(a) the schemes formulated to tackle drought situations in rural areas of the country;
(b) the number of drought-prone rural areas identified in Bihar;
(c) whether the Government has started special projects for these drought prone areas, and
(d) if so, the details thereof and the amount earmarked /allocated/released for the purpose during each of the last three years and the current year, State/UT -wise?
(a) to (d) A High Level Technical Committee headed by Prof. C.H. Hanumanatha Rao, in the year 1994, identified 30 Blocks in 6 Districts in Bihar for coverage under the Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP) being implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development to tackle drought in the country. Subsequently, in the year 2009, the DPAP along with the other two programmes of the Ministry namely Desert Development Programme (DDP) and Integrated Wasteland Development Programme (IWDP) were integrated and consolidated into a single programme called the Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP). The major activities taken up under IWMP inter alia include, ridge area treatment, drainage line treatment, soil and moisture conservation, rain water harvesting, nursery raising, afforestation, horticulture, pasture development and creation of livelihood for asset-less persons. The DPAP blocks identified in the country including Bihar have been given due weightage while selecting project areas for the implementation of IWMP. In the State of Bihar, 123 projects covering an area of 6.12 lakh hectares in 14 districts have been sanctioned under the programme. From the financial year 2015-16, the IWMP has been converted as the Watershed Component of the Pradhan MantriKrishiSinchayeeYojana (PMKSY). State-wise details of funds released under IWMP during the last three years and current year are given in the Annexure 1.
Further, as per the information received from the Ministry of Agriculture, the State Governmentsare primarily responsible for taking necessary relief/measures in the wake of notified natural calamities including drought. Government of India supplements efforts of State Governments with financial assistance and logistic support. For undertaking relief measures, funds are available with the State Governments in the form of State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF). Additional financial assistance, over and above SDRF, is considered from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) for natural calamities of severe nature and is approved on the basis of Memorandum received from State Government in accordance with established procedure keeping in view items and norms in vogue for assistance. The details of assistance approved for drought in the last three years from NDRF is given in Annexure 2.
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