While Odisha has been provided more funds for implementing Jal Jeevan Mission, slow progress and underutilisation of funds have raised concern.

Jal Jeevan Mission is a flagship programme of the Government of India for providing tap connections to the households in villages allowing them to enjoy pure drinking water.

The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation under the Ministry of Jal Shakti is implementing the programme through Jal Jeevan Mission.

Looking at the requirement of the State, the Central Government has allocated Rs 812 crore in 2020-21 as Grant In Aid and the first installment of Rs 149 crore was released during this year.

Minster Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat reviewed the progress of various States since first quarter of 2020-21 was over, said official sources.

A Jal Jeevan Mission Review has revealed that on both physical and financial progress count, Odisha is lagging behind.

While the Central funds flow is more, spending less in the programme implementation is a cause of concern, said a senior official.

According to information available with the National Mission, Odisha has provided nearly 81,500 household connections during first quarter of 2020-21. The Annual Action Plan for Odisha was to provide 17.10 lakh Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTC)s to the households.

As in the first quarter, progress is slow, a strategy is needed for speeding up the household connections. While Odisha was also falling short of more than 7 lakh household connections in 2019-20, now with the shortfall in first quarter, more is needed to be covered.

This is because 40 per cent coverage of the uncovered households is to be taken up during 2020-21. So it is a huge target and with Covid-19 pandemic, the State administration faces a Herculean task in implementing the flagship programme, admit officials.

While physical progress is slow, financial spending is also low. Official sources revealed that out of nearly Rs 240 crore Central grants available with the State, Rs 115 crore has been spent.

The slowdown of spending is also a cause of concern for the Central Government and it has requested the State authorities to speed up spending. In the meantime, Jal Jeevan Mission authorities have reportedly requested the State Government to speed up the implementation of the flagship programme as Central grants are available with the State.