IRIG Budget: memerlukan Hasil tidak Mengeluarkan

Pertumbuhan lambat pertanian menyebabkan tekanan inflasi pada kesatu tangan dan kekecewaan politik laki-laki kebanyakan di atas yang lain. Keperluan pertanian memeriksa jika paksa mengejar sektor ekonomi lain. Untuk mengalirkan pelaksanaan pertanian dengan mulus sepanjang tahun, menguasai, meyakinkan dan air terus-menerus dengan gemulai lewat irigasi sistem sangat penting. Irigasi Infact adalah parameter yang paling sangat penting karena mengangkat produktivitas pertanian dan oleh karena itu produksi. Di ketiadaan fasilitas irigasi, pertanian adalah tak lebih dari judi. Sejak permulaan perencanaan di India, sangat banyak investasi sudah dipompakan karena perkembangan irigasi diproyeksikan. Menteri Keuangan P. Chidambaram menghasilkan berbagai usul untuk meningkatkan potensi irigasi negara dengan pengeluaran yang ditingkatkan.

Mempercepat Irigasi Benefit Programme (AIBP) diluncurkan selama 1996-97 untuk memberi meminjami assiatnce ke negara bagian untuk menolong lalu conplete sebagian dari mayor yang tak lengkap/irigasi sedang diproyeksikan yang di panggung maju penyelesaian. Anak-anak permukaan siasat irigasi Negara Bagian Timurlaut, Negara Bagian Bukit Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh dan Kalahandi, Bolangir dan Koraput (KBK) daerah Orissa juga sudah disediakan Bantuan Pinjaman penting (CLA) di bawah program ini sejak 1999-2000. Suka lain pusat siasat, memberi bagian diperkenalkan di pogramme sejak April 2004. Kriteria lebih jauh bersantai dari April 2005 untuk memasukkan siasat irigasi kecil non negara bagian kategori istimewa dengan potensi lebih dari 100 hektare dengan pilihan ke suku dan masa kekeringan prone bidang yang keuntungan dalits dan adivasis. Bantuan yang disediakan sejak 2004-05 di atas pola bantuan penting biasa, bahwa ialah, 70 persen meminjami dan 30 persen memberi kalaupun negara bagian kategori tak istimewa dan 10 persen meminjami dan 90 persen memberi kalaupun istimewa kategori-negara bagian dan daerah KBK Orrisa. Karena membiayai maksud, masa kekeringan pone suku dan banjir pone bidang di negara diperlakukan di persamaan dengan negara bagian kategori istimewa. AIBP sudah diperbarui untuk menyelesaikan lebih banyak proyek irigasi di irama mungkin yang paling cepat. 35 proyek mungkin diselesaikan selama 2006-07 dan potensi irigasi tambahan sebanyak 900000 ha akan ditimbulkan. Selama yang fiskal sekarang, potensi irigasi tambahan sebanyak 2.400.000 ha termasuk 900000 ha di bawah AIBP akan ditimbulkan. Sebagai dibandingkan dengan pengeluaran Rs. 7121 crores di 2006-07 pengeluaran untuk 2007-08 akan ditambah ke Rs. 11000. Ini bagian dana bantuan kepada pemerintah negara bagian akan Rs. 3580 crores dibandingkan dengan yang fiskal terakhir sebesar Rs,2350 crores.

