Modi's piped water prevents 1.36 lakh death!!

According to the study, the central government's efforts to supply drinking water to every rural household under the Jal jeevan Mission (JJM) could prevent the deaths of around 1.36 lakh children under the age of five in india every year. Nobel laureate Michael Kramer is a co-author of this study.

The report titled 'Potential reduction in child mortality through expanding access to safe drinking water in India' has been released by 'The Development Innovation Lab'. The lab, affiliated with the university of Chicago, aims to work on innovation with the potential to benefit millions of people in low- and middle-income countries.

American development economist Michael Kramer at the university of Chicago is a co-author of this study, which received the Nobel prize in economics in 2019. The report says that for this it will be necessary that there is no microbial contamination in the water given through JJM.

The report says that diarrhea is the third common disease that causes the highest number of deaths among children under five years of age in India.

"Water treatment is an economical way to reduce the incidence of diseases like diarrhea and child mortality," the study said. A recent meta-analysis of 15 randomized control trials conducted by Kramer et al (2022) suggests that water treatment or, say, clean water is one of the four causes of the expected reduction in mortality in children under five years of age. This meta-analysis also suggests that water treatment is one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce child mortality.

The researchers admit that their calculations are "conservative" because they believe that "the child mortality rate is 25 percent higher in households without access to clean water than in households with access to clean water."

"If households with access to clean water get better nutrition or better medical care, this gap in mortality between these people could be bigger," the study said.

According to the National Family health Survey-5, India's child mortality rate – the probability of being born perfect and dying between the age of 5 years – per 1,000 live births – was 41.9.

According to the mission's website, the Jal jeevan Mission, launched in 2019, aims to supply 55 liters of water per person per day to every rural household through tap connections in every household by 2024. Its aim is to improve the standard of living of rural communities.

The state and the Center will share the expenditure of Rs 3.6 lakh crore earmarked for this 'Nal Se Jal' scheme for five years starting from 2019. For the Union Territories, the central government will provide 100% funds.

So far, Goa, Telangana, Haryana, Dadra and nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Puducherry, andaman and nicobar islands have achieved the target of providing 100 per cent tap connections to households.

According to government data, when the mission was launched three years ago, out of 19.22 crore rural households, only 3.23 crore (17 per cent) had tap water connections. The target of the ministry is to benefit the remaining 16 crore (83 percent) families by 2024.