“Today, water is reaching every household in about 1.25 lakh villages, in about 80 districts of the country”

New Delhi, 2 October (H.S): Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday said that the vision of ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’ is not just to make water accessible to the people, rather it is a big movement of Decentralization. He was speaking while interacting with Gram Panchayats and Pani Samitis/Village Water and Sanitation Committees (VWSC) on ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’ through video conferencing.

The Prime Minister said, “This is a village-driven- women-driven movement. Its main base is a mass movement and public participation.” PM Modi recalled that Gandhiji used to say that the real meaning of ‘Gram Swaraj’ is to be full of self-confidence and self reliance.

Modi further said, ?That’s why it has been my constant effort that this thinking of Gram Swaraj should move forward towards accomplishments.? He recalled measures taken during his tenure as Chief Minister of Gujarat for Gram Swaraj such as, Nirmal Gaon for ODF villages, Jal Mandir Abhiyan to revive old Baories and wells in villages, Jyotirgram for 24 hour electricity in villages, Teerth Gram for camaraderie in villages, e-Gram for broadband in villages. As Prime Minister also, he worked to involve local communities in the planning and management of schemes, the PM said. He informed that for this, specially for water and cleanliness, more than 2.5 lakh crore rupees have been given directly to Gram Panchayats. He also said, along with the powers, transparency in the working of panchayats is also being monitored closely. Jal Jeevan Mission and Paani Samities are a key example of the Central Government?s commitment to Gram Swaraj, he said.

Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister said villages were part of the hearts of Bapu and Lal Bahadur Shastri ji. He expressed happiness that on this day, people from lakhs of villages across the country are organizing ?Jal Jeevan Samvad? in the form of ‘Gram Sabhas’.

Referring to popular conceptions of the problem of water, the Prime Minister talked of movies, stories, poems that tell in detail how the women and children of the village walked miles to fetch water. In the minds of some people, this picture emerges as soon as the name of the village is taken. The Prime Minister asked why so few people think about the question: why do these people have to go to some river or pond every day, after all, why does the water not reach these people? ?I think those who had the responsibility of policy-making for a long time, should have asked themselves this question,? the Prime Minister remarked. The Prime Minister said that perhaps the earlier policy-makers did not realize the importance of water as they came from water abundant areas. Shri Modi said, coming from a state like Gujarat he has seen drought conditions and knows the importance of every drop of water. That is why being the Chief Minister of Gujarat, providing water to the people and water conservation were his priorities.

The Prime Minister said since independence till 2019, only 3 crore households in our country had access to tap water. Since the launch of Jal Jeevan Mission in 2019, 5 crore households have been connected with water connections. Today, water is reaching every household in about 1.25 lakh villages, in about 80 districts of the country. In the Aspirational districts the number of tap connections have increased from 31 lakh to 1.16 crore.

He noted that in just two years, more work has been done than was done in the last seven decades. He appealed to every citizen of the country who lives in an abundance of water, to make more efforts to save water and called upon them to change their habits too.

The Prime Minister enumerated measures to improve the health and safety of the daughters of the country. He informed that measures like toilets in every home and school, affordable sanitary pads, nutrition support during pregnancy and immunisation have strengthened the ?MatriShakti?. He informed that most of the 2.5 crore houses constructed in the villages are in the name of women and Ujjwala has relieved women of smoke-filled life. Women are being integrated with atma nirbharta mission via Self Help Groups and these groups have increased three fold in the last seven years. He also informed that there has been 13 times increase in the last seven years in support to women under National Livelihood Mission as compared to five preceding years to 2014.

Prime Minister Modi interacted with Samitis during the conference and enquired Girijakant Tiwari of Umaree village of District Banda from Uttar Pradesh, about the impact of Jal Jeevan mission in his village. Tiwari informed that now safe and clean water is available and has improved the lives of women of the village. Tiwari informed that every household has toilets in the village and everyone is using them.

The Prime Minister asked Rameshbhai Patel of Pipli, Gujarat about the availability of water in his village, who informed the PM that quality is good and women of the village have been trained to check the quality. The Prime Minister asked whether people pay for the drinking water. Rameshbhai informed that the value of water is very clear to the villages and there is a willingness to pay for it.

Similarly, PM Modi interacted with several other people during the video conferencing and enquired about the quality of water, facility the people got due to availability of water under Jal Jeevan Mission.

He launched the Jal Jeevan Mission App for improving awareness among stakeholders and for greater transparency and accountability of schemes under the Mission. He also launched Rashtriya Jal Jeevan Kosh, where any individual, institution, corporation, or philanthropist, be it in India or abroad, can contribute to help provide tap water connection in every rural household, school, Anganwadi centre, ashram shala, and other public institutions.

Along with members of Gram Panchayats and Pani Samitis, union Ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Prahlad Singh Patel, Bishweswar Tudu, Chief Ministers and Ministers from states were present.