Inter Area Water Board Monitoring of FOs

A proposal for the monitoring of Farmers Organizations has been prepared by PIDA to convert them in category “A” from category “B”. As per proposal, the monitoring & evaluation staff of alternate Area Water Boards will be deputed to conduct the monitoring of FOs functioning. The concerned FO Coordinator, Field Inspectors of other Area Water Boards and the Manager M&E from PIDA Head Office will jointly perform the evaluation activities and prepare reports which will be used for further policy framing.

            The monitoring teams will observe the technical, revenue and management aspects of FOs under participatory irrigation management model, according to Deputy General Manager (TM) Mr. Afzal Anjum Toor. The said proposal will be sent to Managing Director PIDA for approval.  

9th Joint Monitoring Meeting on PISIP-SIAP

The election of Farmer Organizations in Lower Chenab Canal (West) Circle as well as Chairmen of Lower Chenab Canal (East) and Bahawalnagar Area Water Boards (AWB) will be held during the month of October under the aegis of Punjab Irrigation & Drainage Authority (PIDA).

This was stated by Managing Director PIDA Khalid Masood Ch. while presiding over the 9^th joint monitoring meeting of Punjab Irrigation System Improvement Project (PISIP) in the committee room of Irrigation Department. The meeting was attended by GM (TM) PIDA Ch. Bashir Zahid, GM (Operation) Khalid Hanif Bhatti, GM (finance) Malik M. Saleem, AS (tech) Khalid Qureshi, Deputy GM Afzal Anjum Toor, AWB Chief Executives and representatives of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

MD-PIDA said that the FOs should be provided necessary official record, attachment of staff and technical trainings so that they could be able to perform their functions efficiently. He said that the above-mentioned tasks should be completed on priority basis. The meeting also reviewed the progress of under construction buildings of the Area Water Board offices at Bahawalnagar and Faisalabad.  The JICA delegation’s head Mr. Susumu Uciumi recommended that the FOs should be provided on the job trainings so that they could efficiently perform their functions. The meeting expressed its satisfaction over the standard of training manuals prepared by the JICA for FOs’ capacity building.  The JICA team urged that separate trainings for general bodies and the management committees of FOs should be conducted without delay.

MD-PIDA directed to ensure the maximum attendance of the staff of Irrigation Department during the orientation workshops which would be exclusively organised for them in the areas of Bahawalnagar and DG Khan.

Environmental Capacity Building Program

The Managing Director PIDA, Mr. Khalid Masood Chaudhary has approved the environmental capacity building program which was prepared by the Social & Environmental Management Unit (SEMU) of PIDA. The said capacity building program has been developed keeping in view the field requirements of canal officers, PIDA, PID and FOs staff as well as the contractors. As per plan, the program will primarily focus of one day training workshops which would be conducted in all irrigation zones of Punjab including small dams project.  

The environmental capacity building workshops will be conducted after complete assessment and analysis of training needs of the stakeholders regarding social and environmental issues and their prompt mitigation measures while executing development works. The participants of the workshops will be provided guidelines regarding the mitigation of social and environmental issues. Similarly, they will also be provided awareness raising material during the training sessions. There has also been planned a documentary which would be prepared for the stakeholders very soon, keeping in view the social and environmental challenges of irrigation sector.

The Managing Director PIDA has directed to especially focus the legal framework of irrigation and environmental sectors during the training workshops. He also has urged to conduct the awareness raising seminars regarding social and environmental threats of water sector as well as the celebration of environment day.       

Progress Review Meeting at LBDCIP Sahiwal

The Deputy General Manager (TM) Mr. Afzal Anjum Toor held a visit in the area of Lower Bari Doab Canal Improvement Project, Sahiwal to observe the issues of Farmers Organizations, after Irrigation Management Transfer agreement. During the first meeting, the Presidents of FOs 2/L, 2/R, 2R/A and Jandraka participated. The Program Director LBDCIP, Mr. Javed Akhtar was also present in the meeting.

