Shri Pawan Kumar Bansal assumed the charge as the new Minister of Water Resources here today at Shram Shakti Bhawan. Yesterday the Prime Minister had brought about some changes in his Council of Ministers and also some changes in the portfolios of some Ministers under which Shri Pawan Kumar Bansal has again been assigned this charge, in addition to being the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs. He had earlier also held the charge of the Ministry of Water Resources during 14 June 2009 to 18 January 2011.After taking over the charge, Shri Bansal said that his priorities in office will include finalization of the new National Water Policy by 31st March 2012. He said that lot of preparatory work has already been done in this direction including detailed discussion with the academia, NGOs and social groups; now the discussion will take place with the Panchayati Raj institutions.
Further, Shri Bansal said that it will be his priority to enhance the efficiency of water usage in the country, particularly with respect to crop irrigation. Regarding interlinking of rivers, he said the Ministry will take forward the Ken- Betwa link to which the Governments of U.P. and M.P. have given their assent.