As many as 55.37 per cent rural households in Meghalaya have been provided with tap water connection under the Central government’s funded Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM).
According to sources, there are 6.52 lakh rural households in the State. Of these, 3.61 lakh households have been connected with tapped water at their homes.
“Till date, 55.37 per cent of the rural households in the State have been provided with tapped water under JJM,” sources said.
Further, water being a State subject, it is the states who plan, implement, operate and maintain water supply schemes. The Central government supplements the efforts of the states by providing technical and financial assistance.
As far as Meghalaya is concerned, the Central fund lying unspent with the State as reported under JJM till date is Rs 198.87 crore.
JJM is being implemented by the Government of India in partnership with states and union territories to make provision of tap water supply to every rural household of the country, by 2024, much earlier than 2030 – the SDG 6.1global timeline, hence influencing achievement of SDG 6.1 positively.
To provide financial support to states, the Government of India, through the Ministry of Finance (Department of Expenditure), is extending Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment with allocation of an amount of Rs 1.30 lakh crore for 2023-24 as 50-year interest free loan.
Out of this, an amount of Rs 1 lakh crore has been earmarked for Part-I (Untied) and 20 per cent of the funds allocated under Part-I may be utilised by the states for contributing the State’s share for JJM and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana for 2023-24.
Further, under the JJM, convergence of funds with other schemes such as MGNREGS, Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP), 15th Finance Commission tied grants has also been envisaged.
