Atal Bhujal Yojna

Recently, the meeting for review of progress of Atal Bhujal Yojna was held at Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh.

Atal Bhujal Yojna

Atal Bhujal Yojana is a central sector scheme which was launched in 2019.

Duration: Period of 5 years (2020-21 to 2024-25), Increased by 2 years in May, 2023.

Objective: The major objective of the Scheme is to improve the management of groundwater resources in select water stressed areas in identified states.

• The scheme is being taken up in 8220 water stressed Gram Panchayats of seven states: Haryana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Scheme components : It has two major components:

• Institutional Strengthening and Capacity Building Component for strengthening institutional arrangements for sustainable groundwater management in the States including improving monitoring networks, capacity building, strengthening of Water User Associations, etc.
• Incentive Component for incentivising the States for achievements in improved groundwater management practices namely, data dissemination, preparation of water security plans, implementation of management interventions through convergence of ongoing schemes, adopting demand side management practices etc.
• The scheme is being funded by the Government of India and the World Bank on a 50:50 basis.
• Total cost of scheme is Rs. 6,000 crore, Out of this, Rs. 3,000 is loan from the World Bank and Rs. 3,000 crore is matching contribution from the Government of India.

Implemented Ministry: Ministry of Jal Shakti.

The key results areas are:

• Strengthened institutional framework and effective ground water data monitoring and disclosure.
• Improved planning and implementation of groundwater management interventions.