Jal Jeevan Mission: More than 4 Crore Rural Homes Provided with Tap Water Connections

Jal Jeevan Mission has reached a new milestone of providing tap water supply to more than 4 Crore rural households. Jal Jeevan Mission was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15th August 2019. The aim of the mission is to provide tap water supply to every rural home by the year 2024.

Key Points

• At present, 7.24 Crore (38%) i.e. more than 1/3rd of rural households are getting potable water through taps.
• The first State in the country to provide 100% tap water supply was Goa which is followed by Telangana and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
• With the efforts of states and UTs, Jal Jeevan Mission now provides tap water supply to every family living in 56 districts and more than 86 thousand villages.
• Jal Jeevan Mission is being implemented in association with the States to provide potable water in the required quantity, of prescribed quality on a regular and long-term basis.
• The States/ UTs are now undertaking extensive planning exercises by following a ‘bottom-up approach’. States/UTs have formed a firm Action Plan to provide tap water connection to every rural household.
• While implementing, States are giving priority to water quality-affected areas, villages in drought-prone and desert areas, Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe majority villages, aspirational districts, and Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna villages.
• Since children are more susceptible to water-borne diseases, a campaign has been launched to provide tap water supply in schools and ashramshalas, and Anganwadi centres across the country so that whenever the schools reopen, children are provided with safe water for drinking.
• The top priority under Jal Jeevan Mission includes Potable water supply to water quality-affected habitations.
• Efforts are made to ensure safe drinking water is provided to all quality-affected villages especially Arsenic and Fluoride affected rural habitations.

Jal Jeevan Mission aims to make water everyone’s business, i.e. ‘Jan Andolan’. PM also launched the ‘ Catch the rain’ campaign on World water day i.e. 22 March 2021, and appealed to all to conserve every drop of water. Thus, efforts are being made to involve all stakeholders.