NATIONAL WATERSHED DEVELOPMENT PROJECT RESTRUCTURED FOR GREATER PRODUCTIVITY

RS. 200 CRORE WATERSHED DEVELOPMENT FUND CREATED

NEW STRATEGIES NEEDED TO ENHANCE AGRICULTURAL GROWTH AND REDUCE RURAL POVERTY – AJIT SINGH

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Union Agriculture Minister Shri Ajit Singh has said that country’s agriculture has now entered a post green revolution stage of development that requires new strategies to enhance agricultural growth and reduce rural poverty. Addressing the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to his Ministry he said the diversification of agriculture with strong forward and backward linkages is the next step for future agricultural development. Subject of the Meeting was "Rain fed Farming".

Shri Ajit Singh said that rain fed farming holds great potential for the future growth. The bulk of the rural poor lived in the rain-fed areas. The challenge before Indian agriculture is to transform rain-fed farming into more sustainable and productive systems and to better support the population dependent upon it. Referring to very high priority accorded by the Government to the holistic and sustainable development of rain-fed areas based on the watershed approach, Shri Singh stressed that people’s involvement is necessary for the success of watershed development projects. He said that the National Water-shed Development Project for Rain-fed Areas (NWDPRA) has been restructured so as to become a people’s movement for development of land and water resources and for enhancing productivity in rain-fed areas on a sustainable basis. The Minster informed that earlier though the project had some visible gains like increase in ground water recharge, no. of wells and water bodies, higher yield of crops and reduction in soil losses, the problem of sustainability continued due to unwillingness of local community to operate and maintain completed structures and plantations on community property. The restructured second generation watershed projects have kept people’s participation at Centre stage. Shri Ajit Singh informed the members that the National Watershed Development Project for Rain-fed Areas has been restructured to ensure community participation and it is now mandatory for the "Watershed Development" to be planned, implemented, monitored and maintained by the watershed community themselves.

Highlighting other important watershed programmes of the Ministry Shri Singh said that a Watershed Development Fund has been created in NABARD with a total corpus of Rs. 200 crore. The Fund will be utilized to create the necessary framework condition to replicate and consolidate the isolated successful initiatives under different programmes in the Government, Semi-Government and NGO Sector. A number of externally aided projects funded by World Bank and through bilateral assistance are also operational in various parts of the country, he added.

Referring to the current drought situation in several States and the relief provided by the Centre, Shri Ajit Singh said that such measures are only temporary solutions to the problem. Long-term solution can only be found by augmenting the water supply and managing the water demand in a more judicious manner. He said that about 9.60 million hectare area in the country has been treated through Watershed Development Programme of the Ministry during VIIIth and IXth Five Year Plan involving an expenditure of about Rs. 2990 crore. The watershed programmes have now been subsumed under Macro-Management Mode, under which the States have the freedom to develop and pursue activities on the basis of their regional priorities.

Some of the members suggested that in view of the involvement of more than one Ministry in implementing the watershed programmes, one Ministry should be designated as the nodal Ministry. It was also suggested that a study should be undertaken to evaluate the projects.

The members who attended the Meeting are Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab, Shri K.P. Singh Deo, Shri N. Janaradhana Reddy, Smt. Preneet Kaur, Shri Devendra Singh Yadav, Shri Mahboob Zahedi, Shri Anadi Charan Sahu, Shri S. Ramachandran Pillai, Shri V.V. Raghavan, Shri Urkhao Gwra Brahma.