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HSS-CSR Knowledge Sharing Workshop
Achieving universal access to safe drinking water

The Jal Jeevan Mission will only succeed if villagers take ownership of the Mission. Inclusivity, efficiency, and sustainability should guide the Mission’s implementation in providing access to safe drinking water to all.

Centre for Social Research (CSR) India, in collaboration with Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) India, held a knowledge sharing workshop on ’Jal Jeevan Mission in Karnataka’ at The Woodrose, Bangalore on 15 November 2022. The workshop was held in a hybrid manner - some of the speakers and participants joined the workshop virtually.

The Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) is an initiative by the Indian Government "to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections by 2024 to all household in rural India". While there has been commendable progress on this target throughout India, some states like Karnataka still have a long way to go. Today, only about 58% of the total households in Karnataka have access to safe drinking water, and major disparities exist between urban and rural areas.

Shri Bharat Lal, Director General, NCG, delivering inaugural speech

Shri Bharat Lal, Director General, NCG, delivering inaugural speech

Dr. Ranjana Kumari making opening remarks

Dr. Ranjana Kumari making opening remarks

 

 

With HSF support, CSR conducted a study entitled ‘Promoting Sustainable IWRM in the Implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in Karnataka’. The study identifies gaps and challenges of putting the JJM into practice in the state and provides suggestions for making the implementation process more efficient, socially equitable and ecologically sustainable.

 

 

The knowledge sharing workshop helped share the study findings with the key national and state stakeholders, which included water and gender experts, government officials, civil society members, and community from the project intervention areas in Karnataka. CSR will use the stakeholder inputs to develop policy recommendations for the responsible authorities in Karnataka to help make the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission efficient, inclusive, and sustainable.  

Participants listening to the speakers

Participants listening to the speakers

The following points represent key takeaways from the workshop:

  • The HSS-CSR study indicates several challenges in the implementation of the JJM. The villagers in the study areas, for example, expressed their concerns about water contamination, low water pressure, slow construction of new pipelines, and water bills.
  • Other challenges include water scarcity across districts due to topographic differences, lack of water conservation efforts, the risk of missing out on some of the most marginalized members of society while implementing the JJM, as well as technical hurdles in the implementation of the Mission.
  • The study underlines lack of active participation of women in the implementation of JJM. “You cannot get climate justice without gender justice”, added Dr. Ranjana Kumari, Director, CSR. Taking this principle further, she pointed out the central role of women in advancing the JJM.
  • Lack of sanitation impedes the provision of good quality water. Based on this understanding, the Indian government launched the Clean India Campaign prior to the Jal Jeevan Mission. 
  • There is a need to engage all the stakeholders to implement the JJM in an inclusive and integrated manner. Among others, this would require breaking of departmental silos in the government and collaborative actions by the line departments.  
  • JJM will succeed in sustainably improving water access only if the villagers take ownership of the project. In his inaugural speech, Shri Bharat Lal, Director General, India’s National Center for Good Governance, said that Jal Jeevan Mission aims at creating “responsible and responsive leadership at the village level”. Ownership and leadership at the village level are needed to deliver success under JJM. 
Group photo of the workshop participants

Group photo of the workshop participants