The Jharkhand government plans to provide tap water connections to 9.5 lakh households by March 2022, after it received an almost four-fold increase in the central grant under the Jal Jeevan Mission. Minister of state drinking water and sanitation, Mithilesh Thakur, told the media that the government has a target of providing tap water connections to almost 9.5 lakh households by the end of 2021-22, and stay on course to provide water supply to all households before 2024. This large investment in rural areas will create new employment opportunities, boost the rural economy, and accelerate economic activities. The central grant under the scheme for Jharkhand has been improved from Rs 572.24 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 2,479.88 crore in the current fiscal year. Chief engineer, project management unit of drinking water and sanitation, S.K Jha, said that the increase in the grant would ensure the maximum number of houses get piped water connections before the end of 2021-22. He further added that they will achieve the target of providing drinking water to all households in the state by 2024. When the Jal Jeevan Mission was launched on August 15, 2019, only 3.45 lakh households had a tap water supply, and in 22 months, 4.27 lakh households in the state have got tap water connections. However, the pace of providing water supply in Jharkhand has been slow as compared to the national average of 23%. Only 2.99 lakh tap water connections were provided in Jharkhand making it a huge demand to provide connections to the remaining eligible 51.23 lakh households in 2020-21. The minister had hoped that the enhanced allocation will enable Jharkhand to expedite the implementation to provide tap water connection to every rural household under the Jal Jeevan Mission. Image Source Also read: Karnataka govt to deliver tap water connections to 25 lakh houses Also read: Jal Jeevan Mission: Govt increases grant for Kerala to 1,804.59 cr