(Sri Sathya Sai with dignitaries on the dias; To the extreme right is Dr. Burgula Ramakrishna Rao, Former Governor of Uttar Pradesh and Kerala)

Burgula Ramakrishna Rao (1899-1967) was the Chief Minister of the Bilingual State of Nizam at Hyderabad. He was in-charge of water supply. He was wondering how he could proceed. I told him Rivers and mountains are national property. They are not the property of any one single state. Tell Nehru (The Prime Minister) that it will be appropriate to declare them as national properties. Rao told him. But Nehru did not agree. That is why all these (inter-state) problems and inactions. (YG, pp. 79-80)

The five elements belong to everybody. Air has no difference that one is a Brahmin,Shudra, Vaishya andKshatriya. Every being has got a right on the five elements. However, under the policies of the Government, there is regulation of water. There is no shortage of water in Bharat. There is no dearth of any wealth. No other country has as many rivers as there are in Bharat. No other country has such vast land. It may be there elsewhere but it is a wasteland. We have the fields that give us food. There are a number of rivers. But we are not that fortunate to make use of their water. What is the reason? Ganga, Kaveri, Krishna, Yamuna, and Godavari – all these rivers belong to Bharat. All rivers should be made national property. Then there will be no problem whatsoever of sharing river waters.

You may not classify as river as belonging to Karnataka, Bengal or Bombay. It is a national property. All can use them. All can derive happiness. Everybody can be satisfied. Since there is no unity, everyone starts claiming this is his river. As a result, the water is not fully utilised and the rivers merge in the ocean. Everybody should say that it is our property, not my or your property. All Bharatiyas have equal right on this. If our Prime Minister makes an effort to declare all the rivers as a national property, the whole country will progress. All States can enjoy. When one State says yes, the other State says no. All are brothers. The States are in fact neighbours in the country. When we carry out this, there will be no dearth of food or shortage of drinking water. People should also cooperate. (DTB Vol.2, p. 7)