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Paani Foundation, an initiative to make Maharashtra drought free, today officially announced the launch of the third edition of the coveted Satyamev Jayate Water Cup 2018.



After receiving an overwhelming response in 2016 and 2017 from the people of Maharashtra, Paani Foundation today announced the launch of the Satyamev Jayate Water Cup, 2018. Senior industrialists like Mr. Ratan Tata, Mr. Mukesh Ambani, Mr. Shantilal Mutha, and President of the Jain Seva Sangh, State minister Jaikumar Raval, Mr. Satyajit Bhatkal, CEO, Paani Foundation and Dr. Avinash Pol were present at the launch of the Water Cup. The launch was done at the hands of Honorable Chief Minister of Maharashtra Shri. Devendra Fadnavis.



On the occasion Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “Maharashtra would be drought free by 2019 because of measures undertaken by the state government and responsible citizen like Aamir Khan and his unique initiative like Paani Foundation. Paani Foundation’s work in the field of water conservation and watershed management has indeed been a major contributing factor towards water conservation in Maharashtra. Paani Foundation demonstrates a unique symbiosis between people from Bollywood & Corporate World. It’s just not an initiative but a people’s movement which clearly shows that water conservation can be done without building huge dams. For transformation people’s participation is the key and driving force and that’s what Paani Foundation has managed to do through Satyamev Jayate Water Cup.”



Mr. Aamir Khan, Founder, Paani foundation said, "This year is an opportunity and a great challenge in front of us. Increase in number of villages and mass participation has put a lot of onus on us to deliver. While it is a challenge, it's also provides all of us a great opportunity to prove our mettle. If we manage to achieve what we intend to it'll give a major boost to our efforts to make Maharashtra drought-free and once again reiterate our commitment to the cause.”



Paani Foundation is an initiative set up by Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao. It has been working since the year 2016 to create a people’s movement for drought-free Maharashtra. This year the competition tenure for Satyamev Jayate Water Cup is from 8th April to 22nd May 2018. The top three villages will get a cash prize of Rs. 75 lakhs, Rs. 50 lakhs and Rs. 40 lakhs respectively. In addition, the top village from each taluka will get a cash prize of Rs. 10 lakhs. The total prize money which the villages stand to win in the competition is nearly Rs. 10 crores.



Satyamev Jayate Water Cup is a competition between different villages to see who can do the best work for watershed management and water conservation in the period of the competition. As part of the competition, Paani Foundation will train the villagers in the science of watershed development. These villagers will then participate in the Satyamev Jayate Water Cup. The 45-day long competition involves ‘Shramdan,’ (voluntary labour) in building important structures and thus, water storage capacities. Every revenue village in the selected talukas is eligible to participate. Participation is based on self-selection and the application form needs to be sent by the Gram Panchayat.



A total of 1,321 villages from 30 talukas took part in the second edition of Satyamev Jayate Water Cup competition and created water storage potential of 8,361 crore litres of water! A small Adivasi Village, Kakaddara from Arvi taluka of Wardha won the Water Cup, 2017.



This year the competition has been extended to 75 talukas in 24 districts of Maharashtra. Every village in the selected talukas is eligible to participate and has been given Aamir Khan's signature invitation for this purpose. A grand photo exhibition that explains the journey and purpose of the Water Cup was organized in close conjunction with the government of Maharashtra in all 75 talukas and has been attended by lakhs of villagers and students.



The entry form is in two parts. Over 7200 villages have submitted Entry Form Part 1 so far. The second part of the form requires the village to hold a gram sabha and select 5 participants for the four day training conducted by Paani Foundation. The last date for submitting the completed entry form Part 2 is 31st January 2018. Paani Foundation extends a warm invitation to all the villages in the selected talukas to complete the entry process and begin their journey to water and prosperity.