JJM empowers village communities to own piped water infra in JK: Abid Rasheed

Srinagar, Oct 12: To instil ‘sense of Ownership’ for the Piped water supply infrastructure in the community, J&K Jal Shakti Department under the banner of Jal Jeevan Mission has embarked on a mission to constitute Paani Samiti in every village.
The role of Pani Samitis is to implement the in-village piped water and related infrastructure development.
A centrally sponsored programme- Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) is being implemented in J&K to provide functional tap water connection to every rural home by 2022.
Mission Director Jal Jeevan Mission J&K, Syed Abid Rasheed said JJM is ramping up its efforts to ensure decentralised approach; thus making it a mass movement by involving communities in planning, implementation, management, operation and maintenance of the in-village water supply systems.
“Communities facing various challenges together are joined by a common goal of development. For better outcomes communities learn to work as a collective and think together for the development of their village,” he said.
To ensure transparency in budgets and expenditure, JJM funds and works are open to scrutiny of community from the conceptualization of the project till its community handover.
Recognizing the key role that women can play in mobilizing the village community and empowering them to ensure assured piped water supply in rural homes, provisions have been made in the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission to enable their 50 Percent participation in Pani Samitis to make Jal Jeevan Mission – Har Ghar Jal, a ‘Jan Andolan’.
For ensuring water quality testing, the JJM is using FTKs (Field Test Kits), periodic testing at laboratories and disseminating the same among community and undertake sanitary inspection in which women play a key role. The JJM also holds capacity building programmes for youth, students, and women to carry out these activities.
Likewise, the JJM in liaison with Pani Samitis also conducts awareness programmes on water importance and judicious use of water.