Revival of Water Bodies

• Reasons: Groundwater levels in various parts of the country are declining because of continuous withdrawal necessitated by increased demand for fresh water for various uses, vagaries of rainfall, increased population, industrialization and urbanization etc.
• Water being a State subject, initiatives on water management including conservation & water harvesting and revival/rejuvenation of water bodies in the Country is primarily States’ responsibility.
• However, the important measures taken by the Central Government for conservation, management of groundwater and effective implementation of rainwater harvesting in the country are available at the following URL: click here

• In addition, a number of States have done notable work in the field of water conservation/harvesting. Of these, mention can be made of
  1. ‘Mukhyamantri Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan’ in Rajasthan,
  2. ‘Jalyukt Shibar’ in Maharashtra,
  3. ‘Sujalam Sufalam Abhiyan’ in Gujarat,
  4. ‘Mission Kakatiya’ in Telangana,
  5. Neeru Chettu’ in Andhra Pradesh,
  6. Jal Jeevan Hariyali in Bihar,
  7. ‘Jal Hi Jeevan’ in Haryana among others.
• The government of India launched Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) in 2019, a time-bound campaign with a mission mode approach intended to improve water availability including groundwater conditions in the water-stressed blocks of 256 districts in India. In this regard, teams of officers from the Central Government along with technical officers from the Ministry of Jal Shakti were deputed to visit water-stressed districts and to work in close collaboration with district-level officials to undertake suitable interventions. In addition ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan – Catch the Rain’ campaign has been launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India on 22 March 2021.
• Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) is implementing the National Aquifer Mapping and Management program (NAQUIM), which envisages mapping of aquifers (water-bearing formations), their characterization and development of Aquifer Management Plan to facilitate sustainable management of Ground Water Resources. The State-wise information is shared with States/Uts for implementation.
• Ministry of Jal shakti, Department of Water Resources, RD & GR (DoWR, RD & GR) is implementing Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal), an Rs.6,000.00 crore Central Sector Scheme, for sustainable management of groundwater resources with community participation. Atal Jal is being implemented in 81 water-stressed districts and 8774 Gram Panchayats of seven States viz. Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
• DoWR, RD & GR is implementing Repair, Renovation and Restoration (RRR) of Water Bodies under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) with main objectives as comprehensive improvement and restoration of water bodies thereby increasing tank storage capacity, improvement of catchment areas of tank command etc.
• The ongoing 6th minor irrigation census is, for the first time, collecting details of all water bodies (both in rural and urban areas) irrespective of their use, and this will form the basis of monitoring the health and spread of water bodies.

Click here for in detail information on the above schemes.

Conclusion

• Water is a State subject and therefore, making the water bodies free from encroachment falls under their mandate.
• Further, as per the Guidelines of the RRR scheme States are to take necessary steps for declaring the water body boundary through a Government order and ensure the removal of encroachments in the water body spread area/water body boundary before submitting a proposal for release of second installment of Central Assistance.

How to restore water bodies?

• It is for the State Governments concerned to undertake enumeration, protection and management of water bodies in their respective States.
• However, this Ministry undertakes a census of minor irrigation schemes from time to time, which also captures information pertaining to certain specific water bodies in the country.
• As per the latest census, being the 5th census of minor irrigation schemes with the reference year 2013-14, there are 5,16,303 water bodies in the rural areas of the country, which are being used for minor irrigation.
• Out of these, 53,396 water bodies are not in use for various reasons such as non-availability of water, siltation, salinity, etc.
• Works related to water resources development & management are planned, funded, executed and maintained by the State Governments themselves as per their own resources and priorities.
• The role of the Government of India is limited to providing technical support, and partial financial support in some cases, as per the norms of the existing schemes being implemented by the Government of India.

