In a bid to provide clean tap water to every household, the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) under the Ministry of Jal Shakti has released a Rs 2,400 crore grant-in-aid to Uttar Pradesh against an allocation of Rs 10,870 crore for the financial year 2021-22.

In 2019-20, the Central government had allocated Rs 1,206 crore to Uttar Pradesh for the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission, which was increased to Rs 2,571 crore in 2020-21.

While approving this four-fold increase in allocation that will “free women and girls from the drudgery of fetching water from a distance”, Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat assured full assistance to the state for making provision of tap water supply in every rural home by 2024, a statement from the ministry said on Friday.

In Uttar Pradesh, there are 2.63 crore rural households in over 97,000 villages, out of which 32 lakh (12.16 per cent) households now have a tap water supply. When the JJM was launched in 2019, only 5.16 lakh (2 per cent) households had a tap water supply.

The state aims to make five districts ‘Har Ghar Jal’ compliant in the current financial year. Over 3,600 villages in Uttar Pradesh have become ‘Har Ghar Jal’ compliant so far, i.e., every family has started getting tap water supply in these villages.

“This increased Central allocation will help the state in speedy provisioning of tap water supply to the remaining 2.31 crore rural households in Uttar Pradesh,” the statement said.

Shekhawat is not only reviewing the progress, but also visiting the state to see the progress of the works.

The Jal Jeevan Mission has urged the state to take necessary measures to provide tap water supply to 78 lakh rural households this year, besides suggesting to start water supply works in more than 60,000 villages by December 2021, the statement added.

The implementation of the mission will also raise demand for masons, electricians, plumbers, motor mechanics, pump operators etc. in large numbers for creation as well as management, operation and maintenance of water supply schemes to ensure potable water supply on a regular and long-term basis, the government said.

Further, there will be demand for various kinds of materials like cement, bricks, pipes, valves, water/ energy-efficient pumps, faucets etc., thereby increasing the demand for locally available workers as well as domestic manufacturing industries, which in turn will help in realising the goal of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, the statement said.

Last year on October 2, a campaign was launched o to ensure safe drinking water for children in schools, Anganwadi centres and ashramshalas. So far, the state has provided tap water supply to 1,01,711 (82 per cent) rural schools and 1,04,453 (60 per cent) Anganwadi centres.

The state has been asked to ensure a safe tap water supply in all schools and Anganwadi centres by October 2, 2021.