Jairam coming on 2-day visit

BHUBANESWAR: Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh will visit Rayagada and Malkangiri districts on May 27 and 28 to take stock of the development programmes in these Maoist-affected areas.The Union Minister on Wednesday had video conference with all the 106 Prime Minister’s Rural Development Fellows (PMRDF) in the country, including 24 in Odisha.Ramesh during the last visit to the State had announced that Ministry of Rural Development will launch special area development plan (SADP) for the Maoist- affected Malkangiri-Sukma area, two border districts of Odisha and Chhattisgarh.In order to give final shape to the new plan, the Union Minister will visit Malkangiri on May 28 and will meet district officials, before leaving for Sukma in Chhattisgarh on May 29. He had announced that the SADP for the Malkangiri-Sukma would be worked out in the next three months.Development projects, including construction of roads, bridges and water supply system, would be taken up under the scheme with an investment of Rs 300 crore.The Union Rural Development Ministry had already launched Rs 250-crore SADP programme in Saranda area in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand and is soon going to start such a programme in Latihar district of Jharkhand entailing an investment of Rs 450 crore.