The Ministry of Jal Shakti () is a ministry under the Government of India which was formed in May 2019 under the second Modi ministry. This was formed by merging of two ministries; the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.
The formation of this ministry reflects India's seriousness towards the mounting water challenges the country has been facing over the past few decades. WAPCOS is an Indian multinational government undertaking and consultancy firm wholly owned by Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India.
Functions
The ministry was incorporated with an aim to clean the river Ganges. They would also encompass any international or national disputes between inter-state water bodies and the rivers which are shared by India along with other neighboring countries. A special project "Namami Gange" project has been launched to clean Ganga and its tributaries to provide safe drinking water to people of the country. The ministry has also launched its special campaigns on social so that citizens of the country become aware of water conservation.
Organisation of Ministry Under this ministry two departments work, these departments and their offices are as follow:
Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation
Wings Administration, International Cooperation & Ground Water (All matters pertaining to Administration, Establishment, Coordination, Organization & Method, IEC, e-Governance, Parliamentary Matters, International Cooperation,Ground Water and Vigilance). Brahmaputra & Barak Command Area Development and Water Management Economic Advisory Flood Management Finance Indus Minor Irrigation Statistics National Water Mission Penisular River River Development & Public Policy Dam Rehabilitation, Improvement Programme and State Projects.
Attached Subordinate offices/ Societies
National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) or Namami Gange Programme Central Water Commission (CWC) Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) National Water Development Agency (NWDA) National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD) Brahmaputra Board
Research/Training Institutions National Water Informatics Centre (NWIC) Central Soil And Materials Research Station (CSMRS) National Institute Of Hydrology (NIH) Central Water And Power Research Station (CWPRS) North Eastern Regional Institute Of Water And Land Management (NERIWALM)
PSUs Water And Power Consultancy Services Ltd (WAPCOS) National Projects Construction Corporation Limited (NPCC)
Water Regulatory Organisations Narmada Control Authority (NCA) Farakka Barrage Project (FBP) Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB) Ganga Flood Control Commission (GFCC) Bansagar Control Board (BCB) Betwa River Board (BRB) Tungabhadra Board (TB) Godavari River Management Board Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) National Dam Safety Authority Mahadayi Prawah and Ken Betwa Link Project Authority.
Irrigation Project Funded by MoJS Polavaram Project Authority
Water Dispute Tribunals Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal Ravi And Beas Water Dispute Tribunal Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal Vansadhara Water Dispute Tribunal
The Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation was the apex body for formulation and administration of rules and regulations relating to the development and regulation of the water resources in India. The Ministry was formed in January 1985 following the bifurcation of the then Ministry of Irrigation and Power, when the Department of Irrigation was re-constituted as the Ministry of Water Resources. In July 2014, the Ministry was renamed to "Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation", making it the National Ganga River Basin Authority for conservation, development, management, and abatement of pollution in the river Ganges and its tributaries. In May 2019, this ministry was merged with the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation to form the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation In 1999, the Department of Drinking Water Supply (DDWS) was formed under Ministry of Rural Development, for focused attention on drinking water and sanitation. Later it was renamed as Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation in 2010.
The department became the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation in 2011, keeping in view the extreme importance given to the sector by the United Progressive Alliance government. From May 2019, the ministry has been merged with the Ministry of Jal Shakti. The ministry was responsible for the implementation of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in rural India. It got 8 million toilets constructed surpassing the target of 6 million toilets for the year 2015–16.
This department promotes many sanitation missions and programs for public, the main sanitation programs are: Jal Jeevan Mission Swachh Bharat Mission Swachh Survekshan Grameen
Agencies Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee National Institute of Water and Sanitation
Notable decisions The ministry requested various governmental departments to avoid the usage of plastic bottles to provide drinking water during governmental meetings etc., and instead, to make arrangements for providing drinking water that do not result in the generation of plastic waste.
