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The Seventh Meeting of the National Advisory Council (NAC) was held here today. The Council considered the recommendations relating to the Strategies for Rehabilitation of Degraded Lands through Watershed Development, integrated with the Food for Work and the Rural Employment Guarantee Programmes, and with reference to such important aspects as social mobilization, considerations of equity, institution building, Convergence of the relevant disciplines, capacity building through training, water conservation, accountability and transparency.
The meeting was chaired by Shrimati Sonia Gandhi and was attended by nine Members of the Council. It was agreed at the meeting that appropriate proposals which comprehensively address the livelihood concerns of the poor and the equitable distribution of benefits may be forwarded to the Government at an early date.
The issues pertaining to tribal welfare and development, the eviction of tribal communities from forest lands, the rehabilitation and resettlement of displaced persons and the need to put suitable policy guidelines and institutional arrangements in place for this purpose were also discussed (in the context of the commitments of the National Common Minimum Programme) and will be pursued further through the formulation of composite recommendations, keeping in view the interactions which have taken place with the Ministries concerned.
The Council took note of the current status of implementation of the commitments made in the National Common Minimum Programme, including the Rural Employment Guarantee Programme. The next meeting of the Council is scheduled for Saturday, 8th January, 2005.
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