The Centre is reviewing countrywide projects built under the drinking-water programme Jal Jeevan Mission to scrutinise how projects are built and maintained to check the possibility of malpractices and improve transparency, an official said on Thursday.
The move is also aimed at ensuring the assets remain in good condition, according to the official. The programme involves drawing water from sustainable sources through large engineering projects that feed complex networks of pipelines. Bulk of the work is carried out by private contractors chosen through a bidding process.
The monitoring is being carried out through electronic dashboards, direct consultations with district magistrates and collectors, who are bureaucrats heading a district, and through audits.
The Jal Shakti (water) ministry has in recent months ramped up e-governance in the project through feedback modules and also deployed a panchayat-level dashboard as “part of a whole-of-government approach”, according to an official document. A panchayat is a village administrative jurisdiction.
The Jal Jeevan Mission has so far linked over 150 million (81.17%) rural households with running tap. It aims to cover each family in the countryside, where most houses lacked assured supply for drinking.
Last week, a video-conference meet was held, where several dozens of district-level officials and magistrates, who were apprised of the need for ensuring transparency, efficiency and governance in the drinking water project, according to the official.
{{/usCountry}}Last week, a video-conference meet was held, where several dozens of district-level officials and magistrates, who were apprised of the need for ensuring transparency, efficiency and governance in the drinking water project, according to the official.
{{/usCountry}}“Districts where the programme has been robust will be made examples of”, the official said, so that others can learn. The Centre last week asked states to create digital IDs of assets created under the mission.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced in the Union budget in Feb that the Union government would extend the Jal Jeevan Mission till 2028 from 2024 earlier. The total number of rural households, which the project aims to cover, has increased since the start of the programme, the official said.