Friday, 17 May, 2024
By: Yash Gupte
Launched in 2019, the Jal Jeevan Mission is one of the major flagship programs of the Modi government. Image Source: IANS
According to the latest figures released by the ministry, 123 districts, 1,319 blocks, 73,436 Gram Panchayat and 1,53,259 villages have been provided with drinking water through taps.
The Jal Jeevan Mission has hit a new milestone as on March 17, 2023, 11,45,93,781 (58.99 percent) crore rural households have been provided with tap water connections. According to the Ministry of Jal Shakti, the total number of rural households in India is 19,42,51,408. The information about the progress of the Jal Jeevan Mission was provided to the Lok Sabha by the Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Pralhad Singh Patel.
Launched in 2019, the Jal Jeevan Mission is one of the major flagship programs of the Modi government. It aims to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections by 2024 to all households in rural India. The programme also aims to implement source sustainability measures as mandatory elements, such as recharge and reuse through grey water management, water conservation, rain water harvesting. Before 2019, out of total 18.93 crore rural households, only 3.23 crore (17 percent) households had access to tap water connection. The remaining 15.70 crore families were dependent on river, well, pond, stand post and spring for their daily water needs. By the end of FY20, only 21.3 percent of rural households had access to a water pipeline. During the next financial year, it increased to 37.99 percent.
Under the JJM, the states and UTs have been advised to undertake testing of water quality on a periodic basis i.e. once in year for chemical and physical parameters, and twice in a year for bacteriological parameters and take remedial action wherever necessary, to ensure that the water supplied to households is of prescribed quality. As of March 17, 2023, there are 2,078 active laboratories for testing the quality of water. Till date around 54,70,081 samples have been tested in these laboratories. Out of the total tested samples, 6,32,861 were found contaminated. Around 19,76,172 women have been trained for testing water samples using the Field Testing Kits (FTK). About 4,40,231 villages have tested water samples using FTKs. Kerala reported the maximum number of contaminated water samples at 2,34,829.
It can be said that the Jal Jeevan Mission has made a good progress in the time period of just one month. As of February 13, 2023, there were 2,076 active laboratories for testing the quality of water and around 46,26,992 samples had been tested in these laboratories. The number of testes samples increased to 54,70,081 on March 17. The progress made under the scheme also provides a picture of women empowerment as 18,24,430 women had been trained for testing water samples using the Field Testing Kits (FTK) till February 13 but the number rapidly increased to around 19,76,172 as of March 17. The number of villages testing water samples using FTKs stood at 2,76,344 on Feb 13. This number today stands at 4,40,231.
Source: Ministry of JalShakti
According to the latest figures released by the ministry, 123 districts, 1,319 blocks, 73,436 Gram Panchayat and 1,53,259 villages have been provided with drinking water through taps. Goa, Telangana, Gujarat, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Puducherry and Haryana have already achieved 100 percent household connections. Also, Punjab has been added to the list of states with 100 percent tap water connections. Himachal Pradesh and Bihar have coverage of more than 90 percent and are progressing fast towards attaining the status. The northeastern states of Manipur, Mizoram and Sikkim have a coverage of more than 75 percent.
However, in nine states, less than 50 percent households have tap water supply. West Bengal has the lowest coverage at 31.42 percent, followed by Jharkhand at the same rate, Uttar Pradesh 33.53 percent, Rajasthan at 33.98 percent, and Chhattisgarh at 40.84 percent. In 117 aspirational districts (home to some of the poorest Indians), 1,22,33,458 (36.18 percent) households have been provided with tap water connections. Schools in 12 states and UTs have 100 percent tap water connection while schools in 10 states and UTs have over 75 percent tap water connection. There has been a marginal increase in the tap water connections in the states of West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh as compared to last month.
At the same time, the allocation towards this project has increased over the years. While ₹10,998 crore was allocated in 2020-21, it rose to ₹45,011 crore in 2021-22 and ₹60,000 crore in 2022-23 and it further increased to ₹70,000 crore in 2023-24.
Source: Outlay on Major Schemes, Union Budget Documents 2023-24
It’s a sobering thought that only 57 percent of Indians in rural areas have access to piped drinking water. For millions, safe water can turn problems into potential – unlocking education, economic opportunity and improved health. But with the launch of JJM, it seems that the majority of rural households in India would have tap water connections soon.
