CM Devendra Fadnavis plan for villages to focus on jal, jameen and jungle

CM Devendra Fadnavis with actor Amitabh Bachchan and industrialists Ratan Tata and Anand Mahindra on Thursday. (Photo: Rajesh Jadhav)

Planning to develop 1,000 backward villages across Maharashtra, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has sought help from the corporate sector. To make this plan successful, he will focus on harnessing core natural resources such as land and forests.

Keeping faith in the corporate world, Mr Fadnavis on Thursday said the government and a few private companies have agreed to lend support to fulfil his initiative to transform the rural landscape. For this, a council, under the CM’s chairmanship, would be formed soon and would chalk out a comprehensive plan to transform the villages.

“Under the scheme, we will include 25 per cent tribal villages and 50 per cent villages with low human development index. It will be a time-bound programme focusing on ‘jal, jameen and jungle’ in these villages, along with maintaining education and health standards,” Mr Fadnavis said after holding a meeting with the industrialists in Mantralaya on Thursday.

Clarifying that the gram panchayats of the respective villages would be taken into consideration while selecting the villages for the initiative, the CM said, “We will not force the initiative on the villages. The gram panchayats should give consent. We will provide resources and expertise to these villages for sustainable development. We expect the number of villages to increase when more private sectors would come forward to help.”