Jal Shakti Minister Paatil distributes water-conservation notebooks in Varanasi
Synopsis
Union Jal Shakti Minister C. R. Paatil on 31 July 2026 shared a video of schoolchildren in Varanasi receiving water-conservation graphic notebooks, with students cheering and thanking Prime Minister Modi — a grassroots push under the Jal Shakti Abhiyan campaign.
Key Takeaways
Union Jal Shakti Minister C.
Paatil posted about a notebook distribution event at Mahatma Gautam Buddha Intermediate College, Kaneri (Gangapur), Varanasi on 31 July 2026 .
Students received notebooks printed with water-conservation graphics under a Jal Shakti Ministry outreach initiative.
The event took place in Varanasi , Prime Minister Narendra Modi 's Lok Sabha constituency.
The initiative aligns with the Jal Shakti Abhiyan , launched in 2019 , which targets grassroots water conservation awareness.
Schoolchildren expressed gratitude toward PM Modi , highlighting the campaign's strategy of building awareness among younger audiences.
In Prime Minister Narendra Modi's own parliamentary constituency of Varanasi, schoolchildren at Mahatma Gautam Buddha Intermediate College, Kaneri (Gangapur) broke into cheers on Friday, 31 July 2026 — not for a holiday, but for notebooks. Union Jal Shakti Minister C. R. Paatil shared the moment on X, noting that the students received special notebooks printed with water-conservation graphics and responded by thanking the Prime Minister.
Posting in Hindi, Minister Paatil wrote: 'आदरणीय प्रधानमंत्री श्री @narendramodi जी बच्चो के बीच लोकप्रिय हैं!' — 'The honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji is popular among children!' The minister described how the notebook distribution drew enthusiastic reactions, with every child expressing gratitude toward Modi.
Notebooks as a classroom for the Ganga
The choice of Varanasi is deliberate. The city on the banks of the Ganga is not only a spiritual landmark — it is Modi's Lok Sabha seat, and the central government has made it a recurring showcase for flagship programmes. Embedding water-conservation imagery directly into school stationery is part of a broader approach the Jal Shakti Ministry has pursued since the launch of the Jal Shakti Abhiyan in 2019: push the message of water stewardship beyond policy papers and into everyday objects children actually use.Jal Shakti Abhiyan's classroom push
The Jal Shakti Abhiyan, now in its seventh year, was designed to drive water conservation and rainwater harvesting at the grassroots level. School-level awareness activities — poster competitions, pledge drives, and now graphic-printed notebooks — have become a recurring tool under the campaign, targeting younger audiences who can carry the conservation message home. Uttar Pradesh, with its dense population and heavy dependence on groundwater, sits at the centre of this effort. Whether similar distributions are planned for other districts across Uttar Pradesh will be the next indicator of how systematically the ministry is scaling this school-outreach model — and whether Varanasi was a one-off showcase or the first stop on a wider rollout.Point of View
Now in its seventh year, is visibly shifting from large-scale construction milestones toward softer, behavioural-change interventions — and schools are the preferred delivery channel. How far this model travels beyond Varanasi will reveal whether it is a replicable programme or a constituency-specific photo opportunity.
NationPress
31 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Jal Shakti Abhiyan?
The Jal Shakti Abhiyan is a national water conservation campaign launched by the Indian government in 2019 under the Jal Shakti Ministry, focused on rainwater harvesting, groundwater recharge, and building public awareness about water stewardship.
Why were notebooks with water-conservation graphics distributed in Varanasi?
The notebooks were distributed as part of the Jal Shakti Ministry's school-level outreach under the Jal Shakti Abhiyan, targeting younger audiences in Varanasi — Prime Minister Modi's parliamentary constituency — to build grassroots awareness about water conservation.
Who is C. R. Paatil?
C. R. Paatil is the Union Minister of Jal Shakti, a senior BJP leader, and former president of the BJP's Gujarat state unit.
Why is Varanasi significant for Jal Shakti programmes?
Varanasi is both a city on the banks of the Ganga and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency, making it a high-visibility location for central government programmes related to water and the river.
What do the water-conservation notebooks contain?
According to Minister Paatil's post, the notebooks distributed to students at Mahatma Gautam Buddha Intermediate College in Varanasi feature graphics related to water conservation, designed to communicate the importance of saving water in an accessible, visual format.
