The Centre has issued an advisory to states and union territories to provide tap water connections on priority to the remaining few households in those villages with over 90 per cent coverage of such supply, the Jal Shakti Ministry said on Wednesday. There are more than 21,000 villages in the country where remaining 10 per cent households are yet to be provided with household tap water supply.

It was emphasised that these households can be easily covered by taking up retrofitting/augmentation work of the existing drinking water supply systems and thus, may be prioritised without any further delay and ensure its 100 per cent coverage by the end of this month. This issue will also be reviewed regularly, the ministry said.

"The National Jal Jeevan Mission (NJJM), Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti issued an advisory to states/UTs to provide tap water connections on priority to the remaining few households in those villages with more than 90 per cent coverage of household tap water connections," the ministry said.

States have been urged for the provision of potable tap water to 'all households' in a village under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) based on the principle of equity and inclusiveness. Under the JJM, every rural household is to be provided with tap water supply in adequate quantity of prescribed quality on regular and long-term basis and ensuring that 'no one is left out' with a target of 2024.

In less than two years of the mission and despite challenges faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 4.17 crore households have been given tap water connections, the ministry said.

Sixty-one districts, 731 blocks, more than 89,000 villages have become 'Har Ghar Jal' i.e. 100 per cent households in these areas are provided tap water supply.