Jal Jeevan Mission is heading towards achieving the SDG 6 which targets safe and affordable water to all
It has taken just four years for the Jal Jeevan Mission to transform the lives of millions of people living in India's villages by providing them with tap water connections.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Jal Shakti that deals with water resources announced that the central government's flagship programme had achieved another major milestone. The rural tap connection coverage has gone up from only 3.23 crore households at the start of the Mission in August, 2019 to 13 crore now, it said.

Jal Jeevan Mission is marching towards achieving the SDG 6 which targets safe and affordable water to all, through provision of safe water through taps to all households, schools, anganwadis and other public institutions, in rural areas, the ministry stated.

Let us take a look at the government's official data on how the Jal Jeevan Mission has changed lives.

1. The Jal Jeevan Mission was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the ramparts of the Red Fort on August 15, 2019 as the country celebrated its 73rd Independence Day. 

2. Since then, six states - Goa, Telangana, Haryana, Gujarat, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh -  and 3 Union Territories (UTs) - Puducherry, D&D and D&NH and A&N Islands - have reported 100% coverage.

3. Bihar at 96.39%, followed by Mizoram at 92.12%, are also poised to achieve saturation in the near future. 

4. Haryana, Punjab, A&N Islands, Puducherry, D&NH and D&D are ‘Har Ghar Jal' certified States/ UTs. In other words, in these states and UTs, the villagers have confirmed through Gram Sabhas that ‘all households and public institutions’ in the village are getting adequate, safe and regular supply of water. 

5. As many as 145 districts and 1,86,818 villages in the country have reported 100% coverage.

6. The efforts of the Union and State governments have also resulted in ensuring the provision of tap water supply in 9.15 lakh (88.73%) schools and 9.52 lakh (84.69%) anganwadi centres in the country. 

7. In the 112 aspirational districts of the country, at the time of the launch of the Mission, only 21.41 lakh (7.86%) households had access to tap water. This has now increased to 1.81 Crore (66.48%).

8. More than 5.27 lakh Village Water & Sanitation Committees (VWSC)/ Pani Samitis have been constituted in the country.

9. Nearly 5.12 lakh Village Action Plans (VAPs) have been prepared including the plans for drinking water source augmentation, greywater treatment and its reuse, and regular O&M of in-village water supply systems.

10. At the time of launch of the Jal Jeevan Mission, 22,016 habitations (Arsenic – 14,020, Fluoride- 7,996), having 1.79 Crore population (Arsenic-1.19 crore, Fluoride-0.59 crore), were affected with Arsenic/ Fluoride contamination in drinking water sources. As reported by States/ UTs, now safe drinking water is available in all the Arsenic/ Fluoride-affected habitations.