Union Budget 2014-15 has taken cognizance of the substantial amount of money spent in the conservation and improvement of the Ganga, which has a very special place in a collective consciousness of this country. However, the efforts are not yielded desired results because of the lack of concerted efforts by all the stakeholders.

Accordingly, an Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission called “Namami Gange” has been proposed to be set up and a sum of Rs. 2,037 crores has been set aside for this purpose. In addition a sum of Rs. 100 crores has been allocated for developments of Ghats and beautification of River Fronts at Kedarnath, Haridwar, Kanpur, Varanasi, Allahabad, Patna and Delhi in the current financial year.

Accordingly, Namami Gange approaches Ganga Rejuvenation by consolidating the existing ongoing efforts and planning for a concrete action plan for future. The interventions at Ghats and River fronts will facilitate better citizen connect and set the tone for river centric urban planning process.

Recognizing the multi-sectoral, multi-dimensional and multi-stakeholder nature of the Ganga Rejuvenation challenge, the key Ministries comprising of (a) WR, RD&GR, (b) Environment, Forests & Climate Change, (c) Shipping, (d) Tourism, (e) Urban Development, (f) Drinking Water and Sanitation and Rural Development have been working together since June, 2014 to arrive at an action plan. The concerned Ministers have nominated a Group of Secretaries to develop a draft action plan and have held periodical meetings to review the progress and provide guidance. The Group of Secretaries submitted its initial report on 21st July, 2014 and after taking into account the feedback received from the Hon’ble Ministers, the final report has been submitted on 28th August, 2014.

As already identified in the report of the GoS, the long-term vision will emanate from the Ganga River Basin Management Plan being prepared by the Consortium of 7 IITs, first version of which is likely to be available by the end of this year. On a medium term basis, certain interventions both infrastructure and non-infrastructure need to be introduced to set the tone for implementation of long term vision as also take up so called “no regret” activities in the interim. Following are proposed to be taken up under Namami Gange:

• Project prioritization in coordination with Ministry of Urban Development.
• Incentive for states to take up projects on Ganga Main-stem by providing an additional share of central grants for sewerage infrastructure.
• Uniform standards for both MoUD scheme and Namami Gange programme, 10 years mandatory O&M by the same service provider at par with NGRBA programme and PPP, Mandatory reuse of treated water
• Expanding coverage of sewerage infrastructure in 118 urban habitations on banks of Ganga- estimated cost by MoUD is Rs 51000 Crores

