MGNREGS to fund work to reverse desertification of land across states

What’s the news?

With limited funds to deal with the gargantuan task of restoring degraded land and reversing desertification in the country, the government is now planning to bring convergence between the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY).

News in detail

According to the Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas published by the Environment Ministry in 2021, at least 30% of India’s total geographical area is under the category of “degraded land”.
Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Delhi, Gujarat and Goa have more than 50% of land area undergoing desertification or degradation, while States with less than 10% land degradation are Kerala, Assam, Mizoram, Haryana, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Arunachal Pradesh.
In 2019, the government raised its target of restoration of degraded land from 21 million hectares to 26 million hectares by 2030 following a commitment made during the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (COP14). Nearly three years on, the government is nowhere near this target.
Though the Ministry has been making efforts to contribute towards meeting the international commitment, the constraints posed on the economy by the pandemic restricted the target to 4.95 million hectares by 2025-26.
The Rural Development Ministry is now hoping that by making use of the MGNREGS, which for the financial year 2022-23 has a budget of Rs.73,000 crore, the government can scale up the area to be covered.
As of now, there is Central allocation of Rs. 8,134 crore for developing 4.95 million hectares and a convergence with the MGNREGS could help take up treatment of about 30% more land than feasible with the current scheme size.

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