Government to launch Gobardhan Yojana nationally from Haryana

The Union Government will launch GOBARdhan Yojna, a central government scheme nationally from Karnal district of Haryana by end of April 2018. GOBAR is acronym for Galvanising Organic Bio Agro Resources.
The scheme was announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his 2018 budget speech. The government aims to cover nearly 700 districts under the scheme in this financial year (2018-19).

Key Facts

The scheme focuses on managing and converting cattle dung and solid waste from farms and fields to useful compost, biogas and bio-CNG. It will also help in keeping villages clean and generate energy while increasing income of farmers and cattle herders.
Gram panchayats will play key role in implementation of this scheme under which bio-gas plants from cattle dung will be set up at individual or community level and also at level of Self Help Groups (SHGs) and NGOs like Gaushalas. The central and state governments will provide funds in the ratio of 60:40, which will depend upon the number of households in villages. They will also provide assistance of experts for setting up the plants.

Significance of Scheme

The scheme will be hugely beneficial for country as India is home to highest cattle population in world (around 300 million in number) which produces around 3 million tonnes of dung.
It will encourage farmers to consider dung and other waste not just as waste but as source of income. It will provide many benefits to rural people by keeping villages clean and sanitized, improving livestock health and increasing farm yields.
Under it, biogas generation will help to increase self-reliance in energy utilized for cooking and lighting. It will augment income of farmers and cattle herders. It will create new opportunities for jobs linked to waste collection, transportation, biogas sales etc.
It will also provide stable fuel supply in market for oil companies and accessible credit in market through government schemes and banks for entrepreneurs. Villagers will be mobilized under this scheme to create self-help groups (SHGs) and creative societies that will help in clean energy and green jobs initiative.

Month: Current Affairs - April, 2018