Government will ensure clean, adequate drinking water for all: Ram Kripal Yadav

NEW DELHI: The government today said it will ensure supply of clean and adequate drinking water to all rural areas of the country.

Ram Kripal Yadav, who took over as the Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation today, said addressing the issue of arsenic and fluoride-- two major groundwater pollutants--in states like Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar will be one of the key priorities of his ministry.

"This is a big challenge. Everybody should get clean drinking water," he told reporters immediately after assuming charge of the ministry.

Noting that rural drinking water supply is a state subject, Yadav said the Centre will provide financial and technical support to supplement the efforts of states to provide adequate drinking water to the rural population of the country.

Yadav said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Drinking Water and Sanitation Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh and all in the government are concerned about the quality of drinking water available in some parts of the country.

Steps would be taken to provide clean drinking water to all, he said.

Yadav assumed charge in the presence of Birender Singh at his Krishi Bhavan office here.