In this regard, a tripartite loan pact involving the Centre, the Punjab government and the World Bank was signed.
"The government of India, the government of Punjab and the World Bank today signed a USD 248 million loan agreement for the Punjab rural water and sanitation sector improvement project to help the state of Punjab improve its delivery of water and sanitation services in rural Punjab," World Bank said in a statement.
The project is expected to benefit about 84.7 lakh rural people in Punjab, including over 40 lakh female beneficiaries and 24.4 lakh beneficiaries belonging to the scheduled castes. It is to be implemented over a six-year period, it added.
It also envisages to provide the facility of toilet for all households without a toilet, sewerage systems in over 315 villages and supply of safe water from surface water to over 121 villages.
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The project will help the State government's water department to reorganise and focus on service delivery, World Bank said.
"Under the Swachh Bharat Mission, Government has accorded the highest priority to rural sanitation..Initiatives under this project are aligned with these objectives and would supplement the endeavour toward strengthening rural water and sanitation systems," said Joint Secretary in Finance Ministry Raj Kumar said.
"Over 40 lakh women in Punjab, who today bear the burden of securing daily water supplies and deal with poor sanitation facilities, will benefit from this project. They will have access to more reliable and better quality water supply and sanitation facilities in their own households," said Michael Haney, Operations Adviser, World Bank, India.
The project will reduce the time spent by women in collecting water, which they can now use in other productive ways, he added.