Shivraj Chouhan to launch Watershed Yatra on Wednesday for creating awareness

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New Delhi, Feb 4 (PTI) Union Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will launch on Wednesday Watershed Yatra being started by the Department of Land Resources, an official statement said.

The government of India is starting a mass outreach campaign Watershed Yatra to generate people's participation and create awareness about watershed development activities carried out under Watershed Development Component-Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (WDC-PMKSY) 2.0 in project areas, the rural development ministry said.

The Yatra will help achieve a community-driven approach and galvanise the implementation machinery at the field level.

It highlights the importance of sustainable management of natural resources for improving agriculture productivity, livelihoods and the environment.

The outreach campaign will consist of the movement of vans for around 60-90 days across 805 projects, which cover 6,673 gram panchayats (13,587 villages) in 26 states and two Union Territories (UTs).

As pre-launch activities for the Yatra, 1,509 gram sabhas and 1,640 'prabhat pheris' (processions) have been conducted, 2,043 locations have been identified for 'bhumipoojan' (ground-breaking ceremonies), 1,999 works have been identified for dedication to the public, 1,196 locations have been identified for 'shramdaan' (voluntary work contribution) and 557 locations have been identified for horticultural plantations, the ministry said.

The department has also developed a learning management system relating to the domain of watershed development to be hosted on the website of the Department of Land Resources and linked to the MY Bharat portal for further engagement of youth. A certificate will be issued to participating youths, in order to motivate them to participate in shramdaan activities.

A mega event for "Watershed Yatra" has been created on 'MY Bharat portal' to connect with and involve Youths across the country. This will help in mobilizing youth volunteers for activities like shramdaan, strengthening community participation in watershed projects and will help in better implementation of WDC-PMKSY 2.0 scheme. This will also help create a community cadre of watershed workers and leaders, the ministry said. PTI AO KSS KSS