<p>Karnataka will cover all 97 lakh rural households with tap water connections in the next year under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), Rural Development & Panchayat Raj Minister K S Eshwarappa said on Saturday. </p>.<p>The JJM project is known as Mane Manege Gange in Karnataka. </p>.<p>“Before this project started, only 25% of rural households had tap water connections. We have provided new connections to 20.56 lakh households and the coverage is 46%, which is on par with the national average,” Eshwarappa said. “In a year’s time, I am confident we will cover all 97 lakh households.”</p>.<p>The minister also said that Karnataka had achieved a “record of sorts” under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).</p>.<p>“In 2021-22, our target was 13 crore person-days. We achieved this in December itself and the Centre gave us an additional three crore person-days. By the end of March, we achieved 3.15 crore person days,” he said, adding that 32 lakh households benefited from MGNREGA. </p>.<p>“More importantly, 6.97 crore person days were done by women, which we believe has empowered them,” he said. </p>.<p>Also, Eshwarappa said that the daily wage under the rural jobs scheme has been hiked from Rs 289 to Rs 309. “The hike was done after we spoke to the Centre,” he said. </p>.<p>“Earlier, wage payments took 6-8 months. There was corruption also with underpayments and harassment. Now, wage payments are being made directly to the bank account of the worker within 15 days,” he said. </p>.<p>Under the Swachh Bharat Mission, Eshwarappa said Karnataka built 12.62 lakh individual toilets, 1,496 community toilets and 3,982 waste processing units. “We plan to have a cluster in every district comprising 45-46 gram panchayats to streamline dry and wet waste management across the state,” he said. </p>.<p>Asked if all the toilets are being used, Eshwarappa said no. “This has been a difficult question to answer. Even to this today, people prefer going to the fields to answer nature’s call, holding a mug of water,” he said, pointing out that open defecation is still a reality.</p>.<p>“However, this is improving and more and more people are making use of toilets. They can take the same mug and go inside the toilet. It requires a change in mindset,” he said. </p>.<p>Over a span of 18 months, Eshwarappa said the government set up 5,623 rural libraries. Of them, 2,214 have digital libraries and the rest will also be covered in the days to come, he added. </p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH Videos here:</strong></p>
<p>Karnataka will cover all 97 lakh rural households with tap water connections in the next year under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), Rural Development & Panchayat Raj Minister K S Eshwarappa said on Saturday. </p>.<p>The JJM project is known as Mane Manege Gange in Karnataka. </p>.<p>“Before this project started, only 25% of rural households had tap water connections. We have provided new connections to 20.56 lakh households and the coverage is 46%, which is on par with the national average,” Eshwarappa said. “In a year’s time, I am confident we will cover all 97 lakh households.”</p>.<p>The minister also said that Karnataka had achieved a “record of sorts” under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).</p>.<p>“In 2021-22, our target was 13 crore person-days. We achieved this in December itself and the Centre gave us an additional three crore person-days. By the end of March, we achieved 3.15 crore person days,” he said, adding that 32 lakh households benefited from MGNREGA. </p>.<p>“More importantly, 6.97 crore person days were done by women, which we believe has empowered them,” he said. </p>.<p>Also, Eshwarappa said that the daily wage under the rural jobs scheme has been hiked from Rs 289 to Rs 309. “The hike was done after we spoke to the Centre,” he said. </p>.<p>“Earlier, wage payments took 6-8 months. There was corruption also with underpayments and harassment. Now, wage payments are being made directly to the bank account of the worker within 15 days,” he said. </p>.<p>Under the Swachh Bharat Mission, Eshwarappa said Karnataka built 12.62 lakh individual toilets, 1,496 community toilets and 3,982 waste processing units. “We plan to have a cluster in every district comprising 45-46 gram panchayats to streamline dry and wet waste management across the state,” he said. </p>.<p>Asked if all the toilets are being used, Eshwarappa said no. “This has been a difficult question to answer. Even to this today, people prefer going to the fields to answer nature’s call, holding a mug of water,” he said, pointing out that open defecation is still a reality.</p>.<p>“However, this is improving and more and more people are making use of toilets. They can take the same mug and go inside the toilet. It requires a change in mindset,” he said. </p>.<p>Over a span of 18 months, Eshwarappa said the government set up 5,623 rural libraries. Of them, 2,214 have digital libraries and the rest will also be covered in the days to come, he added. </p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH Videos here:</strong></p>