UP Jal Nigam ties up with IIM Indore, IIT Kanpur for rural water

The Story in Brief

Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam (Rural) has partnered with IIM Indore and IIT Kanpur to modernise rural water supply and sanitation. Anurag Srivastava, Additional Chief Secretary, said the collaborations will embed modern management, technology and monitoring systems, building on Jal Jeevan Mission gains that have reached over 2.51 crore rural households with tap connections. An AI-enabled decision-support framework is being developed with IIT Kanpur's AIRAWAT Research Foundation, covering data management, grievance redressal, and later groundwater sustainability and water-quality monitoring.

The three-year IIM Indore MoU strengthens UPJN(R)'s Technology and Innovation Cell through training, behavioural-change communication and financial strategy. Two studies were approved: a financial management review and a cadre assessment, addressing a manpower structure that has not kept pace with a fifty-fold workload increase. Managing Director Raj Shekhar said the partnerships aim for a technology-enabled, financially sustainable model of service delivery.