By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Dec 9: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday said that the delay in clearing bills amounting to over Rs 700 crore for contractors working on Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) projects is due to the Centre halting the release of funds to all states.
“The funds for JJM have been stopped at the central level for all state governments. So, there are no funds being released to any states as of now. Not just Meghalaya, but the whole country,” Sangma stated.
He clarified that JJM, originally designed as a mission-mode programme ending in March 2024, was slated for closure by the Union Cabinet. However, the Cabinet later chose to extend the programme until ongoing projects are completed, but only after auditing schemes carried out across the country.
“The (union) cabinet put a condition that there will be an audit that will be conducted for all the schemes that are implemented throughout the country, and only once the audit is completed for all the schemes, only then the finance ministry, based on that, will release the funds,” Sangma explained.
Reassuring contractors and the public, the chief minister said the issue is nationwide and not limited to Meghalaya, adding that funds are expected to be released once the audit is done.
“Therefore, it is not just in the state of Meghalaya alone, it is the whole country, and we do expect that things will be streamlined, the decisions have been made, the question is just the final implementation is going on, and the audit mandated by the Union Cabinet of the ongoing schemes,” he added.
