13,733 km of Rural Roads Constructed in Three Years in Tamil Nadu.

The Tamil Nadu government announced recently that it has successfully laid 13,733 kilometers of roads in rural areas over the past three years. The state sanctioned a total of 18,899 kilometers of roads, alongside 83 bridges, at an estimated cost of ₹9,030 crore. To date, projects worth ₹5,219 crore have been completed, including 22 bridges.

The government highlighted that 10.11 lakh families have benefited from the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in the last three years, with wages totaling ₹34,609 crore. Notably, 86.26% of the beneficiaries were women. This year, the scheme is being implemented with a budget of ₹6,359 crore.

Under the Jal Jeevan Mission, the government has provided water connections to 71.5 lakh households at a cost of ₹2,123 crore. The pipelines were laid in adherence to the BIS 10500 standards. In recognition of its efforts, Tamil Nadu was awarded third place by the Jal Shakti Ministry in 2021 for providing drinking water supply to rural areas.

Regarding rural housing, the government revealed that 3.3 lakh houses were constructed under the Prime Minister Awas Yojana (Rural) in Tamil Nadu over the past three years. Since 2016-17, a total of 7.38 lakh houses have been sanctioned for the state, with 2.89 lakh houses built during the previous AIADMK-led administration, the release stated.

ET