Swajal Guidelines- 2018

About Dataset

Swajal: A Community Led Approach to Rural Drinking Water Supply—Guidelines is a 2018 document issued by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Government of India, under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP). It provides the policy and operational framework for implementing Swajal as a demand-driven, community-managed programme for providing safe and sustainable drinking water in rural habitations. The guidelines focus on small, single-village piped water-supply schemes, preferably powered by solar energy, in selected rural habitations. The programme is designed to provide a minimum service level of 40 litres per capita per day (lpcd) and encourages Gram Panchayats and communities to take responsibility for planning, implementation, operation, maintenance, and long-term sustainability of the water-supply system. The document explains eligibility and selection criteria for habitations, including water-quality-affected areas, safe blocks, and aspirational districts. It describes technical components such as borewells or other water sources, pumps, storage structures, distribution pipelines, household stand posts, solar panels, water-treatment units where required, flow meters, sensors, and water-quality testing. It also covers approval procedures, community contribution, funding pattern, fund release, operation and maintenance, water charges, customer care centres, IEC, capacity building, monitoring, and convergence with programmes such as MGNREGA, SBM, PMKSY, and Atal Bhujal Yojana. The implementation-flow tables in Annexure 14(ix) and 14(x) (pages 42–46) outline responsibilities of Gram Panchayats, District Swajal Project Teams/District Water and Sanitation Missions, Rural Water Supply/PHED, State Governments, and the Ministry. The annexures also provide formats for Gram Sabha resolutions, scheme-design applications, scrutiny checklists, O&M cost calculations, and implementation monitoring.