New Delhi: The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, operating under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, has made substantial strides in its endeavors, particularly within the flagship initiatives of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) and Swachh Bharat Mission – Grameen (SBM-G).
Pertinently, Jal Jeevan Mission, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in August 2019, has demonstrated commendable progress since its inception.
According to the officials the mission, dedicated to providing safe and ample drinking water to all rural households, marked an impressive trajectory, escalating from 11 crore tap connections at the commencement of the year to an impressive nearly 14 crore tap connections by December 2023.
“A pivotal achievement was recognized by the World Health Organization, which highlighted the substantial health benefits of the ‘Har Ghar Jal’ program. This program, aimed at ensuring safely managed drinking water for all households, was estimated to potentially avert nearly 400,000 deaths caused by waterborne diseases, preventing approximately 14 million Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) related to these diseases, and resulting in significant cost savings of up to $101 billion,” officials said.
Beyond health benefits, the Jal Jeevan Mission, the officials said, displayed significant potential for employment generation. A comprehensive study conducted by IIM Bangalore projected employment generation at 2.8 crore person-years during the construction phase and 11.8 lakh person-years annually for operation and maintenance.
Ensuring water quality was a primary objective, with a network of 2,113 water testing laboratories across the country. Of these, 1,381 laboratories were NABL accredited. Water quality testing labs were made accessible to the public, with over 54 lakh water samples tested in laboratories during the fiscal year 2023-24, they said, additionally, a noteworthy initiative involved training at least five women in every village to utilize Field Test Kits for water quality testing, with more than 23.50 lakh women trained in 4.97 lakh villages.
“In JE-AES affected districts, the government prioritized potable tap water supply through the Jal Jeevan Mission. Tap water connections increased significantly from 2.71% to 70.82% of households in 61 districts across 5 states, positively impacting the health profile of the rural population in these areas. Furthermore, as of July 20, 2023, safe drinking water had been provided in all arsenic and fluoride-affected habitations,” officials added.
Shifting focus to the Swachh Bharat Mission – Grameen, the centrally sponsored scheme initiated in 2014 successfully achieved Open Defecation Free (ODF) status by October 2019. The subsequent Phase-II, launched in 2020, aimed at ODF Plus, emphasizing individual household toilets and proper waste management systems.
The creation of the Rural WASH Partners’ Forum (RWPF) provided a collaborative platform for development partners to work collectively with the government. Notably, a compendium of 75 ODF Plus Best Practices was released, showcasing innovations and measures taken by states/UTs to meet the goals of SBM-G Phase-II.