RRR of Water Bodies under PM Krishi Sinchayee Yojana

• Central assistance for the restoration of water bodies is provided by this Ministry under the scheme “Repair, Renovation and Restoration (RRR) of Water Bodies”, which is a component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana – Har Khet Ko Pani (PMKSY- HKKP).
• The scheme aims at restoring the lost irrigation potential by improving and restoration of existing water bodies.
• Under the RRR of Water Bodie's scheme, XII Plan onwards a total of 2,228 water bodies with an estimated cost of Rs.1,914.86 crore, have been taken up for restoration in various States.
• Up to March 2021, central assistance of Rs.469.69 crore has been released to the States under the scheme, and in this period RRR of 1,549 water bodies has been completed.
• Increased groundwater recharge is one of the key objectives of the Repair, Renovation and Restoration of Water bodies scheme.
• The mandate for enumeration, protection and management of water bodies is with the State Governments concerned.
• However, this Ministry has impressed upon the States to take necessary steps for keeping all the water bodies encroachment-free, the inclusion of water bodies in land records, incorporating water bodies as an integral part of the town planning process, and to take strict action against the encroachment, etc.
• Further, water bodies are included under the RRR of the Water Bodies scheme only after the concerned State Government certifies that the water bodies concerned are free from encroachment.
• Also, the Central Pollution Control Board under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, has in 2019 issued “Indicative Guidelines for Restoration of Water Bodies”, which also address the removal of encroachments and blockades. The guidelines further recommend that the State Government or UT Administration may maintain records pertaining to the boundaries of each pond or lake in the respective State/UT, and may also ensure that the water body spread area/ water body boundary remains encroachment-free.

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), 2015

• 65 out of 141 million hectares of net area sown is presently covered under irrigation. If the irrigation is assured, farmers tend to invest more in farming technology and inputs.
• The vision of PMKSY = To ensure access to irrigation to all agricultural farms in country, to produce 'per drop more crop'.
• Tenure: 5 years from 2015-16 to 2019-20.
• The mission is administered by Jal Shakti Ministry in a mission mode. Per Drop More Crop component will be administered by the Dept of Agri, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW).
• Funding: 50000 crores. PMKSY funds will be provided to the State Governments as per the pattern of assistance of Centrally Sponsored Schemes decided by Ministry of Finance and NITI Aayog. 
• PMKSY has amalgamated 3 ongoing schemes viz.
  1. Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) of Ministry of Water Resources;
  2. Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) of Department of Land Resources (Ministry of Rural Development)
  3. On Farm Water Management (OFWM) component of NMSA of Dept of Agriculture and Cooperation (Ministry of AFW)
• Objectives
  1. Convergence of investments in irrigation at the field level (prepare district and sub-district level water use plans).
  2. Har Khet Ko Pani: Enhance physical access to water on the farm and expand cultivable areas under assured irrigation.
  3. More Crop Per Drop: Enhance the adoption of precision - irrigation and other water-saving technologies.
  4. Integration of water source, distribution and its efficient use, to make the best use of water through appropriate technologies and practices.
  5. Improve on-farm water use (OFWU) efficiency to reduce wastage and increase availability both in duration and extent.
  6. Enhance recharge of aquifers and introduce sustainable water conservation practices.
  7. For rainfed areas, use a watershed approach towards soil and water conservation, arresting runoff, providing livelihood etc.
  8. Explore the feasibility of reusing treated municipal waste water for peri-urban agriculture.
  9. Attract greater private investments in irrigation.
  10. It uses an area development approach, adopting decentralized state-level planning i.e. States can make their irrigation development plans and take up projects.
• Components: It has 4 components
  1. Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP): Faster completion of Major and Medium irrigation projects.
  2. Har Khet Ko Pani: Minor irrigation, repair of water bodies, rainwater harvesting, Command area development, Groundwater development, improve water distribution system, supplement MGNREGA, IWMP and create traditional water storage systems.
  3. Per Drop More Crop: Preparation of State/ District Plan, Jal Sinchan (sprinklers, railguns in farms), Jal Sanrakchan (moisture conservation),,, ICT Interventions through NeGP - A for water use efficiency, precision irrigation technologies etc.
  4. Watershed Development: ridge area treatment, in situ conservation, converging with MGNREGA.
• Coverage: All the States and UTs including the North Eastern States are covered under the programme.

