Parliament Question: Dues owed to West Bengal

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI DEPARTMENT OF DRINKING WATER & SANITATION LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 127 ANSWERED ON 29/01/2026 DUES OWED TO WEST BENGAL

127. SMT. SATABDI ROY SMT. BAG MITALI

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a) whether it is a fact that Members of Parliament from West Bengal met the Minister regarding the dues owed to the State and if so, the details thereof;

(b) the quantum of the funds due on the Union Government to the State Government of West Bengal under the Jal Jeevan Mission; and

(c) the quantum of the funds due on the Union Government to the State Government of West Bengal under the Flood Management and Border Areas Programme? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI (SHRI V. SOMANNA)

(a) to (b) As per practice, a prompt, substantive reply is sent whenever a VIP reference is received. Departments often have strict guidelines, ensuring accountability and courtesy to public representatives as per government manuals. Government of India in partnership with States is implementing Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) – Har Ghar Jal to make provision of potable water to every rural household of the country, through functional tap water connection i.e. at a service level of 55 litre per capita per day (lpcd), of prescribed quality (BIS:10500), on regular and long-term basis.

Under JJM the central govt. supplements the efforts of State govt., financially & technically, to ensure the availability of safe drinking water supply to rural population. Drinking Water being a State subject, the responsibility of Planning, Designing, Approval, Implementation, Operation & Maintenance of drinking water supply schemes, including those under the Jal Jeevan Mission, is vested with State/UT Governments. As such, the subject of drinking water supply falls under the State subjects to be managed by PRIs as per 73rd Amendment of the Constitution.

Further, since the start of the mission the State govt. could only draw about 50% of the allocated Central share under JJM which was ensured to the State during Financial Year 2019-20 to Page 1 of 22023-24 (Mission Period) resulting into paucity of fund. The approval of the mission for the extended period is under active consideration. The details of Central fund allocated and fund drawn by the State of West Bengal under JJM, is as under:

(Amount in Rs. Crore) Central share Fund State Year Opening Fund Available Reported drawn by Expenditure Balance allocated fund utilization State 2019-20 760.82 995.33 994.75 1,755.57 609.00 469.54 2020-21 1,146.58 1,614.18 807.08 1,953.66 1,196.07 641.17 2021-22 757.58 6,998.97 1,404.61 2,162.19 1,547.52 725.77 2022-23 614.67 6,180.25 3,090.12 3,704.79 1,953.73 3,204.21 2023-24 1,751.06 3,806.29 4,206.29 5,957.35 5,004.16 5,155.11 2024-25 953.19 5,049.98 2,524.99 3,478.18 3,003.06 4,905.55 2025-26 475.13 - - 475.13 - - Total 24,645.00 13,027.84 13,788.66 13,313.54 15,101.35

Source: JJM-IMIS

(c) From the State of West Bengal, 18 projects were included for central assistance under FMP component of ongoing Flood Management and Border Area Programme (FMBAP) of Ministry of Jal Shakti and 16 projects have been completed and one dropped. Total 16 completed projects have given protection to an area of around 1.03 Lakh hectares and protected a population of about 2.49 million. Total Central assistance of Rs. 1051.96 Crore has been released to the State of West Bengal so far under Flood Management Programme (FMP) component of Flood Management and Border Areas Programme (FMBAP). During last five years, Central Assistance (CA) of Rs 161.35 Crores has been released to the State of West Bengal under FMP component of FMBAP scheme.

In addition to above, one flood management project on border outpost with Bangladesh with an estimated cost of Rs. 77.79 Crore has been included under River Management Activities and works related to Border Areas (RMBA) component of FMBAP with 100 % central funding and an amount of Rs. 7.78 Crore has been released in F.Y. 2024-25.

At present, no CA proposal has been received from the Government of West Bengal. ***** Page 2 of 2