Chandigarh, March 24 In line with the objectives of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), which emphasizes a community-managed approach, the Haryana Cabinet on Tuesday approved a decentralized, participatory, and sustainable model for rural drinking water supply.
A cabinet meeting chaired by Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini here approved an operation and maintenance (O&M) policy for supplying potable water to rural areas statewide, an official statement said.
The statement said a key component of the new O&M policy is to establish and empower Village Water and Sewerage Committees (VWSC) under gram panchayats, through a government-community partnership (GCP) model.
The Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) will provide technical support, guidance, and capacity building to these committees. The partnership aims to ensure sustainable operation and maintenance of water supply infrastructure, timely resolution of service issues, improved service delivery, as well as accountability and transparency in local water management, the statement said.
The VWSC will carry out operation and maintenance activities at the panchayat level. These activities will include ensuring proper water supply to households, maintaining head works, repairing faults or leaks in the scheme or in the distribution system, monitoring the water supply system, and revenue collection.
Technical assistance for all these tasks will be provided by the PHED. However, responsibilities such as electricity charges, staffing, and new infrastructure works will remain with the department.
Additionally, to improve accountability, redressal of drinking water-related grievances will continue to fall under the Right to Service Act, with the PHED responsible for ensuring timely compliance.
The policy also includes capacity building of the community for water testing, record-keeping, O&M practices, and maintaining accurate consumer data through the BISWAS billing software, operated by self-help group members.
The issuance and collection of water bills will be managed by the local bodies, with revenues directly utilized for local operations and maintenance.
Furthermore, the VWSC will implement the most suitable maintenance practices based on local needs, ensuring a responsive, community-centered water management system.
"For the overall health and sustainability of the drinking water supply systems, it is essential to encourage citizens to participate financially. Upon implementation of the O&M Policy, revenue collection due to water charges is expected to increase substantially and ultimately lead to savings in the state exchequer," the statement said.
The new O&M policy aims to incentivize panchayats by providing additional funds at par with the water charges collected from consumers.
Decentralized governance will instill community ownership, ably supported with financial resources and a robust institutional system under the new policy, which is also expected to reduce the time taken in redressing citizen grievances, it said.
There are 6,721 villages in Haryana. Out of these, 4,583 are under single panchayats, while 2,138 fall under multiple panchayats and Mahagram villages.
A memorandum of understanding as a tripartite agreement shall be signed between the gram panchayat, VWSC, and the PHED to roll out the new O&M policy in each panchayat, the statement said.
The implementation of this scheme will begin from April 1, 2026, in single panchayat villages and from April 1, 2027, in the multiple panchayat and Mahagram villages, it added.
