A third of villages in the country do not have piped water supply infrastructure (infra). Another third has the infra, but tap water to households remains a pipe dream.

       The government has promised to plumb in Rs 50,000 crore this year on the rural drinking water scheme. With close to 111 million homes still thirsty for tap water, the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) needs to expedite its implementation if the target of 100-per cent tap water connections to parched rural households has to be met in the next three years. The speed of implementation needs to be better than 2020-21 (FY21) - a ...