On Saturday, the 100th district in the country was connected to the tap water program of the ‘Har Ghar Jal’ project, under the ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’. Himachal Pradesh’s Chamba district became the 100th district under the ‘Har Ghar Jal’ project. Recently on the 16th of February, 2022 the mission had achieved the milestone of providing tap water supply to more than 9 Crore homes.
The Ministry of Jal Shakti said in a statement on Wednesday, that the Jal Jeevan Mission has provided tap water supply to more than 5.77 Crore rural households, in a short span of two and half years and despite the Covid-19 induced pandemic and lockdown disruptions. Now 9 Crore rural households in the country now have access to clean tap water supply. Currently, 100 districts in the country are receiving the supply of clean tap water.
The Jal Jeevan Mission is on track to complete the Government’s resolution of providing tap water supply to every rural household by 2024, the ministry clarified.
The statement further added that when the Mission was announced on 15th of August 2019, just 3.23 Crore or 17% of the households out of 19.27 Crore, had tap water connections. Following the principle of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas’, in around two and a half years, 100 districts, 1,138 blocks, 66,328 Gram Panchayats and 1,36,803 villages have become ‘Har Ghar Jal’. Currently, every rural household in Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Goa, Daman & Diu, Telangana, Puducherry, Haryana, and Dadar & Nagar Haveli is receiving tap water supply. Several states such as Himachal Pradesh (92.4%), Gujarat (92%), Punjab (99%) and Bihar (90%) will become ‘Har Ghar Jal’ by the end of 2022.
Rs 3.60 lakh crore has been allocated to achieve the huge task of providing tap water supply to every rural household in a span of five years. In Union Budget 2022-23, Rs 60,000 crore had been allocated to ‘Har Ghar Jal’ to provide tap water to 3.8 Crore households.
Rather than just building the water supply infrastructures, the Jal Jeevan Mission focuses on water service delivery. The mission’s objective is to make sure that no one is left out. It also ensures that every household in the country gets clean water supply, irrespective of its social or economic status. The mission aims for the freedom of mothers and sisters from the centuries-old struggle for fetching water for the household.
Tap Water Campaign
A campaign for 100-days was launched by Union Minister Gajendra Singh on the 2nd of October, 2020 to ensure clean tap water in schools and Anganwadi centres. In a timeframe of 16 months, 82 per cent of schools (8.47 lakh) and 78 per cent of Anganwadi centres (8.67 lakh) in the country have been connected with tap water supply. Ninety-three thousand facilities for harvesting rainwater and 1.08 lakh greywater reuse structures have been constructed in the schools in the country. Multiple states have made provisions for supplying tap water to every school.
Jal Jeevan Mission is a new approach where the local community plays an important role in planning, implementation, management, operations and maintenance. Village Water and Sanitation Committee (VWSC) or Pani Samiti are being constituted; Village Action Plan are developed through community engagement; Implementation Support Agencies (ISAs) are engaged to support village communities in programme implementation and create awareness among people. Till now around 4.70 lakh Village Water and Sanitation Committees or Pani Samitis have been formed and more than 3.83 lakh Village Action Plans have been created across India.
Under the ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’, Himachal Pradesh’s Chamba district became the 100th ‘Har Ghar Jal’ district. Ministry of Jal Shakti said that the Government’s resolution to provide tap water to every rural household by 2024 is on track
