Budgetary provisions for drinking water supply continue to get priority

Water, sanitation and hygiene, which are major determinants of health and nutrition levels, have gained substantial visibility during the last two years because of the pandemic. It has been well established that safe drinking water, quality sanitation, and good hygiene contribute to the prevention of disease and promotion of health. Thereby, all three have long-term beneficial economic implications.

In India, 38.4 per cent of children under the age of five years are stunted, and half of all undernutrition cases are associated with diarrhoea and 30 infections result from unsafe water, poor sanitation, and unhygienic behaviour[i].

This year's budget has continued to give priority to the provisioning of drinking water. In the Budget Estimate (BE) for 2022-23, the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, has been given a 12 per cent increase in allocation over the 2021-22 (BE) (Refer to Figure below).

Figure: Budgetary allocation/expenditure for the Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation (Rs. crore)

Figure: Union Government's Expenditure / Allocation for Jal Jeevan Mission/NRDWP (Rs crore)

The JJM, which has completed more than two years, has picked up pace in terms of coverage, with about 5.5 crore households or 29 per cent of target beneficiaries, being provided with piped water supply as of 1st January, 2022.

However, the coverage of the scheme has seen wide variations across states. While six states/UTs (Goa, Telangana, A&N Islands, Puducherry, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu and Haryana) have provided piped water supply to 100 per cent of households, several states, including Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, have covered less than 10 per cent of rural households under the scheme[ii]. Further, until 19th January 2022, about 8.3 lakh government schools had been provided with 32 piped water facilities under the JJM[iii].

In addition, a large amount of unspent balances, to the tune of Rs 2,436.4 crore and Rs 6,431.9 crore, were 35 already lying with states in FY 2018-19 and FY 2019-20, respectively. This implies that there is a need to identify administrative and procedural bottlenecks in the effective absorption of resources for the sector, especially when the budgetary provision has been stepped up significantly.

In 2021-22, except for Punjab, which has spent 100 per cent of funds available for water quality, many states, including Maharashtra, Telangana, Kerala and Himachal Pradesh, have spent no funds on the water quality component. It should also be noted that up to two per cent of the funds allocated under JJM are earmarked for strengthening of the water quality monitoring infrastructure. However, the Standing Committee on Water Resources (2021-22) pointed out that the decreasing number of water testing laboratories is a cause of concern[vi].

Budgetary priority for sanitation sees a decline

In the case of sanitation, the 2022-23 (BE) allocation for the Swachh Bharat Mission – Rural (SBM-R) has registered a decline of 28 per cent in comparison with 2021-22 BE (Refer to Figure below). The allocation for SBM Urban in 2022-23 (BE) has not registered any change and remained constant compared to 2021-22 BE (Refer to Figure below). Given the rapid growth of urbanisation in the country, a greater allocation for SBM(U) was expected.

Figure: Union Government's Budgetary Expenditure/Allocation for Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural & Urban) (Rs crore)

Under the Swachh Bharat Mission - Phase II[vii], 7.16 lakh individual household latrines were constructed for households and 19,061 Community Sanitary Complexes were constructed in 2021-22. Recently released data from the National Family Health Survey - 5, also shows that rural households with improved sanitation facilities registered an impressive increase from 48.5 per cent in 2015-16 to 70 per cent in 2019-21[viii].

Nevertheless, it should be noted that the SBM, JJM and Samagra Shiksha schemes have contributed significantly to the provision of drinking water, toilets and hand-washing facilities in 10.32 lakh government schools. According to UDISE, coverage of boy's toilets in government schools increased from 67.8 per cent in 2012-13 to 95.9 per cent in 2019-20. Similarly, the provision of handwash facilities in government schools increased from 36.3 per cent in 2012-13 to 90.2 per cent in 2019-20.

Need for a renewed focus on SBM and hand hygiene

In order to not lose the gains made by SBM, it is necessary not only to refocus and increase budgetary allocations towards Phase II of the Mission but also to pay attention to the need for hand hygiene. COVID-19, despite being a public health emergency, is also a WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) emergency. One of the most effective preventive measures against COVID-19 is following COVID-appropriate protocols. These include handwashing with soap and water at critical times; masking, and maintaining an appropriate physical distance.

Despite the global pressure on hygiene promotion and even prior to the pandemic, India's hygiene data painted a gloomy picture. The National Sample Survey - 76th Round (2018-19) revealed that 64.2 per cent of household members (44 per cent urban, 74.7 per cent rural) did not wash their hands before eating, while 25.9 per cent (11.7 per cent urban, 33.2 per cent rural) did not wash their hands with soap after defecation.

Further, even in institutions such as schools and anganwadi centres, the situation was dismal[x]. Budgets for sanitation and hand hygiene should therefore be stepped up for households and institutions.

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