Jal Shakti Ministry to launch 100-day campaign for safe water supply in anganwadis, schools

The National Jal Jeevan Mission will launch a 100-day campaign this Gandhi Jayanti to ensure safe water supply in schools and anganwadi centres across the country, the Jal Shakti Ministry said on Thursday.

The National Jal Jeevan Mission will launch a 100-day campaign this Gandhi Jayanti to ensure safe water supply in schools and anganwadi centres across the country, the Jal Shakti Ministry said on Thursday. It has reached out to states and union territories to make the campaign a success.

Releasing the guidelines for gram panchayats and paani samitis for implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged states and UTs to make best use of the campaign to ensure potable piped water in public institutions. "During this 100-day campaign, gram sabhas will be convened coinciding with Gandhi Jayanti, on October 2, 2020, and in coming days to pass a resolution for providing safe water in all schools, anganwadi centres and other public institutions in the village in the next 100 days," the ministry said in a statement.

"These facilities will be operated and maintained by the gram panchayat or its sub-committee i.e. village water and sanitation committee or paani samiti," it said. The public health engineering department of states will spearhead the campaign along with other line departments like Education, Women & Child Welfare, Panchayati Raj and Rural Development and Tribal Welfare.

“This campaign will go a long-way in ensuring safe water supply to our children that will positively impact their health and overall development. This will be a befitting tribute to the 'Father of the Nation' Mahatma Gandhi on his 151st birth anniversary,” the ministry added. On Gandhi Jayanti, Gujarat will organise an event in Porbander, where Chief Minister Vijay Rupani will declare four districts of the state -- Gandhinagar, Mehsana, Porbandar, and Anand -- having 100 percent household tap water connections coverage.

The event will also be joined virtually by Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat through video conference from Delhi, according to the statement. In this event, a 100-day campaign to provide assured piped water supply in anganwadi centres and schools will be launched.

In Gujarat, the tap water coverage in rural households is 79.85 per cent as on date. In 2020-21, the state has provided tap water connections to 7.70 lakh households.  In the past one year, more than 2.30 crore households have already been provided tap water connections across the country. As of now, almost 30 per cent of total rural households i.e. 5.50 Crore rural households now get assured safe tap water in their homes. Jal Jeevan Mission aims at the universal coverage of provision of tap water connection to every rural home by 2024.

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