Prime Minister Modi chairs first National Ganga Council meeting
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently chaired the first ever meeting of the National Ganga Council and called for making rejuvenation of the river a shining example of cooperative federalism, with fullest cooperation of the public as well.
The Prime Minister also reviewed the progress of works under the ambitious Namami Gange project in the stretch that is considered the most polluted. The meeting deliberated on various aspects of cleaning the river with focus on ‘swachhta’, ‘aviralta’ and ‘nirmalta’.
The Ganga is the holiest river in the sub-continent and its rejuvenation should embody a shining example of cooperative federalism, said Modi, adding that its rejuvenation has been a long-pending challenge for the country. A lot has been accomplished since his government took up the Namami Gange project in 2014 as a comprehensive initiative integrating various governmental efforts and activities to abate pollution, and conserve and rejuvenate the river, he added.
Modi emphasized that an improvement framework for nirmal Ganga would require fullest cooperation from the public at large and greater awareness through dissemination of best practices from cities situated along the banks of national rivers. Efficiency of district Ganga committees should be improved in all districts, in order to provide a effective framework for expeditious implementation of plans, he said.
The Government has set up the Clean Ganga Fund (CGF) to facilitate contributions from individuals, NRIs, corporate entities for funding Ganga rejuvenation projects. The PM also donated Rs 16.53 crore to CGF, from the amount realized from auction of the gifts he received since 2014 and the prize money of the Seoul Peace prize.
The Prime Minister urged for a holistic thinking process where Namami Gange evolves to Arth Ganga or a sustainable development model with a focus on economic activities related to Ganga.
As part of this process, farmers should be encouraged to engage in sustainable agriculture practices, including zero budget farming, planting of fruit trees and building plant nurseries on the banks of Ganga.
Priority could be given to women self help groups and ex-servicemen organizations for these programs. Such practices, along with creation of infrastructure for water sports and development of camp sites, cycling and walking tracks would help to tap the hybrid tourism potential of the river basin area- for purposes of religious as well as adventure tourism.
The income generated from encouraging eco-tourism and Ganga wildlife conservation and cruise tourism would help to generate sustainable income streams for cleaning of Ganga.
For monitoring the work progress and activities from various schemes and initiatives under Namami Gange and Arth Ganga, PM also gave directions for setting up of a digital dashboard, where data from villages and urban bodies should be monitored on a daily basis by Niti Ayog and Union Jal Shakti Ministry.
Like aspirational districts, all districts bordering Ganga should be made a focus area for monitoring efforts under Namami Gange, Modi added.
The National Ganga Council meeting was attended by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi, besides several union ministers, including Environment Minister Prakash Jawdekar, Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Dr Harshvardhan, RK Singh, Prahlad Patel, Mansukh Mandavia, Hardeep Singh Puri and many senior officers of the Central and state governments.
Meanwhile, the Union Culture Ministry has recently informed Parliament that Rs 15.13 crore was raised from the auction of mementos and gifts presented to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last five years.
In an answer to a query in Rajya Sabha, Union Culture Minister Prahlad Patel said the money had been raised during three auctions – February 18-20, 2015, January 27-April 1, 2019 and September 14-October 24, 2019. The proceeds were given to the Namami Gange project of the Union government, Patel said.”
