Devout Indians Can Soon Order Their 'Gangajal' Online, Never Mind That It's Filthy

Haven’t had time to purge your sins lately? No problem! Thanks to a new Government initiative you can have bottles of water from the Ganga delivered right to your door. It’s an age old tradition to bathe in the Ganges to purify your soul and wash away your past wrongdoings but for many devout Indians the journey to the holy river is not a possibily. The Modi Government plans to address this very crucial problem so people who are financially or physically handicapped will be able to order the holy ‘gangajal’ online and it will be delivered through the Indian Postal network

The idea behind this initiative is to “address the cultural under-pinnings of India”, says India’s Communications and Information Technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. He claims that he has received requests from a vast network of people for Gangajal to be made easily available

As we are all aware, however, the Ganga is not among the cleanest rivers in the world. In fact, it’s regularly considered among the top 10 most polluted ones. Many environmentalists are concerned that this initiative will draw the attention away from the more pressing issue of cleaning the river. Activist Seema Mustafa believes “The Modi government has far more serious and fundamental matters to tackle than to involve itself in selling Ganges water.” This worry was addressed by Union Minister Uma Bharti who on Saturday promised that by 2018 the Ganga would be one of the top ten cleanest rivers in the world.So for those of you worried about bottles of potentially disease ridden water criss-crossing its way around the country, there is hope.

The plan is to set up an e-commerce network that will collaborate with India Post whose entire system will be overhauled to maximise their efficiency. Aside from the home delivery system, there are also plans to introduce kiosks in every post office where you can buy some at your own convenience. This isn’t an entirely new concept as some sites like Amazon already sell bottles of Gangajal, but at exorbitant prices. The Government intends to make it much more affordable as a sign of respect to the importance it holds in the Hindu religion.

This scheme has elicited a mixed reaction from the country. Some find it ludicrous that Modi is selling holy water in the middle of a drought while some are thankful that their religious proceedings will finally have the blessings of Mother Ganga. At the end of the day, this has all the hallmarks of a business venture and perhaps people need to treat it as such and stop lending it extravagant religious connotations. As Mr. Prasad says, “There is a huge demand for Ganga jal. If the mail carriers can deliver mobile phones, sarees, jewelry, clothes then why not water from the Ganges?”