Page 15 - NIS English 16-31 August 2023

Empowering Rural India Cover Story

Jal Jeevan Mission: Women get unique gifts

Raunak Jahan, a resident of Ramgarh in Jharkhand, said,
"We have been facing drinking water problems for a long
time. Since the tap has been installed, life has become
easier, and time is also being saved". Janki Devi of
Gorakhpur says, "The problem used to increase during the
rains as it was difficult to fetch water from a distance, and
sometimes there were injuries".
9.41 crore connections were

made in 46 months after
the launch of the mission.

n In 2019, about 3.24 crore households had connections,
which increased to 12.67 crore in 2023, i.e., 65 percent
of the 100 households have started getting tap water.
The target is to provide tap water to all 19.46 crore
households by 2024.
n A total of Rs 4 lakh crore will be spent on the Jal Jeevan
Mission. Rs 5500 crore was given in 2019 budget, which
became 70,000 crore in 2023.

Recent World Health
Organization (WHO) Report says

n Provision of safe managed drinking water would prevent about
4 lakh deaths due to diarrheal diseases across the country.
n Universal coverage of safely managed drinking water is
estimated to avert about 1.4 crore disability adjusted life years
with a potential savings of Rs 8.2 lakh crore.
n If tap water is made available to every household, 6.66 crore
hours of time spent in collecting water will be saved daily.

of better sources of clean drinking water, and the
benefits of health insurance schemes. Women's
empowerment has also gained traction. Women's
participation in domestic decision-making is clearly
visible. The women have their own bank accounts Our government also opened the vault for
and use mobile phones. the development of villages. The residents of
The majority of the indicators relating to rural the village are my brothers and sisters. Our
women's health and children indicate a positive government started the Har Ghar Jal Yojana
change in their lives. These figures reflect for the rural people. Due to this scheme
steady, moderate-paced progress in rural living in just 3-4 years, more than 9 crore rural
standards. Villages also participate in the rapid
development journey, so modern infrastructure has families of the country have started
also been developed in the villages. All-weather getting tap water at home.
roads have become a witness to development
due to the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. -Narendra Modi, Prime Minister

New India Samachar August 16-31, 2023 13