Jal Jeevan Mission: achievements and emerging challenges

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Picture Courtesy: The Hindu

Context:

A recent Functionality Assessment Survey commissioned by the Ministry of Jal Shakti shows that while tap connections under the Jal Jeevan Mission have reached very high coverage levels, but actual usage, reliability, and water quality remain significant concerns.

Background:

The Jal Jeevan Mission was launched on 15 August 2019 with the goal of ensuring Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs) for every rural household. It seeks to transition villages away from dependence on handpumps and tanker supply toward reliable piped drinking water, thereby improving public health and reducing the time and physical burden of water collection, particularly for women. The mission follows a decentralised, community-led approach in which Gram Panchayats and local water committees play a central role in planning and managing village water systems. The nodal ministry responsible for its implementation is the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

Objectives of Jal Jeevan Mission

• Ensure safe, adequate, and regular drinking water supply to rural households.
• Reduce water-borne diseases and improve health outcomes.
• Promote sustainable, affordable, community-managed water systems.
• Strengthen source sustainability and long-term water security.
• Empower women through participation in governance and water quality monitoring.

Key Features of JJM

• FHTC for every rural household through individual tap connections.
• Service benchmark of 55 litres per capita per day (LPCD).
• Village Action Plans (VAPs) prepared with community participation.
• Water quality monitoring through field test kits and trained local members.
• Use of technology: digital dashboards, geo-tagging, and real-time monitoring.
• Focus on inclusivity: SC/ST areas, Aspirational Districts, and water-stressed regions.

Components of the Mission

• Creation of in-village water infrastructure: pipelines, reservoirs, and distribution systems.
• Community involvement in planning, implementation, and O&M.
• Drinking water provision in schools, anganwadis, health centres, and tribal institutions.
• Emphasis on greywater management and recycling.
• Capacity building of village-level institutions.
• Measures for long-term source sustainability.

Funding Pattern

• 50:50 Centre–State share for general states.
• 90:10 for Northeastern and Himalayan states.
• 100% central funding for Union Territories.
• Convergence funding from MGNREGA, SBM-G, and Finance Commission grants.

Key highlights of the functionality assessment report on the Jal Jeevan Mission:

High infrastructure coverage: About 98% of surveyed rural households reported having a tap connection under the mission.

Gap between coverage and usage: Only 83% of households had water flowed from their tap at least once in the seven days prior to the survey, showing that infrastructure does not always translate into service delivery.

Shortfall in prescribed supply: Around 80% of households reported receiving the mandated 55 litres per capita per day (LPCD), which means one-fifth of households are not getting adequate quantity.

Water quality concerns: Laboratory testing showed that only 76% of households received water meeting standards for E. coli, total coliform, and pH levels, indicating public health risks in several areas.

Overall functionality lower than coverage: When availability, regularity, and quality were considered together, only 76% of households were found to be receiving fully functional tap water services.

Wide inter-state variation: Some States and UTs reported very high levels of availability and satisfaction, while others like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Nagaland showed significantly lower levels of regular water flow.

Survey limited to ‘Har Ghar Jal’ villages: The assessment covered only villages already certified as having full tap coverage, suggesting that functionality gaps may be even larger in non-certified villages.

Major challenges facing the Jal Jeevan Mission:

Infrastructure - service delivery gap: Although tap connections have expanded rapidly, many households do not receive water regularly, showing that infrastructure creation has outpaced reliable service delivery.

Inadequate water quantity: Several households are not receiving the prescribed 55 litres per capita per day, as seasonal shortages and limited source capacity affect the consistency of supply.

Water quality issues: Water quality remains a serious concern in many areas due to contamination from E. coli, coliform bacteria, fluoride, arsenic, and salinity, reflecting gaps in treatment, testing, and last-mile monitoring.

Source sustainability concerns: The mission faces long-term sustainability challenges because many schemes depend heavily on groundwater, which is declining in several regions, while climate variability is affecting recharge and surface water availability.

Operation and maintenance weaknesses: Local institutions such as Gram Panchayats and Village Water & Sanitation Committees often lack the technical expertise and financial resources needed for timely repair and maintenance of pumps, pipelines, and storage systems.

Energy dependence: Rural water supply systems rely on electricity for pumping, and frequent power shortages or high energy costs disrupt regular water delivery.

Key measures for strengthening Jal Jeevan Mission:

• Strengthening source sustainability: Long-term success of the Jal Jeevan Mission depends on reliable water sources, which requires scaling up groundwater recharge, watershed development, and spring rejuvenation, especially in over-exploited blocks where groundwater levels are falling. Scientific aquifer mapping under initiatives like Atal Bhujal Yojana should be integrated with village water planning to ensure that supply systems remain viable even during drought years.
• Improving service reliability, and not just coverage: While tap coverage in rural India is nearing universality, future focus must shift from infrastructure creation to regular and predictable water supply, which ensures that every household consistently receives the mandated 55 litres per capita per day. Performance-based monitoring of states and districts, rather than only reporting connections installed, can improve accountability for actual service delivery.
• Ensuring water quality surveillance: With a significant share of households still facing contamination issues, stronger water quality monitoring is essential through certified laboratories, field test kits, and community-level surveillance. Training more local women as water quality volunteers and linking village testing data to central dashboards under the Ministry of Jal Shakti can enable early detection of contamination.
• Reducing energy constraints in water supply: Since many rural schemes depend on electric pumps, integrating solar-powered pumping systems can reduce interruptions due to power shortages and lower long-term operational costs. Convergence with renewable energy programmes can make rural water supply more reliable and climate-friendly.
• Scaling up greywater management: As tap coverage increases, wastewater generation in villages is also rising, making greywater treatment essential to prevent stagnation and disease. Convergence with Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin and MGNREGA can help build soak pits, drainage channels, and reuse systems for agriculture and groundwater recharge.

Conclusion:

The Jal Jeevan Mission has made remarkable progress in expanding tap water infrastructure across rural India, but recent findings show that coverage alone is not enough. Ensuring regular supply, safe water quality, and sustainable sources must now become the central focus. Strengthening local capacity, improving monitoring, and deepening community ownership will be crucial to transform infrastructure into reliable service delivery and secure long-term rural water security.

Source: The Hindu