PM Modi refuses to acknowledge Telangana as first State to achieve cent per cent tap connections in country
Time and again, the Centre refuses to acknowledge the achievements of Telangana. Despite Telangana being the first State to provide 100 per cent drinking water connections to all households (53.86 lakh) in the State under its Mission Bhagiratha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday declared the BJP-ruled Goa as the first State to be certified with ‘Har Ghar Jal’.
Telangana was denied the honour on the pretext that though the State secured cent per cent tap water connections along with Haryana, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Puducherry, they are yet to be ‘certified’.
Addressing the ‘Har Ghar Jal Utsav’ of Goa on Friday, the Prime Minister congratulated the people of Goa. He had even acknowledged the achievement of Dadra Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu for becoming ‘Har Ghar Jal’ certified union Territories, but did not even mention Telangana which inspired the Centre to take up the scheme. Telangana launched its Mission Bhagiratha scheme in 2016 and succeeded, prompting the Centre to emulate and launch the Har Ghar Jal scheme in 2019.
It may be noted that the Centre allocated Rs 3,982 crore to Telangana to provide drinking water connection under its Jal Jeevan Mission scheme, but released only Rs 200 crore so far. Further, it remained irresponsive to the recommendations of the NITI Aayog to provide Rs 19,000 crore as special grant to Mission Bhagiratha scheme.
