500,000 ponds being built in rural areas: Modi

With two successive years of poor monsoon, the rural job guarantee scheme will be used for asset creation in rural areas, especially for water conservation and 50,000 farming ponds are slated to come up, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday.

"You would be aware that the government is engaged in building five lakh ponds, farm ponds. MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act)is also focusing on creating assets for water conservation," Modi said in his Mann Ki Baat address over All India Radio.

"This is a very important time for farmers. All of us have to think about one thing and that is water conservation. We should use this time to clean our ponds and irrigation facilities which can help farmers during the summer months," he added.

Modi also said the government had devised a Kisan Suvidha app which can be used by farmers for information about weather conditions, crops and new farming techniques.

"Some people think Digital India is only for youth but that is not correct. This app Kisan Suvidha is for farmers, and I urge farmers to at least try it once. It will help the farmers. Villagers should take the initiative and make plans on what work they want to get done through MGNREGA in their village," he said.

The prime minister also asked the farmers to use less fertilisers, cautioning that excessive use would lead to damaging consequences.

Modi also lauded state miner Coal India Limited for creating an eco-friendly mine tourism destination.