TIRUPATI: Minister for Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy said a mega exercise to plant saplings all along 26,000 kilometers long national, state and panchayat raj roads and railway track, with 6 feet gap between each plant, is in the offing under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
Farmers are being identified to protect the plants and tankers will be provided to them to water the plants for next three years, said the minister. He conducted a review on implementation of the Jagananna Pacha Thoranam scheme during 2021-22 in Tirupati on Saturday.
The minister underlined the need to ensure that every work being taken up under MGNREGS is useful to the farming community. Ramachandra Reddy also asked the officials to achieve the target of raising fruit crops in one lakh acres besides floriculture in 1,000 acres and advised them to identify the lands in the areas affected by poor rainfall.
Referring to the suggestion of Deputy CM M Narayana Swamy, the minister told the officials to plant coconut trees in Jagananna colonies after completion of the construction works. He instructed them to implement the action plan within the next 100 days in Chittoor district.