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New Delhi, Oct 30 (IANS) Nearly 800 district collectors and officials from across the country discussed measures to improve tap water availability, community participation and decentralized water management under the National Jal Jeevan Mission (NJJM). An official gave this information on Thursday.
The discussions were held under the “District Collectors’ Drinking Water Dialogue” initiative, which is a national dialogue aimed at empowering district leadership to strengthen local governance, ensure source sustainability and enhance accountability in rural water service delivery under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), the official said in a statement.
Additional Secretary and Mission Director, National Jal Jeevan Mission (NJJM), Kamal Kishore Son, who chaired the meeting, highlighted that sustainable service delivery depends on data-backed decision making, local ownership and preventive governance, adding that “District Collector is the key functionary and his role under JJM is very important.”
Son also stressed the need for dedicated expenditure on water-related works under MNREGA for recharge, water harvesting and source conservation.
The Mission Director also stressed the need to establish protected drinking water zones, enforce patrolling and inspection protocols and empower Village Water and Sanitation Committees (VWSCs) for community vigilance and reporting.
The “Drinking Water Dialogue of District Collectors” series is part of the Department’s ongoing effort to strengthen local governance and decentralized water management under JJM.
The first edition, held on October 14, focused on empowering districts and panchayats through digital tools, accountability mechanisms and peer learning.
The second edition held on Thursday took this dialogue forward towards source sustainability, highlighting data-driven planning, legal safeguards and convergence with MGNREGA to build district-led, community-based models of rural water governance, the statement said.
During the discussion on Thursday, NJJM Director YK Singh said the next phase of NJJM should focus on source sustainability.
He underlined that while the Mission has provided tap water to 81.21 per cent of rural households, about 85 per cent of rural drinking water demand is dependent on groundwater (CGWB, 2024).
Drawing attention to the 3rd Chief Secretaries’ Conference to be held in December 2023 on the theme of ‘Drinking Water’, he recalled the national commitments made to secure water sources and emphasized that sustainable sources are the foundation of sustainable tap connections, and India’s water story must be scientific, data-driven and community-based.
–IANS
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