Shimla: The three year German aided project WASH, under implementation for involving public participation in providing safe drinking water to villages that was to end in January 2008, has been extended by another three years, Deepak Sanan, principal secretary irrigation and public health secretary stated.
Presiding over a WASH Project Steering Committee meet, Sanan said that 2nd phase of the project would be launched next year as it had become pertinent that Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) participation in implementation of water projects could be increased
He said that the benefit of any scheme or project would reach at grass root level successfully when there would be active public participation in the scheme or project.
“Work of project quality, financial management and distribution system would be handed over to PRIs in phased manner and all technical advice in this regard would be given by departmental experts. Under WASH, the process of public participation had been adopted for some villages on pilot basis,” said Sanan.
Rainer Rohdewohld, principal advisor, GTZ WASH detailed out the activities undertaken by the project and said that project management was preparing a role model for enhancing PRIs participation in water projects across the state.
