Govt committed to rural development: YSR

Hyderabad, Jan 24 (UNI) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy today said the State Government was committed to rural development and hence several developmental schemes were initiated at the gross-rootslevel.

According to an official release here, Dr Reddy said there was a proposal in the 2008-09 Budget to earmark Rs one crore for each mandal in the state for the construction of roads. The Government had been giving importance to cleanliness in villages and earmaked Rs 100 crore for this purpose, he added.

The Government was planning to provide Rs 1,000 crore special fund for the development of panchayats in the State, besides planning to provide Rs 150 crore as remuneration for the panchayat which was elected unanimously from this year, Dr Reddy said.

The Government was implementing the backward area development fund programme specially in 13 districts and also looking for establishing a panchayat for the Girijan Thandas, which comprised a population of 2,000, living in the area.

UNI BR GKT 2046