Centre approves Rs 255 crore for Arunachal Pradesh under Jal Jeevan Mission

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ITANAGAR: The Union Jal Shakti Ministry has approved the annual action plan (AoP) of Arunachal Pradesh to achieve cent per cent household tap connections in the State to all households by March 2023, with the Centre approving Rs 255 crore for the State under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in 2020-21. Of the 2.18 lakh total rural households, the State is planning to provide 77,000 tap connections in 2020-21, the sources said. It plans to immediately provide tap connections to all remaining households belonging to the weaker sections of the society on a priority basis. In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centre has advised that drinking water supply work in the villages should be taken up urgently in order to provide household tap connections, which would help the people in practicing social distancing, besides providing employment to the locals and boosting the rural economy.

Strengthening the existing drinking water sources for long-term sustainability of drinking water supply systems through convergence of various programmes, like the MGNREGS, Swach Bharat Mission (Gramin) and MLAs Local Area Development Funds at the village level has been planned to ensure judicious use of all available funds, the sources said.

The State has been allocated Rs 231 crore under the 15th Finance Commission grants to panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) during 2020-21 out of which 50 percent of this amount has to be mandatorily spent on water and sanitation, the sources added. 

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