While depicting the problems, Mr. Shahid Habib, President FO 2/L informed that there had not been conducted any training session for the capacity building of FOs before or after their operationalization. Resultantly, they are unable to perform as per requirement. Similarly, there have not been allocated offices for them to rum their business smoothly. He also pointed out the poor cooperation of Police in registering the FIRs against water theft delinquents. The issue of lack in coordination among FOs and PID staff was also discussed which is creating hurdles in service delivery. The Presidents also demanded for the inventory of assets from PID. They also informed that no seed money had been provided to FOs for purchase of stationery and office furnisher. The participants also discussed the reasons of delay in Abiana collection.

 In response to the issues raised by FOs representatives, Deputy General Manager (TM) ensured them to expedite the process of their capacity building program so that they could be able to perform their functions efficiently. He also expressed to present the Farmers related issues before the management of PIDA for further policy framing. 

After detailed session with FOs, he also conducted a separate meeting with the staff of LBDCIP in which he was briefed about the reforms implementation. The staff also told him about the hindrances, in the way of reforms implementation. He also conducted a field visit on water channels with staff and FOs representatives. 

Nomination of Focal Person for Children Complaint Office

A Children Complaint Office has been established in the office of the Ombudsman Punjab with the assistance of UNICEF which is serving as a dedicated redress and responsive forum for grievances, particularly relating to children below the age of eighteen years.

To enhance the working of Children Complaint Office especially at rural level, the Ombudsman office has sought the help and assistance of the public sector organizations which are key stakeholders in the protection of children rights. Likewise, PIDA management was also requested to nominate a focal person for the matters pertaining to the protection of child rights. In this regard, Manager Communication & Education Cell of PIDA has been nominated as Focal Person.   

Training Material for PIDA Stakeholders

The Training Department of PIDA has been working for the development and preparation of training material for the capacity building of Farmers Organizations and Area Water Boards members and staff in collaboration with JICA. The said training material will also help improve the professional capabilities of PID and PIDA staff. After the hard work of several months, following training material and manuals have been prepared:

1.      Operational Manual for Farmers Organizations.
2.        Training Material for Professional Staff of PID/FOs and AWBs.
3.         Accounting Manual.

The purpose of these training manuals is to facilitate the training process as well as to improve the technical knowledge and guidance to carry out day to day works of all stakeholders involved in institutional reforms process of irrigation sector, according to Deputy General Manager(SM/Training), Syed Shaiq Hussain Abidi. Likewise, PIDA will start the 2^nd round of training for FOs and their staff during the next month.  

Orientation Workshop at Sahiwal

On the request of PIDA, the Japan International Co operation Agency (JICA) organized an Orientation Workshop for the Presidents of Farmers Organizations in the Area Water Board of Lower Bari Doab Canal(LBDC), Sahiwal. The Chief Advisor JICA Mr. Susumu Uciumi and Technical Advisor JICA Mr. Aslam Qureshi and Deputy General Manager (TM) PIDA Najmus Saqib Rehmani participated in the workshop as resource persons while Program Director LBDCIP, Mr. Javed Akhtar was also present.

The first session of the workshop consisted of providing information to the staff of PID and AWB LBDC on their role and functions in the formation of FOs/AWBs and thereafter support and capacity building of the said entities in the performing of their duties. Mr. Susumu Uchuimi and Mr. Najmus Saqib Rehmani delivered lectures during this session.

The second session consisted of the orientation of the Presidents of the Farmers Organizations which was conducted by Mr. Aslam Qureshi. In the said session, the FO Presidents were briefed on the demarcation of their roles and PID staff after the Irrigation Management Transfer. The Presidents were informed that after their up gradation from Category ‘B’ to ‘A’, they have the functions to perform as per FOs Rules 2010, 2012 and Canal & Drainage Act 1873. The participants thanked JICA for holding such useful workshop.