Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced tap water supply in schools and anganwadi centres across the country. The schools and anganwadi centres will be connected by tap under the Jal Jeevan Mission within 100 days.

The programme will begin on 2 October. Modi made the announcement while inaugurating the six mega projects under the Namami Gange Mission in Uttarakhand. State governments have been directed to complete the task in 100 days.

“To fight challenges of water scarcity in many parts of the country, Jal Jeevan Mission is working towards giving piped water connectivity to all villages in the country and promoting gram swarajya (village self-sufficiency) and empowering the villages,” the Prime Minister has been quoted as saying.

“Under Jal Jeevan Mission, a 100-day campaign will start from October 2, under which it will be ensured that all schools and anganwadi centres in the country are connected with tap water supply,” he added.

He added that over 15 crore houses were not connected with water supply till six years ago. In contrast, 1 lakh houses are being connected with clean piped water supply every day. He said that the Jal Shakti ministry is working to improve the numbers.

“In just one year, over 2 crore families in the country have been given piped water connections. The Uttarakhand government is working one step ahead; they are working on giving water connectivity to each and every house at Re 1 only and over 50,000 families have been given water connectivity in Uttarakhand in the past six months, despite the Covid-19 epidemic,” Modi added.

The central government’s work towards providing clean water to households along with the task of providing tap water to schools and anganwadis will go on to become the strength of women and children — if completed successfully.