PM Modi to interact with Gram Panchayats today

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with Gram Panchayats and Pani Samitis or Village Water and Sanitation Committees (VWSC) on Jal Jeevan Mission at 11 AM today via video conferencing. The Prime Minister will launch the Jal Jeevan Mission App for improving awareness among stakeholders and for greater transparency and accountability of schemes under the Mission.

Mr Modi will also launch Rashtriya Jal Jeevan Kosh, where any individual, institution, corporate, or philanthropist, be it in India or abroad, can contribute to help provide tap water connection in every rural household, school, anganwadi centre, ashramshala, and other public institutions.

Nation-wide Gram Sabhas on Jal Jeevan Mission will also take place during the day. The Gram Sabhas will discuss planning and management of village water supply systems and also work towards long-term water security.

Pani Samitis play a



key role in planning, implementation, management, operation and maintenance of village water supply systems, thereby providing clean tap water to every household on a regular and long-term basis.

Out of over six lakh villages, Pani Samitis or VWSCs have been constituted in around 3.5 lakh villages. More than 7.1 lakh women have been trained to test the quality of water by using Field Test Kits.

On 15th August, 2019, Prime Minister had announced the Jal Jeevan Mission to provide clean tap water to every household. At the time of launch of the mission, only 3.23 Crore or 17 per cent rural households had tap water supply.

Despite COVID-19 pandemic, in the last two years, more than five crore households have been provided with tap water connections. As on date, about 8.26 crore, 43 per cent rural households have tap water supply in their homes.