#	Key stakeholders	Relevant Roles and Responsibilities (Indicative)
1	Ministry of Water Resources,River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (MoWR, RD & GR)	MoWR, RD & GR is responsible for framing policy and implementing programmes for the development and promotion of water management programmes in India. The Ministry serves as the main driver of this project. MoWR, RD & GR will provide the strategic steering for the project, oversee the accomplishment of project objectives and tasks, lead co-funding requirements, initiate policy actions on its own and through other departments, and facilitate coordination with other key stakeholders including the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Rural Development and Ministry of Agriculture for effective implementation of project initiatives.
2	National Mission for Clean Ganga	The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) is the nodal agency of the MoWR, RD & GR, Government of India mandated with the responsibility of ensuring abatement of pollution and rejuvenation of the river Ganga through a river basin approach promoting inter-sectoral co-ordination for comprehensive planning and management. NMCG also aims to ensure minimum ecological flows in the river Ganga with the aim of ensuring water quality and environmentally sustainable development. NMCG will guide the process and facilitate cross-linkages with other ongoing initiatives in Jharkhand and in other parts of the Ganga river basin for rejuvenation of the river. NMCG will ensure smooth flow of funds to the project.
3	Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DWSD), Government of Jharkhand	DWSD, Government of Jharkhand is the nodal agency in the state for implementation of sanitation initiatives through the National Rural Drinking Water Programme and Swachh Bharat Mission. DWSD will incorporate toilets planned through the project into its Annual Implementation Plan (AIP) and will allocate funds from the same. In addition, DWSD will also allocate Swachh Bharat Mission funds for Solid and Liquid Waste Management activities to the Panchayats covered through the project. DWSD will be an important stakeholder determining sustainability of project initiatives. The Swacch Bharat Mission (Grameen) of DWSD will directly supervise and advise the State-level team of this project.
4	State Programme Management Group, Government of Jharkhand	The State Programme Management Group (SPMG) is the nodal agency in Jharkhand responsible for implementation of the Ganga rejuvenation efforts. The project will be implemented within the larger framework and priorities of the SPMG in partnership with UNDP.
5	Other Union Ministries	Other union ministries of GoI have an indirect bearing on this project. They are theMinistry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (for implementation of the National Rural Drinking Water Programme and Swachh Bharat Mission), Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Rural Development (for implementation of National Rural Livelihoods Mission and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme); Ministry of Panchayati Raj; and the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
6	Jharkhand State Government Agencies	Various State Departments like Drinking Water and Sanitation, Water Resources, Rural Development, Panchyati Raj, Education, Planning, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Fisheries, Land and Water Resources, Environment & Forests and the State Livelihoods Mission are particularly noteworthy in the context of efforts on eco-regeneration of the Ganga river. Jharkhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (JREDA) is engaged in promoting use of renewable energy sources in the state. Being a nodal agency, JREDA is working for implementation of fiscal and financial incentives made available by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Sources (MNRES), Govt. of India and Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA). The project will link with JREDA for technical and financial support for setting up biogas plants and improved chulhas in project villages.
7	District/Block Administrations	Considering that the District/Block Administration plays a crucial role in monitoring and convening different Line Departments for convergent action, the project will maintain close coordination with the District Administration of Sahibganj district and Block Offices. In addition, at the taluka/block level the project will also engage with Panchayat Samitis, Block Development Officers (BDOs) and Gram Panchayats to ensure administrative and political support for project initiatives. The District Project Management Unit will be located within the District Water and Sanitation Committee’s office and will work under the close guidance and advice of the Deputy Commissioner.
8	Agricultural Universities, ICAR, KVKs and other national science, environment and educational universities and institutions	Various Technical Institutes and Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) have helped build capacity at the grass root through the low cost, easy to adopt technologies (agro-biodiversity, with special emphasis on animal husbandry and livestock practices- large rumminants) tested on farmers' fields. Through the project, links will be made between community practices, educational institutions and universities so as to develop sanitation-agriculture-livelihood linkages, build business models and approaches around these linkages, source young men and women as interns for studies, analysis, documentation and local capacity building. The project will also link with the Organic Farming Authority of Jharkhand to promote vermicomposting and other activities in support of organic farming in the project area.
9	NABARD, Regional Rural Banks	Through the project, communities will be linked at the local levels to access formal credit facilities through small kinship based, women’s Self Help Groups (SHGs). This access to extra funds will not only helping in building local community institutions, trust at the community and project levels, but will also enhance the adoption of technologies and skills by local communities. The project will especially link communities with sustainable agriculture programmes of NABARD to mobilize funds for composting initiatives to be undertaken through the project.
10	Community Based Organizations (CBOs).	CBOs, including Panchayats, Drinking Water and Sanitation Committees, Self Help Groups and Farmer Groups will be crucial to successful implementation of the programme. Their responsibilities will include effective implementation of project activities, building skills, and use of easy to handle technologies, including training and documentation of experiences. As they are networked locally, they would also additionally take on the role of peer sharing of innovative practices developed and replicated/ scaled up through the project. Strengthening of the CBOs through improved awareness, exposure visits, training, handholding support for planning, implementation and monitoring will be an important determinant of sustainability of project initiatives. In addition to being project beneficiaries, they would also be the repository of knowledge and contribute to replication of best practices, sharing of information and low cost, easily adaptable methods.
11	Private Sector, Industry and other Donors	Collaboration between the project, private sector and industry are crucial for leveraging resources, knowledge, practices, skills and funds. Linkages with private sector agencies is also expected to enhance management capacity of implementing agencies and especially rural communities. These linkages will also help in building more confidence and creditability of the project and its approach at the community level. Further, the collaborative approach will also lead to mutual benefits between the private sector and the project, resulting in wider impacts at the local and national levels.
12	UNDP	UNDP will serve as the Implementing Agency for this project. UNDP will also fund some of the project activities through its own resources. It will be responsible through its designated team of officials to implement proposed project activities and results. UNDP officials from different units such as procurement, administration and audit and accounts will support for effective implementation of the agreed project activities. UNDP will be responsible for deployment and management of quality human resources, project management, procurement of all goods and services required, mobilization of technical resource persons/agencies for strengthening of project initiatives, and communication of project strategy and achievements within and outside the project area. UNDP will also be responsible for developing partnerships with a range of agencies who could contribute to project activities through technical expertise, technological innovation and financial resources. UNDP will undertake quality assurance of all project activities and ongoing review and necessary correction of the implementation strategy. Project operations will be decentralized with clear articulation of processes and procedures in the Operational Manual. Further, UNDP will facilitate coordination across sectoral government and non-government agencies at the district level for collaborative action for Ganga rejuvenation. UNDP will also bring in engagement of existing partner organizations involved in implementation of programmes related to rural housing, climate change, disaster risk reduction and Panchayat strengthening.
13	UNDP/GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP)	SGP will link at the program and individual grantee level through ongoing GEF projects to seek, leverage, mainstream mutual learning and best practices for innovative practices in rural sanitation, improved local livelihoods and local/global environment benefits. SGP through its ongoing projects has demonstrated leverage and access of these technologies, and practices, skills enhancement at the community levels. The SGP programme will draw on its rich experience of initiating innovations in different parts of the country to support local NGOs in implementing innovative, but tested ideas related to rural sanitation in project villages. SGP will also provide financial support to three local NGOs for implementation of innovative ideas related to sanitation and linked livelihoods. Innovative ideas to be supported will include pilot demonstration of flyash based community bathing facilities and facilities for safe disposal of dead animal carcasses in selected villages.
14	Technical Consultants	Technical Consultants from Small Grants Program of GEF/UNDP and some NR Management Consultants Pvt. Ltd. (NRMC) will be sourced who bring in technical inputs related to rural sanitation, especially drawing on their experience in the states of Bihar and Jharkhand. Consultants will also support in capacity building, technical monitoring, documentation and dissemination of project learning.