Four zonal committees set up to monitor key programmes of land resources department

NEW DELHI: Ministry of rural development has set up four zonal monitoring committees, headed by a joint secretary level officer, to undertake comprehensive monitoring and impact assessment of key programmes of department of land resources under the ministry as progress under the schemes remains slow.

The programmes under scrutiny include the watershed development component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana and Digital lndia Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP). The entire monitoring will be under the supervision of additional secretary in the department.

“ln order to have a comprehensive concurrent monitoring and impact assessment of the programmes/schemes implemented by the department, the senior officers posted in the department should be assigned states/regions to conduct regular field visits and assess the status of the programmes implemented by department,” department said in its office order dated November 11.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, the department undertakes development of rainfed portions of net cultivated area and cultivable wastelands in association with states. DILRMP is a 100% grant scheme from the centre for computerisation of all existing land records including mutations (or transfers) and digitization of maps.

In 2019-20, the Department has an allocation of Rs 2,227 crore, which is 11.6% more than the revised estimates of 2018-19. Of this Rs 2066 crore id for the PMKSY while Rs 150 crore has been allocated for DILRMP.

The northern zone monitoring committee will oversee implementation of schemes in Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir (UT) and Ladakh (UT), Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, NCT of Delhi (UT) and Chandigarh (UT) while the southern zone monitoring committee will include Andhra pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep (UT), Puducherry and Andaman and Nicobar lslands.

The eastern zone monitoring committee will monitor scheme implementation in Odisha. West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram while the western zone monitoring committee will take charge of Maharashtra, Goa, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Nagaland, Tripura, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli.

“One round of visits should be completed in each quarter to review progress of schemes,” it said. As per the order, the co-ordinator of each zonal committee will submit the report state-wise or scheme-wise to the concerned division alongwith a copy to the concerned programme division for further appropriate action.