Shri. G. RATNA KUMAR, I.T.S.

MESSAGE ON SOCIAL ENGINEERING AND LIVELIHOODS PROMOTION - OPERATIONAL MANUAL

 KNOW MORE ABOUT WATER

The Andhra Pradesh State Irrigation Development Corporation Limited (APSIDC) was established in 1974 as a Government undertaking with the primary objective of providing irrigation facility to small, marginal, SC and ST farmers in the upland areas.  After construction, APSIDC hands over the Lift Irrigation Schemes to Farmers’ Associations for operation and maintenance.

Social engineering and livelihoods promotion are the most important components for enabling farmers for Sustainable Management of Lift Irrigation Schemes. In this context, APSIDC has taken up initiatives to build the capacity of all stakeholders, viz., the Farmers and Farmers’ Associations, Community Social Engineers and Support Organisations, APSIDC Staff (Social Engineering Coordinators, AEs / AEEs and EEs), and line departments through convergence.

Awareness creation, capacity building, planning, communication, monitoring and management of information system are the key components in strengthening social engineering and sustainable livelihoods. The Operational Manual on “Social Engineering and Livelihoods Promotion Plan for Sustainable Management of Lift Irrigation Schemes,” in two volumes, is a guide for the stakeholders for generating a common understanding for adoption of the various aspects at each Farmers’ Association and LI scheme, Support Organisation and APSIDC.

This Operation Manual provides the guidelines and descriptive notes for Social Engineering and Livelihoods Promotion for the Lift Irrigation Schemes being handed over to Farmers’ Associations for operation, maintenance and management.

The operational manual is meant mainly to guide the secondary stakeholders, viz., the staff of APSIDC and the Support Organisations doing community mobilization and capacity building of the primary stakeholders -- the farmers and farmers’ committees -- in this process.

This manual contains two parts produced as separate documents. Part I, published here, contains four chapters. Chapter 1 gives the background to Social Engineering and Livelihoods Promotion (SELP) Plan for Sustainable Management of Lift Irrigation Schemes. Chapter 2 provides concept notes and details on SELP implementation plan. Chapter 3 on institutional arrangements discusses guidelines, principles and descriptions on project management, roles and responsibilities of primary and secondary stakeholders. Chapter 4 on SELP implementation process discusses phasing, timelines, implementation, action planning, budgeting and monitoring of key result areas.

Part II of this manual, which is being produced as a companion document, contains all the various formats meant for benchmark, process monitoring and documentation for LI schemes.

APSIDC acknowledges Dr Joseph Plakkoottam, Development Management Network (DMN) and Dr N. Sai Bhaskar Reddy, Geoecology Energy Organisation (GEO) for their contribution in the preparation of this Operational Manual.  

It is for the first time that APSIDC is publishing a manual for facilitating Social Engineering and Livelihoods Promotion with the participation of community, support organizations and personnel of APSIDC. It is hoped that all the stakeholders would strive for sustainable functioning of LI schemes and reach the contemplated ayacut.