Aamir Khan & Kiran Rao’s Paani Foundation announces ‘Satyamev Jayate Water Cup’

After receiving humongous success, love and appreciation for the three seasons of Satyamev Jayate, the team of Satyamev Jayate brings to you ‘Paani Foundation’ started by Aamir Khan and his wife Kiran Rao.

Helmed by Satyajit Bhatkal (CEO, Paani Foundation) and Ms. Reena Dutta (COO, Paani Foundation), Paani Foundation is a Not-For-Profit company, whose main objective is to communicate, impart knowledge and bring about a change in outlook among people at the grass root level about water conservation and watershed management.

Paani Foundation will work in association with the Government of Maharashtra to work towards solving the water crisis in the State of Maharashtra.

Today’s press conference is to announce the ‘Satyamev Jayate Water Cup’. The aim of the Satyamev Jayate Water Cup is to create a people’s movement for a better future. It is the first step in a longer journey of trying to solve the water problem of Maharashtra. It will also act as an opportunity for the Paani Foundation team to learn along with the villagers.

The Satyamev Jayate Water Cup

1. Location:

The first edition of the Water Cup will be restricted to three districts and within those three districts, in one taluka each. The talukas are :

1.Koregaon Taluka, in Satara District (Western Maharashtra)

1. Warud Taluka, in Amravati District (Vidarbha)
2. Ambajogai Taluka, in Beed District (Marathwada)

Within these three talukas, all gram panchayats will be invited to take part. The emphasis is therefore on self-selection rather than selection by the Paani Foundation or the Government.

It is a pilot which will enable us to scale up and conduct the cup on a much larger scale as we go along.

Process Flow and Schedule:

1. • Letters will be written by Paani Foundation to every graam panchayat in the selected talukas inviting them to participate in the contest.
   • The contest will also be publicized using local cable networks, local newspapers, social media, digital media and posters.
   • Gram panchayats can confirm their participation in the contest by Post or send an e-mail. The Resolution of the panchayat must be ratified by the Gram Sabha.
   • The last date for applications is 7th March, 2016.
   • An additional condition for participation is that every participating village must, through the Panchayat, nominate 5 members who will be sent for training for the contest. Villages will be encouraged to send at least two youth and two women. The training will be free of cost but will have no stipend. The failure of a village to send 5 persons for training will disqualify the village from the contest.
   • Paani Foundation will provide a four day residential training for groups of 30 villagers at a time. The training will be in field schools located in villages that have successfully carried out watershed management. Each participating village will send 5 villagers for training. The training will be provided from 15th March to 15 April 2016.
   • The contest will be for a specific time period of 45 days between 15th April and 31st May.
   • All participating villages will have access to a project co-ordinator from Paani Foundation and a technical expert from WOTR who are the knowledge partners for this Water Cup. The project co-ordinator will help the villages make a water plan, a water budget, access funds, access government help and technical help.
   • After 1st June, the contesting villages will be evaluated by experts to see the quantity and quality of watershed management work done as also efforts to conserve water.
   • The first prize is Rs 50 lacs, second is Rs 30 lacs and the third prize is Rs 20 lacs.

However in a sense every village will be a winner.

The Advisory Board of Paani Foundation consists of :

Mr. Ratan Tata
Mr. Mukesh Ambani
Ms. Nita Ambani
Mr. Sachin Tendulkar
Mr. Deepak Parekh
Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla
Mr. Baba Kalyani
Mr. Amit Kalyani
Ms. Anu Aga
Mr. Rajiv Bajaj
Dr. Avinash Pol
Shri Popatrao Pawar
Ms. Svati Chakravarty
Mr. Atul Kulkarni
Mr. Rajkumar Hirani

The Directors of the company are Rajiv Luthra, Anand Desai, and B.Shrinivas Rao.

Check out the entire event video below:

https://youtu.be/zVXzFAk7Xys

Also Read: AAMIR KHAN: ‘MAKE IN INDIA’ CULTURAL SHOW FIRE MOST UNFORTUNATE

Amod Pandit

Quiet, resonant, and creative, he can be seen immersed in his own world, and puts in his heart and soul into the one passion that he has, Bollywood. His line for survival? Feel happy to be a part of it.