May 12, 2014

Managing the water resources

Tanmay Mondal
IIM graduate, Batch of 2014


The Water Resources Investigation and Development Department manages 7999 irrigation projects across the state, involving 6.39 lakh hectares. In the tenure of the present government, 4000 minor irrigation projects have been completed and handed over to water users' committees of farmers.

The department has undergone a huge change in terms of the work culture as well as implementation of projects.


Reserve Water Preserve Water

With the cooperation of the Panchayat and Rural Development Department, 1,01,886 water preservation projects under the Reserve Water Preserve Water scheme have been created during the last two-and-a-half years, when the original target for five years was 50,000.


Extension of minor irrigation system

During the last two-and-a-half years, 65,000 hectares of irrigated land has been developed through the implementation of different minor irrigation schemes like setting up deep and shallow tube wells, digging of ponds, building jor bandhs, lifting of river water, etc. Apart from this, 12,480 hectares have been irrigated through field canal and water management projects.


WBADMIP with the financial assistance of the World Bank

An additional irrigation potential of 1.39 lakh hectares would be created through the implementation of the West Bengal Accelerated Development of Minor Irrigation Project (WBADMIP), involving Rs 1380 crore, being financed by the World Bank.

Meanwhile, 17 minor irrigation schemes covering 1224 hectares have been implemented. Another 133 projects are being implemented speedily.


Preservation of rain water and water investigation

With a view to utilise the limited water resources to their full potential, the department has taken an initiative to preserve rainwater as an alternative. In this regard, 29 rainwater preservation and artificial groundwater refilling projects have been completed, and work for 23 more is going on in different districts.

The Central Chemical and Hydrological Laboratory at Sech Bhavan, Salt Lake, has been modernised and developed to efficiently test the quality and chemical properties of water.


Revolution in irrigation in the region of Jangalmahal

Long-neglected areas of Jangalmahal have started witnessing a revolution in irrigation. Till now, 196 minor irrigation projects have been completed, bringing 6187 hectares of land under the fold of irrigation.

The process of distributing 1439 water-saving sprinkler-kits amongst the farmers has begun with the aim of starting a scientific minor irrigation project.


Reforming the Water Resources Investigation and Development Department

West Bengal Ground Water Resources Act, 2005 has been amended to allow installation of pump-driven tube wells of 5 horsepower or less without the permits.

In the present government’s tenure, in 2011, procedures and rules for the management of minor irrigation projects have been put in place.

An effort has been started to provide irrigation facilities, through the dual usage of surface water and groundwater, to paddy farmers during the rabi and summer seasons.

In different districts, solar power-driven pumping systems have been installed for using in minor irrigation projects.

Besides these, the 5th minor irrigation census is going to be started soon.


Spreading awareness and empowering farmers

Awareness programmes on water conservation have been taken up through newspapers, hoardings, bicycle rallies, documentaries and fairs in Kolkata as well as the districts.

Till now, 390 agriculture and horticulture exhibitions and 118 training camps have been organised, and 548 water users' committees of farmers have been constituted.

May 11, 2014

Utilization of MPLAD Funds

Samprati Motghare
IIM graduate, Batch of 2014


Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLAD Scheme) was launched to as a mechanism for Members of Parliament (MPs) to recommend developmental works create community assets and provide facilities as per the local needs. This scheme was launched on 23rd December, 1993, and it has undergone significant enhancement till now. Starting from Rs 5 lakh in 1993-94, funding has been increased to Rs 5 crore per MP from 2011-12 onwards.

The Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation acts as the nodal ministry responsible for policy formulation, release of funds and monitoring of scheme implementation. The role of MPs in this scheme is that of a recommending agent which direct local authorities to take up from scratch and complete the recommended work.

Funds for the work are completely centrally funded and its release depends on the kind of work recommended by the MP and the groundwork done on the matter by local authorities. This means any Member of Parliament’s seriousness to develop the constituency he/she represents can be gauged through analyzing the utilization of this fund.


West Bengal’s Utilization

As per the figures available on the official website of the scheme, mplads.nic.in, West Bengal got Rs 721 crore released under scheme out of which Rs 563.17 crore were spent on various developmental works. This amounts to utilization of 78.01% of the released amount. The data being analyzed belongs to the MPs of 15th Lok Sabha from the state so as to look deeper in to the local developmental work carried out by MPs and also to assess their performance on this front.


Trinamool Congress MPs fare better than the average

Average utilization of MPLAD funds of AITC MPs comes around to 82.1% as compared to 78.01% state average.

15 out of the 19 AITC MPs belonging to the 15th Lok Sabha, have spent more than 79% of the funds released to their constituency under this scheme. This shows the vision of the party to work at the grass root level and make the life of the people better.

Average expenditure by AITC MPs was Rs 16.09 crore per Member of Parliament as compared to Rs 11.58 crore by MPs from other parties.

Some of the big spenders were Mr. Gobinda Chandra Naskar, Dr. Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Mr. Subrata Bakshi, Mr. Sheikh Nurul Islam and Mr. Dinesh Trivedi, with all the five MPs having a utilization of close to 85%.

Majority of the funds spent through these schemes goes towards building roads and bridges, with other larger chunk going towards improving health and education facilities.