Union minister attacks Ashok Gehlot govt after 5-yr-old dies of thirst

Jodhpur, June 8

After a five-year-old girl died of thirst while walking in scorching heat through an uninhabited stretch in Rajasthan’s Jalore district, Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Tuesday attacked the state government for its indifference towards Centre’s Jal Jeevan Mission.

Manju died due to dehydration while her grandmother Sukhi (60) fell unconscious in Raniwara on Sunday afternoon when they were walking to meet a family member in Roda village, Station House Officer Padma Ram said on tuesday.

While on the way, they felt thirsty but could not find water around as the place was uninhabited, he said.

In a series of tweets on Tuesday, the union minister attacked the Ashok Gehlot-led state government for distancing itself from Central government schemes and for not utilising the budget it received for implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission.

He said that Rajasthan ranked 29 among 33 states and UTs in giving water connections in rural areas.

Rajasthan was allocated Rs 2,522 crore for providing tap connections under the 2020-21 budget of the Central government but only Rs 630 crore was spent, the union minister said.

“In 2021-22, the state was allocated Rs 10,180.5 crore under the mission which was four times the previous budget,” Shekhawat said in a tweet in Hindi.

He held the state government responsible for the incident and accused the chief minister of depriving the people of fundamental resources like water.

“It is ironic that on one hand water has reached millions of people through tap in the country while a young girl died of thirst in Rajasthan,” Shekhawat said. PTI Corr MA

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