India’s Policy Efforts to Combat Desertification, Land Degradation, and Drought

Desertification, land degradation and drought are interrelated issues that have an adverse impact on the ecosystem and livelihoods. The policy on desertification has been criticized as a colonial narrative without any scientific backing, and science has been faulted for coming up with varying estimates of the problem, which prevents informed decision-making. In this backdrop, India has made efforts to combat the issues mentioned through various policy formulations. The policies have also found expression in the form of various programmes and projects. The evolution of the policy from a historical perspective and the success of the programmes and their shortcomings are discussed, with suggestions for improvement.