Nearly 160 million rural households in India, accounting for 78.58% of the country’s rural population, now have access to safe drinking water. This marks a significant jump from just 17% when the Jal Jeevan Mission was initiated. Spearheaded by the Jal Shakti ministry, this mission is designed to bridge the rural-urban gap and improve public health by providing Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs) to every rural household by 2024. As of October 6, the ministry reported that 151.9 million rural homes now have tap water connections, ensuring 78.58% coverage. The initiative also addresses challenges in drought-prone areas and those affected by water quality issues, benefitting a total of 190 million families.
Since its launch, the mission has supplied 119.5 million new tap water connections. States like Goa, Haryana, Telangana, and Himachal Pradesh have achieved 100% rural household coverage. Additionally, more than 9.29 million schools and Anganwadi centres across the country now have clean drinking water. The ministry has also trained over 2.4 million women to test water quality using Field Test Kits, with more than 5.4 million water samples tested so far.
