In an effort to accelerate the pace of implementation of Jal Shakti Mission, the National Jal Jeevan Mission has urged Uttar Pradesh to take necessary measures to provide tap water supply to 78 lakh rural households in the state this year.

In Uttar Pradesh, there are 2.64 crore rural households in over 97,000 villages, out of which 34 lakh (12.87 per cent) households now have tap water supply.

"To accelerate the pace of JJM implementation, National Jal Jeevan Mission has urged the state to take necessary measures to provide tap water supply to 78 lakh rural households in the state this year, for which the state plans to start water supply works in more than 60,000 villages by December 2021," the Jal Shakti Ministry said in a statement.

With this year's central allocation of Rs 10,870 crore and an opening balance of Rs 466 crore available with the state government, the state's matching share of 2021-22 and shortfall in matching state share of previous years, the total assured fund available for the implementation of JJM in Uttar Pradesh is more than Rs 23,500 crore, it said.

"Thus, the government of India is ensuring that there is no paucity of funds for the implementation of this transformational mission in the state

As on date, 34 lakh (12.9 per cent) rural households out of 2.64 crore are getting tap water supply in their homes. In 2021-22, the state plans to provide tap water connections to 78 lakh households, the Jal Shakti Ministry said in a statement.

The State Level Scheme Sanctioning Committee (SLSSC) of Uttar Pradesh on November 11 approved proposals submitted by the state worth Rs 1,882 crore for making provision of tap water connections in rural areas. These schemes will cover a population of 39 lakh in 1,262 villages of 33 districts.

In the meeting, 735 schemes were approved by the committee. As per the approval, tap water connections will be provided to 4.03 lakh rural households of the state.

Under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), there is provision for constitution of State Level Scheme Sanctioning Committee (SLSSC) for consideration and approval of schemes to be taken up for making provision of tap water supply to rural households.

The SLSSC acts as a state-level committee to consider water supply schemes/ projects, and a nominee of the National Jal Jeevan Mission (NJJM), government of India, is a member of the committee.

"The National Jal Jeevan Mission, Ministry of Jal Shakti, has already released Rs 2,400 crore grant-in-aid to Uttar Pradesh during 2021-22. In 2019-20, central government had allocated Rs 1,206 crore to Uttar Pradesh for implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission, which was increased to Rs 2,571 crore in 2020-21. Union Minister, Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat while approving this four-fold increase in allocation in 2021-22, assured full assistance to the state for making provision of tap water supply in every rural home by 2024," the ministry said.