The Hindu Business Line : AP CM launches tribal development project

THE Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, inaugurated the `Giripragathi' project, a new initiative for tribal development in the State, here on Tuesday.

The Rs 89-crore project is being partly financed by the MP Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) fund of Mr Jairam Ramesh, who has been elected to the Rajya Sabha from Andhra Pradesh.

To begin with, Giripragathi would be operated in eight mandals of Adilabad, Warangal and Khammam districts, where tribal population was substantial. These pilot initiatives would be scaled up across the State subsequently.

Appreciating Mr Ramesh's gesture for allocating the entire six-year MPLADS fund of Rs 12 crore for Giripragathi, the Chief Minister said that the main objective of the project is to increase the income levels of the tribal population.

The Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) would implement the project. It would also contribute Rs 14.6 crore for the project while it was proposed to mobilise Rs 16.4 crore from the on-going State Government programmes for land development.

Incidentally SERP, an autonomous society set up by the State Government in 1999, is also implementing Velugu, a World Bank supported project for rural poverty reduction.

According to the Velugu Project Chief Executive Officer, Mr. T. Vijaya Kumar, the key initiatives under Giripragathi will be development of agricultural lands of the tribal poor, establishment of community managed food security system and community managed initiatives in health, nutrition and education.

The Minister for Rural Development, Mr D. Srinivas, said that some Members of Parliament should come forward to commit their MPLADS funds for the upliftment of the poor.

The Director General of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Dr R.A. Mashelkar, said that CSIR would extend all help in providing value-addition to forest produce.

The State Chief Secretary, Mr Mohan Kanda, felt the need for having an independent observer to oversee the project implementation.

Ms Kamala Bai, a tribal from Adilabad district, sought provision of marketing facilities for forest produce, establishment of a soyabean processing unit and attachment of teachers to the Mahila Samakhyas in their areas so as to avoid large-scale absence of teachers in schools in tribal areas.

The former Principal of the Administrative Staff College of India, Dr E.A.S. Sarma, wanted the Government to provide land to the tribals by expediting the cases filed under the Land Transfer Regulation Act.

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