Asserting that any contractor or anyone who had committed wrongs in implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) will not be spared, Jal Shakti Minister C R Patil said Thursday that 92 per cent of teams of Central Nodal Officers deputed for “ground inspection” of the rural tap water schemes have submitted their reports and the remaining are expected to do so by end of this month.
Addressing a press conference on achievements of his ministry on completion of the NDA government’s 11 years, Patil said, “Out of 119 teams constituted, 111 teams have completed their survey work. 89 of them have submitted their reports and work is going on the same. I think that the remaining teams are expected to submit their resorts by 30 [June]. Out of the total teams deployed, 92 per cent have submitted their reports, only 8 per cent are yet to do so.”
Patil said that anyone who has committed any wrong will not be spared.
“hamne pahle Lok Sabha me bhi kaha tha, aap ko bhi batata hun… ye jo nal se jal ki yojana hai vah samanya aadmi ke ghar me paani dene ki baat hai. (I have said in Lok Sabha before and I reiterate it now. The tap water scheme is aimed at providing drinking water to the common man’s house. If any contractor or anyone else commits any wrong, we will not spare anyone),” Patil said, responding to a question.
Patil said that he had made it clear and this is the reason that the government had deployed over 100 teams of Central Nodal Officers for ground inspection of the JJM schemes. On May 19, the Centre had announced sending 100 teams for “ground inspection” of the Jal Jeevan Mission schemes across the country. The move follows a meeting chaired by the Cabinet Secretary on May 8 to review the mission’s schemes. Later, some more teams were added to the initial list of the teams.
Patil said that the states have also been told that there should not be any complaints where tap is installed but no water is available. It has been conveyed to the state governments that if the source of water has dried, it must create another source with their own money and ensure supply of water, he said.
Patil’s remarks are significant in view of ongoing scrutiny of the JJM amid concerns over rising costs. Since the launch of the Jal Jeevan Mission in 2019, 6.4 lakh water supply schemes with total estimated cost of Rs 8.29 lakh crore—more than double of the scheme’s original outlay of Rs 3.60 lakh crore (Centre: Rs 2.08 lakh crore, States:1.52 lakh crore) — have been approved by the states.
Story continues below this ad
On May 21, The Indian Express reported that an investigation of the data uploaded by states and UTs on the Jal Jeevan Mission dashboard showed that a crucial change in tender guidelines three years ago lifted the check on expenditure, and led to cost escalations. This resulted in additional costs totalling Rs 16,839 crore for 14,586 schemes, an increase of 14.58% from their estimated cost.
On a query regarding the recent remarks made by Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Indus water, Patil said that India is not afraid of false threats. “Aisi geedar dhamkiyon se to hum nahin darte. (We are not afraid of false threats),” he said.
Patil said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to keep in abeyance the Indus Water Treaty and it will remain in abeyance. “Water won’t go anywhere… Water will remain in India,” he said.
