On Action Taken by the Government on the Observations
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
7 STANDING COMMITTEE ON WATER RESOURCES (2020-21) SEVENTEENTH LOK SABHA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI – DEPARTMENT OF DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION DEMANDS FOR GRANTS (2019-20) [Action Taken by the Government on the Observations / Recommendations contained in the Second Report (Seventeenth Lok Sabha) of the Standing Committee on Water Resources] SEVENTH REPORT LOK SABHA SECRETARIAT NEW DELHI February, 2021 / Magha,1942 (Saka) SEVENTH REPORT STANDING COMMITTEE ON WATER RESOURCES (2020-21) (SEVENTEENTH LOK SABHA) MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI – DEPARTMENT OF DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION DEMANDS FOR GRANTS (2019-20) (Action Taken by the Government on the Observations / Recommendations contained in the Second Report on ‘Demands for Grants (2019-20) of the Ministry of Jal Shakti - Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation) Presented to Lok Sabha on 9.2.2021 Laid on the Table of Rajya Sabha on 9 .2.2021 LOK SABHA SECRETARIAT NEW DELHI February, 2021 / Magha,1942 (Saka) W. R. C. No. 62 Price : Rs. © 2021 By Lok Sabha Secretariat Published under Rule 382 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha (Sixteenth Edition) and Printed by CONTENTS Page Composition of the ……………………………………………………………… (iii) Committee INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………………… (v) CHAPTER - I Report……………………………………………………… 1 CHAPTER – II Observations/Recommendations which have been 12 accepted by the Government…………………………… CHAPTER - III Observations/Recommendations which the 32 Committee do not desire to pursue in view of the Government’s replies……………………………………………………… CHAPTER - IV Observations/Recommendations in respect of which 33 the replies of the Government have not been accepted by the Committee……………...................................... CHAPTER - V Observations/Recommendations in respect of which 37 final replies of the Government are still awaited…………………………………………………….. ANNEXURES I Minutes of the First Sitting of the Committee held on 38 6.11.2020……………………………………………….. II Analysis of Action Taken by the Government on the 39 Observations/Recommendations contained in the Second Report (Seventeenth Lok Sabha) of the Committee………………………………………………… COMPOSITON OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON WATER RESOURCES (2020-21) Dr. Sanjay Jaiswal - Chairperson LOK SABHA 2. Shri Vijay Baghel 3. Shri Bhagirath Chaudhary 4. Shri Nandkumar Singh Chauhan 5. Shri Nihal Chand Chauhan 6. Shri Chandra Prakash Choudhary 7. Shri Guman Singh Damor 8. Dr. Heena Vijaykumar Gavit 9. Dr. K. Jayakumar 10. Shri Kaushal Kishore 11. Shri M. Dhanush Kumar 12. Shri P. Raveendranath Kumar 13. Shri Mohammad Akbar Lone 14. Shri Kuruva Gorantla Madhav 15. Shri Hasmukhbhai Somabhai Patel 16. Shri Sanjay Kaka Patil 17. Vacant* 18. Smt. Nusrat Jahan Ruhi 19. Ms. Agatha K. Sangma 20. Shri D.K. Suresh 21. Shri A. Narayana Swamy RAJYA SABHA 22. Sardar Balwinder Singh Bhunder 23. Shri Harshvardhan Singh Dungarpur 24. Shri N. R. Elango 25. Mir Mohammad Fayaz 26. Dr. Kirodi Lal Meena 27. Shri A. Mohammedjan 28. Shri Arun Singh 29. Shri Subhash Chandra Singh 30. Shri Rewati Raman Singh 31. Shri Pradeep Tamta * Shri D.S. Rathore, MP, LS ceased to be a Member w.e.f 28.12.2020 (iii) SECRETARIAT 1. Shri Manoj K. Arora - OSD (LSS) 2. Shri M.K. Madhusudhan - Director 3. Shri R.C. Sharma - Additional Director 4. Smt. Shanta B. Datta - Under Secretary (iv) INTRODUCTION I, the Chairperson, Standing Committee on Water Resources (2020-21) having been authorized by the Committee to submit the Report on their behalf, present this Seventh Report on Action Taken by the Government on the Observations/Recommendations of the Committee contained in their Second Report (Seventeenth Lok Sabha) on Demands for Grants (2019-20) relating to the Ministry of Jal Shakti (Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation). 2. The Second Report of the Committee was presented to Lok Sabha and laid on the table of Rajya Sabha on 5 December 2019. The Action Taken replies of the Government to all the Observations/Recommendations contained in the Report were received in this Secretariat on 19 March, 2020. 3. The draft Report was considered and adopted by the Committee at their sitting held on 6.11.2020. 4. An analysis of the Action Taken by the Government on the Observations/Recommendations contained in the Second Report (Seventeenth Lok Sabha) of the Committee is given at Annexure-II. New Delhi Dr. SANJAY JAISWAL 3 February 2021 Chairperson 14 Magha, 1942 (Saka) Standing Committee on Water Resources (v) CHAPTER I REPORT This Report of the Standing Committee on Water Resources deals with the Action Taken by the Government on the observations/recommendations contained in their Second Report (17th Lok Sabha) on the Demands for Grants (2019-20) of the Ministry of Jal Shakti (Department of Drinking Water and sanitation) which was presented to Lok Sabha on 05 December, 2019. Action Taken Notes from the Government in respect of all the 15 observations/ recommendations of the Committee have been received and these