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In a conference held in Kevadia, Gujarat on Thursday, 118 Heads of Indian Missions from all over the world participated in the 10th Heads of Missions Conference organized from October 20-22 under the Ministry of External Affairs where they hailed India's flagship Amrit Sarovar Mission.
As a part of the celebration of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav and with an objective to conserve water for the future, Mission Amrit Sarovar was launched on National Panchayati Raj Day on 24th April 2022. The Mission is aimed at developing and rejuvenating 75 water bodies in each district of the country. Speaking to ANI, the Indian envoys hailed the initiative and stated how they saw practical implementation and development taking place at the grassroots levels focussing on environment and water conservation. "Before coming here for the main conference in Gujarat, we were seven Ambassadors who went on a state visit to Punjab. It was a very productive, useful and important experience because we got to see a number of initiatives that the government has taken. The priorities of the state administration in terms of development are the various areas that they are focussing on but we also saw the practical implementation of some projects the government is supporting like the Amrit Sarovar. So, we went to Amrit Sarovar in a village near Chandigarh and it was very interesting to see how this place which had become totally dry, they are now able to catch rainwater and conserve water," said Indian Ambassador to the Netherlands, Reena Sandhu. "It's like an ecosystem for the villagers and it is also a way of awareness building for the villagers about the importance of conserving water because water is a big challenge for Punjab," she said. She further added saying that there is a cooperative and competitive kind of approach where the villagers are looking that how the other districts are doing and how their district can do better. The Amrit Sarovar Mission works through the states and districts, by refocusing on various schemes such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, XV Finance Commission Grants, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) sub-schemes such as Watershed Development Component, Har Khet Ko Pani besides States' own schemes. Calling this Mission a source of income for the villagers, Robert Shetlkington, Indian Ambassador to Ethiopia called the visit an 'impressive' one. "I was part of six Ambassadors who visited Manipur. We visited a water body in a village. I was quite impressed with two aspects, one is that they have enlarged this water body into a large pond and second it is also a source of income for the villagers in the sense that there are fisheries going on and I think that over a period of time, maybe in one year time they will get some income which is good for the villagers," the envoy said. The Amrit Sarovar Mission also encourages the mobilization of citizen and non-govt resources for supplementing these efforts. "The villagers were pleased with the Amrit Sarovar scheme. They told us that in ancient times, the king used to do this and now the Government of India is doing it", said KJ Srinivasa, High Commissioner of India to Guyana. Further hailing the mission, the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, G Balasubramanian shared his experience about his State visit where he saw active work in reconstruction. "My state visit was to Tamil Nadu and we had very good meetings with the Chief Minister and the Governor. As part of our plan, we saw one of the Amrit Sarovar. Tamil Nadu has the importance of cultivating water and getting ponds and tanks constructed as an important part of irrigation and under the 75 Amrit Sarovar district, we went to one of the districts and saw active work going on in reconstruction. It was nice to see that such activities are taking place in a rapid manner", said G Balasubramanian. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in the 10th Heads of Missions Conference in Kevadia, Gujarat. (ANI)
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