AP Taking Steps To Make Government Offices Plastic-Free
Reviewing functioning of various departments and implementation of state and central schemes, he said single-use plastic items will be totally eliminated in a phased manner in Andhra Pradesh.
VIJAYAWADA: Chief secretary K. Vijayanand on Thursday said steps are being taken to make all government offices in Andhra Pradesh plastic-free.
Reviewing functioning of various departments and implementation of state and central schemes, he said single-use plastic items will be totally eliminated in a phased manner in Andhra Pradesh. Further, by next October, all the 17 municipal corporations will be declared as plastic-free.
Vijayanand made it clear that the state government has launched Swarnandhra P-4 Foundation programme with the noble goal of eradicating poverty and eliminating economic inequalities in the society. As part of it, the government has identified 19.17 Bangaru Kutumbams in the state for adoption. Maragadarshis (mentors) and well-to-do have already adopted 5.20 lakh of these families.
The chief secretary made it clear to collectors that there should be no compromise in identifying families for adoption and margadarshis who are going to adopt them.
Vijayanand said 1,027 villages have been selected for development under the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana in the state. 765 of them have already been declared as model villages under the Village Development Plan (VDP) by ensuring various facilities. He directed collectors to work towards declaring the remaining 262 villages as model villages at the earliest.
The chief secretary pointed out that central government is providing ₹20 lakh as gap funding to each village selected as model village for creation of various infrastructure facilities in the villages. Another ₹80 lakh will be spent to improve the infrastructure facilities on a large scale in the model villages.
Regarding MSME parks and RAMP (Rising and Accelerating MSME Performance) programme, Vijayanand said it is a centrally sponsored scheme implemented with the financial assistance of World Bank. He directed collectors to take appropriate steps in implementing this scheme.
The CS disclosed that a draft population policy has been evolved with regard to population management.