It would motivate individuals to utilize the resource properly, state Jal Jeevan Mission authorities
The Jal Jeevan Mission is promoting villagers getting piped water connections under the plan to pay service fee covering a minimum of half of the repeating expenses. However, each panchayat or village-level water and sanitation committee will take a choice on this for itself, authorities stated on Monday.
“The policy enables and encourages levying of service charges at the local level,” stated Jal Shakti Secretary Pankaj Kumar, keeping in mind that this would motivate“people to use this water responsibly”
“The idea is that under the Mission, we are pushing that minimum 50% recurring expenditure should be collected from end users. In many places, it is already 100%. In other areas, nothing is being contributed yet,” statedAdditional Secretary Bharat Lal About 76% of end users in Gujarat towns pay service fee varying from 40 to 100 per household monthly, while lots of Bihar wards gather 30, he stated. Telangana is currently executing the policy.
“As on date, it’s not like a law. At the end of the day, it’s the pani samiti or the village panchayat itself that is performing the role of a public utility so they are deciding what kind of service charge they should collect from each family,” statedMr Lal. Provisions were made at the regional level to excuse the destitute and the bad households from payment.
Funding readily available
He stressed that the operation of the plan is not depending on the service fee. The Fifteenth Finance Commission financing is readily available to cover any shortage. “The idea is to develop responsible and responsive leadership at the village level.”
In its report sent recently, the Finance Commission stated it was “imperative to fix an appropriate price for water on a graded basis, wherein higher consumption entails higher charges,” including that unsuitable prices is a significant reason for the over-exploitation of the resources.
