Context
Recently, the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind has presented the 3rd National Water Awards and launched the 'Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain campaign 2022' in New Delhi.
About National Water Awards
- The Jal Shakti Ministry had launched the first ‘National Water Award’ in 2018.
- They facilitate a good opportunity for the start-ups as well as the leading organizations to engage with the senior policymakers on adopting the best water resources management practices in India.
Best State category
- Uttar Pradesh has been awarded first prize, followed by Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.
Best District category
- The ‘Best District’ awards for the north zone was bagged by Muzaffarnagar (Uttar Pradesh) and Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar (Punjab);
- For the south zone, it was Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) and Kadapa (Andhra Pradesh)
- For the east zone, East Champaran (Bihar) and Godda (Jharkhand) won the award
- Indore (Madhya Pradesh) and Vadodara (Gujarat) and Banswara (Rajasthan) won the awards in the west zone.
- Goalpara (Assam) and Siang (Arunachal Pradesh) won the awards for the northeast zone.
About Jal Shakti Ministry
- Founded: May 2019
- The Jal Shakti Ministry has been formed by merging the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.
- It encompasses issues ranging from providing clean drinking water, international and inter-states water disputes, to the Namami Gange project aimed at cleaning Gang and its tributaries, and sub tributaries.
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Significance
- National Water Awards recognizes and encourages the exemplary work and the efforts made by the States, individuals, districts, etc. across the country in attaining the government’s vision of ‘Jal Samridh Bharat’.
- The awards encourage the stakeholders to adopt a holistic approach to water resource management.
- National Water Awards also strives to create awareness among the people about the significance of water and attempts to motivate them to adopt better usage practices.
