Jal Jeevan Mission

Why in news?

• 50% of rural households in India have now been covered under the Jal Jeevan Mission.
• At the time of launch of Jal Jeevan Mission in 2019, only 3.23 Crore households i.e. 17% of the rural population had access to drinking water through taps.

About Jal Jeevan Mission:

• It aims to ensure Har Ghar Jal (piped water supply) to all households by 2024.
• It has an urban and rural component.
• It seeks to converge with other Central and State Government Schemes to achieve its objectives of sustainable water supply management.

About Jal Jeevan Mission (Rural):

• Executed by:
  • It is executed by Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation of Jal Shakti Mantralaya.
• Cost:
  • The expenditure on scheme would cost around more than Rs.3.5 lakh crore in coming years.
• Funding:
  • Besides using funds available under various Schemes, the Government will also explore possibility of using additional funds available under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) for this purpose.
• Strategy:
  • This Mission will focus on integrated demand and supply side management of water at the local level, including creation of local infrastructure for source sustainability like rainwater harvesting, groundwater recharge and management of household wastewater for reuse in agriculture.
• Coverage:
  • Government has identified 1592 Blocks which are critical and over exploited, spread across 256 Districts for the Jal Shakti Abhiyan.

About the Jal Jeevan Mission (Urban)

• This announced in Union Budget 2021-22 outlay of Rs 50,011 crore for this scheme.
• The mission will attempt to connect every urban household with tap water and the target year is 2024.
• The scheme will include rejuvenation of waterbodies and 20% of the water demand would be met with reused water.
• There was an estimated gap of 2.68 crore urban household tap connections that the Jal Jeevan Mission (Urban) (JJMU) would seek to bridge in all 4,378 statutory towns.
• The Mission would also aim to bridge the gap of 2.64 crore sewer connections in the 500 cities under the existing Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).

Rashtriya Jal Jeevan Kosh (RJJK):

• RJJK is a registered public charitable trust set up by department of drinking water and sanitation, under the ministry of jal shakti.
• It has been set up to serve as a receptacle for charitable contributions/donations and to facilitate such contribution for creation of safe drinking water supply in villages.
• Under this any individual, institution, corporate, or philanthropist, be it in India or abroad, can contribute to help provide tap water connection in every rural household, school, anganwadi centre, ashramshala, and other public institutions.
• Audit of RJJK account will be carried out annually by an independent auditor from a panel of auditors empanelled with Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).

About Pani Samitis/VWSC

• Pani Samitis play a key role in planning, implementation, management, operation and maintenance of village water supply systems, thereby providing clean tap water to every household on a regular and long-term basis.
• Out of over 6 lakh villages, Pani Samitis/ VWSCs have been constituted in around 3.5 lakh villages.

PRACTICE QUESTION:

Consider the following statements regarding ‘Jal Jeevan Mission (Urban)’:

1. One fifth of water demand under the scheme will be met with reused water.

2. It will aim to connect every urban household with tap water by 2024.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a)1 only

(b) 2 only

(c)Both 1 and 2

(d)Neither 1 nor 2

Answer