Every year, scores of people all over the world die from waterborne diseases caused by lack of access\nto clean drinking water.\n\nIn this background and in a country as large as India, can anyone even think of drinking water\ndirectly from a tap? The answer is likely to be a resounding ‘No’.\nHowever, one state in India has achieved this seemingly impossible feat—Odisha. From the time when\nthe state was infamous for drought and poverty, it is now providing international standard drinking\nwater to lakhs of homes in different parts of the state, with an aim to do so for every household.\nG. Mathi Vathanan, a career bureaucrat, has led the Odisha government’s revolutionary Drink from\nTap mission. Pure drinking water is now available round-the-clock in every home in Odisha’s Drink\nfrom Tap cities.\nGround-breaking reforms backed by strong political and administrative commitment have proved that\nthere is no need to privatize if governments have the will to change with a ‘people first’ approach.\nThe success of Odisha’s public water supply management model has been recognized internationally\nand many other states and cities are now replicating it.\nPeople First provides a robust blueprint and a step-by-step guide to the much-awarded Drink from\nTap initiative.