GS Paper 2
Syllabus: Government Policies & Interventions
Source: PIB
Context: The WHO report highlights the significant impact of the ‘Har Ghar Jal’ program on public health and economic savings.
The focus of the report: The ‘Har Ghar Jal’ report focuses on diarrheal diseases as they contribute significantly to the overall disease burden related to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) issues.
Performance of the Har Ghar Jal program (as per the report):
| Dimensions | Observation | Impact |
| On Piped Water connection | Currently, over 12 crore rural households, or 62%, have piped water connections (from about 16% in 2019 when the scheme was launched) | No programme has this kind of direct impact on improving the lives of individuals and families physically, mentally, and financially.
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| Five States including Gujarat, Telangana, Goa, Haryana, and Punjab and 3 Union Territories — A& N, Daman Diu & Dadra Nagar Haveli and Puducherry have reported 100% coverage.
Even the laggard states are doing well. Himachal Pradesh (at about 99%), Bihar (at over 96%) |
Seeing the success, the government has claimed that it will achieve 100% coverage in all states by 2024
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| On Health impacts of the Har Ghar Jal program | Ensuring safely managed drinking water for all could avert nearly 400,000 deaths caused by diarrheal diseases and prevent approximately 14 million Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) related to these diseases.
*DALY is a measure that shows the impact of a disease or condition on a person’s health, combining years lost due to premature death and years lived with a disability.
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This achievement alone would result in estimated cost savings of up to $101 billion.
Every dollar invested in sanitation interventions gives a $4.3 return in the form of reduced healthcare costs
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| On saving time and effort for women | In 2018, households spent a staggering over 66 million hours each day collecting water, with the majority occurring in rural areas | Tremendous time and effort have been saved for women and girls through the provision of tap water |
| On Safe water supply | In 2018, 36% of India’s total population, including 44% of the rural population, lacked access to improved drinking-water sources on their premises. | Unsafe drinking water, along with inadequate sanitation and hygiene, contributed to a number of deaths (esp. among children) and DALYs |
About the ‘Har Ghar Jal’ programme (also called Nal Se Jal Yojana):
| About | The ‘Har Ghar Jal’ programme aims to provide safe and affordable tap water connections to every rural household in India. |
| Launched | 2019 |
| Implementation | Under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) (Ministry of Jal Shakti). The scheme is based on a unique model where paani samitis (water committee) comprising villagers will decide what they will pay for the water they consume. |
| Aim | Provide fully functional, safe and affordable tap water connections to every rural household in India by 2024 |
| *Fully functional tap water connection defined as a household receiving at least 55 litres of per capita per day of potable water throughout the year | |
| Significance | Ensuring access to clean drinking water; Improving public health and well-being; Aligned with SDG 6.1 (proportion of the population using safely managed drinking water services); Aligned with SDG 3.9 (mortality related to unsafe water, sanitation, and hygiene) |
| Achievements | Increase in rural tap water connections from 16.64% in 2019 to 62.84% in 41 months |
| Burhanpur district (MP) was the first ‘Har Ghar Jal’ certified district in the country; Goa was the 1st State to achieve 100% coverage | |
| About Jal Jeevan Mission | JJM envisages a supply of 55 litres of water per person per day to every rural household through Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTC) by 2024. |
Insta Links:
Mains:
What is water stress? How and why does it differ regionally in India? (UPSC 2019)
Prelims Links
Consider the following statements: (UPSC 2020)
- 36% of India’s districts are classified as “overexploited” or “critical” by the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA).
- CGWA was formed under the Environment (Protection) Act.
- India has the largest area under groundwater irrigation in the world.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 2 only
(d) 1 and 3 only
Ans: B
