Why Jal Jeevan Mission is must-read for UPSC Exam – From scheme to constitutional context

Indian Express

23-04-2025

Take a look at the essential events, concepts, terms, quotes, or phenomena every day and brush up your knowledge. Here's your knowledge nugget for today.
Knowledge Nugget: Jal Jeevan Mission
(Relevance: Government policies and schemes are an important part of the UPSC CSE exam, and previous years' questions highlight their significance. In this regard, knowing about the schemes that are in the news becomes important for the UPSC exam. In the context of Jal Jeevan Mission, it also becomes important to know what provisions are provided in the Indian constitution with regard to the 'water'.)
Why in the news?
The Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), the government's flagship scheme to provide tap connections to rural households, has encountered budgeting difficulties. The Jal Shakti Ministry had requested a staggering Rs 2.79 lakh crore from the Centre to complete the remaining 25% of its target by December 2028. However, in a setback for the mission, an expenditure panel, which appraises projects, has approved only half of the funds proposed by the ministry.
Key Takeaways :
1. The Jal Jeevan Mission, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15, 2019, aimed to provide functional household tap connections (FHTC) to about 16 crore rural households to achieve saturation coverage by 2024.
2. Over a little more than five years, only 75 per cent of the target could be achieved, and the remaining 4 crore tap connections are proposed to be installed by extending the mission by four years till December 31, 2028.
3. While the Jal Shakti Ministry demanded Rs 2.79 lakh crore Central funds to complete the project, the Expenditure Secretary-chaired Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC), which appraises projects valued over Rs 500 crore, met March 13 and recommended only Rs 1.51 lakh crore, The Indian Express has learnt. The EFC also reduced the mission's overall outlay by Rs 41,000 crore to Rs 8.69 lakh crore, against Rs 9.10 lakh crore sought by the Jal Shakti Ministry.
4. Notably, the Centre and states fund the JJM on a 50:50 basis. A reduction in the Centre's share means that states could be left with a significantly larger bill.
Other Government Schemes related to water
As among the other schemes of the Jal Shakti Ministry, Namami Gange and the interlinking of rivers are important schemes. Therefore, it is important to not only know about these schemes but also understand what the interlinking of rivers is. Furthermore, previously a preliminary question was also asked on the Godavari and Krishna Rivers interlinking. Therefore, it becomes important to know about the Ken-Betwa river linking project.
Namami Gange Programme
1. 'Namami Gange Programme', is an Integrated Conservation Mission, approved as 'Flagship Programme' by the Union Government in June 2014 to accomplish the twin objectives of effective abatement of pollution, conservation and rejuvenation of National River Ganga.
2. Main pillars of the Namami Gange Programme are:-
(i) Sewerage Treatment Infrastructure
(ii) River-Front Development
(iii) River-Surface Cleaning
(iv) Bio-Diversity
(v) Afforestation
(vi) Public Awareness
(vii) Industrial Effluent Monitoring
(viii)Ganga Gram
Interlinking of rivers
1. River interlinking is a large-scale water management strategy involving human-induced water redistribution from surplus water areas to areas experiencing shortages.
2. The strategy involves connecting two or more basins through a network of canals, reservoirs, pipelines, etc. These inter-basin water transfer (IBWT) projects aim to enhance irrigation potential and flood control and improve water supply in drought-prone areas.
Ken-Betwa Link Project
1. On December 25, 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP) in Madhya Pradesh's Khajuraho, on the 100th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
2. The project aims to provide irrigation to Bundelkhand, one of India's most drought-affected regions. In this project, surplus water from the Ken River in Madhya Pradesh will be transferred to the Betwa River in Uttar Pradesh. Both of these rivers are right-bank tributaries of the Yamuna River.
Yamuna river
Yamuna is a tributary of River Ganga. It has four main tributaries in the Himalayan region: Rishi Ganga, Hanuman Ganga, Tons, and Giri. In the plains, the main tributaries are Hindon, Chambal, Sind, Betwa and Ken. Tons is the largest tributary of Yamuna. Other small tributaries of the Yamuna River include the Uttangan, Sengar and the Rind.
3. The Union Cabinet had approved Rs 44,605 crore for this project. The KBLP has two phases. The Daudhan Dam complex, Ken-Betwa Link Canal (length 221 km), and its subsidiary units will be built in the first phase. Phase II will have three components: the Lower Orr Dam construction, the Bina Complex Project, and the Kotha Barrage.
