New Delhi, March 30 (IANS) Out of around 19.36 crore rural households in the country, around 15.82 crore (81.71 per cent households are reported to have tap water supply in their homes as on March 3, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Monday.​

The Minister of State for Jal Shakti V. Somanna, in a written reply, said that at the start of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) – Har Ghar Jal in August 2019, only 3.23 crore (16.7 per cent of rural households were reported to have tap water connections.​

This initiative ensures an adequate supply of prescribed-quality water on a regular, long-term basis through tap water connections.​

He said the department undertakes an assessment of the functionality of household tap water connections provided under the Mission through an independent third-party agency selected using standard statistical sampling methods.​

During the Functionality Assessment, 2024, it was found that 98.1 per cent of households in surveyed villages had tap connections and 87 per cent of households with tap connections reported receiving water in the past week, indicating overall progress.​

The Assessment 2024 found that 84 per cent households receive water as per schedule; 80 per cent households were found receiving the minimum 55 LPCD water; 76 per cent households were found free from bacteriological contamination and 81 per cent households of the supply source were found free from chemical contamination and considering the parameters of quantity, quality and regularity 76 per cent of household tap connections were found to be functional, he said.​

The Minister of State said that a number of steps have been taken to plan and implement JJM in the whole country, with speed, inter alia, including regular review of implementation, workshops/ conferences/ webinars for capacity building, training, knowledge sharing, and field visits by a multi-disciplinary team to provide technical support.​

A detailed Operational Guideline for the implementation of JJM; Margdarshika for Gram Panchayats & VWSCs to provide safe drinking water in rural households and Guidelines on a special campaign to provide piped water supply in anganwadi centres, ashramshalas and schools have been shared with States/ UTs to facilitate effective planning and implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission, he said.​

For online monitoring, JJM–Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) and JJM–Dashboard have been put in place. Provision has also been made for transparent online financial management through the Public Financial Management System (PFMS), he said.​

–IANS

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