On January 18, 2020,According to the rankings of ‘Central and state governmental water departments based on their efficiency targets for 2019’ released by Ministry of Jal Shakti, Gujarat ranked the best for parameters on efficiency targets , while National Capital Territory of Delhi remains in the worst-performing state category.
Key Points:
i.Departments wise ranking:The Survey of India (SoI) received top spot among the 7 central government departments reviewed on parameters for procurement, finance, real-time data acquisition system, data digitization, analytical work, pieces of training. SoI was followed by National Institute of Hydrology (NIH) and the Central Water Commission. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) pushed to the last in the year 2019 ranking.
ii.State wise ranking: However, Delhi improved its position  by 6 places to get 35th  rank in 2019 as against bottom 41 in 2018. Tamil Nadu (TN) ranked best among the states that significantly improved its ranking. It stood at 13th spot in 2019 as compared to 33 in 2018.
Rajasthan has been ranked 3rd in the country this time, while in the April-May 2018 rankings, Rajasthan was ranked 16th. In the rankings released in December-2019, this state made a big jump and is one of the reputed states for best management of its water resources.
iii.Previous ranking: Telangana had topped the state’s water efficiency in the previous year (2018) ranking while Gujarat was ranked seventh place.
iv.The states which have done satisfactory work under the project are Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat SW(Surface Water Department), Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra Rajasthan, Telangana and West Bengal SW.
The Gujarat Surface Water Department led by the implementing agencies got a score of 80.51, followed by Damodar Valley Corporation with a score of 68.24 and Rajasthan with a score of 66.73.
Ranking:
The ranking is part of a mid-term review by the central and state government working with water to achieve the goal of providing piped drinking water connections to every household over the next 5 years. Another objective of the ranking is the Water Resources Information System (WRIS) to create a real-time integrated National Water Information Center (NWIC) for all states.
The organization have been given a points out of 100. 48-100 are listed as satisfactory, the score between 40- 48 are moderately satisfactory; a score between 34-40 falls under moderately unsatisfactory category and a score below 34 is in the unsatisfactory category.
About Ministry of Jal Shakthi:
Founded– 2019. (Preceded by Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation from 1985)
Headquarters– New Delhi.
Union Minister– Gajendra Singh Shekhawat (Constituency- Jodhpur, Rajasthan).
