SHANTA KUMAR FAVOURS SETTING UP OF NATIONAL CENTRE ON DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION

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The Rural Development Minister Shri Shanta Kumar has favoured setting up of a national resource center on drinking water and sanitation. The resource center can facilitate information and knowledge sharing in this sector in India utilizing the technical expertise of IRC, Netherlands and Water, Engineering and Development Centre (WEDC), Leicestershire in England. The Minister was speaking after visiting WEDC, Leicestershire yesterday. He said, WEDC could also be involved in organizing training courses for capacity development of Panchayati Raj Institutions.

Shri Shanta Kumar was briefed about the activities of WEDC by its Director Mr. Ian Smout and Mr. Ian Curtis, Senior Advisor Infrastructure and Environment, DFID, UK. WEDC has been working on education, training, research and development of infrastructure, especially related to water and sanitation sector in developing countries. They also briefed the Minister regarding the technical support extended to urban and rural, water and sanitation programme in India.

Shri Shanta Kumar thanked the British Government for supporting various projects in water and sanitation sector in India and expressed the hope that such cooperation will get further boost and new areas of cooperation will also be explored. He felt, British assistance could be of help in tackling water problems in hilly regions of the country. The Minister also gave a brief overview of the major reform initiatives launched in water and sanitation sector. He said, the government believes that the management of such facilities should lay with the community.