Delhi LG announces ₹800 cr upgrade for villages

Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has laid the foundation stone for a sports complex in Qutabgarh village, Delhi. The project is part of plans to develop the village as a model village and will include multiple sporting facilities. Saxena also announced that all other villages in Delhi will be redeveloped at a cost of ₹800 crore. Additionally, Saxena visited Jaunti village to review ongoing developmental work in the region. The Bharatiya Janata Party welcomed the funding allocation, while the Delhi government stated that it has already taken steps to develop villages in the region.

Lieutenant governor VK Saxena on Tuesday laid the foundation stone for a sports complex at Qutabgarh village in northwest Delhi, which has been adopted by the LG to be developed as a model village.

Lieutenant governor VK Saxena (PTI)

The project, slated to be completed by next month, will have multiple sporting facilities such as an akhara (wrestling pit) for male and female wrestlers, a kabaddi ground, a jogging track, an open gym, a badminton court, and a volleyball court, among others.

Saxena also announced that all other villages in Delhi will be redeveloped soon at a cost of ₹800 crore.

“All 49 villages of Delhi will also be transformed on the lines of Qutabgarh village at an estimated cost of ₹800 crore, for which the fund will be allocated to Delhi Development Authority. I urge the people to start using these facilities for their benefit,” he said.

The LG also inaugurated and dedicated a water body to the residents of Qutabgarh, that will aid farming and other groundwater-allied activities in the village.

DDA officials said the water body was deepened and de-silted, and it is now fit for rainwater harvesting. Additionally, a footpath has been constructed around the water body and plantation work has also been completed, they said.

Saxena also visited Jaunti village in outer Delhi to review developmental work in the region that is likely to be completed by January 2024.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) welcomed the allocation of the ₹800 crore funds for the Capital’s villages and said that a delegation of senior Delhi party leaders and village panchayat leaders had recently met the LG and apprised him of the problems that villagers in the city are facing.

“People of the rural belts of Delhi want to ask chief minister Arvind Kejriwal why his government is constantly ignoring them, be it on matters of crop loss or land acquisition compensation, or providing transport, health or education facilities,” said Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva.

Responding to Saxena’s announcement, development minister Gopal Rai said the Delhi government has taken several steps to ensure the development of villages, on the lines of urban areas.

“Through the Delhi Village Development Board, the government has expedited the construction of roads, drains and community centres in all villages. There are mohalla clinics for free medical treatment, 24-hour electricity supply, new water and sewer connections and various other development work going on at war level,” Rai said.

He added that the village development board held a meeting in August, during which 167 new projects worth ₹115.52 were approved.