Reiterating the Delhi government’s commitment to providing all basic facilities to villages, Delhi Development Minister Gopal Rai said on Thursday at the ‘Vikas Sabha’ organised at the Model Town Legislative Assembly to speed up the development works of the city’s rural areas.

He said the government kept a budget of Rs 900 crore on standby for the works related to the development of villages in Delhi.

The minister shared that development work is being done in on war footing in the villages of Model Town Assembly with a sum of Rs 10 crore.

Local MLA Akhilesh Pati Tripathi and officials of the Irrigation and Flood Control Department and Forest Department were present on this occasion.

The Delhi development minister further said, “The Kejriwal Government is taking all necessary steps to improve the condition of roads, parks, drains and multipurpose community centers in the villages. Delhi government is committed to providing basic facilities to the people of Delhi living in urban areas as well as to the people living in rural areas.”

“These development works related to the development department are being done through the Irrigation and Flood Control Department, MCD, and other government departments,” Rai added.

Rai further said that CM Arvind Kejriwal had constituted the Delhi Village Development Board to carry out development works in all the villages of Delhi, under which work is being done across all the villages of the city.

“Works related to community centres, roads, drains, water bodies, parks, crematoriums, playgrounds, etc. are being carried out under this initiative,” the senior AAP leader added.

“This year, the government has set a budget of Rs 900 crore for the development of Delhi’s villages,” Rai stressed.

The minister also directed the Irrigation and Flood Control Department officers to complete the remaining work at the earliest.

He said that the Vikas Sabha has been organised for public participation in development, through which the people of the villages get information about the ongoing work.

Public participation is necessary in such development processes, it helps in expediting the process and the event has been organized to speed up the work to make things better, he added.