Image is for representational purposes only. | Photo credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
Almost 98% of rural households covered by the Har Ghar Jal scheme now have water taps, but the numbers are significantly lower when it comes to the use and reliability of these taps, according to a regular survey of public satisfaction with the system commissioned by the Jal Shakti Ministry.
The survey called Assessment of the functionality of household water connections was carried out in 2024 by the private company IPSOS. This is the third regular evaluation of the program, which actually started in 2020, and includes a detailed survey of a small fraction – 2.37 million households – of the 19.3 million rural households covered by the program across India.
The Har Ghar Jal program aims to provide 55 liters of drinking water per person per day. With the exception of Tripura (43%), the vast majority of states reported more than 85% satisfaction with water quality.
Lower water flow, quality
Almost all, or 98%, of the households in the sample reported that water was “available”, meaning that they had a tap to receive water. However, only 83% reported that they actually got water from this faucet at least once in the seven days prior to the survey. Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and several Union Territories reported over 97% availability, while Bihar (61%), Uttar Pradesh (72%) and Nagaland (74%) were at the bottom.
Only 80% of households reported receiving the sanctioned minimum of 55 liters of water, with Sikkim (24%) and Gujarat (58%) reporting the lowest rate of any state. When tested for E. coli, total coliform bacteria and water pH levels, only 76% of households met the qualifying criteria. Thus, an assessment of the overall functionality of the program, looking at regularity, accessibility and cleanliness, showed that only 76% of households benefited from the program as intended, the report highlighted.
An important caveat is that the current edition of the survey surveyed only villages that are certified as “Har Ghar Jal” villages, meaning that the state administration reported that all households, anganwadis and administrative buildings in these 19,812 villages were supplied with tap water. According to the official panel of the system, there are about 2.72 million HGJ villages in India out of a total of 5.8 million villages.
‘Not comparable’
In the previous such assessment in 2022, 2.98 lakh households in 13,303 villages were selected; of which 40% or 5,298 were Har Ghar Jal (HGJ) villages. “This report is not directly comparable to previous rounds of functional evaluation due to various methodological, temporal and environmental circumstances that may have been encountered on site,” the Jal Shakti Ministry said in a statement.
In the 2022 assessment, 83% of households reported satisfaction with the regularity of deliveries; 91% were found to have a working tap connection on the day of the survey; 88% received the prescribed supply and 69% had fully functional tap connections. According to the budget presented in February 2025, the ministry had set out to spend ₹70,000 crore on the program from March 2024 to March 2025, but as of February, it is expected to spend only ₹22,694 crore to March 2025. Updated figures are expected in next week’s upcoming budget.
The scheme initially targeted 100% coverage and functionality by 2024, but has now been extended to 2028. With around 81% coverage as per the latest estimates, the remaining 20% requires nearly ₹4 lakh crore, almost as much as the ₹3.6 lakh crore that has been spent since 2019, officials told The Hindu at last.
Published – 30 Jan 2026 22:00 IST
