Leh: The Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) scheme, an important scheme of the Govt of India is being implemented by the Ladakh Administration with the objective to provide tap connections in all the rural households to fulfil the commitment of achieving ‘Har Ghar Nal, Har Ghar Jal’ in Ladakh. Pani Samiti established in every village is a key stakeholder for the success of the mission.
In order to have strong community ownership and capacity building of Pani Samiti, a 4 day training programme was conducted from November 5 to 8, 2022 for the Sarpanches; Naib Sarpanches; Panchayat Secretaries; Members of Village Sanitation and Water Committee, and Village-Level Workers in Leh by the Ladakh administration in collaboration with the Quality Council of India.
Around 80 participants attended the training. During this time the participants were given comprehensive training on crucial topics, viz. The roles and responsibilities of all the stakeholders in planning and implementation; Community mobilization; Developing capacity of pani samiti to manage JJM assets; Involvement of women as primary stakeholders; Developing mechanism for Community level planning; Implementation, O&M and monitoring system; Village Action Plan; Water quality monitoring and Surveillance, among others.
Commissioner/Secretary, PHE, A.K. Sahu attended the valedictory ceremony as the Chief Guest. In his remarks, he lauded the efforts of the participants for their active participation in the workshop. He shared that Ladakh has achieved 70% saturation so far and will be Har Ghar Jal, UT in the coming months.
He said no stone was left unturned in building the required infrastructure for JJM. Wherever required, pipes and equipment were flown down in helicopters, carried on raft and even on horseback to ensure every remote area in Ladakh gets access to fresh and clean drinking water.
Further, Sahu highlighted the importance of JJM as a tool that provides water security for sustainable and comprehensive well-being and economic growth of the people and the future generation. He emphasized that ultimately JJM is a community project where in the role of community in planning, implementation, management, operation and maintenance of in-village water supply infrastructure is crucial.
He assured all help to the participants from the administration as they take ownership and carry this mission forward. Sahu stated that in the coming days more such trainings will be conducted to empower the people at the village level.
Deputy Commissioner, Leh, Shrikant Suse, expressed his gratitude to the Quality Council of India for conducting these trainings in Ladakh. Hailing the efforts of the PHE team and Community members, he appealed to all stakeholders to ensure their active participation so that JJM can be made a success.
Alok Jain of the Quality Council of India expressed his gratitude to the Ladakh administration for giving the opportunity and the support required to conduct the training. He observed that women participation as important stakeholders in Jal Jeevan Mission and their involvement in the programme is commendable in Ladakh.
Two PRI members from Taru and Chemray also spoke on the importance of this training and how beneficial training was to them.
The training was conducted in two batches. The first batch was given training from November 1 to 4, 2022 in Leh and consisted of around 60 participants.They also visited village Taru for field visit as a part of the training.
The event was also attended by officials of Jal Jeevan Mission, Leh and the Quality Council of India.
