The Conversation: Vini Mahajan, Secretary, Jal Shakti Ministry

/6 min read
The ₹3,60,000-crore Har Ghar Jal scheme aims to provide piped water to all 19.14 crore rural households by 2024, against 9.9 crore rural households today and 3.23 crore in August 2019.
The Conversation: Vini Mahajan, Secretary, Jal Shakti Ministry
Vini Mahajan Credits: Narendra Bisht

Prof. Michael Kremer, 2019 Economics Nobel prize winner, met officials of the department of drinking water and sanitation under the Jal Shakti Ministry on July 13 to understand how Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) is helping India save lives and livelihoods. The ₹3,60,000-crore scheme, known as har ghar jal, aims to provide piped water to all 19.14 crore rural households by 2024. Today, 9.9 crore rural households (51.7%) have piped water as opposed to 3.23 crore (16.9%) in August 2019, before JJM was launched. As the Bharatiya Janata Party aims to return to power in 2024, piped water to all villages will be its key campaign plank. Fortune India spoke to Vini Mahajan, Secretary (Drinking Water & Sanitation), Jal Shakti Ministry, about the scheme and its race against time: Interview by Rajeev Dubey, Joe C. Mathew and Ashutosh Kumar.

This edited Q&A has been condensed for space and clarity.