The Crossbill News Desk
The Centre has halted further federal funding for the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), the flagship Bharatiya Janata Party programme aimed at providing tap water connections to rural households, and has asked states to complete the remaining work using their own financial resources.
The government disclosed this in the Rajya Sabha on Monday (February 2).
Launched in 2019, the Jal Jeevan Mission set out to provide tap water connections to all of India’s 193.5 million rural households by the end of 2024. The deadline was later extended till December 2028.
However, in a written reply to a question from Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh, Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil said further release of funds was linked to states addressing deficiencies in implementation and resolving pending complaints.
The minister’s response came a day after another death was reported in Indore’s contaminated water crisis, pushing the official death toll to 32 after more than a month of illness among residents.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court, which is hearing the matter, has sought an explanation from the state government on how the contamination had “become so severe” that it led to fatalities. While the state government told the court that only 16 deaths were directly caused by contaminated water and others were due to different medical reasons—placing the official count at 23—the court has questioned the discrepancy and asked for clarity.
Data on the Jal Jeevan Mission’s impact shows that significant gaps remain. According to a Hindustan Times report, the programme’s dashboard indicates that 157.9 million rural households, or 81.5% of the target, have been provided with functional tap water connections.
This figure includes 16.72% of households that already had some form of tap water supply when the mission was launched. At the same time, 35.64 million rural households are still outside the scheme’s coverage, even as access to clean drinking water remains a key requirement for achieving universal water security.
In response to a separate question by Trinamool Congress MP Sushmita Dev, Minister of State for Jal Shakti V. Somanna said the Centre had already exhausted almost the entire approved federal outlay of Rs 2.08 lakh crore sanctioned at the time of the scheme’s launch.
“As such, no amount has been allocated to any State/UT, including Assam, in 2025-26. Additionally, water being a state subject, states have been advised to continue the implementation of ongoing works from their own resources,” the minister said in his written reply.
Somanna also stated that no funds had been allocated to states in the current financial year, even though the Union Budget provides for the continuation of the Jal Jeevan Mission till December 2028.
According to The Telegraph, the 2025–26 Budget had initially proposed an outlay of Rs 66,770 crore for the scheme, but the revised estimate cut this sharply by nearly 75% to Rs 16,944 crore. In 2023–24, the scheme had received a budget estimate of Rs 70,162 crore, later revised down to Rs 22,694 crore. For 2026–27, the government has proposed an allocation of Rs 67,363 crore.
The Hindustan Times report further noted that allocations in the previous two years were meant entirely for revenue expenditure, such as salaries and maintenance, with no provision for capital expenditure.
As a result, the mission—which depends heavily on large-scale infrastructure works such as connecting reservoirs to village tanks—has effectively received no funding for the creation of new assets.
The government disclosed this in the Rajya Sabha on Monday (February 2).
Launched in 2019, the Jal Jeevan Mission set out to provide tap water connections to all of India’s 193.5 million rural households by the end of 2024. The deadline was later extended till December 2028.
However, in a written reply to a question from Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh, Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil said further release of funds was linked to states addressing deficiencies in implementation and resolving pending complaints.
The minister’s response came a day after another death was reported in Indore’s contaminated water crisis, pushing the official death toll to 32 after more than a month of illness among residents.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court, which is hearing the matter, has sought an explanation from the state government on how the contamination had “become so severe” that it led to fatalities. While the state government told the court that only 16 deaths were directly caused by contaminated water and others were due to different medical reasons—placing the official count at 23—the court has questioned the discrepancy and asked for clarity.
Data on the Jal Jeevan Mission’s impact shows that significant gaps remain. According to a Hindustan Times report, the programme’s dashboard indicates that 157.9 million rural households, or 81.5% of the target, have been provided with functional tap water connections.
This figure includes 16.72% of households that already had some form of tap water supply when the mission was launched. At the same time, 35.64 million rural households are still outside the scheme’s coverage, even as access to clean drinking water remains a key requirement for achieving universal water security.
In response to a separate question by Trinamool Congress MP Sushmita Dev, Minister of State for Jal Shakti V. Somanna said the Centre had already exhausted almost the entire approved federal outlay of Rs 2.08 lakh crore sanctioned at the time of the scheme’s launch.
“As such, no amount has been allocated to any State/UT, including Assam, in 2025-26. Additionally, water being a state subject, states have been advised to continue the implementation of ongoing works from their own resources,” the minister said in his written reply.
Somanna also stated that no funds had been allocated to states in the current financial year, even though the Union Budget provides for the continuation of the Jal Jeevan Mission till December 2028.
According to The Telegraph, the 2025–26 Budget had initially proposed an outlay of Rs 66,770 crore for the scheme, but the revised estimate cut this sharply by nearly 75% to Rs 16,944 crore. In 2023–24, the scheme had received a budget estimate of Rs 70,162 crore, later revised down to Rs 22,694 crore. For 2026–27, the government has proposed an allocation of Rs 67,363 crore.
The Hindustan Times report further noted that allocations in the previous two years were meant entirely for revenue expenditure, such as salaries and maintenance, with no provision for capital expenditure.
As a result, the mission—which depends heavily on large-scale infrastructure works such as connecting reservoirs to village tanks—has effectively received no funding for the creation of new assets.
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