Catch the rain campaign makes water everybody’s business
Author: Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
New Delhi: Jal Shakti Abhiyan-Catch the Rain Campaign-2022 was launched by the President of India on 29th March this year. This is the third year that the country is, in mission mode, organizing a Jan Andolan to conserve rain water and recharge ground water. Led and inspired by the Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi, the Jal Shakti Abhiyan was launched for the first time in the year 2019 with the vision to involve everybody in preparing for the rains, so that we can store and use as much of the rain water as possible and replenish our groundwater reserves.
Ground water is sometimes called the invisible resource. Everybody uses it. It is mostly free, available to those with access and the means to extract it. It sustains critical ecosystems, such as lakes, wetlands and woods. India is the largest user of groundwater in the world, using more than a quarter of the available global resources. Ground water has played an important role in ensuring the food security of the country for several decades. It was a major driver in ensuring the success of the ‘Green Revolution’ through millions of energized tube wells. This finite resource currently caters to more than 60 per cent of irrigated agriculture, 85 percent of rural drinking water supplies and more than 50 per cent of the urban water supplies.
Increasing and unsustainable extraction of ground water has resulted in significant depletion of this valuable resource. From large-scale loss of livelihoods to health issues related to lack of availability of safe drinking water to people migrating, the impact of water scarcity is severe. This is compounded by climate change, which makes precipitation patterns erratic and therefore affects the predictability of ground water recharge. At present, ground water resources in nearly one-third of the country are under different levels of stress.
Small and marginal farmers, women and weaker sections of the society, disproportionately bear the brunt of ground water depletion and contamination. To address this problem, the Government of India, inspired by the Prime Minister, launched the Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) in 2019. The Prime Minister himself wrote to all the Chief Ministers of all States and Union Territories and also all the Panchayat leaders, to give leadership to the campaign in their respective jurisdictions. This was a time-bound, mission mode water conservation campaign, implemented in the July - November 2019 period in 1,592 blocks of 256 water-stressed districts of the country. These blocks fell under the critical or overexploited groundwater category, where groundwater was being extracted faster than it could be replenished.
JSA was a collaborative effort of various ministries of the Government of India and State Governments, coordinated by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti. During the campaign, officers, groundwater experts and scientists from the Government of India worked together with the States and district officials in India’s most water-stressed districts for water conservation and water resource management by focusing on accelerated implementation of five targeted interventions. The JSA aimed at making water conservation a Jan-Andolan through extensive communication and involvement of communities.
JSA focused on five aspects-water conservation and rainwater harvesting, renovation of traditional and other water bodies, reuse of water and recharging of structures, watershed development, and intensive afforestation. Besides, special interventions included development of Block Water Conservation Plans and District Water Conservation Plans, Krishi Vigyan Kendra Melas, Urban Wastewater Reuse and 3D contour mapping of all villages. States used resources from multiple sources. It was stipulated that at least 60 per cent of MGNREGA funds should be spent on natural resource management activities, mainly water conservation. Fifteenth finance Commission Grants, CAMPA funds, CSR resources were all utilized to fund these activities.
The combined efforts of all the stakeholders in 2019, achieved the creation of 2.73 lakh water conservation and rainwater harvesting structures, renovation of 45,000 water bodies/ tanks, creation of 1.43 lakh reuse and recharge structures, 1.59 lakh watershed development related works, 12.36 crore trees planted and preparation of 1372 block water conservation plans. Beyond these numbers, the campaign created a strong environment for bringing together all stakeholders working on water recharge and management. Many States did more than was originally planned. Some States extended the campaign to all their districts, going beyond the water stressed districts that were selected initially.
The year 2020 was the first year that the country was responding to the COVID pandemic. It was, therefore, not possible to implement a full scale Jan-Andolan that year. The Ministry of Jal Shakti, therefore, worked with large landowners like educational institutions, Defence establishments to increase rain water harvesting. In the year 2021, encouraged by the response in 2019, the scope of JSA 2019 was expanded and the ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch The Rain’ (JSA: CTR) campaign was launched in all districts (rural as well as urban) in the country. JSA: CTR was implemented from 22nd March 2021 to 30th November 2021 with the theme ‘Catch the rain, where it falls, when it falls.”
