For the first time, Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers will be engaged in preparing the irrigation plans of the districts in the country.
The Union Ministry of Agriculture has asked the Odisha Government to identify young IAS and IFS officers as they will have to go in for training in this regard.
Senior officials in the State’s Department of Agriculture said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has floated this idea, which is being implemented while preparing the district irrigation plans under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY).
Additional Secretary of the Government of India’s Department of Agriculture and Cooperation Jalaj Srivastava has written to Chief Secretary GC Pati in this regard. He has urged the Chief Secretary to nominate young IAS and IFS officers for the purpose and they will undergo training in five of the designated institutes.
A training module has been prepared in consultation with the institutions like the National Water Academy (NWA), Pune, Indian Institute of Water Management (IIWM), Bhubaneswar, National Institute of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj (NIRD&PR) Hyderabad, Indian Institute of Soil & Water Conservation (IISWC), Dehradun and ICAR Research Complex for NEH, Meghalaya.
Training will be imparted to the officers from August 24 to October 9. For eastern States like Odisha, Bihar, West Bengal and Jharkhand, the officers will undergo training at the IIWM, Bhubaneswar.
As per the decision, the officers of the three junior most batches may be assigned a district each for preparation of the irrigation plan. They should spend at least one month in the district, interact with all stakeholders and prepare a document, which could be used as the primary source.
State and Forest Service officer trainees may also be associated with this task in consultation with the State Government.
All Information so collected will be integrated on a digital platform using the available resources with the Department of Science and Technology and the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation of the Government of India.