Dr. Mihir Shah, Noted Professor at Shiv Nadar University Appointed Chairman of the Committee to Draft the National Water Policy

 New Delhi, Delhi, India

The Shiv Nadar University, a top multidisciplinary and research-oriented university, revealed that Dr. Mihir Shah, Distinguished Professor at the University has been appointed the Chairman of the Committee to draft the National Water Policy.

The Committee will submit the draft report within six months Dr. Shah has designed a worldwide unique Master Program in Water Science and Policy at the Centre for Public Affairs and Critical Theory (C-PACT), School of Humanities and Social Sciences (SoHSS) at Shiv Nadar University    The committee founded by the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Government of India will draft the new National Water Policy (NWP) for the nation. The committee consisting of members including Dr. Shah will draft the National Water Policy (NWP) and will submit this to the government within six months from the date of its formation. The members of the committee consist of:   Dr. Mihir Shah, Distinguished Professor, Shiv Nadar University Shashi Shekhar, former Secretary, Water Resources, Government of India Dr. R.C. Panda, former secretary, Government of India A.B. Pandya, former chairman of the Centre Water Commission (CWC) Prof. Tushaar Shah, International Water Management Institute (IWMI) Prof. Anamika Barua, IIT Guwahati Dr. Himanshu Kulkarni, Advanced Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (ACWADAM), Pune Srinivas Chokkakula, Centre of Policy Research B Rath, Technical Expert (Water Management), National Rainfed Area Authority, Development of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare, Brijesh Sikka, Retd. Scientist ‘G’, National River Conservation Directorate  Prof K.J. Joy, Senior Fellow, Society of promoting Participative Ecosystem Management (SOPPECOM)   It may be noted that Dr. Shah was fundamentally responsible for drafting the paradigm shift in the management of India’s water resources as stated in the 12th Five Year Plan, during his term as Member, Planning Commission, Government of India from 2009 to 2014. In 2015, In a significant continuity of governance, the Government of India appointed Dr. Shah to Chair a Committee for Restructuring the Central Water Commission and Central Ground Water Board. The report of the Committee recommended drastic changes in the architecture of water governance in India. Dr. Mihir Shah, Distinguished Professor & Chair, Water Science and Policy Program Department of Center for Public Affairs and Critical Theory (C-PACT), School of Humanities and Social Sciences (SoHSS) at Shiv Nadar University observed, “It is both an honour and a privilege to head the Committee to draft the National Water Policy. The fact that the Government recognises the need to revise the NWP shows the significance it attaches to reforms in the water sector, which are both long overdue and also critical to the lives and livelihoods of India’s people but also to the very integrity of India’s growth process.” Giving details about the procedure being adopted by his Committee, Dr. Shah observed, “It is our endeavour to hold wide ranging consultations with all primary stakeholders, be they State Governments, academia, civil society, industry, farmer’s representatives etc. The consultations so far have revealed how strongly all stakeholders feel about the need for radical reforms in the water sector and the incredible consensus that seems to be emerging around the broad contours of this reform towards greater democratisation, multi-disciplinarity and the need to break down silos into which we have divided water.” About Shiv Nadar University, National Capital Region (NCR) Shiv Nadar University, a Shiv Nadar Foundation endeavour, is a multidisciplinary, student-oriented, research-concentrated university providing a broad array of academic programs at the undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral level. Shiv Nadar University’s multidisciplinary curriculum furnishes students with a robust foundation in disciplines in the humanities and social sciences, natural sciences, technology and engineering studies, communications and management, while permitting them to obtain mastery of a subject of their preference. Taught by world-class faculty, undergraduate education at the University is targeted to provide students with the breadth of vision, knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to flourish in the careers of the 21st century. Situated on a 265-acre campus in India's National Capital Region, Shiv Nadar University is a private philanthropic institution founded in 2011 via an act of the State of Uttar Pradesh. About Shiv Nadar Foundation The Shiv Nadar Foundation has been founded by Shiv Nadar, Founder, HCL - a $9.3 billion top technology and healthcare enterprise. The Foundation’s objective is to contribute to the procedure of countrywide advancement and social transformation by establishing institutions and undertaking novel efforts in the spheres of education and culture.  The Foundation is dedicated to the formation of a more equitable, merit-based society by empowering individuals to bridge the socio-economic divide through philanthropy based transformational education. The Foundation founded the SSN Institutions in 1996, consisting of the SSN College of Engineering (already a key private engineering college in India), in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The Foundation has also founded VidyaGyan, a residential leadership academy for bright rural children, at Bulandshar and Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh. In addition, the Foundation runs the Shiv Nadar University, a global multidisciplinary university with robust research orientation situated in Greater Noida in India’s National Capital Region and the Shiv Nadar School, a network of advance urban schools across India targeted to furnish children with education that creates lifelong learners. The Foundation has also founded the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, India’s biggest private philanthropic museum in modern and contemporary art with the view to take art to the general public. By ANJISHNU BISWAS