 bill no  xxiii of  2002 the drought prone areas (special provisions) bill, 2002 a billto provide for the formulation of special development plans and establishment of an autonomous authority to implement such plans in respect of the drought prone areas of the country particularly in the states of madhya pradesh, bihar, andhra pradesh, orissa, rajasthan and gujarat and for matters connected therewithbe it enacted by parliament in the fifty-third year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the drought prone areas (special provisions) act,2002short title and commencement5(2) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, bynotification in the official gazette, appointdefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "authority" means the drought prone areas development authority established under section 4;10(b) "drought prone areas" mean such areas in the country which in the opinionof the central government are drought prone and declared, by notification in the official gazette, as such in consultation with the governments of the states and union territory administrations;(c) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act5central government to formulate special developmentplans for drought proneareas3 the central government shall, within a period of six months from the date of commencement of this act, formulate special development plans for providing industrial growth, railways, roads, post and telegraph and other means of communications, and in particular, plans relating to agriculture, irrigation facilities, drinking water through wells, handpumps and tap water, fodder facilities, electricity, development of forests, livestock, milk and poultry co-operatives, health services including family welfare schemes, education and vocational training and special employment drives in the drought prone areas in the country particularly in the states of madhya pradesh, bihar, andhra pradesh, orissa, rajasthan and gujarat104 (1) for the purposes of this act, with effect from such date, as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, appoint, in this behalf, there shall be established by the central government an authority to be called the drought prone areas development authorityestablishment of drought prone areas development authority15(2) the authority shall be a body corporate by the name aforesaid having perpetual succession and a common seal with power to acquire, hold and dispose of property both movable and immovable and to contract, and shall by the said name sue and be sued(3) the head office of the authority shall be at bhopal in the state of madhya pradesh and the authority may establish offices at such places in the country in such manner as may be prescribed20(4) the authority shall consist of a chairman, vice-chairman and such other members as may be prescribed25(5) the authority shall have such officers, employees and other set up including the conditions of services of such officers and employees as the central government, may, by notification in the official gazette, determine from time to time for the efficient functioning of the authority(6) the authority shall conduct its business in such manner as may be prescribed5 it shall be the duty of the authority to implement the special development plans formulated under section 3authority to implement the special development plansfunds of the authority306 the central government shall provide, from time to time, after dueappropriation made by parliament by law, adequate funds for the implementation ofspecial development plans in the drought prone areas and for the administrativeexpenses of the authoritydevelopment fund357 the authority shall have a fund to be called the 'drought prone areas development fund' to which shall be credited all moneys received from the central and state governments, international financial institutions, industrial establishments and individuals for the development of drought prone areas in the country and all payments by the authority towards development expenditure shall be made therefromannual report408 the authority shall submit an annual report, in such form and in such manner, asmay be prescribed of its activities of development in the drought prone areas of the country to the president of india who shall cause the report to be laid before both the houses of parliament, as soon as may be, after it is received by himsavings9 the provisions of this act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of anyother law for the time being in forcepower to make rules4510 the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, makerules for carrying out the purposes of this act statement of objects and reasonsunprecedented drought conditions play consistant havoc in various parts of the country drought conditions are prevailing for the last many years in the tribal belt of chhatisgarh, madhya pradesh, palamu division of jharkhand, kalahandi of orissa, various parts of the andhra pradesh, rajasthan, gujarat and other parts of the country the farmers could not grow their crops in the parched land of these areas and rain god remains consistently evasive in such areas resulting in acute shortage of even drinking water because the wells and hand pumps have either dried up or the water level has gone down considerably there are no irrigation facilities the inhabitants do not get food to eat and water to drink resulting in their exodus to other places in many places starvation deaths have also been reported the worst affected is the mute livestock dying unnatural death in absence of fodder and water though the central and state governments give some relief, it is inadequate and even negligible the situation goes from bad to worse due to the apathy of the authorities to save the situation urgent steps have to be taken at the national leveldrought is not a temporary phenomenon in these areas it is almost a continuous process so a long term national policy will have to be formulated for the proper development of these drought prone areas the onus of formulating such a policy lies on the central government an autonomous authority will have to be established for implementating the plans formulated for the development of drought prone areas in the country this has to be undertaken on prioritythis bill seeks to achieve the above objectssuresh pachouri financial memorandumclause 4 of the bill provides for the establishment of a drought prone areas development authority clause 6 provides for the funds of the authority the bill, if enacted and brought into operation will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that a sum of rupees two hundred crores will be involved as recurring expenditure per annumit may also involve a non recurring expenditure of rupees fifty crores from the consolidated fund of india memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 10 of the bill gives power to the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill the rules will relate to the matters of details onlythe delegation of legislative power is of normal character rajya  sabha a billto provide for the formulation of special development plans and establishment of an autonomous authority to implement such plans in respect of the drought prone areas of the country particularly in the states of madhya pradesh, bihar, andhra pradesh, orissa, rajasthan and gujarat and for matters connected therewith(shri suresh pachouri, mp)