Cabinet Ministers
Note: I/C Independent Charge
Minister of Irrigation/Water Resources (19521974; 19802019)
PortraitMinisterTerm of officePolitical party MinistryPrime Minister From To Period Minister of Irrigation and Power Gulzarilal Nanda 6 June 1952 17 April 1957 Indian National Congress Nehru II Jawaharlal Nehru S. K. Patil 17 April 1957 2 April 1958 Nehru III Hafiz Mohamad Ibrahim 2 April 1958 10 April 1962 10 April 1962 26 June 1963 Nehru IV O. V. Alagesan(Minister of State) 26 June 1963 19 July 1963 Kanuri Lakshmana Rao(Minister of State) 19 July 1963 27 May 1964 27 May 1964 9 June 1964 Nanda I Gulzarilal Nanda H. C. Dasappa 9 June 1964 19 July 1964 Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri Kanuri Lakshmana Rao(Minister of State) 19 July 1964 11 January 1966 11 January 1966 24 January 1966 Nanda II Gulzarilal Nanda Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed 24 January 1966 13 November 1966 Indira I Indira Gandhi Kanuri Lakshmana Rao(Minister of State) 13 November 1966 13 March 1967 13 March 1967 18 March 1971 Indira II 18 March 1971 9 November 1973 Indian National Congress (R) Indira II K. C. Pant(Minister of State) 9 November 1973 10 October 1974 Minister of Irrigation A. B. A. Ghani Khan Choudhury 16 January 1980 8 June 1980 Indian National Congress Indira IV Indira Gandhi Kedar Pandey 8 June 1980 12 November 1980 Rao Birender Singh 12 November 1980 15 January 1982 Kedar Pandey 15 January 1982 29 January 1983 Ram Niwas Mirdha(Minister of State, I/C) 29 January 1983 2 August 1984 Prakash Chandra Sethi 2 August 1984 31 October 1984 C. K. Jaffer Sharief(Minister of State, I/C) 4 November 1984 31 December 1984 Rajiv I Rajiv Gandhi B. Shankaranand 31 December 1984 25 September 1985 Rajiv IIMinister of Water Resources B. Shankaranand 25 September 1985 22 August 1987 Indian National Congress Rajiv II Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi(Prime Minister) 22 August 1987 10 November 1987 Ram Niwas Mirdha(Minister of State, I/C) 10 November 1987 14 February 1988 Dinesh Singh 14 February 1988 25 June 1988 B. Shankaranand 25 June 1988 4 July 1989 M. M. Jacob(Minister of State, I/C) 4 July 1989 2 December 1989 Manubhai Kotadia(Minister of State, I/C until 5 Nov 1990) 6 December 1989 5 November 1990 Janata Dal V. P. Singh V. P. Singh 21 November 1990 26 April 1991 Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) Chandra Shekhar Chandra Shekhar Chandra Shekhar(Prime Minister) 26 April 1991 21 June 1991 Vidya Charan Shukla 21 June 1991 17 January 1996 Indian National Congress Rao P. V. Narasimha Rao P. V. Narasimha Rao(Prime Minister) 17 January 1996 7 February 1996 A. R. Antulay 7 February 1996 16 May 1996 Atal Bihari Vajpayee(Prime Minister) 16 May 1996 1 June 1996 Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee I Atal Bihari Vajpayee H. D. Deve Gowda(Prime Minister) 1 June 1996 29 June 1996 Janata Dal Deve Gowda H. D. Deve Gowda Janeshwar Mishra 29 June 1996 21 April 1997 Samajwadi Party 21 April 1997 9 June 1997 Gujral Inder Kumar Gujral Sis Ram Ola(Minister of State, I/C) 9 June 1997 19 March 1998 All India Indira Congress (Tiwari) Atal Bihari Vajpayee(Prime Minister) 19 March 1998 13 October 1999 Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee II Atal Bihari Vajpayee Pramod Mahajan 13 October 1999 22 November 1999 Vajpayee III C. P. Thakur 22 November 1999 27 May 2000 