RDPR to develop 10,000 playgrounds in rural areas

The Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department will launch a programme to develop 10,000 playgrounds in rural areas on Children’s Day, H.K. Patil, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister, has said.

The Minister told presspersons here recently that the project would be taken up in coordination with the departments of Revenue, Education and Sports. “We are planning to develop two playgrounds in each gram panchayat,” the Minister said.

Mr. Patil also announced the launch of Rajiv Gandhi Yuva Chaitanya Yojane aimed at providing skill training, loan, self-employment and placement opportunities for two lakh rural unemployed youth.

Trained

“While one lakh youth will be trained in skills and provided job placements, the remaining will be trained in self-employment and provided loans for setting up business,” he said.

Upgrading roads

The government had proposed to upgrade 2,450 km of rural roads under the second phase of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojane. “We are planning to adopt a new cost-effective technology using jute, coir, cell-filled concrete, cold-mix and waste plastic for this,” he said adding that the Union government was expected to clear it in a week.