Pemerintah menyetujui siasat penunjuk untuk National Project sampai Reparasi, Merenovasi dan memulihkan Badan Air secara langsung dihubungkan dengan pertanian pada Januari 2005 dengan biaya yang ditaksir Rs. 300 crores untuk dipunyai yang sama dengan Pusat dan Negara Bagian di rasio 3:1. Badan air yang sudah menanam luas penguasaan lebih dari 40 ha dan sampai 2000 ha dimasukkan di bawah siasat penunjuk di satu dua daerah masing-masing negara bagian. Tujuan siasat akan memulihkan dan menambah kapasitas penyimpanan badan air dan untuk pulih dan memperpanjang potensi irigasi hilang mereka. Siasat sudah disetujui di 24 proyek daerah pada 14 negara bagian, yaitu, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Gujarat, Kerala dan Maharashtra di biaya yang ditaksir Rs. 296,87 crores. Pusat bagian Rs,132,01 crores sudah dilepaskan ke negara bagian menjelang 31 Desember, 2006. Proyek ini meliputi 1076 kumpulan air dengan total asli cultivable menguasai luas sebanyak 2,99 lakh ha. Pekerjaan fisik untuk pemugaran sudah diselesaikan untuk 232 telah badan air dan kerja di kemajuan di 844 badan air sisanya. Yang diciptakan yang mungkin akan menjadi sebagian Bharat Nirman. Proyek diperluas di seluruh negara lewat bantuan eksternal. World Bank sudah menandatangani persetujuan pinjaman dengan Tamil Nadu for Rs. 2182 crores untuk memulihkan 5763 telah badan air yang mempunyai bidang penguasaan sebanyak 400000 ha. Persetujuan bagi Andhra Pradesh di panggung maju perundingan dan diharapkan diselesaikan menjelang Maret 2007 dan akan menutupi 3000 telah badan air dengan bidang penguasaan sebanyak 250000 ha. Persiapan proyek mirip karena Karnataka, Orrisa dan West Bengal di panggung berbeda dan sedikitnya dua lagi persetujuan mungkin diselesaikan sebelum Juni 2007. Pemerintah pusat mendesak negara bagian untuk menyerahkan usul yang mirip maju kepada perlindungan negara utuh dalam mendatang dua tahun. Sayangnya tidak ada sebutan langkah untuk memperbaiki efisiensi penggunaan air di atas pola usul yang diperkembangkan oleh Union Ministry of Water Resources. Tidak jelas satu lagi model air memanem diperlukan sedangkan dibayangkan bahwa Lebih Banyak Penghasilan setiap Penurunan Gerak-gerik Air akan meliputi setiap blok negara lewat negara bagian universitas pertanian, IITs, lembaga WALMIS dan ICAR. Sebenarnya waktu sudah pergi mengambil pilot dan apa yang diperlukan adalah gerak-gerik untuk penggunaan terbaik setiap penurunan air.

Centrally sponsored Command Area Development Programme started in 1974-75 with an objective to bridge the gap between irrigation potential created and the utilization to optimize agricultural productivity/production through an integrated and coordinated approach for efficient land and water management in the irrigated commands. The programme was restructured in April 2004 and renamed as Command Area Development and Water management Programme. Some components were deleted and two new components - correction of system deficiencies up to distributaries of 150 cusec capacity and renovation and desilting of existing irrigation tanks within CAD projects were included. Mandatory 10 per cent beneficiary contribution in some of the components was also introduced Up to December 31, 2006, 311 projects with cultivable command area of28.58 million ha have been covered. By the end of March 2006, the construction of field channels has been completed in an area of 17.43 million ha. The programme is presently going on in 136 projects with balance executable CCA of 7.70 mh.
Depletion of groundwater has assumed grave propositions. The Central groundwater has identified 1065 assessment blocks in the country as over exploited or critical. Over 80 per cent of these blocks are in 1000 districts in seven states. The strategy for ground water recharge is to divert rain water into dug wells. Each structure will cost about Rs. 4000. The requirement is seven million structures on land belonging to small and marginal farmers. Government provides 100 per cent subsidy to small and marginal farmers and 50 per cent subsidy to other farmers. Ministry of Water Resources will finalize the scheme shortly. A sum of Rs. 1800 crores will be transferred to NABARD which will be held in escrow and disbursed through lead Bank of the beneficiaries’ district.

National Rain fed Area Authority (NRAA) was established to coordinate all the schemes relating to watershed development and other aspect of land use. The budget has proposed an allocation of Rs. 100 crores for the new rain fed area development programme. To train farmers in good water management practices, Indian Council of agricultural Research (ICAR) will set up a teaching-cum-demonstration model of water harvesting in each of the 32 selected state agricultural universities and ICAR institutes. Each institution will train one hundred trainers and one thousand farmers every year in two week and one week programme. An interest free loan of Rs.3 crores will be provided to each institution for a Corpus fund. The yield from the fund will be used for implementing the training programme.

