The Central government has decided to give priority to the decision of the State governments on allocation of funds for various developmental works in rural development, irrigation, and community health, Union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu has said.
“The share of the State governments in Central funds has been increased like never before from 30-42 per cent. This apart, 5 per cent is directly provided to the panchayats and another 2 per cent under the component of national disasters,” he said here on Friday.
“After all this, only 50 per cent funds remain with the Centre. In this too, priority is being given to the State governments under the instructions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Prime Minister believes that the State governments always have a clear idea of the works that need to be taken up for getting better results,” said Mr. Venkaiah Naidu.
The Union Minister was speaking at a meeting organised in Ozili mandal headquarters town, about 60 km south of Nellore city, located on NH-5.
Residents and leaders of Ozili submitted a memorandum to him seeking Rs. 220 crore for development of a summer storage tank, and creation of additional irrigation and drinking water facilities for villages.
Mr. Venkaiah Naidu promised the villagers of getting the developmental works sanctioned by the State government by raising the issue with Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.
Stone laid
During his visit to the district, Mr. Venkaiah Naidu laid stone for a national-level indoor training auditorium being developed by Sivanthi Adityan Sports Foundation in PPP mode at Ozili.
This would be developed on a par with the 10 sports training centres being run by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) across the country.
Calling for awareness on sports, physical exercise, and overall health, Mr. Venkaiah Naidu said that excellence in sports would go a long way in increasing general productivity and efficiency in all fields of activity.
Mr. Naidu also laid stone for a 30-bed Community Health Centre (CHC) being constructed in Venkatachalam mandal headquarters town with Rs. 4.30 crore provided by the NABARD. Another CHC would come up at Vinjamur in Nellore district.
Addressing a meeting at Venkatachalam, Mr. Naidu said that this was among the five mandals in the State selected by the Central government under the Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM). In all, 300 mandals had been selected all over the country.
The living conditions of people will be improved in these mandals by organising skill development activities and providing digital education, 24-hour drinking water supply, waste management, sanitation, health, link roads, civic infrastructure, etc.
MLC Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy presided over the meeting.
Municipal Administration Minister P. Narayana, Health Minister Kamineni Srinivas, Nellore MP Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy, Tirupati MP V. Vara Prasada Rao, and MLAs were present.
