**Executive Summary**
The document is a response to Unstarred Question No. 1039 in Lok Sabha, concerning the inspection of schemes under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM). It outlines the government's actions in response to concerns about cost escalation and implementation quality, as well as the progress and measures taken to improve efficiency and transparency. The JJM has been extended until 2028 with an enhanced total outlay.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Inspection of JJM Schemes:**
* In 2025, Central Nodal Officers (CNOs) were appointed to conduct ground inspections of JJM schemes in identified districts.
* CNOs inspected 163 schemes in 155 districts, assessing factors like functionality, institutional mechanisms, quality of works, technical design, grievance redressal, effectiveness of Third-Party Inspection Agencies (TPIAs), and issues related to cost and time overruns.
* **Responsibilities and Support:**
* The responsibility for planning, approval, implementation, operation, and maintenance of drinking water supply schemes, including those under JJM, lies with State/UT Governments, as drinking water is a state subject.
* The Government of India supports the states by providing technical and financial assistance.
* **Financial Aspects:**
* The Union Cabinet approved JJM with a central outlay of Rs. 2,08,652 crore in August 2019, and almost the entire fund has been utilized.
* The Finance Minister announced an extension of JJM until 2028 with an enhanced total outlay during her 2025-26 budget speech.
* **Transparency and Standardization:**
* State/UT governments are responsible for finalizing technical and financial criteria for tenders.
* The Government of India has advised states to include clauses in Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contracts mandating adherence to relevant Indian Standards for materials procured for construction.
* **Implementation and Monitoring:**
* Various steps have been taken to plan and implement JJM, including joint discussions, finalization of saturation plans and annual action plans, reviews, workshops, and field visits.
* Operational Guidelines, Margdarshika, and guidelines on piped water supply in anganwadi centers, ashramshalas, and schools have been shared with States/UTs.
* JJM-Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) and JJM-Dashboard are in place for online monitoring, along with transparent online financial management through the Public Financial Management System (PFMS).
**Impact Analysis**
**Stakeholder: State/UT Governments**
* **Impact:** States/UTs are responsible for the planning, approval, implementation, operation, and maintenance of drinking water supply schemes, including those under JJM.
* **Action Required:** Finalize technical and financial criteria for tenders, adhere to the relevant Indian Standards for materials, and implement operational guidelines for JJM.
**Stakeholder: Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) / Central Nodal Officers (CNOs)**
* **Impact:** Responsible for ground inspection of JJM schemes.
* **Action Required:** Continue conducting inspections, assessing the defined parameters, and reporting findings.
**Stakeholder: Government of India**
* **Impact:** Provides technical and financial assistance to states and monitors the implementation of JJM.
* **Action Required:** Continue supporting states, monitoring JJM progress, and implementing measures to improve efficiency and transparency.
**Stakeholder: Citizens**
* **Impact:** Expected to benefit from improved access to safe drinking water through JJM schemes.
* **Action Required:** No direct action required, but may need to participate in grievance redressal mechanisms or provide feedback on scheme functionality.
Key Entities Referenced
Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM): A government initiative aimed at providing clean and adequate drinking water to all rural households through tap connections.
Ministry of Jal Shakti: The central ministry responsible for the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) and related water resources initiatives.
Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation: A department under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, responsible for the implementation of JJM.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI
DEPARTMENT OF DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1039
ANSWERED ON 05/02/2026
INSPECTION OF SCHEMES UNDER JAL JEEVAN MISSION
†1039. SHRI SANJAY HARIBHAU JADHAV:
Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government has started countrywide inspection of various schemes under the
Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) following concerns related to cost escalation and quality of
implementation;
(b) if so, the details thereof including the total number of schemes and districts covered and
the parameters being assessed during the said inspection;
(c) whether the Government has any data on the number of such schemes under JJM where
the actual cost has significantly exceeded the initial estimates and if so, the details thereof,
State/UT-wise including Maharashtra;
(d) the original estimated outlay under JJM since its inception and the cumulative cost of
schemes under JJM approved so far; and
(e) the measures being taken by the Government to improve cost efficiency, enhance
transparency in tendering and ensure timely completion of water supply schemes under
JJM?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI
(SHRI V. SOMANNA)
(a) and (b) Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Government of India appointed
Central Nodal Officers (CNOs) in 2025 for the ground inspection of Jal Jeevan Mission
(JJM) schemes across identified districts. The CNOs inspected 163 schemes in 155
districts across the country. The parameters assessed during the inspections, inter-alia,
included functionality of schemes, institutional mechanisms, quality of works, technical
design, grievance redressal mechanisms, effectiveness of Third-Party Inspection Agencies
(TPIAs), and issues relating to cost overruns and time overruns.
(c) to (e) Drinking Water being a state subject, the responsibility of planning, approval,
implementation, operation, and maintenance (O&M) of drinking water supply schemes,
including those under 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 not maintained at the Government of India level.
Page 1 of 2In August 2019, Union Cabinet had approved the implementation of JJM with central
outlay of Rs. 2,08,652 crore. Against the allocated fund, almost entire fund has been
utilized. To achieve 100 per cent coverage through continued implementation of mission
with focus on quality of infrastructure and O&M of rural piped water supply schemes for
long term sustainability and citizen centric water service delivery, Hon'ble Finance
Minister during her budget speech 2025-26 had announced extension of JJM until 2028
with enhanced total outlay.
Water being a state subject, the responsibility for finalizing the technical and financial
criteria for tenders related to the procurement of goods and services lies with the
respective State/UT governments. Further, as per operational guidelines for
implementation of JJM, Government of India has advised the States that “while finalising
the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contracts, relevant clause in the
tender documents is to be included mentioning that materials to be procured for use in
construction by the contracting agency should adhere to the relevant Indian Standards”.
Further, a number of steps have been taken to plan and implement JJM in the whole
country with speed, inter alia, including joint discussions and finalization of saturation
plans and annual action plans (AAP) of States/ UTs, regular review of implementation,
workshops/ conferences/ webinars for capacity building, training, knowledge sharing,
field visits by multi-disciplinary team to provide technical support, etc. A detailed
Operational Guideline for the implementation of JJM; Margdarshika for Gram
Panchayats & VWSCs to provide safe drinking water in rural households and Guidelines
on a special campaign to provide piped water supply in anganwadi centres, ashramshalas
and schools have been shared with States/ UTs to facilitate planning and implementation
of Jal Jeevan Mission. For online monitoring, JJM–Integrated Management Information
System (IMIS) and JJM–Dashboard has been put in place. Provision has also been made
for transparent online financial management through Public Financial Management
System (PFMS).
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