HAR
GHAR JAL – GOVERNMENT SCHEME
News:
'Har Ghar Jal' likely to
fall short of target
What's
in the news?
●
The Union Govt’s ‘Har Ghar Jal’
initiative, under the flagship Jal Jeevan Mission, to provide all rural
households in India with portable water connections by 2024 is likely to fall
short of its target.
Key
takeaways:
●
As per publicly available data analysed by
The Hindu and affirmed by multiple sources, only 75% of village homes are likely to have taps delivering
drinking water by April 2024.
●
As per the Jal Shakti Ministry, about 9.1 crore households have
benefitted from the programme since its inception in 2019.
●
Officials stated that a slew of
challenges, such as the pandemic, a
dearth of qualified manpower in states, the scale of the exercise,
state-specific issues and even the Russia-Ukraine war, meant that the
project could only pick up speed in several states in 2022.
Jal
Jeevan Mission:
●
Jal Jeevan Mission is envisioned to
provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections by 2024 to all households in rural
India.
○
A
fully functional tap water connection is defined as a household getting at
least 55liters of per capita per day of potable water all through the year.
●
The programme will also implement source sustainability measures as
mandatory elements, such as recharge and reuse through grey water management,
water conservation, rain water harvesting.
●
The Jal Jeevan Mission will be based on a community approach to water and will
include extensive Information, Education and communication as a key component
of the mission.
●
Jal Jeevan Mission looks to create a Jan Andolan for water, thereby making
it everyone’s priority.
Aim:
●
It aims to provide every rural household
with functional household tap connections (FHTCs) with adequate quantity and
prescribed quality of water on a regular and long-term basis.
Implementation:
●
It is being implemented by the Department
of Drinking Water and Sanitation under the
Jal Shakti Ministry.
Funding:
●
Centrally
Sponsored Scheme - ₹3.60 lakh crores outlay.
○
Centre:States - 50:50 (Other than
North-eastern and Himalayan States and Union Territories with legislatures).
○
Centre:States - 90:10 (Only for
North-eastern and Himalayan States and Union Territories with legislatures).
○
100% Central funding for Union
Territories.
Jan
Andolan:
●
Jal Jeevan Mission is a ‘bottom up’ approach where community
plays a vital role from planning to implementation, management, operation and
maintenance.
●
To achieve this, the Village Water & Sanitation Committee (VWSC)/ Pani Samiti
are being constituted and strengthened.
●
Village Action Plans are developed through
community engagement.
●
Implementation Support Agencies (ISAs) are
engaged to support village communities in programme implementation and create
awareness among people.
Significance:
●
Empower adolescent girls - reduce school dropouts.
●
Empower household women - no longer to walk miles.
●
Improve health and hygiene - reduce water borne diseases.