ExecutivesummaryFINALNHR.docVIP

? Executive summary ? Executive summary ? Page  PAGE \* Arabic \* MERGEFORMAT 10 ? Page  PAGE \* Arabic \* MERGEFORMAT 11 Executive summary Environmental Services, Vulnerability Reduction and Natural Resource conservation from NREGA Activities ~ Case study of Chitradurga District Submitted to The Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India. Prepared by Indian Institute of Science, Centre for Sustainable Technologies, Bengaluru With support from University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru Jadhavpur University, Kolkatta Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai INRM Consultants, New Delhi Supported by GTZ, New Delhi  Executive summary Environmental Services, Vulnerability Reduction and Natural Resource Conservation from NREGA Activities ~ Case study of Chitradurga District Programmes under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) are being implemented since 2006. The Act includes works under nine different themes to provide unskilled labour work to the village communities during summer and has been deemed to have huge potential in empowering rural communities with work and natural capital or livelihood capacity addition. NREGA is a very generally poverty alleviation programme currently being implemented in India. The focus of attention on NREGA is largely on the employment generated, funds spent, administration of the programme, financing, accounting and transparency, empowerment of the rural communities and gender aspects. There is very limited attention towards the environmental or ecological or sustainability or water and food security aspects of the programme. The sustainable flow of benefits, in terms of employment and income generation, from investment in NREGA has also not received attention. This study aims at making a rapid assessment of the environmental services provided by the NREGA activities and their contribution to reducing the vulnerability of pr