Telangana Places Improving Village Infrastructure At The Very Heart Of Its Rural Development Plan

The state of Telangana has attained a reputation for its ideal villages - these are environmentally friendly and have access to better livelihoods. Each of these villages in the state today have quality  dumping yards for sanitation, permanent houses and streets with proper lighting & cement roads ,a nursery to increase the green cover, a tractor, talley and tanker for village development projects and as well as garbage collection mechanism. Moreover, the villages of Telangana have integrated markets for all their daily needs and have state-of-the-art crematoriums and funeral services  in Vaikunta Dhamam.

According to the state government, in Telangana Panchayat Raj and rural development has happened unlike any other state in India, thanks to the top leadership that places village infrastructure development at the very heart the state's overall growth and progress.

This turnaround has been made possible due to dramatic changes in the state's schemes and programmes for the rural sector. Here's a look at how the state made this transformation possible:

- Palle Pragathi Programme: Through this scheme, the government spends Rs 227.5 crore per month for improving infrastructure and working on different developmental aspects in the villages, be it improving sanitation and hygiene, increasing green coverage, or taking up beautification of the villages. The main aim is to improve the quality of life in the rural areas. Through this scheme, villagers have been empowered and motivated to manage their own villages.

- Palle Prakruthi Vanams & Bruhath palle prakruthi Vanams: It is a novel initiative of developing village parks in order to focus on improving green cover and amenities in rural Telangana.

- Haritha Haram: It is one of the largest plantation and reforestation drive in India. Not just that, globally it is known as the third largest drive, after Brazil and China. Because of the programme, Telangana has given a mega-push to its green cover, from 24 per cent to 33 per cent forested area. A whopping 243 crore seedlings have already been planted across the state. The drive involves the people of the state, by creating nurseries at the village level to drive this 21st century green revolution. By harnessing the participation of the common man, Haritha Haram initiative has delivered a strong message - the state government will lead the charge in fighting climate change.

In just eight short years, Telangana's villages have completely transformed themselves. There are 12,769 village Panchayats and each village panchayat is a model. With such positive developments, 19 Telangana's villages have been awarded in India's Top 20  villages under  ‘Sansad Adarsh Gramin Yojana' from the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India.