14/12/2014
Getting smarter at the village-level
To make our state sustainable and smart, it is not only necessary to have smart cities but also smart villages and towns.
There are 13 districts, 664 mandals, 111 municipal bodies, 12,950 gram panchayats and 16,250 villages, including wards and divisions. If these 16,250 villages can be adopted, the entire state can be transformed into 'Smart Andhra Pradesh'.
Just like smart cities, a smart village should be interactive and multi-functional; there should be active participation of people in various activities. A smart village should have power, knowledge, healthcare, technology, entrepreneurship and internet connectivity.
Our focus on building smart cities is prudent and timely. Simultaneously, if smart villages are built, apart from the benefits that it will bring to villagers, it would also solve one of the biggest problems cities are facing today – migration.
This plan also puts our state in tune with the Central government's Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) to adopt one village and develop that village as a model village.
I appeal to NRIs, NGOs, VIPs, Corporates, Philanthropists, Ministers, MLAs, etc to adopt one village each and develop our state into a 'Smart Andhra Pradesh'.
