AP CM to launch Indiramma scheme on April 1

Integrated Development In Rural Areas and Model Municipal Areas (Indiramma), an ambitious people-oriented programme, will be launched by chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy at West Khandrika village in East Godavari district on April 1.

The dream project, which is in tune with the state government's promise to usher in Indiramma Raj in the state, would on its completion, change the very shape of the rural and urban areas for good, the chief minister said in an open letter addressed to the people of the state on the eve of Ugadi, the Telugu New Year. Reddy said the project envisages taking the administration to villages and municipalities and saturating the basic needs over a period of three years in respect of the identified areas.

The identified activities, which will be taken up for saturation as per predetermined criteria are: housing; drinking water supply; sanitation; link roads; power connections-habitations and households; health services: HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention; ICDS (Nutrition and Pre-primary education for children); primary education; and pensions- old-age pensions including weavers pension, widow pension and disabled pension, a press release said.

Each habitation in the selected gram panchayat/ward had been surveyed for collection of data, which has been placed before the gram sabha/ward sabha for authentication. Villagers have been given time to file objections regarding addition or deletion of any eligible or ineligible beneficiaries. After collection of data, each department carried out detailed exercise to develop their action plan to take up works to fill the assessed gaps.

"This is meant for the people. My government will implement it with total transparency. But for the programme to be successful, citizens, who are at the core of designing this scheme, need to involve themselves actively at every stage of its implementation. The government machinery will consider suggestions given by them and keep fine-tuning the scheme wherever required. Only then, my dream of seeing a transformed Andhra Pradesh by Ugadi 2009 will be fulfilled," the chief minister said in his open letter.

About one third of the population will be covered from the selected gram panchayats/wards during the first year of implementation of this programme.