PM Narendra Modi to interact with Gram panchayats, Pani Samiti on Jal Jeevan mission today

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday (October 2, 2021) will interact with Gram Panchayats and Village Water and Sanitation Committees (VWSC) on Jal Jeevan mission via video conferencing.

The prime minister took to his official Twitter handle and wrote, "At 11 AM tomorrow, 2nd October, I would be taking part in an interesting programme relating to Jal Shakti and rural empowerment. I would interact with Gram Panchayats and Pani Samitis. Jal Jeevan Mission App and Rashtriya Jal Jeevan Kosh would be launched."

At 11 AM tomorrow, 2nd October, I would be taking part in an interesting programme relating to Jal Shakti and rural empowerment. I would interact with Gram Panchayats and Pani Samitis. Jal Jeevan Mission App and Rashtriya Jal Jeevan Kosh would be launched. https://t.co/N01N4wlFZV — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 1, 2021

PM Modi will launch the Jal Jeevan Mission application for improving awareness among stakeholders and for greater transparency and accountability of schemes under the mission.

The prime minister will also launch Rashtriya Jal Jeevan Kosh, where any individual, institution, corporation, or philanthropist, be it in India or abroad, can contribute to help provide tap water connection in every rural household, school, Anganwadi centre, ashram shala, and other public institutions.

According to a release issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the nation-wide Gram Sabhas on Jal Jeevan Mission will also take place during the day. The Gram Sabhas will discuss planning and management of village water supply systems and also work towards long-term water security.

"Pani Samitis play a key role in planning, implementation, management, operation and maintenance of village water supply systems. Out of over 6 lakh villages, Pani Samitis/ VWSCs have been constituted in around 3.5 lakh villages. More than 7.1 lakh women have been trained to test the quality of water by using Field Test Kits," it reads further.

On August 15, 2019, Prime Minister had announced the Jal Jeevan Mission to provide clean tap water to every household. At the time of the launch of the mission, only 3.23 Crore (17 per cent) rural households had a tap water supply.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, in the last two years, more than 5 crore households have been provided with tap water connections. As of date, about 8.26 Crore (43 per cent) rural households have a tap water supply in their homes. Every rural household in 78 districts, 58 thousand gram panchayats, and 1.16 lakh villages are getting tap water supply.

Till now, tap water supply has been provided in 7.72 lakh (76 per cent) schools and 7.48 lakh (67.5 per cent) Anganwadi centres.Jal Jeevan Mission is implemented in partnership with States with a budget of Rs. 3.60 lakh crores.

Further, Rs. 1.42 lakh crore has been allocated to PRIs as a tied grant under the 15th Finance Commission for water and sanitation in villages for the period 2021-2022 to 2025-2026.

(With Agency inputs)