In the Kovid-19 epidemic, the country has faced a major employment crisis. In such a situation, the allocation for ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’ can be increased in the budget. While this scheme will expand the infrastructure in rural India, on the other hand, a scheme like MNREGA will increase the number of employment days. In the previous budget 2020-21, an allocation of Rs 11,500 crore was made for this scheme.
A major reason for accelerating the pace of ‘Har Ghar Jal’ scheme is yet to reach the target of 100% of only two states. According to the latest data, Goa and Telangana are the only states where 100% of the households in the villages have access to tap water. Whereas less than 10 percent connections have been distributed in big states like Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal.
On 15 August 2019, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced this mission, then 3,23,62,838 houses in the country had water-to-tap connection. According to the latest figures, now this number has become 6,50,28,196 houses. This shows the access of tap water to 34 percent of rural households.
There is a need to draw a blueprint for implementing ‘Har Ghar Jal’ scheme in the budget like ‘Ujjwala scheme’. Under the Ujjwala scheme, the government had reached gas targets to rural families by meeting the targets ahead of time. This scheme is also helpful in improving the standard of living of people at the village level.
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In the Corona era, health is the subject of the government’s FIR. In such a situation, it is also important to take care of the quality of drinking water supply under the scheme. This thing also needs attention in the budget. The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation under the Ministry of Water Power has started a survey for the quality of water to be transported under the scheme. This survey is to be completed in 7,000 villages of the country by January 2021.
