Cabinet clears ₹8.69 lakh crore for Jal Jeevan Mission

THe unification locker chaired by undercoat government minister Narendra Modi on mon approved a restructuring of the Jal Jeevan Mission, the Centre’s rural drinking water scheme, which in its next phase will focus on verifiable last-mile delivery rather than infrastructure creation alone, according to an official statement.The programme, dubbed Jal Jeevan Mission 2.0, will introduce structural changes including a uniform national digital framework aimed at improving governance and transparency.The Cabinet approved an overall outlay of ₹8.69 lakh crore for the programme, including a central share of ₹3.59 lakh crore, up from ₹2.08 lakh crore approved when the scheme was launched in 2019-20.The scheme aimed to provide functional tap water connections to all of India’s 193.5 million rural households by the end of 2024. According to the programme’s dashboard, 158.2 million households, or 81.5% of the total, currently have a functional tap connection. The baseline coverage was about 16.72% when the mission was launched.The programme was extended until December 2028 last year. However, during 2025-26, the Centre curtailed fund releases to state governments under the scheme amid concerns over poor service and irregularities. The Union Budget for FY26 had allocated ₹67,000 crore for the programme, but this was reduced to ₹17,000 crore in the revised estimates.The revamped scheme is expected to kick off work to link remaining households amid tighter scrutiny with information technology tools. “The restructuring will focus on transparency in the execution of work and will put in place a locally accountable governance model,” an official said, requesting anonymity.The restructured mission will switch from an infrastructure-centric approach to one of sustainable service delivery and strong institutional accountability, the statement said. For effective governance, the Jal Shakti ministry will launch a national digital framework called Sujalam Bharat, under which every village will be tagged with a unique service area ID.The digital system will allow precise mapping of the entire length of a water supply system, from source to household. “For ensuring transparency and accountability, the involvement of Gaon Panchayats and Village Water and Sanitation Committees in the commissioning and formal handover of schemes through Jal Arpan,” the Cabinet statement said.For locally accountable governance of the programme, which involves large water engineering projects, a Gram Panchayat shall certify completion of works and declare itself “Har Ghar Jal” only after “confirmation that adequate in-village operation and maintenance mechanisms have been established by the state government”, an official said.Community ownership and participation are critical for operational efficiency and source sustainability, the statement said, for which community-led maintenance and review events will be held, “integrating local cultural ethos”, according to the statement.Estimates cited by the government and attributed to the World Health Organisation suggest that improved access to water under the programme has saved women about 50.5 million hours of labour daily and could help prevent up to 400,000 diarrhoeal deaths.