STANDING COMMITTEE ON RURAL DEVELOPMENT (2016-2017) 29 SIXTEENTH LOK SABHA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (DEPARTMENT OF LAND RESOURCES) [Action taken on the recommendations contained in the Twenty Second (Sixteenth Lok Sabha) on Demands for Grants of the Ministry of Rural Development (Department of Land Resources) for the year 2016-17] TWENTY NINTH REPORT LOK SABHA SECRETARIAT NEW DELHI TWENTY NINTH REPORT STANDING COMMITTEE ON RURAL DEVELOPMENT (2016-2017) (SIXTEENTH LOK SABHA) MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (DEPARTMENT OF LAND RESOURCES) [Action taken on the recommendations contained in the Twenty Second Report (Sixteenth Lok Sabha) on Demands for Grants of the Ministry of Rural Development (Department of Land Resources) for the year 2016-17] Presented to Lok Sabha on 15.12.2016 Laid in Rajya Sabha on 15.12.2016 LOK SABHA SECRETARIAT NEW DELHI December, 2016/Agrahayana, 1938 (Saka) CRD No. 126 Price : Rs. © 2016 BY LOK SABHA SECRETARIAT Published under Rule 382 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha (____ Edition) and Printed by __________________. CONTENTS Page No. COMPOSITION OF THE COMMITTEE (2016-2017) ...................................... (ii) INTRODUCTION ….................................... (iii) CHAPTER I Report .......................................................................... 1 CHAPTER II Recommendations which have been accepted by the Government ........................................................................... 8 CHAPTER III Recommendations which the Committee do not desire to pursue in view of the Government’s replies…………............................................................................. 14 CHAPTER IV Recommendations in respect of which replies of the Government have not been accepted by the Committee ............................................................................ 15 CHAPTER V Recommendations in respect of which final replies of the Government are still awaited ...................................... 18 APPENDICES I. Extracts of Minutes of the sitting of the Committee held on 9 December, 2016………………...... 19 II. Analysis of Action taken by the Government on the recommendations contained in the Twenty Second Report (16th Lok Sabha) of the Standing Committee on Rural Development.......... 21 (i) COMPOSITION OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON RURAL DEVELOPMENT (2016 -2017) Dr. P. Venugopal -- Chairperson MEMBERS LOK SABHA 2. Shri Sisir Adhikari 3. Shri Kirti Azad 4. Shrimati Renuka Butta 5. Shri Harishchandra Deoram Chavan 6. Shri Sanjay Dhotre 7. Shri Biren Singh Engti 8. Shri Vijay Kumar Hansdak 9. Shri Ajay Misra (Teni) 10. Shri Manshankar Ninama 11. Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal “Nishank" 12. Shrimati Mausam Noor 13. Shri Prahlad Singh Patel 14. Shri Gokaraju Ganga Raju 15. Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss 16. Shri Jugal Kishore Sharma 17. Dr. Yashwant Singh 18. Dr. Naramalli Sivaprasad 19. Shri Balka Suman 20. Shri Ladu Kishore Swain 21. Shri Chintaman Wanaga RAJYA SABHA 22. Shri Munquad Ali 23. Shri D. Bandyopadhyay 24. Shri Bishnu Charan Das 25. Shri Shamsher Singh Dullo 26. Shri Mahendra Singh Mahra 27. Shri Narayan Lal Panchariya 28. Shri A. K. Selvaraj 29. Shri Shiv Pratap Shukla 30. Shri Rewati Raman Singh 31. Shri Devender Goud T. Secretariat 1. Shri Abhijit Kumar - Joint Secretary 2. Shri S. Chatterjee - Director 3. Smt. B. Visala - Additional Director 4. Shri Ravi Kant Prasad Sinha - Committee Assistant (ii) INTRODUCTION I, the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Rural Development (2016-2017) having been authorised by the Committee to present the Report on their behalf, present the Twenty Ninth Report on the action taken by the Government on the recommendations contained in the Twenty Second Report of the Standing Committee on Rural Development (16th Lok Sabha) on Demands for Grants (2016-17) of the Ministry of Rural Development (Department of Land Resources). 2. The Twenty Second Report was presented to Lok Sabha/laid in Rajya Sabha on 02 May, 2016. Replies of the Government to all the recommendations contained in the Report were received on 15 September, 2016. 3. The Report was considered and adopted by the Committee at their sitting held on 09 December, 2016. 4. An analysis of the action taken by the Government on the recommendations contained in the Twenty Second Report (Sixteenth Lok Sabha) of the Committee is given in Appendix-II. NEW DELHI; DR. P. VENUGOPAL 14 December, 2016 Chairperson, 23 Agrahayana, 1938 (Saka) Standing Committee on Rural Development (iii) 1 CHAPTER I REPORT This Report of the Standing Committee on Rural Development (2016-17) deals with the action taken by the Government on the Observations/Recommendations contained in their Twenty Second Report (Sixteenth Lok Sabha) on Demands for Grants (2016-17) of the Ministry of Rural Development (Department of Land Resources). 