UP speaker invites Dutch officials to state to share water management know-how

Uttar Pradesh assembly speaker Hriday Narayan Dikshit met Jaap Smit, the King’s Commissioner for the province of South Holland on Monday, and held talks on agriculture and water management, the two areas of great importance to UP where the BJP government has set up the state’s first Jal Shakti ministry and plans to roll out a massive water conservation initiative soon.

“The UP assembly speaker extended an invite to the King’s Commissioner to visit the state, saying chief minister Yogi Adityanath would be delighted to have him and learn from the various initiatives of theirs in the field of water and agri-management,” said a tweet by the UP Vidhan Sabha from its official twitter handle.

Dikshit also met Pia Dijkstra, the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Dutch House of Representatives, and later visited the International Court of Justice.

“The discussions also centered around agriculture and a livestock- basedeconomy,” the tweet read.

Dikshit is on a three-nation tour. He is currently on a two-day visit to The Netherlands.

The Dutch are considered experts in water management and their novel water museum in Arnhem is a novel interactive museum, which also underscores the importance of water management for the world. At the water museum, children are encouraged to learn about water management in a fun way and over 50 exhibits there show people across the globe how to use water.

The Netherlands is also among the largest exporters of agricultural and food products and its innovative agri-food technology promotes healthy and nature friendly food.

Dikshit also discussed with Jaap Smit the various schemes being run in UP, including the ambitious Ganga cleanliness campaign. Pradeep Dubey, principal secretary to UP assembly, Rajnish Singh, principal secretary, UP Vidhan Parishad, Pankaj Mishra, OSD to UP assembly speaker, were among those present at the meeting.

Dikshit also presented an English version of his book on Gita to the Dutch officials. Veenu Rajamony, the Indian ambassador to The Netherlands, was also present during these meetings.

First Published: Sep 23, 2019 21:52 IST