Sachin Tendulkar Adopts Donja Village In Maharashtra For Transformation

Cricket great and Rajya Sabha MP Sachin Tendulkar has adopted the village of Donja in Maharashtra's Osmanabad district, under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna, sanctioning over Rs. 4 crore for the development of the village from his MPLAD fund. The amount will be spent on development of a new school building, a water Supply scheme that would provide potable water to each household, concrete roads and a sewage line attached to the same, a press release stated. Tendulkar had earlier adopted the vilage of Puttamraju Kandriga in Andhra Pradesh.

Five special village level meetings have been held since the village was adopted by Tendulkar, under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana with participation of women from the village.

The initial planning has already been completed and the issuing of tenders for the various works is expected to commence after the Zilla Parishad elections in the region.

Tendulkar had announced Donja as his second adopted village late last year after successfully completing the first phase of development in Puttamraju Kandriga in Nellore.

During the five special village level meetings in Donja, women also made suggestions to the district officials to plan the roadmap for the transformation.

Potable water to fight drought

Tendulkar has emphasised on addressing the issue of potable water since the entire region of Osmanabad has been facing a drought over the last couple of years.

The school building which is over 70 years old will also be replaced with a new one.

Commenting on the initiative, Assistant Collector (U/T) Osmanabad District, Ayush Prasad said, "The collector's office has been closely working with the villagers and all the efforts are towards a 360 degree development of the village keeping in mind a well balanced socio economic structure."

"We are grateful to cricket legend and Rajya Sabha MP Sh. Sachin Tendulkar for choosing a village in Osmanabad District and for being so supportive and committed to its development. We are excited about his vision for the village. We look forward to hosting him at Donja," he added.

Over 400 of the 610 households in Donja village did not have toilets when the village was adopted by Tendulkar. Since then, over 231 toilets have been built and are being used.

Oxigen Financial Services is helping improve the banking services at Donja. 12 retail outlets were trained and steps were taken to encourage them to set up micro cash-recycler ATMs.

Dr. Prashant B Narnaware (IAS), District Magistrate and Collector, Osmanabad and Ayush Prasad have led the efforts of the District Administration though proper planning and close monitoring.

Anand Rayate (IAS), Chief Executive Officer of Osmanabad Zilha Parishad, has led the execution of various works in Donja.

(With inputs from PTI)