Gujarat's 100% rural households get clean drinking water, Modi think-tank claims: Says state No 1 in water index

By Our Representative
Ranking Gujarat No 1 in Composite Water Management Index (CWMI) for the second successive year, the Modi government's powerful policy-making body, Niti Aayog, appears to have left no stone unturned in order to "prove" how it has reached this drastic conclusion. One of the greatest "successes" it cites in this respect is --believe it or not-- Gujarat has "achieved" a 100% score in the ‘rural drinking water’ theme of the Water Index.
Sourcing on a site run by the Gujarat government, www.gujaratindia.com, instead of assessing things independently, which is what a policy-making body should ideally do, the Niti Aayog report, released this month, claims that this 100% score has been made possible because the state government "provides clean water to all of its ~35 million rural residents." Giving credit for this to Gujarat’s rural water supply programme, led by the state’s Water and Sanitation Management Organisation (WASMO), the report says, its main aim has been "to supply the village community with adequate, regular and safe water through household-level tap water connectivity, including households of people from backward communities."
It adds, "The programme strives to build a sustainable model through building capacity of village communities and empowering them to manage water resources themselves. The programme is based on a unique cost-sharing model, where the community partially shares the cost, owns the drinking water supply assets, and holds the operation and maintenance responsibilities."
"As a result of this programme", the report continues, initially, villagers were "mobilized to discuss the key problems that the local drinking supply system suffers from", adding, "These efforts involved participation by NGOs to ensure the inclusion of all views, especially those of women and the poorer members of the village."

Based on these discussions, a Village Action Plan (VAP) was drawn up with 10% of the estimated programme cost collected from residents and 90% contributed by WASMO, the report continues to claim, adding, a representative ‘Pani Samiti’ for the village was then "established to plan and implement the programme."

"Finally", the report says, WASMO and its partner organizations provided hand-holding and capacity building support to the Pani Samitis for a year, to ensure that the programme is technically and financially sound, and thus sustainable, with a huge positive impact: The rural water supply project is being providing clean water access to villages in all state districts.
"As of the end of 2013, ~50% of the villages completed schemes at an investment of Rs 800 crore, and Pani Samitis were formed in almost all of the ~18,400 villages in the state", the report contends, adding, "This programme has been the driver of Gujarat’s 100% achievement in the ‘rural drinking water’ category of the Index, helping the state fully cover all rural habitations and achieve a 100% decline in rural water quality incidents in FY 16-17."
Ironically, the claim of 100% success with the help of Pani Samitis or water committees stands in sharp contrast to what the report seeks to suggest elsewhere: Just about 15% -- one of the worst in India -- irrigated command areas have operational Water Users' Associations (WUAs), a community-driven scheme, with the right to manage all water-related issues. As many as 12 other states are better performers in this.
Yet, it continues, the lessons Gujarat has for other states include mobilizing community participation by "tapping" local knowledge base of problems and challenges surrounding water supply systems, even as "ensuring true representation through partnerships with NGOs and other relevant organizations."
It is not just the rural areas that this "success" is visible, the report suggests. Even in urban areas, it says, 100% urban population has been "provided drinking water supply." These are not the only successes that the report seeks to cite for Gujarat.
The capacity installed in the state to treat the urban waste water as a proportion of the total estimated waste water generated in the urban areas of Gujarat, the report claims, is 71%, the highest in India. Then, Gujarat treats, says the report, 62% of waste-water.

Comments

Rathindra Roy said…

Bullshit! Even dumb ass students cheating in exams know that you have build in a certain level of failure to be credible, but then this dude did not go to college to experience that!

June 17, 2018

Untold story of Jammu: Business 'down', students fear lynching, teachers can't speak

By Rajiv Shah
A just-released report, seeking to debunk the view that people in Jammu, the second biggest city of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) after Srinagar, people had gone “out celebrating” abrogation of Article 370 which took away the state’s special status, has reported what it calls “abominably high levels of fear” across all sections in the town.

Ceramic worker dies: 20,000 workers in Thangadh, Gujarat, 'risk' deadly silicosis

By Our Representative
Even as the country was busy preparing for the Janmashtami festival on Saturday, Hareshbhai, a 46-year-old ceramic worker from suffering from the fatal lung disease silicosis, passed away. He worked in a ceramic unit in Thangadh in Surendranagar district of Gujarat from 2000 to 2016.
Hareshbhai was diagnosed with the disease by the GCS Medical College, Naroda Road, Ahmedabad in 2014. He was found to be suffering from progressive massive fibrosis. He is left behind by his wife Rekha sister and two sons Deepak (18) and Umesh (12),
The death of Hareshbhai, says Jagdish Patel of the health rights group Peoples Training and Research Centre (PTRC), suggests that silicosis, an occupational disease, can be prevented but not cured, and the Factory Act has sufficient provisions to prevent this.
According to Patel, the pottery industry in the industrial town of Thangadh has evolved for a long time and locals as well as migrant workers are employed here. There are abou…

Gujarat's incomplete canals: Narmada dam filled up, yet benefits 'won't reach' farmers

