Rs 34.8 Crore Allotted for Makeover of Nellore District Welfare Hostels
Those who participated in the programme include Sarvepalli MLA Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy, Kavali MLA Dagumati Venkata Krishna Reddy, and Udayagiri MLA Kakarla Suresh.
Nellore: Nellore administration is launching an ambitious Rs 34.80-crore drive to modernise the 155 government welfare hostels in the district, which will benefit more than 19,000 students.
In what the administration describes as a first-of-its-kind initiative in Andhra Pradesh, district collector Himanshu Shukla rolled out the “Vidya… Vasathi… Vikasam” project aimed at turning welfare hostels into safer, cleaner, and better-equipped living and learning spaces.
The collector formally launched the programme at the Tikkana Pranganam in the Collectorate on Tuesday.
The scale of the initiative is substantial. As many as 19,069 students staying in the 155 SC, ST, BC, tribal, and minority welfare hostels and residential institutions are to benefit from the project.
Of the total Rs 34.80 crore outlay, Rs 20.35 crore, or 58 per cent, will go towards infrastructure repairs, while another Rs 14.45 crore, or 42 per cent, will be spent on furniture, equipment, and modern amenities.
The makeover will go far beyond cosmetic repairs. Old hostel buildings will undergo restoration of roofs, flooring, painting, and repairs to doors and windows. Compound walls and toilets will be improved, while drinking water systems will be strengthened with borewells, water tanks, RO plants, and rainwater harvesting facilities.
Electrical wiring will be modernised and hostels will receive improved lighting, ceiling fans, and solar lights.
The programme seeks to address many of the everyday difficulties faced by hostel students. Washing machines, solar geysers, sanitary napkin incinerators, computers, smart TVs, smartphones, and inverters are among the equipment proposed.
Kitchens will receive new steel and aluminium utensils, storage racks, grinders, mixers, gas stoves, cookers, and airtight containers. Students will be provided furniture, library books, bedsheets, trunk boxes, and sports equipment.
The project will be implemented in five phases, beginning with administrative approvals and release of funds, followed by allocation of works, building repairs and improvement of water, sanitation, and electrical facilities. Procurement and distribution of equipment will follow final quality inspections.
The programme will be implemented under the collector's direct supervision, with the District BC Welfare and Empowerment Officer serving as the nodal officer. The engineering wing of APEWIDC (AP Education and Welfare Infrastructure Development Corporation) will oversee construction and quality control.
Physical and financial progress at every hostel will be monitored regularly, with third-party inspections proposed wherever necessary.
Collector Shukla said the idea is to ensure that children staying away from their families could have an environment that felt closer to home. “Every student should have access to safe, dignified, and quality accommodation. No student should be left behind because of inadequate infrastructure,” the collector said.
Once completed, Vidya… Vasathi… Vikasam could change not merely the appearance of Nellore's welfare hostels, but also the daily lives of thousands of students who call them home during their education.
Those who participated in the programme include Sarvepalli MLA Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy, Kavali MLA Dagumati Venkata Krishna Reddy, and Udayagiri MLA Kakarla Suresh.
