Central Water Commission (CWC)

Important government bodies and agencies are a potential source of questions in the UPSC exam. In this article, you can read about the Central Water Commission or CWC for the IAS exam.

Central Water Commission – Latest update – 

The Central Water Commission – CWC has entered the 75th year of its foundation and organized several seminars, workshops & other activities to celebrate the same.

Students preparing for UPSC 2023 and other Government Exams must be aware of this topic. 

Central Water Commission – Overview

1. CWC was earlier known as Central Waterways, Irrigation and Navigation Commission i.e. CWINC.
2. It was established in 1945 by the Government on the advice of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Member (Labour) in Viceroy’s Executive Council.
3. 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, organizational structure, and program. The final proposal for the establishment of CWINC was prepared by the Department with the help of Rai Bahadur A.N. Khosla, the Consulting Engineer for Irrigation.
4. The CWC is headed by a Chairman, with the status of Ex-Officio Secretary to the Government of India. Dr. Khosla was subsequently appointed as founder Chairman of the CWINC.
5. The organization currently functions as an office attached to the Ministry of Jal Shakti, under the Department of Water Resources, River Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation. Know in detail about the Jal Shakti Ministry on the given link.
6. The work of the Commission is divided among 3 wings namely – Designs and Research (D&R) Wing, River Management (RM) Wing and Water Planning and Projects (WP&P) Wing.

Aspirants preparing for Civil Services exam can go through other such bodies on the links provided below-

1. Types of Constitutional Bodies
2. Constitutional, Statutory and Quasi-Judicial Bodies

Central Water Commission – Roles

1. The Central Water Commission of India has the responsibility of initiation and coordination of schemes introduced by the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
2. They include schemes that are founded to conserve as well as control the water resource usage in the country and the States.
3. The schemes launched also help in the fields of flood management, irrigation activities, drinking water supply, hydroelectricity generation, etc.
4. The CWC will consult the state government and central government where required.

Candidates can know about relevant commissions of India for comprehensive preparation –

Central Water Commission Functions

The commission is also vested with the responsibilities of:

Read about Flood Control and Management

CWC Wings

CWC is divided into three specialized wings. They are:

With the financial assistance from the World Bank, the Central Water Commission is managing Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) to rehabilitate about 225 dams in India.

Central Water Commission:- Download PDF Here

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