State govt signs MoU with Centre under Jal Jeevan Mission 2.0

Pioneer News Service, Ranchi

The Jharkhand government took a significant step on Tuesday to ensure tap water supply to every rural household in the state by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Centre under the Jal Jeevan Mission 2.0. The MoU was signed at an event in New Delhi between the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Jharkhand government.

Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil, Jharkhand Drinking Water and Sanitation Minister Yogendra Prasad, and senior officials from both the Centre and the state were present.Chief Minister Hemant Soren joined the programme via video conferencing.

During the event, Soren urged the Centre to release the pending amount of around Rs 6,500 crore under the Jal Jeevan Mission at the earliest. He said that since 2019-20, drinking water schemes worth Rs 24,635 crore are being implemented in the state under the mission, including both multi-village and single-village schemes.

The Chief Minister affirmed that the Government of Jharkhand, too, is committed to ensuring that the benefits of the Jal Jeevan Mission reach every single household in the state in a “mission mode.” To this end, the State Government is continuously striving to coordinate with the Central Government and accelerate the pace of implementation. He added that they are making steady progress toward fulfilling the pledge of providing tap water to every home.

It is true that Jharkhand’s geographical terrain is not entirely conducive to the successful execution of this scheme. The rural settlements of Jharkhand are often situated within forested regions. Since water supply infrastructure must be laid across areas involving government offices, projects by agencies such as NHAI and DVC, as well as other water source sites, obtaining No Objection Certificates (NOCs) for these works sometimes poses a challenge. The Chief Minister stated that issues related to No-Objection Certificates (NOCs) can be resolved through the joint efforts of the Central and State governments; a swift resolution to these NOC-related problems will enable the timely completion of the action plan.

 The Chief Minister mentioned that, in order to execute these schemes, the State government has appointed approximately 30,000 ‘Jal Sahiyas’ (water volunteers). The drinking water supply system is currently being managed by these Jal Sahiyas. The State government provides a monthly honorarium of ₹2,000 to the Jal Sahiyas. The Honorable Chief Minister urged the Central government to provide financial assistance for the honorarium of the Jal Sahiyas and also requested the inclusion of a ‘Jal Sahiya component’ within the Jal Jeevan Mission scheme.