Lok Sabha Question No. 2785 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-08-08
Subject: Impacts of JJM
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Shri Omprakash Bhupalsinh Alias Pavan Rajenimbalkar, Shri Sanjay Haribhau Jadhav

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI DEPARTMENT OF DRINKING WATER & SANITATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. - 2785

ANSWERED ON 08.08.2024

## IMPACTS OF JJM

## †2785. SHRI OMPRAKASH BHUPALSINH ALIAS PAVAN RAJENIMBALKAR: SHRI SANJAY HARIBHAU JADHAV:

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a)   the impact of implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) to provide piped drinking water to the rural households in the country;

(b)  the progress made till 2024 towards achieving the target of providing piped water to all;

(c)   the  measures  taken  for  operation  and  maintenance  of  infrastructure,  community  participation and financial feasibility to ensure stability and consistency of the water supply  schemes implemented under JJM;

(d)  the initiatives taken to improve the quality of potable water including the provision for treating effluent water sources and providing water testing facilities in rural areas; and

(e)   the steps taken to address the challenges faced under JJM like delay in project implementation, insufficient funding and capacity building at the ground level?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI (SHRI V. SOMANNA)

(a) & (b) Government of India in partnership with States is implementing Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) - Har Ghar Jal to make provision of potable water to every rural household of the country, through functional  tap  water  connection  i.e.  at  a  service  level  of  55  litre  per  capita  per  day  (lpcd),  of prescribed quality (BIS:10500), on regular and long-term basis.

At the start of Jal Jeevan Mission in August 2019, only 3.23 Crore (16.8%) rural households were reported to have tap water connections. So far, as reported by States/ UTs as on 05.08.2024, around 11.81 Crore additional rural households have been provided with tap water connections under JJM. Thus, as on 05.08.2024, out of 19.32 Crore rural households in the country, more than 15.04 Crore (77.87%) households are reported to have tap water supply in their homes.

Under life-changing Jal Jeevan Mission, efforts are being made to bring improvements in the lives of  rural  people  by  providing  potable  tap  water  supply  in  their  homes.  With  the  prioritized

implementation of the Mission across the country, positive impacts are being assessed by reputed national and international institutions/ individuals. A few of these are listed as under:

- i. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that achieving saturation under JJM will  result  in  savings  of  more  than  5.5  Crore  hours  of  time  every  day,  which  is otherwise spent in collection of water for household needs, primarily for women.
- ii. The  World  Health  Organization  (WHO)  has  also  estimated  that  ensuring  safely managed drinking water for all households in the country could prevent nearly 400,000 deaths  caused  by  diarrheal  diseases  leading  to  savings  of  approximately  14  million Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) on account of the lives so saved.
- iii. Nobel laureate Prof. Michael Kremer has published a research paper and has concluded that  the  coverage  of  all  households  with  safe  water,  is  likely  to  lead  to  almost  30% reduction  in  mortality  among  children  below  the  age  of  five  years,  amounting to1,36,000 lives saved annually.
- iv. The Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, in partnership with International Labour Organisation (ILO) has estimated the employment potential of JJM. The report released by  the  two  institutions  estimates  that  implementation  of  the  Jal  Jeevan  Mission  shall result  in  59.9  lakh  person-years  of  direct  and  2.2  Crore  person-years  of  indirect employment during the capex phase of JJM. Furthermore, the operation and maintenance  of  the  Mission  is  likely  to  generate  13.3  lakh  person-years  of  direct employment.

(c)  To  ensure  long  term  sustainability  of  infrastructure  created,  quality  material  and  quality construction  is  being  ensured  through  third  party  inspection  before  making  payment.  Moreover, measurement and monitoring of water supply in villages through sensor-based IoT solution, linking AADHAR  of  the  head  of  household  for  targeted  delivery  subject  to  statutory  provisions,  geotagging of assets created, etc. are also provisioned under JJM.

Further, to bring transparency and effective monitoring, an online 'JJM dashboard' & mobile App has been created, which provides State/ UT, district, and village-wise progress as well as status of provision of tap water supply to rural homes.

