Shimla: To provide safe drinking water to school children, the Himachal Pradesh government has decided to install water filters in 3,000 primary schools, a minister said here on Thursday.

"Terafil filters would be provided to 3,000 primary schools free of cost under the Jalmani scheme by the end of this year," an official statement quoting Irrigation and Public Health Minister Ravinder Singh Ravi said.

He said 100 government senior secondary schools would also be covered under the scheme this year.

The low-cost Terafil filters, designed by the central government's science and technology department and Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET), can be maintained without power supply.

The government has also provided field test kits to 1,650 panchayats for checking water quality. IANS