75th year - Central Water Commission

Source: Website of Central water Commision

Recently the Central Water Commission has entered into 75th year of its service to the nation.

Background

CWC (erstwhile Central Waterways, Irrigation and Navigation Commission) was established in 1945 by the Government on the advice of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Member (Labour) in Viceroy’s Executive Council.
The credit for the establishment of CWINC is attributed to Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, under whose able guidance the then Labour Department constituted the Commission. He not only raised the concept and argued for the necessity of having such a technical body at the Centre but also laid down its objectives, organisational structure and programme.
The final proposal for establishment of CWINC was prepared by the Department with the help of Rai Bahadur A.N. Khosla, the Consulting Engineer for Irrigation. Dr. Khosla was subsequently appointed as founder Chairman of the CWINC.

About Central Water Commission

It is a premier Technical Organization of India in the field of Water Resources and is presently functioning as an attached office of the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Government of India
The Commission is entrusted with the general responsibilities of initiating, coordinating and furthering in consultation of the State Governments concerned, schemes for control, conservation and utilization of water resources throughout the country, for the purpose of Flood Control, Irrigation, Navigation, Drinking Water Supply and Water Power Development.
The commission also undertakes the investigations, construction and execution of any such schemes as required.

Composition:

Central Water Commission CWC is headed by a Chairman, with the status of Ex-Officio Secretary to the Government of India.
The work of the Commission is divided among 3 wings namely,

Each wing is placed under the charge of a full-time Member with the status of Ex-Officio Additional Secretary to the Government of India and comprising of number of Organizations responsible for the disposal of tasks and duties falling within their assigned scope of functions.
A separate Human Resources Management Unit headed by a Chief Engineer, deals with Human Resources Management or Development, Financial Management, Training and Administrative matters of the CWC.
National Water Academy located at Pune is responsible for training of Central and State in-service engineers and it functions directly under the guidance of Chairman.
Altogether there are Nineteen organizations located at headquarters in New Delhi and thirteen organizations spread over various locations in India