Ministry of Jal Shakti Releases Policy on Data Sharing under Sujalam Bharat DPI
The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti, issued the Policy on Data Sharing, Interoperability and Stakeholder Access under Sujalam Bharat Digital Public Infrastructure on August 20, 2026. This policy establishes a secure, federated, interoperable and accountable framework for sharing and governing rural drinking water data across States, Union Territories, local governance institutions and approved sectoral stakeholders.
The policy marks a significant evolution in India's rural drinking water sector from infrastructure creation to assured, accountable and service-oriented drinking water delivery. It provides a comprehensive framework to support infrastructure lifecycle management, source sustainability, service assurance, citizen-centric accountability and evidence-based decision-making. The framework establishes governance principles for data sharing, interoperability and stakeholder access within the Sujalam Bharat Digital Public Infrastructure.
Key objectives include enabling governed and interoperable data exchange between DDWS, State/UTs, Gram Panchayats, Government organizations and authorized sectoral stakeholders. The framework strengthens Panchayat-centric governance, citizen participation, grievance redressal, participatory asset monitoring and service accountability across the rural water ecosystem. Through approved and purpose-based access mechanisms, stakeholders may develop innovative solutions for operation and maintenance, water-quality monitoring, infrastructure management, predictive maintenance, geospatial planning, Digital Twins, and Artificial Intelligence-enabled analytics and decision-support systems.
The policy incorporates robust provisions for privacy, personal data protection, cybersecurity, data classification, access governance and public-interest safeguards. It adopts a tiered data-access framework to ensure secure, responsible and purpose-limited use of information while protecting sensitive infrastructure and personal data. Sujalam Bharat is positioned as a long-term public digital infrastructure for rural water utility governance, supporting transparency, innovation, operational efficiency and sustainable service delivery.