The Centre has allocated Rs 5,117 crore to Madhya Pradesh under the Jal Jeevan Mission, a fourfold rise than 2019, and released its first tranche of Rs 1,184 crore.
The Madhya Pradesh government has assured that instead of the deadline of 2024, the state will ensure tap water connections and assured potable piped water supply to every rural home by 2023.
The Centre has earmarked Rs 50,000 crore to the Jal Jeevan Mission which aims to provide piped drinking water to all rural households by 2024.
In FY20, the Central government allocated Rs 571.60 crore which was increased to Rs 1,280.13 crore in FY21. In FY21, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Madhya Pradesh provided new tap water connections to 19.89 lakh rural households.
The state has 1.23 crore rural households, out of which now 38.29 lakh (31.1 percent) have tap water supply. Madhya Pradesh is planning to reach near the half-way coverage mark by March 2022 by providing 22 lakh more tap water connections.
It also plans to focus on 3,731 piped water supply villages in seven districts where on an average less than 150 household connections can make these villages with piped water connections to every household.
During the annual action plan (2021-22) discussion, the state government has been advised to work with more speed so as to provide tap water in about 42 percent villages which are still without piped water supply.
The state has also been advised to increase the coverage in priority areas such as Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe majority habitations, water quality-affected villages, drought prone areas, aspirational districts.
With the allocation grant of Rs 5,116.78 crore FY22 and unspent balance of Rs 191.61 crore available with the state government, and the state’s matching share of Rs 5,392.50 crore, which includes the total assured fund availability for the implementation of the mission in the state is about Rs 10,700 crore.
This fund availability will enable the state to expedite the implementation of various planned activities to provide tap water to rural homes in 2021.
