Parliament Question: Initiative to Generate Sustainable Rural Employment

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF LAND RESOURCES LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No.2543 TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.08.2026 Initiative to Generate Sustainable Rural Employment

2543. Shri Dharambir Singh:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has undertaken any initiative to generate sustainable rural employment through watershed development, afforestation, soil conservation and restoration of common lands, if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether scientific planning and satellite-based monitoring have been integrated for implementation of such projects, if so, the details thereof;

(c) the measures taken to improve long-term livelihood opportunities through natural resource management initiatives; and

(d) whether such projects are proposed to be undertaken in the Bhiwani–Mahendragarh Lok Sabha Constituencies, if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (Dr. CHANDRA SEKHAR PEMMASANI)

(a) to (c) : Watershed Management (WM) Division of Department of Land Resources is implementing Watershed Development Component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (WDC-PMKSY). The activities undertaken, inter alia, include ridge area treatment, drainage line treatment, soil and moisture conservation, rainwater harvesting, nursery raising, pasture development, livelihoods for asset-less persons etc.

Under WDC-PMKSY- 1.0 (for the period 2009-22), DoLR supported implementation of 6382 projects. The State-wise details of projects funded by DoLR, projects completed and Central share released are given at Annexure-I. Through the implementation of these projects, significant progress has been registered. 7.65 lakh water harvesting structures have been created / rejuvenated, 16.41 lakh ha additional area has been brought under protective irrigation and 36.34 lakh farmers benefited. In addition to this, 1.63 lakh ha have been brought under plantation (Afforestation / Horticulture etc.) and 388.66 lakh mandays have been generated. The State-wise details of physical achievements under WDC- PMKSY-1.0 are given at Annexure II. The third party end-line evaluation reports of the completed WDC-PMKSY projects have revealed significant improvement in ground water table, increase in productivity, vegetative cover, enhanced livelihood opportunities and household incomes in watershed project areas.

1The continuation of WDC-PMKSY has been approved by the Government of India on 15.12.2021 as ‘WDC-PMKSY 2.0’ for the period of 2021-2026 with total outlay of Rs.12404 crore (Central share: Rs.

8134 crore). Under WDC-PMKSY 2.0, Department has sanctioned 1,220 watershed projects covering

52.93 Lakh hectares in 28 States and the UTs of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, including Haryana. The State-wise details of projects sanctioned, area covered, project cost and Central share released under WDC-PMKSY-2.0 are at Annexure III.

The physical achievements made under WDC-PMKSY 2.0, from 2022-23 to 2025-26 include, 1.15 lakh WHS (like check dams, anicuts, farm ponds, percolation tanks, trenches etc.) have been created / rejuvenated, 2.69 lakh ha have been brought under protective irrigation, 23.29 lakh farmers benefitted and 266.05 lakh man days have been generated. The State-wise details of physical achievements under WDC-PMKSY-2.0 are given at Annexure IV.

Under the Watershed Development Component of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (WDC- PMKSY), several measures have been undertaken to improve long-term livelihood opportunities through the restoration and sustainable management of natural resources. These include soil and water conservation, groundwater recharge, afforestation, pasture and degraded land development, improved production systems and creation of water-harvesting structures. The programme enhances soil moisture, promotes groundwater recharge, and expands protective irrigation, thereby supporting climate-resilient agriculture, sustainable agricultural practices, crop diversification, integrated farming systems, and efficient water use to improve farm productivity. It also promotes livelihood diversification through support for livestock, horticulture, fisheries, agroforestry and income-generating activities for landless and vulnerable households. In addition, the programme strengthens community institutions through capacity-building initiatives and convergence with other rural development programmes for the creation of sustainable livelihood assets. These interventions collectively enhance water availability, improve agricultural productivity, increase cropping intensity from nil to single crop/single crop to multiple crops and generate sustainable employment and long term livelihood opportunities in rural areas.

Implementation of Watershed Development Component (WDC) projects are based on scientific planning to ensure that interventions are technically sound, location-specific, and sustainable. Effective use of GIS, remote sensing, and Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), and assessment of topography, soils, drainage, land use, rainfall, groundwater, and socio-economic conditions is made while preparing DPRs. The treatments are planned on a ridge-to-valley approach, with appropriate soil and water conservation measures selected according to land capability, hydrology, and erosion risk. A geo-spatial portal SRISHTI has been developed in the year 2015 with the assistance of National Remote Sensing Centre

(NRSC) for monitoring the progress of the projects. Geo-coded and time-stamped photographs on near real-time basis are uploaded on SRISHTI portal using a mobile application DRISHTI, specifically developed for the purpose. So far, about 23 lakh works are geo-tagged (about 16 lakh works under WDC- PMKSY 1.0 and about 7 lakh works under WDC-PMKSY 2.0).

