SHILLONG, April 27: Impressed that the state government has optimally utilised funds for the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), the Centre has awarded the state additional funds of Rs 10 crore as incentive.
Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday held a review meeting on the progress of the JJM with officers and deputy commissioners and discussed the way forward on the project.
PHE Minister, Renikton L Tongkhar told journalists that the department is now moving in the right direction after failing to achieve the target in the 2020-2021 fiscal.
“We are recovering well and will surely achieve the target that we could not last year,” Tongkhar said.
Till date, the state government has connected around 97,000 households with JJM. It will need to connect as many as 3,38,903 households this year. So, the balance is of 2,41,903 households. The government has set a target of connecting 5,89,888 households with JJM by the end of next year.
Stating that the department understands the areas where the problems lie, the Minister said the state received Rs 208.74 crore for the scheme and it contributed Rs 20.44 crore from its own resources.
During the meeting, the government urged all executive engineers to come up with issues, if any, so they can be sorted out.
Tongkhar asserted that the department should utilise the funds earmarked by the 15th Finance Commission.
“The government had released the funds to the PHE department since it was meant for water supply and sanitation. I don’t think there is anything wrong in it,” the Minister said.
Pointing out that the PHE has got the expertise and manpower to implement projects and schemes meant for water supply and sanitation, Tongkhar said it will create more confusion if more than one agency deals with the same subject.
He recalled that there was a similar conflict between the PHE and Urban Affairs departments over the implementation of Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme (GSWSS) Phase III, funded by the Centre under the JNNURM scheme, which was later rechristened as AMRUT.
“Eventually, the work for the implementation of GSWSS Phase III was allotted to the PHE department. Even in this case, PHE was awarded the work despite MUDA being the nodal agency for the JNNURM projects,” Tongkhar stated.
The minister said the PHE is committed to providing potable water to all villages. This fund will be utilised for villages which are not eligible for JMM due to certain restrictions in the guidelines, he said.
As per the directive of the Centre, 50 per cent of the funds should be for water supply and sanitation.
Out of the total Rs 91 crore released by the Finance Commission to the state government, Rs 45.50 crore was released to the department since it was meant for water supply and sanitation.
The Centre had released Rs 45.50 crore from untied grants and another Rs 45.50 crore from tied grants.
Annoyed that the state government has not yet released the tied grants, the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) has decided to meet the CM and seek justification for the delay.
“We have decided to meet the CM since we are disappointed over the delay in the release of the funds. We will convene a meeting of all MDCs (Members of District Council) if there is a negative response from the CM on this issue,” KHADC Chief Executive Member, Titosstarwell Chyne said.
