G.O.(Ms.) No.70, Tamil Nadu Village Habitations Improvement (THAI) Scheme 2015-2016

What the government approved

The Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (SGS-1) Department, through G.O.(Ms.) No.70 dated 29 April 2015, continued the Tamil Nadu Village Habitations Improvement Scheme for 2015-2016. Administrative sanction of Rs.750 crore was granted, and detailed implementation guidelines were attached.

The scheme treats each habitation, rather than only the Village Panchayat, as a unit of development. Its purpose is to distribute resources more evenly and provide minimum basic infrastructure facilities across rural habitations.

Areas and people covered

G.O.(Ms.) No.70 dated 29 April 2015 covers 8,268 habitations within 3,013 Village Panchayats for 2015-2016. The guidelines state that Tamil Nadu has 79,394 habitations in 12,524 Village Panchayats across 31 districts, excluding Chennai.

The document is mainly relevant to:

• Village Panchayats selected for implementation during 2015-2016.
• District Collectors and District Rural Development Agencies.
• The Director of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, who is responsible for distributing funds and reporting progress.
• Residents of covered rural habitations who may benefit from basic amenities and infrastructure.

The document concerns rural development funding and implementation. It does not contain property-specific decisions about ownership or title in the supplied text.

Funding and release

G.O.(Ms.) No.70 dated 29 April 2015 provides the following funding pattern:

• Rs.332.29 crore from State funds under the relevant accounts.
• Rs.261.10 crore from 50 per cent of the Infrastructure Gap Filling Fund.
• Rs.156.61 crore from one-sixth of Pooled Assigned Revenue due to Rural Local Bodies.

An initial Rs.148.3475 crore was released, consisting of Rs.65.275 crore from the Infrastructure Gap Filling Fund and Rs.83.0725 crore from the State Budget allocation. The Director of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj was authorised to draw and distribute the sanctioned amount to districts.

Allocation approach

The implementation guidelines group Village Panchayats into five categories according to their number of habitations. They also use the 2001 population to calculate the total population of Village Panchayats.

Key allocation principles include:

• Panchayats with more habitations and larger populations receive more funds.
• Habitation-level planning is intended to reduce uneven distribution of resources and assets.
• Progress reports must be sent by the Director of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj.