Uttar Pradesh has provided functional household tap connections (FHTCs) to over 1.2 crore rural households, achieving nearly 90 per cent coverage under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), according to data from the ministry of jal shakti, as the scheme approaches its 2024 target of “Har Ghar Jal”, piped water to every rural home.Launched in August 2019, JJM aims to deliver potable water at 55 litres per capita per day to all rural households through individual tap connections, replacing the earlier system of shared standposts. The programme, with a combined central and state outlay exceeding Rs 3.6 lakh crore.In UP, which has 1.3 crore rural households, the state’s Jal Nigam (Rural) is the nodal implementing agency, executing the scheme across 822 blocks and over 59,000 Gram Panchayats. Officials said multi-village water supply schemes, connecting clusters of villages to shared treatment and pumping units, have driven rapid progress, particularly in the Terai region and eastern UP.Each village under the scheme has a Paani Samiti, or Village Water and Sanitation committee, responsible for overseeing construction, collecting user charges for maintenance, and managing operations. A Jal Sahiyya, typically a woman from the village, conducts mandatory quarterly water quality testing at multiple points across the village to ensure compliance with Bureau of Indian Standards and World Health Organisation drinking water standards.The expansion of piped water access is expected to significantly ease the burden on women and girls in rural households, who have traditionally spent hours collecting water from distant sources, time that development researchers say could now be redirected toward education, work, and health.