Even as it was targeted that 35 per cent of the households in the State were to be given water connections by 2017 under the rural drinking water scheme, only 3.7 per cent households were provided the facility by this period.

The Comptroller and Auditor General(CAG)  of India revealed this in a report relating to the general and social sector laid in the State Assembly recently.

According to the report, while 81.41 lakh households were to be given drinking water connections, only 3.01 lakh households, constituting 3.70 per cent, got connections during the targeted period.

Similarly, it was targeted that to connect 1.58 lakh habitations would be covered under the piped water supply (PWS) by 2017, however, only 0.40 lakh habitations were covered, constituting 25.31 per cent of the total. During the period, water facility was provided to 77.37 per cent schools and Anganwadi centres even as all were to be covered, said the report.

In its reply, the State Government said in October 2017 that all targets would be met within a period of two to three years.

The report further revealed that while Panchayati Raj Institutions and local communities have been operating and maintaining 60 per cent of rural water drinking water sources and systems since 2006, the State Government has not transferred funds for maintenance to PRIs.

In reply, the Government stated in September 2017 that funds were not transferrd to PRIs due to lack of manpower and expertise at panchayat level. The reply established the fact of absence of institutional arrangement.

While it was set that all Open Defecation Free (ODF) and SAGY villages would be provided piped water supply on a priority basis, only 633 of 2,129 habitations in 924 ODF villagers 178 of 680 habitations in 27 SAGY were given PWS  by June 2017. To this, the Government stated that all uncovered ODF and Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) would be covered with PWS in 2017-18.