CHIEF Secretary Vikas Sheel held a conference with District Collectors on Thursday via video conferencing from the Mantralaya Nava Raipur Atal Nagar to review the progress of Jal Jeevan Mission works in State. He sought updates from the Collectors regarding the mission’s activities in their respective districts and urged them to take a personal interest in ensuring the provision of tap water to every household under the Jal Jeevan Mission. The Collectors have been directed to ensure the completion of schemes aimed at providing tap water to households and conduct physical verification of completed projects and expedite pending payments for schemes transferred to the panchayats. The Chief Secretary s clearly stated that delays in the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission will not be tolerated. During the Collectors’ conference, discussions were held regarding solar-based schemes and CREDA-related tap-water projects, and necessary directives were issued. Instructions were given to expedite the payment process for completed and handed-over projects.

 

Collectors have been directed to complete works under schemes facing resource constraints using local funds. The Chief Secretary instructed Collectors to take action to have Jal Jeevan Mission works executed by engineers from other departments in areas where there is a shortage of sub-engineers. Instructions have been issued to ensure that the regular monthly meeting of the District Water and Sanitation Committee takes place. It was directed that the proceedings of each meeting be uploaded to the departmental portal in a timely manner and that regular monitoring of the Jal Jeevan Mission be ensured. He directed all Collectors to work in ‘mission mode’ with clear assessments, better planning, and effective coordination, so that ‘tap water in every home’ could be provided to every family in the state in a time-bound manner. During the meeting, officials provided information regarding schemes currently supplying less than 55 LPCD of water. Secretary of Public Health Engineering Department Abdul Qaiser Haq and officials from the Public Health Engineering Department were present. Collectors and district-level departmental officials from all districts participated via video conference.