Are investments on water in India sufficient?

Submitted by Shiny Saha on
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Are investments on water in India sufficient?
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Riva Asia
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Analysing budget allocations for India's Jal Jeevan Mission to ensure sustainable water services to everyone
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There are less than five years left to meet the SDG 6 target of safe water and sanitation for everyone. The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Report reveals that a significant number of people worldwide lacks access to safely managed WASH services. In this light, the Government of India’s flagship Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) is worth mentioning. Launched in 2019, the goal of JJM is to provide safe drinking water to all rural households in India by 2024, through a household tap connection. 

Towards this ambitious goal, the Government of India has made significant investments. As per data shared by the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA), the government’s expenditure on JJM increased by 335 per cent in 2021-2022, with consistent high expenditure in the following years (Figure 1). 

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Figure 1: Union Government Expenditure on Jal Jeevan Mission (Rs crore)
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Source: CBGA (July 2024): Revisiting the Priorities: An Analysis of Union Budget 2024-25; pp 50.
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In addition to the above budget allocations, the 15th Finance Commission (Financial Year 2021-22 to 2025-26) tied-grants of Rs. 26,940 Crore have also been made available to Rural Local Bodies (RLBs) for provision of water and sanitation services for their constitutionally mandated role. 

These significant investments in ensuring that water services reach everyone, raise a few questions: 

  1. Are the investments sufficient to cover every rural household with piped water services?  As per the JJM dashboard, substantial progress has been made in terms of coverage since the launch of the mission, with 81% households (as on 28th May 2025) having a tap connection.
  2. What is required to sustain these connections overtime, especially for those who are usually left behind, and face climate change related risks?
  3. Are the allocated budgets being fully utilised? If not, why? 

We at IRC are attempting to answer these questions, with insights from the states of Assam and Odisha. 

More on this coming soon, stay tuned! 

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Finance
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budget tracking
drinking water
finance
water services
rural water supply
water supply
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India
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Shiny Saha

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Saha
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Riva Asia
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Programme officer
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Shiny's work has shown that when gender equity and social inclusion are built into the DNA of water, sanitation and hygiene systems, reforms not only endure but reshape the way citizens experience governance.

Shiny Saha believes that transformation in public services begins when governments and communities see equity not as an add-on, but as the foundation of lasting systems. Over more than a decade, she has returned to the same question: how do we design structures that make inclusion non-negotiable? Her work has shown that when gender equity and social inclusion are built into the DNA of water, sanitation and hygiene systems, reforms not only endure but reshape the way citizens experience governance.

At Riva, Shiny equips stakeholders with the tools to strengthen water, sanitation and hygiene systems in ways that last. She works with government officials, local government representatives, and grassroots organisations to identify bottlenecks, design accountability frameworks, and embed inclusive practices into national and regional strategies. Her focus has been to integrate gender equity into system design, helping institutions move beyond service delivery to create structures that citizens can trust.

Shiny combines deep research expertise with hands-on programme management. She has built capacity for grassroots NGOs, coordinated multi-agency collaborations, authored frameworks for incorporation of Gender Equity and Social Inclusion, and developed approaches to monitor hygiene behaviour. Her distinctive strength lies in bridging the worlds of policy and practice — sparking change while co-creating systems that endure.

Highlights 

  • 15+ years of experience in Asia, with country work in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka
  • Works with governments, civil society, and international partners
  • Coordinates the Agenda for Change India chapter, aligning multiple global organizations
  • Designed frameworks to integrate Gender Equity and Social Inclusion into WASH system strengthening
  • Co-author of the 2025 learning note on GESI-responsive systems strengthening; 2022 Hand Hygiene monitoring framework for India
  • Published on equity, women’s work in the informal economy, governance, and evaluation
  • Holds a Master’s Degree in Sociology from the Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi. Completed Term 1 A of a Master’s in Development Studies from the International Institute of Social Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam
  • Fluent in English, Hindi, and Bengali
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https://www.linkedin.com/in/shiny-s-22298511
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Shiny Saha
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Shiny
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