Rural household coverage for piped water rises to 40pc in two years: Assam minister

Guwahati, Dec 24: Starting from a 1.11 per cent household coverage for piped water in rural areas around two years back, Assam has been able to provide water connection to 40 per cent households in those parts of the state, Minister Jayanta Malla Baruah informed the assembly on Friday.

He also maintained that his Public Health Engineering department (PHED) is "on track" to achieve cent per cent household coverage in rural areas by 2024 under the Centre's flagship 'Jal Jeevan Mission' (JJM).

Replying to a cut motion brought by the Opposition against supplementary demand for grants for PHED, Baruah said the department has been meeting annual targets of household coverage in the last two years and is confident of fulfilling the 2024 deadline set for completion of the mission.

"We were able to meet our target of providing piped water connection to 27 lakh households last year. This year, our aim is 28 lakh households. A total of 65.67 lakh households will be covered under it," he said.

Citing the Opposition's criticism over the 'low' implementation of JJM in Assam compared to many other states, Baruah said, "When we started, only 1.11 per cent of rural households had water connection. In two years, we have moved to 40 per cent.

"The states like Goa and Telangana, about whom the Opposition is speaking, had started from 50 to 70 per cent existing coverage and hence, they could achieve 100 per cent coverage sooner," he added.

While accepting that there are "problems in some projects under the mission at times, the minister said his department is working overtime to rectify these.

He said a three-step monitoring mechanism, involving local women and students, has evolved, and door-step data of beneficiary households and water supply projects are being compiled and evaluated through it.

For smooth functioning of the water supply schemes, once commissioned, 'Jal Mitras' will be appointed for each of the 25,000 such schemes against a monthly honorarium of Rs 6,500, he said.

"The government will help the schemes to run for the first three-four years, after that these will emerge as self-sustaining ones," the minister said.

"Awareness and cooperation of all sections are essential for successful implementation of the mission, and I urge everyone to work together," he added.

Earlier, Opposition Congress, AIUDF, CPI(M) and an Independent MLA had slammed the PHED over JJM, alleging slow implementation and poor quality of work.