CAG finds lapses in Jal Jeevan Mission implementation in Kerala

Huge shortfalls in annual targets, geo-tagged household tap connections wrongly marked in the Lakshadweep Sea, and 2.13 lakh tap connections cut within the same month they were provided are among the findings in a Comptroller and Auditor General of India’s (CAG) performance audit report on Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) implementation in Kerala.

While JJM has helped Kerala make “considerable progress” in expanding the functional household tap connection (FHTC) network in its rural areas, pitfalls in planning  has led to low coverage of vulnerable areas, including ‘quality-affected’ and tribal areas, the report tabled in the Kerala Legislative Assembly on Tuesday observed.

The audit covered the period from 2019 to 2024. The national-level JJM envisions 100% FHTC coverage of rural households. In Kerala, the target was 54.45 lakh households at a cost of ₹44,714.79 crore.  

Of the 4.04 lakh FHTC disconnections reported in during the audit period, 2,13,991 (52.92%) occurred the very same month they were provided. This indicates a lack of interest on the part of the beneficiaries and a possibility that connections were being provided “without a realistic assessment of the requirement or extent of availability of water,” the report said.

The JJM operational guidelines issued by the Jal Shakti Ministry in 2019 required States to geo-tag all the assets of water supply schemes for transparency and monitoring purposes. The CAG found that in 5,107 instances, the geo-tagged locations were shown outside the designated Kerala district. “In 99 cases, the geo-tagged data captured in respect of FHTCs were related to positions outside the State, including eight cases seen erroneously marked in Lakshadweep Sea,” the audit report said. In a June 2025 reply, the State government attributed such mix-ups to network limitations in certain areas. “Coordinates were sometimes recorded through computer systems, resulting in location data being captured based on the system’s IP address rather than the actual site,” the government said, adding that errors were being corrected.

The CAG further observed that the shortfall in achievement of FHTC targets during 2020-21 to 2023-24 ranged from 74.76% to 83.94%, indicating a “disconnect between planning and implementation.” According to the State government, Kerala had not taken up JJM works in 2019-20. So, when it was launched nationwide. This had resulted in the backlogs of previous years getting added to the subsequent year’s targets.

While the target for 2020-21 was 21.42 lakh connections, the connections actually given was 4.04 lakh connections. In 2021-22 these were respectively 29.37 lakh and 6.63 lakh, and 32.96 lakh and 5.29 lakh in 2022-23 and 14.54 lakh and 3.66 lakh in 2023-24.

The CAG also found that two test-checked grama panchayats with ‘Har Ghar Jal’ status were still paying the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) for tanker lorry supplies. As Har Ghar Jal panchayats are supposed to have 100% of their households supplied with potable water through FHTCs, they were not expected to depend on alternate sources, it noted.

In the 2025-26 Union Budget, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the extension of JJM till 2028, which had come as a big relief for Kerala. The CAG report on the Kerala JJM assumes significance, given the fact that Kerala continues to languish at the bottom nationally in implementation. As per the JJM dashboard maintained by the Jal Shakti Ministry, implementation stands at 54.88%.

Major recommendations to government

. Frame a clear road map for prioritising requirements under JJM.

. Devolution of drinking water management to Panchayati Raj institutions.

. Draft an action plan including measures for source sustainability under JJM.

. Establishment of Community Water Purification Plants in water quality-affected regions.