Chennai: Rural areas of the State saw an unprecedented development in the last three years as Chief Minister M K Stalin gave special attention in providing facilities in the villages and uplifting the lives of people in the pastoral through a slew of development schemes that included the handing out of bank loans worth Rs 71,960.43 crore for 2,56,508 women Self Help Groups (SHGs).
According to data provided by the State department of Rural and Panchyat Raj, 6208 village roads were developed at a cost of Rs 1,484 crore and Rs 4,035 crore was spent on concretizing roofs or houses in the villages. In the last three years, 2,94,414 houses were also built in rural areas for the benefit of the people there and 92,003 persons landed in jobs of various kinds through the 511 camps organized for rural youth.
The Vptax portal was made accessible to 12,525 panchayats, whose information technology infrastructure was developed through the procurement of computers, printers, UPS and other such accessories.
Through the Vptax portal, payment of property tax, water tax, business tax and accessing a plethora of other government services were simplified and the Uthamar Gandhi award that was given for one panchayat in each of the 37 districts of the State every year was resumed.
Revenue sanctioning limits for village panchayats, panchayat unions and district panchayats were increased to Rs 5 lakh, Rs 25 lakh and Rs 50 lakh respectively, providing more powers to the rural local bodies in taking financial decisions concerning development in their areas. Rural sanitation saw a boost as Rs 5 crore was allocated for the welfare of sanitation workers.
Persisting rural problems like starvation, poverty and gender inequality were addressed to a large extend in the last three years with women forming 86.16 per cent of the beneficiaries of MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) and 29.59 per cent from the Scheduled Tribes. Among those who benefitted from the employment scheme were 2,97,461 persons with disabilities, department data revealed.
The efficient utilization of Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) of the NABARD saw the laying of 287 roads spanning a distance of 550 km and the construction of 342 bridges with an allocation of Rs 1,221 crore.
Among the other improvement in lifestyle of people in rural areas were brought about by the construction of 10 gas crematoriums in 9 district panchayats adjacent to urban areas at a cost of Rs 20 crore, allocation of 7,50,405 house, the roof concretization work carried out at cot of Rs 4502.23 crore and the renovation of the Periyar Memorial Samathuvapurams.
