Institutional Reforms in Joint Forest Management: Reflecting on Experience of Haryana Shivaliks

Abstract

"This article examines the case of the Joint Forest Management (JFM) program in Haryana, where a significant development pertaining to institutional reforms in the management of de facto common property resources such as forests and water harvesting dams have been undertaken in past few decades. Over the years, a closer analysis of the various developments that took place in the JFM program in Haryana brings up several issues in the above mentioned context. Taking the specific case of management of resources such as grass lease from forest areas and water harvesting dams, the proposed paper aims to highlight how institutional reforms have been working in the region and how the dependence on market for resource utilisation and policy modifications during scaling up, have affected them.

"This first section of the article provides a general background of institutional evolution of JFM in India. The subsequent section then deals with the evolution of institutional reforms in Haryana. It is followed by discussion of experience of management of grass lease from forest areas and water harvesting dams as well as the impact of policy modifications during the scaling up of the program, after the initial success of the JFM in the state."