MPs Draw Attention to "Discrepancies" in the Jal Jeevan Scheme; let's investigate further!

The Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM)

About: It is a centrally funded project that was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15, 2019, with the ambitious aim of delivering tap water to every rural home.

In the Union Budget 2025-26, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman declared a hike in funding to ₹67,000 crore for the Jal Jeevan Mission, which has now been extended to 2028.

Objectives: The goal is to ensure Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs) for each rural home, emphasizing priority locations like drought-affected areas, zones with quality issues, deserts, and Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) villages.

It guarantees access to tap water in schools, Anganwadi centers, health facilities, and community buildings, while also closely monitoring the operational status of these connections.

Accomplishment: As of February 1, 2025, the Jal Jeevan Mission has installed tap water connections for 12.20 crore extra rural households, raising overall coverage to more than 15.44 crore households—79.74% of rural households in India.

WHO predicts that JJM will save 5.5 crore hours each day, primarily benefiting women, and has the potential to avert 400,000 diarrheal fatalities while preserving 14 million Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs).

Research by Nobel laureate Prof. Michael Kremer indicates that access to safe water could lower mortality rates for children under five by almost 30%, which might result in saving 136,000 lives each year.

The Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, collaborating with the International Labour Organization (ILO), projects that JJM will create 59.9 lakh person-years of direct and 2.2 crore person-years of indirect jobs throughout its capital expenditure phase.

Difficulties

The mission encounters numerous challenges, including insufficient reliable water sources in specific regions, groundwater pollution, varied geographical landscapes, dispersed rural settlements, and holdups in acquiring necessary approvals, among others.

Concerns have been highlighted regarding persistent water shortages and poor management.

It is under examination for potential financial mismanagement and insufficient transparency.