The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has
approved the implementation of the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project
for Low Income States (RWSSP-LIS) of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh
with World Bank assistance over a period of six years (from 2013-14 to
2019-20).
The project is expected to directly benefit a
rural population of about 78 lakh persons including 44 lakh Scheduled Castes
and more than 8 lakh Scheduled Tribes, with improved piped water supply
covering approximately 17,400 habitations in 2,150 Gram Panchayats (GPs) in the
following 33 districts of the four States:
a) Assam: 7 districts (Hailakandi,
Kamrup, Jorhat, Morigaon,
Bongaigaon, Sonitpur and Sibsagar) with an estimated population coverage
of about 14 lakh.
b) Bihar: 10 districts (Patna,
Begusarai, Munger, Muzzafarpur, West Champaran, Nalanda, Nawada, Saran, Purnia
and Banka) with an estimated population coverage of
about 24 lakh.
c) Jharkhand: 6 districts (East
Singhbum, Dumka, Garwah, Palamu, Saraikela-Kharsawan and Khunti) with an estimated population coverage of about 12 lakh.
d) Uttar Pradesh: 10 Eastern UP
districts (Gorakhpur, Kushi Nagar, Deoria, Basti, Ghazipur, Ballia, Allahabad,
Sonbhadra, Bahraich and Gonda) with an estimated population
coverage of about 28 lakh.
The key features of the project are:
(i) Strengthening and
empowering of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) as
well as ensuring direct involvement of beneficiary communities
in the scheme implementation. Schemes will
be implemented with
integral involvement of GPs.
(ii) Sanitation in conjoint approach with
water is conceptualized as an
integrated component of the proposed project,
(iii) The project
will implement pilot programs such as 24/7 water supply provision in select
areas, and new technologies such as use of solar energy,
(iv) There
shall be an
intensive Capacity Building
programme for all stakeholders down to the GP level,
(v) Intensive
Information, Education and
Communication (IEC) and Behavioural
Change Communication (BCC) programs will be carried out.
(vi) The project will support the universal provision of
household connections, meters for bulk water supply, and promotion of household
meters, wherever appropriate,
(vii) There
will be a focus on monitoring and surveillance of drinking water quality,
(viii) Grievance redressal measures of a GP, District and State
level will be captured by the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) system
proposed under the project,
(ix) Technical, financial,
procurement and social
audits during scheme planning, implementation and O&M
will be conducted,
(x) Demonstration
of beneficiary support for the schemes through a one time upfront community
contribution (Rs. 450 per household/ Rs. 225 for SC/ST household) towards
capital cost,
(xi) The Project will adopt a phased approach for
achieving full Operation and Maintenance (O&M) cost recovery through user
fees.
The project will improve access and usage of
piped drinking water supplied into individual homes. Women and children will
benefit significantly from project intervention as they currently bear most of
the burden of securing daily water supplies.
The Project will improve sanitation
conditions in the targeted districts by adopting the convergence approach with the
Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA) and the National Rural Drinking Water Programme
(NRDWP) and saturate the project area in terms of access to water supply,
household and institutional toilets and solid and liquid waste management.
24 quality affected (arsenic/fluoride/iron)
districts will be covered under the program to provide potable water.
The rural population will benefit from
effective IEC and Behavioural Change Communication (BCC) programs.
The total Project cost of Rs. 6,000 crore
will be financed through Government of India [from the National Rural Drinking
Water Programme (NRDWP) allocation – 33 percent], State Government (fund
sharing as per NRDWP guidelines – 16 percent), beneficiary contribution (1
percent) and external financing (World Bank-IDA funds – 50 percent).
Government of India will repay the amount of
US$ 500 million extended as credit by the World Bank over a period of 25 years
with 1.25 percent interest rate.
Background:
The 12th Five Year Plan for Rural Water Supply
envisages achieving piped water supply coverage for 50 percent rural population
in the country with 30 percent rural population having household tap
connections. This project is therefore conceptualized to provide a focused
thrust in the four low income states of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand which have less
than 10 percent piped water coverage) and Uttar Pradesh (Eastern) which has
high incidences of JE/AES cases.
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SH/AK