Secretary, Ministry of Jal shakti briefs media on budgetary allocations

Secretary, Ministry of Jal shakti briefs media on budgetary allocations, latest initiatives, progress updates, future goals and achievement strategies

The Secretary, Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation (DoWR, RD & GR) and Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti, Shri Pankaj Kumar chaired a press briefing here today. Additional Secretary (AS), Shri Bharat Lal in charge of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), AS in charge of SBM-G Shri Arun Baroka and AS, DoWR, RD & GR Smt. Debashree Mukherjee and other senior officials also attended the briefing.

In his inaugural address, Secretary, Ministry of Jal Shakti discussed the Budget allocation made in Union Budget 2021-22 and shared information on latest initiatives, progress & achievements on the ongoing projects undertaken by the two departments i.e. DoWR, RD & GR and DDWS and the roadmap for future achievements. Thereafter, Additional Secretaries made detailed presentations on behalf of their respective responsibilities.

Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and NamamiGange:

1. The budget outlay for the Department has been increased to ₹9,022 crore in FY 2021-22 from ₹7,262 crore (RE) in FY 2020-21. In addition, ₹ 5,130 crores is to be provided through EBR route for critical irrigation projects.

2. Atal Bhujal Yojana (ATAL JAL) launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister in December 2019 with the principal objective of strengthening the institutional framework for participatory groundwater management and bringing about behavioral changes at the community level for sustainable groundwater resource management. In FY 2021-22, an amount of Rs.330 croreshas been kept.

3. Two flagship schemes of the department, NamamiGange and PMKSY (Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojna), have shown significant progress during the last 5 years:

i) NamamiGange: National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) is the nodal authority for prevention, control and abatement of environmental pollution in the river Ganga. The NMCG has transformed the Ganga Rejuvenation strategy by implementing few model schemes like One City One Operator, Hybrid Annuity PPP mode (HAM) and Aviral Ganga scheme to ensure sufficient flow of water always to have a healthy ecosystem and ensure pollution abatement. NMCG has impacted substantial improvement in quality of water in most of the stretches in river Ganga.

ii) Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY): Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP) – Additional irrigation potential of 34.63 lakh hectare through 99 prioritized projects and 7 phases, using surface water).Its main features include Central Assistance (CA) and State Share through NABARD under Long Term Irrigation Fund (LTIF).

Har Khet Ko Paani (HKKP) scheme focuses on Command Area Development (CAD), Repair, Renovation & Restoration (RRR) of Water Bodies, Surface Minor Irrigation (SMI) schemes, and Ground Water Development

Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation:

Swachh Bharat Mission – Grameen (SBM-G) After Phase 1 which was successful in achieving Open Defecation Free (ODF) India in 2019, Phase 2 of the SBM (G) has been launched in early 2020, aimed at ODF Plus & hence focuses on ODF sustainability and Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM) focusing on comprehensive cleanliness in villages. SLWM focuses on key initiatives like Plastic Waste Management through collection, storage at Material Recovery Facilities for further processing, Gobardhan scheme for managing organic waste into resources like compost and Biogas, Grey Water Management and Faecal Sludge Management.

The budgetary allocation for SBMG in the present FY stands at Rs.9994.10 crore. Further, 15^th Finance Commission grants to Rural Local Bodies for sanitation is Rs.13,470 crore for FY 2021-22.

Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), another important flagship programme of DDWS aims to provide tap water connection to every rural household by 2024. Safe access to potable water in household premises under JJM will improve the lives of rural people especially removing ‘drudgery’ of women and girls. Launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister on 15^th August, 2019, JJM has reached over 3.41 crore families living in rural areas with tap water connection in their homes increasing the coverage of rural households with tap water connections from 17% in the launch year to more than 1/3rd (34.63%) i.e. 6.64 Crore rural families presently, improving their quality of life and enhancing their ‘ease of living’.

JJM has launched a nationwide 100 day campaign on 2nd Oct, 2020 to provide assured tap water supply to every anganwadi centre, residential tribal school (ashramshala) and schools aiming to reduce vulnerability of children from water-borne diseases and prevailing COVID-19 pandemic. The campaign has received a great response and so far, more than 5.14 lakh schools and 4.62 lakh anganwadi centres have started getting potable piped water supply. Appreciating the progress made so far, this campaign has been extended up to 31^stMarch, 2021.Also, efforts are being made to ensure safe drinking water to all quality-affected villages especially Arsenic and Fluoride affected rural habitations under JJM. The budgetary allocation for JJM has increased significantly to approx. Rs 50,011 crore in the FY 2021-22 along with 15th Finance Commission tied grants of Rs 36,022 crore, available to PRIs for ‘water and sanitation’ in 2021–22.

For sustaining the JJM, Village Water Sanitation Committee/ Pani Samiti are being constituted for planning, designing, implementing and operating & maintaining in-village water supply system. Key Resource Centres (KRCs) will be constituted to impart training to the local people for regular operation & maintenance of water supply systems, to ensure water quality through field test kits (FTKs), to reorient Public Health Engineers and village level functionaries for public utilities.

Sensor based IoT solutions are being developed/will be developed to measure and monitor water supply in villages. To ensure tap water quality, labs to be NABL accredited for getting water samples tested at nominal rates. Smart Portable Device are being developed with the help of Commerce and Industry for water testing at village level or even at households.

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