The Agriculture Ministry has extended by a month the deadline for States to utilise funds under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) for implementation of micro irrigation projects.
Earlier, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh had said that unutilised funds should be diverted to States that showed better utilisation. About Rs. 1,000 crore had been allocated to States for micro irrigation schemes to be implemented by November but several States were found lagging, at a review meeting held recently. Under the scheme, States were supposed to restore water bodies and converge micro irrigation projects.
Speaking to The Hindu , Mr. Singh said the schemes had to be implemented by States but if they failed to do so, then they would stand to lose the funds.
So far, of the Rs.1,000 cr. released, only 50 per cent had been utilised. Against a target of 5 lakh hectares, only 1.32 lakh hectares had been brought under micro irrigation.
The programme envisages drought proofing, drip and sprinkler irrigation and tying up with MGNREGS schemes, all of which are within the purview of State governments.
The Minister said some of the States that had suffered crop damage due to drought and deficit southwest monsoon had not even submitted memorandum for drought relief funds.
The Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana, with an outlay of Rs. 50,000 crore for a period of 5 years (2015-16 to 2019-20), aims to achieve convergence of investments in irrigation at the field level.
It focuses on convergence of ongoing schemes including the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) of the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation; the Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) of the Department of Land Resources; and On Farm Water Management (OFWM) component of National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) of the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation.
The PMKSY has to be implemented in an area development approach, adopting decentralised State-level planning and execution, allowing the States to draw their irrigation development plans based on district/block plans.
