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By:

Rajeev Kejriwal

26 April 2026 at 1:28:42 pm

Water Can't Wait !

Nations are often judged by the monuments they build, the highways they inaugurate or the skylines they proudly showcase. Yet history has a quieter benchmark. It asks a far simpler question: Could every citizen drink clean water without anxiety? Everything else is secondary. Civilizations have risen beside rivers and disappeared because they failed to manage them. Water has never been merely a resource. It is the first condition of life, health, productivity and dignity. A nation may postpone...

Water Can't Wait !

Nations are often judged by the monuments they build, the highways they inaugurate or the skylines they proudly showcase. Yet history has a quieter benchmark. It asks a far simpler question: Could every citizen drink clean water without anxiety? Everything else is secondary. Civilizations have risen beside rivers and disappeared because they failed to manage them. Water has never been merely a resource. It is the first condition of life, health, productivity and dignity. A nation may postpone many ambitions, but it cannot postpone water. Bharat has made meaningful progress, but the uncomfortable truth remains, that we are still building the very arteries that should have been in place decades ago. Our potable water network is still at a nascent stage, demanding not celebration, but sustained resolve. The Jal Jeevan Mission and AMRUT brought unprecedented attention to drinking water infrastructure and transformed the national conversation around water security. They infused urgency into a challenge that had long been accepted as routine. Pipes were laid, treatment plants expanded and millions gained access to tap connections. These initiatives proved that when political will aligns with administrative execution, transformative change is possible. Yet infrastructure does not mature through isolated bursts of activity. It demands continuity. Momentum, once lost, is painfully slow to regain. The recent slowdown is more than administrative; it risks pausing a national purpose. Factories reduce output, contractors hesitate, investments stall and skilled manpower disperses. Every interruption today raises the cost of catching up tomorrow. Infrastructure thrives on continuity, not episodic enthusiasm. Development cannot be switched on and off like a tap. An unfinished pipeline is not simply an engineering gap. It is a reminder that development delayed is development denied. Perhaps the larger concern lies elsewhere. Water infrastructure rarely dominates political discourse because its success is almost invisible. It quietly prevents disease, reduces healthcare costs, frees women from the burden of collecting water, improves school attendance and strengthens economic productivity. Its failures, however, are unmistakable. They appear as dry taps, contaminated supplies, tanker queues and rapidly declining groundwater reserves. The finest public infrastructure is often the one people barely notice because it never fails. We celebrate airports, bridges and expressways because they are visible symbols of progress. But clean drinking water is a deeper achievement. It is the infrastructure that protects every other investment in society. Hospitals become less burdened, schools become more effective, industries become more productive and families become more secure when safe water is available consistently. The image is simple. A pipeline resembles an artery. When it carries clean water, communities thrive. When its construction slows, development itself loses rhythm. Bharat cannot afford that pause. Climate uncertainty is increasing. Urbanisation is accelerating. Groundwater is under growing stress. Population growth, industrial demand and changing rainfall patterns will only intensify the challenge. The question is no longer whether Bharat should invest more in water infrastructure. The real question is whether it can afford not to. This is precisely the moment to intensify effort—not dilute it. What the nation needs is substantial sustained investment, concentrated administrative thrust and unequivocal political attention towards universal access to potable water. Water infrastructure should not be viewed as a periodic government programme but as a permanent national mission that transcends political cycles. The destination is visible, but the journey is unfinished. Because history will not remember how many pipelines were sanctioned, tenders awarded or projects announced. It will remember whether every citizen finally received the dignity and security of clean drinking water.
Water is not expenditure. It is one of the highest-return investments a nation can make. Every rupee invested in clean drinking water returns many times over through better health, higher productivity, stronger economic growth and greater human dignity. When Bharat secures water, it secures its future. A nation that waits for a crisis before investing in water has already waited too long. (The writer is a bilingual author with five published titles to his credit.)

