Govt releases Rs 4K cr under Bundelkhand package

Government has released Rs 4,015.20 crore under package of over Rs 7,200 crore for the parched Bundelkhand region, falling in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, since November 2009.
"The total releases under Bundelkhand package were Rs 4,015.20 crore to both the states since its inception in 2009. It includes Rs 1,845.83 crore to Uttar Pradesh and Rs 2,169.37 crore to Madhya Pradesh," Planning Minister Rao Inderjit Singh said in a written reply to Lok Sabha today.
The Union Cabinet had approved Rs 7,266 crore special package for implementing drought mitigation strategies in Bundelkhand on November 19, 2009.
The special package included Rs 3,506 crore for Uttar Pradesh and Rs 3,760 crore for Madhya Pradesh.

Besides, the central government approved an additional amount of Rs 100 crore each for Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh for providing drinking water in the Bundelkhand region.
As per the minister's reply, the government has released a total of Rs 1,584.06 crore for the both the state during three financial years in 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15. However, no funds were released under the package for Madhya Pradesh last fiscal.

Uttar Pradesh got Rs 840.32 crore during three financial years while the Madhya Pradesh received Rs 743.74 crore.
The minister said, "The impact evaluation study was conducted by NABARD consultancy services (NABCONS) revealed that achievements in irrigation area ranged from 61 per cent in Uttar Pradesh to 88 per cent Madhya Pradesh."

He further said that the productivity of crops increased up to 83 per cent in rainy season crops and up to 42 per cent in winter crops.
The income has increased by 34.6 per cent in 2012-13 over that of 2009-10 due to increase in crop productivity as per the study, he added.