The Madhya Pradesh Assembly on Thursday passed budgetary demands of the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department of Rs 2,598.03 crore and the Farmers' Welfare and Agriculture Department of Rs 9,255.51 cr by voice vote.
Replying to a debate on budgetary demands of her department, Public Health Engineering Minister Kusum Mehdele said that urban and rural population would not suffer from lack of drinking water.
“Adequate budgetary provision has been made to ensure supply of drinking water. In 2018-19, Rs 534.73 cr would be spent in this regard. Under the Madhya Pradesh Water Corporation, a provision of Rs 1,395 cr has been made,” she said.
Mehdele further said that drinking water would be made be made available to 90 per cent of the rural population through the Nal Jal Yojana and 80 per cent families through domestic tap connection by 2022. A hand-pump would be dug at every crematorium. Replying to a debate on budgetary demands of his department, Farmers' Welfare and Agriculture Gourishankar Chaturbhuj Bisen said that an amount of Rs 7,000 cr would be provided to peasants under the Prime Minister Crop Insurance Scheme for the loss to kharif crops in 2017. He said that a policy to provide grant to farmers under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana would be made for erecting fences around their farms to protect them from harm caused by animals.