Jal Jeevan Mission empowering women in rural areas: PM Modi

Posted on by Vividh Bharathi

New Delhi, Dec 12 (IANS) Jal Jeevan Mission is facilitating the empowerment of more women in India, especially in the rural areas, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.

Launched in August 2019, the Jal Jeevan Mission aims to provide functional tap water connections to every rural household.

PM Modi said that women can now easily focus on skill development and self-reliance as they need not go long distances to fetch clean water, and can get water at their doorstep.

“A good perspective on how the Jal Jeevan Mission is furthering women empowerment, especially in our rural areas,” PM Modi said in a post on X.

“With clean water at their doorstep, women can now focus on skill development and self-reliance,” he added.

From just 3.23 crore (17 per cent) rural households with tap water connections in 2019, the initiative has successfully added 11.96 crore new connections by October 2024.

Currently, more than 15.35 crore or 79.31 per cent of households have tap water connections, as per the government data.

About 11 states — Goa, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Haryana, Puducherry, Telangana, Gujarat, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, and Mizoram — have had 100 per cent coverage of tap water connection, it showed.

According to a recent research report by the State Bank of India, rural households across the country have seen an 8.3 percentage point decline in fetching water from outside premises. It has led to a 7.4 percentage point increase in women’s participation in agriculture and other productive activities.

The report noted exceptional progress made by states such as Bihar and Assam. The female workforce in these states has risen by over 28 percentage points.

–IANS

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Shimla sees mild snow, bringing cheer with promise of White Christmas

Shimla, Dec 23 (IANS) The Himachal Pradesh capital and its nearby tourist resorts on Monday experienced mild spells of snow, bringing cheers among members of the hospitality industry with the sublime promise of a White Christmas, which has been elusive since 2016 when heavy snowfall occurred on Christmas Eve.

“Shimla and its nearby areas have been experiencing light snowfall and this was the season’s second snowfall in Shimla town,” an official of the Meteorological Department here told IANS.

Places near Shimla like Kufri and Narkanda have also been experiencing snowfall, turning the tourist destinations more picturesque.

Though the snowfall was light, it has warmed up the Yuletide spirit of the hospitality industry. There is the expectation of more spells before the New Year dawns as the MeT Office forecasts scattered rain or snow in the state till Tuesday.

After the opening of the skies, the minimum temperature across the state could plummet by three to four notches, a weatherman said.

The mountain peaks viewed from Shimla’s historic Ridge and Dharamsala and Palampur towns have been wrapped in a blanket of snow.

As news of the snowfall spreads, tourists may flock to Shimla, known for the imperial grandeur of its buildings that were once institutions of power when the town served as the summer capital of British India.

Reports said some of the areas in the apple belt Jubbal and Kharapathar also experienced snow.

“High-altitude areas of Lahaul-Spiti, Chamba, Kullu, Kinnaur and Shimla districts have been experiencing snow,” the official said.

The majestic Dhauladhar ranges in the Kangra Valley have also got snow cover. Lower areas of the state like Dharamsala, Palampur, Solan, Nahan, Bilaspur, Una, Hamirpur and Mandi towns received rain, bringing down the temperature considerably.

Shimla saw a low of 3.4 degrees Celsius, while it was 1.8 degrees in Manali, 4.5 degrees in Dharamsala and 1.5 degrees in Palampur. The past week was largely sunny across the state.

Before 2016, the erstwhile capital of British India saw Christmas snows in 1991 when 49 cm of snowfall was recorded. Though some years between 2014 and 2018 had mild spells before the Yuletide spirit.

Also except in 2010, there has been no white New Year’s Eve in Shimla either in the past 12 years.

Deforestation and pollution are blamed for the change in Shimla’s climatic conditions, says a study by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

It says Shimla’s harsh winter, which normally commenced in November and ended in March, has declined after the mid-1980s. The study examines the snowfall trend in Shimla from 1990 to 2007.

–IANS

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