The Inside ‘n Out – Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana

In Articles
January 11, 2016

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana

Agriculture

We have studied in lower class that Agriculture is the backbone of Indian Economy. More than 50% of Indian Population is engaged in Agriculture and all the 100% people are dependent on Agriculture (Directly or Indirectly). This dependency is best seen in a year when a below-normal monsoon sends prices of food items ratcheting up. The price rise of Agriculture Products affects every individual in the country.

Are the Farmers Happy?

The Answer is NO. Every year thousands of Farmers are committing suicide. Even though they feed the whole country, they are unable to feed themselves. Most of these are linked to crop failure followed by lack of rainfall and inadequate irrigation.

According to current estimates, out of the 142 million hectares of agricultural land in India, only about 45 per cent has any arrangement for artificial irrigation. The rest of the agricultural farm is dependent solely on rainfall for its water needs.

In an attempt to improve the agricultural productivity, the government of India has come up with a new scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY).

Scheme Allocation

The PMKSY has an allocation of Rs. 50,000 Crore for next five years (2015-16 to 2019-20). Rs 5,300 crore was allocated in budget for 2015-16.

How the Scheme was formulated?

PMKSY was formulated by amalgamating the three ongoing schemes. They are

a) Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) of Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation

b) Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) of Department of Land Resources

c) On Farm Water Management (OFWM) component of National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) of Department of Agriculture and Cooperation.

Major Focus

The major focus of PMKSY is to deliver top to bottom solution in the irrigation supply by providing more flexibility to state government to plan and execute their own irrigation projects.

Objectives of PMKSY

To achieve convergence of investments in irrigation at the field level, expand cultivable area under assured irrigation (Har Khet ko pani).
Improve on-farm water use efficiency to reduce wastage of water.
Enhance the adoption of precision-irrigation and other water saving technologies (More crop per drop).
Enhance recharge of aquifers and introduce sustainable water conservation practices by exploring the feasibility of reusing treated municipal based water for peri-urban agriculture and attract greater private investment in precision irrigation system.
Water harvesting, water management and crop alignment, explore feasibility of reusing treated municipal waste water for urban agriculture and attract greater private investments in irrigation.
Apart from the irrigation projects, INR 200 crore from this scheme will be earmarked as Agri-Tech Infrastructure Fund (ATIF) – the corpus required to promote the National Agricultural Market (NAM). This will give farmers easy access to the markets for sale of their produce.

Water Cycle

The scheme also aims at bringing concerned Ministries/Departments/Agencies/Research and Financial Institutions engaged in creation/use/recycling/potential recycling of water, brought under a common platform, so that a comprehensive and holistic view of the entire “water cycle” is taken into account and proper water budgeting is done for all sectors namely, household, agriculture and industries.

Architecture

The programme architecture of PMKSY aims at a ‘decentralized State level planning and execution’ structure, in order to allow States to draw up a District Irrigation Plan (DIP) and a State Irrigation Plan (SIP).
DIP will have holistic developmental perspective of the district outlining medium to long term developmental plans integrating three components namely, water sources, distribution network and water use application of the district to be prepared at two levels – the block and the district.

How GOI Monitors the Scheme?

National Level

The programme will be supervised and monitored at the national level by an Inter-Ministerial National Steering Committee (NSC) under the Chairmanship of the Prime Minister with Union Ministers of all concerned Ministries.
A National Executive Committee (NEC) is to be constituted under the Chairmanship of the Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog to oversee programme implementation, allocation of resources, inter ministerial coordination, monitoring and performance assessment, addressing administrative issues etc.

State Level

At the state level the scheme is to be administered by a State Level Sanctioning Committee (SLSC) to be Chaired by the Chief Secretary of the respective States.
The committee will have all authority to sanction the project and also monitor the progress of the scheme.

District Level

At the district level their shall be a district level implementation committee for ensuring last mile coordination a the field level.

Some GK

World Water Day

Date : March 22.
In 1993, the first World Water Day was designated by the United Nations General Assembly.
2015 Theme – “Water and Sustainable Development”.

World Food Day

Date : October 16.
Observed in honor of the date of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1945.
2015 Theme – “Social Protection and Agriculture: Breaking the Cycle of Rural Poverty”.

DOWNLOAD IN PDF – PMKSY

The Success of any scheme is solely depends on effective implementation. PMKSY is part of a group of pro-farmer measures that the NDA government endeavors to implement. If implemented properly, it is possible to maximize the Agricultural Output by transforming the single crop areas to multi cropping. Production will increase. We can increase our Exports. The economy will boost.

(Check out the Second Article – Beti Bachao Beti Padhao)