Mid-Term Evaluation of Revised National Watershed Development Projects for Rainfed Areas during X Plan

This paper deals with the development of rain fed areas through the watershed development projects of the Government of India. Four blocks in four districts of Maharashtra have been selected, viz., Gadhinglaj block from Kolhapur district, Kuhi block from Nagpur district, Himayatnagar block from Nanded district and Murud block from Raigarh district. The study shows that watershed developments have great potential to generate employment opportunities for the rural people. This is due to the increased availability of water resources and diversified cropping pattern including the cultivation of labour-intensive crops. The additional employment generated from the watershed programme in the villages leads to minimizing the migration of labour to the urban areas.