On 26th July 2020, Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare announced that the Central Government in collaboration with the World Bank has decided to convert the area of ravines in the region of Gwalior-Chambal belt of Madhya Pradesh into cultivable land.
The decision was made through a virtual meeting with Adarsh Kumar, representative of the World Bank.
Key People:
Vivek Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, K K SinghAgriculture Production Commissioner, S K Rao Vice-Chancellor of Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Agricultural University.
About the Project:
i.A preliminary report for the conversion of ravines into arable land will be prepared in a month.
ii.Following the initial reports, the further actions will be discussed with the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh in the subsequent meetings.
iii.The aspects related to the technology, infrastructure, capital cost, investment and other will be considered before the initiation of the project with minimum budget allocation.
Benefits:
i.Around 3 lakh hectares land of this region are non-cultivable, this conversion will improve and support the integrated development of the Bihad area in the region of Gwalior-Chambal.
ii.In addition to the agricultural and environmental development this project will also create employment opportunities and will support the substantive development of this region.
iii.The overall development of this region will be made possible through the constitution of the Chambal Expressway through this region which will increase the development scope of the Beehad area in the Gwalior-Chambal region.
About World Bank:
President– David Robert Malpass
Headquarters– Washington, D.C., United States
Motto– Working for a World Free of Poverty
About Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare:
Union Minister– Narendra Singh Tomar
Recent Related News:
i.The board of executives of the World Bank (WB) has approved loan of $ 500 million (about Rs 3,700 crore) under ‘Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States Program (STARS)’project to improve the quality and governance of school education across six states (Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Rajasthan) in India.
ii.The Government of India and West Bengal Government have inked two loan agreements with Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank(AIIB) and World Bank (WB) for the “West Bengal Major Irrigation and Flood Management Project”.
