The mandatory action plans for bringing safe drinking water through individual tap connections to all rural households under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) have been prepared for about 23,000 villages in Rajasthan. The action plans for other villages will be presented and approved in the Gram Sabhas to be held on October 2.
The action plans, to be implemented as master plan for meeting the water needs of villages, will depict the history of water availability, rainfall pattern, drought situation, groundwater level, water harvesting, water-borne diseases and the situation of water resources in each village. The document also incorporates essential aspects of rural drinking water projects sanctioned under the JJM.
The JJM envisages supply of safe and adequate drinking water through tap connections to all households in the rural areas by 2024. A target has been set for supplying 55 litres of water per person per day to every household in the villages, where the people have been facing scarcity of water.
Committees set up
Public Health Engineering Minister B.D. Kalla said here on Wednesday that the work for execution of the JJM was progressing on a war footing and the action plans for each of the 43,323 villages in the State would be formulated shortly. A strong institutional framework had been created in the villages with the appointment of water and sanitation committees, he said.
Mr. Kalla said the action plans had been prepared for all the villages in Ajmer, Nagaur and Jaisalmer districts, while 96% of the villages in Sirohi, 94% in Karauli, 92% in Kota, 88% in Hanumangarh and 85% each in Sawai Madhopur and Sriganganagar had been covered. The implementation support agencies had formulated the plans after brainstorming with the villagers.
The Congress government in the State has sought changes in the norms for Central assistance for the JJM, which at present stipulates the shares of the Centre and the State in 50:50 ratio. The State government has sought enhancement of the Centre’s share in the mission to 90% to reduce financial burden on the States.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had raised the issue at a meeting with the NITI Aayog members last month, while asking for the Centre’s cooperation in the financial and policy domains to ensure socio-economic development of States in the true spirit of “cooperative federalism”.
Rajasthan has a huge task lying ahead to meet the target of water supply, as only 12% of the households are currently getting piped water supply. The action plans are expected to rejuvenate the sources of water for the benefit of about 98 lakh rural households in the State and evolve the community approach, which is a key component of JJM.
