The Rural WASH Partners’ Forum (RWPF), a platform of the Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation (DDWS) under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, celebrated its 1st anniversary during a two-day National Conference on Rural WASH Partners’ Forum at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, Delhi.
i.The theme of the conference was “Accelerating Progress towards a Swachh Sujal Bharat”.
ii.The conference was inaugurated by Union Minister of Jal Shakti Shri. Gajendra Singh and launched various initiative such as
- Release of the Manual for Disaster Management Plan (DMP),
- Set up of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) Digital Academy,
- RWPF Annual Yearbook and Web page,
- Swachhata Chronicles – Transformative Tales from India, and
- Field Assessment Framework and Ranking Protocol of SSG 2023.
Notable initiatives launched in National Conference on RWPF:
i.Disaster Management Plan:
- Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat released the Manual for Disaster Management Plan (DMP) during the event.
- The Manual is developed by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation(DDWS) to ensure safety, uninterrupted supply and minimum loss of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) assets and services involving stakeholders at national, state, district, and village level.
- The Plan aligns with the two-flagship programmes on WASH implemented by the Department namely the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) and Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen (SBM-G).
- The Disaster Plan is developed based on the Advisory issued by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) which, under Section 37 of Disaster Management Act, 2005 desires every Ministry/ Department to develop its own disaster plan to counter and be prepared for any emergency arising in future.
- This disaster management plan takes account of gender-based vulnerabilities, and issues concerning Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, elderly, children and people with disabilities.
ii. JJM Digital Academy Establishment
Department of Drinking water and sanitation (DDWS) and Echo India, a non-profit organization signed a MoU to set up the JJM Digital Academy. The online portal of JJM Digital Academy was launched by the Union Minister of Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
- Minister of State for Food Processing Industries and Jal Shakti Shri Prahlad Singh Patel, Secretary Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Smt Vini Mahajan and Additional Secretary & Mission Director-NJJM Shri Vikas Sheel were participated the event.
- The Academy will be using digital technology in delivering knowledge, skills through innovative approach to stakeholders associated with water supply programme like administrators, engineers, Panchayat functionaries, technicians, sanitation workers and foot soldiers.
iii.RWPF Annual Yearbook and Web page:
- The Yearbook documents the efforts of development partners across different regions and themes, showcased on the Web page.The recognition of their on-ground work by various agencies encourages the partners to perform better and support the government in reaching desired goals.
iv.Swachhata Chronicles – Transformative Tales from India:
- It is released with a view to achieve the goal of SBM-G Phase-II, a compilation of 75 ODF Plus Best Practices highlights the innovations, steps taken to remove obstacles and increase awareness, special campaigns undertaken, and other efforts of States/UTs in various ODF Plus activities.
iv.Field Assessment Framework and Ranking Protocol of SSG 2023:
- It is a detailed framework defining how the States & UTs will be ranked in the Swachh Survekshan Grameen (SSG) 2023.
vi. Felicitation of Four start-ups by Hon’ble Minister of Jal Shakti, for developing cost-effective and portable water quality testing kits under Technology Challenge conducted by Invest India with support from DDWS. Elico, Cluix and Heuristics have developed digital portable multi parameter water quality testing devices.
Note – The programme was followed by thematic sessions on water and sanitation organised by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Aga Khan Foundation, All India Institute of Self Governance (AIILSG), WaterAid, WASH Institute and the Centre for Environment Education (CEE).
About Rural WASH Partners Forum (RWPF):
- It is a platform launched by DDWS, under Ministry of Jal Shakti in July 2022, in collaboration with KPMG India, to support States/ UTs in for their flagship programme such as Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) and Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen (SBM-G).
- The key objective of RWPF is to drive innovation in WASH sector through technology, developing knowledge products, information sharing, financing, and building the capacity building of those associated with the programme.
- RWPF Secretariat has been set up at DDWS where KPMG is the platform coordinator to take tasks and activities forward.
