On Wednesday, Department of Drinking water and Sanitation (DDWS) Secretary Vini Mahajan told the media that Assam is well on track to attain the goal of rendering clean tap water supply to every house by 2024. Her remarks came while checking the progress of Jal Jeevan Mission and Swachh Bharat Mission with Jishnu Barua, Chief Secretary of Assam. Mahajan appreciated the progress made by Assam in rendering tap water supply to rural houses during the review meeting on the execution of the two chief missions in the State. She said that Assam is well on track to attain the goal of rendering clean tap water supply to every house by 2024, and the Centre is rendering full help to the State to attain the target. Mahajan told the media that Jal Jeevan Mission is a demand-driven, decentralised, community-managed water supply scheme that strives to improve the lives of rural people by rendering clean tap water supply to every house. She appreciated the work conducted by the State in the last six months. Speaking on the execution of the Swachh Bharat Mission, Mahajan said that while the districts have self-announced themselves Open Defecation Free (ODF), this is not a one-time effort. Efforts under the programme are being made to obtain social and behaviour change for sustainability of the ODF status of villages at all times. She also highlighted the urgent requirement to prioritise the supply of tap water in all schools and Anganwadi centres of the State. At the announcement of Jal Jeevan Mission on 15th August 2019, only 1.11 lakh (1.76%) households out of 63.35 lakh households in the State had access to tap water supply. In approximately 28 months, 17.46 lakh households have been rendered with clean tap water. In the past six months alone, a clean tap water supply has been rendered to over 8.5 lakh households. Image Source