Parliament Question: Tap Water Connections under Jal Jeevan Mission

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI DEPARTMENT OF DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 731 ANSWERED ON 24.07.2025 TAP WATER CONNECTIONS UNDER JAL JEEVAN MISSION 731. SHRI RAJESH VERMA: SHRI RAVINDRA DATTARAM WAIKAR: SMT. SHAMBHAVI: SHRI NARESH GANPAT MHASKE: DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE: Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government is on track to complete tap water connections in rural India by 2025 and if so, the details of the progress made so far under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM); (b) the current percentage of rural households with access to tap water and the number of households yet to be covered; (c) the major challenges faced in achieving full tap water coverage and the steps taken/being taken by the Government to address these challenges; (d) the status of sanitation-related goals under the Swachh Bharat Mission and the initiatives undertaken to sustain Open Defecation Free (ODF) villages; and (e) the details of the funds allocated and utilised for tap water connections and sanitation programmes during the last three years? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI (SHRI V. SOMANNA) (a) & (b) Government of India had launched Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), a centrally sponsored scheme in August 2019, aiming at providing Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC) to every rural household by 2024. At the start the Mission, only 3.23 Crore (16.7%) rural households were reported to have tap water connections. So far, as reported by States/ UTs as on 21.07.2025, under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) – Har Ghar Jal around 12.44 Crore additional rural households have been provided with tap water connections. Thus, as on 21.07.2025, out of 19.36 Crore rural households in the country, more than 15.67 Crore (80.94%) households are reported to have tap water supply in their homes and works for the remaining 3.69 Crore households are at various stages of completion as per plan of the respective State/ UT. To achieve the goal of the Mission with focus on quality of infrastructure and Operation & Maintenance of rural piped water supply schemes for long term sustainability and citizen centric Page 1 of 2water service delivery, Hon'ble Finance Minister during her budget speech 2025-26 has announced extension of Jal Jeevan Mission until 2028 with enhanced total outlay. (c) States have informed that lack of dependable drinking water sources in water-stressed, drought prone and desert areas, presence of geo-genic contaminants in ground water, uneven geographical terrain, scattered rural habitations, delay in release of the matching State share in some States, lack of technical capacity with implementing agencies, Gram Panchayats and local communities to plan, manage, operate & maintain the water supply schemes, rising price of raw materials, delay in obtaining statutory/ other clearances, etc. are few of problems being faced in the implementation of the Mission. To address the challenges holistically and overcome these, Government of India has taken a number of steps, inter alia including implementation of Special Assistance to States for Capital Expenditure through M/o Finance for financial assistance as 50-year interest free loan for capital investment projects; nomination of a nodal officer in the Department for coordinating with Central nodal Ministries/ Departments/ agencies to facilitate the States in obtaining Statutory/ other clearances; setting up of State Programme Management Units (SPMUs) and District Programme Management Units (DPMUs) and implementation of “Nal Jal Mitra Programme” for ensuring availability of skilled local persons at village level to bridge the gap in availability of technical skill sets and of HR for programme management; Under the Mission, States have been advised for source recharging, viz. dedicated bore well recharge structures, rainwater recharge, rejuvenation of existing water bodies, reuse of greywater, etc., in convergence with other schemes such as MGNREGS, Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP), 15th Finance Commission tied grants to RLBs/ PRIs, State schemes, CSR funds, etc. Further, Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain (JSA: CTR) campaign aiming to encourage water conservation at grass-root levels with people's participation was launched in 2019 in 256 water stressed districts of the country. Moreover, recognizing the importance of sustainable water management especially for drinking water availability, JSA-CTR was implemented with the theme “Source Sustainability for Drinking Water” in 2023. Similarly, in 2024, JSA was implemented with the theme "Nari Shakti se Jal Shakti" and in 2025, JSA is being implemented with the theme “People's Action for Water Conservation - Towards Intensified Community Connect” emphasizing the pivotal role played by community especially women in the field of water conservation. (d) Phase II of Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) [SBM(G)] is being implemented during the period from 2020-21 to 2025-26, with the focus on Open Defecation Free (ODF) sustainability and to cover all the villages with solid and liquid waste management i.e. converting the villages from ODF to ODF Plus (Model). As reported by the States, 4,70,834 villages have been declared ODF Plus (Model) as on 21.07.2025. (e) The details of the funds allocated and utilized under Jal Jeevan Mission and Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) [SBM(G)] during the last three years are as under: (Rs. in crore) Jal Jeevan Mission Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) Year Allocated Utilized Allocated Utilized 2022-23 55,000.00 54,839.79 5000.00 4925.14 2023-24 70,000.00 69,992.37 7000.00 6802.58 2024-25 22,694.00 22,638.44 7192.00 3622.00 ***** Page 2 of 2