The Rural Development Minister, however, said revenue generated from user charges on potable water should go to village panchayats.
"Many states have agreed to impose water charges on household in villages for ensuring safe drinking water. But our stand is that the revenue generated from water charges should go to gram panchayats," Ramesh said after the meeting of the states on drinking water and sanitation here.
He said "many gram panchayats are eager to impose user charges on drinking water. It is already being done in some villages in Gadchiroli district, a Naxalite affected area in Maharashtra."
Currently tap water is available to only 35 per cent of total villages in the country. The government has earmarked Rs 10,500 crore for providing drinking water in the current fiscal and out of which Rs 525 cr will be released to states by June 5.
He said there are many states where the quality of water is deteriorating. "For example, arsenic and floride contents have been found in water in some parts of West Bengal, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh among other states.
"There are 20 districts in UP which are suffering from Japanese encephalitis. Thousands of children are dying due to the contamination in drinking water," Ramesh said.
The government has earmarked 60 districts in water quality-stressed states like Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and UP to launch a special scheme for providing drinking water as pilot project. More
