Tap water for all to end social divide: PM Modi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 19

Close on the heels of a Dalit boy’s tragic death in Rajasthan’s Jalore after he drank water from a pot meant for his teacher, PM Narendra Modi on Friday said the supply of piped drinking water to rural households under the Conserve Water Mission would end the scope of discrimination, besides benefitting women and girls by saving the time they spend on procuring water from external sources.

Total rural households as on Aug 17 19,14,45,289

Rural households with taps 10,03,34,920

Coverage in % 52.41

He was speaking at a virtual event to mark Goa’s achievement as India’s first Har Ghar Jal-certified state. Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli were earlier certified Har Ghar Jal UTs with all rural households linked to piped water supply.

Technology shakti

Jan shakti, nari shakti and technology shakti are powering India’s Jal Jeevan Mission campaign. Narendra Modi, PM

The PM said today that 10.03 crore rural households out of 19.14 crore had now been linked to clean piped water.

“Once all rural houses have piped water connections and saturation is reached, the scope of discrimination and favouritism will end,” he said.

The PM dished out data saying in the past three years, seven crore rural households had received tap water connections, which was more than double of three crore in the seven decades since Independence.

“The success of the Jal Jeevan Mission rests on four pillars — people’s participation, collaboration, political will and optimum use of resources,” the PM said. Describing water scarcity as a challenge to India’s development as well as a global issue, the PM said the government had set up a dedicated Jal Shakti Ministry to ensure water security, with women and girls at its centre.

“For the first seven decades after freedom, 16 crore rural households had to depend on external sources for water. We could not have allowed such a large proportion of villagers to continue waging a daily struggle for something as basic as water. Women and girls will benefit the most when all houses in villages get tap water,” the PM said, exuding the confidence of 100 per cent linkage under the mission progressing with an outlay of Rs 3,60,000 crore. He described the mission as a fine example of Mahatma Gandhi’s Gram Swaraj dream.

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