(a) whether there are several households in the country who do not have access to any source of drinking water within the vicinity of one kilometer area;
(b) if so, the details thereof, State-wise along with the reasons therefor; and
(c) the steps taken or proposed to be taken for providing safe drinking water to each and every household?
MINISTER OF STATE FOR DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION
(SHRI S.S.AHLUWALIA)
(a) & (b)Rural drinking water supply is a state subject. This Ministry maintains information of coverage of drinking water in terms of rural habitations and not in terms of households. 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.
Under National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP), this Ministry provides technical & financial assistance to states to improve the coverage of safe drinking water in rural areas. The responsibility of implementation & execution of various water supply schemes under the programme lies with the State. As per the information furnished by the State on Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) of the Ministry,77.50% of total rural habitations is getting more than 40 litres per capita per day (lpcd) safe drinking water, 18.31 % of total rural habitations is being provided less than the norm of 40 lpcd and 4.19 % of rural habitations do not have access to safe drinking water. Thus about 22.50 % of rural population is facing scarcity of drinking water. The state-wise details of coverage of rural habitations as on 04.02.2018 are at Annexure.
(c)As a long term solution, this Ministry has directed the States to cover the rural households with Piped Water Supply with sustainable safe source. To achieve this, the States have been advised to pool more funds from State plan in view of the enhanced devolution of funds under the 14th Finance Commission and to arrange external assistance or loan from lending institutions over and above the funding from the Ministry under National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP). Moreover,The Ministry has chalked out a strategic goal 2017-2030, wherein theMinistry aims to achieve ‘HarGhar Jal’ by 2030 i.e. providing safe & adequate drinking water to each rural household through coordinated efforts of the State Governments. The goal is to provide coverage of rural population with pipe water supply and household connection ultimately by 2030 to honour the commitment made by the country in the international forum while agreeing for UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)-2030. Further, the Ministry has restructured National Rural Drinking Water Program (NRDWP) to make it competitive, outcome based and result oriented which will help in attaining the ultimate goal.