During the JSA: CTR campaign from 22 March 2021 to 30 November 2021, about 42 lakh water related works were taken up, in addition to 36 crore trees planted. This includes creation/ maintenance of 14.76 lakhs water conservation and RWH structures, renovation of 2.78 lakh traditional water bodies, creation/maintenance of 7.34 lakh reuse and recharge structures and 17.02 lakh watershed development related works. The expenditure under MGNREGA alone is more than Rs 65000 crore. In view of the importance of water for lives and livelihoods in the country, preparing for the rains to optimize water conservation must be an annual feature. This year too, therefore, the Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the rain campaign is being organized through the length and breadth of the country. The campaign will be implemented from 22 March, 2022 to 30 November, 2022 -the pre-monsoon and monsoon period in the country.
Like last year, water conservation and recharge activities will include roof-top RWHS on all buildings- with priority for government buildings, water harvesting pits in all compounds, maintenance of old/ building of new check dams/ponds; removal of encroachments of tanks/lakes, desilting of tanks to increase their storage capacity, removal of obstructions in their channels, repairs to traditional step-wells and other RWHS, use defunct bores/unused wells to recharge aquifers, rejuvenation of small rivers and rivulets, revival of wetlands and protection of flood-banks.
Based on feedback from the hill states, there will be special focus, this year, on identification of springs, mapping and management of spring sheds. Every district has been requested to enumerate, with the help of old revenue records and using remote sensing images from NRSA and GIS mapping technology all existing water-bodies/Water Harvesting Structures (WHS) and use the data for scientifically planning future WHS. National Water Mission has prepared guidelines for the preparation of GIS based water conservation plans and inventory of water bodies of districts and forwarded it to all the districts for its implementation. A number of districts have prepared these plans and are implementing them. All districts will be encouraged to complete this exercise this year.
As a part of ‘JSA: CTR’ campaign 2021, the state governments were requested to set up ‘Jal Shakti Kendras’ (JSKs) in all district headquarters. These JSKs are ‘knowledge centres’ for disseminating information related to water, techniques for water conservation and water saving. The main motive behind setting up of the JSKs was to provide technical guidance to local people as well as to the district administration. So far, 336 JSKs have been set up all over the country. During the implementation of the campaign in the current year, the work related to setting up of JSK in each district of the country will be expedited and completed. Civil Society organizations active in the field of water management are part of this exercise, working with Central Government, State Governments, district administrations and local communities.
People and communities are at the centre of all our programmes. Whether it be our effort to rejuvenate our rivers, improve water recharge and water use efficiency, use groundwater sustainably, to achieve open defecation free communities, involving people in their own water security forms the bedrock of sustainable change. This is particularly true of the Jal Shakti Abhiyan. It is therefore imperative that everybody, individuals, groups, resident welfare organizations, self-help groups, corporate, media houses, educational institutions all come together to make this campaign successful. We owe a water secure India to ourselves and our coming generations. /PIB/
(The writer is Union Cabinet Minister, Ministry of Jal Shakti.)
More In Public Affairs
NEP-2020 aspires for inclusive excellence in school education
Rajeev Ranjan Roy
The New Education Policy-2020 (NEP-2020), unveiled recently, aims at achieving excellence in school learning by imparting quality, affordable and inclusive education to all, with an extra emphasis on those children coming from socially and educationally disadvantaged groups of the society. It is a futuristic endeavour towards building Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat. The previous education policies largely focussed on the issues of access and equity in giving school education, while the NEP-2020 commits to laying the foundation of a vibrant Bharat where no one is devoid of a kind of school education, which helps every student become an asset for the nation in a true sense. The unfinished agenda of the National Policy on Education 1986, which was modified in 1992, has been effectively dealt with in the NEP-2020 along with the vision behind the Right to the Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, which “laid down legal underpinnings for achieving universal elementary education.”
