India showcases community-led water security at World Water Week 2026

The Centre has issued a directive to states and Union territories to integrate drinking water source sustainability, greywater management and sanitation works with the VB-G RAM G rural employment guarantee scheme. According to reports from Business Standard and PTI, the directive was issued earlier this month through a joint letter by the Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Ministry of Rural Development. The framework promotes convergence between employment generation, livelihoods, natural-resource management and the creation of durable community assets through participatory planning. As per PTI, the directive aims to ensure convergence of resources for water security and sanitation, strengthening rural drinking water security and improving ecological sustainability, climate resilience and quality of life of rural communities.

India showcased its comprehensive digital and geospatial technologies for planning and monitoring rural water interventions at World Water Week 2026. According to The Hindu BusinessLine, the ministry highlighted Yuktdhara, which uses GIS and remote sensing for geospatial planning of rural development and natural-resource management works. E-Jal supports water budgeting at the Gram Panchayat level using information on water resources, rainfall, groundwater and population. E-Saksham supports capacity building and knowledge dissemination, while VBGRAMG Soft, SECURE and BhuGRAM enable implementation tracking, financial management, monitoring and transparency across rural development programmes. The ministry emphasised that Gram Panchayats, Village Water and Sanitation Committees and local communities play crucial roles in planning, implementing, operating and maintaining water-related infrastructure.

The ministries directed that drinking water source sustainability works under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) 2.0, greywater management interventions and sanitation works under Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) 2.0 be integrated into Viksit Gram Panchayat Plans (VGPPs) under the appropriate thematic categories of the Act. According to PTI, states were asked to give priority to groundwater recharge, rainwater harvesting, rejuvenation of water bodies, watershed development, check dams, recharge structures, spring-shed management and other decentralised water conservation measures, particularly in water-stressed areas. The joint advisory issued on June 18 advised states and UTs to accord the highest priority to water-related works under the VB-G RAM G Act, with minimum expenditure requirements of 65 per cent in over-exploited and critical blocks, 40 per cent in semi-critical blocks and 30 per cent in safe blocks.

The ministry highlighted Water Vision @2047, aligned with the broader Viksit Bharat @2047 framework, as an approach focused on integrated water-security planning, technology-enabled decision-making, water conservation and harvesting, and climate-resilient rural development. According to The Hindu BusinessLine, the ministry emphasised community participation, social accountability and digital monitoring as components of its approach to water investments. The discussion at World Water Week brought together ministers, multilateral development banks, climate-finance institutions and development partners to examine ways to strengthen investment in water resilience and advance the Sustainable Development Goal related to water. The Jal Jeevan Mission focuses on access to safe drinking water in rural areas, while the National Initiative on Water Security (NIWS) supports investments in water conservation, groundwater recharge, water harvesting and related water-security assets.