As on February 1, 2024, 142.2 million households have received tap water connections, as per the Jal Jeevan Mission dashboard.
This leaves 26.1% of households without tap water connections.
During the launch of the scheme in 2019, 16% of households had tap water connections translating to 32.3 million households.
Har Ghar Jal aims at providing new FHTCs to every rural household by 2024. The programme focuses on service delivery at the household level through regular water supply in adequate quantity, defined under JJM as 55 lpcd, and of prescribed quality.
This necessitates the use of modern technology in planning and implementation of water supply schemes, development of water sources, treatment, and supply of water.
When the scheme was announced, only one in six rural households in India were reported to have tap water connections, according to the government’s Jal Jeevan Mission dashboard.
By September 19, 2022, every other household had a new connection, an increase of 36 percentage points.
Seven states and Union Territories – Goa, Haryana, Telangana, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Puducherry, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu and Punjab – reported 100% connections.
More than 50% of rural households are reported to have functional household tapwater connections under the Jal Jeevan Mission in UP. But does this translate into availability of water for the rural poor? Read this IndiaSpend & Khabarlahariya story to know more about access to drinking water in Uttar Pradesh and the challenges faced in the state
JJM also aims to provide potable tap water supply in adequate quantity, of prescribed quality and on regular & long-term basis to every rural household in the country.
As per operational guidelines for the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission up to 2% of the allocation to States/ UTs under JJM can be utilized for carrying out water quality monitoring and surveillance activities.
2,124 labs are operational for testing water quality.
Read more about the challenges with providing high quality water at this scale: IndiaSpend Interview
India's water budget, larger than that of other South Asian countries, is projected to surpass 3% of the estimated gross domestic product (GDP) in 2030 for sustainable water management.
Despite improvements in the provision of clean water and sanitation, additional investments are crucial, especially in protecting water resources through measures like groundwater recharge, which requires more than conventional pipes-and-taps infrastructure.
Despite low release of funds by the union government to the states, nearly one-fifth of the released amount remained unspent on an average in 2023-24