The National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA) under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare organized a National Level Technical Committee meeting on September 22, 2026, at NASC Complex, New Delhi, as part of the REWARD (Rejuvenating Watersheds for Agricultural Resilience through Innovative Development) programme. The meeting was presided over by Dr. Chandra Shekhar Kumar, IAS, CEO of NRAA, and attended by approximately 45 participants including officials from ICAR, Department of Land Resources, state governments of Odisha and Karnataka, technical partners from ICAR Institutes, Agricultural Universities, IIT, NGOs, consortium partners, and REWARD PMU team.
Key discussions focused on the validation of statements in the draft National Technical Guidelines (NTG) using data collected through the REWARD programme. Dr. Chandra Shekhar Kumar emphasized the need for data validation and advised state governments of Odisha and Karnataka to share watershed data and Decision Support Systems with all stakeholders. Dr. A. K. Nayak, DDG (NRM) of ICAR, stressed the integration of Land Resource Inventory and hydrology for improved watershed planning and recommended that methodologies for results should be clearly documented in the NTG with early development of web portals.
Shri Nitin Khade, IAS, Joint Secretary (WM) of DoLR, proposed compressing Detailed Project Report (DPR) preparation time from 6 months to 3 months to allow more time for execution of activities. He also suggested exploring aspects of sector convergence for inclusion in the NTG. Dr. Susama Sudhishri, Technical Expert and PI-REWARD at NRAA, presented the action taken report from the previous NLTC meeting and the additions made to the second draft of the NTG. She requested State Level Nodal Agencies of Odisha and Karnataka to share recorded data with NRAA and consortium partners for analysis, report preparation, and NTG validation.
The finalized National Technical Guidelines will be used for future watershed development initiatives across India under the Watershed Development Component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana 3.0, representing a significant step in standardizing watershed management practices nationwide.