<span style="color: #222222;">Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has reiterated the NDA Government's commitment to provide clean drinking water to all by 2024. <br />''<br />''Replying to a short duration discussion in the Rajya Sabha on the challenges of water crisis in the country, the Minister stressed the need to have a holistic approach to address the water problem in the country. He said the country has a tradition of saving ground water and conserving it. <br />''<br />''The Minister said that there is a need to create more awareness about individual efforts in this direction instead of only focusing on Government's initiatives. Mr. Shekhawat expressed concern over the decreasing level of ground water in several parts of the country. He said, till the 1st of June this year, the country had 43% deficit of rainfall, which is affecting the states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Telangana. <br />''<br />''The Minister also urged the members to spend funds from MPLADS to address the water crisis.<br />''<br />''Earlier, participating in the debate, R Vaithilingam of AIADMK, Manas Ranjan Bhunia of TMC, TK Rangarajan of CPI(M), D Raja of CPI, Anil Desai of Shiv Sena, Manoj Jha of RJD, Om Prakash Mathur of BJP and others expressed concern over the water crisis. The Members also emphasized the need for more concrete efforts to address the challenge.</span>