Centre releases over Rs 169 cr for M’laya

SHILLONG, May 25: The Ministry of Jal Shakti has released over Rs 169 crore for Meghalaya, giving the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in the state a further push.
Informing that the total allocation for Meghalaya is Rs 678.39 crore, the Jal Shakti Ministry on Tuesday said that an amount of Rs 169.60 crore has been released for Meghalaya. This is the first tranche of the four stimuli for state.
The Ministry has released the first tranche, amounting to Rs 1,605 crore, for all Northeastern states. For the financial year 2021-22, a total of Rs 9,262 crore has been allocated as a central grant under the mission for the Northeastern states.
“The enhanced allocation as well as release of funds at this challenging time to provide tap water connections to rural homes in NE states will boost the economy of the region,” the Ministry said.
“This kind of huge funding for making provision of piped drinking water supply in rural homes clearly indicates the priority of the Union government in improving the lives of people living in rural areas,” it added.
Out of the total fund allocated under JJM, 93 per cent of it is to be utilised for developing water supply infrastructure, five per cent for support activities and two per cent for water quality monitoring and surveillance activities.
The states have to transfer the central fund released, along with their matching share, to the single nodal account within 15 days of release of the central fund.
It may be mentioned that as on April 2021, the Meghalaya Government has provided tap connections under JJM to 97,000 households and by the end of the year, the state government aims to reach out to 3,38,903 more households.