80% of Target Achieved: Over 40,000 Amrit Sarovars Dedicated to Country

A target of 50,000 Amrit Sarovars was scheduled to be finished by August 15th, 2023. So far, more than 40,000 Amrit Sarovars have been built in just 11 months, accounting for 80% of the whole target. The core of this Mission has been 'Jan Bhagidari,' which entails people's participation at all levels. For each Amrit Sarovar, 54088 user groups have been formed thus far.

Several user groups are completely involved in the whole development process of Amrit Sarovar, including feasibility evaluation, execution, and use. States/UTs are leveraging the participation of freedom fighters, eldest panchayat members, family members of freedom fighters and martyrs, Padma Awardees, and others for purposes such as laying the foundation stone of designated Amrit Sarovar sites and flag hoisting on important dates such as January 26th and August 15th.

So date, the Mission has included 1784 liberation fighters, 18,173 eldest panchayat members, 448 family members of freedom fighters, 684 family members of martyrs, and 56 Padma Awardees. More importantly, Mission Amrit Sarovar is improving rural livelihoods by identifying completed Sarovars for various industries such as irrigation, fisheries, duckery, water chestnut cultivation, and animal husbandry, among others.

Currently, 66% of user groups are involved in agriculture, 21% in fisheries, 6% in water chestnut and lotus production, and 7% in animal husbandry. These activities are carried out by various user groups associated with each Amrit Sarovar.

This Mission's soul is the 'Whole of Government' approach, in which six Central Ministries, namely the Ministry of Rural Development in collaboration with the Ministry of Railways, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the Ministry of Jal Shakti, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, and the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, are operational in collaboration with technical organizations, namely the Bhaskaracharya National Institute of Space Applications and Geo-Informatics.

The feature of this convergence is that the excavated soil/silt is being used for infrastructure projects around the delineated Amrit Sarovar locations by the Ministries of Railways and Road Transport and Highways.

Public and CSR bodies are playing an important role in the construction/revitalization of many Amrit Sarovars across the country. The Amrit Sarovar Mission also aspires for qualitative implementation and growth of Amrit Sarovar as a hub of local community activities, as well as collaboration with several Ministries for Amrit Sarovar Works.