What the new Jal Shakti Mantralaya should focus on | The Indian Express

What the new Jal Shakti Mantralaya should focus on | The Indian Express

Written by Parameswaran Iyer |Updated: June 18, 2019 10:46:18 am

The writes is secretary, Ministry for Drinking Water and Sanitation. Views are personal.

What the new Jal Shakti Mantralaya should focus on

Just like the country did in the Swachh Bharat Mission, India could lay out a template for other countries on securing national water security by integrating fragmented institutions and making water security everyone’s business.

Raising awareness and changing perceptions on water also needs to be an important priority. (Illustration by C R Sasikumar)

Water is at the top of the development agenda of the new government, as emphasised by the prime minister at Niti Aayog’s governing council meeting last week. Encouraging the participating chief ministers to give top priority to the subject of water in all its different avatars, especially conservation, the prime minister emphasised that the first concrete step taken by the central government towards a holistic and integrated perspective on water has been the constitution of the new Jal Shakti Mantralaya. This bold institutional step has integrated the erstwhile Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation with the former Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, and has led to the formation of a single new ministry focused on water with a capital W. This is a major step towards the consolidation of the management of water resources with delivery of drinking water and sanitation — a much-needed step in the direction of ensuring India’s water security — as well as a thrust towards the goal of providing safe and adequate piped water supply for all households.