On 18 November 2025, President of India Droupadi Murmu conferred the 6th National Water Awards (NWA 2024) and the inaugural Jal Sanchay-Jan Bhagidari (JSJB 2025) Awards at a ceremony held at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, Delhi. Maharashtra won the NWA award in the Best State category, followed by Gujarat(2nd) and Haryana (3rd).
- Telangana won the JSJB Award in the category of Best Performing State/ Union Territory (UT), followed by Chhattisgarh (2nd) and Rajasthan (3rd).
Exam Hints:
- What? National Water Awards and Jal Sanchay-Jan Bhagidari Awards conferred
- Who? President of India Droupadi Murmu
- Where? In New Delhi (Delhi)
- Edition: NWA (6th), JSJB (First)
- NWA: Instituted by MoJS, first awarded in 2018
- NWA Awards 2024: Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana (Best State)
- JSJB Awards: Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan (Best Performing State/UT)
About National Water Awards(NWA):
Overview: The NWA awards are instituted by the Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS) and presented by the President of India during the national ceremony.
- NWA was first presented in 2018.
Purpose: To recognise and honour exceptional efforts in water conservation, management, and sustainable use.
Prize: The winners will receive a citation, a trophy, and cash prizes in some categories.
Highlights of NWA 2024
Winners: The Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (DoWR, RD & GR) under MoJS, declared 46 winners, including joint winners, recognizing their outstanding work in the water sector across India.
Categories: The awards were conferred in 10 categories, including Best State, Best District, Best Village Panchayat, Best Urban Local Body (ULB), Best School/College, Best Industry, Best Water User Association, Best Institution other than schools and colleges, Best Civil Society, and Best Individual.
List of NWA 2024 Awardees:
| Best State | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Name of the State | ||
| 1 | Maharashtra | ||
| 2 | Gujarat | ||
| 3 | Haryana | ||
| Best District | |||
| S.No | Zone (One award per zone) | Name of the District | State |
| 1 | East | Rajnandgaon | Chhattisgarh |
| 2 | West | Khargone | Madhya Pradesh (MP) |
| 3 | North | Mirzapur | Uttar Pradesh (UP) |
| 4 | South | Tirunelveli | Tamil Nadu (TN) |
| 5 | Northeast | Sepahijala
| Tripura |
About Jal Sanchay-Jan Bhagidari(JSJB) Awards:
Overview: The MoJS recognised outstanding performers under JSJB 1.0, a flagship community-driven program launched as part of the Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain (JSA: CTR) campaign.
- Inspired by the vision of “Jan Shakti for Jal Shakti”, the JSJB initiative was launched in September 2024 in Surat, Gujarat.
- It follows a Whole-of-Government and Whole of Society approach to ensure long-term water security and reduce water stress.
Focus: The award focuses on public participation, Corporate support through Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSRs), and Cost-Effective methods, known as the 3Cs Mantra.
Goals: Under this initiative, states are divided into five zones and the districts are encouraged to build 10,000 recharge and storage structures such as ponds, rooftop rainwater harvesting units, stepwell, 3,000 structures for Northeast and hilly districts, 10,000 structures for municipal corporations.
- ULBs are encouraged to build at least 2,000 recharge structures, supported by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) and MoJS.
Categories: In 2025, the 100 awards conferred, include 3 top-performing states, 67 districts, 6 municipal corporations, 1 ULB, 2 partner ministries and departments, 2 industries, 3 Non-Governmental Organization (NGOs), 2 philanthropists, and 14 nodal officers.
Cash Prize: It includes the cash prize of Rs. 2 crore each for the category 1 districts, Rs.1 crore each for the category 2 districts, and Rs.25 lakh each for the category 3 districts.
List of JSJB Awardees:
| States/ Union Territories (UTs) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Rank | State | Work Completed |
| 1 | Telangana | 520362 |
| 2 | Chhattisgarh | 405563 |
| 3 | Rajasthan | 364968 |
| Partner Ministries/ Departments | ||
| Sl. No | Organization | Work Completed |
| 1 | Ministry of Railways(MoR) | 1139 |
| 2 | Do WR RD & GR, MoJS | 349 |
| 3 | Defence Estates Organization(DEO), Ministry of Defence(MoD) | 219 |
About Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS):
Union Minister – Chandrakant Raghunath (C.R) Patil(Constituency-Navsari, Gujarat)
Minister of State (MoS) – Veeranna Somanna (Constituency – Tumkur, Karnataka), Raj Bhushan Choudhary (Constituency – Muzaffarpur, Bihar)
