Over 2.6 crore families provided with drinking water connection under JJM: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that more than 2.6 crore families have been provided piped drinking water connection to their homes in the one and half years since the start of the Jal Jeevan Mission.

"During the last one and half years from the start of Jal Jeevan Mission, more than 2 crore 60 lakh families have been provided piped drinking water connection to their homes including lakhs of families in Uttar Pradesh as well," PM Modi said.

The Prime Minister, via video conference on Sunday, laid the foundation stone of rural drinking water supply projects in Mirzapur and Sonbhadra districts of Vindhyachal region of Uttar Pradesh. 

Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath were also a part of the occasion. The prime minister also interacted with the Village Water and Sanitation Committee during the event.

"In spite of having several rivers, these regions were known as the most thirsty and drought-affected and forced many people to migrate. Now water scarcity and irrigation issues will be resolved by these projects and it signifies rapid development," PM Modi said.

The Prime Minister remarked when piped water reaches thousands of villages in Vindhyanchal the health of children of this region would be improved and their physical and mental development will be better.

He said that when one gets the freedom to make decisions and work on those decisions for the development of the village, it increases the confidence of everyone in the village. He added that self-reliant India gets strength from self-reliant villages.

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Projects to benefit 2,995 villages

The projects that are planned to be completed in 24 months are said to have an estimated cost of Rs 5555.38 crore. The projects once completed will provide household tap water connections in all rural households of 2,995 villages and will benefit about 42 lakh population of these districts. Village Water and Sanitation Committees / Paani Samiti have been constituted in all these villages which will be responsible for operation and maintenance under the project. The 'Jal Jeevan Mission', under which the projects have been planned, was announced by the prime minister on August 15 last year. The projects aim at providing functional household tap connections to every rural house of the country by 2024.

The prime minister also spoke about the efforts for the upliftment of the tribal population of the region and said that schemes are reaching the tribal regions under special projects. Hundreds of Eklavya Model schools are operating in such regions, including in Uttar Pradesh, he added.

"The aim is to provide this facility to every tribal majority block. Projects based on forest-based products are also being implemented. The District Mineral Fund has been established so that there is no dearth of funds for tribal regions and the thinking behind such a scheme is that a part of resources generated from such areas are invested locally," he said.

(with inputs from ANI)

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