New Delhi, Oct 26 (NationPress) India has reached a significant achievement under the Jal Jeevan Mission, with more than 81 percent of rural families now enjoying access to clean tap water, as per official data released this Sunday. This translates to over 15.72 crore rural households receiving safe drinking water through household taps as of October 22, marking a critical advancement towards achieving universal water security in rural India.

As part of this initiative, the government has sanctioned support to states and union territories with a central allocation of Rs 2,08,652 crore, much of which has already been utilized, the data indicates.

The Jal Jeevan Mission was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15, 2019, with the goal of ensuring tap water accessibility for every rural household.

At the inception of the program, merely 3.23 crore households (16.71 percent) had access to tap water. Since then, an impressive 12.48 crore additional households have been connected, showcasing one of the swiftest expansions of essential infrastructure in rural India.

The Jal Jeevan Mission continues to progress steadily towards guaranteeing safe and sufficient drinking water for every rural household in India.

All households, schools, and Anganwadi centers in 192 districts have received tap water, with 116 districts officially certified via Gram Sabha resolutions after verification.

Currently, 1,912 blocks have reported complete coverage, with 1,019 certified. Additionally, 1,25,185 Gram Panchayats have reported their status, and 88,875 have received certification. Approximately 2,66,273 villages have reported progress, with 1,74,348 certified under the Har Ghar Jal initiative.

Eleven states and union territories, including Goa, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadra & Nagar Haveli & Daman & Diu, Haryana, Telangana, Puducherry, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh, have achieved full tap water connectivity for all rural households, according to the data.

Tap water supply has been confirmed in 9,23,297 schools and 9,66,876 Anganwadi centers across the nation.

The term 'reported' signifies that the water supply department of the State/UT has verified that tap water is being delivered to all households, schools, and Anganwadi Centers within that administrative region. 'Certified' denotes that the Gram Sabha has passed a resolution certifying that the water supply department's claim regarding tap water supply in households, schools, and Anganwadi Centers in the village is accurate.

The Jal Jeevan Mission implements a solid system for quality assurance and monitoring to guarantee safe drinking water in rural zones.

By the year 2025–26 (as of October 21, 2025), a total of 2,843 laboratories (comprising 2,184 institutional and 659 WTP-based) have tested 38.78 lakh water samples across 4,49,961 villages in the country.

To foster community-level engagement, 24.80 lakh women have been trained to assess water quality using Field Testing Kits (FTKs) across 5.07 lakh villages, according to the data.