• Target Shortfall: The state government failed to achieve universal coverage of Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs) by 2024 under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), leaving 31% of rural households uncovered.
• Regional Disparities: Wide divergence in execution among audited districts—Kandhamal registered the highest coverage at 69.65%, while Malkangiri lagged at 11.20%.
• Project Execution Deficit: Out of 133 mega water supply projects taken up under JJM between 2019 and 2024, only two projects were completed in all respects by June 2024.

Deficiencies in Bottom-Up Planning

• Decentralised planning mechanisms were largely bypassed. In 24 of 39 sampled villages with Village Action Plans (VAPs), Gram Sabhas were not convened for approval.
• District Action Plans (DAPs) were not framed in any district except Kandhamal, leading to the absence of an integrated State Action Plan derived from local inputs.

Neglect of Community Participation & Ownership

• Village Water Supply Committees (VWSCs) were sidelined during planning and implementation.
• Failure to mobilise community contributions toward user charges and Operation & Maintenance (O&M) threatens the financial and operational sustainability of the water assets.

Fund Underutilisation in Critical Soft Components

• Support Activities: Only 2.20% of allotted funds were spent against the permissible cap of 5%.
• Water Quality Management & Surveillance (WQM&S): Expenditure stood at 0.38% against the permissible ceiling of 2%.

Inadequate Quality Testing Infrastructure

• Of the 77 state testing laboratories, only 26 were NABL-accredited and 17 NABL-recognised, leaving 34 laboratories completely unaccredited and unrecognised.

• Useful as an authentic, data-backed example of a Performance Audit identifying administrative bottlenecks beyond mere financial accounting.
• Decentralisation vs. Implementation Gap: Illustrates how schemes designed around the 73rd Constitutional Amendment principles (PRIs, Gram Sabhas, VWSCs) fail in practice due to administrative centralisation and non-formulation of local action plans.
• Asset Sustainability (O&M): Highlights why civil infrastructure alone does not guarantee public service delivery without sustainable revenue models, regular water quality surveillance, and local community stakeholding.

The Jal Jeevan Mission, CAG performance audits, decentralised planning under the 73rd Constitutional Amendment (PRIs, Gram Sabhas, VWSCs) and water quality surveillance are recurring themes across OPSC Prelims (Polity & Governance) and OPSC Mains GS Paper II, especially when tied to Odisha’s district-level outcomes.

For structured notes on governance, rural water supply, and Odisha-specific current affairs, aspirants preparing in Bhubaneswar can join the OPSC Foundation Batch at Strive Edge IAS — recognized as one of the best OPSC OAS coaching institutes in Bhubaneswar.