New Delhi, Feb 1,2023: Mindful of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Union Budget on Wednesday enhanced allocation to the government’s ambitious Jal Jeevan Mission by 27 per cent to Rs 69,684 crore for 2023-24, from Rs 54,808 crore in the current fiscal.

The mission envisages providing piped water to each rural household by 2024.

The government’s other key initiative, the Swachh Bharat Mission-Rural, which aims to make the country open defecation free (ODF) free, also received a boost in allocation of Rs 77,000 crore for 2023-24, up from Rs 60,000 crore in 2022-23 – a hike of 28 per cent

Last week, the Jal Shakti Ministry had said that 11 crore rural households have been provided with tap water connections, i.e. 56 per cent of the targetted 19.3 crore households.