Excavated soil/silt being used to raise infrastructure projects in the vicinity, Significant achievement of Ministry of Rural Development with ‘Jan Bhagidari’ as its core
NEW DELHI: Mission Amrit Sarovar is a government initiative launched in India with the goal of constructing and rejuvenating at least 75 Amrit Sarovars in each district across the country. The mission aims to overcome the water crisis in rural areas of the country. The target was to construct 50,000 Amrit Sarovars by August 15th, 2023.
As of February 8th, 2023, 60% of this target, or over 30,000 Amrit Sarovars, have been completed in just 9 months. This progress is being celebrated as a significant achievement for the Ministry of Rural Development and its core initiative, “Jan Bhagidari”, which involves people’s participation at all levels.
‘Jan Bhagidari’ has been the core of this Mission and involves people’s participation at all levels. States/UTs are leveraging the participation of freedom fighters, eldest members of the panchayat, family members of freedom fighters and martyrs, Padma Awardees, etc. for the purposes like laying of foundation stone of the designated Amrit Sarovar sites, flag hoisting on important dates like 26th January and 15th August.
So far, 1,095 freedom fighters, 13,940 eldest members of the panchayat, 193 family members of freedom fighters, 624 family members of martyrs and 47 Padma Awardees have participated in the Mission.
‘Whole of Government’ approach is the soul of this Mission, wherein six Central Ministries, namely Ministry of Rural Development together with Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, are operational in convergence with technical organizations, namely Bhaskaracharya National Institute of Space Applications and Geo-Informatics (BISAG-N), and all the States/UTs Governments.
The highlight of this convergence is that the Ministry of Railway and Ministry of Road Transport and Highways are using the excavated soil/silt for infrastructure projects in the vicinity of the demarcated Amrit Sarovar sites.
Excavated Soil Used for Infrastructure Projects by Ministry of Railway and Road Transport and Highways
Various Public and CSR Bodies have also shown great interest in this Mission and are playing a significant role by contributing in construction/ rejuvenation of several Amrit Sarovars across the country.
More significantly, Mission Amrit Sarovar is boosting the rural livelihood as the completed Sarovars have been identified for the purpose of different activities such as irrigation, fisheries, duckery, cultivation of water chestnut and animal husbandry, etc. These activities are being carried out by different user groups which are linked to each Amrit Sarovar.
The Mission Amrit Sarovar also aims qualitative implementation and development of Amrit Sarovar as a hub of local community activities and convergence with different Ministries for Amrit Sarovar Works.