Arjun Charan Sethi 27 May 2000 22 May 2004 Biju Janata Dal Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi 23 May 2004 18 November 2005 Indian National Congress Manmohan I Manmohan Singh Santosh Mohan Dev(Minister of State, I/C) 18 November 2005 29 January 2006 Saifuddin Soz 29 January 2006 22 May 2009 Meira Kumar 28 May 2009 31 May 2009 Manmohan II Manmohan Singh(Prime Minister) 31 May 2009 14 June 2009 Pawan Kumar Bansal 14 June 2009 19 January 2011 Salman Khurshid 19 January 2011 12 July 2011 Pawan Kumar Bansal 12 July 2011 28 October 2012 Harish Rawat 28 October 2012 1 February 2014 Ghulam Nabi Azad 1 February 2014 26 May 2014 Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharti 27 May 2014 3 September 2017 Bharatiya Janata Party Modi I Narendra Modi Nitin Gadkari 3 September 2017 30 May 2019
Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation (20112019)
PortraitMinisterTerm of officePolitical party MinistryPrime Minister From To Period Gurudas Kamat(Minister of State, I/C) 12 July 2011 13 July 2011 Indian National Congress Manmohan II Manmohan Singh Jairam Ramesh 13 July 2011 28 October 2012 Bharatsinh Solanki(Minister of State, I/C) 28 October 2012 26 May 2014 Gopinath Munde 27 May 2014 3 June 2014 Bharatiya Janata Party Modi I Narendra Modi Nitin Gadkari 4 June 2014 9 November 2014 Birender Singh 9 November 2014 5 July 2016 Narendra Singh Tomar 5 July 2016 3 September 2017 Uma Bharti 3 September 2017 30 May 2019
Minister of Jal Shakti (2019present)
PortraitMinisterTerm of officePolitical party MinistryPrime Minister From To Period Gajendra Singh Shekhawat 31 May 2019 9 June 2024 Bharatiya Janata Party Modi II Narendra Modi Chandrakant Raghunath Patil 10 June 2024 Incumbent Modi III
Ministers of State
Minister of State for Irrigation/Water Resources (19521974; 19802019)
PortraitMinisterTerm of officePolitical party MinistryPrime Minister From To Period Minister of State for Irrigation and Power O. V. Alagesan 8 May 1962 19 July 1963 Indian National Congress Nehru IV Jawaharlal Nehru Kanuri Lakshmana Rao 9 June 1964 19 July 1964 Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri 24 January 1966 13 November 1966 Indira I Indira Gandhi Minister of State for Irrigation Ziaur Rahman Ansari 19 January 1980 29 January 1983 Indian National Congress Indira IV Indira Gandhi Harinath Mishra 2 August 1984 31 October 1984 Minister of State for Water Resources Krishna Sahi 14 February 1988 4 July 1989 Indian National Congress Rajiv II Rajiv Gandhi Prem Khandu Thungan 19 January 1993 10 February 1995 Rao P. V. Narasimha Rao P. V. Rangayya Naidu 10 February 1995 16 May 1996 Sompal Shastri 3 February 1999 13 October 1999 Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee II Atal Bihari Vajpayee Bijoya Chakravarty 13 October 1999 22 May 2004 Vajpayee III Jay Prakash Narayan Yadav 23 May 2004 6 November 2005 Rashtriya Janata Dal Manmohan I Manmohan Singh 24 October 2006 22 May 2009 Vincent Pala 28 May 2009 28 October 2012 Indian National Congress Manmohan II Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Santosh Kumar Gangwar 27 May 2014 9 November 2014 Bharatiya Janata Party Modi I Narendra Modi Sanwar Lal Jat 9 November 2014 5 July 2016 Vijay Goel 5 July 2016 3 September 2017 Sanjeev Balyan 5 July 2016 3 September 2017 Arjun Ram Meghwal 3 September 2017 30 May 2019 Satya Pal Singh 3 September 2017 30 May 2019