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The Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15, 2019, with the ambitious goal of providing tap water supply to every rural household by 2024. At the time of its inception, only 3.23 crore (17%) of rural households had tap water connections. The mission aims to bridge this gap by providing nearly 16 crore additional households with tap water by 2024, ensuring the functionality of existing water supply systems, and directly benefiting over 19 crore rural families. This initiative is intended to reduce the rural-urban divide and enhance public health.

Key Achievements

As of August 12, 2024, Jal Jeevan Mission has successfully provided tap water connections to 11.82 crore additional rural households, bringing the total coverage to more than 15.07 crore households, which accounts for 77.98% of all rural households in India. The mission has reached a significant milestone, profoundly impacting the lives of rural people by providing them with reliable access to potable water in their homes.

 

Objectives

The broad objectives of the Jal Jeevan Mission include:

• Providing Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC) to every rural household.
• Prioritizing FHTC provision in quality-affected areas, drought-prone regions, desert areas, and Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) villages.
• Ensuring functional tap connections in schools, Anganwadi centers, gram panchayat buildings, health and wellness centers, and community buildings.
• Monitoring the functionality of tap connections.
• Promoting voluntary ownership among the local community through contributions in cash, kind, or labor (shramdaan).
• Ensuring the sustainability of water supply systems, including water sources, infrastructure, and funding for regular operations and maintenance.
• Empowering and developing human resources in the water sector, covering construction, plumbing, electrical work, water quality management, water treatment, catchment protection, and more.
• Raising awareness about the significance of safe drinking water and involving stakeholders to make water everyone's responsibility.

 

Components under JJM

The following components are supported under JJM:

• Efforts should be made to source funds from different sources/ programmes and convergence is the key
• Development of in-village piped water supply infrastructure to provide tap water connections to every rural household.
• Development and augmentation of reliable drinking water sources to ensure long-term sustainability.
• Bulk water transfer, treatment plants, and distribution networks where necessary.
• Technological interventions for contaminant removal in areas with water quality issues.

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• Retrofitting of ongoing and completed schemes to provide FHTCs at a minimum service level of 55 liters per capita per day (lpcd).
• Greywater management.
• Support activities such as Information, Education, and Communication (IEC), Human Resource Development (HRD), training, utility development, water quality laboratories, research and development, capacity building of communities, etc.
• Addressing unforeseen challenges due to natural disasters or calamities, as per Ministry of Finance guidelines on Flexi Funds.

Impact of JJM

The implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission has brought significant improvements in rural life, as highlighted by several national and international institutions:

• The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that achieving JJM's goals will save over 5.5 crore hours daily, primarily for women, otherwise spent collecting water.
• WHO also projects that ensuring safely managed drinking water for all households in India could prevent nearly 400,000 deaths from diarrheal diseases, saving approximately 14 million Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs).
• Nobel laureate Prof. Michael Kremer's research suggests that safe water coverage could reduce mortality among children under five by nearly 30%, potentially saving 136,000 lives annually.
• The Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, in partnership with the International Labour Organization (ILO), estimates that JJM will generate 59.9 lakh person-years of direct and 2.2 crore person-years of indirect employment during its capital expenditure phase. Additionally, the operation and maintenance phase could generate 13.3 lakh person-years of direct employment.

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Quality Assurance and Monitoring

To ensure the long-term sustainability of infrastructure, JJM emphasizes quality construction and materials, with third-party inspections before payments are made. The mission also incorporates advanced technologies such as sensor-based IoT solutions for water supply measurement, AADHAR linking for targeted delivery, and geo-tagging of assets. Transparency and effective monitoring are ensured through the online 'JJM dashboard' and mobile app, providing real-time progress updates.

 

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Community Involvement:

To instill a sense of ownership among rural communities, JJM emphasizes village-level planning and community participation in all water supply decisions. Initiatives under the mission include:

• The formation of 5.32 lakh Village Water & Sanitation Committees (VWSCs) or Pani Samitis, with at least 50% women members and representation from marginalized communities, to manage water supply systems.
• Training five women from each village to test water samples using Field Test Kits (FTKs). As of 2024-25, 24.64 lakh women have been trained, and over 54.20 lakh samples have been tested.
• Engaging over 14,000 NGOs, voluntary organizations, women's self-help groups, and community-based organizations as Implementation Support Agencies (ISAs) to facilitate community participation in planning, implementing, managing, and maintaining water supply systems.

 

Challenges and Solutions

The mission faces several challenges, such as a lack of dependable water sources in certain areas, groundwater contamination, uneven geographical terrain, scattered rural habitations, and delays in obtaining statutory clearances etc. To address these challenges, the Government of India has taken various steps, including financial assistance through the Ministry of Finance, the appointment of nodal officers to coordinate with central ministries, the establishment of State and District Programme Management Units, and the implementation of the 'Nal Jal Mitra Programme' to ensure the availability of skilled personnel at the village level.

 

Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain

Recognizing the importance of sustainable water management, the Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain (JSA: CTR) campaign was launched in 2019, focusing on water conservation through people's participation. In 2023, the campaign emphasized 'Source Sustainability for Drinking Water,' and in 2024, it was implemented with the theme 'Nari Shakti se Jal Shakti,' highlighting the crucial role of women in water conservation.

 

Progress Under the Mission (as of August 14, 2024)

• 15.07 Crore (77.98 %) of rural households in the country have been provided with tap water connection.
• 188 districts, 1,838 blocks, 1,09,996 Gram Panchayats and 2,33,209 [4]villages have reported to achieve ‘Har Ghar Jal’ status.
• The Government of India accords priority to Japanese Encephalitis (JE)-Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) affected Districts to ensure potable tap water supply in all the households under the Jal Jeevan Mission. Over 2.35 Crore households (79.21 %)  in JE-AES water quality-affected regions are getting access to clean tap water.[5]
• 11 States/UTs, which include, Goa, A &N Islands, Dadra Nagar Haveli & Daman Diu, Haryana, Telangana, Puducherry, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh have provided tap water connection to all rural households (100%) in the respective State/UT as on August 14, 2024.
• As on August 14,2024,  9,27,421 schools and 9,63,955 Aanganwadi centres have tap watersupply. [6]

 

Conclusion

The Jal Jeevan Mission is a transformative initiative aimed at ensuring that every rural household in India has access to safe and reliable tap water by 2024. With significant progress already made, the mission is poised to improve the health, education, and socio-economic conditions of rural communities across the country, while also promoting sustainable water management practices.

 

References

https://pib.gov.in/PressNoteDetails.aspx?NoteId=151017&ModuleId=3

https://pib.gov.in/PressNoteDetails.aspx?NoteId=150994&ModuleId=3

https://jaljeevanmission.gov.in/

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2042989

https://ejalshakti.gov.in/jjm/citizen_corner/villageinformation.aspx

https://ejalshakti.gov.in/jjmreport/JJMIndia.aspx

Jal Jeevan Mission

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Santosh Kumar/ Sarla Meena/ Madiha Iqbal

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