Know All About Atal Bhujal Yojana

Since April 2020, the Atal Bhujal Yojana (ATAL JAL) Central Sector Program has applied to 8220 Gram Panchayats in 229 Administrative Blocks or Talukas in 80 districts of seven States: Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh (2020-25).

The Committee directed the aforementioned States to carry out the water security plans’ interventions as soon as practicable. Transforming the community’s consumption-based behavior into one of conservation and sensible water management is one of ATAL JAL’s key objectives. The Secretary highlighted that the sustainability of the sources of drinking water must be given top attention when implementing interventions under this Scheme.

Review at a Glance:

• The Secretary of the Department of Water Resources, RD & GR, Ministry of Jal Shakti, presided over the meeting. The National Level Steering Committee for the Atal Bhujal Yojana had its third meeting today in New Delhi (NLSC). Senior officers from the seven States where the programme is being implemented as well as certain line Departments were present at the session. Together with the Principal Secretary of Uttar Pradesh and Secretaries from Gujarat and Karnataka, the Special Secretary and Joint Secretary of DoWR, RD & GR were present.

With a focus on the goal that the Communities own the WSPs, the Special Secretary, DoWR, RD, and GR highlighted the importance of continued community participation:

• Changing the community’s normal consumption mindset to one of conservation and sensible water management is one of ATAL JAL’s key objectives. It is essential that this message be communicated at all levels, especially at the local level, to guarantee that the program’s objectives are realized. Raising public awareness of the program’s goals and fostering an atmosphere that will facilitate its execution at all levels are critical activities under this scheme.
• Campaigns to raise awareness have utilized a variety of mass communication channels. General practitioners (GPs) are the target audience for the campaign, which makes extensive use of communication techniques like nukkadnataks (street dramas), audio-visual clips, wall-writing, display boards, booklets, and Cable TV.
• Several mass communication outlets have been used in awareness-raising campaigns. The campaign’s target demographic is general practitioners (GPs), and it heavily employs communication strategies like nukkadnataks (street dramas), audio-visual clips, wall-writing, display boards, brochures, and Cable TV.
• The Secretary emphasized that when implementing interventions under this Scheme, the sustainability of drinking water sources must be first given attention. Additionally, because incentive money is an unrestricted resource, it may be used to launch pilot projects in any Atal Jal Gram Panchayat to preserve groundwater.

• Because communities are the focus of this plan, developing community capacity was also emphasised. The Special Secretary, the DoWR, the RD, and the GR all emphasised the importance of ongoing community involvement with a focus on the Communities’ ownership of the WSPs. To do this, ongoing IEC and awareness initiatives are required.
• After the NLSC Meeting, the World Bank’s Mid-Term Review came to an end, and the task team leader for the Scheme gave an overview of the overall and state-by-state progress and challenges of the month-long Mission. One of the main concerns was the States’ low convergence in comparison to predictions. As the foundation for the forthcoming round of incentives, convergence is essential to advancing this effort.
• The Atal Bhujal Yojana is altering groundwater management, and each of the seven States addressed how this program is changing it as well as the best practises that are being adopted by it in their individual States.
• The third meeting of the National Level Steering Committee of the Atal Bhujal Yojana was presided over by the Secretary of the Department of Water Resources, RD & GR, Ministry of Jal Shakti.
• The third meeting of the National Level Steering Committee of the Program was attended by senior officers from the seven states where the Atal Bhujal Yojana is being implemented as well as several line departments.

The Main Agenda of Atal Bhujal Yojana:

• The programme requires communities and panchayats in the participating States to actively participate in a variety of activities, including the development or strengthening of water user associations, groundwater data monitoring and dissemination, water budgeting, and the creation and implementation of water security plans (WSPs) at the gramme panchayat level. The percentage of women taking part in water budgeting and security planning activities in the Gram Panchayat-level Water User Associations has been held at 33%. The current Village Water & Sanitation Committees in each Gram Panchayat have been increased and hired for this reason.
• One of the main objectives of the Atal Bhujal Yojana is to alter people’s local behaviour. Data on water availability and usage were taken into account while creating the water budget and water security plans. These plans are created with community input, and the information used to create them is made publicly available. In order to improve water-related data, more equipment including Digital Water Level Recorders (DWLRs), Water Level Sounders, Rain Gauges, and Water Flow Meters is being installed in all Atal Jal States. As part of the National Hydrology programme, the Government of India is also rolling out a number of Real-Time Data Acquisition Systems (RTDAS) around the country.

The amount of money that has been allocated and spent in accordance with this plan is broken out below:

• The World Bank has approved the Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABHY), a Rs. 6000 crore plan for the sustainable management of groundwater. The money was distributed equally between the World Bank and the Indian government. The plan will be carried out over a five-year period, starting in 2018–19 and ending in 2022–23. The regions that have been assessed to be overexploited and water-stressed for the scheme’s implementation are found in the states of Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.
• The programme requires communities and panchayats in the participating States to actively participate in a variety of activities, including the development or strengthening of water user associations, groundwater data monitoring and dissemination, water budgeting, and the creation and implementation of water security plans (WSPs) at the gramme panchayat level. The percentage of women taking part in water budgeting and security planning activities in the Gram Panchayat-level Water User Associations has been held at 33%. The current Village Water & Sanitation Committees in each Gram Panchayat have been increased and hired for this reason.