“While the Clean Ganga Fund was set up to collect funds from non-resident Indians and corporates, 53 per cent of the funds (as of March 2024) have come from public sector undertakings. The PAC recommended that the NMCG find alternate means to generate funds,” PRS said.Thirty river-interlinking projects have been identified under the National Perspective Plan (1980), with the aim of linking water-deficit basins with water-surplus ones.”As of January 2025, implementation has started on only one project, the Ken-Betwa Link Project. This project was approved in 2021, with an estimated cost of Rs 44,605 crore. It is estimated to be completed by 2030. As of June 2024, Rs 9,105 crore (20 percent of estimated cost) has been spent on the project,” according to the analysis.During the past 10 years, 76 percent of the budget allocation to the Jal Shakti ministry has gone to the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, the analysis found.Until 2021-22, the gap between allocations to the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation and the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation was below Rs 50 crore.In 2021-22, allocation for the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation almost tripled over the previous year, largely driven by increased allotment for the Jal Jeevan Mission.The ministry has been allocated Rs 99,503 crore for the 2025-26 fiscal — a 93 percent increase over the revised estimate for 2024-25 — PRS found.The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation has been allocated Rs 74,226 crore, with the flagship Jal Jeevan Mission allotted Rs 67,000 crore.This marks a 195 percent rise over the revised estimate for 2024-25.However, this allocation remains slightly lower than the original budget for 2024-25, according to the PRS analysis.The Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation has been allocated Rs 25,277 crore, up 17 percent on year.The PRS analysis also found that of the 5.86 lakh villages under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen, 96 per cent were declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) Plus but only 44 per cent had undergone third-party verification.”After meeting the ODF Plus criteria, villages can declare themselves to be ODF Plus at a gram sabha meeting. Third-party verification of this declaration is required to be done within 90 days of the first declaration. This may be done by district or block officials or non-government volunteers. 44 percent of Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen villages have had their ODF-Plus model certification verified as on January 30,” according to the PRS report.
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