Making every drop count: On the Jal Jeevan Mission

One of the most significant commitments of the Narendra Modi government is to ensure piped water to every rural household by 2024. Under the Jal Jeevan Mission, led by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, 10.2 crore rural households, or about 53% of the eligible population, now have tap water access. This, the Government claims, is a 37-percentage point rise from 2019 when the scheme was announced, where its stated aim is to ensure at least 55 litres per person per day of potable water to every rural household — which implies a mere connection does not suffice. A recent audit, by a private agency, found that around 62% of rural households in India had fully functional tap water connections within their premises. A report of a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Water Resources in March, based on numbers provided by the nodal Jal Shakti Ministry, stated that 46% households had such fully functional tap water connections.