(d) : Under WDC-PMKSY 2.0, 9 watershed project have been sanctioned in Haryana, which include 5 projects sanctioned in Bhiwani-Mahendragarh Lok Sabha constituency. The details of projects sanctioned in Bhiwani-Mahendragarh Lok Sabha constituency are given at Annexure-V. The physical achievements under WDC-PMKSY 2.0 in Haryana from 2022-23 to 2025-26 are 625 number of Water Harvesting Structures (WHS) have been created / rejuvenated, 168 ha have been brought under protective irrigation, 7170 number of farmers benefitted, 167.45 ha area brought under plantation and 56368 man days of employment generated.

2Annexure -I Annexure in reply to part (a) to (c) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2543 for 04.8.2026 State-wise details of Projects funded, Projects completed and Central share released under WDC-PMKSY 1.0 State Projects funded by Projects Total Central share DoLR completed released (Rs. in crore) 1 Maharashtra 1024 1024 2516.95 122 Rajasthan 820 818 2984.59 3 Gujarat 489 489 1366.57 34 Madhya Pradesh 446 446 1716.05 5 Karnataka 429 429 1900.86 6 Andhra Pradesh 373 371 1178.91 7 Assam 280 280 672.37 8 Telangana 276 274 684.14 9 Tamil Nadu 270 270 924.94 10 Uttar Pradesh 249 249 808.49 11 Odisha 234 234 1089.17 12 Chhattisgarh 208 208 354.95 13 Jharkhand 143 143 270.21 14 Himachal Pradesh 131 131 350.45 15 West Bengal 119 119 271.02 16 J&K^ 119 119 322.03 17 Arunachal Pradesh 114 114 305.84 18 Nagaland 111 111 640.38 19 Haryana 75 75 119.51 20 Kerala 69 69 158.07 21 Bihar 64 64 239.67 22 Uttarakhand 62 62 131.08 23 Manipur 61 61 150.56 24 Meghalaya 61 61 174.22 25 Tripura 56 56 222.7 26 Mizoram 49 49 282.16 27 Punjab 33 33 60.42 28 Ladakh 11 11 6.15 29 Sikkim 6 6 24.21 Total 6382 6376 19926.67

Note: (i). Sanctioned under the erstwhile Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP), which has been amalgamated as the Watershed Development Component (WDC) of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) with effect from 2015-16.

(ii). Central share released relating to UT of Jammu & Kashmir are composite figures for the UTs of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh upto 2019-20.

(iii). No sanctioned project in Goa.Annexure -II Annexure in reply to part (a) to (c) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2543 for 04.08.2026 State-wise details of physical progress reported under WDC-PMKSY 1.0 2014-15 to 2021-22 2018-19 to 2021-22: Indicators given by NITI Aayog WHS created Additional Farmers Area brought Area of culturable Employment Sr. / area brought benefitted u n d er plantation wasteland treated in generated (No. of State / UT No. Rejuvenated under (in Nos.) (Horti. completed project (in man-days) (in Nos.) irrigation Afforestation) in Ha)

