“Effective change in the lives of people by policy decisions on all aspects”- Vice President
The closing ceremony of the ongoing 5-day India Water Week-2022 was held in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh today with the Vice President Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar presiding over as Chief Guest. The Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar was the special guest. The Vice President Shri Dhankhar said that this concluding ceremony is the beginning of a resolution and it is a great achievement for people from all over the world to come here, to discuss this topic and to show the way to a solution. He said, it was started by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in the year 2019, when for the first time in history, a separate Ministry of Jal Shakti was created, which reflects his thinking for water conservation.
Shri Dhankhar said that in recent times, policy decisions have been taken on every aspect affecting life, due to which positive changes are being seen in the lives of the people. It started with the construction of toilets under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, where toilets were constructed in every house in the country. He said, it was a matter of self-esteem of the people. Similarly, women were liberated from kitchen smoke through Ujjwala Yojana.
Vice President Shri Dhankhar said that water is associated with our ancient culture. It has been explained in Rigveda that water is nectar, water is medicine. Access to safe drinking water is not only essential for life but it has a direct impact on the health and social status of the people. For the success of Jal Jeevan Mission, we have to focus on quality, quantity and community, Shri Dhankhar added.
In his address, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar said that water is related to our life. He said, as Agriculture Minister, he is aware that the largest consumption of water happens in the field of agriculture, as agriculture is not possible without water. He said, today, in this era of climate change, it has become necessary to know how to manage water. The way, the campaign for cleanliness was started on the call of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, similarly there is a need to run a big campaign for this too. Shri Tomar said, all should join hands for "Save Water - Save Life Campaign" then only we can accomplish this goal.
Shri Tomar said that India is progressing rapidly under the able leadership of the Prime Minister. Work is also being done with great enthusiasm in the direction of water conservation. In the field of agriculture, big irrigation projects are going on, due to which the agriculture sector is getting water. He said, there are micro irrigation projects in the country and more than 70 lakh hectares of land has been brought under micro-irrigation projects, while there is a large area in the country where irrigation is rain-fed. For these areas, such seeds are being developed by our agricultural scientists, which can give good yield, Shri Tomar added.
The Agriculture Minister said, efforts are being made to increase agriculture through programs like watershed development projects. We should use more and more technology and equipment in irrigation so that water can also be saved and the crop is also good. He said that all of us are concerned that there should be no food security crisis in future and for this the technology which should be included in agriculture, the Government of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Modi is working with full dedication. The Minister said that the central government and the agriculture ministry are concerned about water harvesting, and called for due deliberations and effective implementation of the proposals, which will come out of the five-day brainstorming.
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