By Our Representative
Even as the Gujarat government is making all out efforts to fill up the Sardar Sarovar dam on Narmada river up to the full reservoir level (FRL), a senior farmer rights leader has said the huge reservoir, as of today, remains a “mirage for the farmers of Gujarat”.
In a statement, Sagar Rabari of the Khedut Ekta Manch (KEM), has said that though the dam’s reservoir is being filled up, the canal network remains complete. Quoting latest government figures, he says, meanwhile, the command area of the dam has been reduced from 18,45,000 hectares (ha) to 17,92,000 ha.
“According to the website of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd, which was last updated on Friday, while the main canal, of 458 km long, has been completed, 144 km of ranch canals out of the proposed length of 2731 km remain incomplete.
Then, as against the targeted 4,569 km distributaries, 4,347 km have been constructed, suggesting work for 222 km is still pending. And of the 15,670 km of minor canal…

Cess for Gujarat construction workers: Spending less than 10%; no 'direct help' to beneficiaries

By Our Representative
While the Gujarat government’s Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, set up in 2004, as of March 31, 2019, has collected a total cess of Rs 2,097.62 crore from the the builders, it has spent less than 10% -- Rs 197.17 crore. And, as on May 31, 2019, the total cess collection has reached Rs 2,583.16 crore, said a statement issued by Bandhkam Majur Sagathan general secretary Vipul Pandya.
Pointing out that just about 6.5 lakh out of 20 lakh workers have been registered under the board, Pandya said, vis-à-vis other states, Gujarat ranks No 13th in the amount spent on the welfare of the construction workers, while 11th in the amount collected.
And while the builders are obliged to pay just about 1% of the total cost of their project, the calculation of the cess is flawed: It is Rs 3,000 per square yard; accordingly, Rs 30 per square yard is collected. “Had the cess been collected on the real construction cost, it would have been at least Rs 7,000 cr…

Why nobody objected to Gautam Gambhir, Sunny Deol in t-shirt, jean?: Activists

By Our Representative
Mimi Chakraborty and Nusrat Jahan’s excitement on their first day as MPs was overshadowed by a barrage of sexism over their ‘non- sanskari’ outfits, a group of civil society activists have said in a statement. According to Aarushi Nigam, Divya Kaushik, Riya Sharma, Ruman Ganguly, and Anulekha Agarwal, both Bengali actors and first-time MPs "were certainly excited to take them on when they posted pictures from their new workplace on social media."
Hit by misogynistic comments, the activists say, "Their choice of workwear – jeans and a white button-down shirt for Mimi, a wine-coloured peplum suit for Nusrat – was the first and last word on their political competence for many."
“You’re not on vacation”, “they have mistaken Parliament for Kolkata’s Nicco Park or City Centre”, “this is not a photo studio, this is a place where you should fight for people’s rights and legislate”, “keep some respect towards your Bengali society” were some of the &quo…

Kashmiris in a civil disobedience mode, are going against 'diktat' to open shops

Counterview Desk
A team of concerned citizens, including Ludhiana-based psychiatrist and writer Anirudh Kala, Mumbai-based activist and public health professional Brinelle Dsouza, Delhi-based journalist and writer Revati Laul, and social activist Shabnam Hashmi, travelled to Kashmir and Jammu to understand the impact of the abrogation of Article 370 and the subsequent security clampdown and communication blockade on the lives of the people of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).

Gujarat CM aide 'doubts' authenticity of Gandhi article published in 'Harijan'

By Rajiv Shah
A top aide of Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani has doubted the authenticity of the article written by Mahatma on Gandhi January 27, 1948, three days before his death. Hitesh Pandya, who was assistant public relations officer (PRO) under Narendra Modi’s chief ministership in Gujarat, and is currently serving as PRO of Rupani, has said, there is “reason to doubt”, since the article appeared on February 1, 1948, two days after Gandhi’s assassination.

Denied permission in Ahmedabad to protest on Kashmir, NGO seeks online support

By Our Representative
Gujarat chapter of the Delhi-based Now for Harmony and Democracy (ANHAD), which calls itself is a socio-cultural organization established “as a response to 2002 Gujarat riots”, has sought support from state academics, activists and professionals for a petition against the “unilateral” decision of the Government of India to “revoke” Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) legislature’s “right to self-governance”.

Success of 'political' Hinduism: Kashmiris being depicted as antagonists of rest of India

By Anand K Sahay*
There are times in history when facts call attention to themselves; they assert their independence in all its amplitude and are in no need of the crutch of interpretation. Such a moment is visible in Kashmir now. Merely by being on the table, the facts there taunt the regime’s proclamations.

RSS chief's Hindutva motto seems to be: Down with lynching, long live vadh

By Shamsul Islam*
India has turned into the lynching capital of the world. Our country has been tagged with this infamous identity with Narendra Modi becoming Prime Minister of India in 2014. The Modi rule herald the beginning of nation-wide spree of lynching of Dalits and minorities. Unfortunately, there is no government data collection on hate-crimes but few media outlets have been collecting the lynch data.

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