On the lines of the announcement made by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019 regarding Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) which aims to provide “Functional Household Tap Connection” (FHTC) to 18 Crore rural households of the country by the year 2024, the Centre has earlier approved funds for the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission for Odisha, Meghalaya, Assam & Bihar. Click Here to Read. Now extending this scheme further for other states, Centre has now approved funds to the following states for FY2020-2021:
Govt approves Rs 1280 cr for implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in Madhya Pradesh
Centre has approved implementation of Rs 1,280 Cr of JJM in Madhya Pradesh (MP) in 2020-21 on the basis of the Annual Action Plan (AAP) for 2020-21 presented by MP to National Committee chaired by Parameswaran Iyer, Secretary, Drinking Water & Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti.
- With an amount of Rs 244.95 Crore as unspent balance and this year’s Central allocation and matching State share, Rs 3,093 Crore will be available with the State this year.
- MP has planned to have 100% Functional Household Tap Water Connection (FHTC) by 2023-24 while for FY21 it will provide tap connections to 26.27 lakh households in rural areas.
- Priority is given to water scarce areas, quality-affected areas, SC/ ST dominated habitations/ villages, aspirational districts and Sansad Adarsh Gramin Yojana villages, particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups.
Government of India approved Rs 572.23 Crore for implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in Jharkhand
Jharkhand presented their Annual Action Plan for implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in the State to the Ministry of Jal Shakti through a virtual meet chaired by Parameswaran Iyer. Jharkhand planned to have 100% household coverage by 2023-24 while for FY21 it will enable 12 lakh households with tap water connections consisting of 100% coverage of 15 blocks and 4,700 villages (16%).
- In this regard, Central Govt has approved fund of Rs 572.23 Crore for Jharkhand in 2020-21 in comparison to Rs. 267.69 Crore in 2019-20.
- With opening balance of Rs. 201 Crore available with the State and along with this year’s allocation of Rs. 572.24 Crore, Jharkhand has assured availability of Rs.773.28 Crore as Central fund. Considering the State matching share, a total of Rs. 1,605.31 Crore will be available under JJM.
- State was asked for expeditious implementation of the programme in terms of physical outputs i.e. number of tap connections provided and commensurate financial progress, so that the State can avail additional funds based on the performance.
- Apart from above, the state was allocated Rs 1,689 Cr under the 15th Finance Commission Grants to Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) during 2020-21. 50% of the amount has to be mandatorily spent on water and sanitation.
Central Government pushes for 100% household tap connections in rural areas of West Bengal
West Bengal is yet to present its AAP before the National Committee of the Ministry of Jal Shakti.West Bengal has 1.63 Crore rural households spread over 41,357 villages, but only 2 lakh households have a tap connection in their premises. In 2020-21, the target fixed for providing tap connections is 64.43 lakh households including the shortfall of about 32.19 lakh from the previous year.
- In 2019-20, Rs. 993.88 Crore of Central funds were released to the State, however only Rs 421.63 Crore was utilized and rest amount is lying unspent. Further, to provide potable water in Arsenic/ Fluoride-affected habitations, a sum of Rs. 1,305 Crore was provided, out of which Rs. 573.36 Crore is still lying unspent. Thus, as on 1.4.2020, State has an opening balance of Rs. 1,146.58 Crore as Central Share to provide tap water to rural households. During 2020-21, fund allocation to West Bengal has increased to Rs. 1,610.76 Crore. With an opening balance of Rs. 1,146.58 Crore, the State has an assured availability of Rs. 2,757.34 Crore of Central share funds. Therefore, in 2020-21, along with State share about Rs. 5,515 Crore will be available under JJM to provide household tap connections.
- State has to ensure piped water supply to all households in 2,414 Arsenic and Fluoride affected habitations before 31 December, 2020.
- West Bengal would receive Rs 4,412 Crore as 15th Finance Commission Grants to PRIs, 50% of which will mandatorily be spent on water and sanitation.
About JJM:
It aims to enable every rural household has assured availability of potable water at a service level of 55 litres per capita per day (lpcd) on regular and long-term basis. As a mission target, all states are presenting their implementation plans to the National level Committee headed by Secretary, Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation, Govt. of India for approval.
- The estimated outlay of the mission is Rs 3.60 Lakh Crore with Central and State share of Rs. 2.08 Lakh Crore and Rs.1.52 Lakh Crore respectively.
