'Palle Pragati' helped to improve green cover in state: Telangana chief secretary

HYDERABAD: Telangana chief secretary Somesh Kumar said the "Palle Pragati" programme taken up by the state government had achieved remarkable results in improving green cover and sanitation apart from controlling diseases in the state.
Informing about the programme to union secretary of rural development Narendranath Sinha during a review meeting on various developmental works in rural areas on Monday, the chief secretary said that every village in Telangana now has a Palle Prakruthi Vanam, Nursery, Vaikuntadhamam, compost unit and a tractor and added that every month an amount of Rs 227 crores are being released to gram panchayats in the state.
He said while there were only 8,684 gram panchayats (GPs) before the formation of the state, all tribal thandas and hamlets were made GPs. With this the number rose to 12,769.
“To increase the green cover in the state, Telangana ku Haritha Haaram programme has been taken up. The sarpanches and GPs secretaries have been made responsible to ensure that 85% plants survive. Miyawaki plantation has been taken up in 19,472 gram panchayats. Along with this, 547 Brihat Palle Prakruthi Vanams in an area of not less than 10 acres have been set up in the state so far,” Somesh Kumar said.
Referring to the Self Help Groups (SHG) movement in the state, the CS said that 4,39,648 SHGs in the state were given bank loans with about Rs 10,000 crore towards development of the SHGs and to ensure that they become financially strong. The MGNREGS programme is also being successfully implemented in the state, he said.