New Delhi, March 11 -- The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday approved a restructuring of the Jal Jeevan Mission, the Centre's rural drinking water scheme, which in its next phase will focus on verifiable last-mile delivery rather than infrastructure creation alone, according to an official statement. The programme, dubbed Jal Jeevan Mission 2.0, will introduce structural changes including a uniform national digital framework aimed at improving governance and transparency. The Cabinet approved an overall outlay of Rs.8.69 lakh crore for the programme, including a central share of Rs.3.59 lakh crore, up from Rs.2.08 lakh crore approved when the scheme was launched in 2019-20. The scheme aimed to provide functional tap water connections to all of India's 193.5 million rural households by the end of 2024. According to the programme's dashboard, 158.2 million households, or 81.5% of the total, currently have a functional tap connection. The baseline coverage was about 16.72% when the mission was launched.htc...