Atal Bhujal Yojana(ABY)

News:The World Bank-funded Atal Bhujal Yojana(ABHY) is still waiting for the Union Cabinet’s approval more than a year after the World Bank board approved it in June 2018.

Facts:

About Atal Bhujal Yojana:

• Atal Bhujal Yojana is a 6000 crore World Bank assisted Central Sector Scheme of the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.
• The scheme has been formulated by the government to address the criticality of groundwater resources in a major part of the country.
• The scheme aims to improve groundwater management in priority areas in the country through community participation.
• The scheme envisages active participation of the communities in various activities such as formation of Water User Associations, monitoring and disseminating ground water data among others.
• The funding pattern is 50:50 between Government of India (Ministry Of Jalshakti) and World Bank.
• The identified over-exploited(OE) and water stressed areas for the implementation of the scheme fall in the States of Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
• The scheme is to be implemented over a period of five years from 2018-19 to 2022-23 but has not yet started.