The society so far has covered four states Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and Meghalaya
North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Society (NERCRMS), a registered society under the aegis of the North Eastern Council, Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, has adopted a holistic approach to development in the region. The two broad focus areas i.e. (i) social mobilisation, organisation and capacity building to tap and realise the great latent potential of the communities by employing time tested their traditional value systems and culture, and (ii) Intervene with the economic and social activities and infrastructure with predominant thrust on income-generating activities to achieve economic transformation.
The society is dedicated to the transformation of far-flung rural areas of the North Eastern Region (NER) of India through different livelihood initiatives. The society so far has covered four states of NER viz. Arunachal Pradesh (Changlang, Tirap and Longding districts), Assam (Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao districts), Manipur (Ukhrul, Senapati, Churachandpur and Chandel districts ) and Meghalaya (West Garo Hills and West Khasi Hills districts). The society, since 1999, has formed 8,403 SHGs (Self Help Groups) and 2,889 NaRMGs (Natural Resource Management Groups) in 2,532 villages benefiting 1,18,843 households through its project- North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Project (NERCORMP).
The strategy adopted to achieve the goals are:
- Capacity building of communities and participating agencies: Institutional strengthening of community-based organisations (CBOs) and strengthening the capacity of participating agencies viz. NGOs, line departments etc. on participatory planning, organisational and financial management, technical training on the farm and non-farm activities, monitoring etc.
- Economic and livelihood activities: Promote viable income generation activities (IGAs) for poor households through the production of field crops, horticulture, forestry, livestock, fisheries, and non-farm activities using sustainable and environmentally friendly practices. Also to support communities with the introduction of new technologies, credit/revolving funds to CBOs for internal lending etc.
- Community-based biodiversity conservation and communication: The specific objective is to protect and preserve the unique natural resources and rich biodiversity of the region. The sub-components to achieve this objective were: (i) biodiversity conservation and research aimed at promoting community conserved areas (CCAs) as sacred groves, protected catchment areas and sanctuaries, (ii) forestry development to promote and demonstrate environmentally sustainable non-timber forest products (NTFP) and forestry production systems, and (iii) communication and knowledge management to facilitate information and knowledge sharing on good practices and production systems between communities.
