Meghalaya: Centre Halts JJM Funds Pending Nationwide Audit, says CM Conrad Sangma

CORRESPONDENT

SHILLONG: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said the Centre has halted the release of fresh funds under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) to all states after the programme, launched as a Mission Mode initiative, officially ended in March 2024. He said the Union Cabinet decided to conduct a nationwide audit before clearing pending bills and releasing further funds.

Conrad Sangma said, "The Centre has halted the release of fresh funds under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) to states since it was a Mission Mode Programme that was supposed to end in March 2024," adding that the Union Government is auditing ongoing schemes before any new disbursements. He said, "So the funds for the Jal Jeevan Mission have been stopped at the central level for all state governments. So, there is no fund being released to any state as of now - not just Meghalaya but the whole country."

He further said, "Maybe Rs 1 lakh crore plus of bills are pending for different states, but this is happening because of one simple fact: the JJM was a Mission Mode Programme which was supposed to end in March 2024." He explained that the scheme ceased to exist from April as "the Finance Department did not have any provision to continue giving funds for JJM because it was supposed to close in March 2024."

The Chief Minister recalled that the Union Cabinet decided only in November-December to extend the programme until ongoing projects conclude, thereby enabling the Finance Ministry to process post-March 2024 bills. He said, "The Cabinet also put a condition that there will be an audit conducted for all the schemes that are being implemented throughout the country, and only once the audit is completed for all the schemes will the Finance Ministry, based on that, release the funds."

He added that the audit is at various stages across states and "once that is done, then the Finance Ministry will start releasing the funds," stressing that the situation is nationwide and not restricted to Meghalaya.

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