Jal Shakti Ministry’s 2-day Summit to promote cooperative federalism to begin tomorrow

New Delhi, Aug 31 (IANS) In a step towards realising the vision of Water Secure India and Viksit Bharat 2047, the Ministry of Jal Shakti will host a two-day Departmental Summit starting Tuesday to accelerate outcomes through closer Centre-State collaboration.

The Summit is the first in a series of Departmental Summits envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as an innovative platform to strengthen cooperative federalism and foster collective ownership of national priorities, the statement said.

The two-day Summit will focus on four key thematic pillars: timely implementation of water infrastructure projects; Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari-Catch the Rain; source sustainability of drinking water systems; and operation and maintenance of rural drinking water supply schemes under Jal Jeevan Mission 2.0, the statement said.

Discussions will cover project implementation, inter-agency coordination, water conservation, rainwater harvesting, groundwater recharge, digital monitoring, asset management, and strengthening community-led water governance, it said.

The consultations are expected to culminate in concrete, time-bound outcomes, including accelerated completion of ongoing projects, enhanced public participation in water conservation, strengthened sustainability of drinking water sources, and improved accountability for reliable rural drinking water services, the statement said.

Participating States will share their experiences, challenges, best practices and consensus on agreed outcomes, reinforcing the spirit of cooperative federalism and shared responsibility.

States will also present the key outcomes and action plans emerging from the deliberations before Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi during the valedictory session.

Conceived in the spirit of Team India, the Departmental Summit model brings together political leadership and senior officials from the Union and State Governments to deliberate on sectoral priorities, share good practices, address implementation challenges, and agree on time-bound actions for improved governance and service delivery.

The Water Departmental Summit, the first in this series, marks the beginning of a new approach to institutionalised collaboration between the Centre and States in pursuit of national development objectives, the statement said.

–IANS

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