Mission Bhagiratha team receives award in New Delhi

Hyderabad: Less than 24 hours after the Press Information Bureau and the union Ministry of Jal Shakti selectively leaked factually incorrect information to certain media houses about the national award to Mission Bhagiratha, officials from Telangana received the award from the union Minister for Jal Shakti in Delhi. The award was presented to the Mission […]

Hyderabad: Less than 24 hours after the Press Information Bureau and the union Ministry of Jal Shakti selectively leaked factually incorrect information to certain media houses about the national award to Mission Bhagiratha, officials from Telangana received the award from the union Minister for Jal Shakti in Delhi.

The award was presented to the Mission Bhagiratha team at a function held in the national capital on Sunday.

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It was on Saturday that an informal statement was issued to some media houses by the PIB, saying the news on Mission Bhagiratha winning a national award was ‘misleading as the same is not based on the facts and information’. The statement also said no assessment of Mission Bhagiratha scheme was carried out.

However, a letter from additional secretary and JJM director Vikas Sheel to Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar dated September 26, had clearly said Telangana was ‘selected for felicitation for exemplary performance in the regularity parameter of functionality of tap connections in rural areas under Jal Jeevan Mission among States/UTs having more than 60 percent tap connections coverage’. The letter said the awards were being given to States/UTs/districts for their performance under various parameters (Quantity, Quality & Regularity) of functionality assessment of tap connections in rural areas carried out by the department through a third party.

With tap connections in rural areas and water supply through the same being done via Mission Bhagiratha, and with the award also being presented on Sunday, the true intentions behind the informal statement on Saturday remain to be known.