Launched by Union Jal Shakti Minister C R Patil earlier this week, the Sujal Gaon ID and the Sujalam Bharat App will enable identification of which scheme is supplying water to which families.

Speaking to The Indian Express, an official said, “All rural drinking water supply schemes in the country will be digitally integrated into a unified national asset registry, ensuring that complete information about every scheme — from the source to the household tap — will be available.”

“Each scheme and its service area will be assigned a unique Sujalam Bharat – Sujal Gaon ID, enabling clear identification of which scheme is supplying water to which families. Through the Sujalam Bharat App, rural citizens will be able to view a complete digital overview of their village water system, including pipelines, pumps, storage structures, water treatment units, and other assets,” the official said.

Ensuring transparency and accountability

The official said the states have been asked to onboard all the schemes on the Sujal Gaon ID module. The Centre has written to the states that during the extended phase (post 2024) of the Jal Jeevan Mission, financial allocations shall be “contingent upon” the completion of the Sujal Gaon ID creation, the official said.

This is one of the measures taken by the Centre to ensure transparency and accountability in the implementation of the Mission, which has been marred by irregularities and corruption complaints.

As per the data reported by 32 states and Union Territories (UTs), 17,036 complaints have been received by them from different sources, such as media reports, suo-moto cognisance, references from public representatives, citizens, grievance portals, etc, regarding financial irregularities and poor quality of works under JJM, according to the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

“As reported by the States/ UTs, action has been taken against 621 Departmental Officials, 969 contractors, and 153 Third Party Inspection Agencies (TPIAs),” the ministry said in a statement.

On May 21, The Indian Express published the findings of its investigation into data uploaded by states and UTs on the JJM dashboard, showing how changes to the Mission’s guidelines three years ago lifted a crucial check on expenditure and led to cost escalations. The investigation found that this resulted in additional costs totalling Rs 16,839 crore for 14,586 schemes — an increase of 14.58 per cent from their estimated cost.

The Centre launched JJM in 2019 to provide tap connections to every rural household by 2024. While the mission ended in 2024, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced its continuation in her Budget speech on February 1, 2025, with enhanced financial support till 2028. However, this move is yet to be approved by the Union Cabinet.

Jal Shakti Ministry officials have said that against the approval of the JJM budget of Rs 3.60 lakh crore, an amount of Rs 4.33 lakh crore has already been spent. If any assets created by state governments under the JJM are not providing water to households, the Centre will not provide funds for them, the officials said.