Ponnavaram to go hitech

Created On: 21 Dec 2015 4:52 AM IST

Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Y S Chowdary unveiled big plans for Ponnavaram his adopted village in Veerulapadu mandal of Krishna district. The Union Minister is keen to develop CC roads with underground drainage apart from developing amenities like wifi, solar power, organic farming, digital classes in government schools, CCTV cameras for village security, uninterrupted drinking water supply, bio toilets and check dams to preserve rain water. The Union minister visited the village on Sunday and unveiled a statue of NTR, laid foundation for CC roads and 2-bed room housing colony for poor. He adopted the village in February 2015 under Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana and sanctioned Rs 3.2 crore funds from panchayat raj department to develop CC roads with underground drainage facility for the first time. The Sujana Foundation set up a RO plant at a cost of Rs 10 lakh to provide 20 litres of drinking water free of cost to each family.

Under Swachh Bharat scheme, collection of wet and dry waste started from each house in the village. The villagers were encouraged to develop kitchen gardens to cultivate vegetables without any pesticides. A skill development training centre was set up to train the youth in computers. Speaking on the occasion, the Union Minister said that priority would be given to education and health. Supporting ruralisation, the minister said that rural youth should get employment opportunities within 10 km radium from their village for the economic development of the villages instead of exodus to urban areas. He said that he would make efforts to provide employment opportunities to youth near the village. Reacting on the development programmes, a youth of the village said that these programmes should not be one day hungama.

He said that rural youth should be entrusted with the responsibility to monitor the welfare programmes. He also appealed for developing dairy units in the village. MP Kesineni Srinivas, MLA Tangirala Sowmya, Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao and others accompanied the Union Minister.