Telangana government’s giant initiative can be a role model for other States in addressing drinking water crisis, said NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr Arvind Panagariya. He  said that the Aayog will request the Centre to offer funds for the Mission Baghiradha, launched by the Telangana government to provide potable water to every household.

"Drinking water to all is the policy we are looking at. We will sit with the Centre and discuss the policy framework," Panagariya said. "Policy will not allow the Centre to allocate funds to a particular scheme of a state. When 'drinking water to all' is implemented, the Centre will allocate funds to all states under the policy and Telangana will also benefit," the Niti Aayog vice-chairman said.

"The state governments have agreed not to link the poverty line with the process of identifying the poor. It is to be used to track poverty, to study how a person has fared during a particular period - whether he has come above from the below poverty line or not," Panagariya said.

Replying to a query, Pangariya said that the Aayog is working on a policy on loss-making PSUs to see whether the sick units are to be closed or restructured. He said while works on disinvestment are underway, he hoped to speed up the process.

By Premji