Know your minister: Shruti Choudhry says she will follow grandfather Bansi Lal’s vision, focus on groundwater quality

Choudhry has been assigned the irrigation and water resources and women and child development departments in the Nayab Singh Saini cabinet. “Irrigation is an important portfolio because water is life,” she says.

“Groundwater has gone down very much leading to dark zones (areas where groundwater depletion is faster than the rate of recharging) now. We must work to recharge groundwater, especially in those villages that fall under the dark zones,” says Choudhry.

With 85 of Haryana’s 141 blocks falling in the dark zone due to over-exploitation of groundwater, the state government has already been calling upon the citizens to pay attention to water conservation while pointing out the challenge of bridging the gap between water availability and demand.

Remembering grandfather Bansi Lal, Choudhry, who represents Tosham constituency in the family stronghold Bhiwani where water for irrigation has been a big issue, says that she will work as per his vision. Recalling the works he carried out in the area, Choudhry says he had implemented lift irrigation keeping in view the specific geographical conditions of the area.

Saying that there will be equal distribution of irrigation water in the state, Choudhry says people should use water carefully. “We will work for water conservation. We will find a solution for the problem of waterlogging too apart from looking into the issues of those areas where the water level has gone down. I will be very keenly working for the betterment of the canal system too while carrying out mapping of the irrigation infrastructure available in the state,” she says.

Shruti Choudhry’s political journey

A law graduate, Shruti Choudhry crossed over to the BJP from the Congress with her mother Kiran Choudhry ahead of the Assembly polls this year. In the recent Assembly polls, she won the Tosham seat by a margin of over 14,000 votes.

In her first poll battle in 2009, she was elected to the Lok Sabha from Bhiwani-Mahendragarh on a Congress ticket. Known for her political lineage, her entry into electoral politics carries the weight of her family’s long-standing influence in Haryana.

Bhiwani has been a stronghold of the Bansi Lal family ever since he became chief minister for the first time in 1968. Choudhry’s mother Kiran has been at the forefront of politics in Haryana after she lost her husband Surender Singh in a chopper crash in 2005. He was then a minister in the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government.

Choudhry and Kiran left the Congress this year following differences with Hooda. Though Choudhry wanted to contest the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh Lok Sabha Seat, the Congress did not field her for the parliamentary polls this year. This fuelled a rift between Hooda and Kiran.

5 top priorities of Shruti Choudhry

*Improvement in the quality of groundwater

*Recharge of groundwater in dark zones

*Improvement in canal system

*Effective implementation of schemes for the health of women and children in rural areas

*Emphasis on skill development for women