(Ha) Ha 1 Andhra Pradesh 196084 305723.00 285771 655.00 9835.00 932934 2 Arunachal Pradesh 777 5126.69 27075 5295.76 64.97 720575 3 Assam 8272 127944.39 294351 2400.44 11104.96 3149297 4 Bihar 7030 26324.37 81873 159.50 3659.36 396070 5 Chhattisgarh 10458 31243.19 58412 976.67 1041.21 2274110 6 Gujarat 47736 51648.97 92459 10085.10 6065.02 111582 7 Haryana 4104 47149.00 37406 435.00 10.00 61246 8 Himachal Pradesh 11035 12917.02 72736 614.27 0.00 753658 9 Jharkhand 4690 5233.10 115136 4.00 26954.18 626415 10 Karnataka 30691 77878.68 199796 58159.48 16880.00 6341454 11 Kerala 34871 36524.33 225848 2509.72 426.29 559260 12 Madhya Pradesh 38317 171984.05 191894 25.70 6735.83 8201286 13 Maharashtra 16045 139546.18 198545 1831.66 11216.34 327696 14 Manipur 11820 3366.55 168063 1841.49 11681.20 447495 15 Meghalaya 2617 4079.07 16223 3098.97 2.24 270760 16 Mizoram 10547 51164.18 60471 3034.68 1759.22 18463 17 Nagaland 3691 4665.50 16388 43178.65 4665.59 725805 18 Odisha 27168 57334.48 101914 528.90 8351.25 1906585 19 Punjab 672 7196.80 9162 0.00 4468.00 130381 20 Rajasthan 152500 101190.00 355211 8098.00 134970.00 1988656 21 Sikkim 169 32.75 1005 123.00 0.00 13524 22 Tamil Nadu 51661 140838.54 286591 12958.57 30744.19 3397556 23 Telangana 23801 63274.00 83593 0.00 4486.00 108834 24 Tripura 3866 6148.66 14217 1288.62 2540.51 774137 25 Uttar Pradesh 22696 109480.00 314110 940.68 25732.00 1085829 26 Uttarakhand 17570 2356.87 54281 74.09 0.00 264370 27 West Bengal 15943 18634.41 82423 2982.00 10854.00 2361517 28 UT of J&K^ 9816 31757.18 187244 1375.67 2211.39 909008 29 UT of Ladakh 39 192.60 1822 12.02 16.00 7920 Total 764686 1640954.56 3634020 162687.64 336474.75 38866423Annexure -III Annexure in reply to part (a) to (c) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2543 for 04.8.2026 State/UT-wise details projects sanctioned, area covered, total project cost and Central share funds released under WDC-PMKSY 2.0 (Area in Lakh ha, Rs. in crore) S. States /UTs No. of Total Central share Central share Area No. projects project in total funds released covered sanctioned cost project cost (29.07.2026) 1 Andhra Pradesh 59 2.444 555.31 333.19 283.34 2 Arunachal Pradesh 68 1.509 422.56 380.31 358.48 3 Assam 38 1.642 371.36 334.23 270.64 4 Bihar 35 1.716 440.97 264.58 176.02 5 Chhattisgarh 45 2.505 613.66 368.20 245.64 6 Goa 5 0.200 55.96 33.57 14.45 7 Gujarat 51 2.924 687.81 412.68 314.38 8 Haryana 9 0.312 80.59 48.36 21.13 9 Himachal Pradesh 35 0.670 187.24 168.51 122.10 10 Jharkhand 30 1.480 393.53 236.12 157.55 11 Karnataka 78 3.290 769.67 461.80 449.96 12 Kerala 6 0.262 73.26 43.95 35.64 13 Madhya Pradesh 91 5.488 1207.35 724.41 607.06 14 Maharashtra 140 5.260 1251.14 750.68 628.35 15 Manipur 13 0.587 164.33 147.90 64.17 16 Meghalaya 32 0.627 175.64 158.08 154.44 17 Mizoram 20 0.496 138.88 124.99 127.39 18 Nagaland 14 0.522 140.06 126.05 121.30 19 Odisha 60 3.235 842.06 505.24 435.30 20 Punjab 7 0.289 80.83 48.50 21.98 21 Rajasthan 159 8.053 1990.36 1194.22 931.82 22 Sikkim 9 0.304 84.98 76.49 56.56 23 Tamil Nadu 34 1.662 368.66 221.20 203.55 24 Telangana 35 1.467 368.07 220.84 170.70 25 Tripura 19 0.320 89.60 80.64 80.17 26 Uttar Pradesh 56 2.640 580.67 348.39 186.72 27 Uttarakhand 15 0.845 232.26 209.03 112.60 28 West Bengal 27 1.292 350.60 210.36 167.96 29 Jammu & Kashmir 19 0.695 194.58 194.58 137.01 30 Ladakh 11 0.217 60.86 60.86 37.66 Total 1220 52.953 12972.85 8487.96 6694.07Annexure-IV Annexure in reply to part (a) to (c) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2543 for 04.8.2026 State-wise details of physical achievements reported under WDC-PMKSY 2.0 from 2022-23 to 2025-26 