Question : REVIEW OF NRDWP

(a) the aims and objectives of theNational Rural Drinking Water Programme(NRDWP);

(b) whether the Government hasachieved the aims and objectives of the saidprogramme in the country, if so, the detailsthereof;

(c) the mechanism put in place to ensureproper utilisation of funds released underthe NRDWP; and

(d) whether the Government has madeany appraisal/review of the working of theNRDWP in terms of villages covered, costsincurred etc., if so, the details thereof andthe outcome of the last such appraisal/review?

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

(a) and (b) The aim of National Rural Drinking Water (NRDWP) is to provide safe and adequate drinking water to all , at all times, to rural population of the country. The objectives of the programme are:

(i) enable all households have access to and use safe and adequate drinking water and within reasonable distance.

(ii) provide drinking water facility , especially piped water supply , to Gram Panchayats that have achieved open defecation free status on priority basis.

(iii) ensure all government schools and anganwadis have access to safe drinking water .

(iv) provide access to information through online reporting mechanism with information placed in public domain to bring in transparency and informed decision making.

For this the Ministry under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) provides financial and technical assistance to States to supplement their efforts to provide adequate safe drinking water to the rural population. To achieve this goal the following timelines have been laid out.

By 2017:

Ensure that at least 50% of rural households are provided with piped water supply and at least 35% of rural households have piped water supply with a household connection.

By 2022:

Ensure that at least 90% of rural households are provided with piped water supply and at least 80% of rural households have piped water supply with a household connection.

The Ministry has taken all steps along with State Governments for achieving the targets as per above timelines.

(c) Under NRDWP, allocation of funds to the States is done at the beginning of every year on the basis of a pre approved criteria.The Ministry has an Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) in which the data relating to progress under various components of the programme including financial component are entered by the States . This enables the Ministry to monitor the progress of the programme on a continuous basis .

(d ) The Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation reviews the implementation of the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) periodically by conducting national and regional review meetings and video conferences with the State Department officers dealing with rural water supply. Senior Officers/ Technical Officers of the Ministry also visit the States to observe the progress of implementation of the programme. The data entered by the States on the IMIS , review meetings and visits provide information about the implementation of the Programme and enables the Government of India and State Governments to focus on the areas where progress is lacking.