The Centre has amended Schedule-I of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, prioritising water conservation in rural blocks facing groundwater depletion.
The Centre has amended Schedule I of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), 2005, fixing a minimum percentage of amount to be spent on water conservation and harvesting works in rural blocks based on their stage of groundwater extraction.
A notification of this effect was issued by the Ministry of Rural Development on Tuesday.
In rural blocks categorised as ‘over-exploited’ and ‘critical’ by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), a minimum of 65 per cent of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) works in terms of cost shall be taken up for water conservation, water harvesting and other water-related works.
Over-exploited’ blocks are the assessment units where the stage of groundwater extraction is over 100 per cent. This means that more groundwater is being drawn in these blocks than is being replenished. Thus, the ‘over-exploited’ category means that groundwater extraction exceeds the annual replenishable groundwater recharge. The assessment units having the stage of groundwater extraction between 90-100 per cent are categorised as ‘critical’.
As per the notification, a minimum of 40 per cent NREGS expenditure has been fixed for water conservation, water harvesting and other water-related works in blocks which fall under the ‘semi-critical’ category, where the stage of groundwater extraction is between 70 per cent and 90 per cent. In the ‘safe’ blocks, where the stage of groundwater extraction is equal to or less than 70 per cent, a minimum 30 per cent fund is earmarked for water-related works.
Schedule I of the MGNREGA provides the list of permissible works under the rural job guarantee scheme. Amending the schedule, the ministry has added a new proviso after the existing proviso of sub-paragraph (2) under Paragraph 4.
“Provided further that the assessment units (Blocks) classified as ‘Over-exploited’, ‘Critical’, ‘Semi-critical’ and ‘Safe’ in the available Dynamic Ground Water Resources Assessment Report, by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), shall be treated as priority areas for intervention, and the District Programme Coordinator or Programme Officer shall ensure that a minimum percentage of the works to be taken up in the assessment units (Blocks) in terms of cost, shall be for water conservation, water harvesting and other water-related works as per following, namely:-(a) 65 per cent in ‘Over-exploited’ and ‘Critical’ rural blocks; (b) 40 per cent in ‘Semi-critical’ rural blocks; and (c) 30 per cent in ‘Safe’ rural blocks,” states the notification.
As per the CGWB’s National Compilation on Dynamic Ground Water Resources of India, 2024, 11.13 per cent blocks were assessed as ‘Over-exploited’, 3.05 per cent as ‘Critical’, 10.54 per cent as ‘Semi-critical’, and 73.39 per cent as ‘Safe’ in 2024.
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