Jaipur: Rajasthan continues to lag the national average in rural tap water coverage nearly seven years after the launch of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), with only 59.11% of rural households having functional tap water connections compared with the national average of 82.09%, Centre informed Parliament.Replying to a question by BJP Rajya Sabha MP Satish Poonia, the Union ministry of Jal Shakti said on July 29 that 63.64 lakh of Rajasthan’s 107.66 lakh rural households had tap water connections as of July 18, 2026. The Centre has tentatively allocated Rs 4,503.18 crore to the state under the revamped Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) 2.0 for 2026-27.When the mission was launched in Aug 2019, only 11.74 lakh rural households in Rajasthan, or 10.91%, had tap water connections. Since then, the state has added nearly 52 lakh household connections.Nationally, more than 12.66 crore new tap water connections have been provided under the mission, taking coverage to 15.89 crore of the country’s 19.36 crore rural households.The ministry said the Union Cabinet earlier this year approved the extension of the mission till Dec 2028, increasing the programme’s total outlay from Rs 3.60 lakh crore to Rs 8.69 lakh crore. The Centre’s share has been enhanced from Rs 2.08 lakh crore to Rs 3.59 lakh crore.According to the ministry, JJM 2.0 aims to provide tap water connections to the remaining households, achieve saturation through last-mile connectivity, support the operation and maintenance of rural water supply schemes, and strengthen source sustainability.The Centre also said the operation and maintenance of rural water supply schemes remain the responsibility of state govts. It added that Village Water and Sanitation Committees (VWSCs), or Pani Samitis, have been empowered to manage village-level water supply systems, while Village Action Plans are being prepared to ensure long-term drinking water security.
