Andhra govt inks pact with Tata Trusts to develop 264 villages

Vijayawada, Aug 24: The Andhra Pradesh government today entered into an agreement with Tata Trusts for community empowerment and improvement of overall living standards of people in 264 villages in the Vijayawada region.

Tata Trusts have identified these villages in Vijayawada Lok Sabha constituency and mapped and geo-tagged them, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said.

The programme intends to implement "interventions in the thematic areas" of bamboo cultivation, fisheries, nutrition and fortification along with micro planning and village development based on the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY).

"I am delighted that Tata Trusts is partnering with Andhra Pradesh by developing 264 villages. This is the first time such a huge number of villages are being adopted. This will set an example in the country as it will be mentored by the industry titan Ratan Tata," Naidu said.

Tata Trusts chairman Ratan Tata said the partnership with Andhra Pradesh government will be in terms of social activities, nutrition, health and creating livelihood, etc. He didn't give a direct reply when asked about the direct investment that the Tata Group may make in the state.

R Venkataramanan, executive trustee of Tata Trusts, said they will support the state and administrative bodies in implementation of "multi-thematic development plan" in 264 villages. Kesineni Srinivas, Vijaywada MP, said the Tata Trusts have mapped and geo-tagged almost 2.5 lakh households covering a million people.

PTI