The Tamil Nadu government will construct around 2,750 km of roads in rural areas, which connect to small villages, schools, hospitals and markets, at a cost of ₹1,346 crore, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj department minister K.R. Periakaruppan announced in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday.
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The government will also develop 1,200 km of roads and 136 new bridges to connect such places with the State and Union government funding at ₹874 crore and ₹431.39 crore, for environment improvement schemes.
The government will also connect 12.5 lakh houses in 21,728 small villages in 37 districts with piped water facility under the Jal Jeevan Mission scheme at ₹1,261 crore. Work will also be undertaken for enhancing water availability by constructing 1 0,000 check dams and 5,000 ponds under the MGNREGS at a cost of ₹683.95 crore.
The government will implement e-governance schemes in rural areas at ₹125 crore, provide all village panchayat facilities through the internet and facilitate payment of taxes through online mode, he said.
The Minister further said the priorities under the MGNREGS will be re-oriented to support poverty alleviation and livelihood promotion programmes. The department plans to revive ‘Mathi Bazaar’, an e-commerce portal and re-launch it to facilitate online sale. Family vision cards will be provided to vulnerable and marginalised families for ensuring all needs, entitlements and scheme benefits are converged for each family.