Given the undisputed role of education in nation building, the NEP-2020 rightly lays the stress on standardization and accreditation of school infrastructure and teachers as well, since education with accountability, transparency and affordability is the need of the hour, and hence the need to “empower schools, teachers with trust, enabling them to strive for excellence and perform at their very best, while ensuring the integrity of the system through the enforcement of complete transparency and full public disclosure of all finances, procedures and outcomes.” Since private sector is significantly present in the field of school education, the idea to promote ‘not-for-profit’ entities is a unique feature of NEP-2020, which at the same time intends to promote private philanthropic efforts for quality education, thereby affirming the public-good nature of education, while protecting parents and communities from arbitrary increase in tuition fees.
An equally important area, which has got due attention in the NEP-2020 is the need for efficient resourcing and effective governance through school complexes and clusters, a significant initiative in view of the fact that nearly 28 per cent of India’s public primary schools and 14.8 per cent of upper primary schools have less than 30 students. The average number of students per grade in the elementary schooling system – Grades 1 to 8 – is about 14, with a notable proportion having below six students during 2016-17, the year which also had 1,08,017 single-teacher schools, and majority of them – 85,743 – being primary schools taking care of Grades 1-5 children. It was, therefore, a pressing need to evolve a mechanism for establishing a grouping structure, say, school complexes, consisting of one secondary school together with all other schools, which lead to greater resource efficiency and more effective functioning, coordination, leadership, governance, and management of schools in the cluster. This will not only ensure optimum utilisation of resources, but will also foster the sense of oneness and togetherness among the school children, who are the future of the nation.
What further makes the New Education Policy-2020 uniquely special is its pledge for equitable and inclusive education for all, one of the great dreams of our founding fathers. Education, as the NEP-2020 rightly envisions, is “the single greatest tool for achieving social justice and quality.” Inclusive and equitable education, indeed an essential goal in its own right, is also critical to achieving a social order where every citizen has “the opportunity to dream, thrive, and contribute to the nation.” Quality, affordable and ethical education to all is the first move to break multiple social and economic barriers, which sow the seeds of exclusion, discrimination and exploitation against our own people on different parochial considerations.
Needless to say efforts were made in the past as well to bridge the educational chasm between socially and educationally disadvantaged groups (SEDGs) and the children of top social strata, but the desired results remained elusive. SEDGs account for the country’s overwhelming population, but their children’s share in quality school educational institutions has been minimal over the years. Early childhood care and education (ECCE) needs to be handled more comprehensively. According to the Unified-District Information System for Education (U-DISE) 2016-17 data, about 19.6 per cent of students belonged to Scheduled Castes (SCs) at the primary level, but this fraction fell to 17.3 per cent at the higher secondary level. These enrollment drop-outs were more severe for ST students (10.6 per cent to 6.8 per cent), and differently-abled children (1.1 per cent to 0.25 per cent), with even greater declines for female students within each of these categories. Thus, there is no scope for any complacency on the part of the government. A series of interventions including better facilities, more and more hostels, scholarships and other enabling support have been provisioned in the NEP-2020 so that the idea of ‘learning for all’ is realised in a more comprehensive manner.
Teachers are not only an integral part of an education system, but the most important stakeholder in the entire gamut of things. Their quality and ability to teach school students, when they are in their formative age, become something of paramount importance. From their recruitment to training, every precaution needs to be taken to ensure that school education is not rendered to a mere formality, but becomes a game changer. The New Education Policy-2020 comes with a basket full of tools and parameters to ensure holistic training and upgradation of teachers and their teaching skills in a sustainable manner. From continuous professional development (CPD) to career management and progression (CMP), the NEP-2020 vouches for a set of common guidelines – National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST), which will be put in place by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) in its restructured new form as the Professional Standard Setting Body (PSSB) under the General Education Council. This exercise will be carried out in consultation with National Council Educational Research and Training (NCERT), SCERTs, teachers from across levels and regions.
