PREFACE

Rajasthan the second largest state in the country has geographical area of 342-lakh hectare of which 150-lakh hectare is under cultivation. More than 80 percent of the cultivated area does not receive any kind of irrigation thus making its agriculture dependence on uncertain and inadequate rainfall. Further increase in area under cultivation and improvements in yield rate are largely dependent on increased irrigation facilities. District Bikaner which has two natural divisions namely (1) north and western desert and (ii) south and eastern semi desert. Construction of canals in its western parts has led to activation of the stables dune field to a large extent. Climate conditions are hot with poor rains out of total area of 27,42,567 hectares about 34.09 percent area i.e. 9,35,025 hectares is net area shown as per 08-09 data. Kharif was the main crop of the district prior to IGNP. The district has not yet come on the industrial map of the state. Wool is the main raw material available in rich quantity in the district. Occurrence of droughts and famines are the most common feature resulting in scarcity of water and fodder. Main occupation of the population is animal husbandry practiced by around 50 percent of the working population. Cultivation is essentially of secondary importance. The Indus water treaty followed by construction of Indira Gandhi Nahar gives India the right to use the water of three eastern rivers of

the Indus system viz Sutlej, Beas and Ravi. Bikaner is one of the beneficiary districts of this system. The water intake for Indira Gandhi Nahar project is at the Harrike barrage, which is located just below the confluence of the Beas and Sutlej rivers. A major storage dam across the Beas River has been constructed to store and hold water, which is plentiful during the three rainy months. The stored water is released during the three remaining parts of the year to fly down the river up to Harrike and then to Indira Gandhi main canal. Irrigation and multipurpose river valley projects are vital link in the process of economic development. Usually these projects need a high level of investment and have a long gestation period. The projects have both direct and indirect benefits, which are substantial. The projects are divided into two stages stage I and stage II. IGNP has a number of differences in objective, scope and execution with other irrigation projects. The basic effort in the irrigation projects is to optimize agricultural production by making adequate irrigation and other facilities available in an area where farmers are already settled and engaged in crop cultivation under rained condition and inadequate facilities for irrigation. IGNP is far more comprehensive in scope and content. The command area of IGNP including Bikaner district is naturally vary sparsely populated as per 1971 census, the density was only 8 persons per kilometer. It was therefore felt that for exploiting the full potential of the area after water become available density would increase. Introduction of irrigation through the IGNP has resulted in rise of population sizes and its density in the area. In Bikaner district population increased from 4,44,000 in 1961 to 5,73,000 in 1971 and from 8,48,000 in 1981 to 12,11,140 in 1991.

I have selected this subject to measure rural inhabitants welfare through the benefits derived from the IGNP. The dissertation has been divided into six chapters. The first chapter is related to introduction of Bikaner district with reference to IGNP. In this chapter Methodology, objectives and importance of the study is also discussed. The second chapter examines the Assets and Income of the rural inhabitants along with a comparison between stage I and stage II. This chapter also reflects economic conditions of the IGNP area. Chapter third explains about the expenditure pattern of the IGNP area. The fourth chapter throws light on the investment and savings of rural inhabitants. Chapter fifth deals with the indebtedness conditions of stage I and stage II of IGNP in Bikaner district. Conclusions with some useful suggestions for implementation of the project to achieve better economic impact are given in the last chapter. I acknowledge a deep debt of gratitude to Shri Jogaram Chaudhary Sir, Head of Department of Economics. Government College Kota under whose guidance and valuable suggestions the present study has been conducted and completed. I must not fail to express my thanks to the staff of C.A.D, IGNP and colonization departments who helped me for providing data for my dissertation. My thanks are also to Shri H.R Bhadu and staff of multimedia systems, Bikaner who were kind enough to extend their help in preparing this dissertation. Miss Pragya Bansal.