Centre opens cash tap for Uttar Pradesh: Rs 10K crore under Jal Jeevan

Biggest allocation to any state, despite two successive years of unused purse

The fourfold increase in the drinking water mission budget to Rs 10,870 crore for Uttar Pradesh (UP) announced by the Centre on Saturday makes it the biggest allocation for any scheme for the state this fiscal year.

The sharp rise has happened even though the state government was unable to spend 40 per cent of the Rs 3,348-crore purse it got in 2020-21 (FY21). It had underspent in 2019-20 as well. UP will elect a new legislature in early 2022.

Usually in the Budget exercise, if a state or central government department is unable to spend the money allocated, the following year’s total is accordingly adjusted downward by the Union finance ministry. 

In FY21 for instance, the state had returned around 30 per cent of its Jal Jeevan Mission. The principal thrust of the Jal Jeevan Mission is to ensure tapwater to all rural homes in India.

The substantial jump in allocation to all states could mean the Centre may have to expand the budget for the Jal Shakti ministry this year. 

The ministry has already got Rs 50,011 crore in Budget 2021-22 (FY22) - more than a threefold jump for its Jal Jeevan Mission in FY22. 

The officer said each state has been assured a 4x rise. While all states were asked to present their action plan to the Centre, UP is yet to do so.

The spending, if implemented, will have a strong multiplier effect on the infrastructure build-up. 

“The Jal Jeevan Mission has a strong positive effect on the local economy in terms of additional employment, supply of material, and on public health,” said a senior government officer.

The state has 26.3 million households in 97,455 villages. Of these, just 11.3 per cent households have tapwater supply in their homes, revealed the central government data. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised his government would ensure piped water to all rural homes by 2024.

For FY22, the target is to provide tapwater to one-third of the remaining 7.8 million homes. For this, Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has also advised the state government to begin groundwork on water supply projects in more than 60,000 villages.

In terms of allotment, the Jal Jeevan Mission has definitely upped the ante. To ensure that money does not come back unspent, UP and other states have been asked to go for item-rate contracts and keep a large  pool of contractors engaged for three years. This will also keep the momentum going for continuous allotment of work, the officer explained.

Item-rate contract has the contractor getting paid for any bit of work he completes unlike a turnkey project where payment is made in lump sum at the end. 

Waterworks project in rural areas, the government estimates, will only reel in local contractors who otherwise find it impossible to expand their operations, if they do not get paid frequently.

UP has retained Anurag Srivastava, a 1992 batch Indian Administrative Service officer, as head of the Namami Gange and rural water supply department since 2017 when Yogi Adityanath came to power.  He is now principal secretary, enjoying an almost five-year long stint.