Lucknow, 13

March (HS): On Friday, Union Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil held virtual

discussions with ministers of all states and additional chief secretaries of rural

water supply departments on several issues, including increasing the

participation of gram panchayats and local water committees to implement the

schemes under Jal Jeevan Mission-2.0 in the country.

Uttar

Pradesh's Water Power Minister, Swatantra Dev Singh, and Additional Chief

Secretary, Namami Gange and Rural Water Supply Department, Anurag Srivastava,

participated in this meeting. During the video conference, officials from the

Union Ministry of Water Power presented the outline of Jal Jeevan Mission-2.0

to all states. They explained how the scheme will be implemented in the future,

and what roles the central and state governments will play in this. Suggestions

were also sought from the states on how the scheme could be better implemented.

Giving information

about the work being done under the Jal Jeevan Mission in Uttar Pradesh through

video conferencing, Water Power Minister Swatantra Dev Singh said that Uttar

Pradesh has become the state providing the maximum number of tap water

connections in the country. Tap water supply is being ensured to more than 2.43

crore rural families in the state. Tap water supply is being provided to more

than 95 percent of the houses in the Vindhya Bundelkhand region. Apart from

this, a Jal Arpan program is being organized in villages with 100 percent water

supply. In which the entire water supply system is being handed over to the

Gram Panchayat.

It is

noteworthy that the central government recently approved the implementation of

the Jal Jeevan Mission as Jal Jeevan Mission 2.0, extending it until December

2028. A total of Rs.

8.69 lakh crore will be spent on this scheme. The government's goal is to

provide safe drinking water to every household in rural areas. The new system

will place special emphasis on digital monitoring, gram panchayat participation, and

sustainable water supply.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi