The 117 Aspirational Districts in the country have taken a lead in implementing the Central Government’s ‘Har Ghar Jal’ or water for all programme to reach tapped water to all households by 2024 under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM).

According to a Jal Shakti Ministry release, among states, 72% of households in 13 Aspirational Districts in Bihar now have a tap water supply. In Kadapa (Andhra Pradesh), an Aspirational District, 82% of rural households have been provided with tap water connections under JJM.

Similarly, 77% of households in Narmada (Gujarat) have a tap water supply. Villages in this hilly region with rocky aquifer and low groundwater level had no reliable source of drinking water. A multi-village scheme for the construction of two water treatment plants was planned on the Ukai reservoir. The scheme is now providing potable water in 221 villages covering 275,000 people.

All three Aspirational Districts of Telangana have become ‘Har Ghar Jal.’ It is expected that all households in villages of Aspirational Districts in Bihar in 2021, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Manipur, Meghalaya, Punjab and Sikkim in 2022 will get tap water connections.

When India announced JJM on August 15, 2019, a little over 2.45 million (7%) households in Aspirational Districts had a tap water supply. But within a short span of 22 months, tap water connections have been provided to an additional 8.4 million households in such districts. Presently, 31.37% of households have an assured tap water supply. This 24% increase in coverage in aspirational districts is more than a 22.72% increase in tap water supply across the country during the period.

Rollout Continues Despite Covid Related Challenges

At the start of JJM, out of a total of 192 million rural households in the country, only 32.3 million (17%) had a tap water supply. During the last 22 months, despite the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant lockdowns, 43.6 million households have been provided with piped water connections.

With the increase in coverage by about 23%, presently 75.9 million (39.58%) rural households across the country have a tap water supply. Goa, Telangana, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Puducherry have achieved 100% household connections in rural areas to achieve the target of ‘Har Ghar Jal’ or water for all.

The Jal Jeevan Mission is being rolled out in partnership with states and union territories. A total of Rs 500.11 billion has been allocated for Jal Jeevan Mission in 2021-22 fiscal. With states’ resources and Rs 269.40 billion as 15th Finance Commission tied grant for water and sanitation to rural local bodies (RLBs) and Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs), more than Rs 1 trillion is being invested to improve drinking water supply in rural areas.

The Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP) was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2018 with an eye on raising living standards in 117 districts that lagged on various human development index (HDI) parameters. The global development network, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has termed it a very successful model of local area development that must be emulated by other countries.