A mid-term review meeting on planning and implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in Meghalaya was held today through VC, wherein the State officials presented the progress to the National Jal Jeevan Mission.

Meghalaya has around 5.89 lakh rural households and the State is planning to provide 2.04 lakh households with tap connections in 2020-21. In the mid-term review, it was noted that Meghalaya is planning to cover its 1,636 villages with 100% tap connection in 2020-21; so far, 112 villages are covered. A lot of emphasis is given on aspirational districts and Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna villages.

The State was advised to give undivided focus on the planning at village level by preparing Village Action Plan (VAP) for every village. VAP should consist of components like strengthening of drinking water sources, water supply infrastructure, grey water management and operation & maintenance. Augmentation of existing drinking water sources need to be kept in mind for long-term sustainability of drinking water supply systems. The State was asked for convergence of various programmes like MGNREGS, Jal Jeevan Mission, SBM (G), 15th FC Grants to rural local bodies, District Mineral Development Fund, CAMPA, Local Area Development Fund, etc. at village level and a Village Action Plan should be prepared by dovetailing all these resources for judicious use of funds. The State was asked to launch an effective IEC campaign for community mobilisation.

Under Jal Jeevan Mission, during 2020-21, Meghalaya has been allocated an amount of ₹ 114.09 Crore, out of which ₹ 28.52 Crore has been released to the State. Further, in 2020-21, Meghalaya has been allocated ₹ 182 Crore as 15th Finance Commission Grants and 50% of this amount is mandatorily to be utilized for water supply and sanitation.

Under Jal Jeevan Mission, priority is being given on water quality surveillance through active participation of frontline functionaries as well as involving the local community. 5 persons especially women are being trained in every village to use the Field Test Kits to test the quality of water. Every source needs to be tested once every year for physical and chemical parameters and twice for bacteriological contamination. The State was advised to give priority to these areas as well as complete the NABL accreditation of State and district laboratories in next 3-4 months and also to open those for public so that they can test the quality of water supplied at very nominal rate.

State was urged to ensure all the anganwadi centres and schools are provided piped water supply as part of the special 100-day campaign launched on 2nd October, 2020, so that potable water is available in these institutions for the proposes of drinking, hand washing and use in toilets.

Jal Jeevan Mission is a flagship program of Union Government to provide potable water to rural homes through Functional Household Tap Connection by 2024. The mission aims to improve the lives of rural people by providing safe drinking water to every rural home through household tap connections.

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APS/MG/AS