Parliament Question: Implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission, Kerala

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI DEPARTMENT OF DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 261 ANSWERED ON 02/02/2026 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE JAL JEEVAN MISSION, KERALA 261. SMT. JEBI MATHER HISHA: Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state: (a) whether any delay has been reported in implementing the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in Kerala, and the corrective measures taken; (b) source-wise expenditure details on new and upgraded water sources under JJM; (c) details of households in Kerala that have received drinking water connections under JJM to date, district-wise; (d) the amount of Central fund released to Kerala under JJM, whether utilisation certificates have been submitted; (e) whether any directives have been issued regarding fixing of water tariffs under JJM in Kerala; and (f) whether water is supplied free of charge to any category of households in Kerala, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI (SHRI V. SOMANNA) (a) Since August 2019, the Government of India is implementing Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) – Har Ghar Jal, in partnership with States/ UTs including Kerala, to make provision of tap water connection to every rural household of the country. The state government of Kerala has informed that the factors such as the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, land issues, issues related to permissions for road cutting and seasonal bans and delays in obtaining clearances from other agencies has caused delay in implementation of JJM. Further, the pace of implementation of JJM works has slowed down due to paucity of funds. To expedite the provision of tap water connections to all rural households in Kerala, concerted efforts have been made to accelerate the pace of implementation of JJM on ground. These include measures such as holding high level joint review meetings with the state government on regular basis and visits of multi-disciplinary teams from the department to highlight areas which need attention for expediting implementation to make provision of tap water supply to all households in a time bound manner. A nodal officer in the Department has been nominated for coordinating with Central nodal Ministries/ Departments/ agencies to facilitate the states in obtaining statutory/ other clearances. The Page 1 of 2department has also held review meetings with all District Collectors/District Magistrates of Kerala, to address the bottlenecks to ensure effective implementation of JJM. To address the funds shortage, state has released advance state share for executing the works. Furthermore, to complete the ongoing works, Hon'ble Finance Minister during her budget speech 2025-26 announced extension of Jal Jeevan Mission until 2028. (b) Drinking Water being a state subject, the responsibility of planning, approval, implementation, operation, and maintenance of drinking water supply schemes, including those under the JJM, lies with State/UT Governments. The Government of India supports the States by providing technical and financial assistance. Numerous projects are implemented concurrently at various levels across the States for achieving the envisaged objectives. As such, project-wise details of individual projects/ schemes for rural water supply projects are maintained at the level of state government. (c) As reported by the state of Kerala on IMIS, as on 28.01.2026, out of 70.77 lakh rural households, 38.82 lakh (54.85%) rural households have been covered with tap water connection. The district-wise status of tap connections provided under JJM to Kerala is available in public domain and is accessible through JJM dashboard at: https://ejalshakti.gov.in/jjmreport/JJMIndia.aspx (d) Under JJM, Rs.5,610.33 crore has been released to State of Kerala from the time period 2019-20 to 2024-25. The state of Kerala has submitted the utilization certificates up to financial year 2022-23. (e) As informed by the state government of Kerala, water tariff is currently being fixed by the GO.(Ms) No.11/2023/ WRD dated 03.02.2023. (f) As informed by the state government of Kerala, for households falling under the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category, water charges are exempted up to a consumption level of 15 kilolitres (kL) per month. ***** Page 2 of 2