Question : WASTELAND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

(a) whether the Government is running a Wasteland Development Scheme under Non-forest Wasteland Development Programme in Rajasthan;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) the targets set for Rajasthan in this regard and the extent to which it has been achieved;

(d) the names of the agencies through which the said programme is being run and the problems being faced by the Government in successful implementation of the scheme;

(e) the steps taken by the Government to remove these problems; and

(f) the success achieved by the Government?

MINISTER OF STATE FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI SISIR KUMAR ADHIKARI)

(a) & (b) The Department of Land Resources has been implementing three Area Development Programme viz. Integrated Wastelands Development Programme (IWDP), Drought Prone Area programme (DPAP) and Desert Development Programme (DDP) on watershed basis since 1995-96. These programmes have been consolidated into a single modified programme namely ?Integrated Watershed Management Programme? (IWMP) with effect from 26.02.2009. The IWMP is being implemented to develop rainfed and degraded land including non-forest waste land in the country, including Rajasthan. The main features of IWMP include provisions of development of micro-watersheds on cluster basis; reduced number of installments; delegation of power of sanction of projects to the States; dedicated institutions; capacity building of stakeholders; monitoring & evaluation; specific budget provision for detailed project report preparation; livelihood for assetless people; and productivity enhancement.

(c) The details of projects sanctioned under IWDP, DPAP and DDP since 1995-96 to 2006-07 are as under:

Programme	No. of projects	Area covered	No. of project	sanctioned	(in lakh ha.)	completed
IWDP	90	5.37	59
DPAP	1107	5.54	596
DDP	7578	37.89	3399