Water & Sanitation: Only half of government schools and anganwadis have tap water supply, according to information provided to the parliamentary standing committee on water resources. Less than eight percent of schools in rural Uttar Pradesh, 11 percent of schools in West Bengal and a meagre 2-6 percent of anganwadis in Assam, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and West Bengal have access to tap water.
The standing committee urged the Ministry of Jal Shakti to take up the matter with laggard states especially in light of COVID-19 safety protocols that require repeated hand washing by students and teachers at schools and anganwadis. “Children are more susceptible to water-borne diseases, more so, when there is also a need for repeated washing of hands as a precautionary measure during the pandemic,” noted the panel.
The standing committee also urged the Centre to set up water purification or reverse osmosis (RO) plants on an urgent basis in all educational institutions in rural areas so that children do not have to suffer contamination of drinking water. It also asked the ministry to ensure real-time monitoring of water supply at the district level. “The Committee finds from their collective experience and ground reality that there are instances galore, wherein taps are fitted but water supply is not there,” it said.
On October 2nd 2020, a 100-day campaign under the Jal Jeevan Mission was launched to provide piped water supply to all schools, anganwadis, and ashramshalas (residential tribal schools) in the country. However, as of February 15th 2021, only 48.5 percent of anganwadis and 53.3 percent of schools had tap water supply, the ministry told the parliamentary panel.
Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Punjab have achieved 100 percent coverage. However, some states and union territories indicated that they need more time to achieve complete coverage. The campaign has therefore been extended till March 31st, 2021.
Read this article on why an effective rural sanitation model requires both financial assistance and an integrated water supply.