Assam PHE and cooperation minister Rihon Daimary on Thursday reviewed the progress of various schemes of both the departments in a special review meeting at Sivasagar.
The review meeting, convened by the District Water and Sanitation Committee (DWSC), was held at the Sukafa Conference Hall of the deputy commissioner’s office.
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During the meeting, the minister reviewed the schemes and programmes being implemented by the public health engineering (PHE) department and the cooperation departments in the district.
The meeting was also attended by Thowrra MLA Kushal Duwari, registrar of cooperative societies Lalit Gogoi, deputy commissioner Dr. S Lakshmanan and district development commissioner Joonmoni Sonowal and sub-divisional officer (civil), Nazira Rajib Thapa.
The minister had discussions on the progress of various schemes being implemented by the DWSC such as Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin, Gobar-Dhan, and IEC activities carried out in the district.
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During the meeting the minister stressed on the importance of providing piped water supply to every household with a view to end their dependence on hand-pumps and other sources of drinking water.
He called on officials of PHE department to work towards providing drinking water connection to all households by 2024 as a part of the Government of India’s goal of ‘Har Ghar Nal ka Jal’ under the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
The minister also gave emphasis on the need for water testing and asked the officials to ensure that quality of drinking water provided is maintained throughout.
Daimary also enquired the status of the three water testing laboratories in the district.
Directing the officials for early completion of all the projects, the minister called on them to switch focus to solar power in all possible projects.
Stressing on the need to achieve ODF status at the earliest, minister Daimary stated that all incomplete projects of toilet construction should be completed by July 31 next.
He directedthe departmental officials to generate public awareness on the proper use and maintenance of the community toilets. In this regards, the minister advised to carry out IEC activities.
He also directed the officials on maintaining the quality and to ensure sustainability while constructing the toilets.
The minister also emphasised on geo-tagging of the newly constructed household toilets.
Reviewing the schemes and activities of the cooperation department, the minister asked the department officials to stress on business diversification and promote the growth of cooperative societies.
He also asked the officials to popularise various schemes, loan and subsidies given by the state government, establish market linkage and hand-holding of the cooperative societies and promoting women run cooperative societies for attaining woman empowerment.
Laying importance on making the district plastic-free, the minister instructed the officials to explore other alternative materials such as jute etc. instead.
In this regard, he instructed the officials to explore avenues on production of jute based items and bags by the cooperative societies in the district.
The minister stated that all the officials should work hard towards making the department a dynamic one and contributing towards giving it a fresh lease of life.
He directed the officials to concentrate on skill development of the members of the cooperative societies and suggested them to take technical support from the Assam Rajiv Gandhi University of Cooperative Management (ARGUCOM) in this regard.
The officials of the PHE and Cooperation departments were present in the meeting along with other dignitaries, the district information and public relations officer, Sivasagar informed.