DW BUREAU / shimla THE STATE has set a target of providing cent per cent households of Himachal Pradesh with Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTC) by August, 2022 under the Jal Jeevan Mission. This was stated by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur while participating in the meeting with Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat through video conferencing from Shimla on Friday. Jai Ram Thakur said that out of total 18160 villages, 911 villages and out of 3226 panchayats, 13 panchayats have been covered under the FHTC. He said that out of total 12 districts of the State, three districts would be covered under this programme by July, 2021, five districts by March, 2022 and remaining districts by August, 2022. Chief Minister said that the State Government has also received an incentive of Rs. 57 crore from Union Government for effective implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in the State for the year 2019-20. He urged the Union Minister to provide Central assistance of Rs 990 crore as proposed by the Department under the Jal Jeevan Mission. He said that as per the guidelines of Jal Jeevan Mission, an amount of Rs 47,000 have been fixed per FHTC. He urged the Union Minister to increase this limit to Rs 85000 keeping in view the geographical conditions of the State. Thakur said that being a hilly State, majority of schemes are lift irrigation schemes which results into higher labour and material cost. He said that presently the per hectare cost of irrigation scheme in the State was Rs 3.88 crore without CAD works and Rs 5.50 lakh with CAD and micro irrigation. He urged the Union Minister to revise the existing development cost norms of surface minor irrigation schemes from Rs 2.50 lakh per hectare to Rs 4 lakh without CAD works keeping in view the topographic conditions of the State. Chief Minister said that out of total 5.85 lakh hectares areas in the State, 3.35 lakh hectares area has been identified for irrigation. He said that out of which a total 2.81 lakh hectares area was actually covered under irrigation facilities. He said that government was endeavouring to bring maximum area under irrigation so as to increase production thereby economy of the farmers of the State. Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat appreciated the achievements of the State Government in effective implementation Jal Jeevan Mission. He assured the Chief Minister that funds would be no constraints in Jal Jeevan Mission. He also stressed the need for publicizing the achievements of the State under the Mission so that other states could also be motivated in this respect. Jal Shakti Minister Mahender Singh Thakur while thanking the Union Minister for being considerate towards demands of the State, said that the State would soon constitute Village Water and Sanitation Committees to help conservation of water besides sensitize the people regarding its proper use. Engineer-in-Chief Jal Shakti Vibhag Naveen Puri made detailed presentation on various activities of the department. Secretary Jal Shakti Vibhag Amitabh Awasthi and other senior officers of the State Government were also present on the occasion. (editor@dailyworld.in)