Critical Analysis of Jal Jeevan Mission UPSC

Analysis of Jal Jeevan Mission

• Jal Jeevan Mission has achieved a milestone of providing tap water supply to every household in 1 lakh villages across India, in a short period of 23 months.
• At the launch of this ambitious programme, out of 18.94 Crore rural households in country, only 3.23 Crore (17%) had tap water connections.
• Despite Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown disruptions, Jal Jeevan Mission provided 4.49 Crore tap water connections during 23 months and has also made 50 thousand Gram Panchayats ‘Har Ghar Jal’ by providing tap water supply to every household in these panchayats.
• Today tap water supply has reached to 7.72 Crore (40.77%) households. Goa, Telangana, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Puducherry have achieved 100% tap water supply in rural areas and has become ‘Har Ghar Jal’.

• Following the principle of Prime Minister’s vision of ‘SabkaSaath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas’, the motto of the Mission is that ‘no one is left out’ and every household in a village should be provided with tap water connection.
• At present, 71 districts, 824 blocks, 50,309 Gram Panchayats and 1,00,275 villages have achieved the target of ‘Har Ghar Jal’.

About Jal Jeevan Mission

• JJM is a flagship programme of the Union Government being implemented in partnership with the States with the objective to provide tap water connection in every rural household by 2024.
• 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.
• The Mission was launched on August 15, 2019.
• Under Jal Jeevan Mission, in 2021-22, in addition to Rs 50,011 Crore budgetary allocation, there is also Rs 26,940 Crore assured fund available under the 15th Finance Commission tied-grant to RLB/ PRIs for water & sanitation, matching State share and externally aided as well as State funded projects.
• Thus, in 2021-22, more than Rs. 1 lakh Crore is planned to be invested in the country on ensuring tap water supply to rural homes.
• JJM focuses on development of Village Action Plan (VAP) and formation of Village Water and Sanitation Committee (VWSC) for every village so that the local village community plays a key role in planning, implementation as well as operation and maintenance of the in-village water supply infrastructure created for them.
• This ensures bottom-up approach with the participation of the local community.
• Through community engagement, the resources created in the villages/ habitations are handed over to the Panchayats or VWSC for monitoring, surveillance and upkeep.
• Under JJM, water quality testing laboratories at district &State levels are given priority and community is being encouraged for surveillance of water quality.
• ‘Jal Shakti Vibhag’ is facilitating to empower and engage with the community.

The broad objectives of Jal Jeevan Mission are:

• To provide FHTC to every rural household.
• To prioritize provision of FHTCs in qualityaffected areas, villages in drought prone and desert areas, Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) villages, etc.
• To provide functional tap connection to Schools, Anganwadi centres, GP buildings, Health centres, wellness centres and community buildings
• To monitor functionality of tap connections.
• To promote and ensure voluntary ownership among local community by way of contribution in cash, kind and/ or labour and voluntary labour (shramdaan)
• To assist in ensuring sustainability of water supply system, i.e. water source, water supply infrastructure, and funds for regular O&M
• To empower and develop human resource in the sector such that the demands of construction, plumbing, electrical, water quality management, water treatment, catchment protection, O&M, etc. are taken care of in short and long term
• To bring awareness on various aspects and significance of safe drinking water and involvement of stakeholders in manner that make water everyone's business

The following components are supported under JJM

• Development of in-village piped water supply infrastructure to provide tap water connection to every rural household
• Development of reliable drinking water sources and/ or augmentation of existing sources to provide long-term sustainability of water supply system
• Wherever necessary, bulk water transfer, treatment plants and distribution network to cater to every rural household
• Technological interventions for removal of contaminants where water quality is an issue
• Retrofitting of completed and ongoing schemes to provide FHTCs at minimum service level of 55 lpcd;
• Greywater management
• Support activities, i.e. IEC, HRD, training, development of utilities, water quality laboratories, water quality testing & surveillance, R&D, knowledge centre, capacity building of communities, etc.
• Any other unforeseen challenges/ issues emerging due to natural disasters/ calamities which affect the goal of FHTC to every household by 2024, as per guidelines of Ministry of Finance on Flexi Funds.

