Now, 42.2% of Indian rural households have tap water connection

“Now, out of the total 19.23 crore rural households, more than 8.11 crore (42.2%) rural households in the country have assured potable water supply to their homes,” the Jal Shakti Ministry said in a statement.

While the Rs 3.6 trillion JJM scheme aims to ensure supply of tap water or ‘Har Ghar Jal’ to all rural households by 2024, several states have made their commitment to provide tap water connections to all rural households before 2024. has been presented. However, according to the Ministry of Pragati Jal Shakti, Jharkhand’s plan to provide a functional tap connection to all households by 2023-24 has been slow.

“The state of Jharkhand is planning 100% FHTCs in all households by 2023-24. Out of 59.24 lakh rural households in the state, 8.60 lakh (14.5%) households have tap water connections. Progress is very slow in Jharkhand.”

Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has been entrusted with the task of providing tap water connections to all rural households under JJM by 2024, which is being compared with the Ujjwala scheme.

“In 2020-21, the state was allocated a central grant of Rs 572.24 crore, but it could receive only Rs 143.06 crore and surrendered. ₹429.18 crore for tap water supply in rural areas due to slow pace of implementation. Union Minister for Jal Shakti Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has increased the central allocation four times to help the state in providing tap water to every household by 2024. ₹2,479.88 crore. With this increased central allocation and the state’s share being equal ₹2,617.81 crore, the availability of Jharkhand is assured ₹5,235.62 crore for water supply works in 2021-22 under Jal Jeevan Mission. However, due to poor physical and financial progress, the state is yet to receive the first installment of the central allocation.”

In July 2019, the central government formed a new ministry, Jal Shakti, to address all water issues in the country. The ministry was created by integrating with other existing ministries, such as the Ministry of Water Resources and Drinking Water and Sanitation.

“The total budget for the Jal Jeevan Mission in 2021-22 is Rs 50,011 crore. States with their own resources and ₹The 15th Finance Commission gave a grant of Rs 26,940 crore to RLBs/PRIs for water and sanitation, with over Rs 1 lakh crore being invested in the rural drinking water supply sector this year.

The issue of water supply gained prominence in the Union Budget re-introduced in February, which announced an outlay of Rs 2.87 trillion for the launch of the Jal Jeevan Mission Urban. The target is to supply water to 4,378 urban local bodies with 2.68 crore tap connections.