ANNOUNCEMENTS
Sustainable natural resource management is the need of the hour and especially so in a climate vulnerable country like India. As an agrarian economy, the management of our resources has been under the spotlight of every government but studies show that the top down approach has proven to be unsuccessful and has resulted in further degradation of natural resources. This study aims to show how a bottom up approach can prove to be successful and sustainable in case of natural resources. Village level Institutions promoted by a Non-Governmental organization, which are focused on NRM, were studied for their efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability and were graded based on their performance and operations as an institution. The key gap areas which needs to be strengthened were identified and further, the relevance and impact of the institutions were captured. The results indicate that block with stronger institutions had more impact on their resources even with uniform support from the NGO. The study concludes with evidences to show, how an empowered institution is the key for sustainable development and grass root level change.
Keywords– Village Level Institutions, Natural Resource Management, Non-Governmental organization, empowered community, Karauli.
