Jal Jeevan Mission

Published on 07 Apr 2025

The 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. It will be based on a community approach to water and will include extensive Information, Education and communication as a key component of the mission.

Salient features of the Mission

• Main Objective: To prioritize provision of Functional Household Tap Connections in quality affected areas, villages in drought prone and desert areas, Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) villages, etc.

• Funding Pattern: The fund sharing pattern between the Centre and states is 90:10 for Himalayan and North-Eastern States, 50:50 for other states, and 100% for Union Territories.

• Current Performance rate: Currently about 14.4 crore (73%) rural households have piped water connections up from 3.2 crore (16.6%) from 2019. Jal Jeevan Mission achieves 72% rural tap water coverage, eyes 100% in 2024.

Features of Jal Jeevan Mission

• Community Participation: The goal is to promote proactive community involvement through the planning, development, and administration of water supply systems in local areas.

• Technological Integration: The mission incorporates technical improvements to improve water supply management. Tracking water quality and consumption trends requires analytics, real-time data collecting, and remote monitoring.

• Infrastructure Development: The mission is to construct water supply infrastructure, such as tap connections, water treatment plants, storage facilities, and distribution networks, in order to accomplish its goals.

• Capacity Building: These programs equip local water committees and employees with the expertise needed to properly operate and maintain water supply infrastructure.

Advantages of Jal Jeevan Mission

• Women Empowerment: Access to water decreases the strain of water collection, which is frequently carried out by women in rural regions, which strengthens the sense of empowerment.

• Economic Growth: By boosting agricultural development and earnings, better water availability can support rural areas' economic growth and agricultural development.

• Health and sanitation: By ensuring that everyone has access to clean, safe drinking water and by enhancing public health and sanitation standards, the mission lowers the occurrence of waterborne diseases.

• Environmental Sustainability: Jal Jeevan Mission protects precious water resources for future generations by promoting water conservation and environmental sustainability through sustainable water management techniques.

• Water Security: By providing every rural household access to a piped water supply, the Jal Jeevan Mission seeks to ensure water security by lowering reliance on contaminated water sources.

Disadvantages of Jal Jeevan Mission

• Implementation Challenges: The mission's success is dependent on effective coordination among multiple stakeholders, which can be difficult in geographically scattered and culturally varied regions.

• Financial constraints: Considering the disparities in the financial resources of various governments and regions, it can be difficult to ensure money allocation for a mission this large and ambitious.

• Quality Assurance: In remote and underserved areas, there are challenges in monitoring water quality, addressing contamination issues, and guaranteeing compliance with quality standards.

• Lack of capacity building: Lack of training, technical assistance, and institutional strengthening efforts negatively impact the success of the mission.

• Constraints in Infrastructure Development: Constraints in investment in infrastructure development, including laying pipelines, constructing water treatment plants, and ensuring last-mile connectivity.

Way Forward

• Strategic Planning: To efficiently allocate resources, identify areas for intervention, and coordinate implementation efforts for the Jal Jeevan Mission, develop comprehensive plans and strategies at the national, state, and local levels.

• Partnerships and Collaboration: Encourage collaboration between government agencies, civil society organizations, private sector stakeholders, and development partners to harness expertise, resources, and innovative solutions.

• Sustainability and Maintenance: Promote community-managed systems, user fees, and preventative maintenance practices to maintain the long-term viability of water supply services.

Technology and Innovation: To improve the planning, monitoring, and management of water supply projects, embrace technical advances such as digital platforms, sensor-based monitoring systems, remote sensing, and geospatial mapping.

Tags:
Environment

Keywords:
Water Water conservation Drinking water Jal Jeevan mission

Syllabus:
General Studies Paper 3

Topics:
Environment and Climate Change