Tamil Nadu - Nagapattinam   

Utilise schemes for rural economic prosperity: Collector

Official advice: Collector M. Jayaraman, third from right, leading an awareness rally in Adanur village to mark the Local Administration Day.

NAGAPATTINAM: For rural development to have the maximum effect on the economic prosperity, villagers should come together by themselves in the form of gram sabhas and make use of government schemes, Collector M. Jayaraman said on Saturday.

Speaking at a function at Adanur village in Vedaranyam taluk, the Collector said that November 1 was being celebrated as Local Administration Day for the last two years to create awareness among the people about the powers devolved to them by the government.

He said that through various Acts and schemes, the government had ensured that a significant amount of power was vested in panchayats themselves to develop villages according to the needs of the local residents. Self-help groups had been created to help women, and similar associations existed for various groups of people to ensure that their needs were met, he said.

In Nagapattinam district alone, works to the tune of Rs.424.3 crore had been taken up in last year under various schemes for rural development, Mr. Jayaraman said. Of this, the Rural Development Department had spent Rs.230 crore, the Tsunami Rehabilitation Programme had spent Rs.120 crore, Magalir Thittam had spent Rs.42 crore, NABARD and other agencies had spent Rs.30 crore, and Town Panchayats and Municipalities had spent Rs.2.3 crore, he said.

All these works were being implemented to create suitable infrastructure and institutional facilities for the people. It was finally the responsibility of the villagers themselves to ensure that all this work resulted in economic prosperity for the villages.

The Collector looked at petitions to grant pattas for 45 houses in Adanur village itself, and said that he would ask officials to allot alternative sites to the respective people since they were currently living in area marked for water bodies. He also said that a proposal to lay two new roads to the village would be considered shortly by the administration.

Vedaranyam MLA S.K. Vedaratnam, Project Officer, DRDA, K. Arunmani, Project Officer, Magalir Thittam S. Suryakala, and other officials participated in the function.

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