Editor's Pick: 'Har Ghar Jal’ likely to fall short of target

The Union Govt’s ‘Har Ghar Jal’ initiative, under the flagship Jal Jeevan Mission, to provide all rural households in India with portable water connections by 2024 is likely to fall short of its target. As per publicly available data analysed by The Hindu and affirmed by multiple sources, only 75% of village homes are likely to have taps delivering drinking water by April 2024. The objective of the scheme is to provide ‘functional’ tap connections that give at least 55 litres of potable or drinking water per person per day. As per the Jal Shakti Ministry, about 9.1 crore households have benefitted from the programme since its inception in 2019. Officials stated that a slew of challenges, such as the pandemic, a dearth of qualified manpower in states, the scale of the exercise, state-specific issues and even the Russia-Ukraine war, meant that the project could only pick up speed in several states in 2022. “While the pandemic led to delays, the Ukraine war resulted in major shortages of steel and cement, (which are) critical to the manufacture and connection of metal pipes. This led to major price revisions and considerable time was lost in renegotiating contracts and improving supply,” a senior official told The Hindu. It has been learnt that in about 5% of the targeted 19.5 crore households, work has not even begun yet. Further, there has been an observable gap between the reported and verified connections in a state – also indicating a potential mismatch. The scheme is of particular importance to the country. The World Health Organisation (WHO) had stated in its report that ensuring safely managed drinking water could avert nearly 4 lakh deaths caused by diarrhoeal diseases and prevent about 14 million disability adjusted life years (DALYs) related to these diseases. This could translate into estimated saving of up to $101 billion. The Hindu Explains Explained | Why are Indian drugmakers under the lens? Explained | What is China’s new law on foreign relations? The Hindu’s Daily News Quiz The Amarnath Shrine in Kashmir is located at what altitude? 8,000 feet 10,000 feet 17,000 feet 14,000 feet To know the answer and play the full quiz, click here. [logo] Editor's Pick 02 July 2023 [The Hindu logo] In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [Arrow]( [Open in browser]( [Mail icon]( [More newsletters]( ‘Har Ghar Jal’ likely to fall short of target The Union Govt’s ‘Har Ghar Jal’ initiative, under the flagship Jal Jeevan Mission, to provide all rural households in India with portable water connections by 2024 is [likely to fall short of its target](. As per publicly available data analysed by The Hindu and affirmed by multiple sources, only 75% of village homes are likely to have taps delivering drinking water by April 2024.  The objective of the scheme is to provide ‘functional’ tap connections that give at least 55 litres of potable or drinking water per person per day. As per the Jal Shakti Ministry, about 9.1 crore households have benefitted from the programme since its inception in 2019.  Officials stated that a slew of challenges, such as the pandemic, a dearth of qualified manpower in states, the scale of the exercise, state-specific issues and even the Russia-Ukraine war, meant that the project could only pick up speed in several states in 2022. “While the pandemic led to delays, the Ukraine war resulted in major shortages of steel and cement, (which are) critical to the manufacture and connection of metal pipes. This led to major price revisions and considerable time was lost in renegotiating contracts and improving supply,” a senior official told The Hindu.  It has been learnt that in about 5% of the targeted 19.5 crore households, work has not even begun yet. Further, there has been an observable gap between the reported and verified connections in a state – also indicating a potential mismatch.  The scheme is of particular importance to the country. The World Health Organisation (WHO) had stated in its report that ensuring safely managed drinking water could avert nearly 4 lakh deaths caused by diarrhoeal diseases and prevent about 14 million disability adjusted life years (DALYs) related to these diseases. This could translate into estimated saving of up to $101 billion. The Hindu Explains [Arrow][Explained | Why are Indian drugmakers under the lens?]( [Arrow][Explained | What is China’s new law on foreign relations?Â]( The Hindu’s Daily News Quiz The Amarnath Shrine in Kashmir is located at what altitude? - 8,000 feet - 10,000 feet - 17,000 feet - 14,000 feet To know the answer and play the full quiz, [click here](. 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