AIILSG trains state officials for efficient implementation of JJM

All India Institute of Local Self-Government (AIILSG) organised a series of training programs for over 450 officials of Karnataka and the UT of Ladakh under the capacity building program under the Jal Jeevan Mission.

The training programmes were conducted in both the formats – online and physical. The training focused on various aspects of the Mission including ‘Participatory planning, implementation & operation and maintenance of rural drinking water supply project under JJM’, ‘Operation and management of water supply system to achieve sustainable, equitable, consistent, economically viable safe and low energy consuming technologies’, ‘Best practices on rural water resource management’, and ‘Sensor-based IoT systems for monitoring rural water supply’. Team AIILSG also organised field visits for the officials.

The programmes majorly focussed on the rural areas of Karnataka, Leh and Ladakh. Eminent trainers, including Waterman of Odisha Ranjan Panda, and Dr Bhakti Devi, National President, Water Resource Council, were engaged.

Commissioner Secretary, Ladakh, Ajeet Kumar Sahu, inaugurated the first training session for the officials of the Union Territory of Ladakh. Sahu said, “JJM is not a scheme but a ‘People’s Movement’ wherein community participation is the key.” He underlined that the UT had increased its water supply coverage from 3 per cent to 30 per cent in a short span. He expressed his pleasure that Ladakh strongly believes in ‘Community Participation’ and that no major complaint has been registered regarding the implementation of the scheme so far. He further added that handing over the powers, functionaries, funds, and functions to the community will be the most significant achievement and ensure the scheme’s success.

The training programmes aimed to increase community participation and achieve the targets under JJM. The trainers underlined the challenges that officials could face while working with the beneficiaries. Trainers conducted interactive sessions to understand the ground realities and provide them with tailor-made solutions. The officials were trained to map maximum clusters of houses to develop an integrated and comprehensive action plan. It was also suggested to revisit the village and carry out this activity to fill gaps in existing projects. This process will ensure the investment and participation of people from all sectors of society. Participants were also trained on involving the concept of resource mapping for the smart implementation of the scheme.

The sessions had a live quiz session on Mentimeter--Interactive Presentation Software-- for engaging the trainees further. Using the platform, trainers asked the participants questions and recorded answers in real-time to gauge officials’ understanding of topics covered in the training sessions. During the training program, participants were divided into multiple groups. They were asked to present their unique ideas on increasing community involvement and using innovative technologies introduced to tackle the challenges of establishing a potable water supply at household level. Each session involved detailed discussions on queries put forward by the participants.

AT THE END OF EACH SESSION, PARTICIPANTS WERE ASKED TO SUBMIT THEIR FEEDBACK WITH THE HELP OF EMOJIS AVAILABLE ON THE PLATFORM AND WITH A FORM LINK SENT TO THEM. THIS WAY, THE TRAINERS IMPROVED THE TRAINING METHODOLOGY IN UPCOMING TRAINING SESSIONS.