Critical Analysis

• In a paradigm shift from earlier water supply programmes, Jal Jeevan Mission focuses on water service delivery rather than providing mere water supply infrastructure.
• Under JJM, the aim is to ensure that every household irrespective of its socio-economic condition, has a tap water supply.
• The JJM is built on the principle of ‘no one is left out’ ensuring poorest of the poor, weaker and marginalized sections of society - those unserved so far, get assured potable tap water supply in their homes.
• Assured availability of drinking water in homes will save the women and young girls of centuries old drudgery faced by them across rural India. It will improve their health, education and socio-economic conditions.
• Further, tap water connection in every rural home brings dignity to the people as it bridges the urban-rural gap and brings ‘ease of living’ in accessing safe water.
• To achieve this mammoth goal of providing tap water supply to every rural household in a short period of five years, Rs 3.60 lakh crore has been allocated by the government. In 2020-21 an amount of Rs 11,000 Crore was allocated for the States/ UTs.For 2021-22, i.e. current financial year a four-fold increase in fund allocation has been approved by the Union Minister Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat so that there is no dearth of fund required to achieve the goal. In just three months, Rs 8,891 Crore has been drawn by the States/UTs based on the fund utilization and requirement proposed under their Annual Action Plans (AAPs).
• In 2021-22, Rs 26,940 Crore has been allocated to States as 15th Finance Commission tied grant for water & sanitation to Rural Local Bodies/ PRIs. There is assured funding of Rs 1,42,084 Crore for the next five years i.e. up to 2025-26. This huge investment in rural areas across the country, will accelerate economic activities and boost rural economy. It will create new employment opportunities in villages.
• Jal Jeevan Mission is a ‘bottom up’ approach, where community plays a vital role starting from planning to implementation, management, operation & maintenance.
• To achieve this, State Government has to undertake support activities like strengthening the Village Water & Sanitation Committee (VWSC)/ Pani Samiti, developing of Village Action Plan for the next five years, engaging Implementing State Agencies (ISAs) to handhold & support village communities, and carry out awareness among people.
• So far 2.67 lakh VWSCs or Pani Samitis have been constituted and 1.84 lakh Village Action Plans have been developed across India.
• Under Jal Jeevan Mission, water-scarce areas, quality-affected villages, Aspirational districts, SC/ST majority villages and Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojna (SAGY) villages are prioritized for providing tap water supply.
• During the last 23 months, tap water supply has increased four-fold from 7% to 33% in 117 Aspirational districts. Similarly, more than 97 lakh households have been provided with tap water supply in 61 districts affected by Japanese Encephalitis- Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (JE-IES). 696 SAGY villages and 29,063 SC/ST majority villages have become ‘Har Ghar Jal.’
• To ensure safe tap water to children in schools, ashramshalas and anganwadicentres in the country, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi announced 100-days campaign, which was launched by the Union Minister Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on 2nd October 2020. As a result, States/ UTs like Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andaman & Nicobar Islands have made provision of tap water in all schools, ashramshalas and anganwadicentres.
• So far, 6,76,789 schools (65.7%) and 6,74,611 (59.8%) anganwadi centre across the country have been provided with potable tap water supply in adequate quantity for drinking and cooking mid-day meals, handwashing and use in toilets. Central Government has asked the States/ UTs to ensure that in few months, provision of safe tap water is made in all remaining schools, ashramshalas and anganwadicentres for better health, improved sanitation and hygiene for children.
• Water quality monitoring & surveillance activities are being given top priority, for which anganwadi workers, ASHA workers, members of Self-Help Groups, PRI members, school teachers etc; are being trained so that they can test water samples for contamination by using Field test Kits (FTKs). There are 2,015 laboratories across the country. 195 water laboratories have been NABL accredited with improved infrastructure and trained technicians. State are upgrading water testing laboratories and securing NABL accreditation. These labs are open to public so that they can get their water samples tested at nominal cost.
• Jal Jeevan Mission leverages the use of technology to ensure transparency, accountability, proper utilization of funds and service delivery. A robust JJM-IMIS captures physical and financial progress under JJM with a dedicated Dashboard put out in public domain, which can be accessed at https://ejalshakti.gov.in/jjmreport/JJMIndia.aspx
• A sensor based IoT solution is piloted for measuring and monitoring water supply with respect to quantity, quality and regularity of water supply in villages on a real-time basis. Every water supply asset created is photo geo-tagged.
• Hydro-geo morphological (HGM) maps are used in planning single village scheme for identifying drinking water sources as well are constructing aquifer recharge structures. Household tap connections provided under Har Ghar Jal programme are linked with Aadhar number of the head of household and more importantly all financial transactions are undertaken through Public Finance Management System (PFMS).

Conclusion

Working in partnership with States, Jal Jeevan Mission is making all efforts to ensure tap water supply of adequate quantity &in prescribed quality on regular and long-term basis to every rural household in India by 2024.