Effectiveness of Decentralised Governance of Grazing Commons.

Abstract

With the breakdown of traditional institutions and practices, grazing commons have for long been the most neglected ecosystem and common property resource in the policy space at both the national level and the state levels. Despite being an integral part of the rural economy, providing invaluable ecosystem, economic, social, and cultural services to the local communities, they continue to be assumed as wasted or degraded lands, which has led to a vicious cycle of degradation of both the commons and quality of life of the communities dependent on them. Given this context, the lack of effective governance mechanism and the unwillingness to recognise them as a critical resources has emerged as a key issue which needs to be addressed urgently. As a response to this, efforts are being made to explore decentralised governance, through the institutional framework enabled by the Panchayat Raj Institutions, as a solution. This study examined the workings of the institutional landscape in the context in which the solution has been proposed along with its effectiveness and sustainability as a model for sustainable management of grazing commons, by drawing on experiences of communities who are currently part of such an arrangement. The findings of the study show that despite its advantages in terms of bringing governance closer to the communities and the communities realising perceivable benefits, it suffers from the shortcomings of the PRI institution within which it is situated along with issues of sustainability due to the dynamic nature of dependence of communities on the commons. In order to address these issues, this study recommends a specific policy for grazing commons which assigns it the due importance, integrates this issue within the larger development discourse at every level, and recommends sustained efforts towards strengthening the PRI and continued engagement with Non-Governmental Organisations to ensure effective delivery. Additionally, efforts towards achieving clarity on the legal jurisdiction of commons is recommended as an essential prerequisite to the policy on commons.