Question : New Rural Piped Water Supply Scheme

(a) whether the Government has taken a decision to approve the New Rural Piped Supply scheme during this financial year only for the villages identified under the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana and the villages affected from fluoride, arsenic and heavy metals under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme and if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether the Government has fixed a target for providing piped water supply to 50% rural households by the end of 2017 and to 90% rural households by the year 2020 and if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether it would not be possible for the Government to achieve this target in the absence of approval of the said scheme in State of Chhattisgarh and if so, the details thereof;
(d) whether any proposal has been received for providing special status to the State of Chhattisgarh; and
(e) if so, whether any relaxation is proposed to be provided to Chhattisgarh in regard to the approval of the scheme and if not, the reasons therefor?

MINISTER OF STATE FOR DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION
(SHRI RAMESH CHANDAPPA JIGAJINAGI)

(a) The focus of the Ministry currently is early completion of all ongoing rural drinking water supply scheme so that more rural population is provided with safe drinking water supply. As such, the Ministry has directed all the State Governments not to take up new schemes till the completion of all ongoing schemes with some exceptions like for coverage of Arsenic / Fluoride affected habitations and Piped Water Supply Schemes for Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) Gram Panchayats (GPs) / schemes for Verified Open Defecation Free (ODF) villages
Further, this Ministry has instructed the States to use the release from the Ministry to complete the schemes which are at advanced stages of completion in the following order:
o 100 % physically completed but financially incomplete
o More than 75 % but less than 100 % physically complete
o More than 50 % but less than 75 % physically complete
o More than 25 % but less than 50 % physically complete
For the schemes which are less than 25 % completed, State needs to complete them from their own budget.
Once the schemes are completed in said order as above, then the States can take up new scheme under NRDWP.

(b) The Ministry under its Strategic Plan for the period 2011-2022, which stresses on extending the piped water supply to more households in the rural areas of the country under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP), a target of coverage of 90% of rural households has been fixed at by 2022 with an interim target of 50% by 2017. As per information entered by States on the Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) of this Ministry, as on 30.03.2017, 53.80% of rural population have been covered with Piped Water Supply.

(c) This Ministry has directed States including Chhattisgarh to first complete ongoing schemes. However, they make take new schemes for cases like Arsenic / Fluoride affected habitations, Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) villages and Verified Open Defecation Free (ODF) villages. And once a State has left with no ongoing schemes, then they can undertake new schemes for other cases as well.

(d) & (e) No proposal from the State Government of Chhattisgarh seeking special status has been received in this Ministry. Moreover, under NRDWP, there is no such provision of granting special status to any State.