Andhra Pradesh

Rs. 15-crore plan to help physically challenged

Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD: The Ranga Reddy district administration has prepared a rehabilitation-cum-employment project for the physically challenged. The three-year plan, costing Rs. 15 crore, was sent to the Central Government for financial aid, according to the Collector, L. Prem Chandra Reddy.

Addressing the DRDA governing body meeting here on Monday, Mr. Reddy said besides helping the physically challenged set up STD booths, 17 other employable activities like assistance for setting up a small hotel, a provision store and a mobile telephone booth were identified.

The Zilla Parishad Chairman, K. Gnaneswar, presided over the meeting. It was attended by MLAs -- K. Harishwar Reddy (Parigi) and M. Narasimham (Ibrahimpatnam) - the DRDA Project Director, Sarathchandra Reddy, the District Water Management Agency (DWMA) Project Director, T. Narasimha Reddy, and others.

Focus on SHGs

Issues related to self-help groups (SHGs), bank link-up, dismal record houses' construction, delay in disbursal of pensions to old persons and widows and `Deepam' scheme were discussed.

Mr. Harishwar Reddy of TDP was critical of the administration for not `bothering' about SHGs as many eligible groups were not getting financial assistance. He charged mandal development officers with not sending their reports in time. He also sought aid for individuals.

The Collector directed the DRDA Project Director to enumerate the list of eligible groups for revolving funds and said as per the Centre's guidelines 10 per cent of the funds could be given to individuals. The MLA also pointed out that only 25 per cent of the houses sanctioned were constructed in the district and wanted officials to fix deadline so that the subsidy component could be transferred to others.

Housing officials admitted that only 315 of the 819 sanctioned houses were built due to problem of getting the loan component from banks. A timeframe was being fixed and notices were despatched to beneficiaries warning them of cancellation of the allotment if construction was not taken up.

Livelihood initiatives

Mr. Narasimha Reddy said the Government decided to launch Andhra Pradesh Rural Livelihood Programme at a cost of Rs. 16 crores. Resource centres would be set up at the cluster level to impart training to user groups and watershed committees.

Mr. Reddy also said that Rs. 2.5 crores would be spent on establishing 36 mobile artificial insemination centres for upgrading the 80 per cent low-milk yielding animals to a higher yield.

Dairy farmer groups would be formed to sustain the activities so that 400-500 crossbred female progeny would be developed in each cluster, he added.

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