3.04 crore new connections were given under the National Water Life Mission

New Delhi: Minister of State for Water Power Ratanlal Kataria reviewed the progress of the flagship program of the government – Jal Jeevan Mission. A presentation was given about the progress of the mission by Mr. Bharat Lal, Additional Secretary, Department of Drinking Water, and Sanitation.

Kataria said that since independence, as of August 2019, a total of 3.23 crore rural households (out of a total of 18.93 crore rural households) had tap water connections. But in a short period of one year, 3.04 crore new connections have been given to rural families under this mission. The Jal Jeevan Mission has set an ambitious target of providing piped water connections to every rural household, adopting the ‘no person untouched’ approach.

He informed that Goa is the first state to provide 100 percent pipe connection. So far, 27 districts, 458 blocks, 33,516 gram panchayats, 66,210 villages have been announced to achieve the “Har Ghar Jal” target. Recently, Kurukshetra has become the 27th and third district of Haryana to achieve this goal. He credited this success to the people of these villages, gram panchayats, people associated with water committees, public health officials, and other stakeholders. Telangana, Gujarat, Haryana, Union Territory of Puducherry are close to achieving 100 percent coverage. The states which are making progress in increasing coverage are Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Mizoram, and Union Territories of Andaman and Nicobar.

Two states (Bihar, Telangana) and two union territories (Puducherry and Andaman and Nicobar) are projected to achieve 100 percent coverage in 2021 for the future roadmap. The Ministry is taking advantage of information technology to publicly provide the latest and relevant information about the progress of the scheme through web portals and mobile apps.

Kataria said that this project is taking the form of a silent revolution as water connections are being provided to all rural families without discrimination on the basis of caste, community, religion, race, or color.