Centre today announced a number of measures, including changing the system of releasing funds to states, under an ambitious programme to improve productivity in 25 million hectare of land in drought-prone, desert-prone and degraded areas in next 5 years.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a Conference of Ministers on Integrated Watershed Management Programme, IWMP, in New Delhi, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said, till the end of the 11th Plan, 56 million hectares have been treated since 1980 under various schemes.
In the 12th Plan, the objective is to treat 25 million hectare.The Minister said in the 11th Plan, the total allocation for IWMP was about 9,500 crore rupees and in 12th Plan that the Department of Land Resources is expecting an allocation of about 36,000 crore rupees, marking a four-fold rise, for watershed development in every state.
The Minister said that the guidelines for the IWMP will be revised within a month. He said, after deliberations with the State Government it has been found that the current guidelines are very rigid and provide no flexibility to state government according to their requirement.
The Minister also informed that the state government has also demanded that the cost of 15000 rupees per hectare demarcated for naxal affected areas for the water shed management programme should also be extended to areas with special problems.
The Minister said that another important decision reached at was to release the money for the programme on rural development for NAREGA model which is twice every year. The release will be based on the annual action plan of the state government.
The first instalment will carry 60 percent of the amount while the second and final instalment will carry 40 percent after the completion of the first phase. The Minister also expressed the need for authentic data to satellite imagery for effective programme implementation.
Our correspondent reports, the country's geographical area is 320 million hectare and the land that needs to be treated is 115 million hectare — 40 per cent of India's geographical area.
