Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that those who decided policies of the country for such a long time should introspect if women were forced to fetch water from rivers and ponds just because water connections were not provided at their households. Prime Minister did not name any party and politicians but it was immediately understood who else he was referring to – the Congress party.
https://twitter.com/PMOIndia/status/1444189701745758210?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwThe Prime Minister was not making any political statement, though, he was referring to data to suggest why erstwhile policymakers should undergo an introspection. He said that from 1947 till 2019, only 3 crore rural households of the country had water connections. This figure roughly stands 17 per cent of the rural households. Prime Minister said that in the last 7 years the figure has reached 5 crore after his government launched a dedicated programme for the same.
Prime Minister said this on Saturday while launching a mobile application Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) and a fund ‘Rashtriya Jal Jeevan Kosh (RJJK) on the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. He said that there are popular literature and films telling the story of women and children walking miles to fetch water, and added, “name village some people will visualize this image in their mind”.
https://twitter.com/PMOIndia/status/1444189698956488705?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwTo end this decades-old daily hardship of women of rural India in form of their daily hunt for water, the Narendra Modi government launched the water connectivity scheme for rural India.
Both are part of the ambitious ‘har ghar nal se jal’ flagship scheme under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) that Narendra Modi govt had launched on August 15, 2019, aiming to provide safe drinking water to the rural households by 2024.
The multi-feature mobile application, dubbed a technological interface, will create awareness and connectivity among stakeholders of JJM and bring further transparency and accountability as far as the execution of the scheme is concerned. Users can get real-time data of coverage of tap water connections, details of water samples received and tested across labs and many other useful information and links.
The Rashtriya Jal Jeevan Kosh (RJJK), registered as a public charitable trust, has been set up by the department of drinking water and sanitation under the Jal Shakti ministry to seek contribution/donations from individuals, philanthropists, corporate, institutions and the like if they wish to donate for water connections at the households, academic institutions, public places and others. According to the government, donors will be eligible for 50 per cent deduction under section 80G of the Income Tax Act.
Prime Minister during the launch had a lively interaction with heads of various gram panchayats, members of local-level water and sanitation committees called Pani Samiti as they are the real stakeholders. The Pani Samitis have been formed at the village level and over 7.1 lakh women have been trained to test the quality of water.
Narendra Modi said JJM has been empowering women of the country as they are no longer walking miles to fetch water. He said that water connections at the households save their time and energy. Participants including women agreed with the Prime Minister and said water connection has saved them much time and energy which they use in teaching their children as well as in other productive works.
Prime Minister said that around 1.25 lakh villages under 80 districts of the country has 100% household water connection. He called JJM a ‘village driven and women driven movement’ and a ‘movement for decentralization.’