By IANS
New Delhi : Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh Wednesday urged the members of the parliamentary consultative committee attached to his ministry to closely monitor rural drinking water and sanitation schemes in their respective constituencies and report any shortcomings.
Addressing the MPs here, he stressed the need to supply safe drinking water to all by 2009 and total sanitation throughout the country by 2012, while giving a video presentation to the MPs on the progress of the various schemes for rural water supply, a component of the Bharat Nirman programme.
Singh remarked that a clean village would lead to a healthy village, which will lead to a healthy India.
But the minister emphasized that the Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme and the Total Sanitation Programme within a specified period would not succeed without close monitoring.
He also urged the states to undertake rainwater harvesting and water conservation with cost effective technology to create more drinking water sources.
“Low-cost technologies are to be promoted not only for meeting drinking water requirements but also for recharging of the water bodies,” said Singh.
On the sanitation front, he claimed that the total sanitation programme has now covered 48 percent of the country, but he wanted every village to become a Nirmal Gram by 2012.
The minister said the scheme to provide sanitation facilities in schools was progressing well and hoped that by 2009 every rural school would have a toilet facility.