From Bharat Lal, Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, New Delhi
Posted 1 July 2010
This is the second in the series of three queries the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, is posing to the community to seek inputs for the strategic plan for rural drinking water up to the year 2022. The first query dealt with the aspirations, purposes and functions of DDWS and we thank you all for the responses. As mentioned earlier, the focus now is on a community-led flexible approach that accommodates the local geo-hydrological, climate and cultural variations. There is a strong emphasis on community mobilization for creating a demand for better water supply. This is carried forward in the proposed new strategic plan for drinking water.
The process of preparing the plan has been divided into four stages – defining the aspirations, assessing the situation, developing the strategy and plan implementation. This query addresses the second stage – assessing the situation. Accordingly, we are seeking inputs from you on the current situation. The discussion paper (ftp://203.124.149.174/public/wes/cr/res-04061001.pdf) provides the relevant details from Page 3 onwards and the second row of the template (ftp://203.124.149.174/public/wes/cr/res-04061002.pdf) gives the approach we are following.
Kindly respond to the questions below:
- What are the external challenges in achieving these goals based on field experiences?
- Who are the key stakeholders in the field of rural drinking water and on what terms can the Department engage with them, based on comparative strengths?
- What is the current status of coverage of safe and adequate drinking water in rural areas?
Please see attachment below for the responses.