Govt spent ₹ 4,300 cr for safe drinking water for rural areas

Over 57,400 schemes are going on in different states to provide drinking water to the rural population and over ₹ 4,300 crores utilised for the purpose in 2015-16, the government said today.

Drinking Water and Sanitation Minister Narendra Singh Tomar informed Lok Sabha that ₹ 4,373 crores were allocated to states under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme in 2015-16, of which ₹ 4,369.55 crores has been utilised

Citing data, he said there are 57,489 ongoing schemes in different states to provide drinking water to the rural population as on August 8.

In Jammu & Kashmir, there are 1,838 ongoing rural drinking water supply schemes, he said during Question Hour.

Noting that drinking water and sanitation is a state subject, Tomar said the Centre's role is to provide technical and financial support to the states as well as monitor such programmes.

About Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin (SBM-G), Tomar said the programme aims at achieving Swachh Bharat by October 2, 2019, and focuses on behaviour change and community engagement.

In 2015-16, ₹ 6,525 crores were allocated for SBM-G and out of it, ₹ 6,524.52 crore has been utilised, he said.

"Since the launching of SBM-G on October 2, 2014, 212.98 lakh toilets have already been constructed till August 8. In addition to this, a total of 17 districts, 232 blocks, 32,395-gram panchayats and 72,727 villages have been declared Open Defecation Free," the Minister said.