(a) whether many villages in the country are still deprived of drinking water and they have to fetch it from far away places;
(b) if so, the details of such villages;
(c) whether the Government have formulated any scheme to provide drinking water to every citizen in the country; and
(d) if so, the details thereof and the time-frame by which this scheme is likely to be implemented across the country?
MINISTER OF STATE FOR DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION
(SHRI RAMESH CHANDAPPA JIGAJINAGI)
(a) & (b) Under centrally sponsored National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP), coverage of safe drinking water in rural areas is maintained in terms of Fully Covered habitations (i.e. getting more than 40 litre per capita per day (lpcd) safe drinking water), Partially Covered habitations (i.e. getting less than 40 lpcd safe drinking water) and Quality Affected habitations (i.e. water containing chemical contaminant) and not in terms of villages. As per the Census 2011, 22.1% of the rural households have to fetch drinking water from a distance of more than 500 meters in rural areas.However, as reported by States on Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) of the Ministry, 80.61% habitations are Fully Covered, 15.82% habitations are Partially Covered and 3.56% habitations where some source is contaminated with chemical contaminants. Further, 55.38% of rural population has been provided with piped water supply as on 03.02.2019.
(c) & (d) Rural drinking water supply is a state subject.It is the State Governments who plan, design, approve, execute and operate & maintain the schemes for providing safe drinking water to rural population. However, this Ministry provides technical and financial assistance to States under NRDWP for improving the coverage of safe drinking water in rural areas. Further, this Ministry has restructured NRDWP to make it more competitive, outcome based and result oriented wherein focus of the Ministry is on providing Piped Water Supply to every rural household which aimed to fulfill the commitment made by the country in the international forum while agreeing for UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)-2030.This Ministry has launched ‘Swajal’ programme, a community demand driven, single village, preferably Solar Powered piped water supply schemes in Aspirational districts identified byNational Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog which will help in increasing the outreach of drinking water in underserved rural areas.