Regarding the Opposition alliance called I.N.D.I.A., the minister said that these were aimless people.
Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, the Union Minister for Jal Shakti on Wednesday said, “ On 15 August 2019, PM Modi announced that we will supply drinking water to the last mile, and at that time only 16% of the nation’s population had direct access to water in 2019; When Jal Shakti Mission was launched, the rest of the 84% women were carrying these water on earthen pots on their head, but today the figures have gone up to 65% and we hope will reach 100% soon.”
He was speaking at the Capital Dialogue, an interactive series that brings together decision-makers and significant stakeholders launched by The Sunday Guardian Foundation on Wednesday. To a question by an audience member on Jal Jeevan and how it is different from other missions, he said: “We tried to work on three aspects—quality, quantity, and it should be regular.”
“We build accredited laboratories in all districts to make sure about the quality aspect. For equal quantity, we talked to so many organisations and fix that 55 litres are a requirement for every person and keep updated with technology by using censors. Today, our mission qualifies for all three pillars.”
MP-UP Water Dispute
In response to a question regarding the water distribution between MP and UP, he said that former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had taken the initiative to join the rivers so that we can transfer the surplus water to the deficit areas. But as time passed, the files were lost somewhere. In 2014, when the BJP came into power, they again started to work on it under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In 2014, our government identified 31 links, out of which 18 DPRs have been read, but because of interstate issues, work hasn’t started yet.
However, after resolving the differences over the sharing of water, the chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and Yogi Adityanath, signed a tripartite agreement with the Centre in the virtual presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The revised deal will allow MP to get an additional 100 mcm of water from the project, which will be implemented at an estimated cost of more than Rs 45,000 crore. Due to this project, more than 62 lakh people will benefit.
‘Rajasthan has become rape capital’
In response to the question about the heinous crimes happening in Rajasthan, he showed his concern, saying that it was sad that yesterday morning, four members of the family were murdered, and a little girl of hardly 4-5 years old was burned alive. Three days ago, at the university, a minor Dalit girl was gang-raped. Two days before, a seven-year-old girl was raped. And this is the condition of Jodhpur only; the entire state of Rajasthan has a bigger number than this. Rajasthan has become a hub of corruption and has made criminals fearless. Rajasthan has become the rape capital for minors and adivasis, he said.
INDIA vs NDA
Regarding the Opposition alliance called INDIA, he said these are the aimless, motiveless people. He quoted the words 3C, Chal, Charitra, and Chahera. By saying these, he said the people of India have noticed the Chal, Charitra, and Chahara of these Opposition leaders. They won’t win the election as they don’t have any non-corrupt leaders. Every leader indulges in corruption charges. He added that by changing the name of the alliance, they can’t change their character. He added that they are the ones who create conflict in the name of caste, race, religion, and identity; so people had identified their faces. He claimed that “we will win the 2024 Lok Sabha election and will get 50% of the total vote share”. About the number of seats, he said: “We will get around 350 seats.”
Indus Water Treaty
Articulating on the Indus Water Treaty, Shekhawat said that in the 1960s, when the treaty happened, he didn’t understand the wisdom of those who signed this. “How did they decide the distribution of water? As much as 68% of the water has been given to our neighbours in Pakistan and only 32% of the water has been given to us,” he said. “Even the 32% of water we get is only because of the Bikanare king of that time. Late Maharaja Singh built a canal on the River Ravi; that’s how we got the water from the River Ravi.”
Aakhri Boond initiative
iTV Network has always been part of initiatives that create impact. In December 2019, iTV Network launched the Aakhri Boond initiative which was inaugurated by Minister Gajendra Shekhawat and Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar at the Art of Living Ashram in Bengaluru. The initiative has completed almost 1,000 hours of public information programming and launched physical projects in Haryana. On that account, iTV Network gave away the Aakhri Boond Appreciation Awards.
The first Award was given to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living Jaltara Initiative. They are working on rejuvenating 70 rivers and streams across eight Indian states. The second award was given to Subramanya Kusnur, founder, chairman, and CEO of AquaKraft. AquaKraft works on sustainable water solutions in more than 4,000 villages, with projects harvesting more than half a billion litres of water.