Land Resources Secretary: watershed guidelines must stay flexible for states

The Secretary of the Department of Land Resources has said India's new technical guidelines for watershed management should stay flexible enough for states to apply, rather than being so rigid that they hinder work in the field.

Dilip Kumar was speaking on 4 November at the opening of the third national consultation on the draft National Technical Guidelines for Improved Watershed Management, held at ICAR-NBSS&LUP in Nagpur. The two-day meeting, on 4 and 5 November, is part of the World Bank-assisted REWARD programme (Rejuvenating Watersheds for Agricultural Resilience through Innovative Development). It is organised by the Department of Land Resources, the National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA) and ICAR's National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning.

What officials said

Kumar said guidelines should set a few essential parameters that all states follow, while letting states adopt other desirable ones according to local capacity. He said achieving 80–90 per cent of intended objectives through a "flexible and realistic" framework would be more meaningful than overly rigid standards. He also asked states to use funds quickly and effectively, and called for robust baseline data and impact assessments of WDC-PMKSY 2.0 to shape WDC-PMKSY 3.0.

NRAA CEO Dr C. S. Kumar stressed data access and capacity building, and called for a harmonised national Decision Support System that combines the best features of systems built by Odisha and Karnataka.

Joint Secretary Nitin Khade said the guidelines should be finalised in a time-bound manner. He noted project timelines have been cut from seven years under WDC-PMKSY 1.0 to five under 2.0. He backed Land Resource Inventory data, digital soil maps and GIS, satellite and drone tools, and stronger farmer producer organisations, user groups and self-help groups to maintain water structures after projects end.

Who took part

Participants include the World Bank, the REWARD states Odisha and Karnataka, NGOs and consortium partners such as ICRISAT and WASSAN. The release does not say when the guidelines will be final.

Photos

---

Source: official release by the Ministry of Rural Development, issued through the Press Information Bureau, Government of India (05 NOV 2026 12:19PM by PIB Delhi). Read the full official text: NRAA, ICAR-NBSS&LUP and DoLR Organise National-Level Consultation to Strengthen Science-Based Watershed Management.