In Mizoram, over 18,000 families have been benefited by Jal Jeevan Mission with potable water provided to them via Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTC).

This was announced on Tuesday by Mizoram government officials.

Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat recently wrote to Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga, urging the state to expedite the implementation of the scheme.

JJM aims to provide potable drinking water to every rural household through Functional Household Tap Connections by 2024.

The scheme was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of Independence Day in 2019.

A state government release, however, said, "The Central scheme could not be implemented immediately in the state due to the absence of guidelines."

According to the guidelines issued on December 25, 2019, a total target of 23,525 tap connections was set for Mizoram for fiscal 2019-20.

For the same, Centre allocated Rs 39.86 crore against the total requirement of Rs 88 crore to implement the scheme.

The guidelines also stated that at least 30 per cent of the total target should be achieved within the time frame.

“Of the 23,525 total targets, as many as 15,878 households in rural villages were provided with tap connections between January and March this year, which is over 60 per cent of the total target," the statement said.

The statement said that the state government was given an incentive of Rs 28.18 crore for augmenting the implementation of the scheme.

The statement also said that Rs 79.72 crore was allocated for provision of FHTC to 31,963 households during the fiscal 2020-21 in Mizoram.

Of the 31,963 total target, 2,129 tap connections were provided to rural villages during April to May despite the coronavirus induced lockdown.

The department said that the implementation of the scheme could not be expedited due to lockdown.

It added that implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission is scheduled to be fully completed by 2023 one year ahead of the schedule.