Assam has completed 18,498 JJM schemes, 74% fully functional: Jayanta Mallabarua

Guwahati, June 10: PHE Minister Jayanta Mallabaruah on Monday rejected Opposition allegations over the flawed execution of Jal Jeevan Mission scheme in the State and said the implementation of the scheme is being scrutinized through multiple layers of inspection, including those by third parties, and their real time monitoring has been ensured to ensure its success.

“The State had taken by 27596 schemes under the Mission, of which 18498 schemes have been completed. Around 17230 completed schemes have been handed over to user committees. Presently, there are 13767 fully functional (which is 74 per cent of completed schemes). Another 1104 are partially functional and defunct schemes number 2347,” Mallabaruah told the State assembly.

He said complete transparency has been maintained to monitor execution of the schemes and the real-time data in available in a portal.

The State government has urged the legislators to adopt at least one scheme so that they are properly maintained, but only 92 MLAs have turned up, he claimed.

Mallabaruah said that the PHE department had declared a standstill period in October last as the Mission was supposed to end in December 2024, but later on the Central government decided to extend it to 2028.

Even during the standstill period, the government spent Rs 3000 crore while bills amounting to Rs 2500 crore are under process. “Once the Central government releases it, the money will be disbursed to the contractors,” the Minister said about pending bills of contractors.

He said an inspection was carried out by IIT Madras and the institution had applauded the implementation of the scheme in the State.

Maintaining that the small glitches which are hampering the functionality of the schemes are being addressed, the Minister also proposed an all-party delegation visit to the completed schemes and announced a Gunotsav type initiative – Jalutsav – in October-November to track the performance of the schemes.

During the session on Monday, Opposition legislators Bhaskar Jyoti Baruah, Zakir Hussain Sikdar, Manoranjan Talukdar, Akhil Gogoi, and Ashraful Hussain came down heavily on the government, alleging that statistics provided by the government regarding implementation of JJM do not match with ground realities. They alleged flawed planning and execution of the schemes and use of substandard materials by contractors due to which may of the schemes remain non-functional.

- By Staff Reporter