Moreover,  to  instill  the  sense  of  ownership  among  the  rural  communities  and  Panchayats,  the aspects  of  village  level  planning  and  community  participation  in  all  decisions  pertaining  to  water supply  systems  have  been  included  in  the  design  of  JJM.  Some  of  the  major  initiatives  taken  up under the mission for participation of rural community are listed as under:

- Around 5.32 lakh sub-committee/ user group of the Gram Panchayats i.e. Village Water & Sanitation  Committee  (VWSC)  or  Pani  Samiti  with  at  least  50%  women  members  and suitable  representation  to  marginalized  sections  of  society,  have  been  constituted  to  plan, implement, manage, operate, and maintain in-village water supply system.
- Five  women  are  identified  and  trained  from  every  village  for  testing  the  water  samples through Field Test Kits (FTKs) and so far, 24.64 lakh women have been trained and so far, more than 54.20 lakh samples have been tested through FTKs in 2024-25.

- More than 14,000 NGOs/ VOs/ Women SHGs/ CBOs/ Trusts/ Foundations referred as ISAs are engaged across the country to facilitate community participation at all levels of planning, implementation, management, operation and maintenance of in-village water supply systems and contribution.

Provisions  for  taking  up  augmentation  and  strengthening  of  local  drinking  water  sources  in convergence with other schemes viz. MGNREGS, 15th Finance Commission grants to Rural Local Bodies (RLBs)/ Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP), State schemes, MP/ MLA-LAD funds, District Mineral Development Fund, CSR funds, community contribution, etc. have also been envisaged under the JJM.

In addition, to address the issue of operation & maintenance of water supply schemes, provision has also  been  made  under  JJM  to  reward/  incentivize  the  community  in  a  phased-manner  after  the commissioning of the scheme to the tune of 10% of the capital expenditure on their respective invillage water supply scheme along with collection of user charges.

(d) Water being a State subject, States/ UTs have been advised to undertake testing of water quality on a periodic basis and take remedial action wherever necessary, to ensure that the water supplied to households is of prescribed quality to meet health and safety standards.

Moreover, to encourage water quality testing to ensure potable drinking water supply, States/ UTs have opened water quality testing laboratories to general public for testing of their water samples at a  nominal  rate.  To  enable  States/  UTs  to  test  water  samples  for  water  quality,  and  for  sample collection, reporting, monitoring and surveillance of drinking water sources, an online JJM - Water Quality Management Information System (WQMIS) portal has been developed.

To treat  greywater/  wastewater  coming  out  of  the  households,  the  States/  UTs  are  encouraged  to build soak pits in rural areas using JJM funds under convergence.

(e) States have informed that lack of dependable drinking water sources in water-stressed, drought prone and desert areas, presence of geo-genic contaminants in ground water, uneven geographical terrain, scattered rural habitations, delay in release of the matching State share in some States, lack of technical capacity with implementing agencies, Gram Panchayats and local communities to plan, manage,  operate  &  maintain  the  water  supply  schemes,  rising  price  of  raw  materials,  delay  in obtaining statutory/ other clearances, etc. are few of problems being faced in the implementation of the Mission.

To address the challenges holistically and overcome these, Government of India has taken a number of steps, inter alia including implementation of Special Assistance to States for Capital Expenditure through  M/o  Finance  for  financial  assistance  as  50-year  interest  free  loan  for  capital  investment projects;  nomination  of  a  nodal  officer  in  the  Department  for  coordinating  with  Central  nodal Ministries/  Departments/  agencies  to  facilitate  the  States  in  obtaining  Statutory/  other  clearances; setting up of State Programme Management Units (SPMUs) and District Programme Management Units  (DPMUs)  and  implementation  of  ' Nal  Jal  Mitra  Programme '  for  ensuring  availability  of

skilled local persons at village level to bridge the gap in availability of technical skill sets and of HR for programme management.

Further,  Jal  Shakti  Abhiyan:  Catch  the  Rain  (JSA:  CTR)  campaign  aiming  to  encourage  water conservation  at  grass-root  levels  with  people's  participation  was  launched  in  2019  in  256  water stressed  districts  of  the  country.  Moreover,  recognizing  the  importance  of  sustainable  water management especially for drinking water availability, JSA-CTR was implemented with the theme ' Source Sustainability for Drinking Water ' in 2023. Similarly, in 2024, JSA is being implemented with the theme " Nari Shakti se Jal Shakti " from 09.03.2024 to 30.11.2024 emphasizing the pivotal role played by women in the field of water conservation.

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