Guwahati, (Samajweekly) The Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati (IIT-G) has established the ‘Chair of Jal Jeevan Mission for Water Treatment Technology’ to carry out high-quality empirical and applied research in the rural drinking water and sanitation sector.
The IIT-G sources said that the objective to establish the ‘Chair of Jal Jeevan Mission’ is to address sectoral challenges and facilitate the achievement of ‘Har Ghar Jal’ and ‘ODF (Open Defecation Free) Plus’ in rural India.
The Jal Jeevan Mission – Professor Chairs are established by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation under the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti and New Delhi-based National Jal Jeevan Mission (NJJM) in reputed academic institutions to carry out high-quality empirical and applied research in the rural drinking water and sanitation sector, a statement of the IITG said.
It is intended to establish five Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM)-Professor Chairs in Institutions of repute such as Indian Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Management, social sciences academic-cum-research institutions and national institutions having research experience relevant to the needs of the water and sanitation sector.
The statement said that the Institute has appointed Prof Mihir Kumar Purkait, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Guwahati as the first occupant of this Chair. The tenure of the Professor Chair will be five years.
Prof. Purkait has a portfolio of diverse innovations and developments in basic and applied research.
Highlighting IIT Guwahati’s track record on water-related research and its capabilities, Prof. T.G. Sitharam, Director, IIT-G, said: “The supply of contaminant-free drinking water to rural areas is a priority for Central and all state governments, including Assam. The technology adopted here might be useful to the citizens both in rural and urban areas for getting contaminant-free drinking water.”
He expressed his happiness that the NJJM has established a Professor Chair on water treatment technology at IIT Guwahati.
The JJM-Professor Chair will work in coordination with the State Water and Sanitation/ Rural Water Supply, Public Health Engineering Departments and the State and District Water and Sanitation Missions.
It will focus on capacity building and maintaining a balance among capacity building, outreach, academic programme, and educational activity, and research in-focus areas of the institute, the statement said.
The Jal Jeevan Mission was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15, 2019 from the ramparts of the Red Fort aiming to enable every rural household to have a Functional Household Tap Connection by 2024.
