JalJeevanSamvad-October-2023-en

About Dataset

Jal Jeevan Samvad – October 2023, 37th Edition is a monthly publication of the National Jal Jeevan Mission, Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India. The edition documents the progress, achievements, field experiences, innovations and technological interventions undertaken under the Jal Jeevan Mission to provide safe and adequate drinking water to rural households through Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs). A key focus of this edition is the achievement of approximately 70% rural household coverage through drinking-water tap connections. As on 31 October 2023, the publication reports 13.47 crore rural households with tap-water connections, compared with 3.23 crore at the launch of the Mission, and provides comparative FHTC coverage information for States/UTs. The Special Feature on Innovation and R&D, including the use of Technologies, presents the Mission's efforts to use technological solutions for water treatment, distribution, monitoring, quality assurance and sustainable water management. The issue reports that the Technical Committee chaired by the Principal Scientific Adviser had recommended 34 innovative projects—26 relating to water and 8 to sanitation—and approved 8 R&D projects over eight rounds of meetings. The edition also highlights the role of the Rural WASH Partners' Forum (RWPF) in bringing together development and sector partners, including UN agencies, NGOs and civil society organisations, to support States/UTs in WASH-related activities. The Forum aims to promote collaboration, innovation, knowledge sharing, capacity building and behavioural change in the WASH sector. Several technology-driven initiatives and case studies are featured, including the OurWater Bot for citizen access to water-quality information, digital monitoring and grievance redressal, remote monitoring devices for rural water security, and spring-data monitoring in the Himalayan region. The OurWater Bot is presented as a mechanism for enabling citizens to access location-specific water-quality information and strengthening community participation in water-quality management. The publication further discusses community-led water-quality and sanitation initiatives, particularly the Community Led Action for Sanitary Surveillance (CLASS), which uses sanitary surveys, water-quality testing, disease mapping and behavioural interventions to encourage communities to take greater responsibility for safe water and sanitation. The issue also records field activities, review meetings, Jal Jeevan Survekshan, and visits by National WASH Experts. During October 2023, WASH expert teams visited 273 villages across 13 States to assess the quality of completed and ongoing works and provide recommendations for improvement.