Tamil Nadu's Yelagiri hills panchayat selected as model village under SAGY

TIRUPATTUR: Yelagiri hills village panchayat will soon hope to get a facelift as it has been selected as a model village under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) 2021-22.

The scheme envisages improving the standard of living and quality of life in village panchayats by improving basic amenities, increasing productivity of people, and providing better livelihood opportunities.

The village panchayat falls under the Jolarpet block in Tirupattur district and comes under the Tiruvannamalai Lok Sabha constituency. It was adopted by Tiruvannamalai MP CN Annadurai under the SAGY scheme.

A special meeting was held for public consultation at Yelagiri hills on Tuesday and elected representatives including MP CN Annadurai, Jolarpet MLA Devaraji, and District Collector Amar Kushwaha were present at the event.

“Steps will be taken to address the issues here. I chose this village because tribal people at hill stations does not get basic facilities,” CN Annadurai said at the event.

Rajashri Ghirivelan, Yelagiri panchayat president, told TNIE that though the panchayat is a prominent tourist destination, people from its 14 villages are yet to receive basic amenities such as drinking water, toilets, and proper sanitation.

“Tribals here are living as landless labourers, and houses should be built for them,” he added.