Many challenges of Jal Jeevan Mission: Decentralisation is the only way ahead

Indian Express

19-05-2025

Written by Amit Kumar Srivastwa
Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), a flagship scheme of the central government, is now facing major structural and functional challenges. The JJM was started in 2019 to provide a 100 per cent Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTC) by 2024. The recent NSSO data suggests that the government has made significant progress, as almost 90 per cent of rural households have access to a tap connection. The government is expected to cover the remaining households by 2028.
However, there is a wide gap between tap water access and use, as only 39 per cent of the rural households can use taps as their primary source (NSS 79th Round, 2022-23). Moreover, tap water use is widely different across regions. States like Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal and Odisha have very low tap use, ranging from six per cent to 30 per cent. The gap between tap water access and use indicates that the JJM faces severe challenges at the functionality level.
There are also structural challenges. Reports by this newspaper reveal a reduction in financial assistance by the central government, bureaucratic irregularities at the state level, and scams in constructing JJM's infrastructure, which has slowed down JJM's progress. Increasing financial burdens, coupled with incomplete infrastructure and a lack of transparency in the provision of the tender, leave JJM with an uncertain future. While structural problems require deliberation from both central, state, and local governments, it is important to understand how tap water infrastructures are operated and managed in everyday life, and what considerations are helpful in reducing the gap between tap access and use.
There are some major technical-bureaucratic concerns that require immediate attention. For the longest time in post-colonial India, the drinking water supply was driven by a centralised technical order. This means that the design, operation, standards, procedures, manuals, norms, and guidelines for managing drinking water supply were made by central-level institutions and were followed by regional and local-level institutions. As a result of global deliberations and constitutional amendments, different governments have tried to create a decentralised and community-driven drinking water supply. However, we are yet to achieve a decentralised mechanism. The local institutions and actors who manage the tap water supply have limited financial and technical autonomy. It is essential to address what social and spatial challenges these institutions face while installing taps and whether they are technically equipped to manage water quality and quantity, and provide a timely supply.
There is an urgent need to strengthen the grievance redressal channels and mechanisms. No data is available on how many grievances are received and solved by the local-level actors. Another significant concern is that administrative-level data does not reflect the reality on the ground. The JJM dashboard shows a 100 per cent tap water access for many villages and regions. However, it used outdated census data to elucidate the tap water access. The percentage of rural households has increased over the last 14 years, and with no official account, it is hard to make sense of whether households have tap access.
The JJM also requires material consideration of water, infrastructure, and households. Water has its own agency, and the flow and availability of water cannot be totally regulated. The concern of unpredictable climate, untimely precipitation, and surface and groundwater depletion has affected the water quality, quantity, and a timely and adequate drinking water supply. It is important to consider how an unpredictable variable like water could be managed efficiently in a closed drinking water system.
Similarly, different parts of the tap infrastructure, for example, pipes, taps, treatment plants, and water tanks, have a lifespan, and they degrade over time. The concerns of leakage, breakage, disruption, breakdown, and suspension are as important as other factors. An efficient tap water supply requires continuous repair and maintenance activities. While material degradation in the larger infrastructure is easily visible and can be repaired, attention to household-level repair and maintenance activities is required. One of the main reasons behind low tap water use is that rural households have marginal living conditions and low infrastructure management capabilities.
Finally, technical and material aspects of JJM must function in coherence with the social order. The JJM is designed to serve rural households at the ward level. Carefully considering how different caste groups are located at the ward and village levels is necessary for an efficient tap water installation and supply design. The location of the water tank and the location and distance of households from the tank play a crucial role in receiving adequate pressure. Moreover, including different caste groups in the local-level institutions (e.g., in the roles of plumber, pump operator, and engineers) is crucial for an efficient tap water supply and repair and maintenance activities.
Water sources like handpumps and open wells are already degrading and producing unsafe water quality. This again impacts people's health and livelihood conditions. With the increasing population and limited safe infrastructures, rural populations are once again stuck in water source precarity, dependency, and economic burden. The future of the Jal Jeevan Mission must entail these factors for an efficient supply system.
The writer is a scholar at Ambedkar University Delhi and works on Jal Jeevan Mission