The expenditure secretary-led panel proposes a 46% cut in the centre’s funding assistance to the Jal Shakti ministry. This comes after some states might have approved inflated work contracts to provide tapwater connections to rural households under the Jan Jeevan Mission for four years ending December 2028.

The estimated gap of ₹1.25 crore between the budget approved by the centre and the demand of the state might fall on the state itself, which may eventually approach the union government. 

Budget Cut

The Jal Jeevan Mission was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15, 2019. The Mission aims to provide tapwater connections to about 16 crore rural households to achieve saturation coverage by December 2024. However, only 75% of the target could be achieved over the last five years, and the remaining four crore tap connections are being proposed by elongation the mission by four years till December 31, 2028.

The initial demand of the Jal Jeevan ministry to complete the project was ₹ 2.79 lakh crore from the centre. But the expenditure finance committee (EFC), responsible for appraising projects valued over ₹500 crore, recommended only ₹1.51 lakh crore, reducing the mission’s overall layout by ₹41,000 crore. The budget has now been reduced from ₹9.10, sought by the Jal Ministry, to ₹8.69.