Practitioner's Note Publication under PRIA Project 'Action Research on Implementation of Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Act (PESA), 1996 in Chhattisgarh (with special focus on water).'

1. Context: The root of this campaign was the grassroots campaign on PESA and water issues launched by PRIA in
collaboration with Arghyam and four CSO partners during April-June 2013, and the district consultations held
during August –September 2013, as part of the Action Research intervention in Chhattisgarh on water
management issues. As a precursor to the Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections held on November 11 and November
19,2013 a political commitment campaign was launched on 24 August 2013,and continued till the second week
of November 2013, in nine districts of the state.
Campaign Focus: The campaign aimed at ensuring that all political parties made a commitment to strengthen
implementation of PESA provisions, especially in relation to the recognition of the rural tribal communities' rights to
control and manage water resources in the Schedule V areas.
Campaign Audience and Coverage: The campaign's primary audience were the representatives and members
of the different political parties. It included: members of political parties, state and district officials, state election
incharge, spokespersons, candidates for the assembly seats, especially in PESA constituencies, government
advisors, sitting MLAs, and all party MLCs. The political parties included national parties like the Bhartiya Janta
Party (BJP), Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), CPM and regional parties like Chhattisgarh Swabhiman
Manch, and the Gondwana Gantantra Party. Further it was also aimed at influencing the officials of the water
related line departments (i.e., PHED, and the Water Resource Department) and the Panchayati Raj Department.
The campaign also focussed on creating awareness and mobilising
support among the PRI members, CSOs, tribal community members
and leaders and media to build a countervailing force for engaging with
the political establishment. It was strategically designed as a two phase
intervention. During Phase 1 of the campaign, nine districts representing
Bilaspur, Raipur, Durg, Bastar and Surguja Division were covered.
During Phase 2 of the campaign the coverage was narrowed to focus
on the 17 VidhanSabha(VS) constituencies of the PESA areas of the
ninedistricts. These included 12 Scheduled Tribe (ST) reserved seats,
which was 40 percent coverage of all ST Vidhan Sabha seats reserved
in Chhattisgarh.
Campaign Partners: The Chhattisgarh Jal Kendrit PESA Jagrukta
Manch (Chhattisgarh Water Centred PESA Awareness Forum)
spearheaded this campaign. The Manch is a forum of tribal leaders,
Facilitating Campaign to Influence
Political Parties on PESA and
Decentralised Water Management
practitioner notes
Campaign Overview

2. elected representatives, NGOs and social activists from 10 districts in Chhattisgarh (majority being under Schedule
V areas) which includes Raipur, Korba, Kanker, Rajnandgaon, Surguja, Surajpur, Balrampur, Koriya, Durg and
Balod.
The Campaign had three distinct phases: the preparatory phase, the implementation phase and the follow up
phase.
(a) Campaign Planning
Constitution of the Chhattisgarh Jal Kendrit PESA Jagrukta Manch: The planning of the campaign was
undertaken during August 2013 and included
consultations with CSOs, social activists and PRI members
of 15 districts during the district level consultations held at
Kaker, Rajnandgaon and Surguja between Aug 24-29,
2013. A collaborative campaign strategy was evolved,
wherein the participating NGOs and PRI members agreed
to come together under the Chhattisgarh Jal Kendrit PESA
Jagrukta Manch and run the campaign under the banner
of the Manch.
Formulation of the Citizen's Charter of Demands: The
district consultations provided space to develop a Citizen's
Charter of Demands (Nagrik Mang Patra) on PESA and
water issues. The core committee of the Manch
representatives finalised the same. The Citizen's Charter
lists 10 key demands based on the experiences of tribal
community members, elected representatives and CSOs in
Chhattisgarh on the issues of water and the
implementation of PESA, 1996. The Charter of Demands
was then printed and widely circulated, to cover general
citizens as well as targeted areas.
(b) Campaign Implementation
The intensive campaign was run between September-November 2013.
First Phase Strategy (September 2013)
Engagement with Political Party Representatives: In the first phase of the campaign, the Citizen's Charter
of Demands was shared with key representatives of political parties at the state level and across nine
districts to ensure inclusion of the Citizen's Charter in the election manifestoes of the parties. It included
meeting the representatives of the political parties, explaining the citizen's demands to them and getting
their assurance that the Citizen's Charter of Demands would be included in the manifesto of the party. In
addition a memorandum of demand was prepared by the Manch members and given to key political leaders
at the national and state level.
Wide dissemination of the Citizen's Charter of Demands: In addition, about 6000 copies of the Citizen's
Charter of Demands was shared with panchayat members, tribal leaders and tribal community members of
the nine districts so as to engage them in building pressure on political parties. The distribution strategy
included undertaking individual discussions, holding village level meetings in identified panchayats with the
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Facilitating Campaignto Influence Political Parties on PESA and Decentralised Water Management
Participatory Research in Asia
Campaign Design

