Assam has now functional 50pc tap connections as JJM is working

GUWAHATI: In what can be termed as a major achievement in a short span of time, Assam now has 50 per cent functional household tap connections (FHTCs) under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM).
Assam PHED Minister Jayantha Malla made the announcement while presiding over a meeting for orientation of newly recruited Grade III and Grade IV employees of the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) in Guwahati on Thursday. Baruah expressed confidence in providing drinking water to every household. By the year 2024.
“A total of 34,01,097 households out of 67,95,311 households in Assam now have access to clean drinking water,” the minister said, adding, “JJM is relentless in achieving its goal in Assam. Working hard.”

“Assam initially struggled with the development of FHTCs. However, in the last few years, the state has been able to cope with the expected developments,” he said.
The minister also claimed that the state has made substantial progress in establishing standards such as the formation of village water and sanitation committees, training of various stakeholders and villages where human resources have been identified and operations and Skilled in maintenance, etc.
Earlier in the day, on his Twitter, Baruah thanked Prime Minister Modi, saying that Modi has successfully transformed the JJM into a ‘Jan Andolan’ for water in the country and the central Jal Shakti. Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Chief Minister of Assam have also thanked. Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for his continuous guidance and support throughout the implementation phase.
It is noteworthy that since independence, only 1.64% of households in Assam had tap water connections. But in the last few years, the ratio has gone up to 50.05 percent after Prime Minister Modi launched the Jal Jeevan Mission in August 2019.
Interacting with 239 newly recruited Grade III and Grade IV employees of the PHE Department during the function, Baruah said that since the recruitment was done on the basis of merit, the newly recruited employees got better results. One needs to work with full dedication to achieve it. .
Additional Chief Secretary PHED Syedain Abbasi also participated in the meeting. Special Secretary, PHED Diganta Kumar Baruah; Chief Engineer (Water), PHED, Dibyajyoti Duwarah; Chief Engineer (Sanitation), PHED, B.M. Roy and other officials of PHED.
Notably, a month ago Union Minister Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat announced the progress of centrally sponsored schemes like Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) and Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen (SBMG) in North Eastern states. It was reviewed during the meeting.
Apart from the status of JJM in North Eastern states, aspects like implementation, quality of operation and maintenance, devolution of schemes to Panchayats, etc. were discussed during the meeting.
Issues falling under the purview of SBMG such as ODF (Open Defecation Free) status in villages and other issues like waste management in villages were also discussed.
Reviewing the progress of the schemes, the Union Minister urged the states to meet the targets at the earliest.

North Eastern states have made remarkable progress in relation to JJM. A state like Assam which started with just one per cent growth is now touching 50 per cent growth under JJM,” Shekhawat said.

He added that he expected the North-Eastern states to achieve 100 per cent growth under JJM by the end of 2024.