In the heart of New Delhi, the flagship initiative of the Narendra Modi government, the Jal Jeevan Mission, has achieved a significant milestone, reaching three-fourths of its target rural households by the end of 2024. However, disparities in progress persist among states, as revealed by official data.
Presently, approximately 145 million rural households, accounting for 75% of the total, have been equipped with operational tap water systems through the mission. Surpassing expectations, 11 states and Union territories have already attained 100% coverage ahead of schedule, including Goa, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Gujarat, Haryana, Telangana, Puducherry, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, and Mizoram.
The inception of the program in August 2019 marked a stark contrast as only one-sixth of India’s approximately 192 million households across 600,000 villages had access to functional water taps.
Accessing water remains a formidable challenge for most rural areas in India. According to a 2013 survey by the National Sample Survey Organisation, women in Jharkhand spend 40 minutes one way, excluding wait times. In Bihar, the journey takes 33 minutes, and in Uttar Pradesh, 38 minutes. The water mission endeavors to alleviate this burden.
The pace of implementation overall appears vigorous. The Jal Shakti ministry’s calculations indicate that, on average, over 85,000 rural families are being reached daily.
Nevertheless, certain states lag significantly behind the national average, including Madhya Pradesh (60.94%), Kerala (52.37%), Jharkhand (51.38%), Rajasthan (47.15%), and West Bengal (45.76%), according to the latest mission dashboard data.
To address this, the government has intensified monitoring efforts and initiated special reviews with local authorities in underperforming states, according to an anonymous official.
The Jal Jeevan Mission entails the arduous task of laying pipelines, constructing village tanks, and connecting them to sustainable water sources, some located in the country’s remotest areas, presenting considerable engineering challenges.
In a collaborative effort to provide technical support, a partnership between the UN agency specializing in critical projects, UNOPS, and the Danish government targets the 11 most water-scarce districts in Bundelkhand and Vindhya regions of Uttar Pradesh, the official revealed.
Allocation of funds under the mission assigns 30% weightage to challenging terrains and 10% weightage to populations residing in SC/ST dominated areas to prioritize coverage in these regions.
“To ensure long-term sustainability, local communities are empowered with knowledge and skills to take charge of water connections in their villages,” the official remarked.
Responding to a query in Lok Sabha on February 8 this year, Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, highlighted uneven terrain, scattered habitations, groundwater contaminants, and the lack of local community capacity as hurdles faced by some states.
Furthermore, delayed release of states’ contributions towards scheme implementation significantly impedes progress, he noted.
“The crux of the matter lies in sustainability. While connecting households to water sources is relatively straightforward, maintaining the source’s sustainability is paramount for long-term water availability,” commented Ram Moria of Samaj Pragati Sahayog, a Devas-based water conservation NGO.