Six Northeast States, Including Assam, Pledge Tap Water for All Rural Households by 2026

Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura have committed to providing tap water connections to all rural households by March 2026, joining 15 other states and Union Territories in this assurance to the Union Jal Shakti Ministry. The initiative is part of the government’s ongoing efforts to expand the reach of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), which aims to provide potable tap water to every rural household in the country.

According to the Jal Shakti Ministry, Assam has made significant progress, with 81.32% of its 72.25 lakh rural households (58.76 lakh households) already having access to tap water. The state government has assured that the remaining 13.49 lakh rural households will receive tap water connections by March 2026. In Manipur, where there are 4.52 lakh rural households, 79.59% (3.59 lakh households) have been provided tap water, and 0.92 lakh households will be connected by next March. In Meghalaya, 81.76% of its 6.51 lakh rural households (5.32 lakh households) have been provided with tap water connections by February this year, with the remaining 1.19 lakh households expected to receive connections by next March.

Nagaland has made considerable progress, with 92.69% of its 3.64 lakh rural households (3.37 lakh households) already connected to tap water by February. Only 0.27 lakh households are left to be connected by March 2026. In Tripura, 84.95% of its 7.51 lakh rural households (6.38 lakh households) have been given tap water connections. The state is working on providing the remaining connections within the set timeframe.

While significant progress has been made, the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission faces several challenges. Officials cited factors such as the long gestation period for multi-village water supply schemes, a lack of dependable groundwater sources in drought-prone and desert areas, geogenic contamination, and difficult terrain in hilly and forested areas as hurdles to completing the project on time. Additionally, some states have faced delays in obtaining clearances from nodal agencies and securing matching state funding, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent nationwide lockdown, which slowed the pace of execution.

The Jal Jeevan Mission, launched on August 15, 2019, aims to provide tap water connections to rural households in collaboration with state governments. The total estimated outlay for the mission is Rs 3.60 lakh crore, with the central government contributing Rs 2.08 lakh crore over a period of five years. At the time of the JJM's announcement, only 17% (3.23 crore) of rural households had access to tap water connections. Since then, significant progress has been made, with over 12.19 crore rural households gaining access to tap water.

Currently, out of more than 19.36 crore rural households across the country, approximately 15.45 crore (79.81%) now have potable tap water in their homes. The Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget speech for 2025-26, extended the Jal Jeevan Mission till 2028 to ensure that the remaining rural households are connected with clean and safe tap water by the revised deadline. This extension reflects the government's commitment to fulfilling the JJM's goal of providing sustainable access to drinking water for all rural households in India.