On March 4, 2023, Droupadi Murmu, President of India, conferred the ‘Swachh Sujal Shakti Samman 2023’ under several categories of the Swachh Bharat Mission—Grameen (SBM-G), Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), and National Water Mission (NWM) in New Delhi, Delhi.
- The “Swachh Sujal Shakti Samman (SSSS) 2023″ was organised by the Ministry of Jal Shakti in preparation of International Women’s Day (March 8, 2023) and was attended by Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Ministry of Jal Shakti.
- The Swachh Sujal Shakti Samman programme honours women who have made remarkable contributions to the field of rural water and sanitation.
The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti, implements the two flagship programmes, SBM-G and JJM, while the Department of Water Resources, River Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation (DoWR, RD&GR), Ministry of Jal Shakti, implements the third flagship programme, NWM.
Felicitations
i.This SSSS 2023 honoured women for their extraordinary and exemplary work at the grassroots level in the implementation of key programs, including SBM-G, JJM, and Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain (JSA-CTR).
ii.A total of 36 women water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) Champions were awarded the ‘Swachh Sujal Shakti Samman 2023’ in the following categories:
1.Swachh Bharat Mission – Grameen (SBM – G)
- Making the village Open Defecation Free(ODF) Plus Model
- GOBARdhan/Bio-degradable Waste and/or Plastic Waste Management
- Greywater Management and/or Faecal Sludge Management
2.Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM)
- Women change-makers in the category of O&M of piped water supply
3.National Water Mission (NWM)
- Jal Shakti Abhiyan – Catch the Rain (JSA-CTR)
- Water Warriors
Click here to see the list of winners
Other Related Initiatives
i.The President also launched the ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan – Catch the Rain 2023’ (JSA: CTR-2023) campaign [4th in its series], with the theme “Source Sustainability for Drinking Water,” during the event.
- She also released a video titled “Jal Shakti se Nari Shakti.”
ii.The NWM SoPs (standard operating procedures) on source sustainability were released by Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
iii.The first edition of “Swachh Sujal Shakti Ki Abhivyakti,” a compendium of case stories from SBM (G), JJM, and NWM, was presented to the President by Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
iv.Devusinh Jesingbhai Chauhan, Minister of State (MoS), Ministry of Communications, also presented the President with a customised “My Stamp” for NWM.
Three Significant Missions of the Ministry of Jal Shakti
Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen (SBM-G)
i.SBM-G was introduced on October 2, 2014, with the goal of ending open defecation, and on October 2, 2019 (the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi), all villages in India declared themselves Open Defecation Free (ODF).
ii.SBM-G 2.0 was subsequently introduced in order to maintain the ODF status of the villages and raise the standard of cleanliness in rural regions by managing solid and liquid waste, thereby transforming the villages into ODF Plus.
Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) – Rural Water Supply
i.The Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) [Rural Water Supply] was introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15, 2019, to provide safe and sufficient drinking water to all households in rural India through individual household tap connections by 2024.
- Only 3.23 Crore rural households had access to a tap water connection at the time of the launch.
ii.More than 11 crore rural households now have access to piped water, and more than 2 lakh ODF Plus villages have been established due to the leadership of women in the SBM-G and JJM programs.
National Water Mission (NWM)
i.The NWM Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) was launched in 2019, resulting in the development and rejuvenation of over 6 lakh water-related structures.
ii.After JSA 2019, the “Catch the Rain” campaign, with the tagline “Catch the rain, where it falls, when it falls,” was introduced in 2020, with a focus on water conservation and rainwater harvesting.
iii.The “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain” (JSA: CTR) campaigns were started as an annual event with an increased scope for Pan-India implementation in 2021 and 2022.
iv.JSA: CTR-2023 targeted actions include the consolidation of activities such as:
- Water conservation and rainwater harvesting
- Enumerating, geo-tagging & making inventory of all water bodies; preparation of scientific plans for water conservation based on it
- Setting up of Jal Shakti Kendras in all districts
- Intensive afforestation
- Awareness generation
Note: According to Nobel laureate Michael Kremer, providing safe and adequate drinking water through tap connections and adopting safe sanitation practices can save 1.36 lakh lives of children under the age of 5 in rural India every year.
- Michael Kremer earned the 2019 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, jointly with co-researchers Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, “for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty”.
Recent Related News:
i.In January 2023, the Union Cabinet gave its ex post facto approval for renaming of National Centre for Drinking Water, Sanitation and Quality, Joka, Kolkata in West Bengal as ‘Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee National Institute of Water and Sanitation (SPM-NIWAS)’.
ii.These programs will cover front-line workforce engaged in implementation of the SBM and JJM, and representatives of local bodies, both rural and urban.
About Ministry of Jal Shakti:
Union Minister – Gajendra Singh Shekhawat (Jodhpur Constituency, Rajasthan)
Minister of State (MoS) – Prahlad Singh Patel; Bishweswar Tudu
