The Centre has approved Rs. 6.42 bn to connect 382 villages in Barmer district with piped water under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM). This has been made possible by the efforts of Union minister of state for agriculture and local MP, Kailash Choudhary. This will resolve the problem of drinking water in every village identified in the district. At present only 18 per cent of rural areas in the country get water through pipelines; the JJM’s target is to make it 100 per cent. The state has discussed all relevant points with the Centre and an annual action plan has been made for this year.Contact: Rajeeva Swarup, Chief Secretary, Government of Rajasthan. Address: Government of Rajasthan C Scheme, Ashok Nagar, Jaipur-302 007. Tel: 0141-222 7254. E-mail: csraj@rajasthan.gov.in Website: www.rajasthan.gov.in