With an aim to uplift rural communities and enhance their quality of life, the State government led by the Congress party has launched a series of transformative programmes focusing on sanitation, infrastructure development, environmental conservation, and livelihood generation with an unprecedented allocation of ₹ 29,816 crore in the Budget for the 2024-25 year for the Panchayat Raj and Rural Development departments.
These initiatives, spanning sanitation campaigns to infrastructure development and generation of employment, aim to create sustainable and inclusive growth in villages across the State fully utilising the Centrally sponsored schemes. The government has also cleared ₹750 crore in arrears to gram panchayats, which were due to be paid during the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) administration, alleviating financial strain at the grassroots level.
One such initiative is the ‘Swachhadanam-Pachhadanam’ (Cleanliness and Greenness) programme, which emphasises cleanliness and greenery in villages while enhancing livelihood opportunities in all gram panchayats, two rounds of activities have been completed under the programme, including the cleaning of roads, drains, and public institutions, along with mosquito-control measures such as fogging and spraying of anti-larval chemicals, officials said. Medical tests were conducted for nearly 1.85 lakh multi-purpose workers and their families to improve health standards.
The government’s environmental commitment is further reflected in the ‘Vana Mahotsavam Programme’, a massive afforestation drive aimed at increasing the State’s green cover. With over 6.99 crore saplings planted this year.
Utilising the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) the State government has taken up the creation of durable assets in rural areas. Covering over 12,000 gram panchayats, the programme has generated 13.67 crore person-days of employment for more than 40 lakh workers, disbursing ₹2,835 crore in wages directly to their accounts. Beyond employment, the scheme has made significant strides in infrastructure development, including the renovation of over 26,000 water tanks to boost their storage capacity, the construction of feeder channels to improve irrigation, and the development of over 71,000 rural roads and community buildings.
Rural connectivity has also been prioritized under various road development schemes, and the Central schemes like the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) are being fully utilised. So much so that the Centre has cleared pending dues amounting to ₹347 crore, allowing stalled projects to resume. Meanwhile, the government accorded permission to ground 417 pending works (813.74 km) with an estimate cost of ₹ 688.64 crore and the administrative sanction accorded for new works of 931 (1983.36 km) with an estimate cost of ₹ 2220.53 crore under Construction of Rural Roads (CRR). Special attention is being given to areas affected by natural calamities, with ₹544 crore allocated for flood damage repairs under the Flood Damage Repairs (FDR) initiative, the officials said.
Rural drinking water supply revamped under Mission Bhagiratha
Efforts to provide uninterrupted drinking water to rural areas have gained momentum with the renewed implementation of Mission Bhagiratha. The government has allocated ₹298.92 crore. In Adilabad district, ₹60 crore are being utilized to provide continuous drinking water to 975 habitations in the Utnoor tribal belt, a crucial step in addressing the water needs of this marginalized community.
Over 64,000 hand pumps, 46,000 single-phase motors, and 33,000 pump sets, which had been neglected for a decade, were repaired and made operational.
Meanwhile, the Panchayat Raj Engineering Department has ramped up its infrastructure development efforts with several significant initiatives. These include the appointment of 499 Assistant Executive Engineers (AEEs) to oversee rural engineering and water systems, the construction of 1,000 new gram panchayat buildings, and 960 anganwadi centres.
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