Efforts to make govt offices plastic-free across the state: CS K. Vijayanand

* Implementation to be in 17 corporations by October
* Awareness should be created among the public on the control of single-use plastic
* Steps to adopt 15 lakh Bangaru Kutumbams by August 15
* 1027 villages selected under PYM Adarsh Gram Yojana
Chief Secretary K. Vijayanand
Amaravati, July 17:Chief Secretary K. Vijayanand revealed that appropriate steps are being taken to make all government offices in the state plastic-free. He held a video conference with district collectors and officials of related departments from the State Secretariat on Thursday on issues such as Swarnandhra P-4 Foundation, Swarnandhra,Swachhandra,MSME parks and ramps,Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana and others.Speaking on the occasion, the CS said that appropriate steps are being taken to control single-use plastic items in a phased manner.By next October, that steps are being taken to declare 17 municipal corporations as plastic-free corporations. He said that steps will be taken to ban plastic items in all government offices across the state.The CS clarified to the district collectors and other officials that they should take extensive steps to create awareness among the public about the harm caused to the environment by plastic, especially single-use plastic items, due to water and air pollution.CS Vijayanand said that there is a need to make various manufacturers of plastic items fully aware of this and the district collectors should pay special attention to this.
CS Vijayanand said that the government has launched the Swarnandhra P-4 Foundation program with a noble goal of eradicating poverty and eliminating economic inequalities in the society.He said that the government has set a target of adopting 15 lakh bangarukutumbams in the state by August 15 under the Swarnandhra P-4 Foundation.He said that 19 lakh 17000 bangaru kutumbams have already been identified in this regard,while 5 lakh 20000 bangaru kutumbams have been adopted by the maragadarshis. He made it clear to the collectors that there should be no compromise in the quality of the identification of bangarukutumbams and the margadarshis in adopting them. He said that the margadarshis should come forward to adopt bangarukutumbams according to their financial capacity. He instructed the collectors to pay special attention to the successful implementation of this Swarnandhra P-4 program. He also said that the government is thinking population as an asset and is taking special care of population management.He said that a draft population policy has been brought recently regarding population management and that appropriate steps should be taken according to the calendar of events regarding population management.
CS Vijayanand said that 1027 villages have been selected under the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana in the state, of which 765 villages have already been declared as model villages under the Village Development Plan (VDP), and directed the collectors to work towards declaring the remaining 262 villages as model villages at the earliest.The central government will provide Rs. 20 lakh as a gap filling grant to each village selected as model villages for the creation of various infrastructure facilities in the villages, while another three to four times the funds will be provided under convergence and up to Rs. 80 lakh will be spent to improve the infrastructure facilities in the model villages on a large scale, CS Vijayanand clarified that the district collectors should pay special attention in this regard.
Speaking about the MSME Parks and RAMP (Rising and Accelerating MSME Performance) program, CS Vijayanand said that it is a centrally sponsored scheme implemented with the financial assistance of the World Bank and directed the Collectors to take appropriate steps in its implementation.Similarly, he also wanted appropriate steps to be taken in the formation of circular economy clusters.Later, the need for the use of AI chatbot technology for government employees was discussed.
Social and Minority Welfare Secretary Y.M. Nayak,IT Secretary K. Bhaskar, Industries and Commerce Secretary Dr. N. Yuvraj, APIIC MD Abhishek Kishore, I&PR Director Himanshu Shukla, RTGS CEO Prakhar Jain, Swarnandhra P-4 Foundation CEO Naresh Kumar, MSME CEO Vishwa, Social Welfare Director Lavanya Veni participated in this meeting. Secretary to CM Pradyumna, District Collectors and other officials participated virtually.