Shivraj Singh Chouhan launches a national level mass outreach campaign “Watershed Yatra”

Shivraj Singh Chouhan has yesterday launched a national level mass outreach campaign “Watershed Yatra”, in Hybrid mode to generate people’s participation and create awareness about the Watershed Development activities carried out under Watershed Development Component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (WDC-PMKSY 2.0) in project areas. Union  Ministers of State,  Rural Development,  Dr. Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani and Shri Kamlesh Paswan were also present and addressed the gathering in the launch event of Watershed Yatra. Concerned Ministers of State/UT Governments, senior officials and officials associated with implementation of WDC-PMKSY participated in physical mode in their respective States and launched the Yatra simultaneously in their States/UTs. A total of about 800 Gram Panchayats and more than one lakh people participated in the Watershed Yatra launch program.

 Shivraj Singh Chouhan emphasized the importance of soil and water conservation for the present & future needs of the people and community participation in the effective & successful implementation of WDC PMKSY Projects across the country. Accordingly, he urged the people to participate in the yatra whole heartedly and ensure success of WDC-PMKSY. He also opined that the Yatra will provide a platform for achieving “Community Driven Approach”, galvanise the implementation machinery at field level and highlights the importance of sustainable management of natural resources for improving agriculture productivity, livelihoods, and the environment. He also mentioned that the activities to be undertaken during the Watershed Yatra like Bhoomi Poojan of New Works, Lokarpan of Completed works, Watershed Mahotsav, Watershed ki Panchayat, Awards and recognitions to the Watershed Margdarshaks in project areas, Bhumi-Jal Pitch and Shramdan  etc., will drive the message of sustainable resource management to the common people.

On this occasion of launch of the Yatra, Shri Chouhan also announced ‘Watershed - Janbhagidari Pratiyogita’ under WDC-PMKSY 2.0 for the years 2025 & 2026. He also stated that it is a unique model based on the principles of community-led watershed management, incorporating 'Public-Private-People Partnership (4Ps)'. Under this, the works done in the project areas through government funding and public participation will be evaluated at the state level and the projects doing excellent and remarkable work will be given an additional reward of Rs. 20 lakh per project. A total provision of Rs 70.80 crore has been made for this, which will benefit 177 projects every year. The evaluation of projects for this year's competition will be done in the month of April.