Assam Minister Jayanta Mallabaruah Reviews Jal Jeevan Mission Progress in Guwahati
Assam Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) Minister Jayanta Mallabaruah reviewed the progress of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) during a two-day workshop held at Assam Administrative Staff College in Guwahati on June 27-28. The workshop was attended by CEOs, Zila Parishads, Additional District Commissioners, JJM, and engineers under the Public Health Engineering Department.
Focus on Functionality and Community Ownership
Addressing the workshop, Jayanta Mallabaruah urged officials to focus on ensuring the functionality of the schemes handed over to the community under the Mission. He also directed them to prioritize building community ownership of these water supply schemes.
Key Addresses and Innovations
Special Chief Secretary Syedain Abbasi emphasized the importance of Operation and Maintenance of the schemes. Mission Director Kailash Karthik N highlighted innovations like GIS mapping and JJM Brain, and discussed the challenges faced during implementation. He urged stakeholders to address these issues for seamless execution.
MoU with Arghyam
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between JJM and Arghyam, a Bengaluru-based charitable trust, was signed to leverage digital public infrastructure and artificial intelligence for the mission’s implementation in Assam.
Workshop Discussions
The workshop covered various aspects of JJM, including executional challenges, O&M policy, poor-performing contractors, financial issues, and sustainability of the schemes. Engineers from different divisions and zones participated in the discussions.
Jal Jeevan Mission Overview
Launched by the Prime Minister of India, the Jal Jeevan Mission aims to provide safe drinking water to all rural households, ensuring a minimum of 55 liters per capita per day. Assam has already provided 56,98,517 Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTC) to 79.62% of rural households. Various initiatives have been rolled out to achieve 100% FHTCs, including involvement of school students, CLFs/SHGs, and ASHAs for spreading the message of sustainability.
