Panel set up on Drought Mitigation Strategies in Bundelkhand Region

The Planning Commission has constituted an Advisory Committee on implementation of the Drought Mitigation Strategies in the Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

The committee will be chaired by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and include Members of Parliament (MPs) from Bundelkhand.

The other members of the committee include Ministers of State V Narayanasamy (Planning and Parliamentary Affairs) and Pradeep Kumar Jain (Rural Development), Planning Commission Members B K Chaturvedi, Mihir Shah and Abhijit Sen, and Planning Commission Member-Secretary Sudha Pillai.

The MPs in the committee are Mr R K Singh Patel (Banda), Mr Vijay Bahadur Singh (Hamirpur), Ghanshyam Anuragi (Jalaun), Dr Virendra Kumar (Tikamgarh), Mr Ashok Argal (Bhind), Mr Jeetendra Singh Bundela (Khajuraho) and Mr Shivraj Singh Lodhi (Damoh).

Dr. J. S. Samra, Chief Executive Officer, National Rainfed Area Authority, will be the Member- Secretary of the Advisory Committee

The Specific Terms of Reference assigned to the Advisory Committee are:

i) Advising on requirements of Bundelkhand region;

ii) Suggesting future strategy for development of Bundelkhand region;

iii) Giving suggestions on Bundelkhand Package; and

iv) Advising on need for new schemes for development of Bundelkhand region.

The Union Cabinet had approved a special package of Rs.7,266 crore for implementation of a drought mitigation strategy over a period of three years commencing from 2009-10 for the integrated development of the Bundelkhand region.

The region comprises seven districts of Uttar Pradesh (Banda, Chitrakoot, Hamirpur, Jalaun, Jhansi, Lalitpur and Mahoba) and six districts of Madhya Pradesh (Chhatarpur, Damoh, Datia, Panna, Sagar and Tikamgarh).

The prime mover of the package is optimization of water resources through rainwater harvesting and through proper utilization of the river systems. Intensive and diversified agriculture is to be promoted for productivity gains in the crops along with promoting higher sown area in the Kharif season. Animal husbandry and dairy activities will be expanded as an ancillary activity to enhance farmers’ incomes to cope with the drought conditions.

NNN