4. The project passes through Panna Tiger Reserve. There are concerns about the submergence of a part of this critical tiger habitat.
Two states, two rivers and a link
5. Notably, it is the first project under the National Perspective Plan for the interlinking of rivers, which was prepared in 1980. This plan has 16 projects under its peninsular component, including the KBLP. Apart from this, 14 links are proposed under the Himalayan rivers development plan.
Name State benefitted
Mahanadi (Manibhadra) – Godavari (Dowlaiswaram) link Andhra Pradesh and Odisha
Godavari (Polavaram) – Krishna (Vijayawada) link Andhra Pradesh
Godavari (Inchampalli) – Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) link Telangana
Krishna (Almatti) – Pennar link Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka
Par-Tapi-Narmada link Maharashtra and Gujarat
Bedti – Varda link Karnataka
BEYOND THE NUGGET: What does the Constitution of India say on water?
📌Right to Water as a Fundamental Right: In India, the constitutional right to access to clean drinking water can be drawn from the right to food, the right to a clean environment and the right to health, all of which have been protected under the broad heading of the Right to Life, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.
Notably, In Narmada Bachao Andolan v. Union of India (2000) case, the Supreme Court observed that 'Water is the basic need for the survival of human beings and is part of the right to life and human rights as enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution of India….and the right to healthy environment and to sustainable development are fundamental human rights implicit in the right to 'life'.
In the State of Karnataka v State of Andhra Pradesh (2000) case, the Court held that 'the right to water is a right to life, and thus a fundamental right.'
📌Article 39 (b) (Directive Principles of State Policy) mandates that 'the State shall, in particular, direct its policy towards securing that the ownership and control of the material resources of the community are so distributed as best to sub serve the common good.'
📌Article 48A (Directive Principles of State Policy) provides that 'The State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wild life of the country.'
📌Article 51A(g) (Fundamental Duties) specifically deals with the fundamental duty with respect to Environment. It states that ' It shall be the duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have compassion for living creatures.
📌Article 262 talks about the 'Adjudication of disputes relating to waters of inter-State rivers or river valleys.' It provides, clause (1) Parliament may by law provide for the adjudication of any dispute or complaint with respect to the use, distribution or control of the waters of, or in, any inter-State river or river valley. clause (2) Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, Parliament may by law provide that neither the Supreme Court nor any other court shall exercise jurisdiction in respect of any such dispute or complaint as is referred to in clause (1). Using the powers given by this article, Parliament enacted the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956, to deal with disputes.
Ministry of Jal Shakti
Ministry of Jal Shakti was formed in May 2019 by merging of two ministries- Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation and Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation. The ambit of the ministry encompasses issues ranging from international and inter-states water disputes. While forming the new ministry government claimed that 'All the water related works has been merged under one ministry,'
📌Entry 17, State List (List II), Seventh Schedule of Indian constitution says, 'Water, that is to say, water supplies, irrigation and canals, drainage and embankments, water storage and water power subject to the provisions of entry 56 of List I.' It means that states have the authority to legislate on water-related issues such as irrigation, water supply, canals, and embankments within their territory.
📌Entry 56, (List I), Seventh Schedule of Indian constitution provides, 'Regulation and development of inter-State rivers and river valleys to the extent to which such regulation and development under the control of the Union is declared by Parliament by law to be expedient in the public interest.' It gives the Union Government power for the regulation and development of such rivers if declared necessary by Parliament.
Consider the following statements:
1. The Jal Jeevan Mission was launched in 2022.
2. Water is a matter included in the State list in the seventh schedule of the Indian Constitution.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2