New Delhi, Sep 5 (PTI) About 68 per cent or 13 crore rural households in the country so far have been provided with tap water connections, Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said on Tuesday.

Under the Jal Jeevan Mission, the government targets to provide tap water connection to all rural households by next year.

Also Read | Maratha Reservation Protest in Jalna: Prakash Ambedkar Meets Maratha Kranti Morcha Leader Manoj Jarange Patil, Backs Quotas Agitation.

There are a total of 19.23 crore rural households in the country and tap water coverage in rural India currently stands at 67.64 per cent, according to official data.

Shekhawat said 13 crore households so far have been provided with tap water connections in the country.

Also Read | EU Records Highest Number of Asylum Requests Since 2016.

"#13CrHarGharJal - a water revolution never imagined before. Our PM @narendramodi Ji's vision to quench every Indian's thirst has today ensured 13 crore homes have access to clean tap water. One tap at a time, a total of 13 crore families have been given a gift of health & wellbeing through our #HarGharJal scheme (sic)," Shekhawat said in a post on X.

However, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Lakshadweep still have under 50 per cent coverage of tap water connections, official data showed.

Nine states and UTs -- Goa, Andaman and Nicobar, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Haryana, Telangana, Puducherry, Gujarat, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh -- have achieved 100 per cent coverage, it added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)