ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
(SADHVI NIRANJAN JYOTI)
(a)to(c):According to Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, out of 342.24 lakh hectare geographical area of Rajasthan, 23.91 lakh hectare (6.98%) is barren and unculturable land. Similarly out of 196.02 lakh hectare geographical area of Gujarat, 25.52 lakh hectare (13.02%) is barren and unculturable land.
As per the Seventh Schedule of Constitution of India, ‘land’ falls under the purview of State Government and, therefore, it is for the State Governments to take suitable steps for transforming barren land into arable land. However, Government of India supplements the efforts of State Governments through various programmes. The Department of Land Resources has been implementing Watershed Development Component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (WDC-PMKSY) erstwhile Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) for development of rainfed/ degraded areas. Under the scheme, year-wise details of funds released and utilized during the last three years and the current year in Rajasthan and Gujarat, is as follows:
(Rs. in crore)
Years Central share released Funds utilized (including Central
share, State share and misc receipts)
* as on 31.12.2020
Rajasthan Gujarat Rajasthan Gujarat
2017-18 243.59 87.51 628.59 234.05
2018-19 299.00 151.84 487.26 120.00
2019-20 119.43 77.93 607.02 156.79
2020-21 449.896 0 719.82** 73.51**
Total 1111.916 317.28 2442.69 584.35
*As reported by State ** Unaudited
Till date, 601 projects covering an area of 34.66 lakh hectare have been completed in Rajasthan. In Gujarat, 430 projects covering an area 21.34 lakh hectare have been completed.
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