Panchayat Raj Department received 53 awards so far: Minister Errabelli

Errabelli Dayakar Rao said that the PR and RD department of the State had been presented 53 awards in different categories by the Central government.

Hanamkonda: Stating that the Telangana had been standing in the forefront in the rural development since its formation, Panchayat Raj and Rural Development (PR&RD) Minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao said that the PR and RD department of the State had been presented 53 awards in different categories by the Central government.

“While there was only one model village Gangadevipalli of Warangal district in the State in the past, we now have 19 such model villages which were selected by the Centre against the total of 20 model villages in the country,” he asserted.

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He felicitated and congratulated several engineering and other officials of the Mission Bhagiratha as the scheme won many awards recently from the Central government at a programme held at the office of the Mission Bhagiratha at Chinthagattu irrigation camp here on Friday. He has also inspected the office, water purification process, quality of the water, testing, distribution, etc., during the visit.

Speaking at the meeting, Rao said that the Mission Bhagiratha was yielding amazing results, and added that the awards were pouring in. “Several other states are trying to implement schemes like Mission Bhagiratha in order to supply potable drinking water to their residents. Telangana is the only state where 100 percent of households are provided with potable drinking water. We are supplying water to schools, government offices, temples, mosques, Anganwadi centres, churches, public sector institutions and others,” Rao said.

“Though the NITI Aayog recommended the Centre to sanction Rs 19,000 crore to the Mission Bhagiratha, the Centre did not sanction a single rupee,” he explained.

CMO Secretary Smita Sabharwal, CMO OSD Priyanka Varghese, Mayor Gundu Sudharani, Hanamkonda District Collector Rajeev Gandhi Hanumantu, GWMC commissioner P Pravinya, Engineer-in-Chief (ENC), Mission Bhagirtha, Krupakar Reddy, officers, staff and others participated in the programme.