have been categorized as under:- (i) Observations / Recommendations which have been accepted by the Government (Chapter II): Para Nos.2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 2.8, 2.9, 2.10, 2.13, 2.14 and 2.15 (Total –13 ) (ii) Observations / Recommendations which the Committee do not desire to pursue in view of the Government’s replies (Chapter III): Para Nos. NIL (Total – NIL) (iii) Observations / Recommendations in respect of which replies of the Government have not been accepted by the Committee (Chapter IV): Para Nos. 2.11 and 2.12 (Total – 2) (iv) Observations / Recommendations in respect of which final replies of the Government are still awaited (Chapter V): Para Nos. NIL (Total – NIL) 2. The Committee will now deal with the action taken by the Government on some of the observations/recommendations in the succeeding paragraphs. 1 A. Under-utilisation of funds under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) Recommendation (Para No. 2.3) 3. The Committee found that there was huge shortfall in the utilization of funds, particularly in the States of Chattisgarh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal which was attributed to 'Outcome Oriented Incentives' given for the construction of toilets. The Committee further noted that the Department had adopted various persuasive measures such as letters, video conferences and meetings, etc. to increase the aspect of utilization of allocated funds. However, in view of the Committee, despite the availability of funds, the existence of huge committed liabilities with the States did not reflect proper utilization of available resources and should be looked into urgently. Therefore, the Committee desired to be apprised of the underlying factors which had held up the faster utilization of funds and the measures taken for their redressal in the aforementioned States. 4. The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, in its action taken replies, stated as follows: "It has been estimated from the instances of various districts across regions of the country, that there is a requirement of working capital. Besides, funds are required for other activities like Solid and Liquid Waste Management and Information, Education and Communication (which is to be done on continuous basis). Thus, there would be some unspent balance lying with the States at any point of time depending on the no. of districts in the State. This Department is regularly following up with the States through field visits, review meetings, video conferences etc. in order to address the issues like delay in release of funds from State Finance Departments, delay in disbursal of incentive to beneficiaries due to cumbersome fund flow mechanism so as to liquidate the funds available with the States in optimal time. This Department also regularly reviews the status of unspent balance with the States under SBM (G) for release of funds under the programme." 5. From the submissions made by the Department, the Committee are given to understand that there is a possibility of some unspent balance lying with the States at any point of time to meet the requirements of working capital and for catering to activities such as Solid and Liquid Waste Management and Information, Education and Communication, and that the Department is regularly 2 following up with the States through field visits, review meetings, etc. to address the issues of unspent balances. The Committee, however, note that notwithstanding these efforts by the Government the problem of unspent balances under SBM(G) still persists. The Committee, therefore, urge upon the Department to pursue with the States more vigorously for expeditious utilization of funds for the projects under SBM(G), so as to ensure that the objectives of Swachhta on a continuous basis and sustainability of Open Defecation Free (ODF) status are achieved. They would also like to be apprised of the State wise details of the amount of Central share of funds released under SBM(G) and utilized along with committed liabilities of the States, if any, till date. B. Piped Water Supply in habitations affected with Contamination Recommendation (Para No. 2.10) 6. The Committee observed that as per the data provided by the States on Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) of the Department, there were 56,788 rural habitations affected with water quality contamination, as on 14thOctober, 2019. The Committee also noted that as many as 16 States were facing fluoride contamination in 8,127 rural habitations, while 7 States with 13,379 rural habitations had reported water contamination with arsenic. Other major contaminants were iron with 18,462 affected rural habitations in 18 States and 13,256 rural habitations affected with salinity issues in 11 States. However, keeping in view the water quality problem in many parts of the country, the Committee were of the view that the figure of only 56,788 rural habitations affected with water quality issues might not be reflective of gravity of the situation on the ground. The Committee, therefore, urged the Department to conduct an Independent Technical Survey in a time bound manner to better assess the situation and adopt appropriate measure to deal with the problem.