National water mission awards- 2019 presented

Union Minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Sekhawat said that water conservation along with water-harvesting and judicious and multiple use of water are key to tackle the water challenge in India. Speaking after giving away the National Water Mission Awards-2019 here, the Minister said that Jal-Andolan should become a true Jan-Andolan as exhorted by the Prime Minister to tide over the water scarcity in India. He also lamented the fact that only 4 percent of CSR obligation is spent on water, while it is around 11 percent for the water-intensive industries and called for a rethink on the issue. Shekhawat also urged the policy planners to take into account the multiple use of water in Agriculture and Industries for the judicious use of scarce resource.

In his address, the Minister of State for Jal Shakti Shri Rattan Lal Kataria said that cooperation is a must for a sustainable tomorrow and Jal Shakti Ministry is an example in itself of such cooperation. He said that Integrated Water Management is a tool for poverty reduction and sustainable economic development.

 NATIONAL WATER MISSION AWARDS, 2019-

NWM,Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti has initiated the ‘National Water Mission Awards’ to recognize excellence in water conservation, efficient water use and sustainable water management practices.

NWM has 5 goals and 39 strategies prescribed in the Mission Document. One of the strategies of NWM under Goal IV is to incentivize the organization/ companies through awards for water conservation and efficient use of water. Hence, the NWM has initiated the ‘National Water Mission Awards’ to recognize excellence in water conservation, efficient water use and sustainable water management practices. The awards are given in ten categories defined under five goals of NWM. The categories are as follow:

1. Comprehensive Water Data Base in Public Domain.
2. Assessment of the impact of Climate Change on Water Resources.
3. Promotion of citizen and state action for water conservation, augmentation and
4. Focused attention to vulnerable areas including over-exploited area.
5. Increasing Water use efficiency by 20% (Local Individuals/Farmers/Citizens)
6. Increasing Water use efficiency by 20% (Water Users Associations/ Self Help Groups/ Resident Welfare Associations).
7. Increasing Water use efficiency by 20% (Public Agencies –ULBs/Cities, Govt Organisations).
8. Increasing Water use efficiency by 20% (Industries/Corporate).
9. Increasing Water use efficiency by 20% (Small and Medium Enterprises).
10. Promotion of basin level integrated water resources management.

The prize money for the awards is:

(i)First – Rs. 2 lakh; (ii) Second – Rs. 1.5 lakh and (iii) Third – Rs. 1 lakh.

The different stages involved in the selection of the Awardees were as follows:

• Advertisements were given in National & Regional Newspapers and on NWM’s website on8^th March 2019calling for applications.
• Last date to receive the applications was 31^st May 2019.
• 140 eligible entries were finalized, after deduplication and rejection of incomplete applications.
• Screening Committee meetings were held under the Chairmanship of Shri G. Asok Kumar, Mission Director, National Water Mission on 3^rd and 14^th June 2019 to analyze the applications and to make the presentations to be made to the Jury Committee.
• Jury Committee meetings were held under the Chairmanship of Shashi Shekhar, Former Secretary, MoWR,RD&GR on 11th June 2019, 11^th July 2019 and 31^st July 2019 to shortlist the applications which were to be sent foreground report and further clarifications.
• 49 out of 140 applications were shortlisted and sent to CWC and CGWB regional offices for ground report and field verifications.
• Jury Committee meetings were held on 6^th September 2019 and 11^th September 2019to finalise the winners of the NWM Water Awards.