With a score of 6.85 out of 10, Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has become one of the top performing ministers of the Modi cabinet, as per the IANS-CVoter Survey published on Sunday.Incidentally, the ranking of 6.85 scored by the NDA voters putting him on the 10th spot out of 15 is complimented by Opposition voters who have given him 5.77 out of 10 but put him on the 8th spot out of 15.Among the social groups, Shekhawat was popular among the Sikhs, who gave him a 7.47 score, making him the third popular minister in that bracket. Similarly, with a score of 7.37, he ranked second in the group that had non-formal education.
To no one's particular surprise, the Jal Shakti Minister turned out to be the most popular among housewives (with a score of 7.59 out of 10), as if it is a validation of his performance, the rankings come a day after the government announced that 50 per cent rural households have access to tap water connections under the ambitious Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) that has aimed at providing water to all rural households in five years since August 2019 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced it from the ramparts of Red Fort on the Independence Day that year.Women and girls in the rural households have suffered from the century old drudgery of walking long distances in scorching heat, rain or snow in search of water and the Prime Minister had declared to save them from this toil with a tap bringing potable water to their doorstep.
Shekhawat, as a true lieutenant, has worked to make this dream a reality and that is reflected in his popularity amongst the women voters.In a move to attain 'Gram Swarajya', the dream of Mahatma Gandhi, Jal Jeevan Mission aims to empower the Panchayati Raj Institutions and communities by engaging them in water supply schemes from the very beginning. "Over 9.59 crore rural households spread across states/ UTs are getting water within their premises," it was announced in 2019.The Survey has been conducted on the completion of eight years of the NDA government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Centre.