The teacher education will also undergo a sea-change. By 2030, the minimum degree qualification for teaching will be a 4-year integrated B.Ed. that teaches a range of knowledge content. Today B.Ed. teaching is most poorly regulated in our country ever since the standalone B.Ed. colleges were allowed to be opened up in the private sector. It is high time to take B.Ed. teaching more than seriously. The NEP-2020 stipulates that by 2021, a new and comprehensive National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education (NCFTE-2021) will be formulated by the NCTE. NCFTE, which will also factor in the requirements of teacher education curricula for vocational education, will be revised once every 5-10 years.
In conclusion, the NEP-2020 visualizes to impart a school education which lays the foundation of a self-reliant India and also to help our country emerge as a knowledge hub. From the foundation of learning to foundational literacy and numeracy to checking drop outs and ensuring universal access to education for all and at all levels to the restructuring of school curriculum, India is in for a metamorphosis in the field of school education, recognizing, identifying and fostering the unique capabilities of each student. Tools such as multi disciplinarity, emphasis on conceptual understanding, creativity and critical thinking, ethics and human and constitutional values, full equity and inclusion, and light but tight regulatory framework are bound to do wonders. Education is a public service, a rare pursuit in nation building, which should be holistic and inclusive and must make one take pride in India and its rich, diverse, ancient and modern culture and knowledge systems and tradition. The NEP-2020 aspires so, indeed!
( The writer is a senior journalist and author. The views expressed are strictly personal.)
NEP-2020 aspires for inclusive excellence in school education
Rajeev Ranjan Roy
The New Education Policy-2020 (NEP-2020), unveiled recently, aims at achieving excellence in school learning by imparting quality, affordable and inclusive education to all, with an extra emphasis on those children coming from socially and educationally disadvantaged groups of the society. It is a futuristic endeavour towards building Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat. The previous education policies largely focussed on the issues of access and equity in giving school education, while the NEP-2020 commits to laying the foundation of a vibrant Bharat where no one is devoid of a kind of school education, which helps every student become an asset for the nation in a true sense. The unfinished agenda of the National Policy on Education 1986, which was modified in 1992, has been effectively dealt with in the NEP-2020 along with the vision behind the Right to the Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, which “laid down legal underpinnings for achieving universal elementary education.”
Given the undisputed role of education in nation building, the NEP-2020 rightly lays the stress on standardization and accreditation of school infrastructure and teachers as well, since education with accountability, transparency and affordability is the need of the hour, and hence the need to “empower schools, teachers with trust, enabling them to strive for excellence and perform at their very best, while ensuring the integrity of the system through the enforcement of complete transparency and full public disclosure of all finances, procedures and outcomes.” Since private sector is significantly present in the field of school education, the idea to promote ‘not-for-profit’ entities is a unique feature of NEP-2020, which at the same time intends to promote private philanthropic efforts for quality education, thereby affirming the public-good nature of education, while protecting parents and communities from arbitrary increase in tuition fees.
An equally important area, which has got due attention in the NEP-2020 is the need for efficient resourcing and effective governance through school complexes and clusters, a significant initiative in view of the fact that nearly 28 per cent of India’s public primary schools and 14.8 per cent of upper primary schools have less than 30 students. The average number of students per grade in the elementary schooling system – Grades 1 to 8 – is about 14, with a notable proportion having below six students during 2016-17, the year which also had 1,08,017 single-teacher schools, and majority of them – 85,743 – being primary schools taking care of Grades 1-5 children. It was, therefore, a pressing need to evolve a mechanism for establishing a grouping structure, say, school complexes, consisting of one secondary school together with all other schools, which lead to greater resource efficiency and more effective functioning, coordination, leadership, governance, and management of schools in the cluster. This will not only ensure optimum utilisation of resources, but will also foster the sense of oneness and togetherness among the school children, who are the future of the nation.
