Reorienting Community Institutions: For Cohesive Sustainable Management of Natural Resources

Abstract

"Establishing organic unity within structural frame through devolution of authority and responsibility in favour of communities, as envisaged under the National Afforestation Programme in India, appear to be a tall demand when the activities are solely physical and confined to a short period of a year or two. The otherwise institutionally under-prepared community in absence of matching social inputs and inspiring follow- ups reverts to earlier chaos and the organic unity anchored in institutional strength remains at large. Reorienting the social institution is a long drawn process and may have to traverse through the identification of the status of existing coherency and factors contributing the same, the activities those preferred for cooperation, inputs necessary to establish favourable conditions for preferred activities, augmenting those factors, experiencing the activities, confidence building, trying the activity of second preference, confidence building, repeat and extending the cooperation to long term activity of conservation. The paper attempts to suggest a fresh approach to explore the rural intricacies related to social relationships, to generate the valuable knowledge in shaping the methods of inquiry and application in rural situations and to help in sustaining the involvement of communities in participatory CPR management."