The Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti and Social Justice and Empowerment Rattan Lal Kataria has said that Andhra Pradesh was not in the list of States that benefited from the ₹6,000-crore Atal Bhujal Yojana partially funded by the World Bank.
Answering an unstarred question raised by the leader of the YSR Congress Parliamentary Party V. Vijaya Sai Reddy in the Rajya Sabha, the Minister replied that 8,353 gram panchayats in seven States, that is, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have been selected for the scheme during the period 2020-21 to 2024-25.
The Minister said that under the Central Sector Scheme the groundwater resources would be developed and managed sustainably with community participation. The scheme was being implemented with the financial assistance of the World Bank with a sharing pattern of 50:50 between the Government of India and the World Bank.
Selection criteria
The names of the participating States were decided based on consultation, criticality of groundwater situation, willingness and degree of preparedness, Mr. Kataria said.
Mr. Vijaya Sai Reddy in his question wanted to know why the Rayalaseema region which was water stressed and the groundwater resources were over exploited was not included in the project. He also sought the reasons for the exclusion of the drought-prone region, but the Minister’s answer was a general one.
