Govt co-opts NGOs to solve water woes (Times Of India 12 January 2011)

NEW DELHI: For the first time since it launched a "war for water" campaign following a directive from the Supreme Court, the department of science and technology is all set to co-opt non-governmental organizations into it. During a two-day workshop from January 24, a six-member committee will select from 23 shortlisted NGOs working in locations across the country, for central grants. The government will disburse up to Rs 145 crore to those NGOs to create awareness about water issues, rainwater harvesting and augmentation of water storage in rural areas which receive either less than the optimum 40 litres per capita per day water or get water that is below the set standards of potable water. The 23 NGOs have been shortlisted from an initial 44 applications that were invited in April last year. "The NGOs will give presentations as to the kind of technology they are looking to use, how they will run it for the two years of the grant period and also how they propose to turn it into a revenue model, which can be carried on by locals without any outside intervention," said a senior scientist associated with the programme. The NGOs should have a minimum experience of five years of working in the region where they propose to implement the project, and should have also implemented projects worth at least Rs 25 lakh in the last three years.