What further makes the New Education Policy-2020 uniquely special is its pledge for equitable and inclusive education for all, one of the great dreams of our founding fathers. Education, as the NEP-2020 rightly envisions, is “the single greatest tool for achieving social justice and quality.” Inclusive and equitable education, indeed an essential goal in its own right, is also critical to achieving a social order where every citizen has “the opportunity to dream, thrive, and contribute to the nation.” Quality, affordable and ethical education to all is the first move to break multiple social and economic barriers, which sow the seeds of exclusion, discrimination and exploitation against our own people on different parochial considerations.
Needless to say efforts were made in the past as well to bridge the educational chasm between socially and educationally disadvantaged groups (SEDGs) and the children of top social strata, but the desired results remained elusive. SEDGs account for the country’s overwhelming population, but their children’s share in quality school educational institutions has been minimal over the years. Early childhood care and education (ECCE) needs to be handled more comprehensively. According to the Unified-District Information System for Education (U-DISE) 2016-17 data, about 19.6 per cent of students belonged to Scheduled Castes (SCs) at the primary level, but this fraction fell to 17.3 per cent at the higher secondary level. These enrollment drop-outs were more severe for ST students (10.6 per cent to 6.8 per cent), and differently-abled children (1.1 per cent to 0.25 per cent), with even greater declines for female students within each of these categories. Thus, there is no scope for any complacency on the part of the government. A series of interventions including better facilities, more and more hostels, scholarships and other enabling support have been provisioned in the NEP-2020 so that the idea of ‘learning for all’ is realised in a more comprehensive manner.
Teachers are not only an integral part of an education system, but the most important stakeholder in the entire gamut of things. Their quality and ability to teach school students, when they are in their formative age, become something of paramount importance. From their recruitment to training, every precaution needs to be taken to ensure that school education is not rendered to a mere formality, but becomes a game changer. The New Education Policy-2020 comes with a basket full of tools and parameters to ensure holistic training and upgradation of teachers and their teaching skills in a sustainable manner. From continuous professional development (CPD) to career management and progression (CMP), the NEP-2020 vouches for a set of common guidelines – National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST), which will be put in place by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) in its restructured new form as the Professional Standard Setting Body (PSSB) under the General Education Council. This exercise will be carried out in consultation with National Council Educational Research and Training (NCERT), SCERTs, teachers from across levels and regions.
The teacher education will also undergo a sea-change. By 2030, the minimum degree qualification for teaching will be a 4-year integrated B.Ed. that teaches a range of knowledge content. Today B.Ed. teaching is most poorly regulated in our country ever since the standalone B.Ed. colleges were allowed to be opened up in the private sector. It is high time to take B.Ed. teaching more than seriously. The NEP-2020 stipulates that by 2021, a new and comprehensive National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education (NCFTE-2021) will be formulated by the NCTE. NCFTE, which will also factor in the requirements of teacher education curricula for vocational education, will be revised once every 5-10 years.
In conclusion, the NEP-2020 visualizes to impart a school education which lays the foundation of a self-reliant India and also to help our country emerge as a knowledge hub. From the foundation of learning to foundational literacy and numeracy to checking drop outs and ensuring universal access to education for all and at all levels to the restructuring of school curriculum, India is in for a metamorphosis in the field of school education, recognizing, identifying and fostering the unique capabilities of each student. Tools such as multi disciplinarity, emphasis on conceptual understanding, creativity and critical thinking, ethics and human and constitutional values, full equity and inclusion, and light but tight regulatory framework are bound to do wonders. Education is a public service, a rare pursuit in nation building, which should be holistic and inclusive and must make one take pride in India and its rich, diverse, ancient and modern culture and knowledge systems and tradition. The NEP-2020 aspires so, indeed!
( The writer is a senior journalist and author. The views expressed are strictly personal.)
