THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI
(SHRI BISHWESWAR TUDU)
(a) to (c) Water resources projects, including development of small water bodies of villages such as ponds, canals and wells in order to reduce the dependency of agriculture on rain water, etc. are planned, funded, executed and maintained by the State Governments themselves as per their own resources and priorities. Role of Government of India is limited to being catalytic, providing technical support and in some cases partial financial assistance in terms with the ongoing schemes of Government of India.
Some of the initiatives taken by Government of India, to supplement the efforts of the State Governments in this regard, are as below:
1. Under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), financial assistance is being provided, inter-alia, for repair, renovation and restoration of identified water bodies. Further, inclusion criteria under the scheme has been recently relaxed considerably to enable inclusion of more such water bodies under the scheme.
2. In 2019, Jal Shakti Abhiyan was launched by the Government. This was followed in 2021, by “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch The Rain” (JSA:CTR) campaign. Focused interventions under these annual campaigns taken up by the Government of India and the State Governments, include activities such as renovation of traditional and other water bodies/ tanks, enumeration, geo-tagging and making inventory of all water bodies, and removal of encroachments of tanks/ lakes, and de-silting of tanks.
3. Government has launched the first Census of Water bodies in convergence with the Sixth round of Minor Irrigation Census (reference year 2017-18), under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme- “Irrigation Census”. The objective of the Census of Water bodies is to develop a national database of all water bodies in the country.
4. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) has provisions for public works relating to natural resource management, water conservation and water harvesting structures to augment and improve ground water like underground dykes, earthen dams, stop dams, check dams and roof top rain water harvesting structures in public buildings.
5. Rejuvenation of water bodies, including traditional water bodies, is also a component under Water Supply sector of Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) Scheme under Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs. Further, AMRUT 2.0 launched in October, 2021, with a total outlay targets to promote circular economy of water through development of city water balance plan for each city focusing on recycle/reuse of treated sewage, rejuvenation of water bodies and water conservation.
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