3. 3
tribal community, their leaders and PRI members and sharing and discussing the Citizen's Charter and the
need for and ways to engage with political party representatives. To ensure wider outreach the Citizen's
Charter of Demands was also circulated via the local newspaper vendors.
Engagement with Media: An essential component of the campaign was engagement with the state and
district media to enhance the outreach of
the campaign, and build sustained pressure
on the political parties as well as the water
and Panchayati Raj related departments. In
addition to individually sharing and briefing
the district and state level media (both print
and electronic) about the political
commitment campaign, structured
interaction was also planned through press
conferences. In all two press conferences
were organised at the district level at Korba
and Rajnandgaon District and one press
conference at the state level.
Second Phase Strategy (October-November 2013)
In the second phase, after the political parties had
declared their list of candidates, the Forum members
facilitated dialogue and interaction with the potential
candidates in 17 selected Vidhan Sabha constituencies
on the issues listed in the Citizen's Charter of
Demands. Five panchayats were identified in each
constituency and from each selected panchayata few
panchayat elected representatives and tribal citizen
leaders were mobilised to engage with their Vidhan
Sabha constituency candidates on the Citizen's Charter
of Demands in the five divisions of Surguja, Bilaspur,
Raipur, Durg and Bastar Divisions.
(c) Post Campaign
Post the State Assembly elections, the manifestoe of the political parties, especially those of the BJP,
Congress and the Third Front were analysed at the state level to study the inclusion of PESA and tribal
communities control over water resources. The analyses and findings were also shared with the local media.
Further information sharing and discussion with the Forum members is underway and efforts are being
made to continue engagement with the elected political representatives of these 17 Vidhan Sabha
constituencies on the issue of ensuring the community's control over and management of water resources.
Making PESA implementation and rights over water management an election issue: The wide
dissemination of about 6000 copies of the Citizen's Charter of Demands in 13 districts helped to create
awareness among the diverse groups on the key campaign message and include it as an important
election issue. Nearly 20 media news items related to the political campaign and the Citizen's Charter of
Demand shave been published in various media at different locations. An environment to press for the
effective implementation of PESA and to recognise the rights of the rural tribal communities to control and
manage water resources in Schedule V areas thus was craeted.
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Practitioner Notes
Key Outcome of the Campaign

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decentralised water management: Of the total 986 candidates contesting elections for all 90 constituencies
of the legislative assembly, around 100 political leaders/contesting candidates, across party lines, were
contacted and sensitised during the various activities of the political campaign in the 17 constituencies of
Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly. In a number of constituencies, especially in Surguja District, the
contesting candidates gave an assurance that they would work on the demands made in the Citizen's
Charter of Demands if they win the election.
Inclusion of campaign demand in party election manifesto: The Chhattisgarh Sanyukt Morcha (an alliance
of 6 political parties) has clearly mentioned in its manifesto that it will ensure the proper implementation of
PESA and will provide safe drinking water. The BJP has also mentioned in their election manifesto that they
will enhance the powers of the excluded community over the Jal, Jangal and Jamin (water, forest and land)
and will strengthen the PRI system.
Get the campaign message, target group, coverage, and timing right: For this a clear and planned
strategy is required. For example in Phase 2 of the current campaign focus on 17 constituencies helped to
structure the campaign activity.
Use diverse and innovative influence tools to get your campaign message heard and addressed:
Influence tools in the political campaign case included the Citizen's Charter of Demands, signed
memorandums, media, press conferences, individual meetings, delegations of platform members etc.
Apply pressure at each level and use all influence spaces: To make an impact, it helps to create pressure
from all sides and at each level. For example to influence the manifesto building process, pressure was
applied at all levels with the political party-district, state and national. Use all spaces, including the online
space, to get your message across.
Use media strategically: The media play a vital role in creating awareness and raising issues so the media
needs to be involved strategically. At the time of preparing for the campaign, there should be a separate
media strategy for their involvement.
Sensitisation and assurance of political party candidates on the issues of PESA implementation and
Supported by :
Participatory Research in Asia
PRIA is an International Centre for Learning and Promotion of Participation and Democratic Governance
Author
Mr Mahesh Dhandole is Sr. Programme Officer at PRIA.
© PRIA, March 2014
This publication has been brought out under the PRIA
programme titled “Action Research on Implementation
of Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Act (PESA),
1996 in Chhattisgarh (with special focus on water).”
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