(a) whether the tribals inhabiting forest land have to walk for many kilometers to fetch drinking water;
(b) if so, the reaction of the Government thereto; and
(c) the steps taken/being taken by the Government to ensure that drinking water is available for the tribals in their forest villages?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF TRIBAL AFFAIRS
(SHRI JASWANTSINH BHABHOR)
(a) to (c): Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS) has informed that as per Census 2011, the main source of drinking water from their houses for tribal population in the country as a whole is as below:
Total Rural Households of ST population No. of rural household of ST population having main drinking water source away from their house Percentage
2,01,87,856 73,44,686 36.38%
Under the Scheme ‘National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP), 10% of the total allocation of funds is earmarked to be used for the supply of drinking water to Scheduled Tribe (ST) dominated habitations. States have been directed to take special care for implementation of its scheme / programme in tribal areas and progress thereof is monitored through online integrated management information system(IMIS) of MDWS.
The status of availability of drinking water to tribal habitations is available in public domain at www.indiawater.gov.in/IMISReports/. As on 21.03.2018, there are 365050 Scheduled Tribe (ST) dominated habitations in the country, out of which 301858 (82.69%) habitations are fully covered with provision of safe drinking water supply and 53090 (14.54%) habitations are partially covered. State wise details is at Annexure.
In the year 2012-13 and 20 l 3-14, with the assistance of National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF) from the Ministry of Finance and NRDWP, I 1,000 Nos. of solar power based dual pump schemes have been installed in Left Wing Extremist / Naxal Affected States with a view to make available safe drinking water to small rural tribal habitations in these areas through taps. In the year 2015-16, another 5004 Nos. of solar power based dual pump schemes have been installed across the country with funding from NRDWP and assistance from Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). As per the re-structured NRDWP guidelines, the focus is mainly on providing piped water supply to rural population eventually by 2030 to honour the commitment made by the country in the international forum while agreeing for United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), 2030 in respect of all rural areas of the country including tribal habitations.
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Annexure
Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) to (c) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 4964 to be answered on 26.03.2018:
Status of ST dominated habitations with respect to Drinking Water supply as on date
S.No. State Total No of Habitations No of Fully Covered Habitations No of Partially Covered Habitations
Total Total Total
1 ANDAMAN and NICOBAR 91 41 50
2 ANDHRA PRADESH 9553 5854 3675
3 ARUNACHAL PRADESH 7158 2759 4377
4 ASSAM 17440 9123 5907
5 BIHAR 1835 975 788
6 CHATTISGARH 50743 47901 1984
7 GOA 50 50 0
8 GUJARAT 15400 15400 0
9 HIMACHAL PRADESH 3242 2755 487
10 JAMMU AND KASHMIR 2976 1579 1397
11 JHARKHAND 55533 53476 328
12 KARNATAKA 2547 1278 1207
13 KERALA 86 2 83
14 MADHYA PRADESH 55949 55770 19
15 MAHARASHTRA 17310 15346 1945
16 MANIPUR 3160 1813 1347
17 MEGHALAYA 10117 1741 8351
18 MIZORAM 730 466 264
19 NAGALAND 1428 663 736
20 ODISHA 57952 52427 4989
21 RAJASTHAN 21824 13665 6758
22 SIKKIM 816 395 421
23 TAMIL NADU 2707 2684 22
24 TELANGANA 9737 5649 3828
25 TRIPURA 5076 2477 995
26 UTTAR PRADESH 821 779 16
2 UTTARAKHAND 1244 508 736
28 WEST BENGAL 9525 6282 2380
Total 365050
301858
53090
Percentage 82.69% 14.54%