Odisha CM launches ‘Jal Sathi’ initiative

The Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik launched the initiative ‘Jal Sathi’ on Wednesday, 18th December 2019 under which for consumer management and water distribution, women from self-help groups(SHGs) will be employed that will also lead to women empowerment in the state.
The Chief Minister at the launch event said that the initiative will provide economic empowerment by the inclusion fo the women volunteers and will also strengthen the entire system.
The initiative is launched under the 5T- Time, Teamwork, Transparency, Transformation, and Technology, in the state capital Bhubaneswar as a pilot project of under the Housing and Urban Development Department of the Odisha state government.
For the project, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between the Public Health Engineering Organisation of the state, Water Corporation of Odisha(WATCO) and the Women federation for Jal Sathi initiative, that it will act as a bridge between the consumers and WATCO.
The women volunteers will be responsible for facilitating new water connections, meter reading and bill generation, facilitating complaints redressal, field testing of water quality and regularising connections.