scope of biodiesel in india - Euroasiapub.org

IJREAS Volume 2, Issue 8 (August 2012) ISSN: 2249-3905
● National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS)
● Watershed Development Programme
● Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana
See http://www.novodboard.com/nb-schemes.pdf.
● Village Energy Security Programme
● National Afforestation Programme
are being used for biodiesel plantation, with NREGS being the most important one.
Centrally-sponsored schemes are a core element of biodiesel policies. It is therefore
necessary to briefly discuss their main strengths and weaknesses. Using these schemes for
biodiesel plantation is a convenient way to kick-start the supply of TBOs on a large scale.
This takes due account of the fact that the uncertainties related to TBOs and their economic
viability as well as their long gestation period prevent farmers and other people in rural areas
to enter into biodiesel planting without any such support. Moreover, as biodiesel plantations
aim to contribute to achieving certain public goods such as afforestation and inclusion of
marginalised people, using these governmental support schemes is fully justified.
However, it has long been recognised that these schemes are beset by a number of problems
as regards their effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability and outreach. For example, the
guidelines given by the line ministries are often rather inflexible, and the planning process of
the individual projects under the schemes is often very top-down, lacking participation by the
respective communities implementing projects in their villages. As Saxena and Ravi note,
“[m]ost often the Pradhan/Sarpanch selects the project which suits his needs or for which he
is pressured by the dominant castes/clans. Participation of the poor especially women is
missing” (Saxena / Ravi s.a. [b], 2). Similar problems pertain to their implementation. In
2004 an Impact Assessment of Watershed Development Schemes asserted that government
departments implemented projects with very little interaction with the people, especially not
with women (Planning Commission 2006, 256). Programmes furthermore have problems in
reaching their respective target groups and disbursing funds to them without leakages and
delays (MoRD 2006, 2). Rural employment programs have often focussed on construction
activities with little focus on institutions and capacity building, leading to non-sustainability
of the assets created (Planning Commission 2006, 256). 32 The planning process within
NREGS, in contrast, is a bottom-up planning process, starting at the level of the Gram
Panchayat (MoRD 2006, 9 f.).
International Journal of Research in Engineering & Applied Sciences 18
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