Rajasthan

• 11 Feb 2022

Capacity building of officers and employees of various departments

Why in News?

• On February 10, 2022, in the presence of Rajasthan Water Supply and Ground Water Minister Dr. Mahesh Joshi, MoU was signed in relation to training programs for capacity enhancement of officers and employees of various departments in the state under Atal Bhujal Yojana at the Government Secretariat.

Key Points

• This MoU was signed by State Project Management Unit (SPMU) of Atal Bhujal Yojana and Project Director Suraj Bhan Singh on behalf of Ground Water Department and Director General Rajendra Pareek on behalf of IMTI, Kota.
• Under this MoU, 56 training programs will be organized in Rajasthan in 2021-22 and 336 in 2022-23 by IMTI, Kota at the state, district, block and gram panchayat level, on which about Rs 1.63 crore will be spent.
• These training programs will be conducted by Irrigation Management and Training Institute-IMTI, Kota in the current and next financial year.
• It is worth mentioning that the Atal Bhujal Yojana is being implemented in 38 Panchayat Samiti areas in 17 districts of the state on about 2 lakh hectares of land. This will benefit about 1.55 lakh farmers.
• In this scheme the main objective has been set to encourage management and prevention of falling groundwater level through promotion of rain water conservation and its equitable use, by the schemes of agriculture, horticulture, catchment and soil conservation, water resources, rural development and panchayati raj, public health engineering, forest, energy and groundwater departments.
• Two components have been directly included in the Atal Bhujal Yojana, one is sustainable groundwater management through institutional strengthening and capacity building, and the other is sustainable groundwater management through community participation by promoting innovations along with coordination of various schemes of the center and the state. Under the first component, these trainings will be organized for the successful implementation of the scheme.

Ramgarh Vishdhari Wildlife Sanctuary

Why in News?

• Recently, Rajasthan's Forest and Environment Minister Hemaram Choudhary informed in the state assembly that the Central Government has given in-principle approval to make Ramgarh Vishdhari Wildlife Sanctuary located in Bundi district a tiger reserve.

Key Points

• The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has given in-principle approval to make Ramgarh Poisonous Wildlife Sanctuary and adjoining areas as Tiger Reserves on July 5, 2021, under the provision of Section 38 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
• In accordance with the approval granted by NTCA, the State Government constituted an expert committee as per section 38V(4) to determine the critical tiger habitat (core) and buffer zone of Ramgarh Vishdhari Tiger Reserve.
• A report has been submitted by this committee to the State Government on January 24, 2022 for determination of core (CTH) and buffer area of Ramgarh Poisonous Tiger Reserve, District Bundi. After examining the report of the committee, action is being taken by the state government under the provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
• It is noteworthy that Ramgarh Vishdhari Wildlife Sanctuary acts as a buffer for Ranthambore National Park, which is one of the most famous wildlife sanctuaries in India. It covers an area of about 252 square kilometers.
• The Government of Rajasthan declared it a sanctuary on May 20, 1982 under Section 5 of the Rajasthan Wildlife and Bird Protection Act, 1951.
• Various types of wild animals like Indian wolf, leopard, striped hyena, sloth bear, golden jackal, chinkara, nilgai and fox can be seen in Ramgarh Vishdhari Wildlife Sanctuary.