The Central government has increased the grant-in-aid to Maharashtra under Jal Jeevan Mission to Rs 7,064.41 crore in FY22, which was Rs 1,828.92 crore in FY21. Union Minister, Jal Shakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, while approving this four-fold increase in allocation, assured full assistance to the State for making provision of tap water supply in every rural home by 2024. At the beginning of the Mission in 2019, out of a total of 19.20 crore rural households in the country, only 3.23 crore (17 per cent) had tap water supply. During the last 21 months, despite COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns disruptions, Jal Jeevan Mission, has been implemented with speed and 4.27 crore households have been provided with piped water connections. Goa, Telangana, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Puducherry have achieved 100 per cent household tap connection in rural areas and has become ‘Har Ghar Jal’. At present, in 62 districts and more than 92,000 villages, every household has tap water supply.
In Maharashtra, out of a total of 142 lakh rural households, 91.30 lakh households (64.14 per cent) have been provided with tap water connections. In FY22, the state has planned to provide tap water connections to 27.45 lakh households, 18.72 lakh tap water connections in FY23 and 5.14 lakh tap connections in FY24 to achieve tap water supply for every rural household. The water supply work to provide tap water connection has not yet started in 29,417 villages in Maharashtra. In 2020-21, Rs 1,828.92 crore Central grant was allocated to the state however it could not draw Rs 1,371.69 crore and surrendered this grant meant for tap water supply in rural areas of the state.