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Current Affairs 2023

Jal Jeevan Mission - UPSC Current Affairs

Jal Jeevan Mission aims to provide every rural household with drinking water supply of adequate quality at affordable prices, leading to improved living standards for rural communities. It focuses on planning, infrastructure development, community participation, and capacity building.

Jan 26, 2023

2 min read

Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) is a government initiative aimed at providing every rural household in India with regular and long-term access to adequate and prescribed quality drinking water supply at affordable service charges. The mission's vision is to improve the living standards of rural communities by providing them with potable drinking water security on a long-term basis.

The mission's objectives include providing Functional Tap Connections (FTCs) to every rural household, prioritizing the provision of FTCs in quality-affected areas, villages in drought-prone and desert areas, and Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) villages. JJM also aims to provide functional tap connections to schools, Anganwadi centers, GP buildings, health centers, wellness centers, and community buildings.

JJM is designed to assist and empower states and Union Territories (UTs) in planning and creating water supply infrastructure, as well as promoting utility approach, capacity building, and awareness in the communities. The mission also includes the provision and mobilization of financial assistance to states and UTs for the implementation of the mission.

The components supported under JJM include the development of in-village piped water supply infrastructure to provide tap water connections to every rural household, the development of reliable drinking water sources and/or augmentation of existing sources to provide long-term sustainability of water supply systems, and technological interventions for removal of contaminants where water quality is an issue.

The mission also includes retrofitting of completed and ongoing schemes to provide FTCs at a minimum service level of 55 lpcd, greywater management, and support activities such as IEC, HRD, training, development of utilities, water quality laboratories, water quality testing and surveillance, R&D, knowledge center, capacity building of communities, etc.

In summary, Jal Jeevan Mission is a comprehensive and ambitious initiative aimed at providing every rural household in India with safe and reliable drinking water, which is essential for improving the quality of life of rural communities. The mission's goal is to ensure that every rural household has a functional tap connection by 2024, and that the water supply infrastructure is robust, sustainable, and managed by the local communities.

Based on inputs from Jal Jeevan Mission portal