JAL JEEVAN MISSION (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 - Health)

Context: At the Stockholm World Water Week 2023 from 20 to 24 August, UNESCO will showcase its longstanding work on water issues through a series of side events.

• In India, Jal Jeevan Mission is making quick progress, but a major part of rural India still remains to be covered.
• Under the mission, the government aims to provide tapped water connections to all rural households by 2024.

Key Points

• India has 193.6 million rural households. Of these, only 32.4 million or 16.7 percent rural households had tapped water connections at the start of the Jal Jeevan Mission.
• As of January 3, 2023, the number of rural households with a tapped water connection had increased to 108.7 million or 56.14 per cent, as per the programme’s dashboard. 
• This means the Mission needs to cover 76.3 million additional rural households (47.3 per cent) in the next two years.
• So far, only five states and Union Territories (UTs) - Haryana, Goa, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Puducherry, and Daman and Diu and Dadra Nagar Haveli - have achieved the Har Ghar Jal status with tap water supply to all rural households. 
• Two more states - Telangana and Gujarat - have reported having achieved Har Ghar Jal status and their claims are being verified under the scheme.
• Its success will ensure India maintains its open-defecation-free status and achieves the Sustainable Development Goals on water and sanitation.

Jal Jeevan Mission

• About: Launched in 2019, it envisages supply of 55 litres of water per person per day to every rural household through Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTC) by 2024.
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Jal Shakti.
• Objective: The mission ensures functionality of existing water supply systems and water connections, water quality monitoring and testing as well as sustainable agriculture.
• It also ensures conjunctive use of conserved water; drinking water source augmentation, drinking water supply system, grey water treatment and its reuse.
• Funding Pattern: The fund sharing pattern between the Centre and states is 90:10 for Himalayan and North-Eastern States, 50:50 for other states, and 100% for Union Territories.