State targeting to completely implement Jal Jeevan Mission project by the end of this year: Meghalaya PHE minister

Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar, the minister in charge of Public Health Engineering (PHE), has denied that Bishweswar Tudu, the Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti, was dissatisfied with the Jal Jeevan Mission's (JJM) progress in Meghalaya.

Tongkhar has made it clear that Bishweswar Tudu, the union minister of state for Jal Shakti, has never voiced worry over the growth of the JJM in the State.

The responsible minister is optimistic that the plan will be completely implemented before the year is through. "The state hopes to have it finished by December of this year. But with just four months and 60% more to go, it would seem unattainable to some," he remarked.

Tongkhar informed that during a review meeting held last week in the city, Union Minister Tudu, who departed the event midway through, was mainly miffed that he had not been handed a printed copy of the PHE department's presentation.

"He never expressed dissatisfaction with the performance in any way. Since the state wouldn't receive a performance award from the Ministry if such were the case. We have won the prize twice and, in comparison to other states, we are doing well,” Tongkhar remarked.

According to Tongkhar, if the Union Minister were unhappy with the JJM's success, the state would not have twice received a performance award from the Ministry.

According to the PHE minister, the state has completed 40% of it, with the majority being in the Garo Hills region. A total of 5.89 million homes in the state were targeted for the scheme's approval, and over 5.45 lakh of those households have received it.

The PHE Minister also stated that the state's targeted 5.89 million homes out of a total of 5.45 million households were sanctioned for the programme.