Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said the VBG Ram G Mission will transform Andhra Pradesh's villages with over Rs. 11,000 crore investment, 125 days of employment and durable rural infrastructure.
Tirupati: Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday described the launch of the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar Ajeevika Mission (VBG Ram G) from Andhra Pradesh as a historic milestone, saying the programme would transform villages through employment generation, infrastructure creation and transparent governance.
Addressing the launch programme at Railway Koduru in Tirupati district, attended by Union Minister for Rural Development Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, the Chief Minister said Andhra Pradesh would implement the mission with Rs. 7,700 crore from the Centre and Rs. 4,000 crore from the State, taking the total investment to over Rs. 11,000 crore.
Naidu said the scheme guarantees 125 days of employment while creating durable rural assets, including roads, drainage systems, canals and other public infrastructure. He said implementation would be fully transparent through geo-tagging, biometric authentication and technology-driven monitoring.
The Chief Minister announced that water from the Galeru-Nagari Project would be brought to Koduru and groundwater levels would be improved through the Jaladhara initiative.
Highlighting the State's achievements under rural employment programmes, Naidu said Andhra Pradesh had entered the Guinness World Records by conducting Gram Sabhas simultaneously in 13,226 villages. He said the programme had generated 55.44 crore man-days with an expenditure of Rs. 16,695 crore, besides creating thousands of kilometres of rural roads, farm ponds, cattle shelters and horticulture plantations.
For the current financial year, the government has targeted construction of 10,000 km of gravel roads, 1,500 km of cement and BT roads, 500 km of magic drains and horticulture plantations over one lakh acres.
Naidu said the government had revived 93 Centrally Sponsored Schemes, including the Jal Jeevan Mission, and was implementing projects worth Rs. 28,000 crore. He thanked the Central Government for extending support to Andhra Pradesh, particularly for the reconstruction of Amaravati.
The Chief Minister also highlighted major investments coming to the State, including the Google Data Centre, the proposed fighter aircraft manufacturing facility at Puttaparthi, Hero MotoCorp at Satyavedu and Royal Enfield at Tirupati. He announced that Madanapalle would be developed into a horticulture hub.
Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced that the Centre would release Rs. 7,700 crore to Andhra Pradesh under the VBG Ram G Mission during the current nine-month period. He also handed over sanction letters for 74,212 houses under PMAY-G, approved 146 rural roads and 19 bridges worth Rs. 422 crore under PMGSY, and announced procurement of 2,16,250 metric tonnes of Totapuri mangoes under the Market Intervention Scheme.
Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan and Union Ministers Pemmasani Chandrasekhar and Kamlesh Paswan also participated in the programme.
