Rural Devt Secy Shailesh Kumar Singh Chairs High-Level Meeting to Review Progress & Monitoring of Mission Amrit Sarovar

The meeting was attended by the Additional Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary, and Secretary of Rural Development from all States/Union Territories (UTs), as well as the State Nodal officer for the Mission Amrit Sarovar, and the DM/DC/CEOs from over 700 districts, along with the District Nodal officers of the Mission.

During the meeting, the Secretary of Rural Development emphasized the importance of conducting a final quality check by all stakeholders to ensure the sustainability of all completed Amrit Sarovars. Furthermore, he highlighted the need for authorized functionaries to preferably come from a different block within the district.

Social audit teams will be deployed for all Amrit Sarovars that have been constructed or rejuvenated using Mahatma Gandhi NREGS funds or through schemes where social audit is applicable. The state/UTs teams will also conduct sample checks of inspected sites. Additionally, National Level Monitors (NLM) will be deployed to inspect selected Amrit Sarovars, and an inspection reporting app has been developed.

The Secretary urged all States/UTs to take appropriate action by developing an action plan for physically inspecting all completed Amrit Sarovars before the onset of the monsoon, no later than June 10, 2023. They should also make necessary corrections to improve the work and take appropriate action in case of any lapses.

Mission Amrit Sarovar was launched by the Prime Minister on April 24, 2022, with the objective of providing sustainable water sources. The aim is for every district to construct or rejuvenate a minimum of 75 Amrit Sarovars. The national target of 50,000 Amrit Sarovars has been achieved by following the mission's guidelines.

This mission is being implemented with a whole-of-government approach, involving eight central ministries/departments, namely the Department of Rural Development, Department of Land Resources, Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Department of Water Resources, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Ministry of Forest, Environment and Climate Changes, Ministry of Railway, and Ministry of Road, Transport & Highways.

The Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Application and Geo-informatics (BISAG-N) is serving as the technical partner for the mission. The mission works through the states and districts by refocusing various schemes such as Mahatma Gandhi NREGS, XV Finance Commission Grants, PMKSY sub-schemes including Watershed Development Component and Har Khet Ko Pani, in addition to the states' own schemes.

It's worth mentioning that the mission encourages the mobilization of citizens and non-government resources to supplement these efforts.