Lok Sabha Question No. 1121 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-05
Subject: Safe and Contamination-free Water in Tribal and Remote Areas of Maharashtra
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Shri Bhaskar Murlidhar Bhagare

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1121

ANSWERED ON 05.02.2026

## SAFE AND CONTAMINATION-FREE WATER IN TRIBAL AND REMOTE AREAS OF MAHARASHTRA

## 1121. SHRI BHASKAR MURLIDHAR BHAGARE

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a)  whether  the  Government  has  put  in  place  an  effective  mechanism  to  verify  that  functional household tap connections provided under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in tribal and remote districts of Maharashtra are actually functional and whether the weak monitoring has led to non-functional or irregular water supply in several tribal areas and if so, the details thereof;

(b) the steps taken to ensure that drinking water supplied in these regions  is safe and free from contamination and whether any lapses have been reported in quality testing or treatment of drinking water and if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the Government has assessed inequitable water availability across regions, particularly the continued water scarcity in tribal districts of Maharashtra despite higher rainfall in other regions and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  measures  taken  to  ensure  equitable  and  reliable distribution of drinking water;

(d)  whether  any  delays  or  interruptions  in  the  release  of  Central  funds  have  adversely  affected implementation in tribal belts of Maharashtra and if so, the details thereof;

(e)  the  revised  timeline  fixed  for  achieving  universal  Functional  Household  Tap  Connections (FHTCs) in the tribal areas; and

(f) the corrective and time-bound steps being taken to accelerate coverage and address persistent gaps?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (f) Drinking water is a State subject. The power to plan, design, approve and implement drinking  water  supply  schemes/projects  lies  with  State  Government.  Government  of  India,  in partnership  with  States/UTs  including  Maharashtra  is  implementing  Jal  Jeevan  Mission,  since August, 2019, to make provision of tap water supply to every rural household including those in tribal  and  remote  districts  in  the  country.  Under  Jal  Jeevan  Mission  (JJM),  the  Department  of Drinking Water and Sanitation provides financial, policy guidance and technical assistance to the States and Union Territories for implementing their drinking water supply schemes.

The Mission is being implemented as per approved guidelines and extant financial rules, ensuring transparency,  accountability,  and  community  participation.  The  Government  of  India  has  taken several steps to strengthen the planning and implementation of JJM across the country, including Maharashtra. These steps include joint discussions and finalization of Annual Action Plans (AAPs) with States/UTs, regular reviews of implementation, organization of workshops/conferences/webinars for capacity building and knowledge sharing, and field visits by multi-disciplinary teams to provide technical support.

For  real-time  and  transparent  monitoring,  the  JJM-Integrated  Management  Information  System (IMIS) and JJM-Dashboard have been developed whereby the information on the progress of the Mission at state, district and panchayat levels are provided in public domain. Provision has also been  made  for  transparent  online  financial  management  through  Public  Financial  Management System (PFMS).

The following mechanism are in place under JJM to  ensure quality of  piped water supplied to households, including regular testing for contaminants:

i)  Under  Jal  Jeevan  Mission,  as  per  existing  guidelines,  Bureau  of  Indian  Standards' BIS:10500 standards are adopted as benchmarks for quality of water being supplied through the piped water supply schemes.

ii) 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. The Statewise details of water quality test reported through WQMIS are available in public domain and can be accessed at:

## https://ejalshakti.gov.in/WQMIS/Main/report

iii)  As  per  the  Operational  Guidelines,  States/  UTs  can  utilize  up  to  2%  of  their  annual allocation  of  funds  under  JJM  for  Water  Quality  Monitoring  &  Surveillance  (WQM&S) activities,  which inter-alia includes  setting  up  and  strengthening  of  water  quality  testing laboratories,  procurement of  equipment,  instruments,  chemicals,  glassware,  consumables, hiring  of  skilled  manpower,  surveillance  by  community  using  field  test  kits  (FTKs), awareness generation, educational programmes on water quality, accreditation/recognition of laboratories, etc.

iv) In order to empower the communities to monitor the water quality, States/ UTs have also been advised to identify and train 5 persons, preferably women, in every village to conduct water quality testing using Field Testing Kits (FTKs)/ bacteriological vials at village level and report the same on the WQMIS portal.

Water being a State subject, steps for augmentation, conservation and efficient management of water resources are primarily undertaken by the respective State Governments. Under JJM, provisions have  been  made  for  drinking  water  source  development/  strengthening/  augmentation;  and infrastructure for bulk transfer of water, treatment and distribution systems in water deficit droughtprone and desert areas without dependable ground water sources, apart from creation of in-village water supply infrastructure.

To achieve drinking water security, every village has to prepare a 5-year Village Action Plan under Jal  Jeevan  Mission  which inter  alia includes  augmentation  and  strengthening  of  drinking  water sources  to  be  taken  up  in  convergence  with  other  schemes  at  village  level  viz.  15 th Finance Commission tied grants to Rural Local Bodies (RLBs)/ PRIs, Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP), State schemes, District Mineral Development Fund, CSR funds, community contribution, etc.

Release of funds to all States/UTs including Maharashtra is made in consonance with 'Just in Time' principle  as  envisaged  in  the  operational  guideline  for  the  implementation  of  JJM  and  extant instructions  issued  by  Ministry  of  Finance  from  time  to  time.  The  year-wise  details  of  funds allocated, released and utilized by the State of Maharashtra under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) is as under:

(Amount in Rs. Crore)

|         | Central share   | Central share     | Central share           | Central share        | Central share        |                               |
|---------|-----------------|-------------------|-------------------------|----------------------|----------------------|-------------------------------|
| Year    | Opening Balance | Budget allocation | Fund drawn by the State | Total available fund | Reported utilization | Expenditure under State share |
| 2019-20 | 248.12          | 847.97            | 345.28                  | 593.40               | 308.04               | 431.79                        |
| 2020-21 | 285.35          | 1828.92           | 457.23                  | 742.58               | 473.59               | 324.56                        |
| 2021-22 | 268.99          | 7,064.41          | 1,666.64                | 1,935.63             | 377.98               | 477.98                        |
| 2022-23 | 1,557.65        | 7,831.25          | 3,915.62                | 5,473.27             | 3,109.53             | 2,972.21                      |
| 2023-24 | 2,363.74        | 21,465.88         | 7,444.26                | 9,808.00             | 8,208.53             | 8,371.34                      |
| 2024-25 | 1,599.47        | 5,352.93          | 1,605.88                | 3,205.35             | 2,235.12             | 3,150.59                      |
| 2025-26 | 970.22          | -                 | -                       | 970.22               | -                    | 971.94                        |

Source: JJM-IMIS

JJM  follows  a  universal  approach  to  cover  all  rural  households  including  the  remote  rural households in tribal areas. Following the principle of 'no one is left out', under Jal Jeevan Mission, provision of tap water supply is envisaged for every rural household, including all SC/ ST rural households in the country. Further, priority is given for provision of tap water supply in water quality affected  habitations,  desert  and  drought-prone  areas,  SC/  ST  villages,  Aspirational  &  JE  -  AES affected districts, Saansad Adarsh Gramin Yojana villages, etc.

As reported by Maharashtra on JJM-IMIS, total 17.48 lakh households are present in 7,535 ST concentrated villages. Of this, as on 02.02.2026, more than 14 lakh households (~80 %) have tap water connections in their homes.

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