Bhubaneswar: Union Secretary, Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation under the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti, Shri Ashok Kumar Meena, reviewed the progress of the Jal Jeevan Mission and Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) in Odisha.
During the review meeting, Shri Meena praised Odisha’s remarkable progress in implementing the Jal Jeevan Mission and expressed satisfaction with the state government’s alignment with the national mission’s goals and priorities.
To ensure the long-term management and maintenance of the drinking water supply system, Shri Meena suggested further empowering Gram Panchayats.
He advised the swift transfer of the management responsibilities of water supply infrastructure to Gram Panchayats and Village Water and Sanitation Committees (VWSC) through the central government’s ‘Jal Arpan’ program.
He also emphasized prioritizing infrastructure creation under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) to help more villages achieve ODF Plus Model status.
During his visit, Meena met with Chief Secretary Shrimati Anu Garg to discuss the execution, progress, and future action plans for both missions in the state. Following the review meeting, he visited various piped water supply projects in Puri district alongside Shri Girish S. N., Secretary, Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water and Shri Vineet Bhardwaj, Director of the Drinking Water and Sanitation Mission, to assess the ground-level status of the drinking water supply.
The delegation inspected the Lohapur piped water supply project under Jagannathpur Gram Panchayat and the Subalpur project under Jashuapur Gram Panchayat in Pipili block.
Union Secretary Shri Meena lauded the efforts of field officers and engineers after observing the quality of the project infrastructure. He also interacted with local residents to gather direct feedback regarding the benefits and overall impact of these clean drinking water projects.