Lok Sabha Question No. 874 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-24
Subject: Challenges under Jal Jeevan Mission
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Dr. D Ravi Kumar

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 874 ANSWERED ON 24.07.2025

## CHALLENGES UNDER JAL JEEVAN MISSION

## 874.    DR. D RAVI KUMAR:

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a)  the  measures  taken  by  the  Government  to  ensure  that  the  Jal  Jeevan  Mission  (JJM) achieves its target of providing functional tap water connections to all rural households between the Financial Years 2019 and 2024 and the extent to which these measures have been effective;

(b) the details of the key challenges faced by the Government in the implementation of JJM during  the  year  2024  including  issues  like  funding  constraints,  water  source  sustainability, skilled manpower shortages or State-level bottlenecks;

(c)  the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  address  these  challenges  and  ensure  the  timely completion of JJM; and

(d) whether any revised timelines or strategies have been formulated in this regard and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (d)  Since August 2019, 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.

A number of steps have been taken to plan and implement JJM in the whole country with speed, inter alia including joint discussions and finalization of saturation plans and annual action plans (AAP) of States/ UTs, regular review of implementation, workshops/ conferences/ webinars for capacity building, training, knowledge sharing, field visits by multi-disciplinary teams to provide technical support, etc. 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 centers, Ashramshalas and schools have been shared with States/ UTs to facilitate planning and implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission. For online monitoring, JJM-Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) and JJM-Dashboard has been put in place. Provision has also been made  for  transparent  online  financial  management  through  Public  Financial  Management System (PFMS).

At the start of the Mission, only 3.23 Crore (16.7%) rural households were reported to have tap water  connections.  With  concerted  efforts  from  both  Centre  and  States,  under  Jal  Jeevan Mission  (JJM)  -  Har  Ghar  Jal  around  12.43  Crore  additional  rural  households  have  been reported to have been provided with tap water connections. Thus, as on 21.07.2025, out of 19.36 Crore rural households in the country, more than 15.67 Crore (80.94%) households are reported to have tap water supply in their homes.

To achieve 100 per cent coverage through continued implementation of mission with focus on quality of infrastructure and Operation & Maintenance of rural piped water supply schemes for long term sustainability and citizen centric water service delivery, Hon'ble Finance Minister during her budget speech 2025-26 has announced extension of Jal Jeevan Mission until 2028 with enhanced total outlay. Accordingly, a proposal for continuation of Jal Jeevan Mission until 2028 with enhanced total outlay is under consideration of the Government.

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;

Under the Mission, States have been advised for source recharging, viz. dedicated bore well recharge  structures,  rainwater  recharge,  rejuvenation  of  existing  water  bodies,  reuse  of greywater, etc., in convergence with other schemes such as MGNREGS, Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP), 15th Finance Commission tied grants to RLBs/ PRIs, State schemes, CSR funds, etc.

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.  Morever,  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 and "Nari Shakti se Jal Shakti" in 2024.  Similarly,  JSA  is  being  implemented  with  the  theme  ' Peoples'  Action  for  Water Conservation  -  Towards  Intensified  Community  Connect '  emphasizing  the  pivotal  role  of community in the field of water conservation.

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