Representational image

Kwatha, a small remote village in the hilly terrain in Manipur’s Tengnoupal district bordering Myanmar has been adopted as a model village under Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY).

Rajya Sabha MP K Bhabananda Singh made an announcement in this regard during a launching ceremony at the Kwatha village, about 95km south of Imphal on Friday.

Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!

Kwatha is now settled by more than 60-70 houses and the main occupation of the village is agriculture and making soibum, a fermented form of bamboo shoots etc. The launching function was organised by District Administration and District Rural Development Agency, Tengnoupal district.

Addressing the gathering, MP Bhabananda Singh said if one village is not developed the whole nation could not be developed. All those given in the guidelines cannot be implemented in every village since there are topographical differences of the region.

Citing the reason for adopting Kwatha village as model village, he said, ‘It is one of the most backward villages in the state with a small population’.

Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!

If the scheme is to be fully implemented, there needs to be a balance between the population and the infrastructures which are to be provided so the migration to other villages needs to be checked, the support and participation of the locals are needed for implementation of the scheme.

He stressed the importance of training few locals on healthcare system since basic healthcare seems to be lacking in the village.

The Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana aims to empower the village to make choices and provides them with opportunities to exercise those choices.

The scheme will give direction which will pave ways for development through their own hard works and entrepreneurial skills.

The scheme also envisages integrated development of the rural villages across multiple areas such as, sanitation, environment, education, health, agriculture, livelihood etc. to improve standard of living, enriched social capital and build community spirit that will ensure long term positive change.

Tengnoupal MLA D Korungthang, Chandel deputy commissioner Krishna Kumar besides other civil and police officials attended the programme.