THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Scheduled Castes Development department has embarked on a customised development scheme for the development of selected colonies in the state inhabited by SC population.Titled Ambedkar Rural Development Programme, the scheme envisages development works worth Rs 50 lakh each in two select colonies in all Assembly constituencies. SC Development Department director K Gopalakrishna Bhat said the development works would be customised for each colony.
“Unlike development projects of a uniform pattern, this would be a need-based one. Most backward colonies in a constituency in terms of infrastructure development will be included in the scheme,” he said.
Colonies which are inhabited by 40 or more families will be considered for the scheme. They will be identified by the local MLA. According to Gopalakrishna Bhat, the projects to be executed in a colony would be any kind of infrastructure development work.
“It can be a road, potable water project or building a community centre. The projects will be selected by a meeting of beneficiaries convened by the legislators,” he said. Kerala State Nirmithi Kendra (KSNK) will be the implementing agency. Planning works are over in around 196 colonies and works would start soon. SC Development Department aims to complete the project in one year.Ambedkar Rural Development programme is inspired by the success of an earlier self-sufficient village scheme of the SC Development department. It too was conceived as a customised critical gap management programme.