Jal Jeevan Mission 2.0: Nal Jal Mitra and Sujalam Shakti Push

The correct answer is 510 hours. At its virtual conference on 21 September 2026, the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation briefed States on the two pathways of the Nal Jal Mitra programme: a 510-hour Short-Term Training course for new entrants, and a 120-hour Recognition of Prior Learning pathway for people who already work on rural water systems, such as plumbers, electricians, pump attendants and operators.

That is why 120 hours is the trap: it is a real figure from the same programme, but for the RPL route, not for new entrants. The other two options are distractors. Nal Jal Mitra is an NSQF-aligned qualification developed with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and it trains multi-skilled village technicians to handle pumps, pipelines, treatment systems and electrical fittings. States were asked to prioritise local youth.

The correct answer is Village-level water quality testing and disinfection. Sujalam Shakti aims to create a trained workforce of village women for water quality surveillance, testing and basic disinfection, and to strengthen women's role in rural water governance. It is based on the NSQF Level-2 qualification "Fundamentals of Basic Water Quality Testing and Disinfection", which covers sampling, the use of Field Test Kits, chlorination, sanitary inspection, source protection and digital reporting.

The other options describe different activities that are not part of this initiative. The first phase aims to train about 1.35 to 1.70 lakh women through State Rural Livelihood Missions, Panchayati Raj Institutions and Rural Self Employment Training Institutes. States were advised to give priority to women already testing water under Jal Jeevan Mission and to Self-Help Group members, and to register Sujalam Shakti members on the Gram Panchayat dashboard.

The correct answer is Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation. DDWS, which is part of the Ministry of Jal Shakti, organised the conference on 21 September 2026 as a follow-up to its Departmental Summit of 1 to 2 September 2026. Jal Jeevan Mission, which aims to give rural households tap water connections, is run by this department through the National Jal Jeevan Mission.

The Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation is the other department of the Ministry of Jal Shakti, which makes it the most tempting wrong answer; it handles rivers, irrigation and the Namami Gange programme. The Department of Rural Development and the Department of Land Resources are under the Ministry of Rural Development. States were asked to draft JJM 2.0 HR policies in coordination with rural development and Panchayati Raj departments.