 bill no   129 of  2010 the constitution (amendment) bill, 2010 byshri pl punia, mp a billfurther to amend the constitution of indiabe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-first year of the republic of india as follows:—short title1 this  act may be called the constitution (amendment)  act, 201052  after article 30 of the constitution, the following heading and article thereunder shall be inserted, namely:—insertion of new article 30a''right to safe and adequate drinking water 30a (1) every citizen shall have access to safe and adequate quantity of drinking waterprovision of safe and adequate drinking water(2) the state shall, within a period of five years from the date of coming into force of the constitution (amendment) act, 2010, provide adequate number of handpumps or piped water connections alongwith installation of required number of water treatment plants in every village or habitation in order to ensure adequate availability of safe drinking water to every citizen" statement of objects and reasonswater is an essential element for the existence of all living beings on earth in our country, there is adequate water in ponds, lakes, rivers and oceans however, in the absence of effective water management policy, river waters and other water bodies remain untapped moreover, due to lack of awareness regarding the importance of water among the common man, the condition of ponds and lakes has been deteriorating for the last several yearsthere is acute shortage of drinking water everywhere in the country including the metropolitan cities in most of the villages, particularly in uttar pradesh, uttarakhand, bihar, madhya pradesh and rajasthan, the villages collect the rainwater in ponds which is utilized by them mainly for drinking purpose due to lack of any other alternative, they are forced to utilize this water which is unhygienic and unfit for human consumptionin a welfare state like ours, it is the duty of the state to fulfil the basic needs of its citizens therefore, the state is required to provide safe drinking water to every citizenif the right to get safe drinking water is made a fundamental right, the state shall have to provide potable water to the citizens otherwise, the rural and urban people will have the right to take recourse to the court collectively or individually with the purpose of compelling the government to provide safe and adequate quantity of drinking water to them such a step shall give a new direction to the government to tackle this serious problem the bill, accordingly, seeks to amend the constitutionnew delhi;pl puniaoctober 25, 2010 financial memorandumclause 2 of the bill provides for giving the citizens the right to potable water and the state shall provide facility of piped water connections or handpumps in every village or habitation the bill, therefore, if enacted, is likely to involve an annual recurring expenditure of about rupees fifteen thousand crore from the consolidated fund of indiaan amount of about rupees seventy crore will also be involved from the consolidated fund of india towards non-recurring expenditure lok sabha———— a billfurther to amend the constitution of india————(shri pl punia, mp)gmgipmrnd—4948ls(s3)—11-11-2010