New Delhi, Aug 28: The Centre has asked all states and Union territories to encourage colleges, universities and academic institutions to study and document successful case studies and best practices under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) 2.0.
In a communication to senior officials overseeing rural drinking water programmes, the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation under the Ministry of Jal Shakti said studies could focus on successful village-level models, panchayat-led initiatives, community ownership, functionality of water-supply schemes and measurable outcomes of JJM interventions.
The department has encouraged states and UTs to publish the findings through academic journals, institutional reports, newsletters, research papers, websites and other suitable platforms.
It said such documentation would help create an evidence-based knowledge repository and facilitate the replication of successful models across districts and states.
States have also been asked to organise exposure visits for higher-secondary and senior-secondary students from nearby schools to multi-village water-supply schemes, including water treatment plants, intake wells and facilities using modern technologies such as SCADA and IoT systems. Students may also be taken to NABL-accredited water-testing laboratories.
The states have been directed to identify suitable case studies and tour sites and coordinate with academic institutions, schools, district water and sanitation missions and gram panchayats.
The department has requested that at least one student tour and one case study or best-practice publication involving local academic institutions be completed in every district by the end of September.
According to the department, JJM has generated several notable practices in areas such as community participation, source sustainability, water-quality management, operation and maintenance, technology adoption and decentralised governance.
The initiative is expected to strengthen knowledge-sharing, encourage innovation and increase the visibility of successful work being carried out under JJM 2.0, the department said.
States and UTs have also been asked to submit consolidated district-wise details of the activities undertaken.
