 bill no 5 of  2012 the constitution (amendment) bill, 2012 byshri hansraj gangaram ahir, mpa bill further to amend the constitution of indiabe  it enacted by parliament in the sixty-third year of the republic of india as follows:—short title1  this act may be called the constitution (amendment) act, 20122 in the seventh schedule to the constitution,—(i) in list ii—state list,—amendment of the seventh schedule5(a) entry 14 shall be omitted; and (b) in entry 17, the words "irrigation and canals," shall be omitted;(ii) in list iii—concurrent list, after entry 17b, the following entry shall be inserted, namely:—"17c agriculture, including agricultural education and research, protection against pests and prevention of plant diseases; irrigation and canals including water for irrigation to farmers"5 statement of objects and reasonseven after more than six decades of independence, more than sixty per cent population of the country is still dependent on agriculture but the situation of the agricultural sector is far from satisfactory on account of its bad state, farmers feel distressed enough to commit suicide non-availability of adequate water for irrigation is one of the major reasons for the bad condition of farmers even dr ms swaminathan, the noted expert of agricultural sector, has strongly advocated provision of adequate irrigation facilities for farmers to make agricultural operations profitable, the government will have to strive to arrange means of irrigation for farmers such as dams, wells, borewells and tanks the fact that the farmers living in areas which are well irrigated are relatively more prosperous than those living in other areas clearly demonstrates the urgency of providing adequate irrigation facilities to all such farmersat present, agriculture is included in list-ii (state list) of the seventh schedule to the constitution therefore, the central government has no legislative or executive jurisdiction in this area to create better infrastructure in agriculture, combined efforts of the central government and the state governments are required, more so for creation of irrigation potential for this purpose, it is proposed in the bill that the entry relating to agriculture be transferred from the state list to the concurrent list and the subjects relating to irrigation and providing water for irrigation to farmers be specifically mentioned in the concurrent list so that the central government plays a more active role resulting in increased agricultural productivity and food security for the nationthe bill seeks to achieve the above objectiveshansraj gangaram ahirnovember 18, 2011 annexureextract from the constitution of india      list ii—state list     14 agriculture, including agricultural education and research, protection against pests and prevention of plant diseases     17 water, that is to say, water supplies, irrigation and canals, drainage and embankments, water storage and water power subject to the provisions of entry 56 of list i     ———— a bill further to amend the constitution of india————(shri hansraj gangaram ahir, mp)gmgipmrnd—3990ls(s3)—25-02-2012