Area Additional Area No. of Area covered Area brought brought area brought brought water with soil and under No. of under No. of under from no Increase in S. harvesting State Name moisture plantation farmers protective man-days diversified crop/single cropped No. structure conservation (Afforestation/ benefitted irrigation generated crops/change crop to area created/ activities Horticulture) (created in cropping single/mult renovated /renovated) system iple crop Andhra 1 1062.4 3079.59 13504 36373 29251.08 583,681 13055.7433 9,680.95 14045.878 Pradesh Arunachal 2 2721.8 8106.11 243 16945 1059.91 2,067,223 1415 902 18093.75 Pradesh 3 Assam 14648.54 1212.63 1083 169679 12679.58 2,623,126 4091.391 10,526.73 12720.7675 4 Bihar 37.24 1196.18 2179 69062 8008.63 216693 4275.05 7,633.75 7397.18 5 Chhattisgarh 371.11 596.17 2385 31783 1008.64 569845 514.71 621.974 1392.342 6 Goa 147.51 506.49 0 1480 0 21372 1 13.6 0 7 Gujarat 17638.03 2925.25 10787 54665 541.25 431426 8626.5408 6,361.98 12700.0218 8 Haryana 1123.52 167.45 625 7170 168 56368 202 176 134.35 Himachal 9 5109.03 2932.72 948 63272 4337.47 483349 219.84 231.12 245.19 Pradesh 10 Jharkhand 21994.24 5080.68 1854 128202 2990.51 652429 5036.64 3,245.10 3946.95 11 Karnataka 80334.83 45268.13 2297 284181 6590.25 1,663,032 5485.84 7,823.71 25583.89 12 Kerala 107.64 777.68 1445 52929 1455.59 91995 4.8 19.4 77.17 Madhya 13 2222.18 839.57 4892 44312 140926.56 2386374 7442.99 6,532.61 11624.3 Pradesh 14 Maharashtra 75804.16 6012.93 2660 154513 2 851,008 25353.39 35,890.81 59215.19 15 Manipur 187.5 900.67 768 11505 425.65 366587 617.702 713.70 506 16 Meghalaya 5202.83 7563.38 2352 20211 2238.47 719,894 179 597.2727 1173.4912 17 Mizoram 6105.1 7696.75 1427 14094 81 44398 742.65 612.86 2053.44 18 Nagaland 1295.17 6066.09 1108 33220 1030.14 686188 4500.554 5,069.62 5680.204 19 Odisha 14451.83 5223.67 6129 155164 13362.58 2,587,256 10488.995 7,240.02 186234.769 20 Punjab 18 948.94 95 27603 271.5 93,903 79 35 299 21 Rajasthan 4173.32 4177.73 24035 163583 11976.86 3,285,871 3713.4275 3120.9737 9067.2822 Sikkim 16297.12 3630.48 457 15347 0 622,431 4120 4120 7205 23 Tamil Nadu 19.42 11248.89 5445 144183 3201.61 1093878 6145.81 4,193.34 5242.12 24 Telangana 546.19 2064.52 2254 6817 10247.26 27,896 5898.91 12,280.04 6030.92 25 Tripura 49.69 4055.84 2101 14432 1908.85 556,001 440.33 1,032.01 1606.37 26 Uttarakhand 1915.28 1,108.07 19,124 46,982 23.71 1,283,839 1,637.77 975.60 302.35 27 Uttar Pradesh 26,604.40 120.76 1703 207,498 602.43 1,423,500 3,202.19 3,337.43 4,008.09 28 West Bengal 770.46 3,421.72 2,423 121,954 5,366.22 442,170 6,512.29 5,462.47 7,929.07 29 UT of J &K 5,658.11 2,461.95 1357 177,349 4,763.97 628,644 1,395.20 882.60 2,263.69 30 UT of Ladakh 894.96 316.19 30 55105 4,954.04 44766 474.43 190.31 128.23 Grand Total 307511.61 139,707.23 115710 2329613 269,473.76 26,605,143 125873.1926 139,522.99 406907.0005Annexure -V Annexure in reply to part (d) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2543 for 04.8.2026 asked by Shri Dharambir Singh District-wise details projects sanctioned in Bhiwani-Mahendragarh Lok Sabha constituency under of WDC-PMKSY-2.0 (Area in ha. and Rs. in Lakh) Area Central State District Project Name Block Name Total Project Cost sanctioned share share Bhiwani Bhiwani-WDC - 1 /2021-22 Behal 3881 1086.68 652 434.67 Bhiwani Bhiwani-WDC - 2 /2021-22 Loharu 4146 1160.88 696.52 464.35 Charki dadri Charki dadri-WDC - 1 /2021-22 Badhra 4141 1159.48 695.68 463.79 Mahendragarh-WDC - 1 /2021- Nangal Mahendragarh 2742 767.76 460.65 307.1 22 Chaudhary Mahendragarh-WDC - 2 /2021- Mahendragarh M/garh 4934 1381.52 828.91 552.6 22