Livelihood Resource Centres (LRCs)

The participatory watershed development program guidelines, 1994 details the capacity building needs of various functionaries. Government also made an allocation of 5% of the total program budgets for this purpose. Eswaran committee (1997) also recommended a detailed training strategy to be followed. However, the training function in the watershed program across the country remained very loose without a sound institutional system. Lack of an institutional anchor also resulted in very ad hoc and unprofessional training programs without proper modules, resource persons and resource material. The training budgets are also centralized without proper training action plans.

Following several consultations and looking at the best practices, Government of Andhra Pradesh has institutionalized capacity building functions into the Cluster level Livelihood Resource Centers (CLRCs). This is presently supported by the Andhra Pradesh Rural Livelihoods Program (APRLP).

The concept of CLRC has two unique propositions:       

•  A CLRC will be established for around 50 to 60 watershed development projects. All the training functions to the community will be anchored at the CLRC.

• Training budgets will be released to the federations of Self Help Groups (SHGs) at the village level and they in turn approach the CLRC for required trainings.

The Course Coordinator and Asst. Course coordinators for DLRC and Course Coordinators for CLRCs will be provided by the Rural Development Department. They in turn would develop a Pool of Resource Persons (PRPs). In course of time it is envisaged that the CLRCs would be able to generate demand for quality training from the watershed and other programs and the community, in the process they would become viable resource centres serving a cluster of mandals.

55 such CLRCs are established across the state. Among them, 13 centres are being anchored by NGOs and CBOs. The DLRCs are to take care of the training needs of the secondary functionaries- watershed development team members, implementing agencies and others.

WASSAN is anchoring one CLRC at Parigi in Ranga Reddy district. This initiative is supported by AEI, Luxembourg.

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