IIMB and J-PAL’s SARWA initiative hosted a Policy Roundtable to explore drinking water quality in rural India

IIM Bangalore, in partnership with the J-PAL South Asia’s SARWA initiative (focused on evidence generation and scaling solutions for increasing access to clean air, water and energy), along with Arghyam as a knowledge partner – an organization committed to water governance, hosted a Water Quality Policy Roundtable, ‘Making Every Drop Safe: Policy Roundtable on Drinking Water Quality in Rural India’, featuring in-depth discussions on, ‘From Coverage to Quality: Priorities for Jal Jeevan Mission 2.0’, on 31^st August 2026. Rural India has made notable headway in extending piped water connections through the Jal Jeevan Mission, but access alone isn’t the end goal — water quality is now emerging as the critical next challenge. In response, the JJM Centre at IIMB, together with SARWA at J-PAL South Asia, hosted a roundtable that brought policymakers, researchers, and practitioners together to examine the scope of the water quality problem and discuss potential paths forward.