About the talk
The talk was the first in outlining the challenges of everyday praxis of interstate river water governance in India. Mr Mahajan submitted that “[Rajasthan] has not received the priority it deserves, despite the high degree of water scarcity it endures.” With over ten percent of India’s landmass and just one percent of India’s surface water to contend with, Rajasthan is a water-scarce state. To compound matters, it lies at the tail-end of interstate rivers. Despite advances in modern technology, the releases of water are still wrapped in a cloak of opacity either by design or by neglect. Projects to enable access to its allocated share are stalled, and delays are inordinately long. The talk witnessed a plea for effective instruments with requisite autonomy and neutrality to ensure equitable and sustainable access to a state’s rightful share of scarce water resources.
About the speaker
Naveen Mahajan is an IAS officer of 1997 batch belonging to Rajasthan cadre ¤tly holds the position of Secretary, Water Resources in the state. He has wide and varied administrative experience of handling challenges at the grassroots level. He has been District Collector of six districts for a decade including Ajmer, Jodhpur& Jaipur where he has been pivotal in launching field level initiatives. He has been felicitated by the Prime Minister for his pioneering work in MGNREGA in Ajmer & has been given the State Award as well. With his stints in prestigious Finance & Urban Infrastructure departments, he brings valuable contributions to policy making at the State level.