International Journal of Science, Engineering and TechnologyAuthors: Mustaq Shaikh, Farjana Birajdar
Abstract: India's Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), launched in August 2019 with the goal of providing Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTC) to every rural household by 2024, represents one of the largest rural infrastructure programmes in global history. This paper presents a comprehensive governance case study of JJM implementation in Solapur District, Maharashtra—a water-scarce, semi-arid region characterised by basaltic terrain and recurrent drought conditions—analysing progress across six performance dimensions: FHTC household coverage, Har Ghar Jal (HGJ) village certification, Jal Seva Aankalan (JSA) water quality assessments, institutional coverage of schools and Anganwadi Centres (AWCs), eGramSwaraj digital platform onboarding, and scheme financial completion. Using official data sourced from the District Water and Sanitation Mission (DWSM) as of May 2026, the study reveals that Solapur has achieved near-universal FHTC coverage of 99.90% (5,76,668 of 5,77,245 rural households), with 8 of 11 administrative blocks attaining 100% connection rates. Despite this physical infrastructure success, critical implementation gaps persist: HGJ village certification stands at only 59.3% (662 of 1,116 villages), scheme financial completion is critically low at 11.7% (178 of 1,525 schemes), AWC tap water coverage averages 59.4% with extreme block-level variation (Madha: 7.4%; Karmala: 100%), and JSA assessments remain incomplete in 27 villages across 9 blocks. The study introduces the JJM Utilization Performance Index (JUPI), a composite governance metric integrating all six dimensions, revealing a district average of 84.0 (range: 75.9–93.0), with Akkalkot (93.0), Sol. North (91.7), and Sol. South (90.8) as high performers and Sangola (76.6) and Mangalvedhe (75.9) requiring targeted interventions. The findings demonstrate that infrastructure delivery, while necessary, is insufficient for sustainable water security; effective governance, community ownership, financial accountability, and institutional equity are equally essential. Policy implications for the broader national JJM programme are discussed.
DOI: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20408692
