Chandigarh, July 3 (PTI) Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Friday lauded the efforts of the Haryana government for swiftly moving forward to achieve the target of providing piped drinking water to all rural households by 2022.

This is much ahead of the national target date of 2024 under the ambitious 'Jal Jeevan Mission' (JJM).

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The minister said other states have been asked to emulate the Haryana pattern in planning their way forward in the 'Jal Jeevan Mission'.

"It is a matter of great pride that dedicated efforts made by various departments and officers, who under the leadership of Chief Minister,  Manohar Lal, are continually working as a team to beat the national goal of providing tap water connection to all rural houses by 2022," he said.

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Shekhawat made the remarks while reviewing the work being carried out by the Haryana government under the 'Jal Jeevan Mission', through video conferencing, an official release said.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Haryana's Additional Chief Secretary (Public Health Engineering Department) Devender Singh, Deputy Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Ashima Brar and other officials also attended the video conference.

"Reiterating its commitment to provide water connection to all rural households, the Haryana government is speedily moving forward to provide functional household tap connections (FHTCs) to all rural households by 2022. Various measures are being taken in a bid to provide piped drinking water to all rural households," Khattar said in the meeting.

According to the guidelines issued by the central government, a multitude of steps have been initiated as well as village water and sewerage committees are being constituted with a 50 per cent stake of women members, he said.

The chief minister said crop diversification scheme 'Mera Pani, Meri Virasat Yojana' has been launched in the state with the aim to save water.

Under this scheme, farmers willing to adopt crop diversification would get an incentive of Rs 7,000 per acre from the government, he added.

"The farmers of the state have also been appealed to adopt crop diversification and it is a matter of great satisfaction that farmers have given their consent for growing alternative crops, other than paddy over around one lakh hectare of land. Around 12 to 13 per cent of water will be saved in this way," Khattar said.

To ensure better utilisation of water, Haryana Pond and Waste Water Management Authority has been set up, he said, adding that it is working towards the rejuvenation of ponds in the state.

(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)