ABSTRACT
According to UNICEF’s Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP), 88 percent of India’s population of 1.2 billion had access to drinking water from improved sources in 2008, as compared to 72 percent in 1990 (WHO/UNICEF 2010). An improved source is defined by UNICEF as one that, by the nature of its construction or through active intervention, is protected from outside contamination, in particular from contamination with faecal matter. However, these JMP figures do not tell the whole story. These figures ignore or mask inequitable access to water supply services within villages. Also the percentage of India’s population that has reliable access to adequate drinking water of adequate quality is less than this 88 percent, in part because of the phenomenon of slippage (Pearce 2012). Slippage means that WASH services slip back from a higher to a lower level over a period of time.
