YSRCP govt. misutilised ₹4,000 crore under Jal Jevan Mission, says Pawan Kalyan

Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan addressing a workshop on Jal Jeevan Mission, in Vijayawada on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit: G.N. RAO

Deputy Chief Minister (Panchayat Raj and Rural Development) K. Pawan Kalyan has said that Andhra Pradesh could not fully utilise the potential of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) during the YSR Congress Party’s (YSRCP) tenure.

Instead, around ₹4,000 crore were misutilised under the JJM, he said while addressing a workshop on the ‘Implementation of the JMM in the State’ in Vijayawada on December 18 (Wednesday).

Mr. Pawan Kalyan said when the JJM was launched in 2019, every State submitted proposals to the Union government on funds needed to provide drinking water to every household.

“Uttar Pradesh asked for ₹1.5 lakh crore, Madhya Pradesh ₹83,000 crore, Gujarat ₹32,000 crore, and Kerala ₹45,000 crore. The previous YSRCP government had submitted proposals for only Rs. 26,000 crore.  Kerala, a smaller State than Andhra Pradesh, understood the future needs and sought a significantly larger amount of ₹45,000 crore,” he pointed out. 

The Union government, however, sanctioned ₹4,877 crore to Andhra Pradesh. Even those funds were utilised much against the JJM guidelines. The previous government was solely dependent on borewells, which was against the JJM’s objective. The funds were spent on laying pipelines though sustainable water sources were not identified and developed. Again, the YSRCP government made false claims about its accomplishment in the JJM, teh Deputy Chief Minister said.

The YSRCP regime claimed to have provided 70.04 lakh households with water connections, with 25.4 lakh households still needing connections. After conducting the pulse survey over four weeks, it was found that out of 85.22 lakh households, only 55.37 lakh had water connections, Mr. Pawan Kalyan said.

“Contrary to the Jal Jeevan Mission’s goals, most of these water connections relied on borewells. Union Minister for Jal Sakthi C.R. Patil pointed out the same at a recent meeting,” the Deputy Chief Minister said.

“The Andhra Pradesh govenrment has urged the Centre to extend the JJM programme for a year and sought ₹70,000 crore. The Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the same will be submitted by January 2025,” he said.

JSP Whip in Legislative Council Pidugu Hariprasad, Principal Secretary (Panchayati Raj and Rural Development) Shashi Bhushan Kumar, Panchayati Raj Commissioner Krishna Teja, Chief Engineer of Rural Safe Drinking Water Supply Sanjeeva Reddy, and Chief Engineer of Water Resources Venkateswara Rao and others took part in the workshop.