Rs 700 crore pending for Jal Jeevan Mission projects in Meghalaya

CORRESPONDENT

SHILLONG: Meghalaya’s flagship Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) has hit a financial wall with over Rs 700 crore in unpaid dues, a logjam Public Health Engineering Minister Marcuise N Marak has squarely attributed to procedural bottlenecks in Delhi. “In terms of payment, we are yet to pay almost Rs 700 crore pending payment,” Marak admitted, underscoring that the state government is not responsible for the bottleneck.

“It is not because of the state government it is because of the government of India as there are some procedures. Government of India needs to take a decision because target was set for March 31, 2024 and after that government of India has not taken any decision,” the minister said, while pointing out that the Centre has now pushed the JJM deadline to 2028.

Marak further said funds earmarked under the Jal Shakti Ministry remain stuck pending auditing mandated by the Finance Ministry. “Therefore, now the government of India has to release the money which they have already earmarked for the Jal Shakti Ministry and as per finance ministry’s mandate, the kind of audit that is being conducted with the Jal Shakti Ministry once the auditing is completed, the money will be released to the state and once the money is released the payment will start,” he explained.

Admitting that the fund crunch has left contractors in limbo, Marak said many projects are either crawling or completely stalled, with only a few contractors managing to push through. He maintained that the state is constantly liaising with the Centre to break the deadlock.

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