Chittoor: In Chittoor district, 40 villages with a higher proportion of Scheduled Caste (SC) population have been selected under the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY) for comprehensive development works. Officials said the works will mainly focus on laying internal roads, constructing drains, ensuring safe drinking water supply, sanitation management, and building office premises. Along with PMAGY funds, resources from Economic Committees, MPLADS, and MGNREGS will be pooled, amounting to around Rs 60–80 lakh per village. Earlier, only villages with over 50 percent SC population were eligible under PMAGY. Now, the scheme has been extended to those with a minimum of 40 percent SC population. For the selected panchayats, the Centre has allocated Rs 8 crore for the 40 Panchayats with each will get Rs 20 lakh for providing basic infrastructure.

Authorities are preparing action plans to be approved by Gram Sabhas before submitting them to the government for final sanction. As per instructions, details must be sent by the August 25 and officials are working on fast-tracking the proposals. In the first phase, 18 villages were chosen, while now in the second phase, 40 panchayats across 11 mandals have been selected. Among them are Anagallu, Anantapuram, Chintalagunta, Guvvakallu, Pachchanapalli, and Perumallakandriga in Chittoor mandal, as well as Jambhuvaripalli and Nalagampalli in Bangarupalem mandal are there. Together with convergence funds, a total of Rs 12.59 crore will be utilised for development works in the 40 villages.