News: Haryana Village Committees to Run Rural Water Supply-24-03-2026
The Haryana Cabinet on Tuesday approved an operation and maintenance (O&M) policy that hands the day-to-day running of rural drinking water supply to village-level committees, in line with the community-managed approach of the Jal Jeevan Mission. The meeting in Chandigarh was chaired by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, an official statement said.
At the centre of the policy are Village Water and Sewerage Committees (VWSCs), to be set up and empowered under gram panchayats through a government-community partnership. They will ensure supply to households, maintain head works, repair faults and leakages in the scheme or distribution system, monitor the system and collect revenue.
The Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) will provide technical support, hand-holding and capacity building. Electricity charges, staffing and new infrastructure works will stay with the department. Drinking water grievances will continue to be covered by the Right to Service Act, with PHED responsible for timely compliance.
Local bodies will issue and collect water bills and use the revenue directly for local operation and maintenance. The community will be trained in water testing, record keeping and O&M practices, and accurate consumer data will be maintained on the BISWAS billing software, operated by self-help group members. Panchayats will be incentivised with additional funds at par with the water charges they collect.
The statement said citizens’ financial participation is essential for the sustainability of supply systems, and that revenue from water charges is expected to rise substantially, ultimately saving money for the state exchequer. The policy is also expected to cut the time taken to redress grievances.
A tripartite memorandum of understanding will be signed between the gram panchayat, the VWSC and PHED in each panchayat. Haryana has 6,721 villages, of which 4,583 are under single panchayats and 2,138 fall under multiple panchayats and Mahagram villages. Implementation begins on April 1, 2026, in single panchayat villages and on April 1, 2027, in the multiple panchayat and Mahagram villages.
