Ques. Describe the salient features, objectives and vision of National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP).
National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) is a flagship scheme of the Ministry of Rural Development.
National Goal:
The National Goal of the programme is to provide every rural person with adequate safe water for drinking, cooking and other domestic basic needs on a sustainable basis.
Vision:
Safe drinking water for all, at all times, in rural India
Components of the NRDWP:
- Coverage for providing safe and adequate drinking water supply to unserved, partially served and slipped-back habitations,
- Sustainability to encourage States to achieve drinking water security at the local level,
- Provide potable drinking water to Quality-affected habitations,
- Desert Development Programme (DDP) areas to tackle the extreme conditions of low rainfall and poor water availability,
- Mitigate drinking water problems in rural areas in the wake of Natural Calamities,
- Operation & Maintenance (O&M) for expenditure on running, repair and replacement costs of drinking water supply projects and
- Support activities.
Criteria for allocation of funds to the States under the NRDWP:
What is safe drinking water?
Safe drinking water should have the following characteristics:
- Colourless
- Odorless
- Free from bacteriological contamination
- Free from chemical contamination.
Norm for potable drinking water:
The basic minimum level of potable drinking water supply is :
(a) 40 liters of safe drinking water per capita per day (lpcd) for humans.
(b) Water source within the habitation/within 500 m distance from the household or 30 min of time taken for fetching water.
Involvement of PRIs
- As per the 73rd Amendment to the Constitution, the responsibility for drinking water may be devolved to the panchayati raj institutions (PRIs).
- In many States, rural drinking water schemes have been transferred to PRIs for operation and maintenance. To encourage this aspect and involve PRIs in O&M, the Government of India has revised its guidelines for the rural water supply scheme to provide for a 10% weightage in allocation of funds to States. This weightage is given for the rural population managing their water supply schemes.