Click here for a Comprehensive answer on the solution to the Water crisis in India. 

Government efforts to promote IT-based education

• A comprehensive initiative called PM eVIDYA has been initiated as part of Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan on 17th May 2020, which unifies all efforts related to digital/online/on-air education to enable multi-mode access to education.

The initiative includes:

• DIKSHA (one nation, one digital platform)is the nation’s digital infrastructure for providing quality e-content for school education in states/UTs and QR-coded Energized Textbooks for all grades are available on it.
• One earmarked Swayam Prabha TV channel per class from 1 to 12 (one class, one channel).
• Extensive use of Radio, Community Radio and CBSE Podcast- Shiksha Vani.
• Special e-content for visually and hearing impaired developed on Digitally Accessible Information System (DAISY) and in sign language on NIOS website/ YouTube.

Other initiatives

• In order to promote online education, UGC has notified necessary regulation, which facilitates the Universities to offer full-fledged Online programs.
• Further, the current provisions of 20 per cent Online courses in a programme, as per provisions of UGC SWAYAM and ODL Regulations to be enhanced up to a maximum of 40 per cent for implementation considering “National interest during COVID-19” and also to ensure effective utilization of e-resources.
• Various digital initiatives are also undertaken by the Ministry of education viz. SWAYAM ("Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds"), SWAYAM Prabha, National Digital Library (NDL), Virtual Lab, e-Yantra, NEAT (National Education Alliance for technology), FOSSEE (Free Open-Source Software for Education) etc to ensure quality education to the students.
• To improve the internet connectivity in rural areas the CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd (CSC-SPV) of MEITY has been assigned the task of providing Fibre to the Home (FTTH) connectivity to Government Institutions, including schools.
• Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has launched a ‘Cyber Security Handbook’ to ensure safe and healthy digital habits among students.

Paramparagat Krishi Vikaas Yojana (Organic Farming), 2015

1. Sikkim is World's 1st organic State. MP has the largest area under Organic certification followed by Rajasthan, Maharashtra and UP.
2. Ministry: of Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare.
3. Funding: Centrally Sponsored with 60:40 for States except NE and Himalayan States (90:10) and 100% for UTs.
4. Components:
   1. To produce agricultural products free from chemicals and pesticide residues by adopting eco-friendly, low-cost technologies.
   2. It empowers farmers through a cluster approach not just in input production, and quality assurance (Participatory Guarantee System) but also in value addition and direct marketing through innovative means.
   3. PKVY is a subcomponent of the Soil Health Management(SHM) scheme under NMSA.
5. Targets:
   1. >= 50 farmers will form a cluster having 50 acres (or 20 hectares) of land to take up organic farming.
   2. During 3 years 10,000 clusters will be formed covering a 5 lakh acre area under organic farming.
   3. Each farmer receives Rs. 20,000 per acre for 3 years. The amount covers all expenses, including procuring seeds, harvesting crops, and transporting produce to various markets.
   4. Out of total farmers in clusters, 65% of farmers should be allotted to SMFs. At least 30% budget for women beneficiaries.
   5. Participatory Guarantee Systems provides certification to organic products. It is supported by PKVY.

Bhartiya Prakritik Krishi Padhati (BPKP)

• Bhartiya Prakritik Krishi Padhati (BPKP) as a sub-scheme of Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) since 2020-21 for the promotion of traditional indigenous practices.
• The scheme mainly emphasizes on the exclusion of all synthetic chemical inputs and promotes on-farm biomass recycling with major stress on biomass mulching; use of cow dung-urine formulations; plant-based preparations and time-to-time working of soil for aeration.
• Under BPKP, financial assistance of Rs 12200/ha for 3 years is provided for cluster formation, capacity building and continuous handholding by trained personnel, certification and residue analysis.
• As of now, an area of 4.9 lakh ha is covered in 8 states and Rs. 4980.99 lakh has been released.
• Telangana has not taken up natural farming so far under the BPKP programme.