NITI Aayog has developed a Composite Water Management Index as a useful tool to assess and further improve the performance in efficient management of water resources.
The index would provide useful information for the States and also for the concerned Central Ministries/Departments enabling them to formulate and implement suitable strategies for better management of water resources.
The Index has 28 key Performance Indicators (KPIs) covering irrigation status, drinking water and other water-related sectors.
It is targeted to prepare the index for States/Union Territories from the current financial year (2017-18).
State’s performance will be judged on the basis of 28 basic indicators including water use efficiency, irrigation status, groundwater recharge, availability of water for rural and urban areas for drinking, water shed development and other sustainable practices in water based sectors.
Different weightage is allocated to different performance indicators to arrive at a composite index. The scorecard carries both qualitative and quantitative indicators in 2016-2017.
The WMI is one of the six indices which the Niti Aayog has introduced for ranking states. The others include health, education, energy efficiency , agricultural reforms and digital transaction.