New Delhi, Sep 7 (PTI) A visit by a multi-disciplinary team from the National Jal Jeevan Mission to Jharkhand is underway to discuss various aspects of progress and implementation of the mission in the state, the Jal Shakti Ministry said on Tuesday.

During its visit from September 6-9, the team will visit Ranchi, Dhanbad, Khunti, and Hazaribagh, the ministry added.

Also Read | #JammuandKashmir Lieutenant Governor #ManojSinha on Tuesday Launched an … – Latest Tweet by IANS Tweets.

Jharkhand is planning 100 per cent Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs) to all households by 2023-24. Out of 59.24 lakh rural households in the state, 8.60 lakh (14.5 per cent) households have tap water connections, it said.

On August 15, 2019, at the time of the launch of Jal Jeevan Mission, only 3.45 lakh (5.85 per cent) rural households in Jharkhand had a tap water supply.

Also Read | Uttar Pradesh: Elderly Man, Wife Robbed of Rs 2 Lakh in Greater Noida; Investigation Underway.

In 24 months, 5.15 lakh households (8.7 per cent) in the state have been provided tap water connections.

"However, in comparison to the national average of 23 per cent increase in providing tap water supply in rural households, the progress made in Jharkhand is very slow," the ministry said.

"A multi-disciplinary team from the National Jal Jeevan Mission is visiting Jharkhand during 6-9 September, 2021 in four districts of Ranchi, Dhanbad, Khunti, and Hazaribagh. During the visit of the NJJM team to the state, team members are visiting three-five villages daily in the district depending on the feasibility," the statement added.

The visiting team will discuss various aspects of progress and implementation of the mission in the state, understanding ground situation and discussing about the saturation plan for 100 per cent coverage of households for making provision of tap water connections.

They are interacting with district officials, local village community, members of gram panchayats. After the visit to districts, they will interact with the state team, it added.

In 2020-21, Rs 572.24 crore central grant was allocated to the state but it could draw only Rs 143.06 crore and surrendered Rs 429.18 crore meant for tap water supply in rural areas due to slow pace of implementation.

To assist the state to provide tap water supply to every household by 2024, the Centre has increased its allocation four-folds to Rs 2,479.88 crore.

With this enhanced central allocation, and matching state's share of Rs 2,617.81 crore, Jharkhand has an assured availability of Rs 5,235.62 crore under the Jal Jeevan Mission for water supply works in 2021-22.

"However, the state is yet to draw the first tranche of central allocation due to poor physical and financial progress," the statement added.

In addition to this, in 2021-22, Rs 750 crore has been allocated to Jharkhand as 15th Finance Commission tied grant for water and sanitation to Rural Local Bodies/ PRIs (Panchayati Raj Institutions). There is an assured funding of Rs 3,952 crore for the next five years i.e. up to 2025-26.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)