Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that his government has provided piped water connection to seven crore rural families in the last three years under the Jal Jeevan Mission.

PM Modi said that this helped India achieve the milestone of 10 crore connections in villages so far.

Addressing a program virtually, that was organised by the government of Goa to mark 100 per cent piped water supply coverage in rural households in the state.

Union Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant were present at the event in Panaji.

PM Modi said, “In the seven decades since the Independence, only three crore rural households had piped water. But in the last three years, since the announcement of this mission, our government has connected seven crore additional rural households through tap water.”

“The achievement of 10 crore milestone reflects the Centre's commitment towards provision of water and preservation of environment,” the PM said.

He further said that there were 16 crore rural families dependent on other sources of water when he had made the announcement of Jal Jeevan Mission.

“We could not keep such a big population struggling,” said PM Modi.

He added that the Jal Jeevan Mission’s success is due to the people’s participation, partnership of stakeholders , political will and optimum use of the available resources.