Jal Jeevan Mission: Govt allocates Rs 7,064 cr grant to Maharashtra

The central government has raised the grant-in-aiding 2021-22 under Jal Jeevan Mission to Maharashtra to Rs 7,064.41 crore, which was Rs 1,828.92 crores 2020-21. The Jal Shakti Union Minister, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, has assured full assistance to the state to provide tap water supply in every rural home by 2024 while approving this four-fold increase in the allocation. Out of the total 19.20 crore rural households in the country, only 3.23 crore, which is 17%, had tap water supply at the start of the mission in 2019. During the past 21 months, Jal Jeevan Mission, despite the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown disruptions, has been executed with speed and provided 4.27 crore households with piped water connections. With this rise in coverage by 22%, 7.51 crore, which is 39.12%, rural households across India have a tap water supply. Out of the total 142 lakh rural households in Maharashtra, 91.30 lakh households, which is 64.14%, were provided with tap water connections. At the launch of Jal Jeevan Mission on 15 August 2019, only 48.43 lakh, which is 34.02% of households, had a tap water supply. In a span of 21 months, 42.86 lakh households have been provided with tap water connections in the state. The state has planned to provide tap water connections in 2021-22 to 27.45 lakh households, 18.72 lakh tap water connections in the year 2022-23 and 5.14 lakh tap connections in 2023-24 to achieve tap water supply for every rural household. The water supply work to provide tap water connection has not yet started in 29,417 villages in Maharashtra. Image Source Also read: Jal Jeevan Mission: Govt releases central grant for 15 states Also read: Jal Jeevan Mission: Maharashtra presents annual action plan for FY22