More than 6.56 crore new tap water connections were provided in the last 35 months

Marking a major milestone in the campaign launched by the central government in 2019, over half of the rural households in India now have access to clean tap water.

Declaring it as "the first sign of victory", Minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Friday said the figure now stood at 51%.

"The first sign of victory is when you cross the halfway mark. Our #JalJeevanMission under the leadership of PM @narendramodi ji has achieved this milestone today as 51% of rural households in India now have clean tap water flowing into their homes," the minister tweeted.

According to the Ministry of Jal Shakti, approximately 6.56 crore new tap water connections have been made available to families nationwide under the Jal Jeevan Mission in just 35 months.

Despite facing several setbacks, including the Covid-19 outbreak and frequent lockdowns, the Jal Jeevan Mission has continued to produce its outcomes, the ministry noted.

The Jal Jeevan Mission was announced on August 15, 2019, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the ramparts of Red Fort. At that time, only 3.23 crore (17%) of the 18.93 crore rural households had access to a tap water connection.

For their daily water needs, the remaining 15.70 crore households were therefore dependent on rivers, wells, ponds, standposts, and springs. But the situation has now undergone a huge change, as recent data shows.

Goa, Telangana, Haryana, the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Puducherry, Dadar & Nagar Haveli, and Daman & Diu have already achieved 100% household connections. Punjab, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Bihar have coverage of more than 90% and are progressing fast towards attaining the status of ‘Har Ghar Jal’, the Ministry of Jal Shakti had said on May 28 this year.

The Jal Jeevan Mission is being carried out in collaboration with the states/UTs to guarantee that, by 2024, every rural home will have regular, long-term access to tap water in an appropriate amount and of the required quality.

By then, all families in rural India are expected to have access to clean and sufficient drinking water through individual household tap connections through the Jal Shakti Mission.

In order to complete the enormous task of supplying tap water to every rural family in a five-year period, Rs 3.60 lakh crores have been allotted by the Union government of India. To provide tap water to 3.8 million homes, Rs. 60,000 crores have been set out in the Union Budget 2022–23 for "Har Ghar Jal."

Additionally, the 15th Finance Commission connected funding for water and sanitation to rural local bodies/Panchayati Raj Institutions, allocating Rs 26,940 crores to states for 2021–22. A Rs. 1,42,084 crore financing commitment has been made up till 2025–2026,

Additionally, the programme attempts to incorporate source sustainability measures as required components, such as recharge and reuse through grey water management, water conservation, and rainwater collection.