Tech should benefit poor

Nellore: Union Minister for Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu said that real development could be achieved, if the benefits of science and technology reach poor. He inaugurated the Housing and Community Building Project at Saraswathi Nagar in Venkatachalam mandal in Nellore district on Saturday.

Speaking on the occasion, the Union Minister said if the new structure built by the Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC) withstands the vagaries on nature, the Central government would encourage the technology.

He said the project constructed using the Glass Fibre Reinforced Gypsum (GFRG) panels made from waste material called Phospho-Gypsum, could be useful for mass housing in the country.

The present structure, first of its kind in the country, was constructed by the BMTPC at the cost of Rs 4.56 crore comprising 36 G+1 houses. The Union Minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal was to provide housing to all homeless and this technology would help achieve it by 2022.

He said the Centre had sanctioned 9.35 lakh houses of which 1.90 lakh houses were sanctioned to Andhra Pradesh while 80,000 houses to the Telangana.

He observed with the help of the both Centre and State governments the goal could be achieved. Speaking on the skill development, Venkaiah Naidu said the Centre proposed to introduce new courses, so that youth could get employment.

He also inaugurated a skill development centre was constructed by Swarna Bharath Trust and Dr BV Raju Foundation. He said that youth from various States including West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar and Odisha were being training at the Centre.

The union Minister informed that as many as 40 crore youth were given training in various skills at the skill development centres across the country.

Naidu distributed clay idols of Ganesha at KNR Municipal School in BV Nagar in the evening along with city mayor Abdul Aziz. He planted saplings in the school premises.