Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Sushri Uma Bharti has said that school students can play a major role in spreading the message of water conservation and pollution control of rivers. Speaking at the sixth National Painting Competition on Water Conservation and Pollution held in New Delhi today the Minister said painting competitions on water conservation bring out innovative ideas for depicting the water stressed situation of our country and various possible solutions for judicious water management including its conservation and prevention of contamination. The Minister expressed her happiness at the wide range of innovative ideas expressed through the paintings by the young children, which, she said would guide the Ministry in taking appropriate action for ensuring safe and sustainable water for the future.
She said the beautiful ideas presented by the children in their painting will motivate others in conservation and judicious utilisation of water. The Minister said “Conservation of water, which is important to all of us, needs to become a way of life for children so that they grow up as water literate and water conscious citizens”. Sushri Bharti expressed the hope that the students taking part in the competition will be instrumental in spreading the message of conservation and judicious management of water in their schools, communities and society at large. She called upon the students, their parents as well as teachers to join hands in creating public awareness on water conservation and protection of water resources.The Minister presented first prize of Rs. 50,000 to Kumari Ayesha Patanaik (Odisha), Two second prizes of Rs. 25, 000 each to Master Suraj Chaudhari (Goa) and Master V Hemchandran (Puducherry) and three third prizes of Rs. 10,000 each to Kumari Bidipta Deb (Tripura), Kumari G Emora Mercy (Tamil Nadu) and Kumari Neha Sharma (Haryana). The Minister also presented consolation prizes of Rs. 5,000 each to another 24 participants.
The National Painting Competition is organised annually by Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation for the students of class VI, VII and VIII as part of the information, education and communication schemes of the Ministry. The competition which is being held annually since 2010, is held in three stages i.e. School, State and National level. This year, more than 14 lakh students from about 17,000 schools in the country participated in the school level painting competitions with the theme “Care for Water –Secure the Future”. Out of these, 50 students shortlisted by experts from each State/UT were invited to participate in the State level painting competitions organised during January 2016, mostly along banks of rivers on the theme “Protect Ground Water and Rivers form Pollution”. First prize winner from every state participated in today’s National Level Competition.Special Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Dr Amarjit Singh and Chairman, CGWB, Shri KB Biswas also spoke on the occasion.