The agreement is expected to bring students to the forefront of mass movement for creating a sustainable ecosystem for the rivers.
WD News: The Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat recently presided over the Namami Gange: Universities Connect event where an agreement was signed with 49 universities to foster awareness among the youth on water conservation in general and river rejuvenation in particular.
Addressing the gathering, Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat asserted “water is not just an important factor or commodity but no life can be imagined without water and that makes effective water management absolutely essential”. The Union Minister said that celebrities, media, judiciary and other members of the civil society must come together and start discussing and debating issues related to our natural resources, especially water, to make India a water wise country.
“The world is appreciating us and India has invested more than 240 billion dollars in the water sector but the challenge in front of us is also enormous and we must all play our part in contributing to conserve water and increase water use efficiency,” he said.
Shri G. Asok Kumar, Director General, NMCG, in his keynote address, said, “Water sector was not given the attention it deserves and viewed as just a water resource. This has changed with the vision of the Prime Minister, who has given a clarion call to make Jal Andolan a Jan Andolan.” In the context of the collaboration between Namami Gange and academic institutions, DG, NMCG said that like Jan Bhagidari, we are now moving forward in the direction of ‘Gyan Bhagidari’.
In her address, Ms. Archana Varma, Additional Secretary and Mission Director, National Water Mission said, “Three out of four jobs in the world are related to water, and if water becomes scarce, there looms a threat of unemployment for the masses.” She recalled a ‘Mann ki Baat’ address by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in 2019 which became the basis of the ‘Catch the Rain: Where it Falls, When it Falls’ campaign and said that water has to become everyone’s business. “We don’t have institutions of excellence in the water sector. We don’t have water auditors,” she said, adding, “There is a need for water departments in university spaces. This will help to establish an accelerated growth-based development of the country wherein the water will be a very important dimension to it”.
Dr T.G. Sitharam, Chairman, All India Council of Technical Education, spoke about Ganga being a lifeline of the Indo-Gangetic belt. “India is not running out of water, rather water is running out of India”, he said.
Source & image courtesy: PIB
