Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu said that children should grow up in an environment that is healthy – physically and emotionally. For this, he wanted preventive healthcare measures such as safe water, sanitation and hygienic practices to begin from anganwadis and primary schools.
Addressing the National WASH Conclave-2022 today after inaugurating it virtually from Raj Bhavan, Chennai, he underlined the importance of basic amenities like safe drinking water and sanitation in preventing diseases and contributing towards the overall well-being of people. He cautioned that with the flattening of Covid pandemic curve, people should not lower their guard and should continue with the practice of washing hands frequently.
The three-day virtual Conclave on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) is being organised by the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR), Hyderabad in association with the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, UNICEF and other development partners. The Conclave is focusing on ‘advancing water, sanitation and hygiene at Panchayats’.
Observing that taking forward WASH agenda to Gram Panchayats is critical as they are at the core of rural water supply, Naidu stressed the need to ensure institutional strengthening of the Panchayats for effective service delivery to the last mile.
“This is a key aspect of governance which I always emphasise—efficient last mile delivery of services in every field— holds the key to fast-tracking all-round development,” he added.
The Vice President further stated that as a nation, we need to ensure that every household gets all the basic facilities – the most essential of them being WASH related. Recognising that providing safe drinking water and sanitation to every rural household is a massive task, Naidu said that “this can be realised only if a vast array of players join hands with singular focus and determination.”
With rural water supply networks getting expanded across the country, Shri Naidu noted, there is bound to be a positive spinoff. “There will be a huge demand for plumbers, electricians, people trained in chlorination of water,” he said and called for learning from Scandinavian countries where local governments follow hub-and-spokes models to meet the requirement of skilled manpower to attend to any breakdown and maintenance work.
Expressing happiness over the Conclave for highlighting a subject of paramount importance in our country, the Vice President observed that in many Indian languages the word, water is associated with ‘jeevan, which means life’.
Quoting the oft repeated sentence ‘Jal hi Jeevan hai’, he said, “Our forefathers saw the underlying truth behind this statement centuries ago—we have therefore, for millennia, worshipped life-giving rivers across the length and breadth of this vast country.”
Calling the adequate amount of safe drinking water for every rural household as a basic necessity, Naidu said that India is making considerable progress in this regard. He called for further fast tracking and bestowing greater attention to all aspects relating to WASH facilities in both rural and urban areas. Appreciating the initiatives by the Government and NGOs involved in WASH campaign, he said “The progress we make in this sector has a cascading impact on many other development indicators,” he added.
Citing a WHO study, the Vice President drew attention to the problem of contamination of groundwater sources in many villages due to poor sanitation practices and called for curbing the habit of indiscriminate disposal of waste by adopting responsible behaviour. Underscoring the need to create public awareness on this important topic, he wanted it to be made into a Jan Andolan i.e. people’s movement.
During the inauguration ceremony, the Vice President also released a Conclave Booklet. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Minister of Jal Shakti, Dr. G. Narendra Kumar, Director General, NIRDPR, Ms. Gillian Mellsop, Country Representative, UNICEF India, Dr. R. Ramesh, Head – CRI, NIRDPR and others attended the virtual event.
