Budget 2022 | FM Sitharaman sets aside Rs 60,000 crore for Jal Jeevan Mission

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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget for the financial year 2022-23 earmarked Rs 60,000 crore for the Jal Jeevan Mission that aims to provide potable water to 3.8 crore households in 2022-23.

In 2021-22, the Drinking Water and Sanitation Department was allocated Rs 60,030 crore, three times higher than Rs 17,023.50 crore in 2020-21.

The Jal Jeevan Mission was launched in August 2019 to provide safe drinking water to all rural households by 2024.

It was extended to urban areas in the previous Budget to provide all households in those areas with a tap connection within five years.

Jal Jeevan Mission also involves development of piped water supply infrastructure, reliable supply source and treatment plants.

The water scheme was launched following a report by the government think tank NITI Aayog that said 600 million Indians faced high to extreme water stress and about two lakh people died every year due to inadequate access to safe water.

The report projected the country’s water demand to be twice the available supply by 2030, implying severe scarcity for hundreds of millions of people and an eventual loss in the country’s GDP.

A status report shared by the Jal Shakti ministry in December 2021 said the mission had already met 45.2 percent of its target, with states such as Goa, Telangana and Haryana ensuring 100 percent tap water connections for all rural households.

The Centre and state governments have provided potable tap water connections to about 8.69 crore rural households.