New Delhi, June 26 (IANS) Aiming to promote community-led water governance under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) 2.0, the Ministry of Jal Shakti has discussed issues related to piped water supply in villages with panchayat representatives.

Speaking at the eighth edition of the ‘Sujal Gram Samvad’ on Thursday, Kamal Kishore Soan, Additional Secretary and Mission Director of National Jal Jeevan Mission (NJJM), stressed on ensuring the proper and timely delivery of potable piped water to rural households, prevention of water wastage and stressed the importance of regular water-quality testing.

Soan also highlighted that the drinking-water systems being created are intended to serve communities for the next 25–30 years, an official statement said.

“Panchayats must therefore focus on source sustainability and protection, timely operation and maintenance, prevention of water wastage, and strengthening local capacities for repairs and monitoring,” Soan said.

He mentioned that, since 2019, India has prioritised household piped water, and today more than six lakh villages are being covered under JJM, which is an achievement made possible by active participation of Panchayats, Gram Sabhas, Self-Help Groups (SHGs), and local operators (Nal Jal Mitras).

The eighth edition of Sujal Gram Samvad featured village‑level interactions across five Gram Panchayat headquartered villages.

The Samvad recorded more than 3,000 participants attending the virtual interaction, reflecting strong engagement from communities and officials alike.

Soan encouraged continued efforts to accelerate such best practices and bring more Panchayats on board, so that similar models of transparency, community engagement and accountability can be replicated at gram panchayat level.

He highlighted that the Jal Seva Aankalan is a fact-finding exercise intended to identify service gaps for corrective action.

If issues remain unaddressed today, they will become far more serious in future, so to address this he urged the District Collectors to convene regular District Water and Sanitation Mission meetings and devote focused time each month to review water and sanitation matters.

The Samvad started by setting the context and sharing objective by Y.K. Singh, NJJM Director.

He said that the Samvad aims to listen to village communities, understand their experiences and learn local practices on Operation and Maintenance, and source sustenance.

–IANS

rch/khz