Question : Accessibility to Drinking Water

(a) whether the Government has reviewed the performance of drinking water schemes and if so, the details and the outcome thereof;
(b) whether the Government has conducted any survey regarding funds required for various States/Union Territories including Andhra Pradesh to provide safe drinking water for all, and if so, the details and the findings thereof;
(c) the details of the funds released and utilised under Drinking Water and Sanitation Schemes during each of the last three years and the current year, States / UT-wise;
(d) whether some State Governments / UTs have not fully utilised the funds provided under the drinking water and sanitation schemes during the last three years and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
(e) whether there is any penal provision for under-utilisation of the funds under these schemes;
(f) if so, the details thereof and the other steps taken by the Government in this regard; and
(g) whether the Government proposes to undertake drinking water projects under Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode and if so, the details thereof?

MINISTER OF STATE FOR DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION
(SHRI RAM KRIPAL YADAV)

(a) Yes Madam. The Government has reviewed the performance of rural drinking water schemes in a meeting held with State Secretaries and Ministers on 3rd of February, 2016. The progress of the various schemes under National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) has been reviewed and the issues raised by the States have been discussed. The major outcome of the meeting is as under:
• The States were advised to encourage the conjunctive use of ground water, surface-water and rainwater in order to reduce over-dependence on groundwater based drinking water sources and as a sustainable long-term measure to provide safe drinking water.
• States were advised to provide Community Water Purifying Plants as a short term immediate solution in Quality Affected habitationsespecially in arsenic and fluoride affected areas.
• Stressed the need of prioritizing coverage of quality affected habitations and partially covered habitationswith drinking water supply of less than 40 Liter Per Capita per Day (LPCD).
• The States were advised to accord priority to Piped Water Supply Schemes.
• States were advised to accord priority for coverage of habitations with Piped Water Supply of at least 40 LPCD coming under the Gram Panchayats selected under Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY).
• States were advised to accelerate the implementation of Solar Powered Piped Water Supply scheme planned with assistance of National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF) and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) especially in remote areas where there is no access to or erratic supply of the electricity.
• States were advised to encourage people of the habitations covered with Piped Water Supply to take household connections through extensive information, education and communication.
• States were advised to accelerate utilization of funds under NRDWP.

(b) No survey regarding funds required for various States/Union Territories has been conducted. The allocation under NRDWP is made as per pre-approved criteria as envisaged in the NRDWP guidelines.

(c) The details of funds released and utilization / expenditure of States under NRDWP as reported by States into Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) is at Annexure –I.
State/UT-wise Central share released and utilised during last three years and current year as on 7-3-2016 under Sanitation Schemes is at Annexure-II.

(d) Under NRDWP, the second installment of funds is released to States on receipt of the Utilization Certificate of the funds utilized by the States. It has been observed thatsome of the States have claimed their second installment in the fag end of the financial year and could not utilize the fund within that year. The details of the funds allocated to and utilized by the States is at Annexure-III.
For Sanitation schemes State governments/UTs require some funds as working capital and therefore, some fund remains at the closing of year at the district/State level. Sometimes, this balance fund remains due to inadequate implementation capacities at the grass root level.

(e) and (f) While releasing the 1st instalment, in consonance with the requirement of observance of discipline in fiscal transfer to States as per OM dated 13thMay, 2012 of the Ministry of Finance,Department of Expenditure, the opening balance in excess of 10% of the release in the previous year will be subsumed in the first instalment. Balance of first Installment may be released upon utilization of 60% of the available fund. In various review meetings held with States, the Government is encouraging the States to accelerate utilization of funds under NRDWP.
Under Swachh Bharat Mission(Gramin) {SBM(G)}, the first installment of fund release is reduced by the amount of opening balance/unspent balance in excess of 10% of the previous year’s release to the State. After the launch of Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) on 02.10.2014, the monitoring has been strengthened to ensure better financial discipline. Close coordination with States is being done to help the States address various challenges that constrain efficient utilization of funds.


(g) Rural drinking water supply is a State subject. This Ministry supplements the efforts of the States by providing them with technical & financial assistance under the centrally sponsored NRDWP for providing safe & adequate drinking water facilities in rural areas of the country.The States are vested with powers to select, plan, approve and implement drinking water supply schemes. As of now, this Ministry has not undertaken any drinking water projects under Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.