7-star plan to bring glory to villages

Penukonda (Anantapur): Panchayat Raj Commissioner B Ramanjaneyulu directed the officials concerned to implement seven-star plan for developing villages. He was addressing the divisional-level meeting of the sarpanches and village secretaries on the implementation of seven-star plan for development of villages held here on Friday.

Elaborating the development programmes to be undertaken by the state government in 2018, he said that the government would prepare a budget to develop rural areas in phases involving 54 government departments. The Commissioner directed the officials to ensure basic amenities to villagers. He asked them to prepare a plan to provide tap connection to every house. He called upon people for their support in developing their respective villages.

He said that the seven-star plan include installation of LED bulbs for streetlights in the villages and supply of LPG to all the households, potable tap water to all houses in all villages, making villages plastic-free, development of infrastructure in all the villages, supplying at least four saplings to all houses as part of greening of villages, to improve the groundwater levels by digging soak pits particularly in the villages of Anantapur district, and to make sure every household earns at least Rs 10,000. He said that the state government would set up a separate budget by allocating Rs 2,000 crore through 14th Finance Commission, Rs 3,500 crore through NREGS.

He also said that the government would spend Rs 14,000 crore for rural drinking water schemes, Rs 4,000 crore for developing concrete roads in rural areas. According to him, the government had already allocated Rs 300 crore and would allocate Rs 1,000 crore soon. The Commissioner said that the rural and urban areas would be developed in an unprecedented manner in the forthcoming days. Joint Collector-2 Khaja Mohiuddin, RDO Rammurthy and other divisional-level officers were present.