Caste-based Census Sparks Nationwide Debate

Updated: Oct 22, 2024

Caste-based Census

Caste-based identities continue to dominate rural India, directly or indirectly shaping electoral outcomes. Many major elections are influenced by specific caste groups. After the Bihar government released the first phase of its caste-based socio-economic survey, the caste census became a hot topic. The results, backed by evidence, showed improvements in the living standards and social status of marginalised communities, both in cities and villages. With parties like the JDU and NCP backing a caste census, there is growing momentum for the government to conduct one. However, every story has two sides—joy and sorrow. Even Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, raised concerns about the caste census.

Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP of being “anti-Bahujan.” The clear meaning is that his father and forefather refused to execute a caste-based census, which might have far-reaching effects and even permanently fracture India’s social fabric. This may be negative for caste-based beneficiaries. The last caste census in India was conducted in 1931 by the British government. Those times were different from the present scenario. The data was made public and became the basis for the Mandal Commission Reports and reservation policies for Other Backward Classes. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has clarified that the caste-based population count data will not be used for core politics. But the agenda for politics is always twisted and expanded.

The Central Government also joined the legal debate by filing an affidavit with the Supreme Court, leaving the matter unresolved. India’s partition, rooted in the divide-and-rule strategy, is frequently cited as a cautionary tale. Including caste in official census data could further deepen social divides. This issue has become a political pressure point, with various states pushing the Centre for action. Although the Constitution uses the term “class” instead of “caste,” the Supreme Court has consistently ruled that caste is a relevant, and at times, sole or dominant criterion for defining a backward class.

After the release of caste-based census data in Bihar, discussions around conducting similar censuses have gained momentum in states like Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand. Karnataka, which has already conducted its own caste census, may release its data soon as well.

Notably, all these states are governed by anti-BJP parties. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also announced that Congress-ruled states have committed to carrying out caste censuses. Meanwhile, the BJP has remained silent on the matter, creating a significant roadblock.

Caste-based censuses focus on proportional representation in areas like jobs and education, with the argument that this will aid in targeted planning for the disadvantaged. However, the situation remains unclear, much like a foggy winter morning. The BJP’s stance on caste-based censuses and reservations seems different, as they fear the caste-based calculations could fragment their traditional Hindu voter base—an underlying concern for the party.

Professor Sanjay Kumar from The Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, says, “Let alone the BJP; no party can openly oppose it; it is not free from danger. BJP gets a large number of votes from the OBC community, their population across the country would be around 52%. Another downside is that the caste-based censuses could disrupt the balance of socio-economic zones. Data theft is a common issue in government systems, and people may feel disconnected from their actual rights.

The moot question is that if the financial status of an ST/SC/OBC or Dalit citizen moves up by a few notches, will his social status change automatically? The lifestyle of any class will only change when the income of a particular class is changed. The actual source of income is employment. The reality is that only metro cities have enough place and space for workers. Aside from the GIDC and IT sectors, less than 30% of industries have their own designated vacancy periods. After a decade, the Jamnagar and Rajkot Corporations have opened their doors to newcomers alongside experienced staff. However, age and caste bias often operate behind the scenes. It’s important to recognise that poverty is also widespread among many upper-caste individuals, and their needs cannot be overlooked. In the overall interests of the nation, terms like SC/ST/OBC, Dalits, etc. must be deleted from the nation’s vocabulary. Every citizen should have only one classification, that of being an ‘Indian’, in the spirit of the constitution.

Last year, when the Bihar government decided to conduct a caste survey in the state, the BJP was also Nitish Kumar’s partner in the state government, and it supported it. Political expert and former professor of Tata Institute of Social Science, Pushpendra Kumar, says, “It is not that the BJP does not talk about caste. It tries to reveal the caste of the Prime Minister as well. For caste politics, the BJP also tried hard to raise the issue of Pasmanda Muslims.”

(The writer is a management professional based in Ahmedabad. Views personal.)

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