The Centre on Thursday released the list of Har Ghar Jal certified states to declare that the state of Goa had topped the list with every household there having access to clean water through taps. Along with this, the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli has become the first ‘Har Ghar Jal’ certified UT.
According to reports, the people from the state and the UT have passed a resolution and have declared their village as ‘Har Ghar Jal’. The Ministry said the villages have claimed that all the houses within have access to clean and safe tap water, ensuring that no one is left out. “All 2.63 lakh rural households of Goa and 85,156 of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu have access to potable water through tap connections”, the Ministry said.
The Jal Jeevan Mission, a flagship program of the Centre, was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15, 2019. The mission’s goal is to offer enough potable tap water supply to every rural family in the country by 2024. The Centre is implementing the initiative in collaboration with the states and UTs.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the initiative on Friday and said that around 10 crore rural households in India have access to clean water through pipes with around 7 crore rural families getting connected in the last three years. “This is among the biggest success of the central government’s campaign to deliver water to each house”, he said while virtually addressing the Har Ghar Jal Utsav being held in Goa.
“This is no ordinary achievement. In 7 decades of Independence, only 3 crore rural households in the country had piped water facilities”, PM said. He further highlighted three important milestones related to the huge goal that India is working on in Amritkaal. He stated that 10 crore houses getting access to clean tap water was a great example of Sabka Prayas.
He congratulated the state of Goa and UT of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu and said that every rural household in the country will get a potable tap water supply by 2024. The Prime Minister meanwhile mentioned the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan as the country’s third achievement. “A few years ago, the country was certified open defecation free. Thanks to the efforts of all citizens. Following this, we determined to establish village ODF plus. In this sense, the country has also reached significant accomplishments. More than one lakh villages in various parts of the country are now ODF plus”, he noted.
According to government data released yesterday, following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas our Sabka Prayas’, more than 52% of rural households across the country are now linked to clean water supplying taps, up from 17% when the transformational mission was launched on August 15, 2019.