Portal on Gobardhan scheme launched

PTI, Feb 3, 2021, 8:09 PM IST

New Delhi: The Jal Shakti Ministry on Wednesday launched a unified portal on the ‘Gobardhan’ scheme, an initiative aimed at managing cattle and biodegradable waste and also help enhance farmers’ income.

Under the new unified approach, all these programmes/schemes will be coordinated by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation under the Swachh Bharat Mission – Grameen (SBMG).

The key stakeholders – Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG), Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), and Department of Rural Development – are having various biogas programmes/policies/schemes.

The programmes are New National Biogas and Manure Management Programme (NNBOMP) of MNRE, Biofuel Policy and Sustainable Alternative towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT), cooperative schemes through the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) of Animal Husbandry Department and various other similar schemes.

The Gobardhan scheme is being pursued as a priority programme under the Swachch Bharat Mission Grameen-Phase 2.

The scheme aims to support villages in effectively managing their cattle and biodegradable waste.

The Jal Shakti Ministry is implementing the Swachch Bharat Mission.

”The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation supports every district with technical assistance and financial support of up to Rs 50 lakh per district to achieve safe management of cattle and biodegradable waste, help villages convert their wealth, improve environmental sanitation and curb vector-borne diseases,” Jal Shakti Ministry Secretary Pankaj Kumar said.

The portal will also ensure transparency and social accountability, Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said.

The SBMG transformed itself into a ‘Jan Andolan’ and achieved Open Defecation Free (ODF) rural India milestone in mission mode, he noted.

He added that for achieving ODF Plus goal, Gobardhan scheme was launched in early 2018 to manage the prevailing issues of bio-waste in villages, including cattle waste and converting them into biogas and organic manure to improve the lives of villagers by providing economic and resource benefits to farmers and households.

He said the new Unified Approach strategy and Unified Gobardhan portal will ensure close coordination with stakeholder, departments/ministries for smooth implementation of biogas schemes/initiatives and its real-time tracking.

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Animal Husbandry Minister Giriraj Singh, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Rattan Lal Kataria, Minister of State in the Jal Shakti Ministry were also present at the event.

Tomar expressed confidence that the launch of the unified portal of Gobardhan will further strengthen the rural economy through a convergent approach for various biogas projects/models and initiatives.

The ODF Plus goal outlined in Phase 2 of SBMG will depend on the performance of Gobardhan scheme to a great extent as it will not only effectively address the solid waste management challenge but will increase livelihood opportunities, and household earnings in rural areas, said Tomar, who is the also the Rural Development Minister.

Singh highlighted the importance of ‘Waste to Wealth’ aspect of Gobardhan.

He said rural India generates enormous quantities of bio-waste which can be efficiently utilised and lead to a better environment and public health.

This can be done through proper schemes and initiatives related to bio-waste processing, especially cattle dung into biogas and organic manure leading to the generation of opportunities for employment and household savings, he said.

He mentioned the successful model of cooperative schemes through the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) undertaken by his department wherein gaushalas and milk cooperatives are being linked to large community-based biogas units.

Pradhan highlighted the successful model of SATAT which aims at setting up of Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) production plants and ensuring market linkage for use of biofuel in automotive fuels.

He mentioned that the pilot projects are being set up across the country and it will further increase economic benefits for farmers and overall cleanliness in rural areas.