Government of India have overlooked the divergent needs and interests that rural women have in relation to land and water. Women's participation has always been under a kind of 'reservation policy' and not as a matter of right. The soil and water conservation measures undertaken have failed to take into consideration the imbalance between men and women's ownership rights, division of labour and income. Women's participation in watershed development projects should not merely be judged by the number of women working as labour or by their 'proxy presence' in meetings, but by making them an integral part in the decision-making process and sense of belongingness in the development programmes.