The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation under the Ministry of Jal Shakti is set to hold the second edition of Sujal Gram Samvad on 19 December 2025, aimed at strengthening grassroots water governance through direct engagement with rural communities.

The multilingual interaction will be chaired by C R Patil, Union Minister for Jal Shakti, along with V Somanna, and will be conducted via video conferencing. The initiative enables beneficiaries and village representatives to share on-ground experiences of the Har Ghar Jal programme in their regional languages.

Sujal Gram Samvad has been designed as a direct dialogue platform between policymakers and the grassroots, encouraging participation from sarpanchs, gram panchayat functionaries, Village Water and Sanitation Committee members, women’s groups, students and community leaders. The first edition, held recently, covered 12 States and Union Territories in 12 languages.

The second edition will focus on villages across eight states—Assam, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Karnataka, Jammu & Kashmir and Maharashtra. Officials and consultants proficient in local dialects have been mapped to ensure effective communication and meaningful engagement during the discussions.

The initiative is expected to further empower villages, strengthen community ownership of water resources and support the long-term sustainability of rural drinking water systems.