The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti, held its first national virtual conference with states and union territories to build a skilled workforce for rural water systems. The meeting follows up on an earlier departmental summit and focuses on how to keep drinking water infrastructure working properly in villages under Jal Jeevan Mission 2.0.
The conference brought together officials from state water boards, engineering departments, skill development missions, rural development bodies and panchayat institutions to discuss workforce planning and training needs.
What the government is doing
Two main programmes were outlined:
- Nal Jal Mitra: A National Skills Qualification Framework-aligned programme to train village-level technicians in operating and maintaining rural water supply systems. It covers pumps, pipelines, treatment systems and electrical work. The training comes in two forms: a 510-hour course for new entrants and a 120-hour recognition programme for people already working in water supply, plumbing or electrical work.
- Sujalam Shakti: A women-focused initiative to train approximately 1.35 to 1.70 lakh women in water quality testing, basic disinfection, field sampling and reporting. The training is based on a Level-2 qualification and will be delivered through rural livelihood missions, panchayats and self-employment training institutes.
The government estimates that over 13 lakh personnel will be needed in coming years to run and maintain rural water infrastructure across the country. States have been given deadlines to decide on course adoption by 15 October 2026, identify training partners, assess workforce gaps at district level, and plan their skilling targets with skill development missions.
What this means for you
Rural youth and women now have structured pathways to gain recognised qualifications in water supply management and quality testing, creating local employment opportunities. Villages will have trained technicians to keep drinking water systems running reliably. States must now map their actual workforce needs and begin training programmes to fill the gap between current staff and future requirements.