What happened
The Government of India’s backgrounder on the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) presents the scheme as a major irrigation-led intervention in Indian agriculture. The official note says PMKSY has completed more than 10 years, has supported irrigation expansion and water conservation, and is being continued with a fresh budget allocation in Union Budget 2026–27.
PMKSY is important for UPSC because it connects agriculture, water security, climate resilience, and sustainable livelihoods. It also offers testable scheme architecture, financial support patterns, and implementation issues in irrigation and micro-irrigation.
Background and earlier position
PMKSY was launched on 1 July 2015 to expand assured irrigation, improve on-farm water efficiency, and support water conservation. The scheme brings together irrigation expansion and water-use efficiency across multiple components, so it is not limited to building canals alone.
The official note places PMKSY in the broader policy context of water security, cropping pattern optimisation, and climate-resilient agriculture. The scheme’s logic is simple: better water storage, better delivery, and better application can increase crop productivity from the same water source.
Related current affairs
- Per Drop More Crop (PDMC): Micro-irrigation to improve water use efficiency and farm incomes
- Rural Development Minister reviews WDC-PMKSY progress; urges time-bound, outcome-focused watershed development for 'Drought-Free India'
- If solar irrigation is over-drawing groundwater, it’s being done wrong
- Government response on agricultural yield losses due to human-induced land degradation
- Kosi–Mechi Intra-State Link Project approved under PMKSY-AIBP; completion targeted by March 2029
- The project in numbers