Govt may extend Jal Jeevan Mission till 2028

The Centre is considering a proposal to extend the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) till 2028 with an enhanced outlay to ensure tap water supply to all rural households, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Monday.

In a written reply, Minister of State for Jal Shakti V. Somanna said that as of July 23, over 15.67 crore rural households — or 80.95 percent of the total 19.36 crore — have been provided with tap water connections.

Launched in August 2019, the Jal Jeevan Mission aims to provide Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs) to every rural household. At the time of its launch, only 3.23 crore households — around 16.7 percent — had access to piped water supply.

Somanna said a proposal to continue the Mission beyond its original timeline is under active consideration. “The proposal includes an enhanced total outlay and revised guidelines for further funding,” he noted.

According to data reported by states and Union Territories, around 12.44 crore additional households have been covered under the Har Ghar Jal initiative since the programme began.

The minister also underlined the Mission’s focus on quality infrastructure, long-term sustainability, and citizen-centric service delivery. The design of the programme goes beyond expanding coverage and includes efforts to improve operations, maintenance, and water quality.

Challenges in implementation include water scarcity in drought-prone and desert regions, groundwater contamination, scattered habitations, lack of technical manpower, and procedural delays in fund disbursement and clearances.

To address these issues, the government has introduced a range of measures such as interest-free capital investment loans to states, deployment of nodal officers to facilitate inter-departmental coordination, and the establishment of state and district-level programme management units.

The proposed extension of JJM aligns with the government’s goal of achieving 100 percent tap water coverage in rural India.