Activities Considered for Support:

7. The activities qualifying for grant of financial assistance under the scheme would broadly be as under:

- Raising of seedlings;

• Planting;
• Soil and moisture conservation works;

- Awareness, training and extension;

- Grass and fodder development including silvi-pasture; and,

Assistance may also be considered for small water harvesting works/ structures including wells etc., depending on the site conditions provided adequate justification is provided by the agency for proposing such works.

8. Preference will be given to those projects where the established NGOs take on the role of facilitators, innovators and/or motivators rather than implementers of projects with NAEB assistance. Thus NGOs are expected to motivate people to form into groups at the grass-roots level (such as Yuvak Dals, Mahila Mandals, Joint Forest Management Committees, Eco-development Committees, etc.), help them to formulate technically sound and viable plantation/ wastelands development proposals, assist in periodically monitoring and reporting on their performance to the NAEB. Normally in every project upto 10% of the nursery, planting and soil and moisture conservation costs admissible may be provided for overheads, and upto 5% may be sanctioned for awareness raising activities. In case of such projects, this budget will be made available to the promoting NGO for project formulation, technical guidance, motivation/ facilitation and implementation of the project at the grass-roots level including the costs involved in setting up of peoples' groups. It is expected that the projects will provide for some contribution from the proponents towards the project cost. This contribution could be financial or in the form of voluntary labour by the beneficiaries.