Alarmed at depleting groundwater across the country, the Centre has decided to call a National Congress on groundwater and work towards a model bill for its regulation. Poor irrigation and acute dependence on rainwater has seen farmer getting poorer over the years. The agrarian crisis also manifested in reports of several hundred farmers committing suicide in regions like Vidarbha during the last year. Straddle with conscience-stirring reports of rural poverty the Centre appears keen to improve its image by declaring 2007 as Water Year.