The Centre is providing financial and technical assistance to the States to supplement their efforts to provide adequate and safe drinking water to all rural habitations.

The centrally sponsored scheme National Rural Drinking Water Programme, NRDWP has empowered state governments to plan, design, approve and implement rural drinking water supply schemes.

This was informed in the Lok Sabha today in a written reply by Drinking Water and Sanitation Minister Jairam Ramesh. He said a budgetary allocation of ten thousand five hundred crore rupees have been made for NRDWP in 2012-13.

States are urged to prioritize the coverage of partially covered and quality affected habitations in their Annual Action Plans under the NRDWP.