The first Chief Minister after Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy to visit this place located in the hills and thick forests of Visakha Agency, N. Kiran Kumar Reddy launched off-road ambulances, fortnightly health check up facility for schoolchildren and laid the foundation for a number of schemes.
He along with Union Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh and Union Tribal Affairs Minister V. Kishore Chandra Deo laid the foundation for 962 km roads to be laid in the Agency area of the district to be built at a cost of Rs 528 crore under the Centrally-funded Prime Minister Grameen Sadak Yojna. He launched an innovative fortnightly health check up facility, Rajeev Bala Sanjeevani, an extension of the popular 104 service. Called 105 service, it would have a team of doctors and paramedical staff who would visit the tribal welfare schools in the State every fortnight and conduct medical camps for the students and disburse medication if required. The programme called Samagra Giri Pragati Sadassu saw two tribal gram panchayats in the State get control over issue of transit permits for bamboo and non-timber produce.
This would not only empower the Gram Panchayat but also help it earn revenue from the transaction, Mr. Jairam Ramesh said.
Earlier, the Forest Department was issuing the permits due to which the gram panchayat was only getting limited earnings, he explained. With this move, the gram panchayats could earn up to Rs 1 crore per annum, he said. State Tribal Welfare Minister P. Balaraju, Ministers Jana Reddy, Dharmana Prasada Rao, Shatrucharla Vijayarama Raju and Ganta Srinivas Rao, a number of Congress leaders and officials were also present.
