Four years is enough for ecological regeneration
Digvijay Singh
Chief minister, Madhya Pradesh
On institutionalisation of structures:
They are already public property. They were built according to needs of the people. For example, the farmers themselves have worked on the recharging of wells without any government money. Though loans are given, the wells belong to the people.
The state will give technical inputs to the villages to maintain the structures.
On government support and the time frame:
We have seen ecological regeneration taking place within 2-3 years. As the state government's role is limited to be that of a facilitator, it is for the people to sustain them. The state government will continue to support them even beyond the time frame.
Four years is a practical time frame. The mission is one of the instruments to make water conservation a mass movement. We used the drought as a successful opportunity.
On poverty alleviation:
It is a major challenge. Water conservation will continue to be our top priority. We have opted for the community-based model as it is cheap and sustainable. We will empower gram sabhas to levy cess on land revenues to generate their own resources and conserve water.