77.87 per cent rural households reported to have tap water supply in India: MoJS

The Central government in partnership with States is implementing Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) – Har Ghar Jal to make provision of potable water to every rural household of the country, through functional tap water connection at a service level of 55 litre per capita per day (lpcd), of prescribed quality (BIS:10500), on regular and long-term basis.

At the start of JJM in August 2019, only 3.23 crore accounting to 16.8 per cent rural households were reported to have tap water connections. So far, as reported by States and Union Territories (UTs) as on August 5, 2024, around 11.81 crore additional rural households have been provided with tap water connections under JJM.

As on August 5, 2024, out of 19.32 crore rural households in the country, more than 15.04 crore accounting to 77.87 per cent households were reported to have tap water supply in their homes. This was stated by Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti, V Somanna in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

According to him, under life-changing JJM, efforts are being made to bring improvements in the lives of rural people by providing potable tap water supply in their homes. With the prioritized implementation of the mission across the country, positive impacts are being assessed by reputed national and international institutions or individuals.

To ensure long term sustainability of infrastructure created, quality material and quality construction is being ensured through third party inspection before making payment. Moreover, measurement and monitoring of water supply in villages through sensor-based IoT solution, linking Aadhar of the head of household for targeted delivery subject to statutory provisions, geo-tagging of assets created, etc. are also provisioned under JJM.

To address the issue of operation and maintenance of water supply schemes, provision has also been made under JJM to reward and incentivize the community in a phased-manner after the commissioning of the scheme to the tune of 10 per cent of the capital expenditure on their respective in-village water supply scheme along with collection of user charges.

Water being a State subject, the States and UTs have been advised to undertake testing of water quality on a periodic basis and take remedial action wherever necessary, to ensure that the water supplied to households is of prescribed quality to meet health and safety standards.