The Hindu 20.04.2010
Water project to be taken up with Rs. 25 cr.
Special Correspondent
| Amount sanctioned under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme, says Minister |
— Photo: G.N. Rao 
REACHING OUT: Minister for Cooperation and Employment R. Venkata Reddy receiving representations from the residents of Pedatanda in Khammam district as part of the Praja Patham programme on Monday.
KHAMMAM: Minister for Cooperation and Employment Ramreddy Venkata Reddy said here on Monday that the drinking water needs of gram panchayats in the suburbs of Khammam municipality would be taken care of by taking up a special project costing Rs. 25 crores sanctioned under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP).
Launching the Praja Patham programme at Peda Tanda village in Khammam rural mandal, he said Rs. 7 crores were already released for grounding works under the project.
He said that the Edulapuram tank would be developed as an open storage facility for drawing water from the Nagarjuna Sagar left canal and to support the supply system in the villages nearby including Peda Tanda. He said that the complaints into the cancellation of ration cards would be looked into and all the genuine cases would be reconsidered.
He admitted the issue of ration cards was linked with many individual benefits such as allotment of house sites, sanction of pensions and even the coverage under the Rajiv Arogyasri.
District Collector N. Nageswara Rao said that every grievance represented during grama sabhas being organised under the Praja Patham would be attended to. He asked the MPDO and other officials concerned to sit together after the grama sabha and prepare a plan of action for resolving the problems in villages.
Though seven key areas were identified for focusing the attention of the official machinery under the programme, the pressing problems of the people would not be ignored.
Priority areas
Drinking water, pensions and health were part of the issues attached greater importance in the current round of the programme.
Representations for issue of ration cards and allotment of house sites would be duly considered. Zilla Parishad Chairperson Gonela Vijayalakshmi was among the elected representatives who spoke.
