Rajasthan and Arunachal Pradesh State plans to provide tap connection, “Statistics Day” on 29th June, 2020
1. Rajasthan State plans to provide potable water to 3,700 Fluoride affected habitations by December, 2020
- Ministry of Jal Shakti has been working with the States in preparing a roadmap to implement Union Government’s flagship programme Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), which aims to provide 55 litres of potable water per person per day to every rural household of the country by 2024.
- JJM aims to improve the lives of rural people especially women and girls by reducing their drudgery.
- In 2019-20, only 1.02 Lakh tap connections were provided.
- In 2020-21, the State is planning to enable 20.69 Lakh households with tap water connections.
- Central Govt has approved fund of ₹2,522.03 Crore for implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in Rajasthan in 2020-21, which is a considerable increase from ₹ 1,051 Crore in 2019-20.
- Rajasthan plans to provide potable water to 57.77 Lakh population of the State residing in 5,864 villages affected by Fluoride, salinity, Nitrate and Iron.
- State has planned to provide potable water in all 3,700 Fluoride affected habitations by December, 2020.
- More emphasis is also given on universal coverage of water scarce areas, aspirational districts, SC/ ST dominated villages and villages under Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY).
- As JJM is a decentralized, demand-driven, community-managed programme, the local village community/ Gram Panchayats or user groups are to play key role in planning, implementation, management, operation and maintenance of water supply systems in villages to ensure long-term sustainability.
- It is also planned to undertake IEC campaign along with community mobilization in all villages to make JJM truly a people’s movement.
- Women self-help groups and voluntary organisations are to be engaged to mobilize the rural community for creation of in-village water supply infrastructure as well as for their operation and maintenance.
- The State is to facilitate preparation of Village Action Plan (VAP) of every village by dovetailing all such resources for carrying out water conservation activities leading to strengthening of water sources and ensuring drinking water security.
- To achieve the objectives of the Mission to provide tap connection to each rural household in every habitation/ village on long-term basis, skilled manpower like masonry, plumbing, fitting, electricity, etc., is needed for creation of water supply schemes and their operation & maintenance.
- The goal is to create a pool of skilled human resources in rural areas to make villages self-reliant for regular upkeep and maintenance of water supply systems.
- In the prevailing CoVid-19 pandemic situation, State has been requested to start works related to water supply and water conservation immediately in villages so as to provide employment to the local community and also to ensure potable water in the households of rural people, and boost the rural economy.
- Finally, it was stressed that State should ensure faster implementation of the JJM programme to realize the objectives of the Mission that every rural household gets potable water in adequate quantity and of prescribed quality on regular and long-term basis.
2. Arunachal Pradesh State plans to provide tap connection to all rural households by March 2023
- The Jal Jeevan Mission is a flagship programme of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, which aims to improve the lives of rural people by providing safe drinking water to every rural household through household tap connections (FHTCs) by 2024.
- This approach of decentralized, demand-driven, community-managed water supply schemes at village/ habitation level is perceived as a major reform in the drinking water sector in India.
- Being implemented in partnership with States, the Mission aims to enable every rural household has assured availability of potable water at a service level of 55 litres per capita per day (lpcd) on regular and long-term basis so as to bring improvements in lives of rural folks.
- Arunachal Pradesh plans to provide 100% tap connections to all the households of the State by March, 2023.
- Govt of India has allocated Rs 255 Crore for the State under JJM in 2020-21.
- State will be given additional funds in form of performance grants based on their achievement in terms of tangible outputs i.e. the household tap connections and commensurate financial progress.
- While planning, thrust is given on covering households in aspirational district, quality-affected habitations, Sansad Adarsh Gramin Yojana villages, etc. on priority.
- Being a decentralized programme, local community will play a pivotal role in planning, implementation, management, operation and maintenance of water supply systems in villages to ensure long-term sustainability.
- Local communities are encouraged to take responsibility of water supply systems in villages for regular upkeep and operation and maintenance.
- In all villages, IEC campaign along with community mobilization needs to be taken up to make Jal Jeevan Mission truly a people’s movement.
- Skilling activities are planned so that unemployed youth could be trained in plumbing, masonry, fitting, pump operation, etc. so that a pool of trained human resources could be available at village level and engaged locally, which will help in long-term operation and maintenance of schemes without depending on outside agencies.
- Stressing on the need for strengthening of existing drinking water sources for long-term sustainability of drinking water supply systems, Union Minister asked for convergence of various programmes like MGNREGS, SBM (G), 15th FC Grants to PRIs, District Mineral Development Fund, CAMPA, Local Area Development Fund, etc. at village level for judicious use of all available funds.
- The State will get Rs. 231 Crore under 15th Finance Commission Grants to PRIs during 2020-21; 50% of this amount has to be mandatorily to be spent on water and sanitation.
- Under Jal Jeevan Mission, water quality testing laboratories at district & state levels are given priority. Community is being involved for surveillance of water quality.
- Provision has been made to empower and engage with the community, for which various activities are planned like timely procurement of kits, supply of kits to the community, identification of at least five women in every village, training 5 persons especially women for use of Field Test Kits, so that water can be tested locally.
3. “Statistics Day” to be celebrated on 29th June, 2020
- The Government has been celebrating the Statistics Day, to popularise the use of Statistics in everyday life and sensitise the public as to how Statistics helps in shaping and framing policies.
- It has been designated as one of the Special Days to be celebrated at the national level and is celebrated on the birth anniversary of Prof. P C Mahalanobis, on 29thJune, in recognition of his invaluable contribution in establishing the National Statistical System.
- In 2019, the Ministry instituted a new award, namely, the Prof. P.C. Mahalanobis National Award in Official Statistics for recognizing outstanding achievement of official statisticians in Central Government, State Governments and Institutions.
- The Prof.P.C. Mahalanobis National Award winner, 2020 will be felicitated during the event.
- For 2020, the award winner for Prof. P. V. Sukhatme will be declared during the event.
- The winners of ‘On the Spot Essay Writing Competition, 2020’ for Post Graduate Students on the subject relevant to Statistics organized at All India level will also be felicitated.
- Every year, Statistics Day is celebrated with a theme of current national importance, which runs for a year by way of several workshops and seminars, aimed at bringing about improvements in the selected area.
- The theme of Statistics Day, 2019 was “Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” and carrying this forward the theme of Statistics Day, 2020 is selected as SDG- 3 (Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages) & SDG- 5 (Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls).
- The updated version of the Report on Sustainable Development Goals-National Indicator Framework (NIF) Progress Report 2020 (version 2.1)will be released during the event.
- Along with the report, the Indian Statistical Services Cadre Management Portal will also be launched on 29thJune 2020.
- It is expected that these events will raise public awareness, especially among the younger generation, about the role of Statistics in socio-economic planning and policy formulation.
