Law Notify : Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Public Health Engineering Arun Sao participated in the Ministers Level Policy Dialogue on Sustainable O&M of Rural Drinking Water Services, organised by the Government of India under the Jal Jeevan Mission in New Delhi.
The policy dialogue was chaired by Union Minister for Jal Shakti C. R. Patil and Union Minister for Panchayati Raj Rajiv Ranjan Singh. Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti V. Somanna, along with Secretaries and Additional Secretaries of the Government of India, and ministers from various states representing Public Health Engineering, Rural Development, and Panchayati Raj departments, also attended the meeting.
The dialogue focused on strengthening long-term, robust, and effective rural water supply systems through sustained operation and maintenance. Detailed discussions were held between the Centre and states on making rural drinking water services more resilient and sustainable.
During the session, Arun Sao presented an overview of the works undertaken in Chhattisgarh under the Jal Jeevan Mission, the challenges faced at the grassroots level, and the state’s key achievements. He stressed that after drinking water schemes are handed over to Panchayats, ensuring their effective operation and maintenance is critical to providing uninterrupted, safe, and quality drinking water in rural areas. He underlined the importance of Panchayat ownership, community participation, and technical support as the foundation for sustainable water supply systems.
The meeting also featured extensive deliberations on practical experiences and suggestions shared by different states, aimed at identifying actionable steps to further strengthen rural water supply mechanisms in the public interest.
From Chhattisgarh, Jal Jeevan Mission Mission Director Jitendra Shukla, Chief Engineer of the Public Health Engineering Department Onkesh Chandravanshi, Superintending Engineer A. K. Malve, and Executive Engineer Sanjay Rathore also participated in the dialogue.
