More than a month after he was dumped as the brand ambassador of Incredible India campaign, Bollywood actor Aamir Khan and his “Satyamev Jayate” team on Wednesday joined a group of Industrialists in augmenting the BJP-led saffron alliance Government’s flagship scheme “Jalyukt Shivar”, aimed at making Maharashtra drought-free by 2019.
Setting at rest intense speculation in the media that he would be the brand ambassador of the Maharashtra government’s “Jalyukt Shivar”, Aamir said that he and his NGO “Pani Foundation” would be working with the Maharashtra Government towards solving the water crisis in the State.
Addressing a news conference along with chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, filmmaker Raju Hirani and several industrialists, Aamir said he was happy to be a part of the water conservation programme launched by the Maharashtra Government.
“Water is an issue that brings us all together. If we all come together, there is no such issue we cannot solve, especially water,” the actor said, adding that he and his NGO “Pani Foundation” would work closely with the Maharashtra Government in both promoting “Jalyukt Shivar” and doing its own bit for the cause.
Expressing his happiness over the actor’s decision to work with the State Government in addressing the water problem in the State, the chief minister said: “Aamir told me that he wants to do something in the field of water.. He said that after he did a programme in Satyavem jayate, he got tremendous response. I told him we have taken up an ambitious project, in which we can work together. After that we met once and he is partnering with us in “Jalyukt Shivar” initiative”.
On speculation about Aamir becoming a brand ambassador of “Jalyukt Shivar”, Fadnavis said that even when he spoke to me, Aamir had made it clear to me that he would not like to become a brand ambassador of “Jalyukt Shivar”, “Hence, there is no truth in the media speculation in this regard”.
Aamir himself recalled: "When we did 'Satyamev Jayate' programme on water we saw very ground results. At that we did not work at the ground level. We thought we should take a step forward and focus on one topic till we solve it Now, I want to work with people on the issue of water”.
Filmmaker Raju Hirani said: “Through his programme, Aamir did not want to communicate on problems faced, but he also wanted to solve the problem. last year, he told me that he has not just raised the issue of water through an episode or two, but he also wanted to work towards making Maharashtra a drought-free State”.
Apart from Aamir and Hirani, industrialists like Aditya Birla, Rajiv Bajaj and Amit Kalyani were present at the function held at the state-run Sahydri Guest House. Industrialist Mukesh Ambani and legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar also took part in the programme, through video-conferencing.