New Delhi, July 21 (IANS) As many as 15.67 crore or 80.93 per cent of rural households out of the total 19.36 crore in the country are reported to have a tap water supply in their homes, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Monday.

Minister of State for Jal Shakti V. Somanna, in a written reply, said that under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) – Har Ghar Jal, around 12.43 crore additional rural households have been provided tap water connections till July 15, 2025, since the implementation of the Mission in August 2019.

At the start of the Mission, only 3.23 crore (16.7 per cent) rural households were reported to have tap water connections, said the MoS.

It was launched to enable every rural household in the country to have assured potable water, in adequate quantity of prescribed quality on a regular and long-term basis, through tap water connection, he said.

Minister of State Somanna said to monitor outcomes, the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation undertakes an assessment of the functionality of household tap water connections provided under the Mission, through an independent third-party agency, based on standard statistical sampling.

“During the Functionality Assessment 2022, it was found that 86 per cent of households (HHs) had working tap connections. Out of these, 85 per cent were getting water in adequate quantity, 80 per cent were getting water regularly as per the schedule of water supply for their piped water supply scheme, and 87 per cent of households were receiving water as per the prescribed water quality standards,” said the MoS.

Somanna said that to ensure the successful implementation of the Mission, the Central government has been regularly reviewing the implementation with the respective State governments.

“Review meetings, conferences, workshops and video conferences are also held at the highest level, wherein states are advised to plan and expedite the implementation to achieve the goal in a time-bound manner. In addition, field visits are also undertaken by the National Jal Jeevan Mission (NJJM) team to handhold the states for expeditious implementation of the Mission,” said the MoS.

–IANS

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