In what seems to be a "low-cost high-impact" project of the Punjab Government, the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Department has allocated Rs 6.56 crore to over 12,885 villages in the state t

Street lamps in the villages of the taluk will be lit using solar power, said M S Srinivas Reddy, former vice-president of the Taluk Panchayat.

Inaugurating work on installation of the solar power lamps at Dommasandra on Monday, Reddy said the measure was taken to solve the problem of regular power cuts in rural areas of the taluk. The project is being undertaken using money from the Constituency Development fund. “Solar lamps are being installed at Dommasandra, Basavarajapura, Vajranagenahalli and other villages using Rs 5.75 lakh from the fund,” said Reddy.

Consultative meet of presidents on panchayat administration

A group of panchayat presidents, including women and Dalit presidents, have called upon the government to appoint full-time resource support groups at the block level and full-time project officers at the district and block levels dedicated to oversee the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA).

Chennai Corporation’s new programme to improve lighting in the city will focus on replacement of around 60,000 old streetlights in eight added zones.

Mayor Saidai S. Duraisamy at a meeting on Tuesday announced the commencement of the programme to improve streetlighting system in eight zones. The initiative of the civic body is likely to be a stepping stone for replacement of tubelights with energy-saving lights such as induction lamps, LED lights and compact fluorescent lamps in Tiruvottiyur, Manali, Madhavaram, Ambattur, Valasaravakkam, Alandur, Perungudi and Sholinganallur. All the new 60,000 streetlights will be LED lights as they last five times longer than sodium vapour lamps.

Rs.1.95 crore allotted for installing 865 solar streetlights

About one-third of streetlights in the panchayats in the district are likely to be converted into solar-powered ones over the next four years. Solar-powered streetlights were being installed in the panchayats under a special scheme announced by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa through the rural development department.

In 46 village panchayats of Dindigul district

Village panchayats have intensified installation of solar streetlights not only to face acute power shortage but also scale down expenses. To begin with, installation commenced in 46 village panchayats at an estimated cost of Rs.1.1 crore. On completion of the first phase, the rest of the villages will be covered in subsequent phases, according to Collector N. Venkatachalam.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said on Tuesday all efforts must be made to eliminate open defecation by 2022 as it is the root cause of diseases.