Water supply in the Capital will not be privatised like the power sector, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday at a workshop held to discuss Delhi’s draft water policy. The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) finalised the draft policy, which emphasises wastewater management and the reuse of water, with the help of stakeholders and its officials at the workshop. The draft is now available on the DJB’s website and is open to suggestions from the public. While discussing the challenges the water sector faces, Mr. Kejriwal said the argument used for privatisation elsewhere — that of the government being inefficient — had not been successful. “The government was inefficient, the private sector also turned out to be inefficient. That argument doesn’t work,” said Mr. Kejriwal. He added that water supply was one of the responsibilities the government couldn’t run from. “We will give contracts to private companies to carry out different works, but the ownership of water and its distribution should rest with the government,” said Mr. Kejriwal. The Chief Minister said the Capital, which lacks its own source of water, should not rely on neighbouring States of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. He added that there was a need to re-cycle more water. “Rain water harvesting is Delhi is negligible. We need to encourage people by offering incentives,” said Mr. Kejriwal. DJB chairperson Kapil Mishra said Delhi, which doesn’t have a water policy so far, needed a unifying approach towards supply of the resource. “We need better people-oriented planning as opposed to goal-oriented planning. The new water policy will have demand planning, supply management, water audit and incentives for using water-efficient devices,” said Mr. Mishra. He said that Delhi’s water policy will be a framework that can be replicated by other States.