PremiumNEW DELHI: Rajasthan plans to provide 3 million tap water connections in rural areas of the state this financial year.
About 38% of India’s rural population has been covered under the marquee Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), with 21.4% rural households provided with tap water connection since the scheme’s launch in 2019.
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Premium Premium “Rajasthan has 1.01 Crore rural households, out of which 19.61 lakh (19.3%) are getting tap water supply. In 2020-21, about 6.77 lakh new tap connections were provided in the rural areas. In 2021-22, the State plans to provide 30 lakh tap connections," the ministry of Jal Shakti said in a statement on Saturday.
The scheme aims to ensure assured tap water supply or ‘Har Ghar Jal’ to all rural households by 2024. Four crore households have been provided with tap water connections since the scheme’s announcement on 15 August, 2019. Several states including Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Punjab, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Haryana, Odisha, Sikkim and Tripura have committed to provide tap water connections to all rural households before 2024.
“In the previous financial year 2020-21, ₹2,522 crore Central fund under JJM were allocated to the State while in the current financial year i.e. 2021-22, Rajasthan is likely to get ₹5,500 crore as Central fund under JJM," the statement added.
The issue of water supply got prominence in the union budget presented in February, wherein an outlay of Rs2.87 trillion was announced for the launch of the Jal Jeevan Mission Urban. The aim is to supply water to 4,378 urban local bodies with 2.68 crore tap connections.
“Thus, in 2021-22, more than Rs. 1 lakh Crore is planned to be invested in the country for tap water supply to rural homes. This kind of investment in rural areas will boost the rural economy," the statement added.
In July 2019, the government had formed a new ministry, Jal Sakti, to address all water issues in the country. The Jal Shakti ministry was formed by integrating it with other existing ministries, such as water resources and the ministry of drinking water and sanitation. The larger aim is to work with state governments to ensure ‘Har Ghar Jal’ to all rural households by 2024.
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