Boon to women: Over 9 crore houses to get tap water under "Har Ghar Jal" plan

“The plan has achieved the milestone of 50 percent rural households having access to tap water connections with over 9.59 crore rural households spread across states/UTs getting water within their residential premises. The scheme aims to provide every rural home with safe drinking water,” said an official of the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

New Delhi: As many as 9.2 crore rural households now have access to tap water, the Centre said on Saturday as its “Har Ghar Jal” scheme touched the halfway milestone, according to an official release.

“The plan has achieved the milestone of 50 percent rural households having access to tap water connections with over 9.59 crore rural households spread across states/UTs getting water within their residential premises. The scheme aims to provide every rural home with safe drinking water,” said an official of the Ministry of Jal Shakti. The scheme has particularly benefited women in rural households as the burden of arranging water for drinking purposes falls on them.

There is sufficient evidence to suggest that school attendance among girls was significantly lower in summers when, due to increased requirements for water, multiple trips were needed to fetch water from the far-off sources. “Women and girls of these households are now free from the centuries-old drudgery of walking long distances in scorching heat, rain, and snow in search of water,” said an official.

When the Jal Jeevan Mission was launched in 2019, only 3.23 crore rural households, which was just 17 percent of the rural population, had access to drinking water through taps. There has been significant progress, said officials, while acknowledging that challenges remain.

Goa, Telangana, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Puducherry, and Haryana have achieved 100 percent success in providing tap water to rural households. Followed by Punjab, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, and Bihar which have covered more than 90 percent of rural households under the scheme and are progressing fast towards attaining the ‘Har Ghar Jal’ status, officials said.

‘Har Ghar Jal’ is a flagship program of the central government and is implemented by the Jal Jeevan Mission under the Ministry of Jal Shakti in partnership with states/UTs to ensure tap water connection in every rural household by 2024.

The Jal Jeevan Mission derives inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of attaining “Gram Swarajya” and aims to empower the Panchayati Raj Institutions and communities by engaging them in water supply schemes from the very beginning. Citing data as of May 27, 2022, the officials said that across 108 districts, 1,222 blocks, 71,667 Gram Panchayats, and 1,51,171 villages, all rural households have been provided with drinking water through taps.

The ministry is further convening special Gram Sabhas across the length and breadth of the country to discuss and deliberate on issues related to drinking water to attain ‘WASH Prabudh Gaon’.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has addressed and interacted with Sarpanches and members of Pani Samitis on multiple occasions in the past and motivated them to take the onus of the program as they are the ultimate custodians of the water supply infrastructure created under ‘Har Ghar Jal’ scheme,” said an official.

The Centre provides support to the Panchayats through Implementing Support Agencies (ISAs) in community engagement and building the capacity of the Pani Samitis, the official added.