The State of Gujarat has established one Central Lab, thirty-three District Labs and forty-nine Taluka Labs for testing water quality. The State Government is in the process of improving the water testing labs. The quality of performance of the labs judged by NRDWP Guidelines and Jal Jeevan Mission’s norms was required to be assessed. So, the Water Supply and Management Organization (WASMO) of the State, desired to have an independent assessment of the performance of the water testing laboratories. UNICEF Gujarat State office supported the same and partnered with SIGMA Foundation, a ‘not for profit’ organization working across the country for taking up the assessment. It was decided, in consultation with WASMO, to select labs of each type, i.e., District labs and Taluka labs for studying and those are to be from different types of districts especially tribal and non-tribal. Functioning of the Central Lab at Gandhinagar was also studied.

The report was submitted to UNICEF Gujarat State Office. The report brings out the areas of success as well as those which needs to be improved. The steps to be taken for improvement have been recommended in the report.