The Central Government’s grant to Odisha under the Jal Jeevan Mission in 2021-22 has been increased to Rs 3,323.42 crore from Rs 812.15 crore in 2020-21. At the start of the Mission in 2019, out of a total of 18.93 crore rural households in the country, only 3.23 crore (17 per cent) had tap water connections. During the last 22 months, despite the COVID-19 pandemic resulting into lockdowns and repeated disruptions, Jal Jeevan Mission has been implemented with speed and 4.5 crore households have been provided with tap water connections.
With the increase in coverage by 23.5 per cent, presently 7.69 crore (40.6 per cent) rural households across the country have tap water supply. Goa, Telangana, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Puducherry have achieved 100 per cent households with assured tap water supply and have become ‘Har Ghar Jal’. At present, in 69 districts and more than 99,000 villages, every household has tap water supply.
On 15 August 2019, at the time of the launch of Jal Jeevan Mission, only 3.10 lakh (3.63 per cent) households had tap water connections. Thus, in Odisha, out of a total of 85.66 lakh households, now 25.95 lakh households (30.3 per cent) have tap water supply. In 2021-22, the state has planned to provide tap water connections to 21.31 lakh households, 22.53 lakh tap water connections in the year 2022-23 and 18.87 lakh tap water connections in 2023-24 to achieve tap water supply for every rural household.
With unspent balance of Rs 10.93 crore and matching the state’s share of Rs 3,253 crore, in all Rs 6,596 crore is available for water supply work in the state in 2021-22. To enable PRIs to manage water supply and ensure improved sanitation in villages, in 2021-22, Rs 1,002 crore has been allocated to the state as 15th Finance Commission tied grant for water & sanitation to rural local bodies/PRIs. There is an assured funding of Rs 5,280 crore up to 2025-26. This huge investment in rural areas of Odisha will accelerate economic activities and also boost rural economy. It will create new employment opportunities in villages.
In the state, 25,820 schools (47 per cent) and 11,913 anganwadi centres (22 per cent) have been provided tap water connections. Out of a total of 77 laboratories, only six labs are NABL accredited. The state also needs to upgrade the water testing laboratories and securing NABL accreditation. These labs should be open to the public so that they can get their water samples tested at nominal cost.