On Thursday, the Ministry of Jal Shakti told the media that the Central government released more than Rs 40,000 crore as grants to states and Union Territories (UTs) in FY 2021-22 under the Jal Jeevan Mission that seeks to guarantee tap water connections to households across the nation. The grant money has been issued to the states and UTs based on the output in terms of rendering household tap water connections and utilisation of available Central grants with matching State shares. The budget under Jal Jeevan Mission for 2022-23 has been improved to Rs 60,000 crore by the Central government, thereby making clear the significance of the ‘Har Ghar Jal’ programme. Water is vital for all developmental works, and rendering potable water will go a long way in ensuring ease of living for the rural population living in far-flung areas across the nation. Since the announcement of the Jal Jeevan Mission on 15th August 2019, so far, over six crore households have been rendered with tap water connections, thus improving the tap water supply from 3.23 crore (17%) to more than 9.35 crore (48.4%) rural households in the nation. This ‘speed and scale’ of the works being taken up for making provision of clean drinking water to every rural household needs to be maintained to guarantee all 6 lakh villages become “Har Ghar Jal'' by 2024. The mission concentrates on a guaranteed supply of potable water to every house, and the work is not just limited to just infrastructure creation. Massive training and skilling programmes are being undertaken to develop the capacity of public health engineers, State and District officials and the local community, guaranteeing active participation, regular monitoring, and long-term sustainability of the infrastructure created. The mission envisions that the Public Health Engineering Department and Gram Panchayats or Village Water & Sanitation committee play the role of a public utility. Image Source Also read: Jal Jeevan Mission provides tap water supply to 17% of rural houses