 "Centre releases Rs 2,400 cr grant-in-aid to UP under Jal Jeevan Mission")
The Jal Shakti ministry has released Rs 2,400 crore grant-in-aid to Uttar Pradesh against an allocation of Rs 10,870 crore for the financial year 2021-22 under the Jal Jeevan Mission, it said in a statement on Friday.
An official said this is the first tranche of the Rs 10,870 crore, the highest allocation to any state under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM).
"The Ministry of Jal Shakti has released Rs 2,400 crore grantinaid to Uttar Pradesh against the allocation of Rs 10,870 crore for the financial year 2021-22," the statement said.
In 2019-20, the central government had allocated Rs 1,206 crore to Uttar Pradesh for implementation of the JJM, which was increased to Rs 2,571 crore in 2020-21.
Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, while approving this four-fold increase in allocation, assured full assistance to the state for making provision of tap water supply in every rural home by 2024.
In Uttar Pradesh, there are 2.63 crore rural households in over 97,000 villages, out of which now 32 lakh (12.16 per cent) households have tap water supply in their homes, the statement said.
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During the launch of the JJM, only 5.16 lakh (two per cent) households had tap water supply. In the last 23 months, despite disruptions faced during COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns, the state has provided tap water connection to 26.86 lakh (10.2 per cent) households.
The state aims to make five districts 'Har Ghar Jal' in the current financial year.
Over 3,600 villages of Uttar Pradesh have become 'Har Ghar Jal' so far that is every family has started getting tap water supply in these villages, the statement said.
This increased central allocation will help the state in speedy provision of tap water supply to the remaining 2.31 crore rural households in Uttar Pradesh, it said.
In his recent meeting with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath held on July 3, Shekhawat has assured full assistance to the state to make provision of tap water supply to every rural home under the JJM.
During the meeting, the chief minister also assured that the Uttar Pradesh government would ensure tap water connection to every rural home by 2024.
To accelerate the pace of JJM implementation, the National Jal Jeevan Mission has urged the state to take necessary measures to provide tap water supply to 78 lakh rural households in Uttar Pradesh this year, the statement said.
It is also suggested to start water supply works in more than 60,000 villages by December 2021, it said.
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