Govt. Responds: Excerpts from the Draft Approach Paper of the 12th Five Year Plan 2012-2017

Excerpts from the Draft Approach Paper of the 12th Five Year Plan 2012-2017 (Page 78-79)

Common Pool Resources

7.46 Common pool resources (CPRs) or ‘commons’ play a key role in household food security in many parts of the country. These are characterized by rainfed agriculture and mixed farming systems. Several studies have shown that in rainfed regions, the subsidy derived from CPRs form a critical contribution to both livestock and agricultural production systems. The commons-livestock-agriculture interface is the foundation from which multiple production systems of rainfed areas derive their resilience. NSSO 54th Round estimated that the share of common pool land resources in the total geographical area of the country was around 15.0 per cent. Chopra and Gulati (2001) have re-classified India’s Agricultural Land Use Statistics data for 1991 to estimate the extent of common pool resources in 16 major states. Adopting this methodology, they estimate that the share of common pool land resources is around 26.0 per cent of the total geographical area of the country.

7.47 In rainfed regions, the subsidy derived from commons forms a critical contribution to both livestock and agricultural production systems. Hence, we need to strengthen the symbiotic relationship between commons, livestock and agriculture. This calls for a shift in orientation towards viewing commons in a livelihood framework as an essential part of the survival strategies of farming households. The critical role that commons play in livelihood security in rainfed regions should inform the current ongoing discussion on the ‘productive use’ of the commons.

7.48 For revitalizing the commons and strengthening the production systems of rainfed areas, the following measures need to be adopted:

• Formulating a ‘Commons Policy’ with emphasis on security of tenure to the user community;

• Initiating a community-led process of recording claims, verification and consolidation of community rights on common lands and to get such rights recorded in Record of Rights at Gram Panchayat level;

• Devolving management and use rights of commons to village/habitation institutions as part of the decentralization process;

• Stepping up public investments (to the extent of Rs 20,000 per hectare) for revitalising common land and water resources; a large proportion of these investments can be met through convergence with MGNREGA;

• Developing a programme architecture at district and at sub-district level aligning interventions on CPRs within the larger natural resource management programmes.

• Constituting an overarching planning and regulating authority at the district level where sectoral plans on agriculture, water, forests, industry and infrastructure are nested; and creating a robust database on common land and water resources as a decision-support to sustainable use of CPRs.

http://planningcommission.gov.in/plans/planrel/12appdrft/appraoch_12plan.pdf