Question : Atal Bhujal Yojana

(a) the salient features of the Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABY) formulated to augment the ground water resources of the country;
(b) the details of the budget allocated and the funds spent in each State including Maharashtra during the last three years particularly with regard to Parbhani Parliamentary Constituency;
(c) whether plans for water related works at the Gram Panchayat level are likely to be encouraged and if so, the details thereof;
(d) whether the Government proposes to include women and people’s representatives to meet local needs such as agricultural irrigation and requirements at homes by constituting Panchayat level committees and if so, the details thereof along with the steps taken in this regard and if not, the reasons therefor;
(e) the manner in which the structure of the committee is likely to be constituted and the members likely to be included therein;
(f) whether the women representatives are likely to be included therein, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
(g) the details of the efforts made by the Government to improve water related data for better water behaviour in districts?

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI
(SHRI BISHWESWAR TUDU)

(a) Atal Bhujal Yojana (ATAL JAL) is being implemented in 8,562 Gram Panchayats of 80 districts in 7 States, namely, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh with an aim to improve community led sustainable ground water management, mainly through convergence among various ongoing Central and State schemes. It also aims at bringing about behavioural change at the community level through awareness programs and capacity building for fostering sustainable ground water management.
(b) Atal Bhujal Yojana is being implemented since 01.04.2020. Status of funds allocated and spent under this scheme is given below:
(Rs. in crore)
State Funds allocated and released in FY 2020-21 Funds allocated and released in FY 2021-22
Gujarat 10.26 36.20
Haryana 20.80 32.15
Karnataka 21.52 73.62
Madhya Pradesh 6.33 46.57
Maharashtra 20.35 43.18
Rajasthan 22.05 46.35
Uttar Pradesh 7.69 32.33
Total 109.00 310.40

Scheme is not being implemented in Parbhani Parliamentary Constituency.
(c) to (f) Yes Sir, The scheme envisages active participation of the communities and panchayats in the participating States in various activities such as formation/strengthening of Water User Associations, monitoring and disseminating ground water data, water budgeting and preparation of Gram Panchayat-wise Water Security Plans (WSPs) and their implementation. The participation of women in water budgeting and water security planning exercises has been kept at least 33% in the Gram Panchayat-level Water User Associations. The existing Village Water & Sanitation Committee in each Gram Panchayat has been enlarged and engaged for this purpose.
(g) One of the main objectives of the Atal Bhujal Yojana is to bring about behavioural change at ground level. For that, water related data such as water availability and usage have been used while preparing Water Budget and Water Security Plans. These Plans are being prepared with community participation and the data used in the plan is being disseminated to the entire community. Further, in order to improve water related data, various equipments such as Digital Water level Recorder (DWLRs), Water level sounders, Rain gauges, Water flow meters are being installed in all Atal Jal States. In addition, Government of India is also installing various Real Time Data Acquisition Systems (RTDAS) for both Surface as well as ground water across the Country under National Hydrology project.
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