People First: How Odisha’s Drink from Tap Mission Quenched Every Thirst

Every year scores of people all over the world die from waterborne diseases caused by lack of accessto clean drinking water.<br><br>In this background and in a country as large as India can anyone even think of drinking waterdirectly from a tap? The answer is likely to be a resounding ‘No’. <br><br>However one state in India has achieved this seemingly impossible feat—Odisha. From the time whenthe state was infamous for drought and poverty it is now providing international standard drinkingwater to lakhs of homes in different parts of the state with an aim to do so for every household. <br><br>G. Mathi Vathanan a career bureaucrat has led the Odisha government’s revolutionary <i>Drink from Tap</i> mission. Pure drinking water is now available round-the-clock in every home in Odisha’s <i>Drink from Tap</i> cities. <br><br>Ground-breaking reforms backed by strong political and administrative commitment have proved thatthere is no need to privatize if governments have the will to change with a ‘people first’ approach.The success of Odisha’s public water supply management model has been recognized internationallyand many other states and cities are now replicating it. <br><br><i>People First</i> provides a robust blueprint and a step-by-step guide to the much-awarded <i>Drink from Tap</i> initiative.