Union Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Tuesday said Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) has proved a boon to crores of women in rural areas and for people residing in water scarcity areas of the country.

Addressing Himachal BJP’s Tridev Sammelan at Sundernagar in Mandi district, he said despite the pandemic, all the targets were achieved well in time under this mission and the state has also achieved the target of providing drinking water to 93 percent of households. Himachal was continuously getting incentives for the last two years for its excellent performance under Jal Jeevan Mission, he said while assuring Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur that paucity of funds would not come in way of achieving the targets under the JJM for the state.

Shekhawat while appreciating the developmental and welfare schemes started by the state government, said that Himachal has witnessed unparalleled development during the last four and a half years. BJP has travelled a long journey from being a party with two Members of Parliament to the largest political party in the world and credit for this goes to every party worker in the country.

He stated that it was due to the excellent works done by the Jai Ram government in the state that it was poised to again come to power in Himachal breaking the myth that the government does not repeat in the state.

Union Jal Shakti Minister also recalled the contributions of the senior BJP leaders of the state like Shanta Kumar, Prem Kumar Dhumal, Maheshwar Singh, etc for nurturing this party during its early stage and said it was due to their hard work that BJP has become the strongest and disciplined political party of the state. In the last Lok Sabha elections, the state sent all the four BJP MPs to the Parliament with a record margin to strengthen the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Shekhawat further stated that as many as 10 crore bank accounts were opened at the time of the launch of the Jan Dhan Yojna and today 45 crore bank accounts have been opened and proving a boon to the beneficiaries of various schemes. This feat was possible due to the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has ensured that the country regains its lost pride and glory and that everyone can live with dignity and pride. It was the Prime Minister who ensured that the weaker section of the society and those deprived of welfare benefits gets their dues. He said that several welfare schemes launched by the Prime Minister have proved a game-changer for crores and crore people of the country. India has been made open defecation free by the year 2019, however, the target set by the UN was for 2030. Today India has emerged as a food surplus country and credit for this goes to the farmers and scientists, besides to strong political leadership provided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The world leaders were appreciating the steps and initiatives taken by PM Modi during the Corona pandemic. He said that the PM not only took effective steps to check the spread of this pandemic but also developed its own vaccine. It took 54 years for the country to develop vaccination of tetanus, similarly vaccination of hepatitis, rotavirus, polio, etc took years to reach India but during the corona pandemic, when people of America were being vaccinated the people of Lahaul-Spiti were also being vaccinated at the same time. This was possible due to the strong and able leadership provided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he added.

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur urged the party functionaries to work with greater commitment and dedication to ensure ‘Mission Repeat’ in the state so that the pace of development goes uninterrupted.

Thakur thanked Shekhawat for always being considerate towards the developmental demands of the hilly state like Himachal and said that the present tenure of the government remained dedicated towards the welfare and upliftment of the poor and downtrodden.

BJP workers played a major and crucial role during the testing times of Corona pandemic. They not only distributed free masks and sanitizers but also provided free food and shelters to the needy, he added.