As flagship scheme for tap water connection in each home picks up pace, states’ utilisation of funds up too, expecting over Rs 45,000 crore in budget, says drinking water secretary.

With assurance from the central government that there will be no dearth of funds for its flagship ‘Har Ghar Jal’ scheme, the Jal Shakti ministry is pushing states to step up their infrastructure to provide a functional tap water connection to every rural household by end-2024, Vini Mahajan, secretary, department of drinking water and sanitation (DDWS), told ThePrint in an interview. 

Former Punjab chief secretary Mahajan was appointed secretary in the DDWS, which is piloting the drinking water scheme, a month ago (December 2021).

“The Centre has told us that there is no dearth of funds for a high priority scheme like Nal Se Jal. We are expecting around Rs 45,000-50,000 crore for the scheme in the 2022-23 budget. A similar allocation was made in the 2021-22 fiscal also, which has been almost utilised,” Mahajan said. 

Besides the budgetary allocation, the 15th Finance Commission has tied grants of Rs 1.42 lakh crore to gram panchayats to provide tap water connection and sanitation facilities in villages from 2021-22 to 2025-26. 

Of the Rs 3.6 lakh crore earmarked for the ‘Nal Se Jal’ scheme for five years starting 2019, 50 per cent will be the central government’s share, while the states will bear the remaining 50 per cent. For union territories, the central government will provide 100 per cent funding.

“As the scheme is picking up pace, the states’ appetite for utilising the budget is also showing an uptick. The states are recognising the felt need of rural households who still do not have tap water inside their houses. Besides, the scheme also positively impacts the health of the rural population,” Mahajan said.