Gobar Dhan Scheme: Galvanising Organic Bio-Agro Resources-Dhan

Introduction

The PM called for educating people about the utilization of Cattle Dung for converting into more valuable fuel thus improving the lives of villagers.

Objectives

1. Make farmers more self-reliant by generating an alternate source of income.

2. Generate wealth and energy from cattle and other waste.

3. To make villages clean.

Key Features and Benefits

There are a number of benefits that the government aims by implementing the Gobar Dhan Yojana.

Dung fuel – The government has announced that it shall be making best use of Solid waste excreted out by the cattle. The dung can be transformed into a type of Bio fertilizer that can be used by the villagers for fuelling up their stoves at the homes. The fuel can be used as a subsidy for CNG and LPG.

Villagers Advantage – Under he new scheme the government aims at making the life of villagers much better. This will also educate the people not to defecate in the open places. This helps in maintaining hygiene factor.

Income generation – In present time farmers are merely dependent on their crop yields for generating income. With the implementation of the scheme the farmers will be able to generate better ways for income. As the farmers just have to make use of animal waste so it is obvious that farmers don’t need investment amounts in purchasing basic raw materials.

115 districts selected – The government has made a selection of over 115 districts for implementation of the scheme. Besides the government has also made it clear that with implementation of the scheme in these villages, it shall try and improve the facilities as well including infra structure.

Compost – Under the scheme the government has also made it clear that farmers will be able to make use of easily available Compost fertilizer for their farm lands. The government will educate farmers to help set up their own compost plants.

Infrastructure development – Under this scheme the government aims at improving the available infrastructure to help promote development for the villages so the overall GDP of the country global wise could be much better. Under the scheme the government will ensure that it has made use of better techniques for development process.

Power generation –Under the scheme the government has ensured to generate fuel in the form of Biogas. Besides the government has also stated that the Biogas can further be used for generating electricity for the villages due to availability of surplus amount of dung.

Invite Corporate sectors– The government has also stated that with the development of the scheme and generation of cheaper form of fuel the corporate sectors may be interested in investing their money in the rural areas.

Clean India – The scheme has been launched by the government in accordance to the movement run by Gandhiji on his anniversary in 2014. Under the drive the government had made the idea of transforming waste into something useful has been implemented in the scheme.

Husbandry – In present time the husbandry of animals is one business that is very much common within villages. But with this the dung is usually wasted as it is not used up completely. Under the scheme the government will offer people with an opportunity to generate income by selling dung to the authorities.

Long term plans – In present time the nation is standing 6th in place for Bio gas manufacturing. Even with increasing vehicles on the streets over 95 percent of vehicles demand more fuel. This means that the country needs more fuel to run the vehicles. With its ever increasing economy the country aims at generating better fuel opportunities by 2022.

Challenges

• Aggregation of cattle waste and maintaining a regular supply to plant operators becomes imperative.

1. The Biogas plants that were constructed was not able to keep up, both in terms of production as well as speed, leading to inefficiencies and losses.
2. The Biogas plants that are being planned to be constructed should have better technology which sustains, upscales and is widely accepted by farmers and women in rural areas.
3. Adequate training should be provided to the workers.

• India is dealing with a deficient fodder for our cattle. Fodder production for the cattle need to be enhanced

1. Farm Mechanization may pose challenges to the population of the cattle as the machines will replace the cattle.
2. This might lead to ignorance on the part of the cattle’s master.

Way Forward

1. Incentivize Behavioral Change: Cattles are considered important and the fact that the gobar can be utilized and become a source of income needs to be ingrained in the minds of the farmers. This will not just generate additional income, but will reduce the pains of gobar disposal, thereby leading to the communities becoming swacchh.

2. Generating wealth from waste in rural areas will require the involvement of all actors and sectors.

3. Investments from the private sector and local entrepreneurs will be needed.

4. Panchayats and village communities will have to play key roles to leverage the animal and organic waste that goes into water bodies, dumping sites and landfills.

5. Informal sanitation service providers can be integrated into the system by training and licensing them.

6. Political will and strong public demand for cleaner, healthier living environments should definitely drive the way ahead.

Possible Questions

What are the salient features of the Gobar Dhan Scheme? Can it effectively contribute to the desired goals it has set out to achieve? Discuss.