Previous Year Question
Consider the following statements:
The Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme was launched during 1996-97 to provide loan assistance to poor farmers.
The Command Area Development Programme was launched in 1974-75 for the development of water-use efficiency.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
1 only
2 only
Both 1 and 2
Neither 1 nor 2
Correct Answer: B
Detailed Solution
Statement 1 is incorrect. The Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP) was launched in 1996-97, but it was not intended to provide individual loans to poor farmers.
AIBP sought to accelerate the completion of ongoing major and medium irrigation projects that remained incomplete at the State Government level because of resource constraints. Financial assistance was therefore provided to states for constructing and completing irrigation projects, not directly to individual farmers.
Its economic rationale was that even after substantial investment in dams, canals and related structures, an incomplete project could not deliver its irrigation potential. AIBP sought to make such pending investments productive by completing the projects quickly.
Statement 2 is correct. The Command Area Development Programme (CADP) was launched in 1974-75. It aimed to reduce the gap between irrigation potential created and irrigation potential actually utilised and to improve water-use efficiency at the farm level.
Activities generally undertaken under the programme included:
Construction of field channels to carry water to farms.
Land levelling and field development.
Improvement of drainage arrangements.
Warabandi or rotational water supply.
Farmer training and participatory irrigation management.
Equitable and efficient distribution of irrigation water.
AIBP primarily focused on completing project head works and canal infrastructure, whereas CADP/CADWM focused on effectively utilising the created irrigation potential at the field level.
Current status (2026)
AIBP has been implemented as a component of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) since 2015-16. Continuation of PMKSY from 2021-22 to 2025-26 was approved with a total outlay of approximately ₹93,068.56 crore.
The former Command Area Development Programme subsequently evolved into Command Area Development and Water Management (CADWM) and was implemented alongside AIBP projects under PMKSY.
In 2025, the Government approved Modernisation of Command Area Development and Water Management (M-CADWM) with an initial outlay of ₹1,600 crore. It focuses on modernising water delivery from canals to farms, promoting pressurised underground pipelines and micro-irrigation, and strengthening Water User Societies.