Meghalaya sets target to cover maximum households under JJM

After reviewing the implementation of the JJM in Meghalaya, Tongkhar told reporters that the target to complete the mission is December, this year but as of today, the state has just crossed 40% of providing tap water connection to rural households.

“We have not withdrawn from the race but as I told you that the number of households have also increased that is one of the reasons that we may not be able to reach 100% but we will try our best to achieve the maximum by the end of December,” he said while assuring “We will be doing wonders in these 3 months’ time since it is working season. We can expect maximum work to be completed in these 3 months’ time.”

Tongkhar informed that the number of targeted households has increased from 5.89 households to 6.30 lakh households.

“Out of 5.89 lakh households, we have been able to plan and sanction for more than 5.62 lakh households,” he said.

So far, 1400 villages have achieved 100% completion of providing tap water connection to rural households under the JJM.

According to the minister, Rs 1,600 crore has already been spent for the implementation of the JJM in the state.

Stating that Meghalaya was recently awarded best performance for JJM implementation, Tongkhar said even though the engineers and officers of the department have given their best efforts, there is always scope to do better.

“During the review meeting, we have requested all the engineers and officers to speak out and give suggestions to further improve the achievement of the department in the JJM implementation. The discussion was a fruitful one and a solution was offered to problems related to the delay in making payment to the contractors,” he said.

He also stressed the need for strong cooperation from the grass root level and better coordination between the department and the contractors for completion of the mission.

The minister also informed that the engineers have also expressed concern over the delay to submit the inspection report by the third party and said, “We have asked the chief engineer to meet the third party agency to understand the problem they are facing and we expect this also will be resolved at the earliest.”

On allegations of corruption, Tongkhar however said, “If someone expects perfection in the ongoing work it may not be possible.”

Further, the minister informed that based on the state government’s request, the ministry concerned has allowed the JJM to be extended to 9 census towns in the state and due to this the number of households have increased to 6.30 lakh.

As per the guidelines issued by the ministry, the state is allowed to implement the JJM in areas which have been classified as census towns but do not have statutory urban bodies.

Meanwhile, Tongkhar said that he had also taken up the issue with the ministry on the need to protect the catchment areas to prevent water sources from getting dried up.

He also informed there are landowners who have come forward and expressed their willingness to give land if the government wants to acquire for protection of the catchment areas.

“I am happy to see the positive response from the people and I really want the support of the community to ensure sustainability of the water sources across the state,” he stated.

By Our Reporter