The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development NABARD has decided to launch a major water campaign during the current year, covering around 1,00,000 villages in vulnerable/ water stressed areas and more specifically where the ground water is over exploited. The decision comes on the heels of a similar campaign undertaken last year which covered some 40,000 villages and received encouraging response at the field level. Since NABARD has been implementing large number of watershed development projects in various States, the important learnings and successfully demonstrated local technologies for efficient conservation and management of water resources and promotion of climate resilient agriculture through community involvement, will be one of the key inputs to sensitise the rural community during the campaign. The campaign would essentially focus on creating awareness among the rural community about the methods of water conservation, preservation and its efficient utilization at various levels using the modern technologies like micro irrigation (more crop per drop), traditional water management practices and adopting improved package of agronomic practices. As a part of the campaign, area specific contents covering different water management practices applicable to local conditions for various agro climatic regions, with emphasis on community participation, is being developed. 3. In an innovative move, NABARD proposes to identify Village Volunteers (Jal Doots) for a localised and more effective approach. These volunteers will increase awareness about various methods of rain water harvesting, efficient water use, recharging groundwater and integrated farming systems besides facilitating creation of water conservation structures and adoption of water efficient practices/ technologies through convergence with the ongoing schemes of the Government/ banks. Involvement of bank branches, Government departments, extension agencies and other stakeholders during the campaign process is expected to give impetus to this initiative. Adequate number of master trainers in each State will be identified and professionally trained who will be deployed to run the campaign at district/ village level during April to July 2017. 4. In Uttarakhand, NABARD formally launched the programme on World Water Day on 22nd March 2017 in its Regional Office in the provisional State Capital Dehradun with Additional Chief Secretary Ranbir Singh as the Chief Guest. At the launch, the general manager of NABARD, DN Magar stressed on the importance of water in the livelihoods of rural masses and emphasised on the pressing need of water conservation and management in the rural areas of Uttarakhand. The Chief Guest Dr. Ranbir Singh, after launching the Campaign in the state, appreciated NABARD’s initiative in the area and assured full co-operation of the state government in this regard. The programme was attended by the representatives of the State Government, State level Bankers Committee (SlBC), Uttarakhand Gramin Bank, Uttarakhand State Co-operative Bank, Central Ground Water Board, various non governmental organisations and others. A total of eight districts in the State— Bageshwar, Tehri, Chamoli, Almora, Pithoragarh, Champawat, Rudraprayag and Uttarkashi have been identified for the campaign. A total of 4000 villages will be covered (500 in each district) during the implementation of the campaign, said bank officials.