Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the 1st All India Annual State Ministers’ Conference on Water via video message today. The theme of the conference is ‘Water Vision @ 2047’ and the objective of the forum is to bring together key policymakers for discussions on ways to harness water resources for sustainable development and human development.
Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister highlighted the importance of the first All India Conference of Water Ministers of the country by shining the light on the unprecedented work done by India in areas of water security.
Reiterating his vision of ‘whole of government’ and ‘whole of country’ the Prime Minister emphasised that all governments should work like a system wherein there should be constant interaction and dialogue between different ministries of state governments, such as the Ministry of Water, Ministry of Irrigation, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Rural and Urban Development and disaster management. He further added that planning will get help if these departments have information and data related to each other.
PM Modi also said that promoting public participation does not reduce the accountability of the government and it does not mean putting all the responsibility on the people. He further added that the biggest advantage of public participation is the awareness that is created among the public about the efforts being put into the campaign and the money being spent.
The Prime Minister gave the example of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and said, “When people joined the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, a consciousness was awakened in the public as well.”
Highlighting the success of ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’ as a major development parameter for a state to provide water to every household, the Prime Minister remarked that many states have done a good job while many states are moving forward in this direction. “Every Gram Panchayat can also submit a monthly or quarterly report online stating the number of houses that are getting tap water in the village.”
He also highlighted the ‘Per Drop More Crop’ campaign that began under the Prime Minister Agricultural Irrigation Scheme and informed that more than 70 lakh hectares of land in the country have been brought under micro-irrigation so far.
Throwing light on the need to increase forest cover in the state for water conservation, the Prime Minister called for coordinated efforts by the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Water. Highlighting the success of the ‘Catch the Rain’ campaign, the Prime Minister reiterated that such campaigns should become an essential part of the State Government where they should be evaluated annually. “Instead of waiting for the rains, all the planning needs to be done before the rains”, he added.
Ministers of Water Resources from all states attended the 1st All India Annual State Ministers’ Conference on Water.
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