Hyderabad, Feb 23 : Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday inaugurated a three-day virtual conclave on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) organised by the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR) and UNICEF, in collaboration with the Ministry of PanchayatiRaj, the Ministry of Jal Sakthi. Speaking on the occasion, Naidu said Water and Sanitation is a significant sector because any progress we make in this one sector has an impending possibility of reflecting in many of the development indicators positively such as good health and well-being, a statement here said. The Vice President further said that the culture of washing hands and legs first thing after reaching home and before every meal had been gradually fading. The Covid-19 pandemic brought ‘handwashing and hygiene’ on the top of the preventive health care agenda. We want the covid pandemic curve to flatten. But the hygienic practices such as handwashing with soap at critical times, should stick to us, Mr Naidu added. Union Minister of Jal Sakthi Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said, in the last two and half years despite the Covid-19 pandemic 5.81 crore households have been given functional house tap connection. Today more than nine crore households have the provision of tap water supply. Six states have already achieved 100 per cent coverage, one of which is Telangana. There are 100 districts, 1141 blocks, 1.38 lakh villages that have been covered so far. He added that “we are working with the vision of the Prime Minister on ease of living, and leaving no one behind”. UNICEF India country Representative Gillian Mellsop said, the twin goals to guarantee access to safe water for 1.3 billion Indians, and to build the mammoth infrastructure of safe sanitation for all these are not just schemes. They are incubators which will unleash well-being for children, empowerment for women and mothers, and social and economic freedoms for the most vulnerable. Director General NIRDPR, Hyderabad G Narendra Kumar said, the NIRDPR is taking this initiative to bring relevant ministries of the government and the Non-governmental WASH sector players with a view to carrying forward the twin missions of Swachh Bharat, and Har Ghar Jal. This is going national level. UNICEF is with us in taking this conclave agenda forward. As an outcome of this conclave we shall outcome with ‘call for action’, which we hope the State and non-state players together shall take on, with a view to accelerating the provision of WASH facilities to every rural household. For this to happen there is a need for change management at grassroots level. There is a massive need for capacity building, he added. VV JNA
Bhupendra Singh Chundawat is a seasoned technology journalist with over 22 years of experience in the media industry. He specializes in covering the global technology landscape, with a deep focus on manufacturing trends and the geopolitical impact on tech companies. Currently serving as the Editor at Udaipur Kiran, his insights are shaped by decades of hands-on reporting and editorial leadership in the fast-evolving world of technology.
