Water Security Departmental Summit, Jal **Jeevan Mission **2.0 and the New Cooperative-Federalism Model Category: Governance, Water Resources, Rural Development and Environment | GS: GS Paper II, GS Paper III | Date: 2 September 2026
WHY IN NEWS
- The Ministry of Jal Shakti's two-day Departmental Summit on 1 - 2 September 2026 became the first in a proposed series of sectoral Centre-State summits designed to convert cooperative federalism into time-bound implementation.
- The summit focused on timely completion of water infrastructure, Jal Sanchay Jan BhaGIdari, drinking-water source sustainability and Jal **Jeevan Mission **2.0.
- The significance is not merely another conference: it attempts to link political leadership, officials, State-specific constraints, measurable actions and shared accountability.
- For UPSC, the theme connects federalism, local government, public health, groundwater, climate adaptation, women, rural service delivery, behavioural change and outcome-based governance.
TOP DATA & FACTS FOR UPSC
- Departmental Summit held on 1 - 2 September 2026 at Sushma Swaraj Bhawan, New Delhi.
- It is the first in a proposed series of Departmental Summit s built around Team India and cooperative federalism.
- Four core areas: timely water-infrastructure implementation
- Jal Sanchay Jan BhaGIdari
- drinking-water source sustainability
- Jal **Jeevan Mission **2.0.
- Jal **Jeevan Mission **was launched in 2019 to provide functional household tap connections to rural households.
- India receives highly seasonal rainfall
- the monsoon supplies the overwhelming share of annual precipitation in a few months, creating simultaneous flood and scarcity risks.
- groundwater is central to India's drinking-water and irrigation systems, making aquifer recharge and demand management essential.
- Water is a State subject in the Seventh Schedule, while the Union plays major roles through inter-State rivers, financing, standards, national missions and environmental regulation.