GUWAHATI, July 12 - Minister for Public Health Engineering and Cooperation departments Rihon Daimary reviewed the progress of various schemes and programmes of both the departments at a special review meeting held in Sivasagar on Thursday.
During the review meeting which was convened by the District Water and Sanitation Committee (DWSC), the Minister reviewed the schemes and programmes being implemented by the Public Health Engineering Department and the Cooperation Department in the district.
Thowra 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) of Nazira Rajib Thapa were also present in the meeting.
The Minister discussed 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.�
During the meeting, the Minister also 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 the Public Health Engineering Department to work towards providing drinking water connection to all the households by 2024 as a part of the Government of India�s goal of �Har Ghar Nal ka Jal� under the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti.�
He also laid emphasis on the need for water testing and asked the officials to ensure that the quality of drinking water provided is maintained throughout. He also enquired about the status of the three water testing laboratories in the district. Directing the officials for early completion of all the projects, the Minister called upon them to switch over focus to solar power in all possible projects.� �
Stressing on the need to achieve ODF status at the earliest, Daimary stated that all incomplete projects of toilet construction should be completed by July 31 next. He directed the departmental officials to generate public awareness on the proper use and maintenance of the community toilets.
In this regard the Minister advised carrying out IEC activities. He also directed the officials on maintaining quality and to ensure sustainability while constructing the toilets. He also emphasised on geo-tagging of the newly-constructed household toilets.
Further, reviewing the schemes and activities of the Cooperation Department, the Minister asked the department officials to stress on business diversification and promote growth of cooperative societies and popularise various loan schemes and subsidies offered by the state government, establish market linkage and hand-holding of the cooperative societies and promoting women-run cooperative societies to attain 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, bags etc. 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 contribute 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.
Officials of the PHE and Cooperation departments were present in the meeting along with other dignitaries.
