Gram Sabhas To Be Held In 13,326 Panchayats In AP

Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan today announced that the State government was proceeding with its plan to enhance the gram panchayats, and that for that as promised during the Assembly election campaign grama sabhas would be held in 13,326 villages on August 23 to pass resolutions on the development works to be undertaken in the villages under the employment guarantee scheme.

"As part of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), 87 types of projects will be implemented in villages, with an allocation of Rs 4,500 crore. This initiative aims to provide employment to 54 lakh families, generating nine crore man-days of work," he said.

Speaking to the media at his camp office in Mangalagiri, the Deputy CM said that Andhra Pradesh was the second State in the country to introduce the panchayat system. "Now, with the second generation of reforms, we are initiating a revolution in every aspect of panchayats in the State. For example, for the past three decades panchayats used to receive Rs 100 for minor panchayats and Rs 250 for major panchayats to organize national festivals. Under the new panchayat reforms, we have increased these funds to Rs 10,000 for minor panchayats and Rs 25,000 for major panchayats," he said.

He highlighted the uniqueness of each village in the State, noting their specialities in arts, food preparation, textiles and handicrafts. "For example, Anandapuram in Visakhapatnam district is known for its flowers, and Araku is famous for its coffee. Mangalagiri sarees, Lepakshi in Sathya Sai district, Vettapalem village in Bapatla district, and Chilakalapudi and Kondapalli in Krishna district are renowned for their handicrafts. We aim to identify these specialities in the gram sabhas, decide on their promotion, and explore ways to create wealth by exporting the unique products and food items of the State. We encourage the youth and women to participate extensively in gram sabhas, and are going to particularly emphasise on increasing women's involvement in panchayats," he said.