(MENAFN- IANS) Burhanpur (Madhya Pradesh), Jan 30 (IANS) Burhanpur district of Madhya Pradesh has become the first district in the country where tap water has been successfully provided to every house under the 'Jal Jeevan Mission'. In rural areas, the government has ensured the supply of water through pipes from water sources to homes.
Along with this major achievement, the responsibility of collecting water tax under the Jal Jeevan Mission was handed over to women's self-help groups. The women of the self-help group have set a new record by collecting a total amount of Rs 4.5 crore lakh as water tax. This work has become an inspiration not only for Burhanpur but for the entire Madhya Pradesh.
Now it is believed that when the Nal Jal Yojana is completed in other districts of Madhya Pradesh under the 'Jal Jeevan Mission', the Burhanpur model will be adopted, in which the water tax will be collected by women of self-help groups. This initiative is an important step towards the social and economic empowerment of women, which is opening new avenues of water management in rural areas.
Burhanpur's Livelihood Mission District Manager Santamati Khalko, while talking to IANS said,“The government once got the 'Nal Jal Yojana' operational in all the houses. Thereafter, how will its operation and maintenance be done, especially if there is any breakdown, then where will the money come from? For this reason, the government has started the work of tax collection. Self-help groups have been engaged in every panchayat. 123 self-help groups are working on this. They do collect the tax and deposit the amount in the panchayat account. This amount will be used in whatever improvement and operation work will be done. The self-help group gets 20 per cent of the amount as commission. So far, Rs 4.5 crore has been recovered in the entire district.”
“Women are also becoming financially empowered. I think that when this scheme starts in other districts, they will also adopt this scheme,” he added.
Self-help group leader Deepika Soni, who lives in Bahadurpur, said,“The name of my group is Pragati Self-Help Group. We collect tap tax by going door to door. We collect it because the Panchayat supports us. The only purpose of collection is that whatever is being provided through the Panchayat, something has to be paid for it. If we pay the price of water, then people will understand the value of water. When people pay money, they will realise how to use water properly and that water should not be wasted. When we got the work, we had to face a lot of difficulties in water tax collection. Earlier there were many problems with water in our village. Now there is no problem with water. Water is available in every house. Earlier, people did not pay taxes, they used to make excuses. But for the last one year, some people themselves have made the tax payment. Now we do not have any problem in collecting tax. It has been three years since we have been collecting tax.”
Vijay Umale of Bahadurpur Panchayat said,“The women who are collecting tax here, there is a provision of collection by the group in the Nal Jal Yojana. Therefore, unemployed women get employment. The group of women roams around the village and collects the tax. The group complains to us about those who do not pay the tax. We also support them in this, so that recovery can be done. Due to the tax, other expenses are met. Due to the tax, it is possible to meet the expenses of the Panchayat like cleaning, diesel, and other expenses. If there was no recovery, it would have been difficult to meet these expenses. Before the Nal Jal Yojana, the water situation of our village was very bad. Water was not available in every house. Water was brought from wells outside the village.”
Beneficiary Chandra Mohan Singh of Bahadurpur said,“Earlier, there were a lot of problems of water here. Modi government's Nal Jal Yojana is very good. Today we do not have any kind of water problem. We never need to go to the Panchayat to complain about water. We are getting plenty of water. I thank the Modi government a lot for this. No one in the village has any problem with the water problem. We wait for Didi to come and we will give her money.
“Not only I but the people of the entire village are grateful to PM Modi for this scheme,” he told IANS.
Beneficiary Anita Sunil Soni said,“Earlier we had a lot of water problems, but now there is no problem. Now there is plenty of water. We had to go far from home for water. Earlier, we faced a problem with water in everything including cooking, and washing clothes, now there is no problem with water. When we open the tap, water flows. When a group of women comes to collect taxes, we give them money. Earlier when there was a problem with the water, then no one came to take money. Now everyone pays for water. PM Modi has solved the water problem, so we are very grateful to him.”
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