Context:
Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) in its study, it highlighted the potential impact of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) including significant health and socio-economic benefits.
Relevance:
GS II: Government Policies and Interventions
Dimensions of the Article:
- Key highlights of the study
- About Jal Jeevan Mission
- JJM’s Performance
Key highlights of the study:
- Impact on Health: Implementing the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) and providing piped potable water to all households in India has the potential to prevent close to 4 lakh deaths from diarrhoea. This underscores the life-saving benefits of ensuring access to safe drinking water.
- Avoiding Disease Burden: By preventing diarrhoeal cases, JJM can help avoid approximately 14 million Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs). DALYs are a measure of the overall disease burden, taking into account both premature mortality and years lived with disability.
- Economic and Time Savings: Implementing JJM would save around USD 101 billion and 66.6 million hours every day that would have otherwise been spent collecting water. This significant time and financial savings are particularly relevant for women who are traditionally burdened with the task of water collection.
- Understanding DALYs: DALYs provide a comprehensive way to measure the impact of disease on a population. They consider both years of life lost due to premature mortality and years lived with a disability caused by a specific health condition.
- Gender Equality: The availability of piped water through JJM can contribute to gender equality by reducing the burden of water collection on women. This would free up their time and provide them with more opportunities for education and employment.
About Jal Jeevan Mission:
Nodal: Ministry of Jal Shakti
- Jal Jeevan Mission, a central government initiative under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, aims to ensure access of piped water for every household in India.
- National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) was restructured and subsumed into Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) – to provide Functional Household Tap Water (FHTC) to every rural household with service level at the rate of 55 lpcd i.e., Har Ghar Nal Se Jal (HGNSJ) by 2024.
Implications
- Supply of water to all households is a basic necessity
- Reduction in water borne diseases which was due to due to consumption of substandard water
Challenges
- Critical situation of Decrease in ground water table.
- Water demand and supply is a miss match
- Contamination of local ground level sources of water like, ponds lakes and wells.
- Sustaining the provision of water to all households is a challenge, not just starting it.
JJM’s Performance
- Increase in Piped Water Connections: As of the latest available data, around 12.3 crore rural households in India, accounting for 62% of the total, have been provided with piped water connections. This is a significant increase from 3.2 crore households (16.6%) in 2019. The mission has made substantial progress in expanding access to piped water in rural areas.
- States and Union Territories with 100% Coverage: Five states, namely Gujarat, Telangana, Goa, Haryana, and Punjab, have achieved 100% coverage of piped water connections in rural households. Additionally, three Union Territories—Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Daman Diu & Dadra Nagar Haveli, and Puducherry—have also reported 100% coverage. This demonstrates successful implementation and achievement of the mission’s objectives in these regions.
- Near-Saturation States: Himachal Pradesh has achieved a piped water coverage rate of 98.87% in rural households, indicating that it is nearing saturation in terms of providing access to piped water. Bihar follows closely with a coverage rate of 96.30%. These states are making substantial progress and are expected to achieve full coverage in the near future.
-Source: The Hindu
