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New Delhi : G Asok Kumar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Jal Shakti, took over as the new Director General, the National Mission for Clean Ganga, (NMCG) Ministry of Jal Shakti. He belongs to the Indian Administrative Services, Telangana Cadre 1991 batch. In the past, he has held several important positions such as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, and Director in the Ministry of Power. He has also served as the Executive Director, Projects, in National Mission for Clean Ganga.
Kumar has worked extensively in the water sector. Before joining NMCG, he served as the Mission Director for National Water Mission where his inspiring work in “Jal Shakthi Abhiyan: Catch the Rain” campaign led to the sanction of over 9.5 lakh water conservation and rainwater harvesting structures all over India. This resulted in him receiving the popular moniker – “the Rain Man of India”. He also spearheaded several innovative initiatives such as the monthly “Water Talks” and “Water Tech Talks”, preparation of water budgets for all states, water audit of various industrial sector units and irrigation projects, to improve the water use efficiency, etc, according to a PIB release.
Additionally, as the District Collector in 2002, he supported the construction of over 0.14 million household toilets in 1,000 schools in Nizamabad District and was responsible for providing drinking water supply to over 3 million people in Hyderabad in 2008.
Kumar is also the recipient of several awards such as the SKOCH Award for Public Services 2021, Jal-Mitra award from the Government of Andhra Pradesh, and the first Telangana Excellence Award by the Government of Telangana for outstanding work done in Public Administration.