A new study led by Nobel Laureate Michael Kremer has found that the Narendra Modi government’s Jal Jeevan Mission can save the lives of 1.36 lakh children every year.
The scheme seeks to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual tap connections by 2024 to all rural households.
“We estimate that if the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) succeeds in this mission, it will prevent around 1,36,000 under-5 deaths per year. However, this will require that water delivered through JJM is free from microbiological contamination,” stated the paper Potential Reduction in Child Mortality through Expanding Access to Safe Drinking Water in India by economists Kremer, Akanksha Saletore, Witold Więcek, and Arthur Baker.
Kremer, who won the 2019 Nobel prize in economics, visited India in July when he interacted with Jal Shakti Ministry secretary Vini Mahajan, and senior officers from the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, UNICEF and other sector partners at Antyodaya Bhawan.
He had said at the time that nearly 30% infant deaths can be reduced if safe water is made available to families for drinking.
“If JJM succeeds, it will prevent around 1,36,000 under-5 deaths per year. However, this will require that water delivered through JJM is free from microbiological contamination,” said the study.
According to the researchers, in 2019, at the inception of the scheme, more than 50% of the population did not have access to safe drinking water.
“Diarrhea is the third most common responsible disease for under-five mortality in India. Water treatment is a cost-effective way to reduce diarrheal diseases and child mortality,” the report says.
It adds that a recent meta-analysis of 15 randomised controlled trials conducted by Kremer et al (2022) suggests that the expected reduction in all-cause under-5 mortality from water treatment is around one in four.
The study indicates that water treatment is among the most cost-effective ways to reduce child mortality, which means that efforts to reach as many people as possible with safe water are likely to have very large net benefits.
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