2. The Twenty-Second Report was presented to Lok Sabha on 2 May, 2016 and was laid on the Table of Rajya Sabha on the same date. The Report contained 10 Observations/Recommendations. 3. Action Taken Notes in respect of all the Observations/Recommendations contained in the Report have been received from the Government. These have been examined and categorised as follows: - (i) Observations/Recommendations which have been accepted by the Government: Serial Nos. 1,2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 10. Total:8 Chapter-II (ii) Observations/Recommendations which the Committee do not desire to pursue in view of replies of the Government: Serial No.NIL. Total: Nil Chapter-III (iii) Observation/Recommendation in respect of which replies of the Government have not been accepted by the Committee: Serial No. 5 and 9. Total: 02 Chapter-IV (iv) Observations/Recommendations in respect of which final replies of the Government are still awaited: Serial No. NIL Total:Nil Chapter-V 2 4. The Committee desire that replies to recommendations made in the Chapter - I of this Report may be furnished to the Committee expeditiously. 5. The Committee will now deal with action taken by the Government on some of their Observations/Recommendations that require reiteration or merit comments. A. Need for taking more watershed projects and strengthening monitoring mechanism Recommendation (Serial Nos. 5, Para No.2.5) 6. With regard to monitoring mechanism of the schemes of the Department, the Committee had recommended as under:- "The Committee's examination has revealed various aspects related with monitoring like overall performance of IWMP projects in different States, need for IWMP projects in desert areas for addressing growing desertification of lands, use of space technology for monitoring by Geo-portal like Srishti for IWMP project and survey/re-survey work and use of mobile technology like Drishti by mobile app, impact of watershed projects on poverty reduction etc. With regard to overall performance, the Committee appreciate that all the 8,214 IWMP projects are in Maharashtra, 1,025 projects are in Rajasthan, 610 projects in Gujarat etc. The Committee hope that these ongoing IWMP projects are completed on time. The Committee are also happy to note that as many as 1,324 projects that were sanctioned in 2009-10 are due for completion this year. With regard to implementing more and more IWMP projects in desert areas like Rajasthan, the Committee are happy to note that second largest ongoing IWMP projects are in Rajasthan. The Committee find that in the light of growing desertification of land, there is a need to take up more and more watershed projects. In this context, the Committee have been informed that scientific data based on satellite imaging is available for this purpose. The Committee are constrained to note that latest updated data is available in Wasteland Atlas, 2011 which is under revision and the updated data will be available only by end of 2016-17. The Committee desire that the updated data on this issue be made available to public expeditiously. On the issue of space technology through Geo-portal of Srishti and by mobile technology through mobile app Drishti for implementation of IWMP projects and survey/re- survey work under DILRMP programme, the Committee appreciate that by this way a lot of funds are being saved by avoiding field visits by officials. The Committee however, feel that the use of these technologies be promoted in a big way so that common man is largely aware of these technologies. On the issue of 3 impact assessment of wasteland programmes on poverty reduction, the Committee are constrained to note that DoLR is relying on the findings of studies done by ICRISAT Hyderabad in different areas in 17 States. The Committee feel that DoLR should cross check these with available space technologies, mobile technologies and if necessary field visits by officers to take stock of the real situation at ground level. On the issue of showcasing the good work by watershed activities in other areas, the Committee are happy to note that DoLR has agreed with their suggestion. The Committee, therefore feel that such an exercise be undertaken in time-bound manner in consultation with States/UTs for rejuvenating the affected areas." 7. The Government in their Action Taken Reply have stated as under:- "The updating of Wasteland Change Analysis in India between 2008-09 and 2015-16 has been assigned to the National Remote Sensing Center (NRSC), Hyderabad on 22.02.2016. On the use of space technology in monitoring of Watershed Projects, it is submitted that the mobile app Drishti is also made available in the public domain from where officials, MEL agencies and citizens can use the app for uploading