Irrigation is one of the six components for development of rural infrastructure under Bharat Nirman. The irrigation component of Bharat Nirman aims at creation of irrigation potential of 10 million ha during 2005-06 through 2008-09 mainly through completion of ongoing major and medium irrigation projects. Utilization of completed projects/schemes is also emphasized. Further, development of new minor irrigation to cater to the requirement of specific areas, particularly to provide benefit to small and marginal farmers and dalits and tribal, has also been included in Bharat Nirman. Duping 2005-06, against the target of 1.90 million ha, the reported irrigation potential created was 1 .45 mh.

Since the inception of AIBP centre has spent a total of Rs.20598.48 cores with the states releasing an additional Rs. 15 thousand crores or so. Up to March 2006, 50major/medium irrigation projects and 4187 surface Minor irrigation projects have been completed. Relaxation in criteria for all approved projects in drought-prone areas, tribal areas, states with lower irrigation development than national average and districts identified under PM’s package for agrarian distress was approved by the cabinet in November 2006. But despite this huge public funds infusion, the country’s net irrigated area remained virtually static around 53 to 55 million hectares (mh) Likewise the gross cropped area irrigated has increased from 46.5 mh to 49.3 mh for all cereals; from 3mh to 3.3 mh for pulses and from 3.9 mh to 4.0 mh in case of sugarcane. These marginal increases have been offset by declines in respect of oilseeds from 7.3 mh to 6.5mh and for cotton from 3.2 mh to 2.6 mh. Alternatively, the performance of AIBP’s can be measured in terms of the irrigation potential that has been created. In any irrigation project, what we create is the base infrastructure- from the head works on the river, reservoir to trap water, main canal, branch canals and distributaries up to the outlet opening (which caters to 50 to 100 hectares). How much of this irrigation potential reaches the farmers depends upon whether the catchments have received enough rainfall to operate close to the full reservoir level. Three may be no watercourses to convey water from the outlets points to the fields. Understandably, the creation of water resources infrastructure is not a short-term task in a vast and diverse nation like our. The irrigation potential created in the Eighth plan was only 2.22 mh, which rose to 4.22mh in the Ninth Plan and in the Tenth Plan it is likely to be 5.74 mh. Of this roughly half is on account of AIBP. This is against increase of 10 mh each recorded during 1970s and 1980’s, when there was no AIBP. During the period 1995-96 though 2005-06, irrigation potential crated was 4.04 mh with another 0.9 mh estimated to created this fiscal. All that adds to about 5 mh over a span of 11 years. With AIBP clearly not delivering the intended benefits, centre has since embarked n a new programme under Bharat Nirman to develop 10 mh of new irrigation potential between 2005-06 through 2008-09 including 5.2 mh through major and medium projects and the rest through minor schemes. The question arises: Has the benefits of this huge public funds trickled down to its beneficiary- The Indian farmers. Apparently, AIBP conferred neither acceleration nor benefit. Moreover by mixing budget allocation with banking funds, FM has created the myth of a new deal for irrigation in the budget. A special plan is being implemented over a period of three years in 31 especially distressed districts in four states with a total amount of Rs. 16979 crores. Of this about Rs. 12400 crores will be on water related schemes. But the scheme is not under implementation and water related scheme has a budget provision of Rs. 100 crores only. It is not enough that the outlays and the number of programme are increased. But the question is: why has all this not translated in to an increase in the actual irrigated area. The hard fact is that over 35 of the expenditures under AIBP were diverted, parked or misutilized among other things, as per Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report. Only time will tell that the benefits of infusion of huge public money will translate into tangible benefits to the Indian farmers or not.

Dr Gursharan Singh Kainth
Director
GAD Institute of Development Studies
14-Preet Avenue, Majitha Road
PO Naushera, Amritsar 143 008