Shri Ajay Tirkey, Secretary of the Department of Land Resources (DoLR) under the Government of India, conducted a review of the Implementation Support Mission for the World Bank Assisted Rejuvenating Watersheds for Agricultural Resilience through Innovative Development (REWARD) program.
REWARD is a watershed development program supported by the World Bank, implemented from 2021 to 2026. The program aims to strengthen the capacities of national and state institutions in adopting improved watershed management to enhance farmers’ resilience and support value chains in selected watersheds of participating states. The program focuses on introducing modern watershed practices in the Department of Land Resources in the Ministry of Rural Development, as well as in the states of Karnataka and Odisha. The total budget for the REWARD program is USD 167.71 million over a period of 4.5 years, with funding from the World Bank, participating states, and the DoLR.
At the central level, the DoLR is responsible for the management, monitoring, communication, and knowledge sharing functions of the REWARD program. At the state level, the program aligns with the WDC-PMKSY 2.0 (Watershed Development Component of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana 2.0) and supports the implementation of science-based activities and demonstrations, aiming to eventually expand the program to other states in India.
As part of the third Implementation Support Mission (ISM), a team from the World Bank, led by Smt. Preeti Kumar, visited the DoLR and REWARD states to review progress and discuss the plan of action for the next six months. After completing the mission, the team debriefed the outcomes of the ISM to the Secretary of the DoLR. The World Bank team acknowledged that the progress of the REWARD program is on track and commended the efforts of the DoLR, while also requesting continuous support from the Secretary to achieve the program’s objectives as per the Disbursement Linked Indicators.
During the debriefing meeting, various topics were discussed, including strengthening the Center for Excellence on watershed components in Bengaluru, organizing a national-level workshop on science-based watershed management, developing protocols for expanding the Land Resource Inventory (LRI) pilot project nationwide, providing LRI-based digital advisory services to farmers, and arranging exposure visits for REWARD officials.
The meeting was attended by Shri Nitin Khade, Joint Secretary (WM), Dr. C.P. Reddy, Senior Additional Commissioner, ISM members from the World Bank, experts of the National Project Management Unit (NPMU) of the REWARD program, and other officials from the DoLR.